We recently connected with Jenny Quinn and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jenny, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
This question particularly intrigues me today as I just became a parent myself. My parents were visual artists. They worked from home in our basement (envision a decked out 2 story garage with more wall to wall paint splatters than the eye could see). They worked together, and they were THERE for me. My parent’s parenting philosophy was based on 2 basic things. 1. Try not to get in the way of my kid’s decision (aka don’t micromanage too much) and 2. Encourage and support my kid in her passions. My mom used to tell me, “Jenny, you can quite literally do anything you want, what do you want to do? Where do you feel most at ease, what makes you feel like yourself?” That answer ranged from creative writing, to helping people feel better, to teaching/mentoring/leading. Eventually I fell in love with teaching dance (I always loved dancing, but something about being the leader in a room full of eager minds and bodies made me feel at home). Once I got a taste of how good I could make people feel, I knew the answer to my mom’s question…”Teaching dance makes me feel like myself”. Growing up, whenever I would hit a snag with ANYTHING, school work, dance, relationships, my mom would break it down like an equation and help me problem solve, proving to me that I could quite literally do anything I wanted if i was willing to work like hell. Turns out I’m good at working hard :)
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Dancer, instructor and choreographer extraordinaire, Jenny Broe Quinn is the owner and Chief Mad Scientist of Dance Lab. When she’s not in the lab concocting the next show-stopping performance for Charleston, she is booking gigs for her dancers, spending time exploring her love of birding, spoiling her two crazy cats, planning her next trip abroad, wining & dining with her incredbily SAXY husband, Mike Quinn, and being obsessed with her newborn son, Arlo. She has worked as a master contemporary, jazz and hip hop instructor at various establishments in the Southeast including Gotta Dance Atlanta, Dancefx, The Larew Center, Charleston School of the Arts and SCAHPERD. Her choreographic works have been featured on multiple occasions at The Piccolo Spoleto Finale, The South Carolina Dance Festival, The Charleston Wine + Food festival, JAIL BREAK, Charleston Fashion Week, the American Heart Association Heart Ball and the CAS Firemen Calendar Debut Party (to name a few). Broe’s passion for and dedication to teaching, cultivating, connecting and inspiring the dance community in the Southeast grows and evolves every day. Currently, her mission’s main focus is providing an outlet for all humans to feel their best, one movement-and-laughter-filled dance class at a time. What can you expect from a Broe class? Lots of feel-good, high-energy movement, an awesome playlist, and incredible vibes.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
The old “pivot” turn. haha. Dancers are GREAT at pivoting. Physically we are constantly having to make adjustments for the overall greatness of a piece or a show. Our biggest pivot as a dance studio (and for me as an entrepreneur) was COVID and how our entire business model was upended overnight. After many disabling anxiety attacks I decided I could quit (that would’ve been easy), or I could fight like hell (a theme in my career). I chose the later. We had just expanded our space, doubled our expenses 6 months before the shutdown. We quickly became a virtual dance hub and sold online memberships, then when it was safe enough to re-open, we did so with a newly equipped performance space with livestream capabilities (that we still utilize today). Lots of trial, error and expense went in to this upgrade, but it kept us going and eventually helped us thrive again.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Supporting artists goes far beyond sharing a video on instagram or even showing up to their free exhibits. It’s understanding the value of art and entertainment and truly believing the $50-$100 ticket is worth it. So many people complain about high ticket prices to live concerts and events. If we could change the mentality that music and art should be free or cheap, artists could charge what they are worth, make a decent living and hopefully be more valued by the community for the incredible spice they add to life. SUPER WORTH IT.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dancelabcharleston.com
- Instagram: @dancelab_843
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dancelab843
Image Credits
Bubble Photography