After six years as executive director of DanceFx Charleston, Jenny Broe decided that it was time to pursue her goal of being an entrepreneur. “And I couldn’t do it in that setting,” she explains, adding that she wouldn’t be where she is today without her years at DanceFx. And where is she today? At a brand new studio, DanceLab, opening in April in West Ashley.
“It made sense to cultivate my neighborhood,” says Broe, who lives in West Ashley. “Mt. Pleasant has 12 dance studios. West Ashley is completely overlooked.” DanceLab is what she calls a “dance studio creation,” even going so far as to name the adult performers lab rats. “We’ve been doing really cool stuff for six months,” she says.
Before DanceLab’s brick-and-mortar, Broe and crew rented out dance spaces around town. They plan on performing at Charleston Fashion Week and the Charleston Heart Ball, with Broe emphasizing her company’s specialty for event performances. She’s also tapping into the youth market and forming competitive dance crews.
Broe’s own dance background originated in competitive dancing. Hailing from Marietta, GA, Broe danced competitively from age 11-18 when she says going to college made her think, “My life was over.” It turns out she’d only just begun dancing — she discovered DanceFx Athens while getting her Bachelor’s in psychology at UGA, training and traveling as often as she could.
“My expertise is creating a concert work that’s full-length and expressive, that can transport you,” says Broe. For a taste of what she’s talking about, head to DanceLab’s next event, The Baddest Show in Town: A Hip Hop Cabaret, at Footlight Players Theatre on Fri. Mar. 25 and Sat. Mar. 26. “It’s risque,” promises Broe. “Hip Hop is pretty suggestive anyway. It’s definitely progressive for Charleston.”
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