Inside the rapid rise of The Groove Lab
Photos by Jamie Plain
When Steffan Clark and Ellis Birkhead opened The Groove Lab last fall, they called it an experiment. The name fit. Owensboro had never had a dance studio dedicated to hip hop, funk, and commercial choreography. There was no roadmap for how many students would sign up, whether adults would embrace the concept, or how quickly the community would respond.
Nine months later, the lab is buzzing with activity.
More than 100 students have enrolled. Adult classes have become one of the studio’s biggest success stories. The Groove Lab’s first showcase drew a packed audience, and plans that Clark and Birkhead once thought were years away are already being accelerated.
The success looks much different than where the journey began.
FROM SHED TO STUDIO
Long before there was a studio at 4325 Gateway Drive, Clark and Birkhead were teaching dance in sheds, garages, parking lots, and wherever else they could find space. Summer meant unbearable heat. Winter meant freezing temperatures. Yet they kept showing up, creating choreography, filming videos, and building a following that stretched far beyond Owensboro.
Today, that journey has led them to a thriving studio of their own — one filled with children discovering confidence, adults trying dance for the first time, and a community that has embraced something new.
“We knew there was a need for this studio in Owensboro,” Clark said. “But I never try to make assumptions. You can have people expressing interest, but until people actually walk through the doors, you don’t know.”
Those doors officially opened in September, just weeks after Clark and Birkhead signed a lease on the former retail space. In roughly three weeks, they transformed a mostly empty building into a fully functioning dance studio. Today, visitors are greeted by a lobby filled with energy and personality, a founders’ wall covered with signatures from supporters who helped launch the business, and a spacious main dance room featuring more than 1,100 square feet of spring flooring designed to absorb impact and protect dancers’ bodies.
Even the studio’s design pays tribute to where it all started. Many of the rustic colors and textures incorporated throughout The Groove Lab are intentional nods to the old days inside a shed.
“We wanted it to have a modern feel, but also have a Southern feel,” Clark said. “We’re Kentucky. We wanted it to feel like that.”
A second studio space is already under construction and will allow the business to expand classes, rehearsals, and specialty programming. The room is expected to have a dramatically different aesthetic, embracing the studio’s laboratory theme with brighter colors and a more experimental feel. The expansion is another sign of how quickly things have progressed.
FINDING QUICK SUCCESS
While Clark and Birkhead expected interest from children, they weren’t sure what kind of response they would receive from adults. That uncertainty didn’t stop them from building adult classes into their schedule from the very beginning.
“We knew we could get kid dancers,” Birkhead said. “Where the hope was, we were putting all these adult classes on the schedule hoping we could get adults to show up.”
One of the studio’s most popular offerings has become its beginner adult classes, drawing a wide variety of people who never imagined they would find themselves learning hip hop choreography. Construction workers arrive after work. Parents carve out an hour of personal time each week. Former dancers rediscover a passion they thought they had left behind years ago.
“We’ve got moms with three kids at home,” Birkhead said. “It’s their one hour a week. They’re telling their husband, ‘I’m going to go have me time.’”
Clark and Birkhead recognized Owensboro has long offered strong dance opportunities, particularly for children. But options for adults — especially those interested in hip hop, funk, and commercial choreography — have been limited. The Groove Lab was designed to fill that gap.
Rather than trying to offer every dance style imaginable, the studio has focused on what Clark and Birkhead know best.
“Finding a niche and being really good at your niche can take you farther than trying to be a jack of all trades,” Birkhead said.
That focus is also attracting people who previously believed dance simply wasn’t for them. One of the most common things Clark hears is some variation of the same statement: “I don’t have rhythm.”
His response is always similar.
“If you can clap on beat, you have rhythm,” Clark said. “The rest is coordination, and coordination can be developed.”
The results are visible every day inside the studio. Children who arrive shy and hesitant gradually become confident performers. Adults who begin in introductory classes start moving into intermediate levels. Students who once stood in the back of the room eventually make their way to the front.
“The students that are the most shy and timid when they walk in here, three or four sessions in, they’re the most vocal,” Birkhead said. “They go from standing in the back to standing all the way up front.”
Those transformations became especially visible during The Groove Lab’s first showcase in May.
THE FIRST SHOWCASE
Known as “Origin: The Experiment Begins,” the production served as a major milestone for the young studio. Clark and Birkhead have spent years performing in shows and productions, but directing and producing their own showcase as studio owners was a completely different challenge. Preparation began months in advance as students rehearsed routines, choreography evolved, and the pieces slowly came together.
The result was a high-energy, hour-long performance featuring dancers of all ages and experience levels.
“We wanted performance opportunities for our dancers,” Clark said. “We wanted them to showcase what they’ve learned. We also wanted to give Owensboro something fun to watch.”
The response exceeded expectations. One of the biggest compliments the studio received afterward had nothing to do with choreography. Clark said rather than dragging on for several hours, the showcase ended while the energy was still high. People wanted more. Students immediately began asking about the next show.
For Clark and Birkhead, it was one of the first moments when they truly stepped back and realized what they had built.
“When people started telling us we’re going to need a bigger space, I thought that was a pretty good sign,” Clark said with a laugh.
MORE THAN DANCE
The showcase also reinforced something they have believed from the beginning: dance is about more than dance. It builds confidence, creates friendships, and gives people a place to belong. Birkhead said some students have told them the studio has changed their lives — a statement that still catches him off guard.
“People will come up and say, ‘You have no idea. This changed my life,’” he said. “And we’re thinking, ‘You only come here one hour a week.’”
As The Groove Lab approaches its first anniversary, the founders say the vision itself remains largely unchanged. The timeline, however, has accelerated.
Goals they expected to pursue three or four years down the road are arriving much sooner than anticipated. Plans for competition teams are already moving forward. Additional programming is being developed. The second studio space is underway.
“The vision hasn’t really changed,” Birkhead said. “I think the timeline has sped up.”
For Clark, that’s a reflection of the foundation they worked to build from day one. They didn’t set out simply to open a dance studio. They wanted to create something memorable, something impactful, and something people would be excited to be part of.
Less than a year in, the results suggest they may be well on their way.The sheds and garages that once served as their classrooms are now part of the origin story.
The experiment, however, is just getting started. OL
