Kristin Sudeikis is a professional choreographer and the founder and creator of Forward__Space, a movement anchored in dance. Since Forward__Space began in 2018, Sudeikis has brought communities together nationwide and through the Virtual Hub, now in over 100 countries. This year, Kristin was featured in Oprah Magazine’s January issue and created moving meditations for the Oprah Daily platform in June. And the momentum continues to build. This upcoming fall, Forward__Space will be one of the premier partners on Mirror technology.
We spoke with Kristin about her journey and advice to others.
What inspired Forward__Space?
I never had the desire to open a studio. However, I did know that creating these dance experiences for brands, people, dance studios, and clients was an internal call to meet external demand.
How did you bring that calling to life?
I took out a loan to create a business plan in the fall of 2015, and then I tapped a real estate agent and looked at 50-something spaces in New York City. I was being pushed to go uptown. My gut was telling me to go downtown where so much of the revolutionary art was, and musicians and fashion were. In 2017 I walked into this space [downtown] that had been a gallery for 10 years. It was completely cleared out and the only thing left on the wall was “we may be through with the past.” I saw that, and the address of 24 Spring Street, and I knew. Spring, birthing new life. And 24 hours a day. It just all felt like that was it. We opened the doors on October 4, 2018.
What has being an entrepreneur taught you?
So much of my skillset as a choreographer, a dancer, and an artistic director is applied to how I am as an entrepreneur. As a choreographer, I see a dance in my mind and I bring it to life, and it becomes real. It becomes practical. It’s the same in this vision and execution of Forward__Space. I see something, what can happen, and then I bring it to fruition. I use those skills of listening, collective leadership, adaptability, resilience, flexibility, vision, and execution and I apply all of those same skills. It’s more than just owning a business. It’s an entire experience — the brand, the team, the collective. I have a team of people, close confidants, advisors, and mentors, these are the people in my life. And I ask a lot of questions.
As more of a movement than a studio, you place a lot of emphasis on your community.
I feel like I was called to bring dance to more people than it is typically given. To widen the scope of who can access what it feels like to dance. People are the pinnacle. The team and the growing community. What I’m doing as an entrepreneur is the same thing I’m doing as an individual — doing all that I can to connect, first to self then to connect to those around me. Forward__Space is about connecting to the community and what they are needing, then the world at large. And then I come back to the self again.
What is it about dance that moves you?
Dance is as essential as water, to dance and move our bodies. For our mental, physical, and energetic health. When you’re learning choreography you think, “If I don’t get a dance step yet, what do I do? Do I quit? Do I freeze?” All of that is similar to what happens in life. Can you keep staying with the movement? Ask questions, look at the people around you who really know it, and learn from what they’re doing. And listen all the time.
What advice do you have for others out there who want to start something of their own?
I like to pose the question — what fills your well? Entrepreneurship is definitely not for the faint of heart. You need to feel called. If you even have to ask yourself if you feel called fully, pause, because it is so daunting. Pause unless you know for a fact that you feel driven to do this, to create whatever you’re wanting to create. As you create, be clear. Identify the what, why, and how — write, refine, and clarify. Tap into and tune into what you want and why you want it. Really surround yourself with people who nourish and elevate that. The ones who make you feel like you can exhale and play bigger. If you’re going to break out to lead something, a connection to self, the why, and the people you have around you need to be nourishing, inspiring, and elevating.
You’re an avid reader. What are your book recommendations?
“Eleven Rings” by Phil Jackson. “Becoming Supernatural” by Joe Dispenza. “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke. “It’s About Damn Time” by Arlan Hamilton. And “The Path Made Clear” by Oprah Winfrey.
A quote you live by?
Albert Einstein’s “Play is the highest form of research.”
Forward__Space will be at The Topping Rose from August 26 through Labor Day, where Kristin taught her first Hamptons dance experience in 2014. And be on the lookout for new locations on the Upper East Side and in West Hollywood.