Today we’d like to introduce you to Amye Francis.
Hi Amye, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My journey in creating this company began in 2018 when I learned to swing dance at the University of Florida through their student swing dance club. I fell in love with the dance and soon took on leadership roles in the club, first as head of events and then as treasurer. I gained experience organizing events, teaching classes, and DJing both locally and in other swing communities across Florida. I loved the dance so much, I took private lessons when I could afford them, and I traveled to other cities and weekend workshops to learn all I could.
In 2020, the world of dance shut down. Because I needed an outlet to continue dancing, I studied clips of flapper dancers from the 1920s and learned all their moves on my own. I explored and experimented with techniques as I practiced swing dancing by myself, which helped form how I approach dance instruction and helped to shape my technical fundamentals. Through this journey of exploration, I started dreaming: What if I had a dance company of my own? What would it look like? What would I do? The vision became clear to me, and I began dreaming about starting a company, though at this point I was too nervous to step out and do it.
In 2021, I felt the conviction to start the company. I was still nervous and hesitant, but finally, after hearing the voice of a business coach challenging me to just do it, I hosted my first Lindy Hop workshop in Gainesville, Florida. The workshop was a success, so I decided to continue by offering more dance classes and socials. I used some of the money I made from the workshop to cover the cost of getting a professional logo created, and invested the rest into other areas of the fledgling company. During the summer of 2021, I was traveling a lot between Gainesville and Orlando, and decided to host monthly social dances in both cities, since no one else was doing them at the time. Then, in late 2021, I moved to Central Florida, and the company moved with me from Gainesville to Orlando.
Since then, it’s been a journey of many ups and downs. I invested personal funds into the company until I had none left to pour into it, ran out of money, and was afraid that I would have to downgrade. Despite the financial challenges, I always had the dance community come in to support, or a sudden client who would pay enough for me to continue to keep the business going and cover my losses.
What started as a small dance company doing social swing dances and occasional swing dance lessons has now grown into a dance company that seeks to embody the spirit and energy of the Jazz Age and bring it to others. In addition to our social dances and lessons, we now host monthly workshops, provide private dance lessons, offer wedding packages, have dancers to entertain at corporate and private events, and more. Although we primarily serve the Central Florida area, we’ve gone as far as Georgia to perform and teach. We’ve recently expanded into Redding, California as well, and are in the process of expanding to Sanford as part of a collaborative agreement.
In 2024, I invited two board members to join the company and to help guide and create the vision. I can tell you we are just getting started. We are dreaming bigger than before, and we are working to roll out some new big ideas in the near future.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This has not been a smooth road. The first challenge was getting the company to a place where it could be self-sufficient without me investing my personal income into it to keep it alive. This didn’t happen until I came to a place where I was out of options. I had no more personal funds to put into the company, and the business was not taking off. I announced at one of my social dances that we might have to find a park or some free public place to keep gathering to dance until I had the funds to return to renting spaces for dancing. A long-time dance couple spoke to me, suggesting a different (cheaper and more central) studio to try, and they offered to loan the money to pay for the rent. I took their advice, moved to the new studio, and the first night there, so many people came that I made enough to cover rent for two social dance events, plus a little extra. Since then, we’ve never had to worry about not having the money to rent a dance space.
About a year later, I registered the business with the state, and I’ve had many lessons to learn (there are some I’m still learning) about holding back income for taxes, filling paperwork with the state, creating 1099 forms for contractors as needed, finding help to run events, creating contracts for clients, insurance, finding appropriate and affordable venues, communicating, and marketing. Thanks to friends, board members, networking, and training programs I’ve invested in, we’re slowly breaking through each obstacle and challenge at a time to grow the company little by little.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We are a company that specializes in Jazz Era swing dances, such as the Charleston, Lindy Hop, Vernacular Jazz, Shag, Balboa, and Blues, though we also dance many other styles. We are most known for our performances and social dances in Lindy Hop and Charleston.
We offer social dances, beginner and intermediate swing dance lessons, private dance lessons, wedding packages, dance workshops, performers, and instructors for private events.
What sets us apart is our love of dance history and our specialization in an authentic presentation of dances from the Jazz Age. This is also one of the things we are most proud of. We’re one of the only dance companies in the area that has been successful in bringing vintage jazz styles not only to other nearby cities, but to other states as well.
How do you think about luck?
We don’t believe in luck. We believe in setting ourselves up for “luck” to happen. As my mentors in the music industry taught me, my board members and I believe God gives the right opportunities when we are prepared to handle them. Because of this belief, we are always focused on growing and improving, but also doing well in the little things, because we believe the little things, building up over time, prepare us to handle bigger opportunities without breaking or burning down.
Some of those “lucky” or God-given moments we’ve experienced include being introduced to talent agents who began hiring us for bigger gigs in Orlando and outside the state. Other places where “luck” has played into our success include clients finding us last minute when we were in a tight spot through unexpected ways, falling into unexpected and very beneficial relationships, and suddenly seeing things I’ve dreamed about for years finally come to pass when I least expected it – some of those being the recent expansion to California, or being invited to teach an out of town, weekend workshop as one of the two primary instructors.
Pricing:
- Wedding packages – $500 – $3700
- Private and corporate events – $200 and up
- Social dances (lesson incuded) – $12 – $15
- Single private lesson – $75
- Workshops – $50
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vintagedancecompany.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vintage_dance_company/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VintageDanceCo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VintageDanceCompany
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@vintage_dance_company
