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Studio Spotlight - Canadian Dance Company · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_03: Strengthen a person's character first, then the artist appears.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: That's the philosophy behind Canadian Dance Company, an award-winning studio from outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: Owner Alan Lufian and artistic director Andrew Incinali join us today on this studio spotlight to share CDC's journey, which includes bringing home the most medals for Canada to date at the IDO World Dance Championships to training versatile dancers who have appeared on TV and film.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, dance world, and welcome to this week's episode of Making Impact.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here, like goblins, with my wonderful co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: What's up, Courtney?
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: Not too much.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited for this week's episode.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: Me too.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: We are taking it up north to Canada and showing off one of our favorite Canada dance studios on our studio spotlight this week.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and this is our very first Canadian studio who is joining us on our studio spotlight features.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: So for all of our listeners out there, if you've been enjoying our studio spotlights, I'm sure you have.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: We've had some fantastic studios from the United States on our previous episodes, but we knew we needed to have a Canadian studio join us on these spotlights because there's just so much to learn about the Canadian dance scene.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm so curious to know more about it.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm super stoked.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: I've had the opportunity to judge in Canada before.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: And while there are some similarities to the states, just uh competitions in general and training, I find that it was it was different.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_03: It was really interesting.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'm super excited to learn more about the studio and how they train and what they do and kind of their world.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm really glad we got them on.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I really think that they're one of the leaders in the Canadian dance scene.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: And there are some fierce studios up there.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: So when I was asking a lot of people, like, who should we have from Canada on the podcast?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone was saying you should bring in Canadian Dance Company.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I can't wait for y'all to hear from the owners very shortly.
• 2:28
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• 3:15
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• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I want to tell our listeners out there a little bit more about our platinum premium subscription.
• 3:23
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• 3:32
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• 3:36
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• 3:46
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• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: All right, dance world.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's time to jump into our very next studio, spotlight feature of season four, and I am so pumped for this one because this is the very first time we are bringing on a Canadian dance studio.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: Y'all, how exciting! I cannot wait for this.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so curious to learn about what the dance scene is like up there in Canada, which y'all probably know it's fierce.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: There is so much competition up there.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: There are so many talented dancers that come out of Canada.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I know that this studio in particular is producing some of the top talent in Canada.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: So we need we had to have them as our very first spotlight studio of our Canadian uh version.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I am really excited to welcome this studio.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: They are recent winners of View Dance Challenges Top Studio of 2022.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: They've represented Canada in the IDO World Dance Championships in Europe and brought home the most medals for Canada to date.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: How cool is that! They've been in business for 37 years, have two locations in Canada, and their dancers have been seen on TV shows and movies like World of Dance, The Next Step, and Zombies.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to welcome the owner of Canadian Dance Company, Alan Lupien, and the artistic director, Andrew Incinali.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome, y'all.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, hey, how's it going?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: Really happy to be here.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, y'all.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so happy that you were able to squeeze this into your schedule.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: And when we were doing our research, we were researching, you know, different top Canadian dance studios, and y'all's name came up many times.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of my Canadian dance friends were like, you have to have Canadian Dance Company on the podcast.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're excited.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're excited.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: We are excited.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is a cool thing to share, and uh, we love it.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're ready to go.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, we're gonna learn all about you both.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: And before we jump into the actual episode, let's start like right from the very beginning for both of you.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: You guys can both kind of go back and forth however you'd like.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'd love to hear, you know, your early journeys of dance and how you both got into uh the dance world in general pre-Canadian dance company, pre-studio ownership.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Ah, okay, okay.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, I can uh get that started.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I actually started dancing at my wife's mom's dance studio.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, there you go.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: That's so cool.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I hold on eight years old.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: What did you know your current wife then?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_03: Like you were friends with her, and that's why you started dancing there?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: No, no.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I was eight, and my mom wanted us to all dance, and uh, we moved to uh the little town, the Simcoe, and um then we just looked for a dance studio, and she was like, Okay, this looks like a good place.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So that's where I started dancing, and I met my future wife there.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, that's so cool.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Back then it was Dot Blakely dance studio.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Dot Blakely.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: That was her mom, and she had the studio for 30 years also.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_03: And were you friends with your now wife?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_03: Like you you were you're eight years old, you met your now wife, and are you friends and are you like high school sweethearts and stuff, or does that happen later?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it happens later.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: I'm invested in the love story here.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it happens later, and um we, you know, I continued dancing.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: I loved it.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: At first I was kicking and screaming, and that's not what I want to do, mom.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: I want to do karate or something and be cool.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: And uh and anyway, uh, she won that argument, and um I, you know, ended up uh, you know, studying everything there, loving it, because her mom, my wife's mom, uh she took us everywhere, even though back then you didn't travel a lot.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: And the cool thing was with dance, um, she took us to places in the US as well just to to get exposure to everything.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: But um my wife, her name is Dawn Lupin, and uh we became dance partners.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um, it was later on, you know, that uh uh we got together and just loved each other's company and found that we made each other laugh the most, and that that was one of the best things.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so then uh we ended up opening our school after her mom closed her school.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and it was like we had to move from this little town, and uh a bunch of the kids actually still followed us.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: We were an hour and a half away because we moved here, you know, uh in Mississauga at the time, so right near Toronto.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so kids uh busted to continue working with us because we were teaching for her.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: So then we started Canadian Dance Company at that time.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, so leading up to that, um, it was like all dance, like that uh really consumed me and um just loved every aspect of it.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it took us, like I say, places that other kids in the little town, if you weren't doing something like that, you really didn't get to travel much.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: You didn't you didn't get that that sort of experience and those opportunities.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: So uh dance can do wonders, you know, can take you a lot of places.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: It did, and you know, it has so many avenues now, but uh it also um it was tricky because I think back then for males too, it was like you didn't you didn't you played it down a little bit, you know.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: You didn't you didn't talk about your dance like like you were just like you know, kept it just between your close friends and and and and that, but uh that's all kind of evolved now.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so it was just uh a super experience and uh led us to doing this.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, and then for me, I similar, like I started really young.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: I started at age of six.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I actually started at another studio, trained until I was about 14 or 15, and then switched and came and trained my last few years at Canadian Dance Company, and then trained under Alan and and he kind of took me under his wing and kind of growing up, and then eventually, once I graduated from here, I slowly got more and more involved in the studio doing random little jobs here and there, assisting him, helping with some advertising things, doing graphic design and all sorts of different little tasks, helping with props and random things, and then slowly became his assistant, and then 20 years later now I got promoted to artistic director.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So uh been a crazy journey for sure, but like same thing, like grew up trained in everything jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop, contemporary, musical theater, did it all growing up, and then kind of now finding my forte more in jazz, hip-hop contemporary a little bit for that most part, yeah.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: All right, so it's very kind of a family affair here at Canadian Dance Company.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, on that note, we have four kids, they all dance, they all teach or dance now, and uh even my brother he went off to dance in musicals.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, so we traveled all over the world on that route.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And uh as I said, when uh the my ma uh my wife's mom's studio closed, then we uh had a decision to make fork in the road.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Do we uh pursue just careers as dancers or do we uh continue and do this and start it up?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: But uh and it proved to be exactly what we really needed to do because uh been a lot of students walking through the doors in that many years.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: Because it sounds like that.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: So did did you have did you and your wife have the desire to want to go and perform in or were you always like, I just love teaching and this is my passion?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: We think I like I know for her as well, she actually went to the National Ballet School of Canada, so so she got that formal training as well.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so she had experience there and and exposure to that, but I think we weren't sure.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I know I loved performing, like I loved the stage, and that's what was really tough.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, I was auditioning and then we decided to open the studio because we actually loved the teaching aspect so much, and we worked really well together.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh when that happened, all of a sudden we made that decision.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now we we have a dance studio, so we got to at least carry this through until we make a different decision if we're going to.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so I would then get calls for things that I had auditioned for that I couldn't actually take.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, you know what, there's there's a a reason here.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: And uh and and then we just loved working with dancers and um, you know, getting them to another level.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: And we felt that that's what we got from her mom.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, and we wanted to kind of do that ourselves, but it didn't take long.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: We we were loving the whole the whole aspect.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we found out there was a lot more to owning a studio than teaching.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: So she was the ballet teacher.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: At first we split everything down the line, but then it ended up uh where she took on more ballet.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: I took on the um, I guess, uh the jazz.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and back then it was lyrical.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we remember.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_04: Meanwhile, meanwhile.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Right, that's hip-hop.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, uh, we and then the tap we split, and uh, and then it just kept growing.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, then with our kids getting involved as they grew up, it's it was really turned out really cool.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now she's uh she's a professional grandma, so she Gima though, you gotta call her Gaima, Gima, and she's Gima.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: Cute, I love it.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: It's so cool to hear the how fam how involved the whole family is with the studio.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: And that says a lot about, I'm sure, like the environment that you're creating for your studio atmosphere, and even having someone like Andrew who stuck around practically your entire life.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny because like even a majority of our like faculty here are like our alumni that like either graduated and then did other things and came back, or like just transitioned into teaching.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like what we'd say probably close to 70 to 80 percent of the faculty is alumni, whether it's competitive or recreational staff, they are dancers that either grew up here or trained here at some point and then are now teaching.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it is kind of very family oriented, and once you're like kind of also mafia, once you know you can't get out.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: That would be a great production number.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: Y'all can take that, you can take that idea.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_03: I'm really curious.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, we all I don't know about the Canadian side of things, but in the States, you know, competitive dance wasn't a really big thing really till the 90s.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: You had a few in the 80s, like some of the conferences and the conventions, which maybe had a convention attached, were happening.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_03: But so when y'all opened your studio 37 years ago, were you aiming to be competitive, quote unquote, or were you just trying to teach good dance?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we actually were aiming to be like a, you know, a full-on competitive school.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: We we already had that in mind because we came through that.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: We were competing even ourselves in Canada.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: So you're right, it wasn't really big everywhere, but there were dance competitions.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: We went every year.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we traveled for choreography.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like right now, people come to us or we go to them, but we traveled for a lot of choreography to uh to get uh more of that.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so we grew up with that real competitive uh uh not edge, but inspiration.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Inspiration, right?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because it forces you to really go after your goals.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then so when we opened, we were like, well, we want it all.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: We want to have the rec and we want to have the competitive and we want to have a just a great school.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the main thing is what we enjoyed the process.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what made the decision to continue this 100%.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: And as you say, you know, the kids grew up in that atmosphere, they loved it, they're involved in acting and dancing and teaching and choreographing, and uh so yeah.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's we kind of knew but we knew we had our work cut out, like sure, you know.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you have your own little reputation of what you are as let's say we were dance partners and people knew us, and people knew us because of her mom as well.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Blakely was the name at the time, Dot Blakely, and and um, but then we made our own name and that's what we were inspired about.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Let's, you know, let's do it.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: And you're still doing it 37 years later.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, how cool is that?
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: And another thing I I wanna, as you were, you know, saying saying about your faculty and how so many people come back and are um previous students and things like that.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's like really what works for these successful studios is that the training is consistent.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know that you can hire them because you trained them.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know what they're going to teach in the room because you taught them what to teach in the room.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like you know, yes, they had the opportunity to leave and come back, but you still know where their foundation lives.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: And it's not like you have to mold and sculpt them to like get them to understand your studio's philosophy and your goals for the studio because they already understand it.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's been kind of consistent with a lot of our studio spotlight studios, is that a lot of a lot of their faculty came directly from their studio.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I I kind of love that.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_03: That's just really special and like clearly works.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and you can really count on it.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: We we you know, we get uh people reaching out after they go and perform, or let's say, as you say, they went out and trained trained and also performed uh outside and and then all of a sudden they they realize that they really love teaching and they wanna they want to come back here.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then like, you know, we can count on that.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: We're like so excited, wow, yes, we're gonna have a position for you.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: There's no question.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I love that they grew up with our philosophy, you know.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: We always say character first, you build the dancer from the personality and you make them someone, you know, that you want to be proud to have in your room.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then the the the you know, you build their character and then the dancer appears.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and we've always kind of had that.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: That was right from the start, we had that.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: And um, it just made us uh uh really thankful for when people reach back.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: I never realized the impact that we do have like uh until a number of years into it, but uh people would be so thankful for having a community like this, that culture, and their kids are being uh motivated, inspired, and to go after goals.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of them, even going into a different career, will write us letters thanking for the lessons they learned here at CDC.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you know it's what it's all about.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, 100%.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: And now we have generations, right?
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, so they danced, went all the way through, came back, started teaching, and now their kids are dancing, yeah, growing up, and it's just starting over again.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm still here, you know.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_03: So kicking.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: What is happening?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to jump into like learning the ins and outs of your studio and your programs and your training processes and things like that.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: So you mentioned that you have a rec program and you also have a competition program.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: So how many students do you have in both?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: How many are on the rec side versus the competition side?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: What is like the training schedule like for both?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: How many days a week and the requirements and stuff like that?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of just recently actually went through like revamping our entire program.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like we've always had a rec program and a comp program as two as the two main umbrellas.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the rec program has been great.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: We've have great staff that work it.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: We have now kind of dedicated staff that kind of that's their focus as to like how to build the rec program, how to make sure that they're being taken care of and feel like a priority rather than your competitive studio that also has like a rec program.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: We want the the the students that come here and just do rec feel like and their families feel like they're a priority as well.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so just over the last few years, we've pointed a rec director who kind of oversees that.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: We have a core team of staff that are overseeing the decisions when it comes to all of the programs, but then specifically have conversations that are dedicated to rec to make sure they have all the information they need, are where they need to be, have great routines, have great staff, and they get to be a part of the year-end recital show with costuming and they're on a big live theater stage, and and it's very exciting for that.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one thing that we've really recently put a bit more of an emphasis on uh and building the rec program.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously the numbers have gone up and down through COVID at a high point.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: It was about 700 rec kids.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Before COVID, it was about 800, but now we're back there.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay in Oakville, we have about 800 students, and 250 of them would be competitive, but that includes uh like a part-time competitive.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: We have the divisions go recreational, part time, uh, full time, uh, and pre pro.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it used to be called full time, but we needed uh uh some separations because uh the uh let's say the kids who are not gonna go to finals, uh, but they're gonna still study like you know ten hours a week.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Me, they're kind of like full-time dancers compared to other programs we know.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: So then our our pre-pro is the ones who will, you know, some of them may make it as a career because you know that they dance that many hours and they study everything and they want it for the whole nine yards.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: And there are also kids are involved right from a young age at they have booking agents and they book commercials and other jobs and and certain things like that.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: And as they grow up, they're going on auditions and we help them with that.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like uh him and his whole family grew up in that world as well.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like they grew up as actors and would do auditions, so they're very versed in that side of things as well.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: So they're it's a good balance of being able to offer them guidance when it comes to that side, the actual professional work, but then also ones that love the intensity of having a intense dance training program that can go on stage and perform at the highest level and compete against the best studio.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: The interesting thing is we have that second location, Burlington.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so there's Oakville and Burlington, and uh Burlington uh originally was a competitive, and it was very tricky to balance both competitive programs.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: So they're only 20 minutes away.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: So we invited the competitive to come to Oakville and we made that fully recreational with a performance company.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: And the cool thing is there's no competition there, yeah.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's performance.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you could be a recreational dancer, dance two hours a week or three, and you've you you're part of the performance company, which goes and performs around the community.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great culture there too.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, um, we needed something that would really thrive, and it was kind of like something that was missing.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then if anyone really wanted to take it more serious, they would come to Oakville.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_03: It's only 20 minutes away.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: That's not a huge inconvenience.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's right.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: So and in in Burlington, there's about 500 students there.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: So how far away are both of these towns from Toronto?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Oakville is about uh 20, 20 minutes.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, okay.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's the most from downtown Toronto.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually pretty close.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then Burlington's just that much further.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we'd be looking at you know 45.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you drive through Oakville to get to get to Toronto.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, because I was just thinking like I did one straight highway.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't realize is does Toronto have a lot of auditions for dancers?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yes.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, that's probably one thing, especially like more recently.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: More recently.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, more recently.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I think cost effectively productions can actually do it much more cost effectively in Canada.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a bonus for us.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: We got more things, you know, headed this way.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: But Toronto is kind of like the I think the central place for that sort of auditioning for any shows and stuff like that.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times Stratford, which is really kind of uh an hour and a half away, is kind of the musical theater hub and also theatrical, like Shakespeare and all that.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: But some of their Broadway or musical stuff will go to Broadway.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's where they try out do the action.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then Toronto, downtown, has you know, Mervish and all that stuff.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah, it's a lot happening here.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, y'all.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_03: That's so great that you're so close and you're able to provide that guidance and training.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Because there's Toronto.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: You can go there today.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that's awesome.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: The pre-pros kind of I know you asked about like the training and all that stuff too.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: So the pre-professionals will train that program starts at age eight and goes right through to 17 when they're graduating.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: They'll train anywhere from what 12 to 20 plus hours a week.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: They're usually in four to five nights uh in the week for the most part.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and the pre-professionals, the one thing that kind of makes our program unique is that once you're in the pre-professional level, you have to train in everything.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Everything like you gotta take.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: The program is fully acro is part of it as well.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of what the pre-pro level standard is.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: So you're taking every style and you're training bare minimum, probably 12 to 15 hours a week, and then we start extra choreo, private lessons, solo rehearsals on top of that.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: So the pre-probed tears down from there.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: The pre-pro dancers are also like, are they in like groups too?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: Or are they specific?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, they are.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: So like it's like a little team at itself.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and the good thing is because we've grown, we've been able both in recreational, been able to have really more specific age where you've got nine and tens together.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what I mean?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: Not nine to twelve.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: A span of, yeah.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And uh in uh in the competitive, it's the same deal.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's really great.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: They're all like 10.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're all like almost all the same age.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it really is nice because then it's more like an academic uh structure, and everyone knows what to expect.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna graduate there and you know, at this level.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: So now are kids able to like advance beyond their age bracket if that typical talent allows it?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they are in certain ways.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: The one thing we've noticed is yeah, we want to give opportunities to those, especially not only that have the talent, but also have that work ethic and that drive.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: And we found that you know they do have to earn things in order to keep that because when they get in the real world, let's face it, that's what's gonna separate them.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not the talent.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: Talent is amazing as a dancer, but if you don't have that work ethic, that's where you're gonna slip.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, and if you maybe do not even have the same amount of talent, but you got extra drive than anyone in the room, yeah, you're gonna be at the top.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna get the job.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: And we have a lot of kids, as I say, that kind of do everything.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: They do the entertainment, the audition for acting, for TV, for movies, and all that.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: I love hearing how supportive you are of that because I feel like there's a lot of studios that, or there might be even, you know, I'm I'm just thinking we live in New York City.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: I don't even know if I told you where we were based, but we're in New York City.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, a lot of studios around here, like in the New Jersey and the Long Island and the Connecticut's can like their kids could easily pop down to New York City for auditions and opportunities and things.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: But I don't think every studio atmosphere is really supportive of that because they want the studio, you know, priorities and commitments to come first, which makes sense.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: But if I think that because you had the experience yourself as a professional, there's more understanding there on that type of opportunity to be able to provide.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas, like, no offense to a studio owner that didn't have you know, go out and perform, but it's just a different perspective that that person has because of that.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think like one of the things you guys kind of asked us is like what what makes our studio unique.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's just uh we've always been known for having kids that work.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's part of what like our reputation is.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like they know that Canadian Dance Company is producing like kids that can be ready to work, whether it be uh movie or TV shows or commercials, acting things or dancing things.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: And kind of more recently we've leaned into that and created the space to be a bit more accommodating for kids that want to have those opportunities, but still, like you said, they have they have their home base, they have that you're a part of this pre-professional program, these are the requirements.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you want to have those extra opportunities, that's fine, but you're here doing this set program this amount of hours, and then we make room for those other things rather than it be like a clash of trying to make things work.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: We've actually tried to find ways where we make room for it and allow for that kind of opportunity.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that started okay.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: My daughter, Tabitha, the youngest, she um we got her an agent when she was three because she was that little born in the dance studio basically.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: She was that little, you know, no inhibitions whatsoever, the biggest ham ever.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, and then so we got her an agent.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: She started to get commercials and things, and then she landed a role in uh the uh Kirsty Alley and John Travolta movie Look Who's Talking Now.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_05: Oh my god.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's when that's when they made the dogs talk and the kids, you know what I mean?
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: So then she got this role, and it was a big deal.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like she was the daughter, yeah, and she was gonna be filming in Vancouver for three months.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: And her biggest concern was like at that point she was five, but her biggest concern was like, but I'm not gonna miss the finals.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't I'm gonna miss my dog, I'm gonna miss mommy.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I gotta go to the finals, the dance finals, Jad.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: And and we we learned that you know, we have to kind of accommodate when they do get something, they land something.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we're building them for.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, she continued to act and and uh and then we had I don't know, we had that understanding.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: And most of the people are good, like they understand that I'm gonna ask to see if I can get an audition that's earlier.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: They're they they want to try to make it work too.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I can get to dance, yes.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'm gonna try to work with the choreographers to see if there's a way we can do this so that I'm not gonna miss what I should be for, yeah, therefore.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, but yeah, that that kind of led us into what this is all about.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then we were just like, okay, we we gotta make this work for kids.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you're right, most of the time studios just sometimes it's just inadvertently they they are kind of, hey, we gotta be the top.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: So you can't do anything else.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: And we have to, we've always tried to do our best.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's like also like kids that want to do it, and if their parents and their families are gonna be supportive of that, they're gonna do it.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the way we want it is like we want to be a part of the conversation, we want to be a part of it rather than they just tell us, Oh, my daughter's got an audition at two, she won't be there at class.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like we're a part of the conversation to be like, hey, is there a chance that she can dance earlier or they have open call at whatever time?
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're just we want it to be a part of the conversation rather than just uh here's the email, she won't be there for the next two weeks because she just booked a job.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like type of thing.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that was another reason why we just kind of to want to make room for it.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: I I love that you're taking that control too, because you know, there there's a lot of parents who might think that they understand the industry, but really don't.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's oh well, this is the appointment time.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, have you asked if there is possibly another one?
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: Because you can do that, but they don't know that you can because they're like, this is the one and only opportunity that my daughter can have to go to this audition.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: And and then you can kind of reality check them and be like, actually, I know the casting director, I'm gonna give them a call and get you into a leave the first.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: You hit the nail on the head there.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, that that happened, you know, with Isaac, uh, my son Isaac, same thing.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: He's on the next step.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: And the first big thing was kind of overlapping finals.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: And we were able to work it out because again, they're filming for a couple months, and they were able to work it out so that he could go to his finals.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: He literally flew back to set.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, that's because we reached out and they knew, you know, that um we're trying our best.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_01: And why are the kids this good in dance?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's a dance sort of uh uh series.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: And why are this good in dance?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because of what they do when they train, you can't take that away and expect that you're gonna still keep getting that talent.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it it kind of helped us uh there too.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we we do have that experience.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: We can tell people, yeah, you better check again.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: You can check again.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_03: And and yet sometimes it is the one and only opportunity, but then but then you're right, but you never know till you ask, and the worst they can say is no.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_03: They're not gonna be like, well, actually, since you asked, you can't audition anymore.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: You can never audition again.
• 34:05
  unknown: That's it.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: Opportunity's gone.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_02: So do you guys feel like that you have I, you know, you're known for dancers at work, which also tells me that you're known for your versatility.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: But do you feel like that there's any particular style that is like your your ultimate strength compared to other studios out there, just out of curiosity?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's interesting because it has evolved.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you go way back to the the days of Showstopper American Dance Championships in in uh South Carolina, um, I mean, we went there for so many years and production, eight-minute production number with set pieces and elaborate costumes, and just like a Broadway show you could put in eight minutes, uh, that was our maybe our forte because we loved all the aspects of that.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't just a dance, it was a full-on production.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that went on for so many years.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I think what ended up happening after traveling so much too, studios changed kind of their focus because all of a sudden it was so much work to get an elaborate set.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, one year we had two semis driving to I'm not kidding.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you talk to the heads of the competition, they'll go, oh God.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, those people with their semi.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, you know, semi-trucks with props and everything.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so I guess that kind of like in its own natural way dwindled down a bit.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then we really, I mean, we loved being versatile.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so Andrew is an amazing choreographer, and and hip hop is one of his four days.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: And and him and and my daughter Samantha, uh, together had produced so many amazing pieces in hip-hop.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then the ballet, you know, my wife was always the ballet lady, um, you know, taking care of all the technique and the pieces were polished.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I loved lyrical at the time, contemporary, it turned into, and tap.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: I I loved it all.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I felt like, you know, it kind of came down to something where we really wanted to shine in contemporary, because that seemed to be what everyone loved the most.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's gone back now to a wider spread of hey, you do have to be, you know, that that everything because the jobs come along and all of a sudden tap is really important for this job.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: And thank God I had to tap because you know, then that person's got an opportunity now and they're a great tapper.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, people um, I feel like now are are knowing that you do have to try to hit all bases, you know, and and and give an opportunity for everyone.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: Your kids are so different, right?
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: Every kid in in your you got one group of 20 dancers, but man, you know, they shine in so many different ways.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think that what's important for our listeners to hear, and it's been pretty consistent through all of our studio spotlights since we've been doing it, because we've been talking to very like high-level studios that are producing dancers that want to pretty much they can walk into the industry based on like the training that's being provided at these studios that we've been talking to.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the most important thing for our listeners to know and hear is another example of like you have a pre-pro program that is pretty much saying you're in this program because you want to dance, because you want to make a career out of this, because you want to be a professional.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_02: You have to train in every style.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_02: That is a requirement of the program.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: So for a lot of the studios that are listening around the world or dancers listening around the world that are like, well, my studio lets me pick and choose like which styles I want to focus on.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I it's not required for me to take tap, but I really want to be a professional dancer.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, listen to what we're saying on this podcast from all of these successful studios that are saying, no, no, no, no, no, you never know when you might need that tap.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: And you don't want that to hinder you from getting the job.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_02: If you really want to be a professional, like you have to figure out your, you know, what what your goal is and making sure that you're prioritizing the right genres and the right training aspects, or you're honestly you're just wasting time when you could be like, you know, improving and training something.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: Doing something else.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: And let's face it, the more skills that you acquire, the more of an asset you are in any audition for any production.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they're just like thrilled with the fact, oh yeah, but also, yes, I I tap as well, or or you know, uh, I'm a like um my kids obviously studied everything and and they had no choice.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: So they couldn't go to mom or dad and say, I don't want to do this one.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: But but they were so I think thankful for it.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: Isaac became quite a a ballet dancer, but he was also an acrobat.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: And he was also, you know, great at hip hop.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: He loves contemporary, you know, um, and they all got that aspect.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, they can shine and dance itself, you know, and that's what we want to give.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: We want to give those kids that opportunity that they wouldn't have had if they weren't told, you know, this is important, you have to do this.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_05: Right, right.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes we get dancers who come in their last couple years of uh school, let's say, and so they're joining us late, but they didn't tap, it never tapped.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then they they just assume, you know, well, you know, we'll we'll do everything except the tap, and we're like, oh honey, you have to do the tap.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and then we'll give them extra class.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get them caught up.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: And usually when they're that good, they can do it.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_03: It comes pretty easy if you're already good at other other stuff.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: And let's face it, when you get in the real world, uh, it goes back to ground zero.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like you you have to you have to start at the bottom again.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: You may have won everything, but you have to start at zero where now I gotta prove myself again.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta walk into an audition where all these people are used to auditioning, they know the choreographers and directors of film, yeah, and I have to get to know them again.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_01: So we want to give them that sort of skill and edge.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 40:05
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• 41:40
  SPEAKER_03: I have one more training question and then I want to pivot into competition.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_03: How much ballet does your pre-pro program students take per week?
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_03: We love this question on our studio spotlights.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: So they're in three times during the week, they have a ballet class every night.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_00: How long?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_02: How long are those ballet classes?
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hour and a half to hour and a half classes.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: So they're doing a minimum of for our younger kids, it's usually hour classes, so they're doing three hours of ballet.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: Our older kids, it's hour and a half classes, so they're doing four and a half hours of ballet.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_01: Plus the choreography.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's another class.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it's interesting you asked that now because after the last break with the pandemic and everything, uh, we felt it was even more important to get into the training.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because for a while during that time, you were on Zoom.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you were you were doing what you could.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: And we just felt like, you know, the one thing we can do is condition these dancers so that they get back to more training.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then they got more opportunities when we come out of it.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so then we kind of pulled the reins in and said, we're gonna spend more time again back to training, even though we can get back in the studio.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're gonna just we're gonna focus on that because we feel like that's necessary.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: Has that been like prevalent in in the entire?
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, obviously you've evolved throughout 37 years as far as demands and needs in in the competitive world and for these different programs, but has that always been like the go-to structure of we're putting an emphasis on ballet because it's important and that's you know, a big foundational aspect of dance training, and they're required to do X amount of days or or was it kind of flexible?
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: It no, it has.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_01: It has.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think, as I said, because uh especially since my wife had gone into full-time national ballet school, um, she and I both agreed it was really important for that.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: But I do feel that we get misdirected at times, not misdirected, but a different direction because of what's happening in the dance world.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like all of a sudden, convention classes, you had to be really good at learning combos fast.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: You had to be great at improv, which back when I danced, it wasn't around.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: It was us either.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what do you mean?
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do you're not gonna tell me what to do?
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's your job.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_03: You're my teacher, right?
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: I improved on my own, but no one was watching.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: But but the thing is with that now, it kind of changed, you know, paths a lot.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it just felt like, um, as I say, after the last few years, it was nice to almost take a breath.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it gave us a break, really.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was, it was, it was really hard on everyone.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: But the fact that we're still here, we've made it through, and now we're able to take a breath and say, what's really important here?
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: The training and the etiquette.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_01: So a dancer walks into a room and a choreographer's like, I love you because you are so open-minded and you're so hardworking.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_01: And look at your training.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you're the ideal dancer, you know.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of what we said.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: We got to get back to that and have them focus on etiquette.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's also like not necessarily, yes, they're in a lot of hours doing the ballet, but I feel like we also kind of made an emphasis of like making the kids actually enjoy the ballet and make the most of the time there.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because you could take four hours of ballet and get nothing.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like you can just like not think, oh, this isn't important, but I'll do it because I have to do it.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_03: You just stand there and do some tondus.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like we've put an actual emphasis on now and having the conversations with them and say, no, like when you're in there, you are ballet dancers.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's the goal.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you move to hip hop, you're hip-hop dancers.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like you have to have that mindset when you're in the room to fully take advantage of the hour and a half where you're actually tangibly making changes and improving your technique rather than just trying to get through the hour and a half.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: And just put it punching your card, punching out.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: I did my time, I'm out.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I think over the last few years, especially more recently, we've kind of like rezoned in on that part of it, like mentally taking ballet, I guess, more seriously.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think and also sharing as a sorry, as a team, the core team, as he mentioned earlier, we like six or seven of us that meet often and we're taking care of the program.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_01: Where is it headed?
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: And we always wanted to, or we we talked about the fact that all the reports from all the teachers should be the same for a dancer.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: That dancer is amazing in my ballet class, they're amazing in my tap class.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love them in my contemporary.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_01: And instead of the one thing they do love, they do well in, but then they get, as Andrew says, just get through the others.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's a another helpful thing because the kids find out that, oh yeah, yeah, we're talking to all the teachers.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_01: We know how you did in last week's ballet class.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_03: We have eyes everywhere.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think there needs to be more like conversations within the staff of studios and more like meetings like that across the board at studios.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_02: I don't, I that's something I don't I mean, I'm not in a studio regularly, but I don't know how often that's happening.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like even if it's like a monthly check-in.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_02: All right, how are our classes going?
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_02: How what did we learn this month?
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like who's progressing?
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_02: Who feels like they're they need a little bit more?
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like that those conversations need to be had so the staff can stay on point together.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: We've tried to get better at that.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think just like every studio will say it's finding the time.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right, of course.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because you get into your mode of just trying to get numbers done or you're trying to gear up for competition.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I feel like recently we have gotten better at like that, the monthly check-in, the just a quick text even just saying, like, hey, how were how were classes last night?
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: What did you find?
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how were the kids in general?
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_00: What are you finding with this company?
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm having a hard time with them.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: How how have they been for you recently?
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then be like, Oh yeah, they've been kind of medium for me recently too.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, what can we do to get them back on the right page?
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: We even set up some sort of weeks where your turn to go through all the classes, even in the recreational, and just have a peek in how things are going.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_01: How is a teacher uh doing?
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_01: How does the energy feel?
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I've always said you can have 50 people in a room.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_01: If you care about everybody, everyone's gonna be giving you their all.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not easy to do, that's experience.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_01: But I feel like that's what we're trying to get through to everyone.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: And we do have those times where you're assigned, I'm assigned one night, and I walk through and and do my thing, my little critiques.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think, yeah, it's being more visible and supportive of the entire program rather than like, I'm the hip-hop teacher, I'm just gonna be worried about what they're doing in hip-hop, or I'm just teaching them jazz this week, I'm just gonna focus on what they're doing in jazz, and just kind of being more visible throughout the program.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, watching a ballet class for a night, um, setting in and watching their tap class and and being in there for a bit.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the kids see, like, oh wow, they're actually like auditing or w taking care of like watching how we're doing and other things and not just worried about doing my jazz class full out or whatever it is.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_00: So the kids kind of see that you're putting in more time and effort and making sure they're taking advantage of the full program.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_00: So that means they have to be on it all the time.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_02: Love that.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_02: We talked all about your training.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_02: Now let's dive into the competition chat.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'm sure that so many of our listeners are thinking, like, well, what are competitions like in Canada?
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_02: Is it different?
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_02: Is it the same?
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_02: What tell us all about it?
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_02: How many competitions do y'all attend in your season for your different competitive team versus your pre-pro?
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_02: And are you also attending convention competitions or are you strictly going to regular comps?
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's a mix.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_01: We're doing, you know, especially nowadays, it's evolved there too.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so we do uh probably four local, four or five local competitions, meaning we'll drive two hours to go to Buffalo, but also right here uh in Toronto, Mississauga, all these places.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it does differ a bit.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_01: The Canadian competitions I feel have also kind of I think we've learned from each other.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_01: We originally went to uh US comps, we found the um the showmanship and the you know attack on stage was so like exciting.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, wow, this is what we need.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_01: And yet we were really focused, training focused, technique focused.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, we found that we could get an edge there if we really continued that, but also learned, you know, from that aspect.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_01: So in Canada, I felt it was a little more reserved.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_01: And now the competitions I think have learned that um from other competitions.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a lot more exciting and a lot more um about you know the whole experience of being there that week.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_01: Where it used to be when I danced, you know, you go in, you sit in the theater, and you just don't talk or say anything.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_01: Then you walk up on stage and you dance, and then you walk off and you sit down again.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_04: Oh wow.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: Please don't stand in the aisles.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: But but nowadays, you know, the Canadians are are getting uh the comps are getting really, really good with um managing all aspects of it.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel uh we're doing uh back to that question, we're doing about four or five regionals and then the finals.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: Our part-time and our full-time, as we explained, I think we explained, I'm not sure if we yeah, we talked about that.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_01: They do everything except the finals.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_01: Then our pre-pro will go to the finals.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_01: So they're they're getting uh yeah, like six, seven times on stage plus uh recital.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so all everybody uh participates in recital as well.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, nice and we have a red carpet night.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, recital.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_01: We have a red carpet night uh that we added uh years ago, which is really cool.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because kids so many kids were part of the TV stuff and the movie stuff.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_01: We start inviting uh other actors in the shows to be at our red carpet to attend to make it like a real splash award for the show.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so we would have a red carpet, photos, ops, uh videos happening of the lobby beforehand.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone would go in and all the let's say top select uh competitive routines would uh perform that night.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_02: Cool, that's fun.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, so it's a real special evening.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's great for the arts community too, and then in the you know area to just see like what y'all are doing and like look at these are our like top dancers, and I'm sure even the actors who are able to come who might not even be familiar with that world are blown away by what these kids are able to do.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's really awesome.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's 100%.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_01: They would a lot of times a guest would be backstage ready to come on stage to talk or you know, uh say something, and they'd be watching the dancing going on, going, wow.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um we had we brought in some really high-end uh dancers as well.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_01: Daniil Simkin, we brought him in one year.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_01: He's uh, you know, um amazing ballet dancer from Russia, and he's in the American Ballet Theater, I think.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but he came to perform, you know, and was really recognizing how amazing the kids are, these young dancers with all their versatility.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we just you know bring in people like that, Caesar Corrales.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh he's in the the UK right now.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but anyway, we we brought in uh some really special artists for that night every year, and it just made it kind of like a a pinnacle of the end of the recitals and you know, felt like a real awards show sort of thing.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_01: We would give out awards to kids as well.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the person had the most dedication, the most commitment, or the most uh drive or or accomplishments or whatever.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, but uh that's awesome.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then for like I guess for j during the season, uh you were asking about the competitions and stuff that we attend.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_00: We will do um like two Canadian comps.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well well this year anyways, we're doing two Canadian-based comps and and then mainly then the other stuff is American.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll do, like you said, a lot of just competition competitions, just like where there's no convention, and then we do uh the break the floor events that'll be the convention and competition portion.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_00: But usually when we attend those ones, we're not usually taking everyone or taking the full pre-pro program.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's usually just some select dancers, or we're taking the full program to do the convention, but only a few routines from each level will compete.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um that the weekend's not too overwhelming.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_00: The first time we started doing them, we were like, oh, we gotta take everything and we gotta take all our best stuff, and then by the end of the weekend, the kids were just like it was too much exhausted.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: They'd come together.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because of all the classes, classes, they do like eight hours of classes, and then they had like competitions to do that night.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're just like, okay, well, this is not gonna keep going like that.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we do we do a good mix of Canadian American comps throughout.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_01: And the convention aspect, which is mostly the US, we found that really rewarding for the kids too, for them to get into classes with other dancers and um compete in a different way, trying to be recognized by a choreographer or teacher.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I found that's a very you know useful skill for them.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that was nice because before that came along, that's probably the last like less than 15 years, I would say.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because when I was dancing, there wasn't really many convention comps, especially ones that would come at least close up to Canada.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, they were breaking in to the industry, but they might not have had a Buffalo location and they might not have even hit.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_02: I know that like some of the break the floor events do have Canada locations and Canadian, like yeah, they come across a few of them, but it's usually earlier in the year, so they don't even have the competition part.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, because our like our season is a lot different than Americans' season.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh like I feel like Americans start really early, yeah.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like even with school, I think it's different sometimes, right?
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like in some uh areas, uh school will start in August in the south, yeah.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, for us, that's like we should start the second, yeah.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_01: We start the second week of September usually.
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that was that was different also, but uh, we're not usually ready at all until the new year.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like we find getting ready for March is really big.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, we gotta get our action.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then like we find out like American Studios have been competing for like two months already.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's like it's honestly a new phenomenon, I feel like that's a new thing for sure.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like when I was growing up, that I I I had the your schedule.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_02: I you know, we started school later, we trained in the fall.
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was only training, like you wouldn't even start touching competitive dances until after the new year.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_02: And then after the new year, we would start choreography and cleaning and all the things, and we would do later competitions.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like maybe March was even like kind of early, like end of March, yeah, April, May is what like Yeah, that's us.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like we'll we'll compete full, like our full competitive season, like our showcase where we just get everything on stage for the first time is the end of this month, end of February, beginning of March.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then our first like full studio comp with like everyone there is not till the beginning of April, like the last weekend in March.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that's uh one of the main things.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I also feel like now that we're talking more about it, there isn't really a Canadian comp that does convention comp like convention slash.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_00: They do it like separately, right?
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_00: They'll have like a convention event, yeah, and then a soul like their competition part is just the weekend, is like you compete from Thursday or Wednesday to Sunday.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're like all the time.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_00: But like View and Fever and these other Canadian.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_01: You had convention every morning though at their nationals only, right?
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right, not at the regionals, but but they are they're the ones I think uh also kind of changing things a bit.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I and part of the reason too, we would go to finals in the US just on that note.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_01: There's always really nice places to go, like really hot spots, you know, that are that are very appealing for the family.
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_01: We would go, and that was a big thing too.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_01: We'd go to South Carolina, and everybody would have family vacation at the same time.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you'd have, you know, uh you'd compete all day and then you're done at 6 p.m.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_01: or something, and and then all the families would get together and part of the culture.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_01: But uh in Canada, it just got it was harder to get to uh finals that say that all the main studios attended.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because it was just so so it was hard to really get to that sort of thing.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think the main thing is like, especially like at the bigger or higher end studios in the area, is when they when they go to their n go to a nationals, their families want to make it it feel like a big deal.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_00: They don't want it to feel just like a slight step up from regionals.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_00: So they they want to like, okay, if we're going to a national event, they it's going to a city that it's exciting, like it's in Vegas or Myrtle Beach or Orlando.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_00: Even when Dance Awards was in New York, that was exciting for a few years when they first started.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like we had never competed in New York, and then Dance Awards was doing literally downtown New York, and it was unreal.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_00: You go see Broadway shows, you know, families would get exposure to that.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_00: So that's I feel like our families also look at that aspect as well.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they want the competition to be great, but again, they're looking for it to feel like a big deal.
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like a big deal.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_01: See all the studios that you don't see.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's the point of national friends.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a whole point, you know.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I I remember actually the first time that um we went to American Dance Awards Nationals.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we went to Showstoppers a lot.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_02: Who knows?
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_02: We might have been, I might have been there while you all were there.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_02: Myrtle beach.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to think of what years that was definitely live TV show, yes.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_01: We would, we would uh or or yeah, because they would uh play that in December.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_01: I remember way, way back.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_01: They would they would record it and then they would uh put it on air it in December, December 22nd, and we all like we gotta watch the TV show.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_03: And you can you can find those on YouTube now.
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like on YouTube.
• 1:00:15
  SPEAKER_03: I've sat there and just watched because my studio didn't do all of that growing up.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like we were not that big into competition, but now it's like ooh, 1992 showstopper.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, let me watch this.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what are these people?
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_03: Then you see studios like yours that have been around for forever that are still around, and you're like, oh wow, that's like David Sanders' studio.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's amazing, you know, or whatever.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's really cool.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_02: It is really cool to see that.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_02: I specifically remember when I was young and I went to American Dance Awards Internationals in Orlando, and it was one of the very first times that I saw a Canadian studio at a competition.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_02: And it was eye-opening for me because they were honestly like this this particular studio I'm thinking of, they were just so beyond everything else that was attending.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like they were sweeping the competition because the level of training, and I was just like, what's what's going on in Canada?
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like, is this what every not if every Canadian studio is like?
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we can't compete with them, you know?
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, no wonder they're coming down to the states because they're just gonna sweep the competition because the training was just like the the artistic level of what they were bringing, and especially for the time, I'm talking about like 2004 or something right now.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_02: So like it was just really exciting to see, but like that was the point of nationals, and I think that's what's getting a little bit lost in the in the industry, at least in the in the states, because there are so many competition companies now, and every competition company has a nationals, and most of them have multiple, exactly.
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_02: Most of them have multiple nationals.
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, what's the point of having four nationals?
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_01: A nationals.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_02: It should be one nation.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's called Yeah, it's called the nationals for a reason, and that's so you can bring in the best talent all across the world to come together for this.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_02: It shouldn't be, well, this one's you know for your region and this one's for your re no, we've already done that.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's regionals.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's regional.
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we're the national champions.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, but we're the national championship.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_03: Right of this region, no, yeah.
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_01: I remember going to Showstopper, we used to also get asked, um, so what's it like in Canada, like having a residency with the kids?
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we'd be like, what do you mean?
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Well, the kids all live at the studio, right?
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_01: In the residence, uh huh.
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, no.
• 1:02:29
  SPEAKER_01: It just seems like that's that's that was because I think what you were talking about, the training and the amount of hours that we spent uh getting the kids you know ready for comps, and we would get that same sort of thing because it wasn't obvious to them how things were done here.
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_03: It was just like they must live there, right?
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_03: That's the only thing they could have ever solved.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's the only way they would live and breathe dance all day long.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_01: And we wish like we actually wanted to do that uh and talked about it.
• 1:02:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's always been the conversation about starting like an actual school.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like home school type of wow.
• 1:03:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_03: That would be pretty cool.
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so final few questions just off the top of your head, and you hinted at it a little bit, Andrew, because you said something like, you know, competition starts on Wednesday and goes all day Sunday.
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_02: And that's something I feel like that uh a lot of uh professionals who uh judges who are in the states that do judge for Canadian comps, they're like, Oh yeah, it's like a five-day regional.
• 1:03:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm over here like, what?
• 1:03:31
  SPEAKER_02: Is that's a thing?
• 1:03:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like that doesn't really exist here.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like I think a lot of people will like yeah, there's like a handful, like there's some in like Thursday.
• 1:03:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like sometimes we'll start on Thursday.
• 1:03:45
  SPEAKER_02: But I I'm curious to know like how that works.
• 1:03:48
  SPEAKER_02: Is it full days?
• 1:03:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like, do kids take off of school?
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's very rare that we do get a Wednesday one, like it's usually when there's a bunch of bigger studios at the same time.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh sure.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like when we go to a comp and we bring everybody, like our pre-pro and our part-time and full-time, it's 250 entries.
• 1:04:08
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, that could be a small one day at a at an American competition, right?
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we're bringing that many, and then if there's another studio that's similar size, they have 180 entries, and then so very rarely do we get the Wednesday, but for the most part, every comp that we go to, if we're there, it's usually starting on at least a Thursday.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_01: At least the Thursday.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_02: And parents are happy to take off school, they're more than well, you know, it's been kind of it's always a balancing act.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_01: Parents, I think, understand, for example, um, I when I train students myself, because every single night of the week, including all weekends, as uh most schools that are at this, you know, category, the studios are booked.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_01: So you can't, you know, teach some of them can fit solos in.
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_01: I do, gosh, at one point I used to do 100 solos a year.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_01: And and I used to fit in a hundred solos and I would get them rehearsed.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_01: And they wouldn't be every week, but they would be off.
• 1:05:03
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm down, I do about 30 something solos a year, but I have to do them in the day, and they have to find a way that their school agrees that okay, they're coming, and it's not just a little dance recital show.
• 1:05:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's like something they could actually make a career out of.
• 1:05:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's like training for the Olympics.
• 1:05:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna be able to, you know, do that just in your spare time, right?
• 1:05:23
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have to get committed to that.
• 1:05:26
  SPEAKER_01: So for the competitions, I think they understand we're going to a high-level competition, a lot of competition there, a lot of entries.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_01: Gotta do it.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's part of it.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_01: And the school, I think, is starting to recognize we're offering a lot of education.
• 1:05:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that public school doesn't offer it.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:05:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:05:43
  SPEAKER_01: This is life lessons.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_01: This is everything.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_01: This is discipline.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_01: This is work.
• 1:05:47
  SPEAKER_03: You know, do you feel like the schools take uh take dance training like yours as seriously as as they do, maybe like hockey, you know, something that's all also important in uh is other people's lives?
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like, do you think they Take it seriously or are they starting to?
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think they're starting to starting to.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's been better like over the last few years, I'd say that dance is become and it's also because dance is just a bit more commercial and mainstream now, where there's TV shows that just like anyone watches, you don't even have to have a kid in dance for people to watch.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you think you can dance or the other dance shows that are on to understand, like, oh wow, they're my I have a I I teach math class and that's I have a student that does that thing.
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:06:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then they could that could be them one that kind of thing.
• 1:06:32
  SPEAKER_00: So they're getting a bit more exposure to what the dance industry actually can be.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like it allows them to be a little bit more understanding when someone says, Hey, I've got to miss this afternoon because I'm going to I'm going to New York to compete, or I'm going across the border to Detroit.
• 1:06:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've got to leave this morning because I compete this afternoon at uh and they're like, Oh yeah, that makes sense.
• 1:06:54
  SPEAKER_00: And they then I mean we have surround and stuff like that a bit more willingly now to give kids the opportunity to be like, Hey, can I write this test early because I won't be here on Friday because I have to leave for a dance comp and stuff like that.
• 1:07:07
  SPEAKER_01: And people like Briar, one of our students, Briar Nolet, she uh I met her.
• 1:07:11
  SPEAKER_01: She right, she went to uh World of Dance in a nutshell.
• 1:07:16
  SPEAKER_01: She had quite a journey because at age 16 she got epilepsy.
• 1:07:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow she didn't know and she was she was having these seizures and they misdiagnosed her, and then she got two years of you know real real hard times and then finally got the right medication and came to me and said, Mr.
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_01: Lupian, I want to go to World of Dance.
• 1:07:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, uh, okay.
• 1:07:37
  SPEAKER_03: Let me try to have it.
• 1:07:39
  SPEAKER_01: And she wasn't really over it, she was just on the right, the right medication and and trying to monitor herself.
• 1:07:44
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, just to give you that background, she was really an inspiration for kids because she got on World of Dance, she got to the top five by herself as a soloist and that sort of thing at least is something that can play in our favor.
• 1:07:58
  SPEAKER_01: That we're not just playing here, we are training professionals if they want to be, they have the opportunity here in class.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that as you say, people like that make a difference and they change things for the rest.
• 1:08:13
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love her.
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_02: She's awesome.
• 1:08:17
  SPEAKER_02: We worked together this uh summer actually at uh an acro dance convention in in Michigan, and the kids are just so inspired by her.
• 1:08:26
  SPEAKER_00: And what you know, it's just she's that bubbly little, you know, crazy girl that ever since she was young, it was she was just like doing stuff that you were just like how is that possible?
• 1:08:38
  SPEAKER_02: And she's so she's so short and tiny and a powerhouse.
• 1:08:41
  SPEAKER_01: She was always that, she was always just that tiny powerhouse and everything that and like I got to go to LA for six weeks to be her choreographer, coach, trainer, and you know, people like that.
• 1:08:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like I say, she's got that energy, she's back here all the time.
• 1:08:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the other thing.
• 1:08:58
  SPEAKER_01: The you know, kids that do things come back and it's inspiration for everybody.
• 1:09:03
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 1:09:04
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 1:09:05
  SPEAKER_02: So this was awesome.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_02: This was such a great chat.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you y'all are amazing.
• 1:09:10
  SPEAKER_02: I love hearing the story, the journey, the progress that you've made, and what you're offering to the dance world around the world and in Canada.
• 1:09:20
  SPEAKER_02: But we we love having y'all come down here to the States and um give us a little bit of taste of competition because you know we we are inspired by COVID.
• 1:09:32
  SPEAKER_00: We hadn't been down to the states and so three years.
• 1:09:34
  SPEAKER_00: It was three years.
• 1:09:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we're excited to come back.
• 1:09:36
  SPEAKER_01: This will be a first national of full team.
• 1:09:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's great.
• 1:09:40
  SPEAKER_02: I love hearing that.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_02: So do you uh do you know what's next for Canadian dance company?
• 1:09:44
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have any uh new future goals and dreams that are coming soon or things that you want to achieve with the the studio down the road?
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think right now coming out of uh all this and getting back on track from from our our break for the last few years is uh just inspiring in itself.
• 1:10:03
  SPEAKER_01: But what I love, let's say, as the the owner director, um is being able to watch my team in action and uh and know that like at any point, you know, they are ready to to head forward into the future of CDC.
• 1:10:18
  SPEAKER_01: We have that other location in uh Burlington, uh, which has you know created its own culture.
• 1:10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Veronica Lincoln is amazing there.
• 1:10:27
  SPEAKER_01: My daughter Lindsay and uh her husband Sean uh own that part owner as well.
• 1:10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And um I think we would love to be able to do that in more places uh around you know, Canada.
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_01: And as for this uh location, I just wanted to get to that uh flourishing enrollment that everybody is getting kind of what they need for the future and uh to be able to give more opportunities to kids uh that really want to take it all the way.
• 1:10:59
  SPEAKER_01: But uh that's why I I appointed this guy two years ago as artistic director because I just love watching it happen and not not that they're not keeping me teaching all the time, like I thought I'd be done teaching by now.
• 1:11:12
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's not it.
• 1:11:14
  SPEAKER_00: But the same way he got us locked in, we have to lock in too.
• 1:11:18
  SPEAKER_00: So he he's not allowed to leave yet.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_00: So but yeah, the the team that he's kind of created, yeah, like his daughters are part of it, and other uh alumni and faculty that have been a part of the team are that he's kind of created has really like over the during COVID and especially over the last two years, have set up like a mission to kind of like redevelop our program and push it forward and kind of gain a better understanding as to what our strengths are and what we offer to kids that are unique to other studios.
• 1:11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because the the GTA dance scene around here, there's a lot of great, amazing studios that push us to want to be better because they're literally down the street, or we see them at a lot of the times.
• 1:12:00
  SPEAKER_00: The only time we see these other great Canadian studios are when we go to American comps.
• 1:12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because everyone kind of there's just a lot of Canadian comps around that do regional, so it's hard, you never know who you're gonna line up against, but you kind of know that like we go to this break the floor event in in Buffalo, and it becomes like the it's like a Canadian national because like literally the top Canadian studios all go there and they only bring their top routines, and we know it's gonna be like one crazy weekend of dance.
• 1:12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And last week, last year we were there and we didn't bring money groups and stuff, so we only had soloists and a few small trios or anything like that.
• 1:12:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I literally just sat in the audience for like four hours just watching like all this amazing dance come on from literally local area, like less less than an hour around us.
• 1:12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Has such like great Canadian talent of studios that are like pushing like the industry forward, and it only motivates us to want to be better.
• 1:12:57
  SPEAKER_00: And how are we gonna set ourselves apart from them and and and kind of push us to do what we do best?
• 1:13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And like we talked about earlier, one of our strengths has always been that bridge to the professional world and our kids being versed in everything and ready to take that on.
• 1:13:15
  SPEAKER_00: And with our new pre-professional program, we've always felt like we are giving the tools and providing the tools for kids that want to be professional to be able to make that step easier for them and kind of now putting a uh more direct focus on that and giving them the tools to know that hey, the professional world may not be for everyone, it may not be something for everyone, but if you're a part of this program, you will graduate here with the tools as that as an option if you'd like.
• 1:13:46
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want anyone to go through that program and not feel like they weren't given every opportunity to succeed in this industry if that's something they wanted.
• 1:13:54
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 1:13:55
  SPEAKER_00: If if it's you you finish high school and you're like, I want to become a lawyer now, that's great.
• 1:14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you've gotten all the tools that you could out of dance to help hopefully make you a better lawyer.
• 1:14:05
  SPEAKER_00: But also the kid that also wants to graduate and says, I want to move to LA and audition, they're gonna have all the same tools and everything like that.
• 1:14:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like as we push the program forward, we want to bring that a bit more to the forefront as well.
• 1:14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because I feel like there's just so much work in dance now that especially for younger artists, like a lot more, there's all these opportunities for younger artists.
• 1:14:28
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't feel like you have to be in the industry for 15 years before or 10 years before you get big breaks.
• 1:14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like these kids are getting TV shows and movies and and tours and all this stuff earlier in their career.
• 1:14:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just like as soon as they graduate, they're ready to work.
• 1:14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they have to be.
• 1:14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's what the that's what the the industry is.
• 1:14:47
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as you graduate, you gotta be ready to work or you're gonna fall off.
• 1:14:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's true.
• 1:14:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's true.
• 1:14:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a great point.
• 1:14:52
  SPEAKER_03: Man, wow, you guys, y'all, this was such an inspiration.
• 1:14:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so grateful you took the time and rearrange your schedule for us.
• 1:15:00
  SPEAKER_03: We're so grateful.
• 1:15:01
  SPEAKER_00: No, we're excited that you guys reached out, and obviously we're honored to be the first Canadian studio that you reach out to.
• 1:15:07
  SPEAKER_00: We're pumped about it and like we were excited to make it work and line up.
• 1:15:11
  SPEAKER_01: So and we're loving that you guys have created this because the podcast for this is is amazing to get to chat to everybody who can tune in.
• 1:15:19
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 1:15:20
  SPEAKER_02: We love doing it, and our listeners, we have listeners worldwide that are loving it too.
• 1:15:24
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for sharing it with the listeners.
• 1:15:27
  SPEAKER_02: I I hope to all of our listeners out there you enjoyed this episode.
• 1:15:30
  SPEAKER_02: And how we always have our guests lead us out on making the impact is just with one final thought that you'd like to share.
• 1:15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, coming from our guests, and you can speak to whoever you'd like.
• 1:15:39
  SPEAKER_02: You can talk to other studio owners out there if you want to give them any advice or encouragement or words of wisdom.
• 1:15:45
  SPEAKER_02: You can talk to dancers, parents, whoever you'd like to speak to from Canadian Dance Company.
• 1:15:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'd say I'd be really happy to say for any studio owner and any teacher, improve the character of a dancer and you will create a great artist.
• 1:16:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that's basically my philosophy.
• 1:16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know how I could top that.
• 1:16:10
  SPEAKER_00: So uh for me, I just feel like the industry in its whole has never been and I feel like in a better spot.
• 1:16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it's because there's so many uh people that are inspired to create like a better atmosphere and a better industry and are pushing it forward.
• 1:16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I just kind of hope that we can all kind of together kind of move forward and and know that these young artists that are coming up are gonna be the future of where this industry is gonna be.
• 1:16:39
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of just making sure that we're putting them in a place to succeed.
• 1:16:46
  SPEAKER_02: We hope you enjoyed our studio spotlight episode featuring Canadian Dance Company.
• 1:16:50
  SPEAKER_02: Be sure to follow them on Instagram to stay connected at Canadian Dance Company.
• 1:16:55
  SPEAKER_02: And to learn more about their studio, visit their website at Canadian DanceCompany.com.
• 1:17:01
  SPEAKER_03: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcast, Google Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 1:17:09
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• 1:17:16
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• 1:17:24
  SPEAKER_03: Join now at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com slash Platinum Premium or click the link in our show notes.
• 1:17:30
  SPEAKER_02: Want to really know how to take your dance to the next level?
• 1:17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Then check out our service, IDA's online judges critiques, where you will receive up to 10 to 15 minutes of post-critique additional feedback.
• 1:17:42
  SPEAKER_02: You can even request a judge that specializes in your submitted dance genre, and they will go back through your routine from beginning to end and pause the video to elaborate even more on those specific corrections.
• 1:17:53
  SPEAKER_02: Send us your video from an in-studio rehearsal or your latest competition stage performance, and let our judges help you prep before your next event.
• 1:18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Critiques start at only$35 on our website.
• 1:18:05
  SPEAKER_02: Submit your dance now at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com slash online critiques.
• 1:18:11
  SPEAKER_02: We can't wait to see your dance.
• 1:18:13
  SPEAKER_03: We are on a roll in season four with some excellent episodes coming your way.
• 1:18:17
  SPEAKER_03: Coming up next on Making the Impact, we have episodes on the importance of counting your music, jealousy at the dance studio, and all about precision dance.
• 1:18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for listening to this week's episode.
• 1:18:28
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you next week.
• 1:18:29
  SPEAKER_02: Until then, keep dancing.