Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Agey.
Hi Jessica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
While considerably outside your reader’s area… I’ll try to make it brief just in case you are interested.
I grew up backstage in Phoenix, AZ. My mom was a professional in a small company before I was born. As a child, I had no idea what I was getting into when I asked her if she would sign me up for dance classes. Before too long, she was opening her own school. Watching her take bold steps in her life and in dance inspired me to be bold in my life and in dance as well.
In 2018, I felt it was time. I had been teaching for several schools in the metro ATL area and running a small side program. My father-in-law, the least artistic person I know, told me that I should think about opening my own school as our family walked back to the car after one of my spring showcases. That September, the day after my 35th birthday, I opened Generations Dance Academy.
The first year, I still taught at two other schools in the metro area– one in Midtown and one in Suwanee, all while running my school in Villa Rica. That’s west of Douglasville. We only had two days of class a week. While we didn’t grow in many numbers into our second year, we blossomed in talent. We performed a full Nutcracker the December of that second season.
We had lost our original location in Villa Rica in September 2019 when the ownership of the building we were in changed hands. We moved to Douglasville and shared space in a private school downtown. All was well there until March of 2020. Just like everyone else, we had to change how we operated.
Online classes led to online performances, editing videos for YouTube, and shifting to “at home” classes where we’d dance in masks in our garages and driveways. I’d travel between everyone’s homes on a rotational basis and host virtual class for everyone else. It was the only way I felt we could keep doing something– anything– to stay connected safely during such an interesting time.
We were able to find a new location, in Bremen, GA even further west than Villa Rica, but out of some miracle, we were finally starting to thrive. It’s an interesting experience trying to grow a new generation of performing artists in a more rural area. There’s so much talent and so few opportunities. It’s a blessing to see the opportunities grow, even if we create them.
There are so many more amazing plans we have for our upcoming seasons. I can’t wait to see how it all comes together.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
1) I believe dance should be affordable. I was raised by a single mom who worked in the arts. The only reason I have my education is because of her and her sacrifices. Because of that, I have always charged much less than I should. While it’s my own fault, it presents resource challenges for sure. We borrow space from a church and I set up our studio twice a week. That should be its own point, lol.
2) I set up the studio twice a week to keep our costs down instead of paying rent. That way I can focus on quality teaching instead of trying to fill our studio just for numbers. That’s definitely a setback because I shouldn’t feel bad to do that.
3) Losing our original location in 2019 hurt. Bad. I was on the verge of buying the property and planning on converting it to a community center. Whelp. As my financing was going through, a cash offer came to the table. It wasn’t meant to be. Thankfully, 2020 happened and I had not bought that building. A community center would have bankrupted me.
4) One of our smallest dance family members was diagnosed with AML during July 2020. She also has Down’s Syndrome. And four other family members who dance. At that time, they could not risk coming to any in person anything because of the situation with their little sister. They have continued online and with in-home visits since 2020. That has been very hard. In 2021, they did perform with us live, but we had to do our show in an open-air venue that we had to build ourselves due to a limited budget. Now, all five dance at home with me every Wednesday. The older four siblings have finally been able to resume a few normal classes a week, but always come masked for her safety. Little sister is finally cancer free.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a dance teacher that specializes in teaching beginners through intermediate but can teach it all if I must. I teach alignment and placement differently than any other dance teacher I’ve ever worked with, but I’m beginning to get wonderful results and I’m quite proud of that. My school has a lot of styles and genres, and I teach all but one. Ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, acro, and musical theater are a lot for one person to do. I also write our summer productions to fit our performers. My brain is tired.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Everyone who knows me personally won’t be surprised by this, but even though I’m a ballet snob, I love rock and roll, science fiction, and barbeque potato chips.
Pricing:
- Family Unlimited classes are $200/month
- Jr Division classes each are $55/month
- Sr/Adult Division classes each are $75/month
Contact Info:
- Website: www.generationsdanceandballet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/generationsdance/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gda5678/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIl_hZt6Cz6UL1S8-wOXHVA
Image Credits
Adrian Waldron Mike Lefebvre Jennifer Vaughn
