Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Raising the New Generation - Former Dancers Who Are Now Competitive Dance Parents

Transcript

Raising the New Generation - Former Dancers Who Are Now Competitive Dance Parents · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone, welcome to our next episode on Making the Impact.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host Leslie Mueller.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: What's up, Courtney?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: I am so good, and I am excited for this episode because we're gonna reminisce about the good old days at competitions, but not just from uh us anymore or the judges.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: We're actually gonna bring in some new uh fun dance moms onto the chat, which I can't wait.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, and we love we love a dance mom chat because we are not dance moms.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: So this is a perspective that we do not hold.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: So we love to bring in new voices, new faces, uh, new opinions.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: So we're super excited to hear from these folks today um and talk all about what it's like now raising a competitive dancer.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Crazy, yeah.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Full circle moment for these guests.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So can't wait to learn from them.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that everyone is having a wonderful end of their competition season.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: We are nearing the end.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's mid-May.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's crazy that it's flown by this fast.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is my final weekend actually out with Streets Dance Convention.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've been on pretty much every single regional season.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been a lovely time seeing such fabulous dancers uh all around the country, and nationals are scheduled for July.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna take a nice little break from mid-May until July.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well deserved.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: But since we are nearing the end of Making the Impact season seven, as well as the competitive season, I'm sure you know that we have tons of Making the Impact Judge's Choice awards that have been flooding our inbox because people are registering those awards, they are winning them at IDA affiliated competitions, and we are so thrilled to be giving these out.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: So we would love to share some of our recent winners.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: From Onstage America's event in Mansfield, Massachusetts, congrats to Kara Anderson's Dance Studio from North Brookfield, Massachusetts, and their dancer Thomas for their solo, Milcomen.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: From High Demand Dance Competitions event in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, congrats to Triplet Dance Academy from Medford, New Jersey and Dancer Isabella for their solo, Thank God I Do.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: From True Dance Challenges Event in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, congrats to Nardy Dance Studios and Performing Arts Center from Eastern Pennsylvania for their small group, Tango Till They're Sore.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: From Gems Dance Competitions event in Des Moines, Iowa, congrats to Motivate Dance from Inconey, Iowa for their large group, 12 Angry Women.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: And from GEMS Dance Competition in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: Congrats to the Pure Movement Dance Institute from Lincoln, Nebraska for their small group, Pocket Calculator.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Congrats to all of our recent Making the Impact Award winners.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And stay tuned if you have won in the past few months for our shout-out coming on our final episode of season seven, launching very soon.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And all of our winners are going to go into a fan favorite voting contest in June, where you get to vote to pick your fan favorite winner who will receive a full studio episode in season eight of Making the Impact.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So stay tuned for that.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: And before we jump ahead, let's hear from our sponsors.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Dance Studio owners and dance teachers, this is your invitation to lead smarter, not harder.
• 3:55
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• 4:00
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• 4:04
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• 4:40
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• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to use our exclusive promo code for$100 off your registration to attend.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's the letters DOS, the numbers 26 impact for$100 off.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Click the link in our show notes to register now, and we hope to connect with you this summer in New York City at the Dance One Summit.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, Dance World, we are here today on Making the Impact with one of our last episodes of season seven, which is so sad about, but it's gonna be such a fun one that I've been waiting to do for a long time because we've done so many different parent episodes on the podcast.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of dance mom episodes.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: We've done a dance dad episode, we've done a how not to be a stage mom episode.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of parents out there that love listening to Making the Impact.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: They are actually probably our number one fan of the podcast, are the dance parents more than the dance teachers and the dancers themselves.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, of course, we gotta give y'all some more dance parent content.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And today we are talking all about being a former competitive dancer to now a dance mom who has a competitive dancer.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they're on the other side of the table now, they're experiencing what it's like to be the dance mom, which we've all had dance moms here.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: We have all had dance moms as competitive dancers, and whoa, that is a world in itself.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I remember those days and as a child, and uh I give props to all the dance moms out there who are making it happen for their kids, but I think it's a little bit different if you also grew up doing this.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: You have a little bit of a different approach to the whole darn thing.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, are you did you put your kid in dance because you did it?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Or was it because they really wanted to and you didn't care what activity they did?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, who's driving driving these choices?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And is it because of your past as a competitive dancer?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna learn all of that today with our two guests who are joining us on the podcast.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the first guest is a welcome back guest.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: They have been here before on Making the Impact season four, episode 110, hair and makeup for the competitive stage.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I have had the pleasure to get to know her through the years and even judge her dancers at streets last season, which was such a treat to finally meet in person because I do a lot of online critiques for her dancers, and it's just so exciting to watch them grow through the screen of the internet over the years from a distance.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm very excited to welcome back Lynn McNellis to the podcast.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Lynn.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for coming.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna wear your dance mom hat today and not your beauty hat.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: I know, right?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I wear that dance mom hat all the time.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: So a little workouts.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And you're coming to us from Texas.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Double dance mom in Texas.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And Double Dance Mom.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: I also feel like your studio is a pretty large one.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Is that true?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: We do.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: We have an awesome big studio.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: How many students?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, total, I'm not sure, but we do have four different competitive teams.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Swivel Performing Company, we have an um an intermediate company, drill company, and hip hop company.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, we cover a lot.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of great kids.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And are is there crossover in that?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: So everyone's separate.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have a rec program.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Lynn, feel free to remind all of us, since it's been a minute, season four.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a while since you've been here.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: It has been a while.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us a little bit more about you, where you grew up, uh your early dance training, since we know you were a competitive dancer, and um what you're doing now in dance dance world with your kids.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: I started competing at age 11.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I was always in dance, but like 11, 12, we started really being serious about competing.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm from Louisiana, and um, we would go to showstopper, showbiz, star assistants, terme.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we had like that circuit that was back in the day, right?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm a little older.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I did dance in college.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: I was a golden girl at LSU.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so my love for dance runs deep.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I also wanted to, you know, dance professionally, but it was one of those you need to go to college.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so then after that, it was all um, you know, finding a job, then going to the real world.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I kind of just left my dance world behind.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: But um, as soon as I knew I was having a girl, my first girl, it was all systems go.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I was uh completely invested at that point.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then I had two more girls, so that worked out well.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: But I do have two competitive dancers now.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: I have a teen and a junior, and we do go to this large school in Texas that has amazing training.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: We can talk about a little bit later, but it's so different from what I experienced.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I had an awesome studio as well in Louisiana, but dance is just different now.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I we have 27 group dances going to TDA this this summer, just my girls.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them they're in some of the dances together.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I do count them twice because I pay twice.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: So of course you do.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I have to count them twice.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: You would have my upstairs and my house is just uh inundated with costumes.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: But um, but we love it.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: I love my dance background.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I um also work in the beauty industry and I develop beauty products.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I have to tell you, you know, selfishly, I think about my dancing daughters every time I'm developing something because you know we need high performance products.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's what we do.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: But my husband and I are both involved in our studio.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: We do a lot with props.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: My husband's driving the prop truck to Vegas again.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And um, they're part of the parent crew who gets the call to like make the props or, you know, help with design, put it on the stage.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: So we we try to be involved as much as we can, not just for our girls, but because we love it.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: I always say I'm really glad I had girls and I'm glad they are dancers because they would wonder who is this strange lady hanging around the dance studio or looking for something to do.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Arts and crafts, exactly.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: Can I rhinestone your costume?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a lot of fun.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: We love it.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: We are all just it's a family deal.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: And even my daughter that doesn't dance, I mean, she's around, she helps with the props, so it's our family for sure.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I can't wait to hear all about your journey as a dance mom on this side, and we're thrilled to have you back.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: All right, our next special guest is joining us, and I have to just say right off the bat that she had she stepped up.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm meeting her for the first time, and she I'm meeting her literally an hour ago.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I need somebody that can be on this podcast.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: And base, and because the dance world is so small, everybody pulled through, lots of phone calls started going out, and someone reached out to us saying, I have the perfect person for you.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And next thing you know, here she is on the podcast an hour later.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, um, and she is a Florida-based dance mom.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And there's also a really fun fact between Leslie and her that I'm gonna let you guys share in a minute, but I'm excited to welcome Jennifer Lobedo to the podcast.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Jennifer.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: Very honored.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for having me.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_03: This is a very exciting experience, especially since I didn't realize I was following you all along and that you had this podcast.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it is a it is a small dance world.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Leslie, share the funny facts.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I had the opportunity to judge uh Jennifer's studio this weekend.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: Literally yesterday, I was judging her child.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: I was judging her studio.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: I was actually judging her because she participated in a parent dance, which I think won the first diamond of the weekend, if I'm not incorrect.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, high platinum, okay.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_03: And an inspiration.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, I gave you a diamond.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know about the rest of those people.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: I got a diamond, but in our hearts we got diamonds.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you got one diamond.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was at least from me.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, thank you for that.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, but it was it was so much fun to watch her studio, and I can't wait to hear more about it and how you got here.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: But uh yes, we had we had a wonderful connection here with um just the full circle small worldness of the dance world.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: So we got connected with Jennifer and she's here literally from an hour ago.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: Here I am, and I'm very excited to be here.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_03: I am a former dance competitor um from Staten Island, New York.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: If you haven't picked up on the accent, yes, I say coffee and talk.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, even though you live in Florida now.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_03: I danced um predominantly with gosh, what's Starstruck Dance Studio?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: And um we were mainly with Star Power, uh Gary Pay, Grace Wakefield.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: I'm 45 years old, so I NBC, I think that was back in the day, um, in Cherry Hill and Lancaster.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but we did regionals and nationals.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_03: Star Power is like where my core memories are.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I started competing at age eight, but I was dancing at four.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: I got kicked out of my first ballet class because I wanted to just do what I wanted to do.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: And they wanted me at the bar, and I didn't want to do that.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: So I knew very early on that I was not gonna be a ballerina.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, plus I had horrible turnout and sway back, but I was a natural-born performer.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_03: So um my mother kept me in it, and um, I started competing at eight.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, my group was called The Small Fries, and I did it up until I was 17 years old.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: And then after that, I tried to become a professional dancer, but just really, really like being so naive about it.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: I um didn't go to college.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: I had a lot of friends that went to LaGuardia High School and then from there went on to NYU Tisch or Purchase and um, you know, furthered their dance career.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_03: I took classes at BDC and I wound up getting into finance, but that's not where my heart was.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: My heart was always with dance.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: So whenever somebody would say to me, Jen, St.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_03: John's University needs a co-choreographer for anything goes, can you do it?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, I got it.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: Then it was like, well, they don't really have strong dancers.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: Can you dance in it?
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, yes.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: So I always like would wheedle my way in somehow into the dance world.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, and then I got caught up with finance and I didn't get to dance as much as I wanted to.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: And it wasn't until I got married and moved to Fort Lauderdale.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: I was 25 years old.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I had no friends, no family, and young and married, and my husband was working a lot.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I found adult dance classes at UCP and Davy.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I was dancing uh under Jody McMahon, who I think had training with Mia Michael's father and Pablo Malco.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I loved it.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: I just absolutely loved it.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: And I felt like really, for the first time in my life, I was getting a form of training that I had never had before.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: Like really, like real professional training that I was lacking.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: And I felt like I was learning so much, but my body was like changing, and now I'm trying to have a baby and the whole nine yards.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I wound up becoming part of a dance company called Impulsic.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: It was a contemporary dance company, and we just did kind of like local performances.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: Then I got pregnant.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_03: So um I moved my family back to New Jersey.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, and when my son was four, I put him in icon from uh iconic dance boys, America's best dance girl.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_03: Nice uh Gio Hubella.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_03: I was gonna say it's Geo Studio, yeah.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: It's Gio.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: I put my son with Geo and I danced with Gio.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: I did hip hop, right?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: So I did I lived for like my Thursday night adult classes with Gio.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: It was just like the best.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_03: And he would call me out and have me do little things, and I was like, so cool.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: And my son was great with hip hop, and then my husband plugged him into ice hockey and I lost him.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: Oh and right off the bat, just like you said, Lynn, I was like, my dancer, my dancer, my tiny dancer.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: And um, early on, I could see she had great musicality.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: She would just pick up the notes and she would sing it, like just her musicality was always on.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_03: So that was like the first the first cue for me saying, like, okay, I think that she's definitely gonna have something to do with that art, with music.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_03: And and then when she was three, um, I put her in her first dance class and she could pick up choreography quick.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, she wasn't double jointed, although I did stretch those hips when she was eight progressing because like I had to work really hard at flexibility and it wasn't easy for me.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_03: But she was able to pick up the choreography and she just had such a great ear for the music.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: Then I I didn't feel like it was enough for it.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_03: It was like around COVID, so that kind of messed everything up.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_03: Like her first recital was on Zoom.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um get like her first fair debut, you know?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: Then I put her in uh cheer with uh World Cup.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_03: That was interesting when she was four.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: Again, I saw that she could pick up the choreography, wasn't a tumbler, wasn't a natural tumbler, but she didn't give up.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_03: And she just had that je ne sais quoi, she had that little performance edge.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_03: That was what carried me as far as I went because I wasn't the most flexible, I wasn't the most technical, but I was a performer.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: I just had such a love for dance that that's what showed on stage.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: That's what people really I think noticed about me, and that's what I noticed about my daughter.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, flash forward, we moved to Florida and I kind of fed her to the wolves when we first moved out here based on a couple of the studios that I heard were really, really good.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: And um it it really went against me.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: She didn't want to dance at all.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: She said, I don't want to dance.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: I was I like for a second I couldn't even catch my breath.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, Oh wow, I was like, I'll make you go anywhere else.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry, I didn't know.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_03: And she just got so turned off.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: And she took a break for about a year and a half, she did horseback riding.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um I knew nothing about that, and I was like, Okay, I'm gonna you know, stay at a barn and get flies in my face, but I'm gonna horseback rider mom, whatever.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: And then like she didn't want to do shows or anything, and she came back to me and said, Mom, I'm ready to go back to dance.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, and I was just like, I got the place for you.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I brought her to a place that I felt was a little bit more of a relaxed environment, more of a family-based community, not so much like competitive, competitive, right?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um especially in Florida, it's a little cut throat down there.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it is.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_03: And ironically enough, her first, very first class, it was a summer class, was with Kelly Kramer.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_03: She took a tap class and she took a jazz class.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't want to push the envelope and say you have to take ballet because that's the foundation for all facets to dance.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: I was just so happy that she was on her own willing to go back to dance when she was seven years old.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_03: And by the second year, she was asked to train with the team.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: And um, this is her second year being a competitive dancer, and all she wants is more.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: All I see is her progressing and progressing and progressing, which is amazing.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: But through it all, people learned that I was a dancer, and Ty Rocart Russ.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: I hope I'm saying your name right, Ty, came to me with this crazy idea.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_03: And she was like, Hey, you want to do a parent production and we can kind of collaborate and you can help me with some choreography?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, You know me.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, yes, let's do this.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and um, and it was five months of keeping it a secret from all the students, including you know, my kid.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: But I teach adult dance fit, and we used me as the hook.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: I'm taking oh, I'm teaching class.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I'm taking Jen's class, and we'd all be like MIA for an hour.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: So secretive.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: And the dads participated, and it was not just a dance, but it was literally a seven-minute production.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: Crazy.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: You can't even get studios to do that sometimes.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_03: So, like the dance parents coming through making it happen.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_03: And it wasn't right, it wasn't like your little step touch, step, touch.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we they really worked hard.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_03: Some of these parents have never even been on a stage.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_03: So I give them so much credit for putting themselves out there, and they do it because they love their kids so much.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, and they love their studio and they want to represent for their child, for the studio, for the team.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_03: And it's just such a camaradity, not only between the students, but between the parents.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_03: And it all, you know, comes from us, you know, those kids see how we're interacting with each other and how we're coming together for each other and with each other.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_03: And um, and I feel like that trickles into us as a whole, the entire studio.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's really very, very beautiful to be part of.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: I got in it full force for my daughter, but in the process, I have gained friendships and I have gained memorable experiences at 45 years old.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: Being on a stage, that was such a natural high.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: It was really just so incredible.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: But the whole process up until getting on that stage was just so beautiful.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I was just very honored and very grateful to be part of it.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's what it's all about.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, that's if if you guys listen to our my critique tape from the weekend, you'll hear me say that that like dance is for everybody, this is what it's about.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we we had such a good time watching you.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um So, yeah, welcome you guys.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you again for joining us.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: We can't wait to really dive in um to just this whole topic of what it was like back then, what it is like now, and how have things changed.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so let's get into it.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'd love to hear, let's take us back to the 90s, perhaps the late 80s, depending on who we're talking about.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: And Lynn, I'd love to see.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: We're both 80s, 90s.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: This is, you know, and that's like the quintessential dance competition time.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's when it was kind of the wild, wild west.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: Every people were just out there competing for, you know, in random places with no frills, no bells and whistles.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: It was just, here's a backdrop, here's a stage.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe even you didn't get a stage, go.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_02: What Lynn, let's start with you.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: What was your experience like when you were competing?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'd love to hear, especially from being you being from the south, because it'll be a little different, I think, hearing from Jen from the north.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think that, well, we were a smaller school, so we were excited to just start getting into competitive dance.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: So this was like a new world for us.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we would go to the regional competitions, but back in the day, you didn't really see the really big or really great studios until you went to nationals.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it was like Showstopper Nationals in Myrtle Beach, or, you know, we would go to these nationals and just be blown away, blown away by these larger studios.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then that just helped us to kind of take it back to the school and say, gosh, we want to be like that.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: So it gave us just a really great opportunity to see these other dancers.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: And we would go to the convention classes because there would be also, you know, convention classes at nationals.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: And um that's what really motivated us.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: And when I look at what the kids have today and what my kids have today, it's like they see that on a daily basis.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like that is all it's all over the internet.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: So back in the day, we just had to be more intentional with what we were doing, where we had to, you know, learn, we really had to pay attention, we really had to, you know, kind of focus in on what we wanted and take that nationals moment to really like absorb it all and get motivated.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: But um, it was much more of a team environment, too.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like today there's so many solos.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like solos is is the thing, right?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone does a solo.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: Where that was not, I don't know about you guys, but like that was not for us back in the day.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: It was a much more team environment.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I think there's like pros and cons with that.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: But um, we were much more focused on the team.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: But I guess now the difference would be, you know, with solos being such a big deal, it's almost like they get a little mini private lesson, right?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: Every time, like in that genre, which is super helpful.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: But then also remember that you're competing as a team.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: So blending and, you know, being able to be with the group.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like your timing is not just your timing, it's everybody's timing.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's, you know, kind of comparing the two.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: I love looking at it and looking back.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I think it's definitely shaped kind of where we are today, obviously, because we've gone on this path and this journey, it just keeps getting more intense, and there's more people and there's more opportunity, more, more, more.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, our fundamentals are still the same, right?
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you still have to have good technique, you still have to be able to execute.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, I think that the the camaraderie and the experience was smaller, but but still really impactful.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: And if you remember, like I remember watching Showstopper on TV.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: Remember they used to they used to broadcast the nationals.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: I wish they still couldn't.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: And like maybe I know.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: I know, I'm like, maybe we're getting back there now.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe we can get back there.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Because I do think that was a very cool element because they were like, you know, celebrities, but now of course we have social media.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: So you can still find them on YouTube.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: That's one of my favorite things to do, is just type in like Star Systems 1992.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: Just because when you look at it, you see these studios that still exist.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: That were excellent in 1992 and they are excellent now.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: And you're like, dang, that is some longevity.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: And still be doing this.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, the styles have changed and the, you know, a lot of things have changed.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: But like what it comes down to is like you said, there's still technique, there's still showmanship, there's still excellent execution.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: So somebody's doing something right out there.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's what's guiding us now.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I want to mention about the solo, uh, what you mentioned about solos now kind of dominating is I'm probably the youngest one on this chat, but fun fact, when Jennifer told me she was from Starstruck, I was like, I know Starstruck because my studio grew up competing against Starstruck, but we were in different generations, but I'm sure there was some crossover at a time.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, yes.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I feel like that looking back on, well, were solos like super popular when I was growing up and they were.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: And but it was a it was a privilege, and you had to work your way up to get that.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't handed out like candy, like some kids didn't even get them till they were 12, 13.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: They had to prove themselves, or some kids were only ever in duo trios because they weren't ready for solos.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: And like the just the approach to solos.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like when I look at my studio, we had about a hundred kids on the team at a point, and every there was a like probably maybe 25% had two solos each, you know.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: But not every kid had a solo, and it was predominantly our group dances, and that was there was a lot more of a team atmosphere, I felt like when I was growing up.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the solos were an extra little bonus cherry on top.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: Solos with something that had to be earned.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yes, yes.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: You had to work towards getting a solo, right?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_03: I myself personally did a lot of trios, and our trios made it to Battle of the Stars for Nationals and Ocean City.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: We were like so close to being on Star Search, but I don't know if that didn't pan out.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: But it was mainly our team groups, yeah.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_03: And we took that from every genre of dance.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_03: So our team stayed together.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_03: We did the ballet, the jazz, the tap, the acro.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, lyrical was big back then.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_03: Contemporary wasn't a thing.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: No contemporary.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't get my jazz solo until I was 15 years old.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_03: I had the same.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_03: In the beginning, I had three ballet solos, and I'm not really sure what was behind that.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: You who got kicked out of ballet.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_03: And and clearly, I mean, I was lucky I got a high silver, and I think that they the judges were just being, you know, gracious.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: But uh the truth was is that you wanted a solo, you had to earn that.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: You had to work really, really hard to get the solo.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that um one of the differences from back in the day when we were competing versus now is is the mentality had shifted to what doing a solo on stage does for your dancer.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: So, like I I'm still old school and I tell my daughter, if you want to do a solo, you have to earn it.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_03: First of all, I'm not asking a teacher, let that teacher come to me and say they feel that you're ready for whatever it is that you're, you know, that they think that you're ready to train in.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, for example, my daughter happens to be a really good tap dancer.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_03: Now she's progressing in all her other levels.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, but if she came to me, this is her second year on team, and really technically this is her second year taking ballet.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_03: If she came to me and told me that she wanted to do a contemporary or a jazz soul, I would say absolutely not.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: I would say, not yet.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_03: Not not ever, just not yet.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: Because when you get out there, I want you to go out there and be able to showcase what you are capable of and not just compete with your teammates, but go out there and compete with Miami and compete with all these other studios that, you know, sometimes their standard for their competitors is different than other studios, right?
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_03: So you're gonna see the level when you get out there.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_03: And this is where it could go either way for a young kid.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_03: My daughter's 10.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_03: They go up for awards and they they start calling the high scores and they don't get up.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_03: But but are you surprised that you didn't get up for that high score?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like, are you really competing?
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_03: If you want to get out there just to get out there and conquer your fear of being on the stage alone, or it's a personal um accomplishment that you want to do.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_03: And if the parents on board and the teachers have time to give that choreography, then that's beautiful.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's so it depends on an individual.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_03: I go in another direction with my daughter.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_03: That's different than what another parent may feel that they should do what's best for their child.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_03: I want my daughter wants to do a tap solo next year.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: She's a tapper.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like in tap, absolutely.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_03: But I told her most likely you will be competing with your teammates.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_03: Because there's a lot of tap soloists, right?
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of tapping's like you don't see it as much as you're seeing the contemporary jazz.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_03: Totally.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and even with ballet, I mean, you have to really, really feel good in that category to if if you're competing, right?
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I look, I'm a little more competitive in that regard without trying to be like a crazy stage mom.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, I remember the first season, I was there with the notebook and looking at the studio.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_03: I knew they were gonna get played.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I can, oh yeah.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like really like in it.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_03: And then I was like, all right, Jennifer, like let's let's enjoy this moment.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_03: My daughter just loves being up there with her friends.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, she doesn't the medal doesn't matter to her.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_03: She had a great time, she got out there, she did her best.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_03: I'm proud of her no matter what.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_03: And all of them out there look great together, and it's about that camaraderie on stage.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but as far as the solo aspect, that is one of the big differences, I would say, from when I was competing to now.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's based on the studio.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and the parent.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_03: Money and business.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's a business at the end of the day, right?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's a business at the end of the day, but it also really just depends on where your head is at mentally as a parent.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: Because a kid's gonna answer it.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: If my daughter could come to me tomorrow and say, Ma, I want to do a contemporary, so I'm gonna tell it's not gonna happen.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we're not ready.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, every kid wants it because they see it, especially what we talked about with social media, which obviously did not exist when any of us were growing up as a dancer.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, like the comparison game, oh, that dancer won with this, oh, they're featured on the social media.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_03: I want to be featured on the social media, like it's something to work toward, it's a goal to work toward, and it's not to say that you your kid can't get there.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think if my daughter takes her classes seriously and works really hard and she does and she really is progressing on her own level, I always tell her do not compare yourself to anyone else.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_03: Don't compare yourself to anyone on your team, don't compare yourself to the girls that you're watching on YouTube.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_03: I want you to be your best self.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_03: We all move differently, right?
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_03: We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_03: Some people are amazing technical dancers, but they're boring to watch on stage.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_03: True.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_03: And they're not giving me anything.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_05: True, right?
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_05: So when I'm watching that, right?
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_03: I see that their standing foot is turned out, they have great extension, beautiful breath, but they're not giving me anything.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_03: Then there's a kid that may not be as technical, may not be as flexible, but man, they got some stage.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: They got heart, they got something there, yeah.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Makes a difference.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: It makes a difference, and we can see that as judges too.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that's like we're in this whole solo world now where sometimes I ask the kids, like, do you even want to be up there?
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because I can't really tell.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, who's forcing you to be up there right now?
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because I couldn't there's time, we have time, yeah.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not going anywhere.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: I like what you said, uh Jen, about uh, you know, it is a competition at the end of the day.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you I'm sure as a parent, you want your kid to show their best self up in that solo, especially because we have to think about that.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: It is an investment and it's an expensive hobby for a lot of people.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: So to just feel like we're throwing away money just because my kid wants one and just because my kid they see everyone else have one, and just because you can afford to give that to your kid, but you have to look at the bigger picture of are they really ready for this?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: Can can they handle the rejection?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: Can are they gonna put the work in?
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that with that, there's also the the perk of, well, let's give it a shot and see if they if they step up, right?
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_03: Let's take it a step further.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_03: Let's take it a step further.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_03: Really, what this competition world has become is the parents are competing, first of all.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you're not wrong about that.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and the parents want their kids.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm putting it out there because put it out there.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_03: We have to take.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_03: And and it it just is what it is.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_03: And it's not even just in my studio, it's in all the studios, right?
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_03: The parents become very competitive.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: Now, listen, I have a competitive dance background.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_03: My daughter's a great dancer, but I got my little fan favorites up there, right?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: Because some kids just like just have this like natural ability, but I give credit where credit is due.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: And and there are certain kids that absolutely deserve to be up there.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_03: There are certain kids that absolutely deserve those solos, um, and they deserve their shine.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_03: But that doesn't mean that in the next three or four years, my daughter's not gonna know.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes kids level out and then some supersede.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, you have to stay on the track.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_03: Keep taking your technique classes, you know, keep trying to do as much as you can outside.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_03: I like that she learns from other choreographers.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_03: She wanted to do so flo tap.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_03: Those were choreographers.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_03: I don't even know who they are, but she had a blast.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's good to learn.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's it's a process.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and it's not a rat race.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's not now or never.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's like we've got time.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like let them grow into the dancers that they're gonna be so that they can get out there and really feel confident and and parents take the backseat and let your kids shine when they're ready in due time.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_03: Unless you want to spend the money, unless you want to push them.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_03: But I feel like for me and my daughter, that would be a detriment.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_03: I think that the bond would break because she already tells me when I need to back off.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 35:45
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• 36:52
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• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: Glenn, how is that relationship with you and your you can finish whatever you wanted to say, but I'm curious how that like your dance bond is with your daughters.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I think solos, bringing it back to solos, since that wasn't something that I was able to do, because same, I had to earn my solo.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't do a solo until I was trying out for college dance team, right?
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because that was when it when you're a senior, you earned a solo.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I see that.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, since I didn't have that, I want to give that to my girls.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: But we have used it as a growth opportunity.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: So because they do get those like individual private lessons where you're, you know, talking about or like focusing on the genre and you're getting that one-on-one attention.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's been really great with both of them.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: So my teen and my and my junior, and they've been doing it since they probably were six.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they had solos early on.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm guilty.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: Guilty.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I love it, and I think it's really helped them um to be able to dance on stage even with the group, right?
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you can go out there and dance by yourself, you can dance with the group.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and that's a different perspective, right?
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I'm saying about the parent mentality.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's like if you're going out there because you want your daughter to build that confidence, being out there on her own, and you feel like it's gonna help her in her group dances, because they're getting out there either way, whether it's on stage with six girls, four girls, by themselves, right?
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_03: And so they're gaining regardless, right?
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: But if they feel good about it and you feel good about it, and that works for you in every way, shape, or form, financially, time-wise, mentally, um, being prepared for the wins or the losses, then that's beautiful.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody has a different process, like thought process about it.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, it is hard.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so so the relationship.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: But funny enough, I was driving my girls to school this morning and I asked them, I put them on the spot, I said, okay, girls, answer this question for me.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, am I an overbearing dance mom?
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: So um, and their their reactions were very funny, and they were actually very cool about it too, because I've I have to watch my delivery.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm always, I mean, I do.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: I like look and I judge and I see things just naturally.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not the most per, you know, I'm not, I'm not a teacher, obviously, but I know I know a little bit enough to be dangerous, right?
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, I just have to watch my delivery and my timing, right?
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like when they get off the stage, I can't be like, oh, this was, you know, whatever.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a big hug.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's like that was amazing.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_01: Don't worry about it.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: But kind of getting ahead of myself, but I do think that having the videos of their solos and the videos of them dancing is a game changer because I don't even have to say it, right?
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like I we can just watch the video back.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: And my my girls are very, very like tuned in to say, Oh, look at that foot, or oh gosh, I didn't, I could have done that better.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: So that's been very helpful.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's taking the pressure off of me for sure that they're old enough now to see that.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: And comparing from our days when we didn't get a video.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: We got written some videos.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, even the videos in classes, right?
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_01: So the videos of them in class they can watch.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: When they get off the stage in a group dance, the video is playing in the lobby.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: Two minutes later, they can watch them themselves and the group.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a helpful tool.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I compare it, we're a big football family, I compare it um to uh watching films like a playback.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_01: So you need to watch film, you need to see how you're dancing.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, they did say that I'm not an overbearing dance mom, which I was that was crazy.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_05: Congratulations, right?
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my oldest did say I was a realist, though, which I think is a good way to be.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_01: So we can talk about the good and the bad, and I don't sugarcoat it.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like my mom never sugarcoated anything.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we like we get off the stage, my mom would be like, that was not good.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, she would definitely give me her opinion.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm trying not to do that.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: And by the way, still at her at 80, she's still a dance mom.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: No, yes.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, really?
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: And still makes her notes in the audience, but uh smiley faces and sad pieces.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: But um, but with mine, I I, you know, we've we've got a good relationship.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's taken a, you know, now that they're getting older, they appreciate my being real.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's mostly about them.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I and I'll say like about the dancers, dances themselves, but we s but I it's really more just like what can you do and your part, right?
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like what's your part and what you can do.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's it's come a long way.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's funny that you mentioned your your mom at 80.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_02: So my mom is a studio owner, she's in her 70s, and her mother is 95.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: So my grandmother is 95 years old, and my mother took that dance class, and my uncle as well, from the time she was three, and then owned a studio for a million years.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, Nana has been watching some dance.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: And when Nana goes to the ballet, she I call her and I'm like, How'd you like Swan Lake?
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: How'd you like, you know, Giselle?
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: She has so much to say.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_02: She's like, Well, the prince didn't have very much face, you know, facial expression.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: He was a little boring.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_02: His jumps were really high.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_02: Your grandma?
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_02: Nana, I love it.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_02: Who never danced a day in her life either.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: But like, this woman's been watching dance for 70 years, like, she knows what she's seeing.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and dance dads too.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_01: My dad is the same way, so I just think it never leaves you.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: Never.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_03: Once a dance parent always I did not have a dance mom.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_03: She wanted, first of all, just coming from where I come from, you can only imagine what it was like backstage.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: Staten Island.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_03: I cannot imagine.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_02: I really can't.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: I can't imagine.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to go there.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_03: It's not what to imagine, but you know, and it's probably still the same to this day, but worse, probably.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_03: But my um, my mother just she was proud of me.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_03: She loved that I love to dance, and she just kind of like would sit in the audience.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_03: My father was the dance dad, like he was sewing our costumes backstage.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_03: He did do a dance dad production on stage as well.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_03: But he came to all the nationals, and my father was there with the program, and he but but my parents never ever critiqued me, never said one negative thing about me.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm sure that they could have said millions of things.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_03: My dance teacher at that time, too.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_03: She, you know, she was young when she owned her studio.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_03: And I will give credit for her.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, she got a studio uh just as a kid and she built an empire.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and for talk about the longevity of a studio being around a really long time.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_03: And she's a smart businesswoman because her students went on and danced at LaGuardia, at Tish, at Joffrey.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_03: And they came to that studio and they brought their essence and their professionalism.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_03: And then they started choreographing and they have the show stopping numbers, right?
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I remember like even when I had 103 fever, she'd call my mother and be like, Jen has to come to dance.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: We have to work on it.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's like she's not coming.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_03: And she's front center and she knows the dance.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_03: And she's like, I don't care.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_03: She has to be there, she has to do spacing.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_03: So studios also have a different vibe.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_03: And the teachers have a different vibe.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_03: So I came from a little bit more of a cutthroat studio than what my daughter has right now.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that that was really ingrained in me as a competitive.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: dancer about like striving for this semi-perfectionism and trying to really really be competitive and professional.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas um I mean the owners of our studio they they love love love their dance family and they're always so proud.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't I my daughter has never walked out of that studio crying.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_03: I I've I've cried I cried so much it was like a love hate.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: I couldn't get enough of it but at the same time like there were nights like I cried myself to sleep.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah my daughter never cries yeah every time she walks out of her studio she is happy and the proof is just in the pudding like happiness that's that's all I want for her.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_03: Whether she becomes a professional dancer or not that's not what this is about.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_03: We moved here to Florida three and a half years ago and my daughter really had a very very tough time transitioning.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: And when she became part of a dance team and I knew it was going to happen because it happened for me.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: And you can't explain it to somebody they have to go through it.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_03: She is learning so much about herself who she is as a friend she's building camaradity she's learning discipline and a sense of self and a sense of accountability and discipline and I think that she is feeling more empowered about herself and she's you know progressing and I think she's proud of herself for that and that's what I want for her and those are things that she's gonna take with her into the world whatever it is that she does.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah she's gonna take every even if it's not dance it's everything that comes along with it that she's gonna carry out into who she is as a human being in this world and whatever she winds up applying her life to that's what I want for her.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: Something that you kind of hinted at in a in a way and I think that's like what is interesting to look at when we think about training back in the 90s even competitive studio training which like we said is way more saturated now with competitions than it was back then.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_00: So there was a little bit of a higher level of expectation for those studios that existed around the country that did choose to compete.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: They were mostly because we didn't have to it wasn't really a thing everybody did it right choice.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_03: Right and and those competitions were my parents' vacations like that was very hard just so I could be in 16 dances with entry fees and of course costume fees would do right before Christmas time.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_03: So now as a mom I'm really feeling it and I just thank you thank you I'm sorry I love you I don't know if you're supposed to do what you did for me but I appreciate you wholeheartedly yeah because you know as a kid you just think like it all just comes to you right and do social delivery it's like$150 and what I have to rhinestone this.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_03: What I have to go buy utensils off Amazon and still do something you know but there is something so crazy about it.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_03: Like you want to complain about all the things and at the same time it's the best experience of your life.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_03: Right right I agree with that.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah your nationals are your vacations that is the main vacation like hey kids we're going to Vegas this summer for a family vacation and you have to think about too that the parents have to take off work to make this happen.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like it has to be unfortunately it has to be the family vacation and that's how it was for my family growing up too but one of the things I think that I wanted to hint at is the the toxic culture of like a highly competitive studio and how um even and not even just that but maybe us reflecting back and maybe looking and thinking oh maybe that wasn't really like the best situation that I was in as a child or it was just so highly competitive but it produced great results.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: But it was also you know maybe if the atmosphere was less intense or less competitive that it would be a different experience.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's interesting because when I I also see a lot of studios that exist now out there where the training just isn't really there yet.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's not at a high level and now we're also adding a lot of different levels of dancers at competition.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we're seeing all different types of training coming to the stage versus when we were growing up it was only the competitive dancers.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_00: You must be at a higher level than the recreational studio down the street.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're on different tiers.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now everybody's welcome let's all go to the competition but I it always makes me wonder like I feel like people that grew up competing or even like at a high level studio probably sought out a studio that had higher caliber technique training for their kids to go into um when you become a dance parent.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm curious to know if that was something that you looked for or was it more about the culture.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like Jen you kind of already hinted at that because of the studio's originally I think yeah originally I did go for the technique and I went for the studio that I heard was highly competitive and it turned my daughter off completely.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: So like you learn from from the the not mistake in any way but like you learn from experience that like oh okay maybe this doesn't I I want the best for my kid.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_03: I want the best training for my kid but and I will add and I will add that that her instructors have dance degrees and they are highly educated in dance.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously every studio has a different flair for choreography and musicality and that's a preference you know what I mean?
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_03: Different vibes at different places.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_03: So but she's so happy and it doesn't matter at the end of the day what I would have wanted because we always make the plan and then right like blows up this is her journey and as long as my daughter feels safe and is happy and is embraced and is learning like if if there if I saw that there was zero technical training and again like like you said Lynn I'm not like I wasn't Miss Star Power 1995 and I wasn't a tremendous dancer.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_03: I I went so far.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_03: Could I have gone further I think yes but for her I I make sure that she is in the right place because it is an investment.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah I make sure she is in a place where she can grow technically you can tell quality training you you she is getting quality you can tell and you probably wouldn't be even if your daughter was happy you would still be kind of like you know this I still I know what I'm looking at where there's a lot of parents that don't be right there's people that have no clue and and the of course it's a business so the studio is going to sell them oh this experience and we have top nuts teachers and all of these things but really when you look at it it's the quality isn't there.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: So with someone that has a dance eye who grew up in the world has an idea of what qu what type of quality expectation and then let's be real then there's those like wild studios that are a little bit pushing pushing those boundaries a little bit too much where it's a little bit too cutthroat where there's a little bit too much expectation for their kids at a young age and you guys probably flag that too you know I'm curious Lynn because I know you're at a a a beautifully trained studio your kids are trained so so impeccably well because I watched them um through the through the year.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: So like how how did you decide where to go?
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah and I I think that you know when I look at my opportunity and what I did I wanted more.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_01: Now I did the best I could at the time at the age, you know, where we were at the time where I was living the studio was awesome that I grew up in.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: But then of course you moved to a bigger city and now the opportunity grows too right years later the opportunity grows.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I I mean I wanted the best I mean just be honest like I really wanted the best I was like you know there's you did your research I've done my research yes I absolutely did my research um we went to a couple different studios she started there we kind of veered off a few years just because of the scheduling when she was little because I think when you're two three four you know it's like we just need the basics here.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_05: Right, right.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_01: But when it started to get a little more serious it's like I got to make sure we're in the right spot because guess what every place is you're gonna spend money and you're gonna spend a lot of it I mean they say the better your kids are the more money you spend.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you're gonna spend time there because that's just what happens.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like if you're gonna spend all this money and all this time and all this investment, you might as well go what's around you know look at what's around you and go what are the best.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean and so that was my decision and I'll have to say I've recruited quite a few people to our same studio um in in Frisco and they are very they're highly competitive.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_01: We have several different teams and I love that there's they are different teams because you can compete at the highest level or you can compete at a at a maybe not so professional level but you can you know you can compete a little bit less hours per week different um different competitions that you go to you know it fits certain people perfectly um and then we have a drill company we have a hip hop company so I love that there's options for the kids because it's not like very cookie cutter right you can you can see where you fit in even within our own studio.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a big cost for me.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_05: That is good.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah I think that was that was great.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_03: It's good for the kids too because you have those kids on your team that are highly competitive and then on their same team they have kids that really can't hold a candle to them.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_03: It's like what this you're kind of lumping them all together.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_03: And look not to cut you off Lynn but I also notice when I'm watching competitions that you can't highlight one kid doing a double or triple or an aerial or an extension and everybody else is kind of just standing around I would expect that they're all doing that or they're all doing something at at the same time like I don't like the stagnation and I don't think that there should be just one or two kids that are the one trick the ponies like if you are a highly competitive trained studio all those kids at at that level that are competing together as a team should all be able to do it.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_03: So whether the kids in the back row or in the front row they should be able to be switching lines they should be able to be moving and at any given point somebody showcased they're all showcased.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_00: But it comes down to quality of training and that's the thing that I think is different that you probably as someone who grew up has an eye for because it doesn't matter if you are a recreational or an intermediate or an advanced dancer if the quality of training is the same ever it's just a matter of how many days a week am I coming?
• 54:01
  SPEAKER_00: You're still getting the same training no matter what.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_03: And parents get frustrated to think well am I not giving my kid the opportunity because they're not doing all these extra popping classes and that one's taken 5,000 pop-up classes but my daughter can't do that.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_03: And so am I failing her in her progressing in her technique because I don't have the ability to give her what the other person's doing.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_03: You know like for example I have a son who's an elite ice hockey player talk about like your financial strain it's like you know what I mean like they're traveling the country he's on planes he's a and it's a huge expense right so it's like I can't I have to be very very selective with what I have my daughter doing on the side.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah it's a big finance wanting to give her every opportunity that I can so that she has that ability to rise uh on the level of some of her teammates.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you were saying Courtney like when you talk about the the teachers and their um their credentials as well right like what are what are they what are they bringing to the table and I do think you look at studios and you you're not just looking at the full studio you're looking at what tell me about the tap teacher tell me about the jazz teacher tell me who's you know contemporary and you really start looking at them being you know compartmentalized because it's not just you know one teacher that kind of teaches all the different genres and they all cross over.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean there really are specialists you know at each genre and that's something that having an eye for it you kind of look at it and you can make your those decisions right you can make better decisions that way for your kid and that's but that's only if that's what you want because not everybody has to compete at that level and you can have a lot of fun and compete and you know have an amazing experience.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_02: You just have to find where you fit where your child fits like where your family fits because it's a family it's a family that's really kind of the beauty of like how it's all evolved is that like if if you were dancing and you were not at like the YMCA back in the 90s, you like you had to kind of get lumped into this one place.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like there just weren't as many opportunities.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_02: So if you were that intermediate level dancer who's like I'm happy here I want to do this you didn't have that opportunity because you were shoved in with the elite advanced dancers and you just felt sad and bad about yourself perhaps.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_02: And now there's just all this opportunity and what's challenging now is there's too much choice.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly where do I fit in?
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_02: Which level am I really at?
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, coming from the competition perspective like how much can we really offer and keep it fair and are we trusting everybody to enter in the proper you know level for all of that.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's like if everybody if we were all being really genuine and honest, I think it would all really work.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you'd have those opportunities where everybody can truly be happy and be competitive at their own level.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_02: And you know we've talked about this a million bazillion times and that's just not how it is right now, unfortunately but I have to it is a business like you were saying Courtney.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that kind of goes into my question the business side of this industry now that you're you know you're the one paying the bills you're the one uh you know making this happen for your kid pretty much you know studio's the middleman in a way they're training them whatever but like you're front in the expense and then we have to think about how much the industry has grown and now we see there's a competition happening 500 of them every single weekend.
• 57:09
  SPEAKER_00: So like how what are y'all's thoughts?
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know back in the day it was gold silver bronze honorable mention in our adjudications and uh that obviously is no longer we would get a ribbon.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes a nice cute little ribbon.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_00: People complain about the pins I'm like stop complaining about the pins they're cute.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: The ribbons we had a ribbon what are you doing with a ribbon instead of like holding it to my back of just like ribbons on it you know and well our teachers had the big trophies in the studio.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah the big trophies showed everybody where your studio was at right exactly at those big trophies my question is how do we feel about this new wave of competitive dance that's kind of turned into the everybody's a winner mentality as we can probably feel or see you know even the amount of awards that are given out uh we're we're going from top what used to be maybe a top 10 to now top 20 and now also broken down into levels.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_00: So now there's three first place winners for mini and through and three first place winners for junior and it's just expanded so much since when we were growing up and it was your and it wasn't even there weren't even minis or petis back in the day.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_00: It was junior and senior and that's it.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know so it's just 11 year olds against 12 year olds and you know people complain about that oh the age divisions are way too spread.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_00: How can a seven year old compete against an eight year old are you serious?
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are you serious?
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_00: Are you serious?
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_01: Come on so I'm curious to know like just just with that and now you have your kids in it are you supportive of this everyone's a winner do we want to go back to the good old days what do you think I'm not a fan of everyone's a winner because then I don't think it has the back to being a realist right so I think that it's great that kids are acknowledged in some way because they do put on a lot of hard work on this and let's face it there are a lot of really good dancers out there right it is a competitive um environment I I did make my kids laugh at the whole honorable mention thing.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_01: I was like you don't even know what that is like that was a real thing back in the day.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah um it was like thanks for the most talented non-finalist most talented non-finalists I got that once I was like thank you yeah and there's just so many um it's broken out into so many different um categories that you can win so you can be like I won first place overall and it's like but overall jazz overall you know eight year olds like and again like it's fine because I think that kids need to be acknowledged for the work that they put into it but there's got to be some healthy balance there.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what that answer is.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_01: I do have a lot of ideas though for dance competitions uh if anybody ever wants to ask me but I think that I think it's okay.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_01: I guess I don't have a strong opinion because I I can see it both ways.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't go to level competitions.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_01: We only go to like conventions that are competitions.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we do see a little bit less than that.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have a lot of experience with the levels I can imagine that even gets a little crazier a new dance season is here and that means competition is coming up quick and we have a great way to help you prep your performance before hitting the stage with IDA's online judges critiques.
• 1:00:22
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• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_00: But we also take our critiques one step further with our best selling feature post-critique additional feedback.
• 1:00:36
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• 1:00:45
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• 1:00:52
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• 1:01:02
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• 1:01:12
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• 1:01:20
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• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to take your dance to the next level?
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_00: Click the link in our show notes or visit our website at Impactdanceadjudicators.com slash online critique to submit your dance today knowing that you go to a lot of convention competitions what about the whole phenomenon of which was talked about recently online of like um multiple ties in the top 10 and now with a top 30 okay so actually that has been fixed so called that that's gotten a lot better over the last two years.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_00: But did you like that as a parent watching them?
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_01: No that was bad.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad that has been a too and I'm glad that has fixed because I mean I remember one competition we were at and um basically like three kids didn't place that didn't solo really they just had that many ties.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because they had that many times the last three kids got like can we get point one yeah exactly so I definitely do not agree with that.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think that's right at all um I'm glad that that has been addressed though so I think it's gotten a lot better and it makes much more sense now.
• 1:02:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah I feel good about that.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_03: Jen, go.
• 1:02:39
  SPEAKER_03: I think competition is competition.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_03: So coming from you know being a former competitive dancer and my studio was highly competitive it's like where are the goals?
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like the stepping stones like what's the drive like it can't just stay the same when you're investing this much time and money because for that matter then it's rec dance to me.
• 1:03:02
  SPEAKER_03: If you're competing and you're investing in more classes more my daughter's at the studio six days a week.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_03: Wow she better be progressing.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_03: Right exactly that's time that's money and you know I and like I said I have a highly competitive ice hockey player and but he's you know with him it's you're on one team you go to another team it's highly highly competitive it's being with the coach that's gonna put him in the right position for prep school that's gonna get him drafted to the NHL there's a goal right now there's so many different levels of competitive dancers like you were saying Lynn right and um and every instructor has a different perspective and a different goal for their studio for their students and you see that with the studios.
• 1:03:48
  SPEAKER_03: You know which studios only select they they have a certain standard of their competition team you see it you see it on the stage whereas others you could see you want to you want to be on team potential you're you're on you're gonna go on with this one who absolutely is is at this level but you're like here but we see you're gonna be here eventually you know how right what is the answer right it just it's every studio is different every owner is different or every standard is different.
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_03: Right but if you're gonna be at a competition right and we're doing local competitions so we're not at those highly competitive competitions but but when you're at those highly competitive competitions there's no room for that why would you can't do that to a kid because there's a placement they're not ready for that they don't belong there.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_03: If they want to get there it's not to say they can never get there but you got to work for that to be on that level.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know it's it's it has to be earned it you have to earn it.
• 1:04:47
  SPEAKER_03: Otherwise what what is competition?
• 1:04:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like yes we want you to feel good about yourself yes we want you to um have great experiences and enjoy your team and enjoy your friends but then you know as they get older that's where like it gets harder it gets harder because you see what the level of talent that's out there and with access to all these resources and social media I mean it's like where what's in the water?
• 1:05:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah the things that people are doing today I I I don't even know how do you need to train for that either.
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah standard I do think yeah it's super important.
• 1:05:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean you've got to be able to have level I mean you have to be able to have rankings you got to be able to have a ranking and if you don't have if you don't score in that top ranking then you got to put a little more work in.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it lets you know where you're at important.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah realistically it lets you know where you're at and what you need to do to get where you need to go.
• 1:05:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't mean you're bad it just means you didn't rank in the top five like right it doesn't mean you're a bad dancer at all.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's something to work towards right exactly and that's why I like um aspects of dance convention as a convention teacher because obviously we've talked we y'all know this we talk about it all the time you can be a really well trained dancer with a really well rehearsed Routine, and you can make it in the top five.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then you hit a dance convention floor and you all learn the same combination and we're all in the same playing field.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_00: But that person that was first was standing in the back, scared, couldn't pick up, couldn't remember what comes next, and they don't get a scholarship or they don't stand out at the audition.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, like I like that aspect of convention because I feel like it's almost an even playing field for everyone where everyone's learning at the same speed, same time, right in the moment, and it's like sink or swim.
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_00: But like for competition, you've drilled this, you've rehearsed it, you paid for the best choreographer, you have the best studio and the most glamorous costume.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I better be in first place, you know?
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's a different edge to the competitive nature when it's uh rehearsed dance versus uh in the in the moment audition.
• 1:06:49
  SPEAKER_00: So that's something I think is a helpful, realistic.
• 1:06:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um that's also a personality trait as a dancer um when you're taking those convention classes versus like a kid who may shine on stage and be like a favorite in the studio, front center, every dance, but they get lost in a shuffle when they're taking convention classes because they're a little more introverted.
• 1:07:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and they're a little shy.
• 1:07:12
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, there are kids that, like I was saying earlier, that may not have the best technique, but they get out there, man, and you just love dance so much that you can't help but love watching them.
• 1:07:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they wind up, you know, showcasing.
• 1:07:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:07:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're in the they're in a class and they're engaged and they're like having a good time.
• 1:07:28
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and I think that it's also the fact that it's kind of a reality check for the kids.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let's be real, those kids know that they're they're struggling in class, they can see what's going on around them.
• 1:07:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're really full of themselves when it comes to comp, but when it comes to class, it's different.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then being in an environment that's not their safe space, that's not their home studio, that's not with their home teachers, or they're the best in their class at home.
• 1:07:54
  SPEAKER_00: But now there's all these other really great dancers that are surrounding them, and then they they just completely shut down and they can't take that.
• 1:08:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a part of I think uh, you know, when we talked about rejection and things for competition, yeah, I think that that's why convention classes are really good for dancers to experience to just kind of like get a reality check a bit, because you know, you're gonna be taking lots of classes, you're probably never gonna do your solo ever again unless you're you know, once you graduate, unless you're going out for a dance team.
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's probably the last time, you know.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_03: We were bust so true.
• 1:08:29
  SPEAKER_03: We were bust to BDC in New York City at 13 years old.
• 1:08:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, I took classes with Christian Judd and Frank Hatchett and Pamela Bowling, and the the kids that were around me, I was like, oh my, like, I could never dance next to this person.
• 1:08:43
  SPEAKER_02: Where do you even come from?
• 1:08:45
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 1:08:45
  SPEAKER_03: I still did my very best and hammed it up, but like technically I knew my I knew my place.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:08:51
  SPEAKER_03: You know, um, my daughter and my daughter at her studio, she knows her place.
• 1:08:54
  SPEAKER_03: She's not a front center dancer, but I tell her every time, dance like you are.
• 1:08:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:08:59
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I love that.
• 1:09:00
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I love that.
• 1:09:01
  SPEAKER_03: I don't care where you are in that day.
• 1:09:03
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't matter to me because parents fight over that too.
• 1:09:05
  SPEAKER_03: My kid's not in the front center, my kid's never up front, my kid never gets rope.
• 1:09:09
  SPEAKER_03: Well, does your kid deserve to be there?
• 1:09:11
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 1:09:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and also just like word to everyone, and I said it on my, you might hear it on my critiques if you listen.
• 1:09:17
  SPEAKER_02: I watch the back row.
• 1:09:18
  SPEAKER_02: That is the first row that I actually watch because I know I know who you put in front.
• 1:09:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:09:22
  SPEAKER_02: I know who you put in center.
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_02: Who'd you put in the back?
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of times this weekend I actually saw excellent dancers, front, back, and center.
• 1:09:29
  SPEAKER_05: That's great.
• 1:09:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I love that.
• 1:09:30
  SPEAKER_02: I love when they use it.
• 1:09:31
  SPEAKER_03: I tell my go-to all the time you dance like you're front center.
• 1:09:34
  SPEAKER_03: I don't care where you are.
• 1:09:35
  SPEAKER_03: Because they are watching you, they notice.
• 1:09:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I told her, and you'll get your due time.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_03: Don't worry about that.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:09:42
  SPEAKER_03: But when you're dancing at a highly competitive level and you have three rows, those rows should be able to transition.
• 1:09:47
  SPEAKER_03: Not a problem.
• 1:09:48
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 1:09:50
  SPEAKER_03: Should be able to be up in the front at some point.
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_03: You're right.
• 1:09:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:09:53
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't even I'll admit, I'll admit that I certainly looked at so whenever we were choosing dance studios, I would go back and look at dances.
• 1:10:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something that I looked for.
• 1:10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, let's let's see how let's watch the background.
• 1:10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's see how deep the talent it runs in.
• 1:10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, and that's you can't hide.
• 1:10:08
  SPEAKER_00: You can't hide when you can't hide.
• 1:10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that goes back to the quality of training, right?
• 1:10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:10:13
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you're a back row dancer if because everyone should be trained the same.
• 1:10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And like you to a certain extent.
• 1:10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:10:20
  SPEAKER_00: To a certain like, yeah, are there gonna be some kids that have a little bit of natural something or put put more work in in class and there they might be the standout and they're in the front for this dance?
• 1:10:29
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 1:10:29
  SPEAKER_00: But like you said, Jen, I love that that on and now being a choreographer, I should be able to put any dancer any darn place, and the dance should be great because everyone's collectively trained the same.
• 1:10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, are there some sh a few that have a little bit more charisma or more personality?
• 1:10:47
  SPEAKER_00: But naturally, I've been to many situations as a guest choreographer where I'm at a studio and they're straight up like, you know, this dancer has to be in the front because mom's been really on me about that.
• 1:10:59
  SPEAKER_00: If there's any way you can make sure that she gets into the front at a point in time, if not, I'm gonna hear it.
• 1:11:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, this is the stuff that's happening.
• 1:11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and I'm and I don't have the freedom to do what I need.
• 1:11:11
  SPEAKER_00: And also, this is our strongest dancer here, and they need to be in the front.
• 1:11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if I don't put them in the front, guess where they get put when I leave?
• 1:11:18
  SPEAKER_00: The front.
• 1:11:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, you know, the choice gets made regardless.
• 1:11:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so you know, I think you want to be at the studio where you're being driven by money, and just because a parent is paying for all those extras that they should have any kind of complanche treatment versus a kid who has a natural ability or is just at that moment more gifted in, you know, in that genre and deserve, it should be that person deserves to be there.
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's not pay-to-play, right?
• 1:11:44
  SPEAKER_03: It shouldn't be pay-to play.
• 1:11:45
  SPEAKER_03: Bingo, bingo.
• 1:11:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's turned into a pay-to-play industry, I think.
• 1:11:49
  SPEAKER_00: On in, you know, it's unfortunately some people have more financial ability to afford certain aspects of of this biz and networking and whatever, and they're everywhere.
• 1:11:59
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, that's the world that we're in.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and I think it's always been that way to an extent, like in all sort of artistic endeavors.
• 1:12:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like you have the money, you have the time.
• 1:12:07
  SPEAKER_02: You don't, you're not waiting tables, you're not having four jobs, like you're you're at class, you're taking class.
• 1:12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:12:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think it happens with girls too, right?
• 1:12:15
  SPEAKER_01: With private lessons.
• 1:12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:12:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um it's a luxury to be able to get ahead like that and plug in and know the right people and be in the right spot.
• 1:12:23
  SPEAKER_03: And it it's it's all like connecting the dots, right?
• 1:12:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I think, like you said, if the talent needs to override how how many times I've seen you.
• 1:12:34
  SPEAKER_00: There just because I've seen you 10 times at the same event doesn't mean that you get first finally or you get a scholarship this weekend if you still haven't progressed, if you still haven't put the work in, if you're if there's still others that are actually more talented than you that catch my eye more.
• 1:12:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like I think a lot of parents think that, oh, well, I've come to every single event, and how have I still not won this?
• 1:12:54
  SPEAKER_00: How have I still not?
• 1:12:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think the kid has to be hungrier than the parents.
• 1:12:58
  SPEAKER_00: A hundred percent.
• 1:12:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you can kind of sense that too.
• 1:13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, the the oh hundred.
• 1:13:03
  SPEAKER_00: I was hungrier than my mother.
• 1:13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:13:05
  SPEAKER_03: She didn't care.
• 1:13:06
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 1:13:06
  SPEAKER_03: She didn't care how far I went.
• 1:13:08
  SPEAKER_03: I was hungry.
• 1:13:09
  SPEAKER_03: I wanted them, I wanted more.
• 1:13:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:13:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:13:12
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and sometimes even like, and I hate to say this because I actually really enjoyed this dancer for years.
• 1:13:17
  SPEAKER_02: She's graduated now.
• 1:13:18
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what she's doing, but she she came to competitions constantly for about 10 years.
• 1:13:23
  SPEAKER_02: I I saw her from when she was nine up until a few years ago.
• 1:13:25
  SPEAKER_02: And she was good.
• 1:13:27
  SPEAKER_02: She was good.
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_02: And there was always somebody else who was better.
• 1:13:30
  SPEAKER_02: And she I could tell she worked really hard.
• 1:13:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I know she worked really hard because the studio owners would constantly come up after the event and start complaining that she didn't win first place.
• 1:13:40
  SPEAKER_02: And why didn't she?
• 1:13:40
  SPEAKER_02: And really you could tell that they were like, What is wrong here?
• 1:13:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why does she never place?
• 1:13:45
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like, I can't first of all, I can't tell you because like this is you know, you're you're in the wrong time and the wrong place for me to talk to you about this.
• 1:13:52
  SPEAKER_02: And but like sometimes it's just there's just somebody better.
• 1:13:57
  SPEAKER_02: And like, if I hope that this child goes on to like still continue to believe in herself and show up in audition, and if this is what she wants to do, consistency is also key.
• 1:14:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 1:14:07
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't win Miss Anything.
• 1:14:09
  SPEAKER_02: I got honorable mentions in bronze, you know, like I but here I am having had a professional career.
• 1:14:15
  SPEAKER_02: And some of those girls who got Miss Star Power are probably not doing this at all.
• 1:14:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, your path is your path.
• 1:14:20
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, Jen, like you you are gonna come back to dance as an adult and love it and have this new journey based on everything you've experienced.
• 1:14:28
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, are are we sad?
• 1:14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a little sad.
• 1:14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I would have liked to have been Miss Star Power, but like didn't have it.
• 1:14:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just didn't have it.
• 1:14:34
  SPEAKER_02: And that's fine.
• 1:14:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna have my little honorable mention from headliners, and you know, and and then I got a job with headliners.
• 1:14:41
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:14:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:14:42
  SPEAKER_02: So what's better?
• 1:14:43
  SPEAKER_02: Would I rather have, you know, acknowledgement in my professional life of like, hey, you've gotten to this point, now you can be behind the table, or would I have rather had Miss Headliners?
• 1:14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 1:14:53
  SPEAKER_03: Probably not.
• 1:14:53
  SPEAKER_03: The beautiful thing about dance is that it is so versatile.
• 1:14:57
  SPEAKER_03: Like you you're not put in a box.
• 1:14:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I I'm a prime example of that.
• 1:15:01
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't make it as a professional dancer in life, but I love dance so much that I found another outlet.
• 1:15:06
  SPEAKER_03: I teach adult dance fit to women that may or may not have dance background, that just want to move their bodies, they just want to have fun.
• 1:15:13
  SPEAKER_03: They remember the running man and the Roger Rat, want to do that and listen to push it and just have fun and not have to worry about anything else for one hour but dancing.
• 1:15:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:15:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:15:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of the when you look at what's available to us today, right, with social media, YouTube, whatever it is, I think it's important that kids can see opportunities in dance because back when we were younger, we didn't have we didn't see all that.
• 1:15:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like you could either dance on Broadway, you'd be a dance teacher.
• 1:15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, like there were just maybe a few things that we knew, right, that we knew about.
• 1:15:45
  SPEAKER_01: But now looking at the world and the world's become smaller because now we can see everything, I think there's just a place for everyone.
• 1:15:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like, so what you didn't win with star power, like you said, that doesn't mean there wasn't a place for you, a perfect place for you.
• 1:15:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I think with all these opportunities and social media accounts and connecting and networking so much that you, if you wanted to continue dancing, no matter what level you're dancing at, there's a place for you.
• 1:16:09
  SPEAKER_01: And there's some place that you will be very happy and be able to continue that career.
• 1:16:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, whether it's being a prop parent or, you know, dancing on proper way.
• 1:16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's there's opportunities for you to continue what you love.
• 1:16:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's the most important thing for kids to realize these days.
• 1:16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I think they're really grateful that they have that.
• 1:16:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think that us doing that parent production at Onstage America showed our kids that we have a tap parent class too.
• 1:16:33
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 1:16:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:16:34
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna start taking the tap class.
• 1:16:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I see that I'm shaky, and I, you know, it's like that little kid in me that's in the back row in the convention classes.
• 1:16:42
  SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, oh, tap's not my strong suit.
• 1:16:45
  SPEAKER_03: But it's like now I'm feeling a little inspired.
• 1:16:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, well, and every all I think all of those ladies in that tap section had like nice tap shoes.
• 1:16:52
  SPEAKER_02: They weren't in like your$30 first pair of tap shoes, they were in tap shoes.
• 1:16:58
  SPEAKER_03: Just really a passion for dance.
• 1:17:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, a love for the passion for dance, and just it and just having such a great experience.
• 1:17:07
  SPEAKER_03: Something as little as that was our everything.
• 1:17:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:17:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and right, there is a place for everyone.
• 1:17:15
  SPEAKER_00: We hope you enjoyed our latest episode, all about being a former competitive dancer to now raising a competitive dancer.
• 1:17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Huge shout out to our special guests, Lynn and Jen, for joining us on this chat.
• 1:17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to follow them on social media.
• 1:17:31
  SPEAKER_00: You can find Lynn at Lynn McNellis and Jen at DanceFix with Jen.
• 1:17:37
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• 1:17:44
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• 1:17:58
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• 1:18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to check out IDA Affiliated Competition, True Dance Challenge.
• 1:18:10
  SPEAKER_00: Looking for a competition that values fairness, organization, and excellence?
• 1:18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Introducing True Dance Challenge.
• 1:18:17
  SPEAKER_00: At True, levels are determined by the judges, not the studios.
• 1:18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Adjudicated scores decide the level for each routine, ensuring every dancer competes exactly where they belong.
• 1:18:28
  SPEAKER_00: And with two sets of high scores announced, everyone gets the recognition they deserve.
• 1:18:32
  SPEAKER_00: All judges are pre-screened through Impact Dance Adjudicators, with the dedicated fourth judge assigned solely to special awards and scholarships, so the adjudicators can focus entirely on critiques.
• 1:18:43
  SPEAKER_00: True Dance Challenge is known for being organized, on time, and dancer focused.
• 1:18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Judges receive breaks every two hours, schedules arrive three weeks in advance, and Friday events never begin before 4 p.m.
• 1:18:56
  SPEAKER_00: And cash awards mean real cash, not credits.
• 1:18:59
  SPEAKER_00: Award ceremonies start almost immediately after each session, and you'll receive hundreds of free, high-quality photos included in your entry.
• 1:19:07
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• 1:19:09
  SPEAKER_00: True Dance Challenge takes pride in every detail, creating a smooth, fair, and unforgettable competition weekend.
• 1:19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Learn more and find an event near you on their website at TrueDanceCallenge.com.
• 1:19:22
  SPEAKER_02: Making the Impact Season 7 is almost over.
• 1:19:25
  SPEAKER_02: Tune in for our final few episodes, including a throwback for the dance parents and an episode devoted to judging horror stories.
• 1:19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Tune in next week for some more great episodes on Making the Impact Season 7.
• 1:19:37
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you then.