Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Studio Spotlight - Dancemakers of Atlanta

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Studio Spotlight - Dancemakers of Atlanta · 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.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: Dance Makers of Atlanta, an NYCDA 2021 outstanding studio winner, has a simple mission.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: Promote creativity, diversity, and innovation while building outstanding leaders with excellent character.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: Owners Denise Vladimir and Lenise Hurd sit down with us to discuss what makes Dance Makers of Atlanta special today on Making the Impact.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Hey y'all, welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here, of course, with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Hi everybody.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Hey Courtney, how you doing?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: How are you doing?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so great.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: How's recovery going?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's going well.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: I can, as of this recording, or I guess as of this release, I will still be on crutches, but I can put my foot down.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's progress.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure the crutches, you're so over them.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: My pecs are very tired and my shoulders are very tired.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: But you know what?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's all worth it because this time next year I will be back dancing, back teaching, and not having any more sprained ankles.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yay, that's great.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: So happy to hear that.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm happy that you're here, everybody listening this week, because we have our very next studio spotlight feature that is happening today.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited for it.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you are new to listening to our podcast, we introduced our studio spotlight features for season three.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a way for us to bring studios to you and to inform you all about different studios around the country who we feel are making an impact in the competitive dance world.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: And it's been a pleasure getting to know some of the studios, and we have some great studios lined up for our future episodes as well.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Our very first studio spotlight, if you missed it, was with Project 21 and Molly Long joined us on the podcast, and it was so interesting to hear how uh their students train and what their schedule looks like.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't wait for you to learn more about who we're sitting down with today.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: But before we jump into this episode, I would love to tell you a little bit about our sponsor, Dance Costumes by Urzua.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: Dance Costumes by Urzua offers high-end, custom, one-of-a-kind costumes for all genres, from edgy contemporary to professional tutus, from subtle Leos to sparkly unitards, and from sweet lyrical to fun musical theater.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: Choose from a wide selection of fabrics, including hand-painted and custom printed fabric, add feathers, rhinestones, and any other material to bring your vision to life.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: You will receive 15% off in all costumes using the code Impact15 at checkout at dancecostumes by Erzua.com.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: So something new that we've added this season, I'm sure you've heard us talk about it, is our Kofi account where you can buy us a coffee.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: So if you love listening to this podcast and you are waiting every Thursday for our new release to hit your phone and you plug your AirPods in and you listen on your run or you listen on your drive to work or maybe when your kids are heading to dance.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: You love our podcast, you can show us some support by buying us a coffee on Kofi.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Any size donation is welcome, but you can donate as little as$3 and show your support there.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: We've had so many people donating to us lately.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: We are so grateful.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out to everyone who's made a Ko-fi donation.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: We love you all.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we want to give a shout out to some of those people who have donated to us.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: So first up, it's April and Reagan Smith.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: And they said, Thank you so much for your amazing podcast.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: My daughter and I love listening together and discussing your perspective on the ins and outs of her dance comp world.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's so sweet.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: I love when the when the dance moms and the dancers listen together.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: That just makes my heart so happy.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Little bonding experience.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: And Lauren Lanza says, Great podcast.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I am a studio owner and love it.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you to our some of our recent Kofi donators.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Head on over to Kofi.com slash making the impact to send us a donation now and we'll buy coffee on you.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: And listen, listeners, if you don't have three dollars, listen, sometimes I don't have three dollars.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: But if you'd like to show support in a free way, you can always write us a nice review on Apple Podcasts and give us a five-star rating.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: That also helps bring us up on the list of related podcasts so that we can get out to more people.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: So that is also something that you can do that would support us and we'd appreciate it.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: All right, everybody.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: It is time to meet the guests that are joining us today for our next studio spotlight feature.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: I am so excited to get to know these ladies.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: They are twin sisters who run Dance Makers of Atlanta.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: They're in their 22nd season, obviously based in Atlanta, Georgia.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: They have three national title winners, five national runner-up winners, three national critic choice winners from New York City Dance Alliance.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: And this past summer, they won the 2021 National Outstanding Studio Winner at NYCDA Orlando.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very excited to welcome Denise Latimer and Lenise Heard to our podcast.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_04: Hi, thanks for having us.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_04: So happy to have you here.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we are so happy that you were able to join us.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I cannot wait to learn more about Dance Makers and hear all about you both.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: So we're really excited for you to be our very second studio spotlight.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_04: Yay, we're excited to be here.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, honored.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: And also I forgot to mention this earlier, but one of your current teachers and students, Terrence Martin, is on our judging roster at Impact Dance Adjudicators.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, wow.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't know if you knew that.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_05: I didn't know that until you mentioned it to us.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_05: I knew he was judging, but I didn't even put all of that together.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: I just love him so much.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: And he I've I've bumped into him in New York at auditions before.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: I actually remember him in auditions from years ago.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: And he he tears it up.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: He is so talented and just such a warm spirit.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we love having him on the roster.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, he's a great guy.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_05: We love having him back at the studio now.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_05: This has been amazing.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_05: And as a judge, he notices everything.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_05: That's what we like.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's what we like to.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you both for joining us.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: We're excited to learn more about your studio.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: So let's jump on in.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so ladies, I want to know a little bit about your backgrounds.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: What was your your early dance training like?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: And how did you end up owning a studio?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_05: Well, um, well, we grew up here in Atlanta and we danced at a studio.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_05: We both didn't start until we were nine years old.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_05: Oh wow.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_05: Um nowadays it's considered a late start.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_05: Um I don't want to tell my age, but back in the day, yes, nobody danced before they were seven or eight years old.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_05: They didn't have the three-year-old, four-year-old classes too much back then.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_05: So, and we started, we danced through high school, and we both we were trying for different colleges, but we both got a scholarship to Southern Methodist University.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_05: So when my dad saw we both got a scholarship, he said, Oh, that's where you're going to college.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_05: Congratulations.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_05: Goodbye.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_05: I didn't even know a lot about SMU at the time, but when I got there and saw the dance department, we were super excited that we that my dad made this choice for us.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_05: And so we put danced through college.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_05: I both received a BFA in dance.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_05: And moved to New York.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_05: I don't even want to say the year.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_05: I'm just telling you.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: You don't have to.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_05: But years ago, we moved to New York and uh we danced there for about seven years in a lot of great projects.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_05: And we came back to Atlanta to kind of save money and change courses and go to LA.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_05: And we started teaching here in Atlanta at several studios and kind of we've been here ever since.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_05: We never made it out to LA.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, really?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_05: So yeah, it got kind of nice being in a city where you had lots of family and you know, life was just a little bit easier than living in New York, and you could have a very much nicer apartment and you can drive around in a car and all of that.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_05: So I actually enjoyed starting really enjoying teaching.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_05: So I really started getting into it.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_05: So and I was just thinking, uh, do I want to go and try to, you know, go to the million auditions and try to get a job again?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_05: I was just like, oh, I think I'm done with it.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: The hustle is real, you know.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you you see this consistent job here and in teaching that and something that you enjoy.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, I don't want to go back to that hustle and grind of auditioning.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: No way.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and I'm sure, you know, back in the day, whatever year I'm thinking of in my head, there was not the internet or the backstage website.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: You had to get the paper, right?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_05: To look at your auditions like backstage every Thursday or something like that.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_05: And every week and get more auditions.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like we think it's a struggle now.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, no, it was even more of a struggle.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: There was a piece of paper you had to like buy.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm kind of curious, like, as far as your careers in New York.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: So you went to college together, same school, you graduated together, then you moved to New York City together.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, were you roommates in New York?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, most of the time, yeah.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_05: Basically, we were roommates.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_05: We didn't always different jobs.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because I was curious if like being identical twins helped you in New York City as far as like getting jobs together.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_05: Not really.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_05: Sometimes they didn't, a lot of times they didn't want both of us.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_05: So that's distracting.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_05: So I know this was distracting.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_05: So we started separately too, but one of our favorite jobs when we did a European tour of sophisticated ladies, we both got together.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_05: It was funny.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that was fun because we got to tour Europe together and see everything.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_05: That's a dream.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_05: That's awesome.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_05: My longest job is like we did it once for eight months, and then a second time for about three months.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's so cool.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_05: But you got to see the world.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we saw a lot of the world, and that's what I like to tell my dancers about.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_05: Like, go take every experience you can because if you were in everyday corporate America, there's no way you would have seen as many cities as I've seen in.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_05: Nope.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_05: All over the world and all the experiences I had.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I felt like I never got rich as a dancer, but I got so rich in spirit and in mind and ideas and all of that.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_05: So it's all worth it if that's what you really want to do.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_05: I lived a full life, so it was full before you go down and do this one thing and yeah, yeah, get stuck in it.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_05: So it was, it was, I feel very happy that I did that.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's so cool.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so you you went back to Atlanta, you started teaching at local studios, and then at what point was it?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: Did you take over somebody's existing studio or did you start from scratch with dance makers?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: We started from scratch.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_05: But we got kind of tired of is not really being able to fully foresee our vision all the time.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_05: And you can't because you don't own it.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_05: And so we decided, oh well, I guess we're gonna have to own this.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_05: We're gonna have to be we bought it for a few years.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_05: I mean I want a studio.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_05: We didn't we wanted to be studio owners.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_05: That was not something I ever looked into if I thought that was my future.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_05: I always loved dance, I always loved teaching.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_05: But at some point, in order to really foresee some a vision of yours, it has to be pursued by you.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_05: You have to do it yourself.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_05: You can't bring your vision into somebody else's studio.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_05: We kind of, you know, bumped our heads and opened our own studio.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_05: I always tell people, you know, it's something we did and we loved and it has been great.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_05: But if I could start over, I keep wondering, would I have done this again?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_05: You know, it's one of those kinds of things.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_05: It's a lot of sacrifice.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we put a lot of work and a lot of years into developing what we wanted to see.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_05: It does take a while and it takes such a just most of your time and took all our money at first, you know.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_05: I'm sure you don't make money right away.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_05: But the first, I have to tell you, the first I was working in corporate America when I was teaching for studios.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_05: So I had a full-time day job and I taught in the evenings for years.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_05: So I was used to giving up my time.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_05: But it's so all-encompassing when it becomes yours.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_05: And for the first eight years, I worked, I still work full-time and owned the studio.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_05: So it was kind of crazy.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_05: Lynn seven years, she quit a year earlier than me.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_05: No, I think it was six.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_05: I think that's right.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I couldn't do it in it as long as she could.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_05: She was, but yeah, she had a better job, also.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_05: So we made the most money, so we're like, you quit first.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_05: But you know, I was kind of forced into doing it full time as a studio owner because I was working in the subprime mortgage industry, and everything just shut down on us like crazy in like 2007, 2008.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_05: And so we was like, okay, I guess we're gonna do this full full time now.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_05: Kind of a blessing because it made us really just dig down into the studio and work harder and right.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_05: It actually came out, I think it came out better.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, probably really stressful right there around that time, though.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: I can't even imagine.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: Just like, I guess this is what we're doing now.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: I am exactly yeah.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, that's great.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so what was so in the early years of Dance Makers, what was your vision at that time for the studio?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like what what made you decide, you know, I I think we can do this, you know, like well, well, we had a vision.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_05: We wanted to be able to train dancers to a level where they were really competitive in the dance market where they were able to get into the better universities because we saw what it did for us to be able to get uh the university training.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_05: That took our dance level weight.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_05: And we able to we watched, we took our kids to a lot of competitions with other studios, but not our kids, theirs their kids.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_05: We did a lot of the choreography for them and the training of the company dancers for them.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_05: And we just felt like we could do it better if we we if we modeled a schedule properly, if they rehearsed properly, if they trained properly.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_05: And we could never get that going enough at other studios.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_05: So we decided we just wanted to be able to get somewhere where kids trained enough in ballet, where they trained enough in jazz and their technique level was brought up too, then then you're gonna have competitive dancers.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_05: They all kept trying to go the route of competitive routines.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_05: And I'm like, well, I don't care how great the routine is if your dancers aren't trained, and you you gotta have trained dancers.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_05: So um that's we decided, well, we we gotta go somewhere where we where training was the major force in the studio.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_05: Um, it was more about training the dancers to a level, even if you know they didn't want to compete, it didn't matter.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_05: We wanted them to be trained, right?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_05: So uh that was our major focus.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's yeah, it's it's so refreshing to hear that because yes, you can drill a dance until your eyes bleed because you watched it a million times and you've done the same thing over and over and over again.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: But you can still I and as a judge, I can still tell if the foundation and the technique is there in that dance.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: You might be drill team perfection, but I can still tell that you're not articulating through your foot the right way and you don't understand how to carry and hold your your your center or you know, just small details that really come from the foundation and the the actual training.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I always appreciate that when I see studios that come out and have again, also when you have solid technique and solid training, it's gonna be easier to clean your dance.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna like naturally be clean.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like actually Molly Long said that exact same thing on her episode as well.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, Well, they they dance together, they train together.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: So when I put choreography on them, they all look the same.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's just how you know they that's how it is.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's and I'm like, yeah, that's such a good point.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas like there are many studios in the industry in the country that just drill choreography and aren't putting the emphasis on the training aspect of their studio.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_05: And it was important for us.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_05: That's why we chose the convention circuit so that they're taking the workshop classes, it's not just a competition.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_05: Because it was the thing that really motivated us to really open our own studios that we started watching.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_05: Lenise and I just went to a convention as teachers with no students once.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_05: Went to an NYCA national New York because I mean every year we like to go to New York because we live there for and it's like our second home.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_05: So now we like, we just like every year we just we gotta go to New York for a few days.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_04: We were like, let's watch Joe's.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, we knew Joe from back in our day when we were there in New York.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_04: So we were like, let's go and watch this cut this national.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_04: I want to see it.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_04: I've heard some really great things about it, and it blew us away.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_04: It was amazing.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_05: But what was really amazing to us was watching the kids in class, like watching the oh how fast they picked up the choreography and how amazing they could look so fast.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_05: And we were thinking about the kids we were, you know, working with, we were like, oh my God, they probably would have a problem even picking up the steps.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_05: You know, and not even talk about looking technically proficient at the same time.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_05: We're like, okay, this has to change.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_05: We gotta do something.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so that was part of our motivation.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and I love that was a perfect segue to asking.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: I want to ask first about your what your training schedule is for your competitive dancers, but then I want to start talking about your choice to go the convention route rather than just competition, competition, competition.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Because that seems to be a trend now with some of the higher level studios that you see.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's like nobody's just going to a plain old competition anymore.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody's going to the convention comps for that training aspect.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: But so what does a week look like in like let's say your highest level company?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, RTs and seniors at a highest level.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_05: They take, well, they meet four days a week.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_05: It's a minimal four-day week a week requirement.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_05: They train three days of those weeks, they start with a ballet class.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_05: On the fourth day, it's a modern class and then into jazz.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_05: They take a modern and a jazz class on that.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_05: But every day, every day they meet, let's say most of them start at 5:30.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_05: They start with a ballet class for an hour and a half, and then they go into a rehearsal after every class.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_05: So three days a week they start with ballet and they go into a rehearsal.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_05: No, two days a week.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_05: And then there's a day in a week where they take a ballet and a chat class, and then they go into rehearsal.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_05: And then there's a day in a week where they take a modern and a jazz class, and then there's a rocket.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_05: So most days they train somewhere anywhere from 15, 12 to 15 hours a week.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um that's kind of minimum.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_05: And like the last couple of weeks have been crazy.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_05: We have choreographers in town that changes already.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_05: We've already had two choreographers in.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know if you want me to mention choreographers.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_05: You're welcome too.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_05: Well, we've had we had Randy Heifer in doing choreography, uh, some hip hop choreography for us.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_05: So that was that was a whole weekend of choreography.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_05: Nice.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_05: And then this past weekend we had Kirsten Russell in.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_05: And so that was a whole week, a weekend of choreography.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_05: So they had a five, six-day week when they have, you know, so the things can change when we're learning choreography, and then things can change a week or two prior to competition, those days can turn into four or five days a week.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_05: We don't like, we never like to cancel class for choreography rehearsal.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_05: So in order for us to keep classes in, we have to add other days for choreography and rehearsal.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_05: Some Sundays we'll just, you know, they're like since Kirsten came, we may come one Sunday and spend three hours just cleaning her piece so that we can just run it do not have to, you know, do it so long during the week.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_05: So things like the schedule gets crazy, but it's a four day normal schedule is four days a week.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: So highest level is doing three days a week ballet.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Every class is an hour and a half ballet class.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Full blown ballet class.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_05: Full blown ballet love every second of that.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_05: We still have to come and say, hey, hey, hey, we need to go to rehearsal.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_05: He will go forever, I'm ballet.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_05: We have to cut him off, but he's amazing.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_05: And yeah, we also don't want the kids.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_05: So it's totally exhausted West Day League that we can't get any real work out of them.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_05: But yeah, he's he has a very long class, but it's supposed to be an hour and a half and ballet class.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_05: And then we take an hour-long, they take a 45-minute tap class, an hour-long modern class, and an hour-long jazz class.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_05: So you can see that our 15-minute jazz class.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_05: So that's great.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_05: You can see that most of their training is in the ballet.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: And is is everybody required to do all of those things?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: So like everybody takes ballet, tap, jazz, and modern?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_05: Notice that we don't really have a hip-hop class.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_05: For our teens and seniors, they learn hip hop choreography.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_05: And I I don't I won't I don't have to late to say that they're naturally hip-hop dancers, but we seem to find that that hip hop class is quite natural to them so much part of their community.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_05: That we don't even, they don't take a hip-hop class, they learn hip hop choreography.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_05: Our young companies take.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_05: But our younger companies do have, yeah.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what's the younger, what's the younger company look like?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: So those are the ones that you're training from the ground up.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I think a lot of people like to hear how studios structure the littles and what their requirements are as well.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: So how many days a week are they in ballet and uh the other classes, like you said, they have to take is it a requirement for hip hop for them or is it an electronic?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um it's uh it's hip-hop optional, but the kids all go.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_05: They love it.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_05: They take the option, they all take the option.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_05: But like for our minis, they train twice a week in ballet, they take a jazz class, a hip hop, a hip acro, hip hop, and acro, and a and a lyrical class.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_05: Nice, like a lyrical class.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_05: That's great.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_05: They're training three days a week, but when they come, they come for three hours or so every day.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_05: So and then our juniors are four days, four days a week schedule.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_05: Wow, you jump them right up there, right?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_05: And they're taking the full schedule that the teen seniors say they take four days a week ballet, they take a lyrical, they don't take modern yet.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_05: They have three ballets, they take a lyrical, they take a tap, a hip hop, and an acrobat, and a jazz.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they take this, they're all training in everything.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: That was my question with modern.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I want I want to briefly talk about modern really quick because it's it's very refreshing to hear that a competitive studio in the industry is training weekly in modern dance.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I know we briefly talked about this before we started the podcast, but there's not a lot of studios that actually have modern as a requirement or even as an elective at their studio.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think contemporary is ruling the world, and they're by the way, listeners, there is a difference.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, there is a difference between lyrical, contemporary, and modern.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't know, maybe we need to do a contemporary versus modern episode.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_05: Especially because if you look at the work in competition, what's underneath the every category, sometimes it makes the lines very gray because you you're like, well, is that really a contemporary?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_05: You know, I consider that a lyrical piece, you know.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_05: So it would be nice to really be able to maybe if studios research modern things and then they look at what real contemporary choreography is, and it's just to be able to know what the real difference is.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_05: Because sometimes I'm even sure all the judges know what that is.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, what the difference, yeah.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_04: And I think it's our background.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_04: We have a lot of a modern background.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_04: We took a lot of grant and uh took court and in New York and all that because I just saw how strength-building that was.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's totally incorporated, and I was in the you know, I wouldn't do it before like strong juniors.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_04: That's what I was gonna ask.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_04: When when are we introducing it to what you're doing yet until you're I say you're that age, an exception, but for the most part, yeah.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_05: I think junior up is yeah, but we junior our junior is really more a lyrical contemporary class.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_05: It really segues into real modern by the time that it teams, yeah.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_04: Because to me, it's a very mature art form, yeah, and to really teach it from with real integrity, it needs to take a mind that's ready for it.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_05: So I just yeah, that's why you don't see it in a lot of studios.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_05: For one thing, it's hard to find a modern teacher to come into a data studio situation, someone who really knows modern and who wants to teach kids.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: Right, that's also the issue.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they they might want to teach it to your you know, 17, 18 year olds, or to get them to teach it to a 13 or 14 year old is probably more difficult.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_05: It was good that we started it ourselves in our studio.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_05: So uh a lot of our jazz technique is modern based as far as Walmart and all of that, it's already modern based, so they they had they're slightly familiar with it, you know.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_05: Right, yeah.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_05: So yeah, yeah, it was you know, we were able to do that.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_05: I have to say, when we started our studio, it it was Lanise and I and an acro teacher, so we had three-person staff.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_05: Wow, and for several years, so because we can teach modern jazz tab, but not we didn't offer hip-hop the first few years, yeah.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_05: So Lanise and I teach everything.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_05: We were the everything teachers for years before we even brought people in.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_05: The first thing we brought in was somebody who could go way more advanced than us in ballet.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we wanted somebody who had been a ballet dancer, right?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_05: And that was the first person we bought.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_05: Then later we started to bring people who were good at contemporary.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so it it helps if you know your your regular staff really knows what modern is.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_05: Um being able to incorporate modern.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_05: Otherwise, when you're looking for that teacher, it can get difficult.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: And do you find that your students do they just suffer through it or do they like it?
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_05: I found that the serious students really liked it.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_05: They really, and uh, my I it was very gratifying to us uh when our our first group of kids who decided to try dancing college, try to go to college for dance when they went to auditions and they were comfortable in the modern and they were looking around like, wow, yeah, so glad we learned this because they were because a lot of the kids in there with us did not understand what they were doing at all.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_05: So and so once we started having more kids go to college and we had alums from universities, it got a lot easier to be able to offer modern classes when they were back in Atlanta and things like that.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's great.
• 29:05
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• 29:11
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• 29:12
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• 29:15
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• 29:48
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• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: I do love hearing that and I feel like that it's I feel like every studio is trying to be unique in the industry and stand out in different ways.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I know if I see a a studio that has that I can tell has a solid and modern background in training, it's a breath of fresh air for me.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's you don't see it often on the competitive stage.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I love it.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm always like, thank you so much for training in modern dance and not just essentially following the trend of contemporary, because let's be real, it that's what the industry is.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: And and at the same time though, even hearing how your higher level dancers are training in modern and contemporary is not even on the schedule, really, they're doing contemporary choreography, I'm sure, at competition.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: So they're still getting that in the choreography aspect.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I am sure that they are so able to snap their fingers and transition from this structured modern style to a little bit more release and in contemporary and whatever style of contemporary that choreographer throws at them because they have that foundation.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like it really comes back to the training.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, and I've watched I've watched videos of beer dancers doing every style under the sun.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it does make a difference as far as not just you know drilling the choreo again, like back to the training.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and and a lot of our jazz training is you know, incorporates a lot of literal uh contemporary styles anyway.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_05: So they do somewhat training to contemporary, but but if you I find it if you have that solid base and where it makes you use your base but use the rest of your body in a more loose in a more loose manner, and but you still have to pull back to the base, then you are able to get so much work from just being able to handle, be able to do that.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we heard about your competitive students.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: Do you also offer a recreational program at your studio?
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, we do.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_05: And we actually we have a big program, and what we don't like to call them is recreational because we want our kids all to feel like they are in a structured dance program.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_05: So and we don't like the word recreational, it just doesn't fit for us.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_05: We call them academy kids.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_05: So they're part of the academy, so we have academy and company.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_05: Got it.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_05: And it's weird because we would, you know, I have parents come in and we had something, we had a form where they had to check academy or company, and they they didn't even know.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_05: They were like, Well, what is my child?
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_05: Their academy, you know, the kids know who they are, but some of the academy kids are like, which one is it?
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_05: Because we want them to feel like that strength, they'd be very serious about their training, even if it is one day a week, even if it is twice a week.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_05: We want them to think that they're coming into something that's structured with where they need to learn, where it can be fun, but uh at the same time educational.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm not putting down the word recreational.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_05: And for us, I know what recreational means that they're not training four or five days a week.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_05: But when they are training, we want them to feel like they are part of a training program.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_05: So we took recreation out of our cat out of our vocabulary and called it Academy.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's also becoming a trend too around different studios because it does have this sort of stigma almost of like the rec the rec kids, like you know, it's like we care just as much about you as we do about these kids who are here five days a week.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: You just also want to play soccer, you know.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_05: Like we have a student who comes twice a week.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_05: She takes a ballet class and then she takes a hip hop class.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_05: And, you know, normally we wouldn't even really get to know her because she's competent, she's out there forever.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_05: But she came into our office to talk to her, and he said, she said, Hey, I'm gonna be on the Ellen show, and I wanted dancemakers to know.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_05: We were like, What?
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and she was gonna be on the LN show.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_05: She and her father has this foundation where they kind of coordinate children of parents of incarcerated with parents who are incarcerated, and they have this whole program of being able to keep them in touch.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, wow.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_05: Digitally and that kind of things, like Zoom programs and stuff like that, where they're able to talk to their incarcerated parents on a weekly basis.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_05: And the parents get and they were on the Ellen show.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_05: We were like, oh my God.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_05: So that may have never been shared with us if that person didn't feel like they were a big part of Dance Makers, and come for two hours a week.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_05: And they came, we were just like, oh my God.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_05: So we just we shared that with the whole school, and everybody was in, you know, was able to congratulate her when she came in and all of that.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah, we just really want everybody to feel like when they come to dance makers, they're a part of dance makers, whether they're in the company or not.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so let's chat about your competition season and schedule for your company dancers.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I know you mentioned that you primarily go to convention competitions.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: When did that shift?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: When you guys started 20 years ago, there weren't as many convention competitions on the market back then.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: I know that you said NYCDA is is one of the ones that kind of intrigued you to uh go that route more, which they have been around since then.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: But did you initially start going to the convention comps right off the bat with your studio?
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: Or did you do the competition route and then ease into the convention route?
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: What was uh I know you like the training aspect, but is there any other reasons to go that that route?
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_05: We we did some competitions, like you said, I we didn't know that many conventions around at that back then.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_05: We started NYCDA though, like a year after we started, because kids who followed us from an other studios came.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_05: So we had some trained dancers ready.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_05: But we did do the competition circuit.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_05: You know, it's okay, and there's there's a place for that, but we just didn't think it was for us.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_05: We really wanted our kids to experience more when they went out to compete.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_05: We wanted them to have more of an educational experience when they did that.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_05: And also, I just felt like the competition world just started to cater.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_05: I I don't mean to be mean, but it just started to cater too much to giving everybody a chance to win these big awards, the whole recreational category.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_05: We were like, oh God.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, just having to kind of sit through all this different stuff.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_05: And so for my kids to see watch a rec dance and think, oh well, you know, the rec, the recreational portion of the solo division.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_05: Let's see that.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_05: And they watch those solos and they think, oh, I'm ready for a solo.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_05: I'm like, you know, it's okay that they do that, but that's not, you know, to I think it's running off some of their studios.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_05: So I think I think that's why you don't see as many competitive studios in that environment because you don't really want to subject your kids thinking, you know, that's not what we present as competitive dance.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_05: Find that when we go to convention world, you don't really have to sit through all of that.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_05: But it's trying to be very we all have those kids, but they are at the studio and they dance in our holiday and our recital, you know, shows like we don't, you know, we want them to know that's not competitive dance.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_05: You know, yeah, twice a week, it's not competitive dancing.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's not competitive just soccer.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't know.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like any it's not two days a week of anything is not competitive.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_05: Like I hate that competition has moved to that, it has allowed for that for people to feel like, oh, I don't have to put the work in, right?
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_05: And I can go to competition.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, like it's I I just didn't like the message that that sent.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_05: So we just we just like the whole thing, and everybody doesn't have to be an amazing.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_05: And if you go to convention, there are great studios, there are old, you know, studios that aren't as strong as the major studios, and that's okay, but at least they're learning something.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_05: They're really they're really being told where they are in the dance world with their awards, right?
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_05: They're not given some this fake.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_05: I feel like fake trophies.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_05: It's a fake trophy when you're first place overall, and I looked at that like, oh my god, that was first place overall, and these kids have basically no technique.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_05: So and they get to go out into their communities and say it spread that.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like, no, that's it, that's it.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's the thing for me is like parents don't know like the difference between the levels and everything, they just figure first place and now it's all over Facebook.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: My kid won first place.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, uh actually, I mean, there were three different competitions at this competition, and we won it against 20 people 300 people, you know.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_05: And they went, they give that first place overall, and they were the only ones in a category.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_05: I I'm sorry, I think the first step I was myself, you know, you would have only wanted that's great, you still got a great award.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_05: The adjudicated award is the most important part of that because that's what you would have got at either way, whether it be the other great dancers or if you know whoever was there.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_05: So it's great you got that high adjudicated award, but you placed first place on yourself by yourself.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_05: Right, right, right.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, just like that.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_05: Just like to put things in perspective.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_05: Uh everything's not about an award, is you know, and that's very important to us.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: I respect that.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so with you guys, like I love the competitive dance world, I've been in it my whole life, I run a business around it, and I know that the industry has to shift and cater to the needs and the demands of its clients, and that's the route that it's it's gone.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_01: We've watched, I mean, you guys have watched since you started the your studio 20 years ago, how the industry has evolved in 20 years.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, just talking about how there weren't many conventions back then.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now there's tons of conventions.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_04: Every year I hear about a new one.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: A new one every time, and then a new competition, and then a new level being added to the competition, and then a new triple titanium being added to the competition.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_05: Right, and then a new award.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_05: I know it has to evolve, but we used to fight for gold, and now it's like, oh, that kind of gold.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_05: They're upset.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_05: They're stuck.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I I get it.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: I understand how the the competitions have had to go in that direction, but I have also I do understand as well how a lot of the higher studios, like yourself, like some of the higher training caliber studios, are like, not really into all these levels and things that you know.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: I want to go to a competition.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know that the talent is gonna be at the caliber that I'm training my dancers.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: And there are studios, there's so many people that will fight the level discussion forever.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, forever, forever.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like, well, it's not fair because my dancer, oh, either way, the way that I look at it at the end of the day is it is a competition, y'all.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: Every life's not fair all the time.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_05: Like that was both judges' opinion at the time.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so take it, take it for what it is.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you well, and listen to your critiques.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: Right, exactly.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_02: Here's another plastic trophy, but like here's some actual useful information if you're not a good judge.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like exactly so much.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I totally understand why not only with the training aspect, but also if you're gonna go through the time and effort to create choreography for the competitive stage, you want to be able to compete alongside other the same caliber of talent.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: Because if not, then it's just an automatic win.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: And what's the fun in that?
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_05: And I I don't I don't think the teams will work as hard if they feel like they every time they go, they're just gonna win everything.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_05: It's not good.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_05: I don't think that's good for anybody.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_02: No, because it definitely it it dampens your competitive spirit, you know?
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's it doesn't allow you to just have that drive.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: So convention competitions are your jam.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: How many do you guys go to each season?
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, NYCDA is a fan favorite.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Are there any other ones that you you regularly attend every year?
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: And do you always go to nationals as well?
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_05: Well, we attend three conventions a year, and we want it to be more because we love so many of them.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_05: So, like this year we're doing, of course, NYCDA, but we're starting with Nouveau and then we're doing 24-7.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_05: So we do a lot of the break the floor group and we had NYCDA.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_05: But I have small groups who go to Raddox and I have a small group going to Tremaine in a few weeks.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_05: Nice.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_05: So we try to try all of them, but of course, as a studio, we only as a whole company studio.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_05: We only require them to go to three.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_05: Got it.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_05: But yeah, but some of them, you know, they want to go to every one.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_05: So right.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I was gonna ask that.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: So do you do you allow your dancers to go to optional conventions on their own that come through town?
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_01: And like, how do how do they juggle that if there are those scheduled rehearsals on Saturday or rehearsals on Sunday?
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: Does that what comes first?
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: The rehearsals come first.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_05: But if they if we most of the time they submit to us their request at least a like a month out, and and we try to accommodate as many as we can extra.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_05: Sometimes we can't, like it depends on what company.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_05: If I have a mini company member, it's probably a lot easier to film the for them to venture out to others.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_05: But if it's October, early November, most of our teens and seniors can't, it's so much choreography being taught during that time.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_05: But if they're Most of the time they go when we're in season in between competitions because that way dancers have been dancers have been performed and cleaned.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_05: So it's a little easier to let them loose on weekends to do other things.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_02: And how do y'all allot or give out solos, duos, trios?
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_02: Is that something they auditioned for?
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_02: Oh goodness, I just saw an eye roll.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_05: This year, I've been we had so many requests.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_05: 29 requests.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_05: Oh a lot of the conventions don't even let you bring that maybe.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_05: Split them up.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_05: It's uh uh it's a nightmare.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_05: But the the thing was last year when we did NYCDA regionals, they selected so many kids as the runner-ups and winners of the outstanding dancer contest.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_05: So we got them all prepared, they all had to prepare a solo when we went to nationals over the summer.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_05: So all of those kids are prepared to take their solos now into a new season.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_05: That's throwing our numbers off in solos.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_05: So that's a dilemma for us right now.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_05: And this year we are struggling through it.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_05: We're gonna have to dip divvy them up over conventions.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_05: Next year we're going to start a whole new process about solos.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_05: And I think we hope that this works, but we're hoping that you have to, when we do auditions, it's gonna be the top three to five level.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_05: Wow, yeah.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: And are they finding this out on the podcast right now?
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_01: They're finding this out.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_03: Guess what?
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, top secret, and we'll make exceptions for graduating seniors, okay.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and we don't want to deny them their last year, but and you'll get one, yes, if you're the top three you get on a solo.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_05: We don't everybody gets they sometimes they learn to, or we've had we've had kids to learn too, but it's hard for them to get those two out of yeah, but you know, yeah, at convention they can only perform one solo, yeah.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_05: We have to go to competition to be able to take three or four solos, which I think is absurd.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_05: We might have to do that next year though.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_05: We might do one competition and let everybody we might have to go do a competition just to take everybody's solo, right?
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_05: So we're thinking of doing that also.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_01: That makes sense.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's that seems fair.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: I love hearing the process for every all the studios and how it works.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_02: And also you mentioned briefly auditions.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_02: What do your auditions look like every year?
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_02: Is are there chances that people don't make company that were in it last year?
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_02: It can, it's rare.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_05: And most of the time, because at the end of the year we do a discussion kind of evaluation discussion with every student that we there may be so much warning in that discussion that we don't see them show up to auditions the next season.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_05: That makes sense.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_05: And that's what we try to do.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_05: It's just rare that they have been in company, they show up to auditions.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_05: They're generally going to be placed in company.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_05: Now, where they're placed, are they going to be happy with?
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_05: Not all the time.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_05: Um, you know, a lot of kids are looking for that promotion that they don't get.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_05: We lose them that way sometimes.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_05: But we do require them to take a summer intensive.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_05: It's a week of intensive, and they're taking classes from nine till three in the afternoon.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_05: And then behind that, that Saturday is when they have their that company's audition.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_05: The Saturday fall.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_05: And all of our auditions start with two ballet combinations.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_05: So if they haven't had ballet, you know, we have people who want to come in and audition for company from outside studios who've never trained in ballet.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_05: Oh goodness.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_05: They saw my hip hop dancing.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_05: They were like, right, right, right, right.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_05: Pre-selected the hip hop dancers.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_05: No.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_05: Basically, everybody's company does the hip hop dance because they're usually weak dances.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, that always scares off a lot of outside talent.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_05: Unless they've been training in ballet, they don't, they're they're afraid to get, they won't get past the first two ballet cuts, and then there's a jazz, we go into a jazz, and then we do the contemporary air clips.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_05: But we we don't auditions in tap and hip hop, but at the end, if you're a tapper, you are we it may help you if you're a strong tapper.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_05: If we know you're strong in hip hop and we know you're strong in tap, that could be a whole disappointment for you.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: So as far as we've heard all about your training process, auditions, requirements to be on the team, things like that.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_01: What does I know that that you've had a lot of achievements throughout the years and especially even in this past summer, you guys won National Outstanding Studio at NYCDA, which is a huge achievement.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_01: So congrats on that.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's really exciting.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_01: What about any?
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_01: I know that you you said at the very beginning that you wanted to train dancers to be able to get into those college programs and to be able to have those careers.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_01: Have do you have any success stories of alumni who have gone on and made you so proud in in their careers in any way?
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_01: How they if they actually went on to pursue dance professionally, move to New York, LA, any credits that they've been a part of or shows that they've been a part of?
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_05: That's what we're most proud of.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_05: We actually have a few.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um we have about 10 or 50, about 15 dancers who've gone out to dance in college.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_05: All of them, a lot of them with full tuition scholarships.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_05: Nice.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_05: So they're smart too.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_05: And uh so we've had many, we've had alumni from University of the Arts, from Point Park University.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_05: We have alum from Juilliart, the Juilliard School, and we have one attending right now.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_05: Nice.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_05: And purchase, SUNY purchase upstate New York, NYU.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_05: So we're very proud of that.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_05: And then we have several working in the industry.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_05: USC.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we have a USC attendee right now, someone who's still there.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_05: But then we have some of our amazing accomplished students, uh, alum, uh be like Shanika Gooden, who's been in like four Broadway shows.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_05: She's currently on in Hamilton right now on Broadway.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_05: We have Amber Jackson and George, uh, George Lawrence.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know if you guys know, but George was on So You Think He Was Down to the last what four or five months, So You Think You Could Dance.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_05: He's having an amazing career in LA.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_05: Uh Amber Jackson, who's now in Wicked, back on back on Broadway in Wicked.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_05: She did Hamilton in Chicago for years.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_05: I think she's gonna start working on Deborah Westpron.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, definitely.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_05: It's a workshop for this.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, she'll be doing that.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_05: Exciting.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_05: She'll be doing that.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_05: We have Vincent who's danced with Beauty Jones.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_05: Nice.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_05: Chanel, who's danced with they were we had two um dancing together with Bealty Jones.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's so cool.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_05: Uh yeah, we have Jamal White who danced with Ailey too, who's now with Body Traffic.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_05: And we have our first, our our first uh Julia Grant, Zoe Holland.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_05: She's in Belgium with uh Royal Belly of Flanders.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_05: Wow, yeah that's that was very exciting.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_05: He's done so many shows about that.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_05: He's been he's a regional Broadway star.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_05: He's been to every regional house I can think of.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_05: So yeah, we have them doing great things.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_05: And just going out and watching them in prof the professional world, we try to catch everybody's I said go out and see them dance professionally, that is what keeps me going.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, studio life can get crazy, but but just seeing the results of you know being able to give somebody that beginning is good, yeah.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's so lovely to hear, especially because you both had uh uh gone on to pursue professional careers and not to knock any studio owners that never, you know, try to be professional, but I think because you experienced it and you know what it feels like, what that hustle and grind feels like, what training it takes to succeed, the the level of training you needed to be able to get those jobs that you got as a professional dancer, you knew what it takes to then pass that on to your dancers and knew we have to train at this level if you want to be on Broadway, if you want to be on Hamilton, y'all gotta be in this modern class every other we week, right?
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_01: Or whatever it is.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that it comes from a little bit of a different perspective, honestly, because you've been there, you've been in their shoes.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_01: And if that's something that you they've expressed to you that they want to do, if they came to you, you know, sophomore year, I want to be a professional, you can guide them and in the right way, which no offense to other studio owners that haven't, but I have personally experienced studio owners coming to me asking for guidance because I'm living the professional dance world in New York City and they're like, I never did that.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, can you my dancer wants to do that?
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_01: What is your advice?
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any guidance?
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_01: Can you be their mentor?
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_01: Types of things.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, hearing the variety of jobs that your dancers have gone on to from concert dance companies to straight up the best of the best Broadway shows to professional ballet companies in Europe.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's that's everything.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's everything.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like you have to be so proud.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's really what really keeps us going.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, when when we talk to our dancers coming from a professional background, and when you talk to them, fortunately, it helps us to really help them make decisions about is what is this what they really want?
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_05: Because I think some people have these grandeur thoughts about being a professional dancer.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_05: But you know, when you tell them, hey, it might take you a year to find a job when you move to New York, what other plan do you have to be able to pay the rent?
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_05: You're gonna have to have money to take voice lessons if you plan to do Broadway, you're gonna always have to sing, things like that.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_05: Just being able to give them a real realistic view of what that really takes outside of the training.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_05: Because I've seen dancers who are very well trained who might not really make it in the professional world.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_05: You you know their work ethic, you know, it came natural to them to look straight in ballet, it's easy for them.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_05: And but you know, would they really make it in a world where they gotta fight and they do even fight, you gotta fight to survive at the same time you're fighting to get into that job.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_05: You know, like you know, I I love telling them how I waited tables.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_05: They're like, you waited at tables, you know what you're coming out like yes, I did.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_05: I did that too.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you know, I I didn't go from job to job all the time for a while.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_05: I I had some successful times, but there were times when things are slow and things aren't happening, and you're maybe not booking anything.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_05: What are you gonna do during those times?
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_05: And also teaching them how to take a no.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_05: Um get rejected.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's so many.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_05: I watch kids who have been, you know, national winner, many, junior, teen, senior, and then they can't face the professional world.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_05: Nobody's ever told them no, nobody's ever told them they weren't the best.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_05: You know, so yeah, so yeah, it's you know, I just like to be able to offer that perspective to them also.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_05: Because I tell parents when they come in and say, My daughter's serious, she wants to be a professional, I always go, okay, well, then that's a different kind of student to me.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_05: Because I'm gonna train that one differently than I'm gonna train that one who I know wants to do it for fun.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_05: And it's not gonna be a career, you know, 95% of your studio.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_05: But that one who you, you know, then you have to really teach them.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, they're gonna have to learn how to do to handle being a dancer, right?
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_05: Like what it really takes to be a dancer.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, well, we had one national winner, she was a national winner, and she was going to college, and I told her, you know what, they're not gonna care.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_05: So don't care, so don't walk in there saying I'm the national winner.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_05: They're gonna go so what?
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_05: You know, but uh so you have to tell them that too.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_05: So sometimes all these accolades don't really mean just competition.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_05: That's another word, they don't really mean a whole lot when you go to college or when you're in a professional world, or when you're in the professional, you know, this is nice to mention, but that won't get you the job.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_01: Such good advice.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_01: Totally love it.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, to kind of wrap us up with this awesome discussion and interview, what is the future of dance makers of Atlanta look like?
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, well, we actually we have something we hope is in our near future, is we're gonna relocate the studio.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_05: Please.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so we are working on a move, and that has been a job in itself.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_05: But what we want to see for our dancers, we like to be able, of course, to grow in number and offer it to more students.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_05: And what Lenice and I are looking into is offering an outreach type of a program.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_05: So for kids who absolutely can't afford dance.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_05: We got maybe even in homeless shelters, foster care system, and that type of thing.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_05: And just to get maybe finding that that star out there who just may have never taken a dance class because it was never available to them.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_05: We're open up hoping to have that program start within our walls so that they're also intermingling with.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_05: We have a lot of kids who are from, you know, middle class and up America.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_05: So that they're mingling with all those kind of kids and just being able to see something else in life.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_05: Because a couple of years ago, we had a guy who came and he asked, could he just take class?
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_05: He went to do drop-ins, and he asked me what was the drop-in rate.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_05: I gave him a drop-in rate.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_05: I noticed that he came in with like dollar bills and he counted out, and he was really diligent with coming in and paying for every class he took.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_05: And and Lenice now, just wondering about this kid.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_05: So one day he came in and said, Uh, do you have any programs for the homeless?
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_05: And we were like, Well, no, not right now, but we can think about that.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_05: He I said, Well, you know, this homeless, he said, Oh, it's me.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_05: But he still came with his money to pay for classes.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_05: We were like, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_05: About that.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_05: I was like, Oh, uh, we gotta do something.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_05: We have to do something.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_05: He took his mom in a shelter.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_05: He had a lot of brothers, his mom had a lot of kids.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_05: And he just wanted to dance.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_05: He just wanted to take, yeah, he really wanted to dance.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_05: And he's out there still dancing.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_05: He didn't go to college.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_05: We didn't keep him that long.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_05: I think he moved away or something, but it just made put a big thought in my head about wow, we have to do something about that.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, gosh, I hope that comes to fruition.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's that's an amazing way to give back, you know, to the community.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_02: Totally.
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we we hope we can make that happen.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_05: And maybe, you know, we heard that Misty Copeland kind of started that way.
• 59:31
  SPEAKER_05: We're like, we might have that next person.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you never know.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_02: You just gotta put the option out there.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right, right.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it sounds like y'all are busy this season.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds like the move's gonna be exciting, it's gonna be a new, a new space for a bigger space, it sounds like.
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_05: And and it's just in an area that's more is you know, in a happening area of Atlanta, so we can be able to attract a bigger crowd of kids.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_05: Where we are now is okay, but the day the neighborhood's getting a little bit scarier.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_02: We we're thinking it's scary some people away.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_05: But yeah.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_02: Are you in your original location now?
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_05: No, we started in a small space, it was only two studios, and we were there for our first eight years.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_05: We did own it though, which was nice.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we know we owned that space, and then we had to sell it to get a bigger space so we couldn't afford the size we had to rent.
• 1:00:31
  SPEAKER_05: And now we're in 6,600 square feet.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_05: So wow, yeah.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_05: So we've been there for about 12 years.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_05: We've been here right now, 12 years.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_05: It's awesome.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_05: We're actually hoping to get the same size space.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_05: We don't really need a bigger space, we just want a better space.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_00: Makes sense.
• 1:00:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Leslie, feeling like this is a good wrap-up.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_00: This is good.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we covered everything and then some.
• 1:00:55
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_00: Very good.
• 1:00:58
  SPEAKER_05: We enjoyed it.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this was so much fun.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_01: It was such a pleasure getting to know both of you.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I love hearing about your studio, love hearing about your training, love hearing what you're doing down in Atlanta.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I I hope that uh some of our listeners might encounter you at competition this season, and they might know a little bit more about your studio.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_01: And everybody that's listening, if you want to watch some of Dance Maker's videos, we'll have them linked in the bio so you can check out what they're doing.
• 1:01:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, they do it all.
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_01: So FYI, it sounds like they they train heavily in ballet and modern, but they can do contemporary, they tap, they musical theater, they hip hop, they do it all, and they do it well.
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_01: You're so welcome.
• 1:01:43
  SPEAKER_01: I wish you guys the best season ever in season 22.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_01: And uh how we typically uh have all of our guests lead us out is with just a little final thought, a little bit of encouragement, words of encouragement, or anything you'd like to share to all of the listeners out there or the competitive dance world from the owners of dancemakers of Atlanta.
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_05: Well, we really like dancers too, but just uh always stop comparing yourself to other dancers and be your own competition.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_05: And that means fight every day to be a better dancer for you.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_05: Look at yourself and look at where you want to be as a dancer and watch yourself create that for yourself and stop looking around at other dancers to do it.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_05: There's a if you want to be a dancer and if there's a dancer in you, you can be better and you can be great and just do it at your time and your pace and with your body.
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I would just say I'm talking to the dance teachers out there.
• 1:02:47
  SPEAKER_05: I like always know your worth and always know that you're making a difference out there.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_01: We would like to send a huge thank you to Lenise and Denise, the owners of Dance Makers of Atlanta, for joining us on the podcast as our very second studio spotlight guest of season three.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_01: Learn more on their website at dancemakersofatlanta.com and be sure to stay connected with them on Instagram at DanceMakersAtlanta.
• 1:03:16
  SPEAKER_02: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcast, Google Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_01: If you love all the info you're getting from our podcast and want to support us, you can buy us a coffee using the link in our show notes now.
• 1:03:35
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• 1:03:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking for a fresh set of eyes to critique your dance before you hit the stage this competition season, then we would love for you to check out our service, IDA's online judges critiques.
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_01: An IDA judge will go through and critique your routine in a video critique, just like you'd receive a competition.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_01: But one of our best-selling and unique features is our additional feedback option.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_01: Where not only will you be able to watch your judge critique your dancer, but they will go back through from beginning to end and pause the video to elaborate even more with their professional level feedback.
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_01: This service has been a game changer for so many dancers each season, and it is such a helpful tool to utilize while prepping for the competitive date.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_01: You can even request a genre-specific specialty judge to complete your critique so you are guaranteed to receive the most accurate feedback from a judge who specializes in your style of dance.
• 1:04:37
  SPEAKER_01: IDA's online judge critiques start at only$35 and are available year round.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_01: Learn more about our service and submit your dance now by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting our website at Impact Danceeducators.com slash online critiques.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_01: We can't wait to see your dance.
• 1:04:57
  SPEAKER_02: We have some excellent episodes coming your way on season three of Making the Impact.
• 1:05:01
  SPEAKER_02: Stay tuned for episodes on the open category, Mini Mania, and appropriation versus appreciation.
• 1:05:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for tuning in, and we hope you're enjoying season three.
• 1:05:12
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, keep dancing.