Gil Stroming: Dancer by Day, Entrepreneur by Birth
Long gone are the days when high school auditoriums and gold plastic trophies are enough to keep competitive dancers satisfied. Nowadays, workshops, trendy merchandise, and any medal existing beyond a Platinum are desired, if not demanded. Merely 25 years old, Gil Stroming, owner of Break The Floor Productions, caters to these demands with his innovative production company, making tiaras look like old hat.
At age 18, Stroming started Break The Floor Productions, which now offers the following: JUMP, the alternative dance convention; Bounce, the alternative dance competition; and host of world-class workshops including The Shoot, Break the Floor, Shake the Floor, Shake and Break, and Slide.
The company's largest endeavor is the touring convention, JUMP, which circulates throughout the country bringing younger dancers in contact with top-notch choreographers and teachers. Choreographers like Ray Leeper, Dee Caspery, Dan Karaty, Mike Minery, and others (including Stroming), compose the youngest convention staff on today's circuit. JUMP's main goal is to provide a weekend of "energy, determination, and inspiration," culminating in a final show where all dancers perform.
Break The Floor Productions is also home to a new dance competition - strictly for performance and judging purposes--called Bounce, which began its tour in February 2006. Bounce is offering a free Nationals for its inaugural year--the first competition to do so. Also separating Bounce from the pack is its Nationals-quality competition at every regional city; sets include moving lights and 4 jumbo movie screens. To make his productions "bigger and better" than his competitors, Stroming says he ends every event with a show. "I always wanted my competition to be professional...At least at the end of the weekend, it ends on a more fun, inspirational note." Other methods of drawing in the crowds include awarding dog tags, license plates, and other unique pieces instead of the usual plastic trophies, ribbons or crowns.
Another selling point for JUMP and Bounce is the quality of the judges. Stroming exaggerates saying he "will pay triple or quadruple in order for someone to say, 'Wow, I can't believe that you got to judge!'" At the end of the weekend, Bounce judges perform for students and parents. "For the audience and the parents to see the judges get up and do something, and do something better than their kid, then they don't have a problem when their kid gets a silver," says Stroming.
But Stroming is no stranger to the dance world. Growing up in a small town in northern New Jersey, he began dancing at the age of 10 because, he says, of a girl named Amy. While his 4 other siblings--2 older sisters, 1 younger brother, and 1 younger sister adopted from Brazil--were dancers, Stroming says that his crush on Amy was the reason that he stuck with dance. Beginning in the basics like jazz, ballet, and tumbling, at age 12 Stroming toured Russia with the Kirov Ballet performing as the Prince in "The Nutcracker." Upon his return, he realized that ballet was not for him. He picked up his tapping shoes and has (literally) been the face of tap ever since, now serving as the tap spokesperson for Capezio dancewear.
At age 15, parents Gil and Jackie Stroming-his father, a successful small business owner and mother, an accountant--bought Stroming an apartment in New York City for him to live while he attended Professional Children's School in Manhattan. "I was always growing up doing my own thing," says Stroming. But at age 16 Stroming dropped out of school after landing the role of a lifetime: the star of Broadway's "Tap Dogs." Stroming says, "I always feel uncomfortable because I don't want to tell kids not to go to school. Education is so important. But education in school is different than education. It is hard because there are some people that really excel with college education. Obviously to be a doctor or lawyer you have to go to school. To be an entrepreneur, you don't really have to."
After saving every last penny from his tours and countless TV show appearances, Stroming began Break The Floor Productions. "If I had wanted to make good money, I would have stayed with 'Tap Dogs.' I would have made $5,000 per week because I was the star of it. But if I had thought that when I was younger, I wouldn't be where I am today. Because now I am a lot more successful. People always think about what is right in front of them."
Seven risky years later, Stroming has a production company, a fortune, and quite a reputation. "Everyone says never do something for money. But I spend all my money to make my events great, to be good. And because I am good, that is why people come and that is why I make more money."
Expenses like faculty salary, hotel rental, and equipment run about $75,000 per weekend in order to produce a standard JUMP dance convention, says Stroming. This does not include any office expenses like phone bills, brochures, postage, and office space - Stroming is the only convention/competition with offices located in Manhattan. This also does not include the largest expense, advertising, which costs about $185,000 per year.
A full-time office staff of about seven people regularly runs the show, taking care of everything from accounting (his mother) and insurance, to advertising and scheduling. "I don't want people who work for me to feel like they are working for me. I want people to feel like we are working together. I would feel like I didn't hire good enough people. I don't want to feel like your boss. I am always a big believer in 'everybody is just as good as I am.'"
Even with all the expenses, JUMP alone can bring in anywhere from 500 to 1,100 dancers per weekend paying around $180 each for convention fees. This does not include competition fees that can climb into the hundreds. There are 20 cities in a one-year tour. (You can do the math). "I live very well, I do. If I just did JUMP, I would be very wealthy. I just set my sights higher than that," says Stroming.
According to Stroming, the best part of being an entrepreneur is being your own boss. "I have good discipline, but only when it comes to certain things. I do what I want whenever I want...If I don't want to do it, I just won't do it. It's rude, and it's arrogant, and it's bad but this is the way I am, and I can't change that."
But people recognize Stroming's achievements. Nick Lazzarini, 21-year-old dancer from California and winner of FOX's "So You Think You Can Dance," works for JUMP and Bounce as a teacher, assistant and judge. "He's the best business man I've ever been in contact with. When he wants something he does his best to get it," says Lazzarini. "He's also funny and not afraid to say what is on his mind."
But Stroming does not necessarily relish the spotlight and glory of the dance world. "See I don't even like really doing the events. It is the build up and the stress. What excites me is the excitement of doing something. Not being able to sleep at night because you are worried about it. I like that. I don't like it. But when I am done with it, I like it."
Although Stroming began his career as a dancer he admits, "It is not just about dance. I would be just as happy doing a restaurant...But I do like singing. I love singers. That is the only thing that really gets to me. But dance, no. When you hear a good singer, come on, that changes your life."
Will Stroming introduce singing as a new component of Break The Floor Productions? For the future, Stroming says, "In 10 years I will have my own TV show. That will make me happy. It has to be something different, like a talk show, but different...Ultimately, that is what is going to happen. Because I think people want to hear me. I think people want to listen to me."
For now, Break The Floor Productions remains strong on the dance scene, as do Stroming's opinions and talent. "I think that I am the Simon Cowell of the dance world," he says. "I think I am a lot meaner than Simon. I think that I would say things to people's faces that other people wouldn't say. I think that I am honest. And people hate me. But that's what makes people better."
While Stroming's focus is more business oriented, the combination of his exuberant entrepreneurial drive and his intense knowledge of all things dance, forces well-established conventions and competitions to maintain a watchful eye. Stroming is always working on his next move, and his determination to keep things fresh will forever keep dancers wanting more.