Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / The Importance of Stage Entrances and Exits

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The Importance of Stage Entrances and Exits · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_02: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_02: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_02: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_02: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:26
SPEAKER_02: First and last impressions matter more than you think when it comes to stage entrances and exits at dance competition.
0:31
SPEAKER_02: Today on Making the Impact, we're zoning in on the different ways dancers can make an impression on the audience and judges, with creative, fun, and meaningful entrances and exits.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone, and welcome to our next episode of Making the Impact.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
0:51
SPEAKER_02: Hello, Courtney, and happy late birthday.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, thank you.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: Well, technically, it's my birthday as of this recording that is launching.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: Oh, alright, okay.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm older.
1:06
SPEAKER_02: So there.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: I know, but we're getting old.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe that?
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Like we are of this age and we have known each other since we were like youngins.
1:15
SPEAKER_02: So young.
1:16
SPEAKER_02: So so early 20s.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: And young and unafraid.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: Oh man.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: It's been so fun though.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it has.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And I'm grateful for another year around the sun.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: Last year was a wild one.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: And this year is looking to be a really fun and fun-filled year ahead already.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: I have so many plans in store.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Traveling every weekend on a dance convention, jazzing it up all around the country with streets.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: I'm so grateful to be in the heat of that right now.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: Traveling to my next city right now.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh on that's my how I'm spending my birthday on an airplane.
1:52
SPEAKER_02: Hooray.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: We love that.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I'm just I'm grateful for all of the friends in my life, family in my life, dancers in my life, and happy to be here doing this podcast for six seasons with you.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Six whole seasons.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
2:07
SPEAKER_02: Can't believe it.
2:08
SPEAKER_02: Well, I hope you enjoy your birthday and uh cheers to the year ahead.
2:12
SPEAKER_02: But also cheers to this episode today because I'm super excited about it.
2:15
SPEAKER_02: I think this is a great episode for this time in the season.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: I completely agree.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: All about stage entrances and exits.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: Do they matter?
2:24
SPEAKER_00: They probably do.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna learn all about that on this week's episode of Making the Impact.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: But before we jump in and hear all about this topic, we have to hear from our wonderful sponsors.
2:38
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4:33
SPEAKER_00: All right, listeners, we are back and we are here with a really fun episode in store for you all today on making the impact.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: And we're talking all about stage entrances and exits.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: Who thought that they even matter?
4:48
SPEAKER_00: The judges care.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: The judges care.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: I am watching you the moment you step foot on that stage, and I want you to be invested in that character, that storyline.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: And we have some spectacular guests joining us today to share all of their thoughts and opinions on stage entrances and exits as well.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: The first guest that I'm excited to welcome back to our podcast is an IDA judge and a longtime friend of mine from The Biz.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: I've traveled the world with her, I've judged alongside of her, and I I've auditioned my entire career with her in New York City.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: I uh and she's been a guest on our podcast multiple times, so let's remind all of our listeners her previous episodes.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: Season two, episode 36, how to create a standout video submission.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: And season one, episode 24, What Makes a Successful Musical Theater Entry?
5:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm very excited to welcome back to the podcast, Alexandra Fronter.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: Hi, thanks for having me back on the pod.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: You're so welcome.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: Should I say a little bit about myself or tell the world, Romine?
5:56
SPEAKER_00: It's been a minute.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: I can't believe you haven't been here since season two.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sure.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: So I grew up in Canada.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: Uh I went to ballet school, but I trained in all the styles.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: I was also a comp kid, and I was always singing and performing and doing theater all the way through my training.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: I have a BFA in theater from the Boston Conservatory.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: Recently, I was just in an off-Broadway show called Empire the Musical at New World Stages.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I also sometimes work as a stunt performer.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: So I have made a living uh as a dancer, singer, actor.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I've traveled the world.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: We went to Dubai together to dunge dance competition.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: I toured with Hello Dolly, I've toured with West Side Story, I've toured with Cinderella, and I was on Broadway in a show called Soul Doctor.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: So that's sort of the highlights.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure there's stuff I forgot and there's a lot more.
6:41
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I've been very lucky to work in this business.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: And I've been on the IDA roster for many, many years, and proudly so.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you have.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: You are one of our top judges.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: And also for all of our listeners out there who may be online critique customers, you may have had Alex as an online critique judge through IDA as well.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to get some more feedback from Alex's perspective on your competition solo, send it over to IDA and Alex might be your judge.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: Yay! Awesome, Alex.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: I cannot wait to hear what you have to share about this topic.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: So thanks for joining us back on the pod.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: All right, everyone, we have another very special guest.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: And when we decided to do this episode, I knew exactly who we needed for this topic.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: You may also know this person as Blanche Dubois in their viral dance competition entrances videos on TikTok and Instagram.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm meeting them for the very first time, and I know this is gonna be so much fun.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm very excited to welcome Joseph Corella to the podcast.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Joseph.
7:40
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, guys.
7:41
SPEAKER_03: It is so weird to be like Blanche Dubois.
7:45
SPEAKER_03: Like that is my someone came up to me.
7:47
SPEAKER_03: Like a lot of people come up to me actually and they'll be like, oh my god, are you Blanche Dubois?
7:50
SPEAKER_03: No way.
7:51
SPEAKER_03: I'm not joking you.
7:52
SPEAKER_03: I'm not joking you.
7:53
SPEAKER_03: And I love in a way, I'm like, I love that they became like their own characters.
7:56
SPEAKER_03: Uh, but anyways, thank you so much for having me on the podcast.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you're so welcome.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: I mean, before we even like, I want to I want to know more about you, but like, how in the world did that did that get started?
8:08
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it went viral in the dance community, obviously.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: So, like, how did you do how did you start it?
8:14
SPEAKER_03: It was a weird well, you know, I grew up in the dance competition world.
8:18
SPEAKER_03: And uh, so it's not something that I I don't know, but my husband's a performer as well.
8:23
SPEAKER_03: And this was, even though it's like I get PTSD, it was this was like in kind of the summer of of lockdown, the first lockdown.
8:30
SPEAKER_03: But I'm so grateful for creativity because it really helped a lot.
8:35
SPEAKER_03: My husband and I were totally bored, like, you know, and he was like, why don't we he started we had music playing, I'll never forget it.
8:41
SPEAKER_03: We had music playing, and then he started doing entrances, and I was new to TikTok, so I was like, I think this would make a good TikTok.
8:48
SPEAKER_03: I had no clue how TikTok worked, but I was like, I think this might work.
8:51
SPEAKER_03: And um, we just started doing stupid stuff and having fun and being crazy.
8:56
SPEAKER_03: And I thought it was hilarious.
8:57
SPEAKER_03: And I love Samantha Mumba, the singer.
9:00
SPEAKER_03: If people don't know, she's a real singer, she's a real human in this book.
9:03
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and I love her.
9:05
SPEAKER_03: And she did a dance competition entrance with us like years later, which was absolutely crazy.
9:09
SPEAKER_04: Oh, that's anyway.
9:10
SPEAKER_03: So that's he, I name randomly said Samantha Mumba, and he always calls me Blanche, anyways, by like that's my actual, like, you know, funny name.
9:19
SPEAKER_03: And um, there you go.
9:21
SPEAKER_03: And then suddenly when I posted it and then it went viral, it was weird because I was like, lockdown.
9:27
SPEAKER_03: And this is like weird that people are messaging me left and right, but I've gotten even people that have come up and said, Oh my god, I love the dance competition entrances, they really helped me at a bad time.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, Who would have thought?
9:39
SPEAKER_03: I would have never imagined that.
9:40
SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of the journey of it.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: I love hearing that.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: That's so cool to hear.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, they are hilarious and so much fun.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: So if you haven't seen them, everyone listening, we will make sure that we post it in our Facebook community group and give a give a look over on uh Joseph's awesome Instagram and TikTok.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: But Joseph, tell us more about you, where you're from, where you grew up, your dance training, any career credits, what you're working on.
10:07
SPEAKER_03: So I'm from Phoenix, Arizona.
10:08
SPEAKER_03: I grew up at a studio called Dance uh Speace Dance Academy.
10:12
SPEAKER_03: My brother's a dancer as well, so that's kind of how I got into it.
10:15
SPEAKER_03: But I've been on Broadway, I did national tours, I did a musical in Vegas that failed miserably.
10:22
SPEAKER_03: But let me, it's called Surf the Musical.
10:25
SPEAKER_03: But if it it was, you know, I didn't need to be in Vegas.
10:28
SPEAKER_03: Let's just, it was too much.
10:30
SPEAKER_03: As well, I worked on Dance Moms.
10:32
SPEAKER_03: So I worked on the first seasons of Dance Moms as the off-camera choreographer.
10:36
SPEAKER_03: That was a journey.
10:37
SPEAKER_03: That was a journey.
10:37
SPEAKER_03: And you better believe there were some entrances that I choreographed for that.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
10:42
SPEAKER_03: And and drama.
10:44
SPEAKER_03: And what else?
10:45
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and I created a dance fitness program called 567 Broadway that is for adults to help people uh exercise and get into creativity and help take care of themselves through music and through community and movement.
10:58
SPEAKER_03: Uh, as we all know, dance is magical and everybody should experience that.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: Love it.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
11:04
SPEAKER_03: Oh, wait, and my high the the thing that I love the most that I did a couple years ago, I did a movie with Dolly Parton called Mountain Magic Christmas.
11:13
SPEAKER_03: Catherine Burns choreographed it.
11:15
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
11:15
SPEAKER_03: And we filmed it in Dollywood, and it was a gay dream come true.
11:19
SPEAKER_03: I died and went to gay heaven, and Dolly is magical.
11:23
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
11:23
SPEAKER_03: There you go.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can't forget that highlight.
11:26
SPEAKER_03: No.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: That sounds awesome.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: Well, we're thrilled to have you both here on this fun chat.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: So let's jump in and learn all about the stage entrances and exits at dance competitions.
11:39
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
11:40
SPEAKER_02: All right.
11:40
SPEAKER_02: Well, it's so nice to hear about both of your careers and your experience.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: And so I think we are in for a treat today with all of these entrance and exit questions I have for you.
11:49
SPEAKER_02: So I want to start just kind of, you know, uh anybody can chime in, tell me your thoughts.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: Why are entrances and exits in the competitive world important?
11:59
SPEAKER_02: Or are they?
12:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sure.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: I think they're uh essential because basically how you start your dance is how the dance is gonna go.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: And then how you finish your dance is the last impression you leave us with.
12:11
SPEAKER_01: So if you walk on stage and you're not really sure how you're entering the stage, you're gonna be spending the first like 30 seconds of your combo figuring that out while you're doing your choreo.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: Whereas if you choreograph the beginning of your entrance and you know exactly what you are doing and how you are setting yourself up for success.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: It's just like if you don't prep properly for your pirouette, the pirouette's not gonna go well.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: So why wouldn't we, you know, zoom out, look at that in the macro, and say, like, if you set yourself up for your dance, the dance will go well.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: And then of course, everyone remembers the beginning and the end of a dance.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: So if you just kind of like walk off the stage at the end without really having a first of all, you have to give reverence, right?
12:49
SPEAKER_01: Like you had an audience watching you.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: It's it's dance etiquette.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: We do reverence at the end of ballet class.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: Like you have to thank the audience for coming to see you and thank them for their attention.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: And also acknowledge that you have made yourselves vulnerable and also maybe say a little bit of your welcome because you just danced too.
13:04
SPEAKER_01: And that is the final impression.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: So it's it's both etiquette because you are saying thank you and you're welcome, but also it's the lasting impression you leave us with.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: So why not end on a strong note before you depart the stage and we say goodbye?
13:16
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
13:17
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I agree 100% with that.
13:20
SPEAKER_03: The funny thing is, I didn't, my dance studio did not really do entrances or exits, like not crazy.
13:27
SPEAKER_03: But growing up in the dance competition world, and it depended what dance competition you did too.
13:32
SPEAKER_03: There were some dance competitions where I was like, oh my good, that's why Blanche Dubois became Blanche Dubois, because I remember seeing those and they were really theatrical, even if it wasn't a musical theater number.
13:44
SPEAKER_03: I was like, what was that?
13:45
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was great.
13:46
SPEAKER_03: But I think there has to be good balance as well.
13:48
SPEAKER_03: It is fun, but the moment you enter that stage, you are there.
13:53
SPEAKER_03: That's the mo you that's the whole thing.
13:54
SPEAKER_03: And it's not easy, it's not even always easy to just tap into it.
13:58
SPEAKER_03: And that's why I love dance competitions, is because it allows you to practice that and learn from each other by watching other studios and watching other solos and things.
14:08
SPEAKER_03: But again, my my dance teacher would not agree with doing something crazy entering the stage, which I don't think you should.
14:15
SPEAKER_03: I don't my like dance competition entrances on TikTok.
14:19
SPEAKER_03: There I don't think you should take those as an example of doing you should not have a dance before the dance.
14:26
SPEAKER_03: I will say that, but it's fun.
14:28
SPEAKER_03: But I've seen it, I've seen it, I've seen it.
14:31
SPEAKER_03: So hey, I give props.
14:33
SPEAKER_03: As long as you're doing it with your heart, that's all that matters to me.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: I 100% agree with that.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: And also to clarify what I was saying, I'm not necessarily suggesting that again, you you choreograph a whole routine before the routine, but it's it's a mindset, right?
14:44
SPEAKER_01: Like you can, and especially if you're organizing a large group of dancers, it makes sense to organize that in whatever way makes sense to your choreographer, whether it is set choreography or if it's just like counts or whatever.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: But it's it's as long as you're thinking about the moment before your routine and the moment after as part of the routine rather than something you throw away.
15:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
15:04
SPEAKER_02: And Alex, I know you I've I've heard you, I've sat next to you judging.
15:07
SPEAKER_02: So I know you say this a lot and I say it a lot too, that like those moments before and after, especially like in a musical theater dance or a dance that has a very clear story, like I don't want to just get plopped into this moment.
15:18
SPEAKER_02: I want to understand that you just came from something and you're just gonna go to something at the end.
15:23
SPEAKER_02: And so I think the entrance and exit are are easy, very easy ways to like make that happen, even if like your brain doesn't quite have it yet.
15:30
SPEAKER_02: At least your body can say, Well, we came from here and now we're going here.
15:34
SPEAKER_02: Totally.
15:34
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I it's like even auditioning, like when you audition.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
15:38
SPEAKER_03: You're you don't just start when the music starts.
15:40
SPEAKER_03: You start before and you even when the mu when it's done, you should kind of or like if they're like improvise, like you shouldn't just it doesn't chop, sorry.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: No, a hundred percent.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: I completely agree.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: I was, as y'all were talking, I was thinking about like what were some have I ever seen like any impactful entrances that have captivated me or have that have been like what I'm looking for?
16:05
SPEAKER_00: And I'll never forget, because you know, we've talked about this on the podcast, there's a lot of times where we get to know studios throughout the weekend, you see all of their dances, like you're the prop studio, you're the studio that has this headpiece in all the time, you're the studio that does this type of trick all the time, like whatever.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: There was a studio that had awesome entrances every time.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: And they were, they weren't overdone.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: It was very tasteful.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'll I'll sp and it was actually a studio that I'd had the pleasure of working with before, and I knew how like strong and precise they were in just their regular execution of their dances, but they always had well-thought-out themes with clear intention and then clearer entrances.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: It was like a Salem witch dance, and I remember their entrance was choreographed for like dancers to be coming on from opposite corners of the stage, downstage and upstage.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: They came on, swirled into a little circle, and then ended into their pose.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: And it was just really, really captivating and beautiful to just see.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: And it didn't take long, it was during the announcement, but they timed it out together, they looked at each other, they swirled in and they set up.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, what's about to happen?
17:13
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm already as a judge like ready.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: And I think that a lot of people think the judges don't watch the entrances, the judges are scoring, they don't care.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's how people approach it.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: Instead of saying, like, but what if there's that one chance that they are watching?
17:27
SPEAKER_00: Don't you want them to be invested like before it even starts?
17:30
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes sometimes I am scoring.
17:32
SPEAKER_02: Like, let's be real, sometimes I am, but you don't want me in the one time that I have had the chance to look up to see you just walk across the stage like you're just in the grocery store.
17:42
SPEAKER_02: Like, don't don't chance that, you know.
17:44
SPEAKER_03: Well, and also too, it's a competition.
17:46
SPEAKER_03: So, like in a you're everything, there's a lot of you're all competing.
17:50
SPEAKER_03: So every little thing, if it's sloppy, then that goes against you.
17:55
SPEAKER_03: You know, like Alex was saying, it's like you want it clean from beginning to end.
17:59
SPEAKER_03: And it's the worst.
18:01
SPEAKER_03: I have to say, it is the worst when it it everything was like clean in the number, and then the exit is sloppy, and you're like, they're just kind of like yeah, they're and you're like, no, it's like nails on a chalkboard.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: And I think like to bounce off of what Joseph just said about like the ending being sloppy, I think I sort of touched on this the very beginning of this, but it's also as an artist, you have the right to take a moment for yourself, both at the beginning and at the end of a routine.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: And that is actually a sign of professionalism and of artistry to know what you need before you can give us what you are about to share.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: And always remember that in spite of the fact that it's a competition and we're very consumed with what our scores are going to be and whether or not they like us, this is your opportunity to share your art with us.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: So if you enter with that mindset, there's, and I often, I mean, I get like this too when I'm auditioning or performing.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I forget to breathe.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: And there is so much power and so much grounding in just taking a moment for yourself to inhale and exhale at the beginning and at the end of a routine.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: I think that sometimes at the beginning of routines, you don't really have control about when they're gonna push play.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: But if sometimes a choreographer or a student choreographer or whomever is cutting the music for a dancer, gives like a three-second tag at the beginning, just so that the breath is part of the ritual of the performance.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: And then at the end, you have the right to take a breath for yourself, compose yourself before you get up and bow.
19:22
SPEAKER_01: We're not gonna dock you score uh because you took a breath.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it'll only help you, I think, because it keeps you grounded.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, like breath for me is such a useful tool because it brings me back to the present.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: And when I start to get a little bit of performance anxiety or start to go go into my head, the breath is a physical check-in that grounds me and brings me right back to the present.
19:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:44
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love that.
19:45
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's such a useful tool for everybody to listen to.
19:48
SPEAKER_02: Like, take that.
19:49
SPEAKER_02: If if you take one thing from this episode, listeners, take that because that's there's no way that you can go wrong.
19:54
SPEAKER_02: You know, that's that's one of the best pieces of advice that I could have ever heard.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: Well, one of the things that you mentioned just then, Alex, is that bowing, which is the part of the exit, is and it's part of the end of your routine.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: If your choreography is ended, the exit part of it should include a bow or you and you mentioned this earlier, Alex.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: I cannot tell you how many times in the past five years, but probably for forever, but especially lately, dancer don't bow.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: Are we not teaching them that it is important to bow after your performance?
20:32
SPEAKER_00: Like, I am confused.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: This it m to me, they just look defeated and walk off.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, take a moment, like take that moment to acknowledge and say thank you and thanks for watching my performance and be proud of what you did.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: Even if you're not proud, still bow.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Don't just leave.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: Like it just it really it like we've kind of talked about, it really sets the tone.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Like, I can I can tell that you're upset, I can tell that you're defeated.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: Like, wait till you get to the wings if that's how you're feeling.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: Or be proud.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Like, if that was your best performance of your life, take a bow and be proud of it and like show that to us.
21:09
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
21:09
SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's really well said.
21:11
SPEAKER_03: That's really well said.
21:12
SPEAKER_03: And it I know it's it's hard.
21:14
SPEAKER_03: That's competitions.
21:15
SPEAKER_03: I have, I gotta be honest, I love them, but then I also have a thing with them where that competition factor, and then you can see when they when kids beat themselves up, and it's heartbreaking.
21:27
SPEAKER_03: But like I I love that it's like if you teach your students to take that bow to appreciate that performance no matter what, like, and just you know, and I love it when you just see like a head bow.
21:38
SPEAKER_03: It doesn't need to be like yeah, crazy dramatic.
21:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but just like a head bow together and appreciate the fact that you whatever happened there, that we respect that being on stage creating art and teaching kids that instead of like must win that first place trophy, you know.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: It's such a a cliche to say it doesn't matter how the race went.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: As long as you finish the race, kind of thing.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: And we are all performers.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: When you are on when you are dancing up there, like all of us have been there, either as cop kids, as auditioners, or whatever.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: You can only give what you have to give on a certain day.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: And we've all been in that position in your shoes where perhaps something did not go the way that it had a previous day.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: But that's okay.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: We're all human and it doesn't make you a bad person.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't make you a bad dancer.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: It just meant in that particular moment you fell out of one turn, which maybe we were even looking down and scoring in that moment and didn't see it.
22:29
SPEAKER_01: But as long as you finish that performance with grace and with humility and with etiquette, I think it really doesn't, it speaks more volume, it speaks volumes about you as a human being, not just as a dancer, as an artist, as a human.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: We we are here to share dance.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: And I think taking a moment to bow at the end of your performance is an acknowledgement of like the greater power that exists around this art form that we are all so passionate about.
22:55
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
22:56
SPEAKER_02: And I think tagging onto that, like you don't know.
23:00
SPEAKER_02: You don't know what the people behind the table are thinking.
23:03
SPEAKER_02: You don't know what score you got.
23:05
SPEAKER_02: You don't, I mean, you just don't know.
23:07
SPEAKER_02: So like it really does impact me as a judge.
23:09
SPEAKER_02: If I am looking at you and I thought that dance was so good.
23:12
SPEAKER_02: And then I see you think it wasn't good.
23:15
SPEAKER_02: Well, then now what am I supposed to think?
23:16
SPEAKER_02: I thought it was good.
23:17
SPEAKER_02: I was gonna give you a platinum.
23:19
SPEAKER_02: But then you looked like that was a high gold dance and you were disappointed by that.
23:23
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, the way you exit the room, you know, exactly like in auditions, like you can't you can't be defeated before you even know if you're defeated.
23:30
SPEAKER_02: You just don't know.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: So maybe, maybe positive mindset, you know.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: And I'm anybody who knows me knows I do not have a positive mindset.
23:37
SPEAKER_02: So like this is a lot coming from me.
23:40
SPEAKER_02: It's like maybe, maybe it's gonna go better than you thought it would, but you just don't know.
23:44
SPEAKER_03: I have a funny story about that.
23:46
SPEAKER_03: The first time I got on stage and did a solo, I did a solo to All Shook Up and I had a microphone, and I forgot in the middle of the dance.
23:55
SPEAKER_03: And my brother always, which I didn't remember, my brother reminded me of this.
23:59
SPEAKER_03: He was like, if you ever forget, just start doing shunnaes.
24:01
SPEAKER_03: Like just start doing the judges said the only reason they knew I forgot was my eyebrows went like this as I started doing shunnaes around because I like I kept going, which I'm really proud of my younger self for like doing that, but I was terrified.
24:20
SPEAKER_03: And they said my eyes were the things that showed that they would have never known.
24:24
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, what do you mean?
24:25
SPEAKER_03: Like 10,000 shunes in the middle of the stage didn't tell me.
24:27
SPEAKER_04: It was choreographed.
24:29
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, like you never know.
24:30
SPEAKER_03: You never know.
24:31
SPEAKER_03: I know, but it was a big lesson for me in in general.
24:35
SPEAKER_03: I'm glad I kept going, but also too, like, yeah, you just and you how your brain kind of works and giving yourself some love in those moments.
24:42
SPEAKER_03: It's not easy.
24:42
SPEAKER_03: It's hard, you know, it's hard in an audience full of people.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Right.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: You know what um it makes me think of, and I'm not sure, and I want to make sure that I'm referencing the correct sports, but I feel like this kind of exists in what I've seen on television in gymnastics and ice skating when I watch them is that like they don't really turn it on until it's go time, and then the moment that like the ice skaters fell, and you know, but they power through and they're performing and they're living their best life.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: And the moment that song finishes, you see the defeat on their face.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: And they yeah, they still bow, but you can see it all over them.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: Every and the even the the announcers are talking about it, you know what I mean?
25:21
SPEAKER_00: Like when we watch that, and that's the same with like gymnasts, like if they fell out of a pass or fell off the beam, and then they power through, smiles and everything, and then you just see that shift immediately when they finish.
25:34
SPEAKER_00: But you're still on camera, you're still technically you're not off the floor yet, you know?
25:39
SPEAKER_03: And and it shows close-up.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: And like, granted, that's an that's a sport more than it is an art form.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: They're not like on an actual like proscenium stage and theatrical stage like we are.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: The lights don't go down like ours do.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: But I still think that I don't want that to be an example of like appropriate uh exits that we see when we watch these sports on television.
26:04
SPEAKER_03: But also, too, like it reminds me of you can they're sometimes really good at making sure that the audience can't see you at all.
26:12
SPEAKER_03: And if you have something going on, make sure that you've exited the stage completely.
26:17
SPEAKER_03: You can sometimes see that they're exiting and then they think they're completely gone, and then they like throw their arms down, or like it's remembering the moment you enter the stage, we can see you and whatever's happening in your world until you're completely off stage and wherever that is in some ballroom.
26:36
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
26:36
SPEAKER_02: Right.
26:37
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
26:37
SPEAKER_02: You know, I think that's also one of those things where sometimes you can't control where you're performing.
26:42
SPEAKER_02: So maybe you don't have the wing space, maybe you don't have, maybe you have nowhere to go.
26:46
SPEAKER_02: Like there's there should be a plan A, plan B in case that there's nowhere for you to get off stage the way you you usually do.
26:53
SPEAKER_02: I think that's just a good, good advice generally.
26:55
SPEAKER_02: Always have a second option.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: And again, it's totally okay to be disappointed with your performance.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we are high performance athletes, we are perfectionists, we are very hard on ourselves, perhaps too hard on ourselves oftentimes.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: And it's not that you shouldn't have these feelings.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: It's just that you have to, there is a certain, again, I keep saying the word grace that you have to extend to yourself, but also to finish your performance with.
27:17
SPEAKER_01: And again, just because one performance goes poorly, I mean, I can tell you, I still remember performances that did not go as planned, or auditions that I made mistakes in.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I've worked really hard not to beat myself up about them anymore.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: We all do it, but it's about finishing with grace, finishing with poise, whatever word is.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: It's a reverence for the larger theme of what we're doing here.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: It is about you, it is your solo, and we are here to adjudicate you and give you feedback.
27:42
SPEAKER_01: But it's also about the fact that, like, this is a performance and you have to keep the facade up until the very end.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: And also, dance competitions are learning experiences.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: And how do you learn?
27:51
SPEAKER_01: But by making mistakes.
27:52
SPEAKER_01: So I know that this is about entrances and exits, but larger scheme, there is some, you know, psychology involved in this.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: And like if you enter a performance beating yourself up for the mistakes you made last time, or thinking and focusing on like that moment where in Panche, you know you have a hard time maintaining your stability or whatever.
28:10
SPEAKER_01: That's also maybe going to mess with your entrance or exit at the end, rather than again taking a breath for yourself, being in the moment, being excited to share your performance.
28:20
SPEAKER_01: The moment before your routine is so important.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: And from a psychological, like performance psychology perspective, you really need to be in the mindset of just like, what is the first step?
28:31
SPEAKER_01: How does my routine start?
28:32
SPEAKER_01: Where is my focus going to be?
28:33
SPEAKER_01: Thinking about positive things or about things that are actionable rather than slogging yourself for previous mistakes.
28:39
SPEAKER_01: It's about looking to the future rather than thinking in the past because then you're not gonna be in the present.
28:45
SPEAKER_02: Could you just be a motivational speaker?
28:47
SPEAKER_02: Like, I know that was so good.
28:49
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I think if I hear myself saying this.
28:55
SPEAKER_03: I was like, oh my god, but no, like bouncing off of that.
28:58
SPEAKER_03: I remember I started just getting to a point of like I didn't, I just wanted to go out there and dance.
29:03
SPEAKER_03: Like it was never, it became something getting.
29:06
SPEAKER_03: I was like, I I'm striving to get lost in the moment, uh, not thinking of other what am I gonna win or am I gonna like I just stopped care.
29:14
SPEAKER_03: I truly had I I learned by each competition to stop worrying about that for me.
29:20
SPEAKER_03: And luckily I went to a great studio that didn't really focus too much on that.
29:24
SPEAKER_03: And but it uh I loved getting lost.
29:26
SPEAKER_03: It was great getting lost in the moment.
29:28
SPEAKER_03: It was that was my goal.
29:30
SPEAKER_03: And if I did that, then I was that was a winner to me.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:37
SPEAKER_03: So let's go practice our solos.
29:38
SPEAKER_03: We'll do a we'll do a we'll small group, okay?
29:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, perfect.
29:42
SPEAKER_02: Yes, four of us.
29:44
SPEAKER_02: How tall are you, Joseph?
29:45
SPEAKER_02: Because we're all very short.
29:47
SPEAKER_03: I'm short.
29:47
SPEAKER_02: Yay! Yes, perfect.
29:49
SPEAKER_02: Shorty for the weak ass together for sure.
29:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:53
SPEAKER_02: Well, so I love that we've really hit a lot on like the psychological aspects of the entrance and exit.
29:59
SPEAKER_02: I want to shift a little bit to the technical elements now of things sort of to do and not to do in your entrance and exit and like how how you're actually showcasing your technique even just by walking on stage.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: I want to hear a little bit more about that from y'all.
30:15
SPEAKER_03: Alex, I want to hear from you.
30:16
SPEAKER_03: Go for it.
30:16
SPEAKER_03: You please go first.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, it also depends on the category, right?
30:20
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: Like there are there is different etiquette and there are different expectations for each category.
30:24
SPEAKER_01: So I'm a musical theater girly.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: I can talk extensively about that.
30:28
SPEAKER_01: I think you are too, Joseph.
30:29
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, if you can show on your entrance that you, and this is not like don't give me dramaturgy, but like that you've done your research.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: When you step on stage in a musical theater piece, you should know what musical it's from, what is happening in the context of this song, who you are, who you're performing for, and what you want from them.
30:46
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, in a three-second entrance, you can't show me that you've done all that homework.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: But just like an acknowledgement of like walking in, setting up your body and setting your focus speaks volumes where you send your eyes.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: We we will see as well.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we're not looking in that direction literally, but in terms of like if you have a specific focus and you know what you're looking at, we trust as an audience that you are in complete control of your narrative.
31:10
SPEAKER_01: And that I think would be an effective musical theater entrance.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: For ballet, perhaps it's something more of just I have you been to the ballet, you know how dancers set up for their variations.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, mimic your favorite prima when you walk on stage, walk in with grace, walk in with poise, set your body up, know exactly what your variation is.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: Again, knowing what ballet it's from, who you are, what you want.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: This these narrative structures that exist in musical theater actually extend to every discipline of dance.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Competition season is right around the corner.
31:45
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31:54
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31:58
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32:05
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32:15
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32:22
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32:45
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32:48
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32:50
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33:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I agree with that.
33:05
SPEAKER_03: Then then every single thing we're telling a story, whatever it is, even if jazz, ballet, tap, musical theater, they're all telling a story through movement.
33:14
SPEAKER_03: And what is that?
33:15
SPEAKER_03: And that's where music choices are very important to me.
33:20
SPEAKER_03: And sometimes I think some studios really pick stuff that they don't know what their the kids are dancing.
33:25
SPEAKER_03: They're like, I don't know what this is.
33:27
SPEAKER_03: So there's not a lot of intention.
33:29
SPEAKER_03: So I guess that's the main thing is like, what is the intention?
33:32
SPEAKER_03: And knowing that intention and that narrative, like Alex said, and then yeah, owning that.
33:37
SPEAKER_03: But don't I hope that Blanche Dubon and Samantha Mumba are not influencing that that is what you should not be doing a kick layout to a double pirouette to a jazz line.
33:50
SPEAKER_03: You know, but it's like it balance, a balance.
33:53
SPEAKER_03: You want to make it and you also I do think you want to stand out in a in a good way.
33:57
SPEAKER_03: I think standing out is really important, but that's owning the story and owning who you are in the moment, and the confidence through that will definitely shine once you know that.
34:08
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just intention.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: It's important.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: Like you are seen, like we said, the moment you step foot onto the stage.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: And especially nowadays with competition, there's some competition events that don't utilize any lighting.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: So it's just like the stage lights are on and that is what's on.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: So you are in plain sight for everyone to see right, right away, the moment you enter from the wing.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: So you have to already be invested in that intention and that story, whatever it is, or just present, present on stage.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: Like your dance technically has started, even if the music hasn't.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: But I think a lot of people now that we have stage lighting in a lot of these events where we're getting a little more high-tech, the uh they can put the lights down, they'll put the lights on when your music starts.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: Like people think they're in the dark, so it doesn't matter.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: But I still can see like your how you carry yourself, your posture, how you're how you're choosing to walk.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: Again, like we've said, we don't need it to be full-blown choreographed.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: And even if we're talking about like a solo, let's talk about jazz.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: I don't mind if it's a clean pedestrian walk on stage.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: It can be a jazz strut on stage if you want it to be a strut and give a little extra something spicy.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: If that's the flavor of your style that you're about to present, like be in that style right away.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: If you just want to take a nice little stroll on stage that just feels strong and proud and set up into your pose, that's great too.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: But your posture should be resembling a different type of uh carry.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: You should be carrying yourself different when you are walking on stage to perform versus walking around at the mall or walking around at school.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: Like it's a very different type of walk.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: And for lyrical, I actually would love to see like a toe ball heel like articulating through the feet, like walking on stage properly, almost similar to like how in ballet we would do that, or ballet runs on the balls of our feet, like you were discussing, Alex.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: So, and the the technical aspect of that, Leslie, like you asked, is that we can immediately see your technique if you don't know how to articulate toe ball heel through your feet.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: Like if that is the given entrance that your teacher has given you, then you have to commit to it.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: And if you're already like sickling to your pinky toe as you roll through your feet, then I already have an idea of what your technique level is.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: You haven't even done anything yet.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: You haven't done anything yet but walk.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: But I already am like, okay, well, we need uh we need a little bit more emphasis on feet in ballet class.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: We need to make sure we're winging our foot.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: We need, I bet you they don't have a high releve.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's what's going on in my head just by how you chose to walk on stage.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: And then bringing that into the tap discipline.
36:40
SPEAKER_01: As a tap dancer, you are also a musician.
36:42
SPEAKER_01: So when you enter the stage, even though, you know, a lot of these dancers are doing these a cappella routines, which are so, so hard because I think orchestrally, generally the drummer sets the tempo and then everyone builds on top of that.
36:53
SPEAKER_01: So when you're doing, for example, an a cappella tap routine, it's you're kind of building the orchestra in reverse, which adds a certain challenge to the discipline of that routine.
37:03
SPEAKER_01: But technically speaking, as a tap dancer, if you enter, even if it's a group tap dance number with like jazz elements or like good old competition tap, not necessarily a hoofer routine.
37:12
SPEAKER_01: If you enter with the intention of a musician hearing your music before, feeling the music before, you are setting yourself up for success.
37:19
SPEAKER_01: If you are thinking about where the pocket of the music is, it shouldn't be a surprise when the song starts and where the tempo is.
37:25
SPEAKER_01: You should have that music in your bones.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: And even if you don't have a built-in metronome, you should have a general idea where the pocket of the music lies when you enter the stage to be the drumline for a routine.
37:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
37:36
SPEAKER_03: And even as like a group and a group setting, it will show me if you're connected together or not the moment you enter that stage, which is really important as a group to be completely together.
37:48
SPEAKER_03: And this is the challenge.
37:49
SPEAKER_03: This is what we focus on the whole year for this, these moments at these competitions.
37:55
SPEAKER_03: We're practicing these numbers over and over again.
37:57
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
37:58
SPEAKER_03: And entering the stage together in a group setting should be really, I can tell if you've been practicing together or not.
38:05
SPEAKER_03: Or, you know, are all of you in rehearsal or not?
38:09
SPEAKER_02: Right.
38:09
SPEAKER_02: Well, and this is something for that, even we can start this at the littlest age.
38:13
SPEAKER_02: I mean, a tiny group of five, six-year-olds can learn how to walk together to at the same time.
38:20
SPEAKER_02: You just have to practice it.
38:21
SPEAKER_02: You have to teach it.
38:21
SPEAKER_02: It has to be something that's important.
38:23
SPEAKER_02: And because I can't tell you how many times they're just wandering on stage and it's like they've never done this dance before.
38:29
SPEAKER_02: Right.
38:29
SPEAKER_02: And I, you know, I get it.
38:30
SPEAKER_02: Like I've been there.
38:31
SPEAKER_02: Five and six-year-olds are rough.
38:32
SPEAKER_02: You know, they're it's new.
38:33
SPEAKER_02: Everything is, it's there's no mirror, there's no whatever.
38:36
SPEAKER_02: But if we've practiced it, at least we have a chance of getting out there the same way.
38:40
SPEAKER_02: So I would really encourage that practice to happen from day one.
38:44
SPEAKER_02: It is part of our dance.
38:45
SPEAKER_02: We don't practice our dance from step number one, we practice our dance from offstage.
38:49
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love that.
38:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
38:51
SPEAKER_03: And these tools are so helpful to beyond just the dance competition world.
38:56
SPEAKER_03: I've learned so much from competing to be a part of, you know, a team.
39:01
SPEAKER_03: There's just it didn't to me, dance, the especially dance competition, it is a sport.
39:05
SPEAKER_03: Like this is an intense.
39:07
SPEAKER_03: Some of these things now, especially like I watch these numbers and I'm like, oh my goodness, like, are you gonna?
39:13
SPEAKER_03: And it's like they're working together, and you learn so many positive things by being disciplined like this.
39:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
39:20
SPEAKER_03: But it is again, I want to stay for me like it is finding the love to surround all of that because we don't want it to become toxic.
39:28
SPEAKER_03: And that this is a place of learning and growing to become better artists.
39:33
SPEAKER_03: And maybe you do go out and work professionally, maybe you don't.
39:36
SPEAKER_03: But no matter what, you're learning so many tools for life because of these moments.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel like that I've been thinking about the entrances a lot of times in my head for solos, but the group aspect, I think it is harder to like get a group together on the same foot, on the same rhythm, if that's what you're choosing to do for your entrance.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you want it to have a little bit more.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I don't even need it to beography.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: I think it's even just like the precision aspect of like walking on the same foot, walking in the same style.
40:13
SPEAKER_00: There's sometimes I remember like if you are on opposite sides of the stage, then there's the person leading the line on and they count together.
40:21
SPEAKER_00: Five, six, like in the wing, seven, eight, and we walk.
40:24
SPEAKER_00: But whatever whoever's in charge of that countdown, that's the tempo that we need to be walking together on.
40:32
SPEAKER_00: So we should all be feeling that together.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: You can even say it lightly in their wings five, six, bounce it, and we walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: That's that's how we get it together.
40:43
SPEAKER_00: Like that can help you be more successful.
40:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
40:45
SPEAKER_00: If we want like a shoulder isolation, we want a punch strut, we want whatever it is, and then like how many walks are we doing before we set up into our pose?
40:55
SPEAKER_00: That's another thing that we need to discuss.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: Are do we understand how to find center?
41:00
SPEAKER_00: Do we understand how to set up our windows properly?
41:03
SPEAKER_00: Like that is part of your entrance.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: You have to set it up.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: And the amount of times people, and and again, it might be a distraction where they're thinking about all those aspects, but then they forget center and they were so invested in the walk-on that they're like on quarter stage stage.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: It just kept the whole thing is shifted over to stage right because you were so in your in your walk-on, which is good too.
41:27
SPEAKER_00: But then the first thing I'm gonna say when uh my head pops up is make sure you find center when you set your dance up.
41:32
SPEAKER_00: So I think all of those aspects are important.
41:35
SPEAKER_02: As leading into that, what are your opinions on?
41:38
SPEAKER_02: So my opinion is this if Sally isn't is the center person, she's responsible for setting center.
41:44
SPEAKER_02: And Sally is wrong that day.
41:45
SPEAKER_02: Do we follow Sally or do we try to fix ourselves?
41:48
SPEAKER_02: My I have my opinion.
41:49
SPEAKER_02: Tell me your opinion.
41:50
SPEAKER_01: I think that we go, well, I don't know.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: It's funny.
41:53
SPEAKER_01: When you're in a professional show, there's numbers on the stage.
41:55
SPEAKER_01: So everyone is responsible for their own spacing.
41:57
SPEAKER_01: If there is an opportunity to go out and look at the stage before you step on, sometimes there's a warm-up like opportunity where the stage is just free and open for people to come and walk around.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: I would say look for things in the wings that give you guidance as to where, not or in in the house rather give you guidance.
42:11
SPEAKER_01: Where are the exit signs?
42:12
SPEAKER_01: Where's the spotting light?
42:13
SPEAKER_01: And set yourselves up on that.
42:15
SPEAKER_01: I think everyone, we shouldn't all rely on Sally.
42:17
SPEAKER_01: Everyone is responsible for their individual spacing and we have peripheral vision.
42:20
SPEAKER_01: And as we advance into our older levels and our more advanced situations, we we should more and more be responsible for our own spacing.
42:29
SPEAKER_01: Maybe when we're working with minis, we have teachers in the wings kind of guiding them.
42:33
SPEAKER_01: But overall, I would say each person should be responsible for their individual spacing.
42:37
SPEAKER_03: I mean, if the dance teacher depends on what the dance teacher did, were people did the dance teacher tell everybody to follow Sally?
42:46
SPEAKER_03: And if they didn't, I think that's personally wrong.
42:49
SPEAKER_03: Then like they should have followed Sally.
42:51
SPEAKER_03: And Sally was responsible for that moment.
42:54
SPEAKER_03: And it's okay.
42:55
SPEAKER_03: It's okay, Sally.
42:56
SPEAKER_03: It's okay.
42:57
SPEAKER_03: Sally, sorry, Sally.
42:58
SPEAKER_02: You're not getting fired, you're not getting fine.
43:00
SPEAKER_03: Sorry, Sally.
43:01
SPEAKER_03: But you know what I mean?
43:02
SPEAKER_03: Like it depends.
43:03
SPEAKER_03: And this is really goes to the dance teacher that is guiding everybody and leading them.
43:08
SPEAKER_03: And so that because yeah, they need those leaders to help them, to guide them, to shape them.
43:14
SPEAKER_03: But like Alex was saying too, I definitely I learned a lot.
43:17
SPEAKER_03: I remember I did a solo and I got new shoes, and they were so slippery, and I just kept slipping my whole solo.
43:27
SPEAKER_03: And I learned that moment and that day that those shoes were not going to work for nationals.
43:35
SPEAKER_03: And I'm glad I had the practice sessions prior to learn through the mistakes of, you know, but I mean it I have a I have a tape of that.
43:43
SPEAKER_03: Oh no.
43:44
SPEAKER_03: It was like ice skating.
43:47
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, and it was miserable.
43:49
SPEAKER_03: It felt miserable.
43:50
SPEAKER_03: But it, you know, but I learned through that.
43:52
SPEAKER_03: And my dance teacher took root, she was like, We well, no self, we're not gonna use those shoes.
43:57
SPEAKER_00: Right.
43:57
SPEAKER_03: She's like, you know, it's too much.
44:00
SPEAKER_03: We don't know exactly what the stage, and that's another thing.
44:02
SPEAKER_03: You don't even know how these stages are.
44:03
SPEAKER_03: Sorry, I've kind of gone off, but like the each stage is different.
44:06
SPEAKER_03: Like you know, sometimes you're in a theater, an actual truth theater.
44:09
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes they built up this random rickety thing that you're like, oh my goodness, you know.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes there aren't wings, yeah.
44:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
44:17
SPEAKER_03: So all the elements that you're working with that do set you up for the professional world because that is what you're going to deal with, and how do you handle those things in the moment together?
44:28
SPEAKER_03: But at the end of the day, when you get to the professional world, yes, Sally is no longer responsible for you.
44:33
SPEAKER_03: You are responsible for yourself.
44:35
SPEAKER_03: Yes, correct.
44:36
SPEAKER_01: Another thing I will say in regards to like zooming out and on this conversation is all of the things we are talking about, it's not about like once you've stepped on stage.
44:43
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about like even like the hours before your routine, getting out there on stage before, seeing what the texture of the stage is like, looking it out and seeing what is out in the house.
44:53
SPEAKER_01: Like your performance technically starts when you arrive at the theater.
44:56
SPEAKER_01: And maybe like you're not on stage in that moment, but everything you do once you arrive at the performance space should serve the moments before your performance.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: You should be warming up.
45:07
SPEAKER_01: Maybe before in these larger groups to set us up for more success, especially in like a more contemporary piece where we're passing energy down a line or whatever.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: We circle up and we take a group breath.
45:16
SPEAKER_01: Stuff like that will set you up for success and deliver continuity and like group success long before the moments before the dance for the entrance.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: Agreed.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: And going back to your question, Leslie, if someone sets up incorrectly, I think that we as a team have to make the formation visibly clear, even if it's off-centered.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: So I wouldn't be the one person that's like, well, she's over there, but I'm on my right spot.
45:43
SPEAKER_00: So sorry about it.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: Like I wouldn't, I wouldn't be that person in this aspect if we aren't using a number line.
45:51
SPEAKER_00: Because if we are using a number line, then like we've kind of discussed, then I think that it is your responsibility to know your numbers.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, it is a team.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: And the the visual is I'm I need to see this formation.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you might be doing it slightly wrong because someone else did it wrong.
46:09
SPEAKER_00: We gotta work together to figure out how do we make this visual right in the moment.
46:12
SPEAKER_00: I always say guide downstage.
46:14
SPEAKER_00: So if there is like a single foul line that's supposed to be set up on center, and the girl that's the most downstage or the dancer that's most downstage didn't find center.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: You can't be the only one on center and not create the line just because you're right.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
46:32
SPEAKER_00: You have to then guide downstage and oop, well, today it's a little stage left, and that's what this line is, but we all guided down.
46:39
SPEAKER_00: So that's like the teamwork aspect of formations and things that is important.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: And I've I've actually seen like before the music starts, like dancers get set up, but then there's other dancers that look around and they notice that they're like out of, you know, they're not evenly spaced, and then they'll they'll scooch over and they'll take that initiative, or they'll tap their friend and be like, come over here a little bit.
46:59
SPEAKER_00: Like they're trying, they can this they can feel that they're incorrect in where they set themselves up.
47:04
SPEAKER_00: And that's a really smart dancer right there.
47:07
SPEAKER_00: Because yes, have you already entered and is your dance about to start?
47:10
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
47:11
SPEAKER_00: But I respect the fact that you and again, these are training kids.
47:15
SPEAKER_00: Like they're kids we're talking about.
47:17
SPEAKER_00: They're not professionals.
47:18
SPEAKER_00: Like, I respect the fact that you even knew to look around and like take that in and make that adjustment.
47:24
SPEAKER_00: You know, I was like, I always say, like, oh my gosh, good job from from correcting that, like right when the dance starts, because that's a skill.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: Instead of just being like in the zone, like, I'm right, I'm right, I'm right, here we go, here we go.
47:35
SPEAKER_00: And then you're like five feet away from the person next to you and the the formation's ruined.
47:39
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
47:40
SPEAKER_03: They're the rockets, Courtney.
47:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:43
SPEAKER_03: I expect perfect formations.
47:46
SPEAKER_00: Precision on stage, please, from the children.
47:49
SPEAKER_03: But this like prepares you for if you the roquettes.
47:52
SPEAKER_03: Like, look, these moments are helping you prepare for other things if that's what you want to do.
47:57
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
47:57
SPEAKER_03: But I mean, like, I can't even imagine being a rocket and having like exact, like, you better be exact for that.
48:04
SPEAKER_03: And your arm better be the exact arm.
48:08
SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, I don't know what happens, but I don't want to know.
48:13
SPEAKER_00: I know, it's it's true.
48:14
SPEAKER_00: It's a hard job, but I agree.
48:16
SPEAKER_00: I think that these types of situations and how we uh put ourselves out onto a stage and into a space is crucial to what our future holds in dance and to setting helps preparing us and setting us up.
48:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, and also just emphasizing the importance of it, I think is an is I don't I don't I personally I can tell as a judge that this conversation right here isn't talked about, thought about, practiced, rehearsed in the studio, right?
48:46
SPEAKER_00: I can tell based on what y'all are giving me at competition, I can tell that you've never even talked about what it what a bow means and how to walk off gracefully.
48:56
SPEAKER_00: You've never even talked about, oh, just get out on stage and set yourself up.
49:00
SPEAKER_00: That's what's being told.
49:01
SPEAKER_00: Or the kids are just doing what they're doing because they weren't told otherwise.
49:05
SPEAKER_00: You know, so I do think that that's why we have these types of conversations so we can make sure that it's it's still relevant in the industry.
49:13
SPEAKER_00: It's still an important aspect of our training for these young dancers to know that an entrance and exit is crucial.
49:20
SPEAKER_00: And with that, I'd love to hear if you have any exit pet peeves, which I'll tell you one that just comes to mind really quickly.
49:28
SPEAKER_00: One of my uh exit pet peeves is, and it's like a good and a bad because it's what it's has a good intention, but it's not followed through properly, is when there's like it's specifically in the littles.
49:39
SPEAKER_00: There's one little that's designated to be like the you're in your final pose.
49:44
SPEAKER_00: And then they're the they're the ones that are supposed to say five, six, seven, eight, to like get ready to leave or to like all regroup to bow and then strut off.
49:53
SPEAKER_00: Like they're so excited to be the person that got nominated to verbally say five, six, seven, eight, but they don't wait until the dance is over.
50:03
SPEAKER_00: They hit the button five, six, seven, eight and like buttons and breathe and hold uh five, six, seven, eight.
50:11
SPEAKER_00: So like that absolutely it's the cutest thing because you hear they're a little drilling.
50:15
SPEAKER_03: They're so excited.
50:15
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
50:16
SPEAKER_00: They cannot wait to say it.
50:17
SPEAKER_00: But I'm like, it's never gonna be said on any kind of tempo.
50:20
SPEAKER_00: It's just like five, six, seven, eight, and you're like, oh, okay, okay, bye.
50:24
SPEAKER_00: I didn't even see the final pose before they're like screaming that at me.
50:29
SPEAKER_00: And it's adorable, but I do think that as teachers, and again, that's why I'm like, okay, the intention is there.
50:34
SPEAKER_00: Y'all've thought about the the finish, and I'm happy about that.
50:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm happy we talked about this.
50:39
SPEAKER_00: But we just have to uh make sure the dancers understand to like take a pause, hold the pose, take a breath, don't rush out of out of the exit.
50:50
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
50:50
SPEAKER_03: I'm curious to hear y'all's thoughts.
50:52
SPEAKER_03: Mine mine is just obviously when there is no good thought and it's real slow.
50:58
SPEAKER_03: It's or it can be, or I've seen it's actually been like a really good number, and strangely, it just kind of stopped at the end.
51:06
SPEAKER_03: And it just it feels like a crash.
51:08
SPEAKER_03: Like it just because it's we're telling us we're everything is telling me something through movement.
51:13
SPEAKER_03: No one I think that's the thing that people need to remember is that this we're we're speaking through movement.
51:19
SPEAKER_03: So you even when you finish, you're still telling me something as you exit.
51:24
SPEAKER_03: The way you walk is telling me something, so but I've definitely seen like shoulders drop and like or like turn to the side and kind of and that's like it's like nails on a chalkboard to me.
51:36
SPEAKER_01: And to bounce off of what Joseph said, it's it's a lot like the younger dancers that do this more often, but this then extrapolates extrapolates into what Joseph just described.
51:44
SPEAKER_01: But it's when the younger dancers kind of like finish and then they're like, Did I do it?
51:48
SPEAKER_01: Like you can see the question in their face, and then they go off.
51:50
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's sweet, but it's also like, yes, you did it.
51:54
SPEAKER_01: So own that you did it, take your vow, and then depart the stage.
51:57
SPEAKER_01: It's really about like putting a button on it.
51:59
SPEAKER_01: Again, this is the impression, this is the last thing we are going to see, and they the the most um present thing that we are going to remember at the end of your routine.
52:08
SPEAKER_02: I have several tells I I really dislike the stomp stomp.
52:14
SPEAKER_02: I don't like the stomp stomp to finish like the post.
52:17
SPEAKER_02: Stomp, stomp, go away.
52:19
SPEAKER_02: I don't like that.
52:20
SPEAKER_02: It feels very drill teamy.
52:21
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't like to me, it doesn't continue the story.
52:24
SPEAKER_02: It tells me, oh, you're oh, okay, you're done.
52:26
SPEAKER_02: Right.
52:27
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
52:27
SPEAKER_02: Right.
52:27
SPEAKER_02: That's a little school.
52:28
SPEAKER_03: I would say that's a little old school.
52:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
52:30
SPEAKER_03: And then it could be a thing.
52:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
52:33
SPEAKER_00: Is that to think clip though, or is it in other styles too?
52:36
SPEAKER_02: I see it.
52:36
SPEAKER_02: I've I've seen it in lyrical, which is also why I really hate it.
52:39
SPEAKER_02: Because then you're like fully taking me out of this beautiful, pleasant, lovely thing.
52:43
SPEAKER_02: And then you're like stomp stomp.
52:44
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, right.
52:45
SPEAKER_03: And again, that's telling a story.
52:47
SPEAKER_03: That's telling a story.
52:48
SPEAKER_03: So like that every little movement is speaking to me, and some random reason at the end of a lyrical number, why would you stomp, stomp?
52:55
SPEAKER_03: Because you know what I mean?
52:56
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, I I do I have seen that.
52:58
SPEAKER_02: And that is it is drill team.
53:01
SPEAKER_02: That's what I think of drill team.
53:02
SPEAKER_02: Not a huge fan of that.
53:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm not a huge fan of like there's there was a trend for a while where people would pose and then just sort of like snap at you and walk away, like with a face, like with a very rude face.
53:16
SPEAKER_04: It was very like sassy jazz.
53:18
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, and I'm like, oh, that just feels very a lot.
53:21
SPEAKER_02: Like again with no bow.
53:23
SPEAKER_02: Like it'd be one thing if you bowed and again you said thank you and being reverential for the time on stage, and then you snapped at me.
53:29
SPEAKER_02: I don't know, but like the snapping at me is is not my favorite.
53:32
SPEAKER_02: And then my final pet peeve, because I think everyone's pet peeve, and we haven't even talked about it.
53:36
SPEAKER_02: What it is when the dance just sort of ends, but the music keeps going and then go off stage, and it's like, did anybody think about this at all?
53:45
SPEAKER_03: Oh gosh, yeah, that the cut of the song, yeah.
53:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wait, they just like leave and and then it's like didn't something happen?
53:53
SPEAKER_00: Did someone get in?
53:54
SPEAKER_00: No, and yeah, exactly.
53:55
SPEAKER_00: You just don't know.
53:56
SPEAKER_00: But that was the end, apparently.
53:58
SPEAKER_03: But like I have a question, I have a question for the room.
54:02
SPEAKER_03: Well, going off of what Leslie said of the faces, I don't understand dance competition faces that it seems to happen more and more where it's like and it makes the sorry, no one can see my face, but I'm like, I'm I make like a reaction face or sassy or like I don't I didn't grow up, my dance studio did not grow up like that.
54:25
SPEAKER_03: So when I see it at competitions, I really don't understand it.
54:29
SPEAKER_03: I don't, I I feel like it's become a specific dance competition market, it's its own world that has now starting to develop its own language even more.
54:40
SPEAKER_03: But that is really something where it's and I'm like, I don't know, is that performance?
54:44
SPEAKER_03: What is it?
54:45
SPEAKER_03: What do you guys think?
54:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, I love when dancers are expressive in their faces.
54:50
SPEAKER_01: I would prefer over-the-top faces to no perspective whatsoever.
54:54
SPEAKER_01: But I think again, this is about knowing the story you're here to tell and being honest in your acting rather than like it used to be like the alphabet, like A, B, I'm making a different face for each letter for you listeners who can't see the faces I'm picking.
55:06
SPEAKER_01: But I would rather, because I think a lot of dancers learn the craft of performance, external to internal.
55:12
SPEAKER_01: It's also an acting, it's a way to learn acting, external to internal.
55:15
SPEAKER_01: So I think if at least we're thinking about the shapes and expressions we are making with our faces, especially in the younger dancers, I would rather see that than nothing at all, because at least we're having a conversation about performance.
55:26
SPEAKER_01: And then as we get into like the older lyrical, I don't like the scrunched up prune face that a lot of like the over-emotional faces that a lot that like the lyrical face, we all know what I'm talking about.
55:37
SPEAKER_01: I think that as we sort of get into the 15, 16, 17-year-old of things, we do need to have an honest conversation about what the song means to us and actually let ourselves be vulnerable on stage rather than putting on the facade of rather than so to speak dancing with our faces, because that's really what it is.
55:54
SPEAKER_01: And I understand why people do it.
55:55
SPEAKER_01: I think that those faces, while they are not the most pleasant thing to watch all the time, do serve an educational purpose.
56:01
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, as I said, I would, especially in the younger dancers, would rather see you thinking about it and doing something with your face rather than just not having a perspective on what you're here to do.
56:10
SPEAKER_03: Love that, Alex.
56:10
SPEAKER_03: That was very well, very well.
56:12
SPEAKER_03: Motivational speaker, Alex, isn't this?
56:15
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
56:16
SPEAKER_00: Just my opinion.
56:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm one person.
56:19
SPEAKER_00: Our TED talk.
56:19
SPEAKER_00: Our TED Talk, Alex.
56:21
SPEAKER_00: It's a great opinion.
56:22
SPEAKER_00: I I completely agree with that when it comes to it.
56:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm sick of the like catching flies, looks like you're chewing gum, opening during an apple 24-7.
56:32
SPEAKER_00: I think that's like a dance team thing that is uh trickling into dance competition world.
56:37
SPEAKER_00: Because if you watched the the UDA comp, it's just like wide open mouths the whole time, like like they're screaming and roaring at the audience.
56:46
SPEAKER_00: And uh, that's the only expression that they do.
56:48
SPEAKER_00: And that's what is coming into the dance competition world.
56:52
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm just distracted the whole time as you're as I'm watching.
56:54
SPEAKER_00: But again, I mean, like you said, Alex, I am grateful there's something because there's a lot of dancers that have nothing going on on their expression, and it's just like, are you even are do you even like this?
57:05
SPEAKER_00: Are you having fun up there?
57:07
SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be a question every time.
57:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
57:09
SPEAKER_00: Like, do you want to be up there on that stage?
57:12
SPEAKER_00: One of the other pet peeves that I um dislike for exits, and I think it's important to touch on the fact that like there are a lot of songs and dances that may have a fade out that will be core have a choreographed exit a part of the music in the sense that the song is fading out, so the choreography leads you off stage.
57:31
SPEAKER_00: That ex exists a lot.
57:33
SPEAKER_00: Or people will do a fade out with a pose, which feels a little weird to me.
57:37
SPEAKER_00: I think a fade out feels like we're leaving.
57:39
SPEAKER_00: So I I in my head as a choreographer, I want you to depart stage as the music is leaving us, but that's just me.
57:46
SPEAKER_00: And either way, I think that regardless of the fade out, even if the music's softening, that you still have to commit all the way off the stage.
57:54
SPEAKER_00: I think that some they're like, okay, well, my quote unquote choreography is done, but I haven't made it to the stage exit yet.
58:01
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just gonna walk off.
58:02
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, no, you better own that, whatever that repeat the choreography.
58:06
SPEAKER_00: I don't care.
58:07
SPEAKER_00: Own it until you're off the stage.
58:10
SPEAKER_00: But again, they the kids have to understand like that that is part of your exit.
58:15
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think that, well, my teacher gave me only four steps and I'm not there yet.
58:19
SPEAKER_00: So but guess I'm just gonna walk off stage and then it takes you out of it because the music's still playing, you're still in your dance.
58:26
SPEAKER_02: Well, and I think too, that might be just one of those things where it's like, okay, well, my dance space is this big, and if I kept walking, I would walk into a wall in my dance studio.
58:33
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
58:33
SPEAKER_02: But it's just it's almost like one of those things.
58:35
SPEAKER_02: You just have to remind people that there will be space.
58:37
SPEAKER_02: I know in here there's not space, but like you're gonna need to keep walking.
58:41
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
58:41
SPEAKER_03: And that's why it's really important for these dancers to watch other studios and watch and learn from each other and see, oh, look at that studio and how they did their entrance and exit.
58:52
SPEAKER_03: What did you and that's I think as all of us have learned as dancers, we learn from each other and you'll be you pull from each other.
58:59
SPEAKER_03: You're like, oh my God, that's I love the way you entered with such confidence and the way you weren't overdoing your face.
59:06
SPEAKER_03: What did I like or what did I dislike?
59:08
SPEAKER_03: And that's okay to be like, what do you connect to and what do you don't?
59:11
SPEAKER_03: But use the opportunity at a dance competition to grow beyond what you see at your dance studio, learn from other other dance studios.
59:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's so important.
59:20
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
59:22
SPEAKER_00: I think that we have covered a lot in this conversation.
59:25
SPEAKER_00: I think we touched on all of the key points that we wanted to cover.
59:29
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully, to all of our listeners out there, you learned a thing or two about why your stage entrances and exits are important.
59:35
SPEAKER_00: We put this at the early on part of the competition season for a reason.
59:39
SPEAKER_00: So maybe you'll hear this, you'll get inspired, you'll go back to rehearsal after comp this weekend and prioritize the importance of that stage entrance and really take that in and watch and see does that make a difference in how your dancers perform and execute everything?
59:53
SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to make sure that we're teaching our dancers how to bow because I want to see more bows happening on stage, please and thank you.
1:00:00
SPEAKER_00: A request from all of our friends here on the pod and probably every judge in across the world.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_00: I do before we like actually go into our uh sign-offs and our last thoughts, uh, just for fun.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_00: I know Alex, you wanted to like fangirl a little bit over to Joseph and share some of your favorite, favorite TikTok viral entrances.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for this opportunity.
1:00:23
SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness.
1:00:24
SPEAKER_01: So my I was I was actually like thinking about like what should I say?
1:00:28
SPEAKER_01: Because I have been thinking about this for since I've known that I was on this podcast with you.
1:00:31
SPEAKER_01: I have two favorites.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_01: My first favorite, I think it's like, I'm not sure.
1:00:35
SPEAKER_01: Isn't happy to keep a dinner board where you enter with a mixing spoon and a pot?
1:00:39
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, that was on New Year's.
1:00:41
SPEAKER_03: That was uh some of our friends, and she entered.
1:00:44
SPEAKER_03: We okay, so it's become a game, by the way.
1:00:47
SPEAKER_03: I love it.
1:00:47
SPEAKER_03: Because we've it's been like five years doing these dance competition entrances, and people are like, do more.
1:00:52
SPEAKER_03: I need more.
1:00:53
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, I'm I have done every single one.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_03: So now when we have friends, we have a game and they have to pick something from the house and make an entrance.
1:01:03
SPEAKER_03: So it becomes a creative game.
1:01:04
SPEAKER_03: So we're like, what are you what do you find?
1:01:06
SPEAKER_03: Go find something, and they're like ah, and they like run around.
1:01:09
SPEAKER_03: She found, I think it was her, and she did baking to do.
1:01:12
SPEAKER_03: I helped guide like this should maybe it's waitress, like you know, like thinking of like a number that would go with this, and then the slow, I think it's the slow jazz slide down.
1:01:24
SPEAKER_03: But she's stirring really fast.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_03: She's stirring while she's doing a split.
1:01:28
SPEAKER_03: She went, she originally she went down really fast, and I was like, no, no, no, you gotta go slow.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_03: Draw it out slow, slow.
1:01:34
SPEAKER_03: And she had the other one had like mittens on, like oven mittens.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_03: It was perfect.
1:01:39
SPEAKER_03: I love that.
1:01:39
SPEAKER_03: So anyway, make it a make it a Friday night game, y'all.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_03: Like, be like, what can you find creatively and put it, make an entrance out of it.
1:01:47
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and then my second, my most favorite one is the all boys number, where you all go, huh, at the end.
1:01:53
SPEAKER_03: That was really that's the new year's one, yeah.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_03: So this is what we did in New Year's Okay, this was New Year's Eve, like not last year, but the year before.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_03: And it was hilarious because we just we just had so much fun.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_03: And we, you guys, it has been a while.
1:02:07
SPEAKER_03: This I would have never imagined that I when I was doing the Dolly movie, we went because we had filmed it at Dollywood, and I was get we went and like um we're doing roller coaster rides, and the one of the attendants on the ride, she was like, Oh my god, you're Blanche Dubois.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I am in Pigeon Fort Tennessee.
1:02:27
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:02:28
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I would and everybody was laughing because they were like the because it was all the dancers, and we were like, I would have never imagined.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_03: So it makes my heart happy, Alex, that you you find joy in that.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_03: And I hope that everybody that is listening, I hope that you find joy in that too.
1:02:43
SPEAKER_03: Again, don't take Blanche and Samantha as verbatim, but they are theatrical and they have become their own characters.
1:02:52
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
1:02:53
SPEAKER_03: But you know, again, they are inspired by dance.
1:02:56
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and I really appreciate all you guys.
1:02:59
SPEAKER_03: It makes my heart so happy.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_03: I would never imagine that we'd be sitting here being like, hey, your dance competition entrances is very random, very random.
1:03:06
SPEAKER_03: So thank you, Alex.
1:03:08
SPEAKER_01: Of course, thank you for the joy and the laughter.
1:03:10
SPEAKER_01: It truly like, don't discount the value.
1:03:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you obviously know the immense impact that like giving people joy on their phones.
1:03:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like a daily light.
1:03:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I can't, it's Blanche.
1:03:20
SPEAKER_03: I don't I have nothing to do with this.
1:03:21
SPEAKER_03: Oh Blanche.
1:03:23
SPEAKER_03: Oh Blanche, it's because it's she's she's in control.
1:03:26
SPEAKER_00: It's because it's just so relatable.
1:03:27
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the first time I saw it, I'm like, oh, genius! Like, I have seen an entrance like that.
1:03:32
SPEAKER_00: Like, yes, and then you just it's just so exaggerated that that's why it's just so darn funny.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_00: The dance competition industry knows exactly what you're going for with every entrance.
1:03:42
SPEAKER_00: So that's it's just brilliant.
1:03:44
SPEAKER_03: So and even those songs, too, like people specifically the songs.
1:03:48
SPEAKER_03: You hear a song, especially in a dance competition, you hear the song over and over and over again.
1:03:52
SPEAKER_03: And when you pick a song, I'm like, they're like, oh my god, that song, or the music in between entrances.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_03: We all hear it.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_00: So I think one of them I watched was like entry 552 or something, or like 5,455.
1:04:07
SPEAKER_00: And it's just like, yep, exactly.
1:04:09
SPEAKER_00: We're on entry five.
1:04:10
SPEAKER_03: And the comments, the comments will be like, that was a long weekend, and I was like, yeah, it is.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_00: Oh God, it's great.
1:04:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, y'all, this was such a fun chat, and I'd love for you both to lead us out with one final thought on our topic today.
1:04:25
SPEAKER_00: So anything that you want to share, any final thing that you didn't get to mention, quick thought, long thought, you can talk to teachers, studios, dancers, whoever you'd like out there about stage entrances and exits.
1:04:35
SPEAKER_01: Uh, just remember that this is an educational opportunity and it's not going to be one thing that makes or breaks your dance, but the whole package.
1:04:42
SPEAKER_01: So you should wrap the package with a beautiful entrance and exit, but always be kind to yourself at the end of the routine.
1:04:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I agree with that 100%.
1:04:51
SPEAKER_03: And the thing that comes to mind for me is just always dance with love.
1:04:56
SPEAKER_03: Always dance with love.
1:04:59
SPEAKER_00: We hope you enjoyed our latest episode all about stage entrances and exits for dance competitions.
1:05:06
SPEAKER_00: Special shout out to our guests, Joseph and Alex, for joining us on this chat.
1:05:10
SPEAKER_00: Be sure to follow them on Instagram.
1:05:12
SPEAKER_00: You can find Joseph at JosephCorella5678 and Alex at Alex Follinger.
1:05:19
SPEAKER_00: Also, check out Joseph's 5678 Broadway, a fitness dance workout for all levels that inspires movement, health, and happiness by harnessing the magic of dance and Broadway.
1:05:30
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more on his website at josephcorella.com or click the link in our show notes.
1:05:36
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