Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jari Majewksi Price. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Jari thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.
I am the founder and CEO of Feel the Beat, a Colorado-based nonprofit and dance studio. The vision for this project started back in 2016 when I met the co-founder of Feel the Beat, Julia Faliano. We were both working as educators in a multiple needs classroom, and we found that there was a lack of accessible programs for students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing – so we decided to create our own. Dedicated to bridging this gap, Julia and I worked with engineers to pioneer a vibrotactile bone conduction dance floor that allows individuals to experience sound through feeling. Today, Feel the Beat transforms music from a listening experience to a physically immersive one, turning the inaccessible into the inclusive without limitations. This technology has impacted over 6,000 students across the state of Colorado and beyond, representing only a small fraction of the vast community.
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?
I studied Sign Language Interpretation at Northeastern University and went on to complete my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from New York City’s Pace University, as well as a Masters in Deaf Education (M.Ed.) and a Masters in Early Childhood Education (MA) from Columbia University. I also have a Certification in Deaf Education and Childhood Education in the state of New York. After completing my undergraduate and graduate studies, I worked at the National Theatre of the Deaf and then as a Teacher of the Deaf and Special Education for 10 years. This journey, along with intensive study and research, led me and Julia (Feel the Beat’s co-founder) to develop a vibrational dance floor constructed of bone conduction transducers that vibrate through your body to the bones in your skull which then enables you to experience music through feeling. From there, the idea of Feel the Beat was born.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Fostering loyalty amongst the community we serve is a big part of what we do at Feel the Beat. The community we serve is for all ages (youth to adults) and includes those who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, as well as those with and without disabilities. Our programming serves different subsets within this community including individuals and groups. Through our dance studio located inside the Whitlock Recreation Center in Lakewood, CO, we hold regular weekly classes for individuals, private group classes in partnership with nonprofit organizations such as Easter Seals, Megan’s Place, and Inclusion on Purpose, as well as off-site special classes and field trips for schools, community organizations and more. To ensure we foster loyalty and trust, the Feel the Beat team spends a lot of one-on-one time cultivating meaningful relationships with our students and community partners both inside and outside of class. Whether that be through our instructors and our personalized class curriculum designed to be fully adaptable to each individual student’s needs, or myself, our program coordinator, or our marketing director personally calling and emailing students and group partners to discuss how things are going and how we can improve their experience in the future. At Feel the Beat, we truly believe in the importance of creating a culture of inclusivity and personalized experiences for everyone that interacts with us whether through our weekly classes, private group classes, field trips, accessible events, trade shows or conferences.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Being a community leader in the nonprofit world is rewarding, but also challenging at times. As founder and CEO of Feel the Beat, I dream big. I am passionate about the work we do and expanding our reach and the communities we serve through our mission of dance and music accessibility for all. Over the last several years, there have been setbacks, including moments where I wasn’t sure what exactly would happen to Feel the Beat. When the pandemic hit in 2020, we decided to leave the dance studio location we had in Wheat Ridge, CO. Not only were students not able to come to classes because of the pandemic, but we had started to look for potential new dance studios without much luck. This was devastating to myself and my team. We continued to search for options but there just wasn’t anything that resonated with me. Then in 2021, we connected with the City of Lakewood and landed on installing the Feel the Beat dance floor at the Charles Whitlock Recreation Center in Lakewood. The new home for Feel the Beat launched officially in May of 2022. Fast forward to today and we not only have our dance studio at Whitlock, but we also have our Feel the Beat dance floors installed at Brewability Lab in Englewood as well as at Colorado Movement Lab in Westminster. My goal is to expand beyond Colorado and not only install our dance floors at studios, schools, and event complexes, but also open more Feel the Beat dance studio locations across the US. While I know this endeavor will be a big challenge for myself and the team, I am confident that with our passion for creating music and dance accessible spaces we can do anything we put our minds to.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.feelthebeat.dance/
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/feel_the_beat_dance
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dancestudiofeelthebeat
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/feel-the-beat/
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/c/FeeltheBeat_keepthebeat
- Other: TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@feelthebeat_dance_studio
Image Credits
Andrew’s Artistry https://andrewsartistry.com/