Bringing More Dance to Long Beach: My Interview with Chelsea Johnson of 7th Street Dance Company

A couple years ago I was going back to dance class after a long break and I found a local dance studio called En Pointe and signed up for a ballet class.

It was taught by a really awesome teacher named Chelsea. Having a background in dance I always like to introduce myself to my new teachers, and I’m not sure how it came up but we somehow discovered that we went to the same school for our undergraduate degrees in Dance at Columbia College Chicago.

Fast forward a few years and Chelsea is not only still living here in Long Beach with her husband, teaching at that same dance studio, but she is also the co-founder of 7th Street Dance Company.

I met up with Chelsea for some coffee and a chat to learn more about her dance background, her experience at Columbia College, how she is settling into Long Beach so far, and to learn more about why she co-founded a dance company and what her future goals for 7th Street Dance Company are.

Chelsea was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She started dancing at the ripe age of 4 and has never stopped.

She told me that “it was one of those things that once you get started that’s all you do,” and I can 100% relate. She was in the studio during those formative years Monday through Sunday, and her dance studio became a second home as it does for so many of us. Chelsea was also home-schooled so it was a great outlet for her to make new friends.

Nearing the end of high school when it’s time for us to figure out “what we want to do.”

Chelsea heard the same ol’ “you shouldn’t get a dance degree because it’s not practical” that so many of us who grew up dancing hear. And while there is some truth to it, she knew that dancing is what she loved, it was her true passion when she was growing up, so she went for it.

Chelsea ultimately moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College, but she weighed her other options before making that decision. After graduating high school she went to an intensive in Kansas City for a month, and while she loved the city, the program had a ballet emphasis which just wasn’t the right fit. Flexibility wasn’t something that came naturally–she had to work very hard to “get her splits.”

She also looked at Boston Conservatory but it was too far from home for her to feel comfortable heading out on her own as an 18-year-old. Chelsea heard that Columbia College had a good modern program, and although she wasn’t entirely sure what “modern” was, she also heard it was a good way for her to keep dancing that fit her body type better than ballet. Also, her parents would be within driving distance, and her aunt and uncle lived in Hyde Park, a nearby suburb so she could live with them while going to school.

Her decision to go to Columbia had been made, but she was encouraged to stay in her hometown for a year to attend community college and earn some of her general education credits. Reluctantly, not wanted to be “that person stuck in her hometown going to community college,” she ended up seeing the value and went. Chelsea took a variety of classes and excelled at all of them. When she sent in her transcripts to Columbia they were so impressed they offered her a generous scholarship. That really sealed the deal. She was off to Chicago.  

Along with having the rare opportunity to graduate without a lot of debt, Chelsea enjoyed her time as a dance major, especially for the opportunity to explore the city of Chicago and its rich dance scene. (Same! I loved living in Chicago and miss the dance scene there so much. But not the winters. Sorry, Chicago.)

I asked if she had any exceptionally inspirational or motivational moments at Columbia, and without hesitation, she mentioned her teacher Colleen Halloran. Chelsea had Colleen for Dance Making 2, Dance Making 3, and Choreographic Project. She loved how Colleen made her think differently about choreography. In the past, like so many of us coming out of dance at our childhood dance studios, we think of choreography as picking a song first and putting movement to it second. With Colleen’s guidance, Chelsea began to look at choreography in a much deeper way.

Colleen also left such a long-lasting impression on Chelsea because she inspired her to keep doing better and to believe in herself. Overall, and this is something I am ever grateful for too, Columbia College teaches you that dance isn’t just a series of pirouettes or being able to “get the splits.” It teaches you that you can still be a beautiful dancer and dance maker without these things, and how powerful dance as an art form has been and will continue to be.

After graduation Chelsea hit the audition trail.

She danced for a handful of small companies, danced as an apprentice, taught dance class, and danced for a company who used dance to teach Shakespeare to local elementary students.  

Eventually, her husband, Noah, got a job out here in California so they headed off to the West Coast. It was a little scary for Chelsea because she didn’t have anything set up here in Long Beach and her entire dance network– her dancers, dance friends, sound guy, and costume designer– were all in Chicago so it was hard for her to have the creative outlet she was used to. But eventually, things started rolling. She got a job teaching at the dance studio En Pointe and some of her dance friends from Chicago moved out to the LA area too.

At this point, it had been almost a year since Chelsea was able to set choreography on anyone, and she started getting the itch to choreograph again.

This itch is something that other artists can relate to so her LA dance community was happy to have her set work on them, and they performed her work at the Mix Match Dance Festival in Santa Monica.

The festival was a wonderful experience for Chelsea because not only was she able to perform her work, but the festival itself had a very broad mix of dance including belly dancing, ballet, modern, contemporary, and cultural dance. She saw choreography with influences of Graham, release based technique, and Horton. Turns out that LA has more to offer than commercial dance like she had been told, and this was wonderful news. Shortly after her experience at Mix Match, she started working on 7th Street Dance Company.   

Other than commercial dance, Chelsea knew nothing about the dance scene on LA, and especially Long Beach. She didn’t want to be a backup dancer, but once she moved to Long Beach she was happy to discover that this city is thriving in art. She and her husband started going to farmers markets, festivals and ended up falling in love with Long Beach. It’s not as harsh as LA and still has a very diverse with an urban feel. Between art shows, First Fridays, Retro Row, and open mics at coffee shops, there’s just so much to experience here. Except for one thing– modern dance at a professional or advanced level.

Chelsea asked her fellow teacher, and longtime Long Beach native Charles Fentroy why there weren’t more pro classes, and beyond that why there isn’t a local Long Beach modern or contemporary dance company. Turns out Charles had a company in the past and has been wanting to start a new one, and it’s been a dream for Chelsea too.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a company to set work on and grow the Long Beach dance scene?

The answer is yes. Charles brought up co-directing a company, and while she was hesitant at first because of not having a huge network out here, she jumped in anyways and agreed. Charles has tons of connections and Chelsea is great at the business side of things. She could apply to the festivals, find collaborations, and run their social media. After a few more conversations they said “let’s do it” and set up their first audition. By putting up flyers at local coffee shops, sending out emails, and telling friends, they had a successful first audition.

12 people came and they brought on 8 dancers to join the company with a wide variety of dance backgrounds, from a ballerina who danced for Disney to enthusiastic jazz dancers, everyone was so excited for the opportunity. Chelsea drew up a contract and started applying to dance festivals. 7th Street Dance Company was officially in full operation.

I was curious about where the name 7th Street Dance Company came from.

Part of the motivation to start a dance company was for the ability to have great dance locally without having to drive an hour to LA. Because the company is so Long Beach-centric, they wanted their name to reflect the city. Street names came to mind, like Anaheim or Redondo (Broadway was a hard NO for obvious reasons), and they decided on 7th Street because they are the resident dance company of En Pointe which is located on 7th and Termino.

Last year, their inaugural year, the goal was to get the name out so that the community would know who 7th Street Dance Company is. This year the ultimate goal is to have a 7th Street Dance Company concert. They are also continuing on the festival route to get into different spaces, but want to keep Long Beach as their main location. By bringing in more guest choreographers the goal is to set more pieces on the company to grow their repertoire quickly as well. Chelsea also mentioned that they would love to collaborate with poets and other local Long Beach artists.

I actually discovered 7th Street on Instagram before I even knew it was Chelsea’s company.

I asked her about how social media has helped them gain more exposure in Long Beach and in the broader dance community. Instagram has been the golden social media platform for them. It reaches the most people in their audience and it’s easier to figure out the Instagram algorithm over Facebook (although they do still have a Facebook page). The nation-wide art festival Raw even found them via Instagram and reached out to invite them to perform. Chelsea also uses Instagram as a way to connect with other local Long Beach businesses and grow their network of supporters.  

Randomly meeting a dancer who went to the same college as I was exciting enough as it is, and now seeing her actually “doing it,” and growing a dance company in a new dance frontier like Long Beach is so exciting. I can’t wait to see what they will be up to next and catch some of their upcoming performances.

Show your support for dance in Long Beach!

7th Street Dance Company has set up a GoFundme page where your donations will help them afford costumes, performance spaces, etc., and will allow them to give a more well-rounded experience for audience members. Donate HERE.

You should definitely follow them on Instagram @7thstreetdanceco and Like them on Facebook to stay up to date on performances and announcements. You can email seventhstreetdanceco@hotmail.com to contact them for bookings as well.