Dance Buzz
Talking all things Dance every Wednesday.
Dance Buzz
Dance Buzz: Exploring the World of Dance with Jonathan and Chelsea Godfrey
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Jonathan Godfrey
Welcome to Dance Buzz, where we take you on a journey through the world of dance with your hosts, Jonathan and Chelsea Godfrey. With over 11 years of experience in the industry, we're the co-creators and co-owners of the Godfrey Method and our own dance studio. Embark on this exciting adventure with us as we share our experiences, discuss important topics, and dive into the dance community like never before!
In our upcoming episodes, starting towards the end of June, we'll be exploring a wide range of dance topics including competition critiques, ballet, conventions, pointe, and the challenges of being married and owning a dance studio. We'll also shed light on our experiences as young dance teachers, the significance of mental health in opening a dance studio, and the unique aspects of our competition-only program. Join us as we dance our way through the fascinating world of dance on Dance Buzz!
Speaker 1: Hello everybody and welcome to Dance Buzz. My name is Jonathan Godfrey and I am Chelsea Godfrey and this is the official intro episode of Dance Buzz. So just a little bit about ourselves. Chelsea and I have known each other for a little over 11 years. We've been married for close to three years now.
Speaker 2: Feels like forever.
Speaker 1: We own a dance studio, as well as being the co-creators and co-owners of the Godfrey method. So, yeah, i think that's a little bit about ourselves.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're both so grateful that we have this platform now that I feel it's going to be able to reach the audience that we intended to be for Literally all dance community dancers, dance teachers, you know, owners, dance parents I'm sure the list goes on and on and on, but we're really excited that you know the Godfrey method we started in January of 22 job.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been about a year and a half now since we made the official launch of the Godfrey method.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it kind of like took off, which is just mind blowing. I wish I could really articulate like how incredible the process of running the Godfrey method has been and just like getting to meet new people and just the level of love and support from the dance community that we received is just like I don't know, it's like incredible. So we're super, super grateful And that has led us to this new venture, which is Dance Buzz, that we are going to dive in and we're going to talk all things dance, of course. Yeah, John, you want to talk about a couple of things that we're going to share with everybody.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're going to start releasing episodes toward the end of June and we're going to be talking about competition critiques.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to. Yeah, definitely end of June, so that when everybody is on their way to nationals they can listen to all these episodes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, we'll talk about competition critiques. We're going to be talking about ballet dance specifically, and that includes ballet in the studio, ballet competitions. We're going to talk about conventions Point point yeah. Definitely talking about point. We're going to be talking about some of the trials and errors of being married and owning a studio.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, i will say, though, I do commend a lot of the studio owners who operate and the business independently by themselves, and maybe their significant other does something else or whatever because I literally don't think I could do this without John, for not only technology but also my sanity, because-.
Speaker 1: In-house tech guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, john is very good at technology, but aside from that, amongst very many other things, just like my sanity and it is nice to be able to kind of have that conversation at the end of the night And, to be honest, john and I are totally different people, which I think is what has made us compatible, but also successful, and we've gone through a lot, even though I know we've been running the business for under a decade. However, we both started teaching when we were, i don't know, i guess like 19, right, 18, 19 years old. You started teaching when you were younger, but really teaching like we're making money.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I definitely started teaching when I was a little bit younger, like 16, 17, at my home dance studio where I was training, teaching like the younger kids, Yeah but like making money, like-. Well, making money, teaching and really finding, i guess, like the craft, and you know really what you're good at, what you're not good at, which is really important. Yeah, like 1920.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we Yeah, we We're-, we're-, we're-, we're-, we're We're-, we're-, we're-, we're-, we're-, we're-, we're We're We both started working. Actually, i started working at this studio and I guess it was like. It was like literally my sophomore wait was my second. Was I a sophomore in college?
Speaker 1: I was going to be a sophomore. No, you were a sophomore. Well, yeah, I mean this summer, but yeah, you were a sophomore in college when you first got your like biggest, like full teaching job.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it kind of like happened randomly, like kind of out of nowhere, like they needed a teacher. It was just like all like based on like people who….
Speaker 1: It's all about who you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, who you know, which we all know in the dance community is like everybody knows everybody. But no, I was. yeah, I feel like it was almost like I was drafted, Like I was drafted.
Speaker 1: Waiting for that nice phone call.
Speaker 2: Yeah right, and I got the job and I was literally like thrown into it, Like it was like a full dance competition. I was choreographing so many dances, I was working so long A lot yeah, I was working so much and I actually, I like stopped going to college for a little bit.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that'll be that episode topic at some point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, i stopped. Yeah, well, because the balancing was really hard and I like couldn't figure out, like how to do my eight o'clock in the morning ballet classes.
Speaker 1: And be teaching until nine, nine, thirty, ten o'clock at night.
Speaker 2: And then at that time I was living. Well, i was commuting, but also I was also pretty much living at school too. Yeah, i was living at school.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you were living at school at the time.
Speaker 2: By that time. So it was like I'd be done teaching nine thirty, maybe I'd be out closing by ten, and then, like, getting home, at like a you know, by the time I walked actually to my dorm, you know, showered, got ready for the next day, i was like, okay, i'm already in ballet class.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's all part of it. You know, as a young teacher, you know you do more.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So once they they employed me right, and then I was like, oh well, i know this ballet teacher. They were looking for a ballet teacher and I was like John would be great. And at that time I don't think we were, we were dating yet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were already dating, Okay, i don't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, i don't remember the exact timeline, but I do know that that is really. I think that's what really kicked it off for us, and we were actually making well when we were getting paid which will be another topic on another day but we were actually getting paid. Yeah, we were actually able to to live independently, which I mean not really because we were living off of, i mean we were still trying to eat the food at the school because it was yeah we were, we struggled, we had a food plan.
Speaker 1: We struggled.
Speaker 2: We had a lot of experiences. There was been. we've learned a lot. It's been a long ride. We've come across a lot since we were 19 years old and I'd hope so.
Speaker 1: We're now 30.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I'm, i'm, i'm really grateful for every experience and every tear shed and every night that I stay up thinking and John's like it's going to be fine, stop thinking about it. I could do that, but I just can't. And it's not that he he doesn't validate my feelings, it's more of just he thinks differently than I do and it's not going to change, right, like me, thinking about it constantly isn't going to change. And I think we can talk about that too, because, you know, i did have a conversation with a friend and they asked about the mental health of opening a dance studio And also they asked about competition, having owning like a competition program and a recreational program, because our business actually doesn't run a rec program, which people think is like mind blowing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've never had a rec program ever since we opened, we've always been comp only.
Speaker 2: You know, training yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we offer training, you know. I mean, our studio is very focused on ballet and technique.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we, yeah, i definitely think we can. We'll be able to like dive like deep into that. But yeah, that'll definitely be a topic of conversation, because I remember when I told people that they were like you're crazy, you're missing out on all the, all the money pretty much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so many people have told us that the financial gains of rec programs is where it's at, but it's just never been something that we've wanted to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and to be honest, like I just want to like say, like for the record, like obviously it's not just about the money, but this is our way of living. So money does play a role and an effect in like anybody's business or in anybody's livelihood, obviously. So I'm not saying that our that everything we do is. Well, clearly, everything we do isn't about just the money gain. It's way more deeper than that, which is actually why we chose not to run a recreational program. We had no like passion or interest in it, And we'll talk more on another episode, because I'll just start talking Just keep going.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, i mean we'll talk definitely more about, we'll talk about the comp and recreational programs at studios, why we made the decision to call comp only. We'll talk about being married and owning a studio, and I've said that. but one of the biggest reasons I think we're starting this is just to talk, talk to each other, talk to people, let people know that they're not alone. There are struggles that come with this industry, just like any other industry.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say like, oh, if you're in dance, it's whatever.
Speaker 2: No, but dance is a very it's like it's a beast of its own, because you have to be like, super vulnerable, but you also have to be able to be open to feedback, criticism.
Speaker 1: You have to be able to take feedback and criticism. Yeah, you know, with thick skin.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I know like there's been a lot of shifts in the dance community and just like approaches and stuff like that, which you know, maybe we'll tap on, but we're going to talk. We're going to talk all things. Dance moms. No, i'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: God no dance moms.
Speaker 2: No, not like the show. Oh, actual dance.
Speaker 1: Oh, the good dance moms drama Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I mean, yeah, i mean we have. We've had our fair share of of.
Speaker 1: Every studio has.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, we'll take questions and hear stories.
Speaker 2: You know, and we want to hear, we want to relate.
Speaker 1: We'll spill some of the tea.
Speaker 2: Yeah, spill our. Yeah, that's right, it's going to be boiling, boiling hot, but we're excited, We're grateful to be here. We hope to, from this podcast, really just be an outlet for people to listen, and when they like are done listening, they're like hell yeah.
Speaker 1: They have some relief too. I mean, i think people want that relief for sure.
Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh.
Speaker 1: To know they're not alone, to know other people are going through similar struggles.
Speaker 2: This is yeah, you're definitely not alone. Yeah, this is real, this is authentic. This is genuine. Maybe it's harsh at some times, maybe it's, maybe it's going to be a little sensitive for some people. They don't agree with our opinions, but these are solely our opinions. From our personal experiences, we understand that maybe our approach isn't the way everybody would do it. But again, this is just our personal experiences and we are excited to share them with you, and we want to know what your experiences are too. So let's do it.
Speaker 1: Let's see you guys next time.
Speaker 2: All right, bye.
Speaker 2: Feels like forever.
Speaker 1: We own a dance studio, as well as being the co-creators and co-owners of the Godfrey method. So, yeah, i think that's a little bit about ourselves.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're both so grateful that we have this platform now that I feel it's going to be able to reach the audience that we intended to be for Literally all dance community dancers, dance teachers, you know, owners, dance parents I'm sure the list goes on and on and on, but we're really excited that you know the Godfrey method we started in January of 22 job.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been about a year and a half now since we made the official launch of the Godfrey method.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it kind of like took off, which is just mind blowing. I wish I could really articulate like how incredible the process of running the Godfrey method has been and just like getting to meet new people and just the level of love and support from the dance community that we received is just like I don't know, it's like incredible. So we're super, super grateful And that has led us to this new venture, which is Dance Buzz, that we are going to dive in and we're going to talk all things dance, of course. Yeah, John, you want to talk about a couple of things that we're going to share with everybody.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're going to start releasing episodes toward the end of June and we're going to be talking about competition critiques.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to. Yeah, definitely end of June, so that when everybody is on their way to nationals they can listen to all these episodes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, we'll talk about competition critiques. We're going to be talking about ballet dance specifically, and that includes ballet in the studio, ballet competitions. We're going to talk about conventions Point point yeah. Definitely talking about point. We're going to be talking about some of the trials and errors of being married and owning a studio.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, i will say, though, I do commend a lot of the studio owners who operate and the business independently by themselves, and maybe their significant other does something else or whatever because I literally don't think I could do this without John, for not only technology but also my sanity, because-.
Speaker 1: In-house tech guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, john is very good at technology, but aside from that, amongst very many other things, just like my sanity and it is nice to be able to kind of have that conversation at the end of the night And, to be honest, john and I are totally different people, which I think is what has made us compatible, but also successful, and we've gone through a lot, even though I know we've been running the business for under a decade. However, we both started teaching when we were, i don't know, i guess like 19, right, 18, 19 years old. You started teaching when you were younger, but really teaching like we're making money.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I definitely started teaching when I was a little bit younger, like 16, 17, at my home dance studio where I was training, teaching like the younger kids, Yeah but like making money, like-. Well, making money, teaching and really finding, i guess, like the craft, and you know really what you're good at, what you're not good at, which is really important. Yeah, like 1920.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we Yeah, we We're-, we're-, we're-, we're-, we're We're-, we're-, we're-, we're-, we're-, we're-, we're We're We both started working. Actually, i started working at this studio and I guess it was like. It was like literally my sophomore wait was my second. Was I a sophomore in college?
Speaker 1: I was going to be a sophomore. No, you were a sophomore. Well, yeah, I mean this summer, but yeah, you were a sophomore in college when you first got your like biggest, like full teaching job.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it kind of like happened randomly, like kind of out of nowhere, like they needed a teacher. It was just like all like based on like people who….
Speaker 1: It's all about who you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, who you know, which we all know in the dance community is like everybody knows everybody. But no, I was. yeah, I feel like it was almost like I was drafted, Like I was drafted.
Speaker 1: Waiting for that nice phone call.
Speaker 2: Yeah right, and I got the job and I was literally like thrown into it, Like it was like a full dance competition. I was choreographing so many dances, I was working so long A lot yeah, I was working so much and I actually, I like stopped going to college for a little bit.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that'll be that episode topic at some point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, i stopped. Yeah, well, because the balancing was really hard and I like couldn't figure out, like how to do my eight o'clock in the morning ballet classes.
Speaker 1: And be teaching until nine, nine, thirty, ten o'clock at night.
Speaker 2: And then at that time I was living. Well, i was commuting, but also I was also pretty much living at school too. Yeah, i was living at school.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you were living at school at the time.
Speaker 2: By that time. So it was like I'd be done teaching nine thirty, maybe I'd be out closing by ten, and then, like, getting home, at like a you know, by the time I walked actually to my dorm, you know, showered, got ready for the next day, i was like, okay, i'm already in ballet class.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's all part of it. You know, as a young teacher, you know you do more.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So once they they employed me right, and then I was like, oh well, i know this ballet teacher. They were looking for a ballet teacher and I was like John would be great. And at that time I don't think we were, we were dating yet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were already dating, Okay, i don't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, i don't remember the exact timeline, but I do know that that is really. I think that's what really kicked it off for us, and we were actually making well when we were getting paid which will be another topic on another day but we were actually getting paid. Yeah, we were actually able to to live independently, which I mean not really because we were living off of, i mean we were still trying to eat the food at the school because it was yeah we were, we struggled, we had a food plan.
Speaker 1: We struggled.
Speaker 2: We had a lot of experiences. There was been. we've learned a lot. It's been a long ride. We've come across a lot since we were 19 years old and I'd hope so.
Speaker 1: We're now 30.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I'm, i'm, i'm really grateful for every experience and every tear shed and every night that I stay up thinking and John's like it's going to be fine, stop thinking about it. I could do that, but I just can't. And it's not that he he doesn't validate my feelings, it's more of just he thinks differently than I do and it's not going to change, right, like me, thinking about it constantly isn't going to change. And I think we can talk about that too, because, you know, i did have a conversation with a friend and they asked about the mental health of opening a dance studio And also they asked about competition, having owning like a competition program and a recreational program, because our business actually doesn't run a rec program, which people think is like mind blowing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've never had a rec program ever since we opened, we've always been comp only.
Speaker 2: You know, training yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we offer training, you know. I mean, our studio is very focused on ballet and technique.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we, yeah, i definitely think we can. We'll be able to like dive like deep into that. But yeah, that'll definitely be a topic of conversation, because I remember when I told people that they were like you're crazy, you're missing out on all the, all the money pretty much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so many people have told us that the financial gains of rec programs is where it's at, but it's just never been something that we've wanted to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and to be honest, like I just want to like say, like for the record, like obviously it's not just about the money, but this is our way of living. So money does play a role and an effect in like anybody's business or in anybody's livelihood, obviously. So I'm not saying that our that everything we do is. Well, clearly, everything we do isn't about just the money gain. It's way more deeper than that, which is actually why we chose not to run a recreational program. We had no like passion or interest in it, And we'll talk more on another episode, because I'll just start talking Just keep going.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, i mean we'll talk definitely more about, we'll talk about the comp and recreational programs at studios, why we made the decision to call comp only. We'll talk about being married and owning a studio, and I've said that. but one of the biggest reasons I think we're starting this is just to talk, talk to each other, talk to people, let people know that they're not alone. There are struggles that come with this industry, just like any other industry.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say like, oh, if you're in dance, it's whatever.
Speaker 2: No, but dance is a very it's like it's a beast of its own, because you have to be like, super vulnerable, but you also have to be able to be open to feedback, criticism.
Speaker 1: You have to be able to take feedback and criticism. Yeah, you know, with thick skin.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I know like there's been a lot of shifts in the dance community and just like approaches and stuff like that, which you know, maybe we'll tap on, but we're going to talk. We're going to talk all things. Dance moms. No, i'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: God no dance moms.
Speaker 2: No, not like the show. Oh, actual dance.
Speaker 1: Oh, the good dance moms drama Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I mean, yeah, i mean we have. We've had our fair share of of.
Speaker 1: Every studio has.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, we'll take questions and hear stories.
Speaker 2: You know, and we want to hear, we want to relate.
Speaker 1: We'll spill some of the tea.
Speaker 2: Yeah, spill our. Yeah, that's right, it's going to be boiling, boiling hot, but we're excited, We're grateful to be here. We hope to, from this podcast, really just be an outlet for people to listen, and when they like are done listening, they're like hell yeah.
Speaker 1: They have some relief too. I mean, i think people want that relief for sure.
Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh.
Speaker 1: To know they're not alone, to know other people are going through similar struggles.
Speaker 2: This is yeah, you're definitely not alone. Yeah, this is real, this is authentic. This is genuine. Maybe it's harsh at some times, maybe it's, maybe it's going to be a little sensitive for some people. They don't agree with our opinions, but these are solely our opinions. From our personal experiences, we understand that maybe our approach isn't the way everybody would do it. But again, this is just our personal experiences and we are excited to share them with you, and we want to know what your experiences are too. So let's do it.
Speaker 1: Let's see you guys next time.
Speaker 2: All right, bye.
