John Glessner never thought a weekend dancing in a Miami night club would lead to a dance career of 40-plus years, but here he is. He is the owner of Avondale Dance, a full-service ballroom dance studio in Murray Hill that provides group and private lessons. He has owned the business since 2000.
Glessner was discovered one night at a disco club by a couple who worked at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio. They approached him and asked if he’d ever thought about teaching ballroom dancing. He had always been around music, holding a music education degree from Florida State University, but he’d never had any professional dance training.
“I had some talent,” Glessner said. “And they must have seen some spark.”
He decided to give it a shot and began teaching part-time while still working full-time at his retail job. When the retail business closed, an opportunity opened to teach dance full time.
“I went to the Fred Astaire Dance Studio there and said, ‘If you want me to be full-time, now is the time. I’m ready,’” Glessner said. “And I’ve been dancing full-time ever since.”
He moved to St. Petersburg and taught at the Fred Astaire studio there before relocating to Tampa and teaching at a studio there and Bradenton for more than 10 years. During that time, one of his students introduced him to his future husband, Ken Sutton. After meeting Sutton, he decided to move to Jacksonville.
He knew the people who owned the Fred Astaire studio in Murray Hill and told them he wanted to come and be a teacher, but that he didn’t want any responsibilities.
“I’m in a new city, in a new relationship, with a new job,” Glessner said. “Everything is new. So, I didn’t need the pressure of running a business.”
Then in 2000, the owners decided to move the business across town, and he wasn’t interested in working over the bridge.
“I had been here three years at that point and I’d kind of gotten my feet wet,” Glessner said.
He helped with the transition to the new studio, but decided to stay in Murray Hill like several of his students who did not want to make the drive across town either.
“They left a turnkey situation studio,” Glessner said. “I negotiated with the landlord and took off running by my lonesome.”
His studio teaches all types of partnership dancing, but it’s more than just ballroom dancing. He teaches beginners all the way up to competitive dancers. “You can go as far as you want to go,” he added.
Dancing has become more like a sport activity, Glessner said. Partnership dancing got a boost thanks to programs like “Dancing With the Stars.”
“It’s a little more generally accepted,” Glessner said. “And it made it cool for men to dance.”
He loves what he does and has a great group of students and staff.
“My idea is that we are kind of like a family or a team, and that’s what I enjoy,” Glessner said. “I love people. I’m teaching, but it’s really kind of like a ministry. I’m also a psychiatrist. You’re helping people find something out about themselves that they weren’t used to and obviously there are many mental health benefits.”
On top of that, the studio is also a great social outlet for people, he said.
“A lot of our students do things on the side with each other,” Glessner said. “As an owner, it’s nice to see that I helped cultivate that.”
“And without blowing my own horn, I think that starts from the top,” Glessner added. “I always wanted everyone to feel welcome and included. I try to keep that family, team spirit. Come in, have fun, have a good time and learn something along the way.”
His studio also hosts several social events as well, which includes dance or practice parties along with a lot of group classes.
In these types of classes, they teach the leads what to do and they get a chance to mix and match with everyone. It becomes a round robin type of dance, he said. It’s a great way to meet people and learn from others with different levels of experience.
“When you ask somebody to dance, you have no idea what you’re going to get,” Glessner said. “So social dancing is great. It prepares you for all those eventualities. The practice parties are like a battleground type of environment.”
The private lessons focus on the student’s specific goals, be they styling, technique, balance, weight loss, health or others.
“It’s fun to watch the progression,” Glessner said. “It’s what I imagine it’s like having kids. You’re the parent, the coach, the teacher.”
He also enjoys teaching couples. Specifically, those who are married and have children.
“Dancing really gives them that nonverbal communication,” Glessner said. “They’re doing a hobby and a skill that they both can learn. They can enjoy each other’s company on a completely different level. And it’s great fun.”
If the couple decides to do a recital or a show, it’s fun to see the kids watch their parents perform as opposed to the parents being the ones in the audience, he added. He also has a few students who dance competitively.
One of his students, Susan Walden, and himself were the undefeated ProAm United States American Smooth champions at the United States DanceSport Competition in Orlando. In 2008, they were also awarded Best Overall, as the No. 1 ProAm couple across all categories.
“It’s probably the highlight of my career,” he said.
He and Walden have competed throughout the United States and she remained in the top six. They have been dancing together for 23 years now.
“She was in it for the medal,” he added.
He works Monday through Friday and his business is like a second spouse. He enjoys having that time on the weekends to spend with his husband.
“I try to keep the weekends just for us,” he said. “I was very lucky because he understood that. He got that it was part of the job.”
When he isn’t working at the studio or spending time with Sutton, he enjoys practicing yoga and going to the gym. He also likes spending time walking his three dogs, two dachshunds and a rat terrier-chihuahua mix.
Traveling is another passion of his and something he and Sutton can make time for thanks to the great staff and foundation he has formed at the studio. Some of his favorite places he’s visited are Peru and Alaska.
