Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris & Sarah Ivey
Chris & Sarah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Chris started his dance journey in 2008 in college. He didn’t start taking things “seriously” until an old girlfriend walked off the floor mid-dance because he wasn’t very good. That moment inspired him to start taking group lessons and start his learning and competing era.
Sarah started her dance journey in college as well but didn’t start taking things “seriously” until 2019 when she was introduced to the dance community in Austin. Shortly after plugging into the dance scene, COVID shut everything down.
We met at Mavericks Dancehall Buda during the two-weeks that businesses were allowed to open before shutting down again. Dating and dancing during that time was interesting to say the least and creativity was essential! Underground dance parties and lots of tailgate/outdoor dates were had.
As our love grew so did our dance. Our first teaching gig was at Cowboys San Antonio. Since then, we’ve gained popularity through social media and now travel all across the U.S. teaching people to dance, growing communities, helping couples with wedding dances, hosting events, performing, competing, and having the privilege to do it together as husband and wife.
We have taught over 10,000 people in our group classes, have 90+ competition wins, have over 325,000 followers on our social media combined and have reached over 50 million people across the globe! We’ve been a part of several popular country music videos including names such as Tyler Hubbard, Dierks Bentley, and Ashley McBryde! We’ve been featured in podcasts, on the radio, and on The Knot wedding website, taught and performed at Stagecoach, and so much more!
Life-long learning is at the core of what we teach and do. We’ve trained with multiple world champion dancers in many different styles of dance and continue to learn new techniques to this day. Whether related to dance, teaching, relationships, or small business ownership. We aspire to impact as many people’s lives as possible through dance as it has had such a profound impact on our own lives!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We absolutely had (and still have) obstacles! We embrace them though as they have sharpened us into the people we are today. COVID was definitely the first obstacle. Shutdowns and minimized human contact makes partner dancing a little hard! Our second major obstacle was our day-jobs. While we were building and cultivating Red Dirt Dancing, we also worked full time jobs as an environmental consultant and VP of sales and marketing for a liquor promotions company. While they held critical roles in our lives, it made progressing a small business slower. Fun fact: within 6 months of marriage and 15 days of each other we both lost our jobs. While on our way to teach a weekend dance workshop in Florida, we “burned the boats” and put all our faith and energy into Red Dirt Dancing. We opened all our availability and we’re filled up by the end of the weekend! All of this while cultivating a relationship and eventually planning a wedding!
The current challenges lie in small business evolution/growing pains, adjusting to our new “standard work week”, and work-marriage balance. It’s worth it though.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We’re best known for dance. Dancing content on social media, dancing with each other, social dancing, competing, etc. Country dance in particular but we know, teach, and dance over 14 different styles! We specialize in fun! It’s a core value of Red Dirt Dancing and is built in to our logo (jackalope symbol)! Although we’re mostly known for dance we bring a lot of other skills to the table: marketing strategy, social media management, content creation, graphic design, customer service, human resources, Emceeing, coordinating events, DJing, and small business consultations to name a few!
We are most proud of the impacts we’ve made and still make to people’s lives. It’s an incredible opportunity to be in an influential position and we don’t take it lightly. We’re blessed (and proud) to have made dance our full time jobs.
There are a few things we think sets us a part. First, being a husband-wife duo. Although there are some, there’s not many married couples teaching together full time. It’s not easy working with your spouse but we’ve made it work for us! And quite honestly, we prefer teaching together.
We’re also known for our lifts and aerials. Not many people are brave enough to do them let alone teach them to groups of people!
We create a very entertaining, fun, and encouraging atmosphere in all of our classes (groups, privates, and workshops), and we don’t teach the same thing every week. We do it for our students but it keeps the job lively for us as well.
Our roots aren’t in dance. Neither of us were born in a studio. Neither of us grew up dancing. If there has been a mistake to be made in dance or a move, we’ve made it and we know how to fix/help it. We’re relatable. Chris was a football player and Sarah was a musician.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We’ve got a few:
#1 Learning to dance was one of the best things we have ever done. There are an incredible number of things to learn from dance that has nothing to do with dance itself.
#2 Bet on yourself. Don’t be afraid to take chances. Have faith in Christ. Have faith in yourself. Burn the boats!
#3 Support small businesses. There are numerous ways to support small businesses without even spending a dime (or spending very little)! Like, comment, share on social media posts. Leave positive reviews. Show up to support at events. Watch their dog (thanks Mom)! We would not be here if it weren’t for the support of our friends and family.
#4 YeeHaw and dance on!
Pricing:
- Free group lessons at Thirsty Horse (no partner required)
- $5 per person group lessons at Mavericks Buda (no partner required)
- $80 for 45 minutes private lessons (Chris & Sarah both, no partner required)
- Event pricing may vary (weddings, workshops, etc)
- Everything can be found on our website www.reddirtdancing.com or reach out to us directly with questions!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reddirtdancing.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/reddirtdancing
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/reddirtdancing
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/@reddirtdancing
- TikTok: TikTok.com/@reddirtdancing
- Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/red-dirt-dancing-new-braunfels-tx-2072014
