Meet Diamond Davis | Co-Owner and Dance Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diamond Davis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diamond, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We were both previously working in the dance field together, doing long hours, seeing many issues within this art form, and ultimately not having anything to show for our hard work. So we talked and realized that we may as well do this for ourselves so we can actually make an impact. One issue that we noticed that we wanted to do differently was first and foremost cost. Dance is an incredibly expensive activity to put your children in, not only are the classes expensive, but then you have registration fees, costume fees, uniform fees, recital fees, competition fees, etc. Although many of these are necessary, we found that many people who are in charge would overcharge these fees to a level that crossed into unethical. We understand as business owners we have to charge for our time and labor, but charging triple the amount for something that takes five minutes to do was just dishonest. Because of this, dance is very inaccesible to many families in our communities especially living in south Florida where everything is so expensive. Dance is an art form that helps build confidence, motor skill development, and social bonds which should be accessible to everyone since it benefits everyone. That’s why we had a vision of providing high quality, low cost dance education to our community. Furthermore, we made a commitment to provide a healthy environment free from body shaming, yelling, and judgment while teaching in a fun and engaging way. We talked about this vision for nearly a year before actually opening so that we could make sure we had all the plans in place to follow through with this vision.

What should our readers know about your business?
What sets us apart from other dance companies, is that our focus is more on kids developing their dance skills while still having fun. Our teaching methods are more aligned with respecting our dancers boundaries while still encouraging them to be great. There are strategies for teaching children that allow them to be the best that they can be that are in a positive manner. There are many studios focused on their dancers being the best and they train their dancers to be the best using negativity and punishment.

We got to where we are today with lots of planning and communication. Although it has been very far from easy, we are two hard-working women who truly believe in our mission and have been willing to put in everything we have to make this work. We have been steadily growing and happy to hear from our customers that our vision is having the impact we had hoped. We have gotten feedback that they are happy with our prices which allows them to take more classes, and most importantly their children love our classes and are so happy and excited to keep coming back.

One thing that we want everyone to know is that this is more than just a business to us. This is our passion and we truly want everyone to feel at home here.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
As a vegan, I’d have to take them to all of my favorite vegan friendly spots! First being Thai Meal and Asian Bites Bistró in sunrise. Then for some desserts we’d have to strop at Stephanie’s Vegan Bakery. Once we’re nice and full we’d go to MODS (The Museum of Discovery and Science) and see all of their cool things. We’d definitely find ourselves at Las Olas beach at some point during their trip. If they brought their kids I’d take them to some of my favorite playgrounds like Welleby Park.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to shout out our parents who we would literally not have been able to do this without. They put in their physical labor and financial help to allow our dreams to come true!

Website: florentinadance.com

Instagram: instagram.com/florentinadance

Image Credits
Diamond Davis, Allison Edwards, Andrea Perez, Aysia Goodwin, Nina Lopez, Hannah Bigot, A’Jay Robinson