On Growing as an Artist, Dancer, and Dance Educator through STEEZY Studio Dance App
An interview with Jessica Holyfield
Jessica Holyfield was one of the community’s most active, friendliest, and most encouraging dancers, whom I noticed as a newbie when I joined the STEEZY community Facebook Group in November of last year. She even hosted dance instructor and freestyling challenges, motivating us to learn dance routines from one specific STEEZY dance instructor together and practice freestyling based on one specific technique taught in a STEEZY class. It’s inspiring to watch her new dance video (sometimes even more!) each day and to receive her appreciative and encouraging comments on our dance videos. And most recently, she has been collaborating with other active dancers in the community to perform STEEZY routines together.
I’m truly amazed at how she is focused on excelling in both the technicality and creativity in her dances and how she appreciates and supports fellow dancers, regardless of our dance experience and skills.
This was what inspired me to interview her. We had a lovely, casual chat over Zoom, and here are some of the highlights of our chat. My questions are in headers, and Jessica’s answers are underneath each question. Her responses are edited for brevity and clarity.
How Jessica got started on STEEZY
When did you first subscribe to STEEZY, and what motivated you to do it?
From where I’m located in the USA, it isn't easy to access authentic and commercial hip-hop and street dance choreographies. I would need to travel to Los Angeles (LA) to learn them, so STEEZY is a great way to learn without needing to travel to LA all the time. STEEZY has many great foundational programs, such as Popping, House, and Whacking, where the key cultures to these dance styles are introduced in a very well-thought way, so this helps me become a better teacher in my local dance community.
I saw some recommended videos from STEEZY on YouTube and signed up for the membership in 2016. But I wasn’t active on STEEZY until I discovered and joined its Facebook community in 2021.
Yes! How does joining the community help you in being more active on STEEZY?
By holding myself accountable to the community, I took many more classes and pushed myself to improve. Whenever I announce a challenge in the group or tell a fellow dance buddy I want to do something; I’m much more likely to follow through with my commitment and do my best at it.
That’s why I made the Instructor challenge, learning all the dance routines from a specific Instructor, as it forced me to learn from choreographers I would never have picked for myself. This allowed me to grow in an accountable environment versus just doing it alone. If you were to ask me to collaborate on a dance routine together, I would do it because you’re holding me accountable.
I think what sets STEEZY apart from most other online dance apps is the accountability and support of its online community.
On balancing STEEZY with her personal life
Since Jessica is using STEEZY to achieve both her personal and professional goals, I was curious to know how much time she spends on STEEZY, and how she balances that with her personal life.
How are you making full use of the STEEZY subscription? Did you have a specific plan, and how has it evolved so far?
I feel like I get my money’s worth for sure because I pay US$99 for an annual subscription, and I take more than 99 classes in a year! I’m spending less than a dollar to take each class using the app.
If you take even just ten classes on the app within a year, you are already getting your money’s worth. A physical drop-in class with the same instructors in LA costs around US$12, and that excludes transportation costs to get there.
The downside, of course, is that some of us learn better in a physical class environment. STEEZY has started introducing ‘live’ classes where we can zoom in on the instructor and interact with the instructor and other participants ‘live’, so I think that’s the best an online platform can do to mimic the physical ‘live’ class environment.
Since you spend so much time taking STEEZY classes, I’m curious to know how you plan your daily or weekly schedules to do these classes. Do you plan them? How do you prevent yourself from being too obsessed with it?
Well, I used to take classes without resting much. I sacrificed spending time with people who matter to me to take those extra classes. That was alright for a season, but not for my entire life.
So after a season of doing that, I relaxed into a healthier rhythm where taking STEEZY classes is like a part-time job. I make time for these classes, but it doesn’t usually take up my entire day. If there’s something specific I want to learn, I schedule my learning over a few days instead of letting it take over my entire day because my body doesn’t learn well in a one-day marathon.
I’m focusing on learning choreography this year, so I aim to complete learning 200 routines. Right now (this interview was in early November), I have 40 more routines to complete by the end of these two months, which can be split into 20 routines each month. This feels very doable. I also want to take at least one class from each instructor on STEEZY and feel good learning each routine. So I let these intentions guide me to pick the next routine to learn.
I also pick routines according to the attire I wear for the day. I’d probably pick a more masculine style if I wore baggy clothes like a hoodie and joggers. But I'd pick a more feminine style if I wore a crop top and leggings.
Next year, my goal is to hit a thousand classes. I’ve taken almost 700 classes, which makes this a doable goal. I will focus on taking quality classes and enjoy the process.
I always have a goal in mind. I always have something I’m working towards, which helps me discipline myself.
You train like a Kungfu Master!
Aww, I’m flattered! Thank you!
Bingz: I’m so envious that Jessica went to the physical STEEZY Studio earlier this year and had her performance recorded against the famous STEEZY backdrop! Here’s Jessica’s super cool rendition of Chris Martin’s choreography to Winter Blues by Joyner Lucas.
Waving is her spiritual practice
I was curious to find out if Jessica picks specific routines to dance to feel better on crappy days.
Do you ever dance specifically for your mental health? Do you choose a routine to dance to feel good instead of focusing on choreography and dance techniques?
Yes! That’s where Waving comes in. Waving is like a spiritual practice for me. My walk with Jesus determines my ability in Waving and how spiritually connected I feel as I do it. It is very intimate and directly connected with my walk with Jesus, so if that’s not disciplined, then my Waving practice will not feel disciplined. I would feel quite lost.
Waving is so different from doing choreography. When I learn a choreographed routine, I know that I’m done when I’m done. But with Waving, it never feels like I will do and be done with it. It’s always about going into each Waving practice and doing it until I feel I no longer need to do it.
Wow. Does it feel like being a vessel and for the movement to be expressed through your Waving practice?
Yes, that feels like a good way to put it across.
It feels like I’m growing holistically with these expectations I have for myself. I want to be efficient and good at Waving and be respected in the community. These are broader intentions that are not as quantifiable as completing 200 routines. I will only know when I’ve achieved these intentions when I get there.
Since there are no external expectations placed on me to execute Waving in a certain way in a fixed time frame, I’m free to go at my own pace. I’m trying to find a way to focus mentally as a dancer and an artist.
I have the ‘bones’ of Waving, but I can interpret it using my musical perspective or how I see myself. I can feel good about doing it my way once I have the Wave down.
Who and where are you actively learning Waving from?
I’ve mostly been learning from the personal connections within the Waving community, especially from Jay Smooth, who’s been my mentor for almost a year. He’s been working with me one-on-one on growing myself through Waving. This has been the most difficult time, but I’ve also achieved tremendous growth.
STEEZY helps in a different way because of the relationships I’ve made through it — I know Clay Boonthanakit (Director of Video) and Jessie Ma (Director of Content) well, and other people who work and teach at STEEZY because I’ve been doing their choreography and posting my videos of their routines and meeting them in person. It’s been super satisfying learning from them based on our natural friendships instead of from a ‘teach-me-your-ways’ perspective.
Bingz: I love the gentleness, grace, strength, and sacred reverence Jessica shows in her amazing concept dance to celebrate her birthday this year. It moves me deeply.
Closing notes
Thank you, dear Jessica, for sharing more about your passion for dance, how you balance discipline with spontaneity, how you motivate yourself and encourage others using the STEEZY community, and how you strengthen your spiritual connection through Waving. I’m grateful to learn more about you through this interview.
Dear readers, thank you for reading this. I hope this inspires you with new ideas to keep growing as a dancer while fully enjoying every step of your journey.
More about Jessica Holyfield
Jessica Holyfield is a dance educator based out of Huntsville, AL, who desires to grow dancers of all ages and abilities through street styles within the studio dance community. She is the Company Director at Rhythms of Grace Dance Academy and the Lead Street Style Curriculum Instructor at Dancers Incorporated and Soles Dance Center. She is also a National Certified judge with HipHop International and the #1 user of STEEZY studio. You can check out her various dance videos on Instagram and YouTube.
*Disclaimer: I do not receive any monetary benefits from STEEZY for writing this article. This is an article of pure gratitude for this wonderful app and the amazing people I feel so inspired by.
