Latest / The Driven Athlete / Why Dancers Need Athlete Level Healthcare with Doctors for Dancers | Ep 120

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Why Dancers Need Athlete Level Healthcare with Doctors for Dancers | Ep 120 · The Driven Athlete

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a driven, active person who wants to reach and pursue high quality life with some ambition, then guess what?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast is for you.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Driven Athlete Podcast.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: What's up, y'all?
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's your man, Dr.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Kyle.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Driven Athlete Podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: We got a really cool special uh episode for y'all today.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: We got Dr.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Gianna with us.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: She works with us at ARC at Athlete Reservation Co.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then Jennifer with Doctors for Dancers zooming in with us.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I know you're a busy person, so I appreciate you coming in, sharing your insights.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you for being here.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really excited to be here and talk about this.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's really exciting, especially since y'all are a part of Doctors for Dancers.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: So it just has a special, you know, session that we have going on today.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm really excited that we have to do this.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, where are you located right now?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, where are you?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm in Arizona right now, but I travel back and forth between here and LA quite often.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um related to like patient care, managing Doctors for Dancers.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: What what um yeah, a lot of it is um in the dance community.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: So the LA based is very professionals, especially like New York and LA.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: So the LA has a very professional realm.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: So we actually travel back and forth to actually see what's going on in the in the neck of the woods.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um we also do um a program through Carnival.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's a weekend, um, sorry, it's it's every single month.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and professional dancers are able to showcase their talent.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: The talent agencies come out.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's a great opportunity for Doctors for Dancers to be in the community and be able to provide services too.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So Carnival, you mean like the cruise line?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's actually called Carnival.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: They've been around for over 25 years now.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's a little different.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: So, like J Lo has made an appearance, Janet Jackson, Usher.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so they really come out and respect the craft that the professional dancers are doing.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really able to um, they actually get jobs that way too.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we've actually been there um when they have tech rehearsal and we provide water, bananas, apples, oranges, electrolytes.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: We have a real recovery station that we have with like thera body stuff.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: We have the compression boots and the therapons and water, um, just so for them to be able to take care of themselves because it's a really, really long day.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and dancers usually aren't treated that way.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: As you know, Gianna, we're trying to be able to provide more resources to the dance community so that they can get the care that they need.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's a really great opportunity to be out there.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Have you did you do a lot of stuff like that?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I imagine like um all day events showcasing um multiple performances and stuff back to back to back.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, practices alone, usually like my Saturday was just you go to dance from eight to sometimes three, sometimes four, depends on how many solos, how many duos you had.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, even like recitals, which was the like, I guess, showcase equivalent, not competition.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: It'd be like three back-to-back shows.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: If you had competition, you could start as early as 7 a.m.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: and end as late as I think I finished once at one, one in the morning.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_03: They did an awards.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: They were like running behind today.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um but stick around for the awards.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: But stick around to see if you won or not.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, it's like all day events and I mean practice, but also showcase and competition and yeah, auditions were for teams or performances were always hours and hours on end in a good way, but um very demanding on your body.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Demanding and talk talk more about your background, Jennifer, with dancing and then healthcare with dancers and stuff.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, I started at the age of two years old, uh tapping ballet.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: And then if you go back into the 80s when the cabbage patch dolls were around, like that was my first um dance was with a cabbage patch doll.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I fell in love.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the moment I stepped on stage, that was it for me.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I've been dancing in uh kitchen, kitchens all over the place and the supermarket or wherever down the street.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: I've just always been dancing.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: And so I I'm originally um from Chicago from a small town right outside of the city, and I come from a small town where you know your neighbors.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: And kind of really how I built Doctors for Dancers as well is um, as Gianna knows, there's a lot of dancers out there, but it's a very small community, and so we take care of each other.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: And so we really want to make sure that we have the right people in front of um the dance community so that they can get the help they need instead of just being told to stop dancing.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: And that's really what happened to me.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: I was dancing my whole life, and my my troubles probably started when I was like 13, 14 years old when I had um a back problem.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: And it probably stemmed from, you know, an untreated sprained ankle that I got in my character shoes.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: I rolled my ankle um one time, and then uh we were practicing tricks on a trampoline um store one time, and I sprained my ankle that way.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it just kind of ran up the chain and just really didn't take care of it.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, back in the day when you're dancing, if you got a sprained ankle, it was almost like a badge of honor.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like you were really hard, you know.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, not broken bones, but now, like, you know, it was just like if you had crutches, it was kind of cool because it's just what you had to go through.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_03: Also sprained my ankle.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: So, yes, I can relate.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: It was like you worked hard.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I don't know what it is about the dance community like that, but that's how it was.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: And um unfortunately, I was I kept missing dance because my back kept going out and I was actually on the floor for a couple of days, not being able to go to school, not being able to do anything.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: And so I started to see multiple specialists to see what was wrong with me.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I was told that to stop dancing, um, that it was in my head.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: Here are some pain pills.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that's when, you know, all the pain pill rage, they were just kind of handing them out at 14 years old, like, here you go, take this.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I tried that once and I was like, I can't dance, I can't function, I can't do anything.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so um, Tylenol and Advil and Alive became my best friend.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I had it in my bag and I took it in the morning, I took it before dance, it took it after dance, um, just so I could continue to dance why everybody told me to stop dancing.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, wow, kept dancing.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because you love it so much, you know, it's just it there's just something about dancer or even just a sport in general that you want to show up to.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: And for me, like just stop dancing wasn't a good enough answer.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so I got a lot of x-rays done.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: One even told me my spine was the other way.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I just wasn't able to get help.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: And even I went to PT back in the day, my leg used to go behind my ear.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: And when I was having all this back pain, it was like to hear.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: And when I explained that to my physical therapist, she was like, You're all right, like you're fine.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like you're acting like a baby almost.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, you're you're asking for too much.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: But as a dancer, Gianna, like what is the difference between here and here?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: Big difference.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: A couple of points on a score sheet, I can tell you that.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: But also, I mean, like, for somebody like you, that you do you have that of you used to have that available range of motion, but now it's limited.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, there's that means that something's something's going wrong.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Something's wrong, you know.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, to you know, it's a bummer, you know.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's a common thing we've heard with a lot of athletes, you know, um, with like just take some Advil, don't how about this?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Just don't do your sport.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, that sucks.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna like what am I just?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but there's there has to be a solution, you know what I mean?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's some of the motivations for us to do this was like, there is a solution that just we just had to figure out what it is and take the right course of action, you know.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so what happened after that?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that was when you're 13, 14, you're living on a leave in Tylenol in Advil.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: The whole nine year that lasted for years, to be honest.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I had a dance dad who was very determined.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, I went to different specialists, naturopaths, ideology.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: I went to probably 10, 15 different types of specialists trying to figure out what was going on.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but back in the day when you're healthy, you're flexible, you look fine, MRI is not in the table.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so I didn't get an MRI until I was in my 20s.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's when they found out that there was actually a lot wrong with my back.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like, oh, like it wasn't in my head.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like I really did, like there was something going on, you know.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: But I always tried.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I had multiple bulging and torn discs um and already had arthritis in it.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: So did you dance all the way up to your 20s?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like what was your dancing career look like?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I still continued to dance and teach.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I was in the Super Bowl, I've been in parades, I've been teaching, choreographing.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that was really my love.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: I love teaching um and competing.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: That was my favorite thing.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: But my last recital, my back went out.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so unfortunately, I got to watch somebody else wear my costumes and dance in my dances because I was once again sitting on the sidelines because my back decided to go out.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't even breathe, like even just coughing or sneezing, like it was just so painful.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so at that point, I knew that unless I got the help that I needed, I wasn't going to be moving to LA to be a professional dancer.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what I really wanted to do.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like that was my dream since all I can remember of watching all my dance videos, like breaking and breaking two, and girls just want to have fun.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like those were my dancing days.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: And Paul Ebdole, Janet Jackson, they were all like my inspiration to dance.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: And so um, my dance teacher was a professional dancer himself, and he was already in LA.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: So that like really crushed my soul because I was like, I was on my way.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I took a step back and I ended up getting into the insurance and estate planning industry for a long time.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: And for some reason, like my heart just wasn't there anymore.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: And that's because dance wasn't involved.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so, not until later on when I had my son, and he actually was dancing, I was at a dance convention, and there's usually like a massage therapist there or something to do like that, but that's kind of it.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I went there and I was talking to her, and I was like, you know, what do you do?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: And she said, I'm a dance medicine specialist.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, what is that?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like, there's such a thing as dance medicine.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like I never knew.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's really how Doctors for Dancers got started is me learning that there was such a thing of people that learn about dancers and want to be able to take care of us and actually study us.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you hear about like sports medicine or football.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: And again, I come from a I'm the youngest of three boys, and I have a boy.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: So, like boys are just all the ways in my life football, baseball, all the things.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: And so here's Jenny always dancing.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: And for us, like we just never got the services like they do.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I just kind of thought that's just the way it was.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so when we heard about dance medicine, I'm like, we need to do something about this, and people need to know that there are people that can get the help they need.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: So they don't run into someone like me where I wanted to dance my whole life, and unfortunately I couldn't get the help that I needed.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: So now I have the next generation.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: We have people like Gianna that can be able to help the dance community and be there for them.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, totally.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we're super lucky to have her on the team.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, did you when was that?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: When was that when you had that conversation with that that dance medicine specialist?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: You were like, light bulb went off.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: When was that?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: About 2018, so about seven, eight years ago.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I started Doctors for Dancers 2019.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: I immediately started it.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: Even when she first started, I was like, you need to change your name.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like dance needs to be in the name, like people need to know about you.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: And she did, and now she's like the dance medicine specialist here in Arizona.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but otherwise, we wouldn't know that she even existed to be able to take care of dancers.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's just those little things that you are able to find out that there is a resource for it.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: So then your vision with Doctors for Dancers was a national um directory that um are specific like dance um healthcare practitioners that you can direct people to.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is that correct?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: And and it's not just Doctors for Dancers is a great name, but there's also personal trainers, you know, um massage therapists, people that are not doctors, because it really does take a whole team to take care of an athlete, right?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just one or the other.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: So we have dietitians, MDs, all the things.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's really a great network of community healthcare professionals, um, even mental health.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's a really big thing as well.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: We have mental health professionals.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so now it was a dream to be um national in the United States, but now it's become a global brand where people all over the country and the world are looking for services like this.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you had you said ankle sprain.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Any other like major injuries?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, did you have anything that was like lingering or consistently popping up?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_03: Luckily, compared to a lot of my like friends who danced, I didn't have anything um that lingered on for years.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: I broke my foot dancing.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_03: It was at a competition, doing a fan kick, landed on the outside of my foot and broke my fifth metatarsal.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that was like my only big injury.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I sprained my ankle.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't dancing, but it affected my dancing.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I had my really good friend had tons of knee issues from like sixth grade, really all the way up through college.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: She had knee surgery, I think twice.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: She broke her foot while rehabbing from her knee.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_03: And it was always one of those things that like stalled, like she there would go seasons where she just wouldn't dance.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um now, like looking back, I definitely battled like some hip um SI joint issues.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_03: But in the moment, like you're just like, oh, I'm sore from dance.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just gonna push through, I'm fine.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but like looking back, I was like, probably wasn't the best thing to do, or oh, I totally was in pain here, and I just thought it was normal.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, okay, yeah, like like we were saying, like there's one not a great directory or not a great guidance um for people.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and like you show someone you're like, yeah, I I I can do my split, but like it just hurts a little bit.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: And they're like, Well, yeah, of course, you're in a split, like that's not normal.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Or like your range of motion's plenty, you're good.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, but for like what I do though, it's not it's not what I need, you know.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean it's like a baseball, like a baseball player who you're like, oh no, your shoulder range of motion's good, but they need a little more than the average person.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, totally.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, luckily it didn't have any major injury in that sense, just little things that popped up.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: But I was surrounded by it um by friends who just like stopped dancing and were like, It's a bummer injured, I'm done.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely I would say, like for me personally, like um very similar experiences, and also witnessing other teammates and friends and stuff, where I'm like, man, they're just consistently hampered by just like lingering issues, and they they never played, they never did.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, their window of opportunity is so small that you have like, you know, you have a you have a 10-year window as like a youth athlete, you know, like actually like do something special, you know what I mean?
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and set yourself a maybe a trajectory in a higher level.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then high school, you know, you have a four-year window, but you're not even playing your freshman year, you're only gonna play your sophomore, maybe, and then you have like a three-year window.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, it's a small window.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then um at least also having like-minded clinicians like you got, like with the Doctors for Dancers, you know, and and Gianna, um, they get it, you know, like we get it.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like if someone's like, This happened with a fan kick, and it's like, well, your range of motion is fine, just take some Advil, maybe rest for a little bit.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, oh no, I totally understand what you're talking about.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you your requirement is that I know what that looks like when that means we need to work on this, this, and this.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's a course of action.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_03: Modify it for sure.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I think there's like always a layer of credibility of like uh uh an athletic patient, like they you get it with them, you know, you're like eye to eye and they can see it, you know.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_03: Speak their terminology.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, totally.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: I said a fan kick to someone else, or I I do releve, and they're like, what is that?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, you know, it's just like, oh, okay, I'll explain it to you, but they still don't truly understand.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas they're like, I get it, in it like this, and then they do it, and you're like, yes, just like that.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's when I have my pain, that's when it hurts.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's great with Doctors for Dancers, like the network um with the there's a barrier to entry, right?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: To like be recognized underneath that.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's like they're actually like they know the lingo and the you know, all that fan kick and releve, you know, all that stuff that I don't know, you know.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: So it's good, you know.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um so uh what I also wanted to add like go into a little bit was like with to give some insights from the listeners and stuff, with dancers, what are some of the what does that look like for development from like the age of two through early adolescence to adolescence to like young adulthood?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is that the commitment and developmental expectations look like?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh, we dance, you know, we mess around for like an hour a day.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a world, we're like we're dancing eight hours a day, range of motion exercises, stability, strength, coordination, stuff like that.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: So what from your guys' lens, what would you say?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: I would say um, like I felt like middle school was a really big turning point for a lot of people where you decide like when you're young, you you take that ballet tap, you're like, do I like this?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_03: There's always the other person in the corner, like looking off.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: And then there's the people who are like super focused, like love going.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: But middle school is that age where it's like, all right, I'm gonna like hone down.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's when I felt people started like doing more privates, and you could just tell the difference between someone who technically was more advanced and someone who wasn't, or their like heart wasn't in it.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I enjoy doing this a couple hours a week for activity versus someone who's like, I'm so excited.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_03: I have three conventions in the next couple weekends, and like I'm gonna dance all weekend, I can't wait.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: And that is a big part of the development is like you learn in your studio and you could do the privates, but then also going out into the dance community and like competing, taking workshops, conventions, master classes.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I find that was a big um turning point is where you could tell, like, wow, that person has learned from multiple professionals versus someone who, yeah, they do their ballet, you know, they show up to what the the bare minimum is.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: But when it comes time to try out for a high school team or a college team, you could really tell the difference in the technique, but also um their performance quality is like you've only learned from one person, so you've only got feedback from one person, and you could tell, like they know how to do that really well, but you put them in an uncomfortable situation or you tell them they need to improv and they're like a deer in headlights.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um you're like, okay, this is new to them.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: More exposure to a lot of variety of stuff.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, more exposure.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: People who don't like like some people do like a certain style, but if you're more well-rounded, like if you take all different types of dance between tap, ballet, hip-hop, lyrical, jazz, when you go and they're put in a I mean it's hard to because jazz today is very different than there's different types of jazz.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: There's a classical jazz, there's more of a contemporary jazz, there's a sassy jazz.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_03: So you really a sassy type, you know, like girls want to have fun jazz versus like classical versus something a little slower.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um interesting.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: So it's a big variety, and it's like a name to it, but the more exposure you get, the better you can perform and the better your technique grows.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: And then you go to try out for these teams, and they're like, I want her.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_03: She's adaptable.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: She can she can fit right in, she can adapt to my vision, which is like a big thing.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_03: Can you the choreographer has a vision for this dance?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: Can you do what they want technically, but can you also perform it how they want by also adding your own style to it?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you would like 10, 11 years old is when it like the the fork in the road usually occurs or earlier?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I found.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if Jennifer, you have a different view on it, but personally, and that's what I've kind of felt.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think, like, especially that eighth grade year going into high school, they're wondering, you know, am I gonna continue to do this?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: Am I gonna now do this at school?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Am I gonna do it at a studio?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Can I do both?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, for me, I was a studio kid, but I also felt like I was just always living at the studio, like those were my studio friends.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then I had my school friends, and I hardly had any picture with my school friends because I was always at dance.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I was like, well, I actually want to do this.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I actually quit dance a little bit for my senior year so I could actually dance more at my school and be more involved.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like that transition going over.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, plus, it's it's a lot different too when I was growing up.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, going to dance conventions, there weren't as many as there are today.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like you can throw a rock and like they're everywhere.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, before it was a very big treat if you were able to go to a dance convention a couple of times a year, if they even came to your city, or a lot of people would go to Vegas to be able to go to nationals and be able to pick up classes that way.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but the senior room used to be the biggest room when I was dancing, and now it's the teen room.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I've noticed that the teen room sometimes it's like four to five times bigger than the senior room.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm wondering if you have a take on this too as well, Gianna.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: Is when I was dancing, it was, you know, four days a week.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then if you had rehearsals on the weekends, but now I find that kids are dancing six, seven days a week.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm wondering if burnout is a thing of why I'm seeing so many not in the senior room anymore.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we do um on site services at dance conventions, we asked to be put in front of the senior room because we see more injuries that are coming from that.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um not even just um injuries that are happening on site, but they've already actually had injuries for a couple of years.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm wondering if you see like that transition, not as many people going, you know, to continue.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have a take on that of like seeing teachers now?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: I mean I think burnout's a great word that by the time you're in high school you've been practicing like you said I I used to Fridays was always the day there was no dance.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_03: Friday and Sunday there was no dance and sometimes you'd have like a little break during the week on one day to like do another activity, which I don't think is as common anymore.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um but yeah by the time you get to high school you've been dancing so intensely that I think there's people who definitely feel like a disconnect from their school friends versus their studio friends.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_03: They feel like they're missing out on a piece of high school.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: So I I think that's a major reason why there'll be a drop off um in the senior room.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: And then also just like I feel like the s presence of like social media too and how it plays such a role when you're younger and like it being so intense like you need to train you to do this.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_03: By the time that you get to be 15, you're like I'm just so burnt out.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_03: I've been taking private after private after class after convention that it really like takes a toll on you mentally and physically so you definitely the scene the senior room I felt like was always smaller.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: The junior and the teen room were like busting at the seams and the senior room was like the people who were really really um serious about dance but it was at a way smaller level than the teen and junior room because you're still kind of weeding through those people who were trying to decide like do I like this as like something I want to pursue or is this just something I'm doing for fun for activity for because my friends are doing it.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah when you're in the senior room at that point you've been doing it intensely for 10, 12 years.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: So like of course I would see more there'd be more injuries in that room because these people are like towards the end of their peak years of dancing and their bodies just finally like not haven't recovered well enough that they're they're starting to feel the effects of it both physically and mentally yeah and I I think that's where the education comes in too like that where where we are at in the dance medicine world is bringing more education to the teens so that we can see more of them in the senior room.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think sets up um the the dancers that really go through all the the the pathways and longevity like what leads to what what sets them up for success?
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_03: I would say partially from I mean a little bit on like the social media side too is that the person the dancer themselves wants to like someone who is passionate and has the heart to dance I think will have a longer longevity versus someone who's kind of forced into it and there's all these shows out there now where it's all about the dance moms and the drama behind the studios and the conventions is that pretty real or not really like dance mom show where you're like oh my gosh this is hitting a nail on the head or like no this is inflated like it's not actually like that.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's inflated.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's inflated um they're not that crazy but there's definitely I think pressure from like outside sources being like you have to dance like do more do more do this um versus someone who like like if you are so passionate about it you're more likely to take care of yourself versus like oh I gotta go dance again today and you're like not warming up or you're not recover like I'm just gonna nutrition eat this bag of chips before I go dance versus someone who's like who's ready who's like prepared and they're like I love this I'm gonna do everything I can to better myself like they have a setup for better longevity versus someone who's kind of forced or just doing it to do it.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah well from a physical standpoint what would y'all say like these are the key factors boom boom boom like to set up for longevity um I would say a good balance between like practicing but also I mean this is my physical therapy standpoint um not overtraining so training to the point where obviously choreography technique is important but like the ball like ballet is important technique wise but also building in like strength and conditioning I mean you're going three minutes like straight cardio of leaping jumping like a motion on the ground off the ground um so there's a whole cardio like vascular aspect of it but then also like some of the tricks and techniques and technical things that they're doing are demanding on the body.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_03: So like do you have the strength to support yourself or are you compensating?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: Are you just pushing through to get to the next dance or then the next break um so I would say like balancing the two but I mean practice six, seven days a week gives you no time to recover.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_03: So it's really the fine line between having enough time to hit all the buckets you want to hit of technique, choreography, practicing to make sure you got that down, practicing to make sure your team is in sync, but then also are you recovering and are you doing enough to support your body from like the the strength aspect of it so that you are going in and it's not just aggressive stretching like let me hold my split as a warm-up like that's not a good enough warm-up for someone to be able to dance for four hours and then feel good when they finish.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see similar stuff with all the people you come?
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah especially when you're dealing with the pre-professional professional dancers I feel like the biggest thing that I see is that they don't have time.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: So what goes out the window is sleep goes out the window, which as we know is really bad for you.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes like how Janet was explaining some of these events go till 12, one o'clock in the morning and then you have to be back by seven which means that you're up by 530 are you eating even breakfast in the morning so it goes from not having enough sleep to also not eating.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: We see a lot of um even on the pre-professionals the the dancers the assistants that are traveling on dance conventions um where they're not getting their periods and it's a very normal thing.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like if we can work on the sleep, we can work on the nutrition and then obviously I feel like having a a PT on standby is is definitely um one of the biggest things that I see is is everybody is different.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody is different.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: And if you want to be a professional in this realm you have to cater to your body and your body alone I think it's a little bit different for dancers because we're always in a group setting it's not very individual based unless you're doing privates.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you want to be I feel like have longevity in this industry you need to have a team and a nutritionist is involved in that a mental health professional a physical therapist a massage therapist.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like everybody works together cohesively as a team to get you to where you want to be as a professional dancer.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's not going to be a one size fits all it's going to be a catered to you in your situation.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: So those are some of the things that I found that I feel like are exasperating in our industry that we can maybe work on a little bit better to see some of that longevity.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: I would agree like I mean with the um I mean I'm biased of course too with the strength instability but the dancers we worked with like with low back pain hip pain SIJ and then ankles of course too this seems to be the most common ones um uh it's it's an instability problem you know they're overtraining and overworking for sure because they're training so much there's both practice and work on their technique and all the stuff because there's so many varieties like you were saying um and you want to be adaptable but um the value of like the strength and stability component I think is definitely not this is not viewed upon as like a high priority because it's like why I need to learn to dance I need to like do the technique you know the skill for sure um well I'm like yo but this like core stability stuff and strength training and hip glute strengthening stuff is going to make you a better dancer and it's gonna set you up for success to like not get injured is likely right um but because I know like for young I mean like like you were your age like what you were describing about your 13 14 year old experience with your back like that's a classic age of like low back instability or hypermobility spinolysthesis kind of problems SIJ dysfunction which just comes from instability but I'm like I'm always trying to I don't know and I'm sure you're gonna be better at this with communicating the dancers too but like then the importance of that.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah because no one wants to be like told you have to strengthen your core they're like no I want to do the fun things like I want to practice the the tricks and the turns and the leaps and it's like well really if we focused on these planks like to work on your core and they're like boring boring like so honestly that's one of the fun things that like we get to do is like especially with not just dance but any kind of sport the athlete that comes in is you try to tailor it a little bit to their sport and it's like all right so I know what we have to work on but what can we do to make this like like we could do something for your glutes but if I tell you you're doing an arabesque you might be like oh yeah this is so much more fun because like it's dance related or you know you can mix in something like I said once again like their terminology will go a like a long way and they're being like she knows what she know you're doing.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah like she she gets it.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um but yeah I mean especially a lot of like injuries happen in that peak um like age of puberty and development.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: So people are like growing a ton and they're still so young that I mean you could throw the scientific words out them and it's just in one ear and out the other.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_03: So you have to like get it to the point where they can understand you but also like value what you're saying.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_03: Because working on stability and strengthening it's not something like if I was to give you a massage it you'll feel better instantly.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's something that takes growth over multiple weeks.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_03: So portraying that to them and saying we're gonna do this stuff now and it's not gonna feel better tomorrow.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_03: You'll see little improvements over the next six eight weeks but like we just got to keep focusing keep working on it.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's like what really makes an impact is like if you're 13 or 14 now it's like when you're 17 and 18, you'll be able to do this stuff longer.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: And actually be more be able to do all the moves the arabesque arabesques yeah yeah like this is an arabesque exercise that's gonna make those things crush you know like really good.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's like oh then I'm in you know outsold you'll be able to do a triple turn like nothing and I'm like I'm in what talk about like what you guys have seen what what's like the what's the dance what structure of like a team and like like is there a club team is it the studio um is height where's the real showcase sort of like to then go to the next level where it's like you need to make your high school team um like football is an example high school football is like the thing for football to go to college.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Baseball it's travel ball you know and some high school ball soccer it's gonna be club team volleyball it's club team whereas high school is not really as valued and for volleyball especially what was that for dance?
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_03: I can give kind of my experience and then Jennifer can give hers a it's a it depends answer I feel like um there's two different routes you can go like if you want to dance in college on like a competitive team and compete at nationals at UDA at NDA versus do you want to major in dance and do you want to join a company and take it more professionally go to LA and you could still do that even if you do a college dance team but it's definitely different training because someone who's going to major in dance will learn it it'll be more that they have more like their whole degree their whole major is dance.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_03: So it'll be like all the classes they take versus if you do a dance team it's like an extra to your what you're doing in the sport.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_03: So where I grew up I did studio but then I also had I danced on my dance team in high school and some high school dance teams are like known across the country they're really really great and people know like if you dance on this high school dance team like you had really great coaching you were a great dancer and that can definitely help you.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_03: And then there's other teams that kids do it to be involved in their school and the team is good um but there's not as much um like notoriety known to the dance world but then you still get good experience like the dance experience that you need to dance on a college team palm jazz hip hop kick um like I didn't learn palm in my studio.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's not something that you do you focus more on like ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, which will help um but learning those palm skills on my high school team definitely helped me that when I went to college and I danced, then I was like, oh like I've done this before like I know versus someone who had never done that before it might be at like a slight disadvantage.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah and then dancing in I mean dancing in high school but there's also really great studios that maybe your local high school team isn't maybe they don't even have a dance team.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_03: I know there's my public high school didn't have a dance team.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not like a football program where every school has a football team and you like want to be on the football team because some just have a cheer team and it's something to be involved in but it's not going to push you at any advantage to making a dance team.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: So in that case you're going to more um of conventions you're going to the through a studio through a studio or you're even going to the college dance team like um they hold like masterclasses or like audition um prep like tryout um they'll do tryouts but they'll also do like clinics sorry that's the word I'm looking for clinics in the fall in the spring and you'll be like I really want to dance at this high at this college team I'm gonna go to their clinic sophomore junior maybe even senior year to like make myself known to learn um have a presence and that can give you like a big advantage um so they they know you um it's like oh yeah I remember her like she stood out to me like when she came and was at this clinic so I think that will play a big role too yeah yeah what do you see like studios teams like what what's the usual what's what are some of the the options I think for a lot of studio kids that are wanting to be professionals they usually go on the convention route.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so they're going usually sticking one or two conventions and going from city to city so that they're constantly in front of those choreographers um to be able to be seen.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I usually see a lot of studio that way.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's very interesting a lot of the studio kids that I've grew up watching dance um actually went to the dance team route.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: I was really surprised because I thought they were going right to LA because they've been traveling forever but they really wanted that sense of community and camaraderie so they went to the dance team route.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_02: And like she had said you can go from clinic to clinic and actually go to the school and see their dance teams, see what they have.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: We're actually going to an event called Tribe 99 in May and it's going to in Dallas, Texas.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's called the the combine and so dancers from all over they're categorized freshmen, sophomore juniors seniors, they're all categorized so you know who they are and there's going to be over 50 college dance team coaches there watching and recruiting and it's a great opportunity for dancers to be able to see and meet the dance team coaches and get information about the schools.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: So the parents are very involved in that aspect too which I thought was really kind of cool to see where it is.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_02: So we're also very involved in um that realm of wanting to see if they're considered an athlete what kind of things are they having so um you have your studio route and then you have your dance team route.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like those are the big things.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then otherwise people are also moving you know we you mentioned carnival earlier people are going on cruise ships you know or going to New York and it's all different styles all across the country of what you want to be involved in.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_02: Even if you're a ballerina like you want to be part of a company do they offer services some do, some don't I feel like out of all of the genres ballet probably has the most services when it comes to physical therapy and dietitian and mental health professional services available.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then right behind that it's probably Broadway.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: And then I'd like to see that more you know on the commercial side and have more services available for the other genres too.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: So if somebody wants to pursue um a college dance team they're gonna be in at a studio at their high school team um going to these clinics at the local for colleges that they're gonna be hosting or try like the sh the combine show outs you know um to then go the dance the college dance route team but if they go professional then they're gonna like major in dance or would they go straight to LA after they graduate high school you could do both.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: Some people perform in Broadway or something like that.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_03: You can go straight from high school yeah yeah you can go right you can go right to it.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be 18?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_03: No uh I danced with a girl she was nine when she danced on Broadway.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah wow that's crazy yeah so like level wise just if you're like really skilled and like very good then you're gonna get the recruited at conventions or combines.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: People will get jobs too because a lot of these conventions they are working choreographers so they are on working the Super Bowl or working X Factor or whatever it may be their working jobs.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_02: So sometimes you get picked out for a working job at these dance conventions.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_03: It could be like a scene in a movie I mean even Broadway I mean there's roles from all ages because Broadway shows aren't just adults so the girl I danced with she had tried out when she was nine and she did Broadway for I think a year and a half and then when she finished Broadway she came back to the studio for a little bit she was in a movie um she was on a TV show.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: So she's cool and that would be professional when you say professional it's like Broadway theater um she's yeah she's a choreographer now like she didn't go to college music she uh went straight to LA and now she like choreographs like around the world.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_03: Wow which is really cool.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_03: So if somebody wants to go that route and they're like I want to be a pro dancer and they're not 10 years what do you do when you be like this is the route to do I would say exposure like just putting yourself out there and like putting yourself in front of different choreographers different professionals to be like this is me this is what I could do and then like trying to catch the eye of someone to be like I saw that girl she she'd be great in this I know people too will um like link up with agencies so they'll sign with like a talent agency to um to help them get jobs um whether they're I I know some people who have done it when they're younger but also when they graduate high school and they're looking to have like a more consistent um like basis of jobs um they'll do that just to kind of like get their name out there.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah just I mean being in a city like New York or LA is great because that's just where like the two main hubs are um of so much performances and like the dance industry um that going there.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_03: Even just taking master classes like I'm gonna show up to this masterclass and learn from this choreographer and it's just trying to get your name out there and trying to relationships the relationships yeah interesting that's a big one.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah I and I feel like just really focus on your training um focus on all styles um don't focus on just one or the other and find good teachers that you actually like to learn from not just choreography they're actually teaching you um I feel like we've gone a little bit to the wayside where like a warm-up and across the floor is like out the door now.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_02: And now it's just strictly just about the steps.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_02: So I would really try to find really good training that gives you that one-on-one.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_02: But also like how she said it's also about building relationships and networking too.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_02: So once you find those teachers that you do like go back again.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_02: Make sure that you're in front of them multiple times so they can kind of get to see you, feel you see your work ethic, see how you're dancing, seeing where you're at um so yeah I definitely highly recommend on making sure that you get in good training and multiple styles of training.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah I was going to ask next we'd be like what do you advise dancers to look for?
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: Trainer coaches that they just gel with um coaches or trainers that uh have a lot of wide variety of experiences in dance like what's what's like oh this is a good place I wouldn't recommend that one.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: What's the difference?
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: I would say what wouldn't you recommend?
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_03: I've make sure you you're dancing on a strung floor I would say like being challenged like you want to take something from a choreographer that like you're gonna go in there and be like this is challenging like to the point where like it's not like oh I've done this before this is easy.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna do this I'm good at it um it's continually challenging yourself whether it's new styles I mean even the same choreographer can teach you different things.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_03: So it's making sure you're getting something out of each class versus like yeah I went to this choreographer but she basically taught me the same combo that we did last week just to a different song.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah it was good like coming in like maybe you take a heels class one time and it's Could be the same choreographer, but it was like a whole different take on um that style of dance.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_03: So constantly challenging yourself to where you feel like you're growing and you're not just like plateauing where you're like, no, I'm good, I got this.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because then you go in front of someone else, and then they'll be like, I've never done this before.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I wish I had some experience with this.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and yeah, and like places that bring in new choreographers, like there'll be like really good ones who like have a class once a week.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but like new ideas, like new, like I would say, even like bringing in maybe someone who is like younger, who maybe doesn't have as popular of a name, hasn't doesn't have as much experience, but someone who's younger and has like a fresh take on things and be like, I'm gonna try their class.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like, let me see what I can learn from it, um, which is nice, versus taking someone that you've taken a bunch of times and you you kind of know what you're gonna get from it.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's a new exposure.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, new exposure.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_00: Would you agree with that?
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_02: I think especially when you're uh like a in the professional realm when you're in LA, you want to be able to be in front of them and learn their style because, like, especially like let's say Marty Kodelka, for instance, out of LA, he's Justin Timberlake's choreographer, who's been like that for years.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_02: So there are people that have been taking his class for years and trying to learn his style.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_02: And guess what they're doing now?
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_02: They're now on stage with Justin Timberlake.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so like you there you got to put yourself out there in front of people that are working too.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_02: So when you're in LA and you're in New York and you're wanting to be a working dancer, that's super important for you to be able to get in front of people like that.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: What's the uh so the choreographer?
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hearing y'all say that a bunch.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_00: Are they like the top, like the the main person that you need to impress or like get you need to get in the radar?
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: Choreographers are like, they're the ones.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because they're the ones who are going to choreograph the dance.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: So select talent for each position.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they're gonna be like, she's what I want.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_03: She's what I envision this dance to look like.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_03: I want her, she she fits like my vision.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's how you that's how they remember you is like learning their style and then just like repetitively like being like, hi, it's me again, it's me again.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_03: And then like we know you.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, but at the same time, like you're training in other styles, you know, while you're doing that.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like don't give up and just don't do one style.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_03: That's how you like corner yourself and you're like, I'm really good at this, but maybe like another opportunity arises, but like you've never done that before.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_03: So that's why it's like take the same, we're like contradicting ourselves, take the same choreographer over and over, but also take new choreographers where you can learn other things.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um you need to like perfect your craft, but have multiple crafts.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: Is there uh absolutely yeah?
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, go ahead, go ahead.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I was gonna say, like Madison, for instance, like on Justin Timberlake, it's all hip-hop, but she ended up having a solo that was lyrical, and she was able to really do that beautiful Arabesque in those turns and that lyrical dancing that maybe another hip-hop dancer wouldn't have done.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't have that background, you know.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not only you don't have to have just hip-hop, it's also technical train too.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: So adaptability is important.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: Build relationships with choreographers, get a lot of exposure and experience, develop some relationships.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: You got to meet the right people.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: Are there politics involved with professional uh dancing?
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: There has to be, right?
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_03: It's like with any sport.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel like there's not as much on the professional realm.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it's like pre-professional studio realm you hear about politics or like going into it, but like the actual professional scene, I don't really see that too often.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, from the politics come from maybe like the event coordinators where they're maybe not treating dancers right, you know, something like that when it comes to like money and services.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like dancers are on like the lower deck, unfortunately.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_02: So politics when it comes into like fighting for better things for dancers, I see.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um dance teams and schools and like college, they're always the first on the chopping block.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_03: Like, we made budget cuts this year.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_03: So sorry, dance team, you can't go to nationals.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like that's when it can get maybe a little more political, or it's like, all right, who do we have to know?
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_03: Like, who could we donate to to get some more funding?
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe a little bit.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, maybe a little bit in the studio um setting.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_03: There can be a little bit more um, you know, sometimes like when parents are involved, you know, things who knows who, who is talking to who, things can get a little more versus who's in the front, yeah.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_03: Why is she getting another solo?
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like that stuff, exactly.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like that stuff.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_03: I would say deaf more probably studio than in the professional world.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_03: The professional world's pretty like from what I've experienced heard and experienced, so just be like it's more cutthroat, like, nope, we don't want you, we want you.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_03: Well, why?
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_03: Because that's what I have, like that's the vision I have.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_03: She's what I want.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_03: And it's just I think that's where a big mental part of it comes in, too, is these dancers who dance professionally.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_03: Like, if you keep kind of getting like cut from parts, like it can take a big mental toll.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, I can imagine for sure.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like always trying to like, oh, but why not me this time?
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, and that's that's where it's based on your looks a lot too, you know.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean that really gets to you.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's not always your talent that it's based upon.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, what are you what are they visioning looking for?
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_02: It could be certain height, certain weight, certain blonde, yeah.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so sometimes you don't know that going in.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's just an open cast.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_02: They have that vision in your head, but you take that personally.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then Algiana mentioned earlier, we also have social media to top everything off.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_02: So and the mental health, I don't think that we talk about enough, but we we definitely are starting to do that more.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's important to talk about it because it's not easy to be a dancer.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, I I yeah, I believe it.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_00: What's the what's the hardest thing to be a good dancer?
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like being like elite.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: What's the hardest part?
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just the skill?
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, never giving up.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was like, Yeah, like the I don't say the drive behind it, but like the ability to like to get up.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_03: I would say like to be able to stand in front of a room of like thousands of people and like you're out there by yourself, and like I have the confidence and I have the strength to like put on this performance and hope like everything goes just how I want.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_03: And if it doesn't, no one in this room can know that it didn't turn out how we wanted.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_03: We have to still put on a good face and like finish out the performance.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so it's like the the mental strength behind um being able to perform not only the physical task, but the performance behind it.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: So like execute as you want to.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_00: Would you agree with that?
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you have to do it with a smile.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_02: And you can't let anybody know what you're going through.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: I imagine it's a hard part, you know.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like you gotta get, I mean, hair and makeup.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, because if you play sports, like, well, that's not a thing, you know, at least for guys.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_00: But like for dance, it's like you gotta perform, you gotta show.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's a show, you know.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_00: So hair, makeup, and smiling and all that stuff, you know?
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_03: You don't can't put a helmet on and you can't, you know, hide behind.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you could also technically perform perfectly, and your face could be blank the entire time, and they'd be like, I don't really know what she, like lackluster, not yeah.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like you or some I've seen two people who put on like a great performance.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe their technique isn't great, but their performance was so good that it's like I'm blown away, but how entertaining that was, even though maybe she only did a double turn and uh wobbled a little bit, her kick wasn't that high, but like the performance there's so many aspects of being able to put on a good performance.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um like somebody like a great performer, like very charismatic, like on the on the on the stage.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_03: What Derek?
• 52:04
  unknown: Yeah.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_02: What Derek Huff.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I know you're asking Derek, Derek Huff, yeah.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like just he's a great performer.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't care what he does, you're just mesmerized by him.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_03: He can walk in a circle and you're just like, wow.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like masterful, like masterpiece.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_03: Better than I could ever do.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_00: What what makes what makes that what makes that dancer be able to do that?
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's just his full body, like he doesn't just dance with his face, and he doesn't just dance with his like body, like it's a full like a full.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like he commits every step, every step, every finger, or you believe every moment that he's giving you because he is, he's giving you everything.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_03: He commits like 110% to whatever, whatever you tell him to do.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_03: Like you could give him a whatever the vision is, do it, and he'll he'll perform it.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what a really good dancer can do.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's once again, the adaptability.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: So you said like believe, believe in every step, believe in every finger, believe in every move.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and plus he does multiple genres, it's not just one.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_02: He does jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, brawl room, like different types of ballroom, different and the way he leads his partner, leads his wife, right?
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's just he's uh a leader, but he also just he tells a story.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like that's what dance is mostly about.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_02: How she was saying earlier is like, are you feeling it?
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_02: Are you in the motion?
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, are you embodying it?
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_02: And that's important to tell the story, but it's also the technique behind it.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_02: So you have to do both.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_02: Can you imagine if we were dancing and like on a leap, we're like, oh, what's the like your blind sport?
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_03: Like a tennis grunt, you know, grunting as we're dancing.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like that doesn't happen, but we go really high.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, if you look at some of these leaps behind it, like we soar.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was a leaper, I was a turner, I could do tricks, like it was fun, but like it was a very powerful, very powerful house that you needed to execute.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's just there's it's not just one thing.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like in the sports, like there's a play, and that play lasts for what five to ten seconds.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_02: Our dances last sometimes for five to six minutes on set.
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_02: Usually it's about two to three minutes, but we have all that time to be able to perform and execute that technique and the athleticism behind it, and it's a lot of work.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I think it's not just one thing, it's a multiple, multiple things of melting pot that makes it just so beautiful for you to be able to execute.
• 54:37
  unknown: Yeah.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say is like I was fortunate.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've tried to be very adaptable with my previous long back in the glory days of playing sports.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: I played a lot of sports, and I feel like there's different personalities and cultures of each sport.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like football is very military and very ego, very high emotions, like very passionate.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_00: Baseball was always like very stoic.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the guys were usually prankst, like kind of this like playful and pranksters.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_00: But there's like a lot of unwritten rules you don't talk about, and they're very superstitious.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_00: Basketball was like usually too cool for school.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_00: You have to like not look like you're trying hard, but then also play good.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_00: You have to look good and like be cool.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's but anyway, what's dance?
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say?
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like the culture and personality of dance.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's a dumb question.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_02: We're a lot of fun.
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_02: Community.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like community is definitely a big part of it.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's like you can't take it too seriously because I mean you take it seriously, but you can't be too serious um where you're not enjoying yourself.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like it there's so much passion behind dance that you're serious about what you're doing, but because you love it and that you want to share that love of dance with people.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I would say like they're super passionate.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I feel like recently dance too is like you said, community, and like you can do things individually, like when you're trying out for a part, like it's individual, but you're doing like when you're in a performance, when you're on a team, like it's a team effort.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so there is like a lot of like just like trying to like hype the people up around you very supportive together supportive.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, like fun.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I mean, when a fun song's on, like, how can you not just be like I'm enjoying myself?
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_00: I must dance.
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is perfect.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we do.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody dances, it's a vibe, it's a party.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's a part, yeah.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_02: Especially like if you're at like a dance competition and everybody's on stage, like music's going, the kids are dancing, they're all together, there's camaraderie going on.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it's a lot of fun, a lot of hard work, but I feel like a lot of fun too.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_02: Lots of um supportiveness.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_03: Say work hard, play hard.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, lots, lots of working hard.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, very emotional.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, very emotional.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_02: I cry every time I go to a dance competition or a convention.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_02: I cry every time.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_02: Every time.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_00: What how come?
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_02: Because it it's so special.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like for somebody to put their heart out and you get to watch it, that's a whole like you you recognize and appreciate all the hard work behind everything and to the point that they've gotten to, and then they're expressing that right then.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_00: They completed it, they did really well, and you're like, I feel that.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's like an art.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_03: Like, like when you ever see like a like if you hear a song and you're like, wow, like that was beautiful, like just the lyrics and how they present it.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_03: Same with dance, like it's it's an art.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_03: So, yes, there's the whole um athletic part behind it to be able to execute it, but in the end, it's like it's an art, it's a storytelling, the emotion.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so like when you watch someone who just like puts it all out there, has the passion for it, you're like like you feel it, like in in it's hard to describe, but um, but yeah, like you feel you feel all the hard work that they put into it, even though you're not on the stage with them, you can feel it from the audience.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what that's that's what you're that's what you mean.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_00: You watch that and you're like, I can feel everything they put into it, the emotions behind it.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_00: What about when somebody messes up?
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_02: Well, more power to you.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_02: Go ahead, mess up the step.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like, just keep going.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_00: So don't don't would a person living like who feels the emotions with them as a performer doing their thing.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_00: Do you get more emotional after somebody like crushes it, did so good and then wins?
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you like more emotional?
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_00: You see somebody like really try hard, they just messed up and they didn't do well that particular time.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_00: They break down because you know they're upset.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_03: You know, sometimes you don't even know they messed up.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I like I've had friends come off and be like, Do you see I messed up?
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, no, I didn't.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_03: They're like, I didn't do the turn.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, I had no idea you were gonna do a turn.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't know your dance.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, I mean, there's obviously the more experience you get, the more you can like rebound from that quickly, versus someone, um, like when you mess up and you're just like, oops, like obviously that's heartbreaking to see, and you're like, just keep going, keep going.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, the more experience you get, like the more you can rebound from it.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_03: And maybe your choreographer is like, you know, you forgot the turn, but um, like everyone else, the audience, the judges, like they don't pick up on it because you were able to like adapt and like recover from it without anyone knowing.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it's a little, it's always a little heartbreaking to see someone like almost at the end or they fall out of a turn or they fall out of a jump, and you're just like keep going, like finish strong.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_03: And like it was one blip in the three minutes.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you can't ruin a whole performance on a five-second um mess up.
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_02: For me, it's like musicality and the emotion behind it, like that'll get me every time.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_02: And you can screw it up.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I've screwed up my dances.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_02: I I made up dances halfway through.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_02: I blacked out and just kept going, and nobody knew killed it, you know.
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_02: So, like it happens, but what did they get to see?
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they got to see me lost in the pocket and the emotions, and I was able to go through it.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like that's what moves me with dancing, is especially when they get lost.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you're a dancer, like you get like if you get lost in it, and I just get to see you just be you.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's so special.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's not very often that you get to see it.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm very special when I am at a dance convention, you get to see it more often, but there's um people have a hard time with confidence or showing themselves or doing improv.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_02: So when you do get to see somebody show their soul to you, it's a gift.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's a very special gift.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: Last question we'll land the plane.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_00: What was something you remember like the most memorable dance experience or moment that y'all have had?
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's tough for so many.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like absolute highlight moment.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_03: I would say one of the like a great moment for me was I had a really good friend who I met dancing, and we did um like duos every year.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_03: So like the last time we performed our duo was like a really big emotional because we were going different ways in college.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_03: So it was like our last time dancing together.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that and then our like senior, we do a senior dance.
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_03: So the whole studio is like on the stage, like on the outskirts, sitting there, they bring the moms and parents up to the front, and everyone's just kind of staring at you.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like, usually your whole family's there, and we wear like white dresses, and we do like our senior graduation dance, and it's like the whole like everyone's there for you, and it's like this is my last time for some people, it's their last time dancing ever if they're not dancing in college.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, luckily I did dance in college, so I had a couple more performances, but still your last time dancing with like a group of people you've danced with for so many years that it gets it's emotional, but in like a really memorable, happy way.
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_03: It has a good impact.
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_00: What about you?
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_02: For me, I think it's actually watching my son dance.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_02: I never thought I'd have a boy dancer.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think that was very special for me because he got lost quite often.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and he would do a lyrical um and really just like Sam Smith it and Bruno Mars and just really kind of go into it.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's probably one of my favorite moments is seeing the range that he would do.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_02: And he's a prankster too, so it'd be funny, it'd be all the things.
• 1:02:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I think watching my son dance and actually enjoy it, he doesn't dance anymore now that he's older.
• 1:02:47
  SPEAKER_02: How does he know?
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_02: He was younger, he's gonna be 22 next month.
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_00: How long did he go for?
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, four, five years.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_02: I got a good, I got a good run out of it, or at least uh in class.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_02: He started dancing before that.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, he would be he pull Ellen's and we we had Seaworld and people he would dance behind people or at Red Box when that was a thing.
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_02: He'd just dance behind people.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_02: It was just always the fun thing.
• 1:03:12
  SPEAKER_02: So not only would I get like the emotional lyrical side from him, but I would always get like the fun, sassy side.
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I actually have it's on YouTube, and he is sassy.
• 1:03:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like we were talking about jazz, like we had jazz funk to the max, and he had to like finger snap and hit hips and the whole nine yards, and he did it, he killed it.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_02: And that was such a proud mama moment for me.
• 1:03:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's cool, that's awesome.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my daughter's starting her dance, some dance, dabbling in some dance.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_00: She's five and a half.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, she did her first performance last like summer, I think.
• 1:03:44
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it was adorable, you know.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_00: I was like melting out there, you know, watching her.
• 1:03:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, gosh, I can picture my head.
• 1:03:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we'll see.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see where she goes.
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'll hang out with her a little bit.
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I'll be here for her.
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'll influence her.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you should take some more dance classes.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_03: You don't want to play soccer, I promise.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, daddy's daughter get on stage with her to say in.
• 1:04:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we got like this, I got this like blow up, like um, it's like a punching bag kind of blow up thing, you know, it's weighted the bottom and it falls over and picks back up again, you know?
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I got it from my son for co for Christmas because he's just an animal.
• 1:04:21
  SPEAKER_00: But we were doing tackling drills in the backyard and she'll get she gets after it.
• 1:04:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm like, all right here's the drill.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta run down the fence and back and tackle this dumbbell on the way down.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_00: And she'll just like to crush it, you know.
• 1:04:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, all right, you know, we maybe one year at tackle football.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 1:04:34
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna come over and be like, don't do that.
• 1:04:39
  SPEAKER_03: Come here, come here.
• 1:04:40
  SPEAKER_00: Just dance with us.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_03: Just dance with us.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, thanks for getting on with us.
• 1:04:46
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're you're a busy person.
• 1:04:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what's the best way for people to reach out if they have a question about where they can find um uh a healthcare provider or of someone that can help a practitioner within the dance community, and then how they can reach out to you?
• 1:04:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they can go to our website, doctorsfordancers.com, and there's a feature for you to be able to search for your location or a specific type of specialist that you're looking for.
• 1:05:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, or you can also reach out to us, call, text.
• 1:05:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm here to help you um any step of the way.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we even have dancers that are on tour right now that reach out to us.
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_02: So even if you're not in your main city or state that you're usually and you're traveling and you need assistance, give me a call.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we can help you find somebody in your area to get you the help that you need.
• 1:05:25
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 1:05:26
  SPEAKER_00: I remember you you you linked um us with or you linked me with a guy that was a traveling dancer that was performing locally in West Palm Beach, and he came over.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_00: That was in 2021, I believe.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:05:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:05:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was a cool experience.
• 1:05:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, what are you doing?
• 1:05:39
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Well, I'm doing my own backup dancer for Tony Robbins.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, huh.
• 1:05:43
  SPEAKER_00: His calf was all jacked up.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_00: So we worked, yeah.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_00: That was really cool.
• 1:05:47
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of jumps, a lot of jumps, Tony Robbins.
• 1:05:49
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of energy fire.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, and yeah, thanks again.
• 1:05:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for coming out.
• 1:05:54
  SPEAKER_00: People reach out if you have any questions.
• 1:05:55
  SPEAKER_00: And um, if y'all are battling any pain or anything specific, we'd love to help.
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_00: John is here.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_00: Here working with dancers specifically.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_00: She has a great background to that.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we let we can at least chat on the phone and see what you're going on and maybe direct you or where to go.
• 1:06:07
  SPEAKER_00: Any comments, questions, concerns, or podcast ideas, we're always open to that those ideas too.
• 1:06:11
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll catch you all next time.