The Student Lens: The Jessie Interview

 

Hello Everyone, and welcome back to The Student Lens series. Today, I am here to chat with Jessie (they/them), a student who started going to Elemental Studios back in April of 2025 and has continued to grow and improve in their dance journey. They have shown that even if you leave dance for however long, you can go back and have even more drive and passion than you ever had. 

Before we get into the interview, let's learn about Jessie, shall we?

"Hello, my name is Jessie, or I also go by the name Moon, feel free to call me whatever you like! 

I'm currently 21, I'm half-Mexican, half-Honduran, born in Phoenix, Arizona, but raised in Colorado!

I don't have much of a background in dance. I only got into dancing because of K-pop. I have been a fan since 2016, and it has seriously helped me get through difficult times. 

When I was going to high school, I had seen that the school I was going to had a K-pop club, so I joined right away, and that's where I was roped into doing K-pop dance cover performances for all 4 years. It was really fun! My junior year was online cause of COVID, so I decided to take dancing a bit more seriously and joined the school's dance-class elective, and did that for my junior and senior years of high school.

After that, I didn't dance much; I didn't even know Colorado offered dance classes. But about 3 years later, in April 2025, I finally enrolled in my first dance class at Elemental!"

Let's get into the interview!

1. You became a student in April 2025. What convinced you to come and try out the studio?

Jessie: "Yeah, it was actually a combination of a lot of things. Before my first class, I had already seen ads about Elemental and especially about Jake's beginner/intermediate. Femme Funk class had actually caught my interest cause back then, he would do a lot of previews of his combos, and it always looked fun even tho I didn't know what "Femme Funk" was lol. Then, in early April, I went to a fanmeet for this Thai actor named Gemini. I randomly ended up sitting next to Coral (the Elemental Studios blog author), we got along and exchanged socials, and that's where I saw more promotion for the studio. I had originally wanted to go to the dance studio with a close friend since we used to dance in a K-pop club together in high school. However, our schedules never aligned, and I was too scared to go alone at the time. 

What ultimately pushed me to go to my first class was because I had a really painful falling out with my two closest friends since freshman year of high school, it was extremely painful to let that part of my life go, but that very week of our falling out, I saw Coral post that she was gonna be at Jake's femme funk class and that people should go to his class. That's when I decided I was not gonna wait to try new things just because I was afraid to go alone, and I had nothing to lose anymore or holding me back at that point lol, I then booked my first dance class right away so I couldn't back out since I had prepaid for it. Knowing that, Coral, someone with similar interests to me, would be there really helped with my decision to go to the studio. 

April was truly a turning point in my life, met a new friend with similar interests, started a new job, lost some friends, and finally got back into dance after about 3 years. Starting at Elemental was a great decision as it opened up a whole wide world of growth, new friends, brought back my creativity, and is ultimately very fun and everyone is nice and non-judgmental."

2. What is a fun fact about yourself that you would love for us to know about you?

Jessie: "I'm actually an artist! Or a "creative," you could say. I grew up as the nerdy art kid instead of dancing as a kid. I have done all types of media, from watercolor, realistic charcoal, acrylic painting, but now I mainly do digital art. I recently graduated as a graphic designer and photographer, and am working on designing more logos, stickers, posters, and art prints for photography. I mainly focus on portraits, fashion, and concert photography, but since I'm still new to photography, I want to try different types of photography and learn more, so if you are interested in a shoot or need any branding/illustration design,, let me know on Instagram @shotwithjam!"

3.  What do you look forward to the most when coming to Elemental Studios?

Jessie: "I look forward to great song choices and seeing my friends. It may seem weird, but for me, almost all my class choices are based on the song for that week, it's more enjoyable that way, even if the class is labeled as "intermediate/advanced". Since becoming a work study at Elemental, I've made more friends and have gotten more comfortable talking to new people, which makes me excited to see who will be at the studio depending on which day I go."

4. When you first came to the studio, what was your first class, and can you tell us about that experience?

Jessie: "My first class was Jake's Beginner/Intermediate Femme Funk, it was on Thursdays at 5:15pm. I was SO nervous, but that class was a great experience! From the beginning, when I entered, I had mentioned it was my first class, and someone started talking to me, and it turned out it was his first class with Jake, too. So that made me feel more comfortable! I also did end up seeing Coral in that class, too! That first class was fun, but also hard since at that point, I hadn't danced for about 3 years since graduating high school! I really struggled to keep up. 

Jake was really fun and a great teacher at explaining and going over parts. He was really reassuring that I was doing well. I really do have to thank him cause through my whole first month of taking his class and going to Elemental, Jake would always have me go up for the end-of-class group filming, and there were times where I didn't want to but still did because of how nice and non-judgmental the environment was. Without that push, I would've never started filming myself during class or even raising my hand for the end-of-class filming. 

His class really made me realize that I do like dance. I used to dance in high school, mainly during a K-pop dance club and regular dance elective, but it's high school, and people are judgmental so, I had thought I didn't like dance that much. However, since my first class at Elemental was so welcoming, I then signed up for the unlimited monthly membershipand pushed myself to try other classes, which was great!

For the first couple of months, I always had extreme anxiety during class, during filming, and especially when I decided to post my progress on my Instagram. But I realized that dancing and this space were making me feel more comfortable in multiple ways. And I ultimately did enjoy every class I was taking so I kept going back. :)"

5. What keeps you motivated to keep going to classes that challenge you?

Jessie: "Honestly, I don't see classes per skill level anymore. Yes, I stick to beginner/intermediate classes right now, but I do take more difficult classes only because of the song choice! If the song is fire, then I want to be in that room listening to that song on repeat for an hour, no matter how much of the choreo I actually get. I've noticed that when I really like the song choice, it's easier for me to get the choreo down because it's not overwhelming. And that goes the same with choreo sneak peeks, I really enjoy seeing fun previews of what to expect for a class, I've taken many intermediate classes just because the combo looks like it really matches the song choice." 

6. If you were to describe Elemental Studios to someone who wants to try it out but wasn't sure, how would you describe it?

Jessie: "I would say that Elemental Studios is just a fun, non-judgmental space. For me, I'm glad that I didn't sit with that feeling of wanting to start for a long time because life has been really fun since I started here. You can go with friends or alone and still have a great time. Just having a comfortable place to move your body is great therapy."

7. What class/classes have been your favorite so far?

Jessie: "Before I say my favorite, I just want to say that everyone who teaches at Elemental has great classes and different styles which I really enjoy, so there will be a class for everyone, you just have to try one out. I may be biased since it was my first class but I still really enjoy Jake's Femme Funk Classes. He really is friendly, great at explaining, and goes over the choreography multiple times, which really helps. 

One class that I really loved was Sang's Intermediate/Advanced Hip-Hop Fusion class. His song choices were elite. My favorite combo that he did was to the song "Dracula" by Tame Impala. Even though the combos were difficult, it was always fun, and it was really cool to see that I was able to catch up in his class! He was also really friendly during his classes and his class helped me realize what style of dance that I enjoy the most. 

One class that is also always fun are Manni's Hip-Hop classes, it's the one class where even if I don't know the song, the combo is always fun and beginner friendly, she also has a great personality that makes you want to keep taking her classes." 

8. Is there a class that you have wanted to try but have hesistated to go?

Jessie: "I am still intimidated by Aiyana's Intermediate/Advanced Hip-Hop class because I have seen her dancing online and her attention to detail is just beautiful, I just feel like my skills aren't to that level yet. However, she just got into Royal Family Dance Crew, so I am not sure if I'll be able to catch any of her classes before she goes!"

9. Do you have any dance goals for yourself?

Jessie: "My dance goal is to keep going, I hope this won't be a temporary hobby. Some technical goals I have are clean arms, smooth grooves, and to build stamina for fast paced choreos. I would also love to start making my own choreo to songs as I have a diverse music taste and I can't always recommend songs for the current class choices, my dance skills aren't super good right now but I hope that this coming year, I can grow more to where I can make my own choreo to my favorite songs, and am glad to have this studio as a place to grow."

10. What do you look forward to in your dance journey with this studio?

Jessie: "I want to take more intermediate/advanced classes, take more k-pop classes since k-pop is the whole reason I even got interested in the first place! And I finally found a community that makes me comfortable for listening to k-pop."

Thanks to Jessie for interviewing with me. Make sure to catch them at the studio either during check-in when they check you in for your classes or say hi to them during a class you see them in, in the future. You can follow Jessie on their Instagram at @04.jam and their photography page at @shotwithjam to book your next shoot! 

See you guys in the next Student Lens Interview.