Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / The Importance of Musicality

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The Importance of Musicality · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_04: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table in a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_04: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_04: This is making the impact of the dance competition podcast.
0:16
SPEAKER_04: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:23
SPEAKER_04: Have you ever watched the dancers so in fact with the music that they almost become the song themselves?
0:28
SPEAKER_04: At the far, that dancer has superb musicality, with the ability to interpret the temple access, timing the feeling of the song without making it look like work.
0:36
SPEAKER_04: Today on Making the Impact, we discuss the importance of musicality and how to develop those skills and dancers from a young age.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: Hi everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact a Dance Construction Podcast.
0:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
0:54
SPEAKER_01: Hi, everybody.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: Happy to be here again with you.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: Yes, we're so happy to be here.
1:00
SPEAKER_01: We're really excited about this topic.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited about this topic because we're talking about musicality today.
1:06
SPEAKER_01: And what is musicality?
1:07
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna let you know very soon.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: And I hope that everyone is having a wonderful start to your competition season.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: It's in full swing, it is here, and I know that things are looking a little bit different in the competition world at the live events this season.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: And I really am I have a million fingers crossed for every single dancer to be able to go to a live competition event this season.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: I hope so much that this happens for you all.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: So stay optimistic.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: I hope you make it there.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: And if for some reason you aren't able to go to a live event, depending on where you're where you live or your state restrictions or whatever's going on in the world, then I hope that you can participate in a virtual competition event, which by the way, IDA has a virtual competition.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: And we would love for you to come join us.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: Our virtual competition now has a registration open.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: It just opened on February 15th.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: And this is for our March solo and group competition event.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: So studios from around the world are welcome to participate.
2:09
SPEAKER_01: You can enter solos uh individually.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: So you don't have to go through your studio for your solo.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: If your parent wants to enter you, you totally can do that.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: But the studios can also submit group routines.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: And we are doing duos, small groups, large groups productions.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: Anything and everything is welcome.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: All styles of dance are welcome.
2:28
SPEAKER_01: We even have genre-specific judging panels that you can request and we do additional feedback critiques and we have some of the best judges in the industry.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: And truly, it's been such a pleasure to be able to make these virtual competitions happen.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: And it's just a great backup plan in case for some reason your live events are getting canceled or don't happen, which knock on wood, they all happen.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: But we just want to, you know, be there to be able to provide you guys with another alternative option.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: So if you want to learn more about our virtual competition events and if you want to register now, head to our website at impactdance adjudicators.com slash virtual competition and uh learn more there.
3:02
SPEAKER_04: And if you haven't joined our new Facebook group, why have you not joined our new Facebook group?
3:07
SPEAKER_04: Right.
3:08
SPEAKER_04: Why haven't you?
3:08
SPEAKER_04: We've been having so much fun.
3:10
SPEAKER_04: We've had this open for about a month now.
3:13
SPEAKER_04: And we've had been having so much participation from listeners and fans and colleagues from around the world, just talking all things dance.
3:21
SPEAKER_04: There've have been some great conversations about a ton of different stuff.
3:24
SPEAKER_04: So we would love you to join us.
3:26
SPEAKER_04: It is called Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast Community on Facebook.
3:30
SPEAKER_04: When you join, you just answer a few questions so that you can give us an idea of how you fit into the dance world, whether you're a dancer, dance parent, dance teacher, studio owner, uh judge, competition, director.
3:40
SPEAKER_04: Everybody is welcome that has a place in the dance world.
3:43
SPEAKER_04: So we've got a lot of fun stuff in there for you.
3:45
SPEAKER_04: And come on over and join us.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, please join us.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: We're having a blast.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: And Leslie and I love connecting with all of our fans.
3:52
SPEAKER_01: So definitely join us there.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: And you know what's next.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: It's time to talk about our fabulous sponsors.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: You've heard about them all season, and we're so excited to have partnered up with so many wonderful companies in the dance world.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: And first up is the one and only Level Up Dance Applies.
4:08
SPEAKER_01: So Level Up Dance Applies is more than the leading retailer of top name brand dance bags.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: Their goal is to be your one-stop shop for all of your dance gear and accessory needs.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: From flooring to privacy tents or stretching and travel gear, Level Up has you covered from head to toe this competition season.
4:26
SPEAKER_01: Check out all of their gear, accessories, bags, and more for your dancers now at levelupdanceupplies.com and use our exclusive promo code Bravo5678 to receive$10 off your order.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: We love you, Level Up.
4:39
SPEAKER_04: Thanks for supporting us this season and last season.
4:42
SPEAKER_04: One of our season two sponsors that we're excited about is Dance Costumes by Urzua.
4:46
SPEAKER_04: They offer high-end custom dance costumes and dancewear for everybody.
4:50
SPEAKER_04: And note that I'm stressing everybody.
4:52
SPEAKER_04: Because dancers come in all sizes and shapes, they deserve high-quality performance dancewear that makes them feel good in their own skin.
4:59
SPEAKER_04: All their sizes include five variations: slim, narrow, medium, curvy, and wide to fit everybody.
5:05
SPEAKER_04: Add the wow factor to your performance, impress the audience and the judges at any stage, class, or convention.
5:10
SPEAKER_04: Check out all of their costume designs and their dancewear, including the new Making the Impact line at dancecostumes by Erzua.com and receive 15% off your order using our podcast promo code IDA15 at checkout.
5:22
SPEAKER_01: Okay, everyone.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
5:24
SPEAKER_01: It is time to meet our spectacular guests who are joining us today.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: And they are both IDA judges on the roster.
5:33
SPEAKER_01: Yay! So, so, so excited to welcome them both to the podcast.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: And first up, you may remember her from season one, episode two.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
5:45
SPEAKER_01: Whoa, episode two.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: That was a long time ago.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: That was episode it was called competition cleaning, which was a really important one, you know, to get those dances prepped for the season.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: And I am so excited to welcome back the tap goddess herself, Miss Christina Yoder to the podcast.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back.
6:04
SPEAKER_03: Hey, hey, dancers.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: Yay! Christina, we're so excited to have you and can't wait to chat all things musicality with you so soon.
6:12
SPEAKER_01: But before we do, if you don't mind just sharing a little bit about yourself and reminding some of our listeners, since it's been a minute, who you are, where you're based, what you're up to, and any career credits you want to share.
6:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
6:23
SPEAKER_03: Uh thanks for having me back on the podcast.
6:25
SPEAKER_03: I absolutely love this and think this is such a great way to reach dancers all over the place.
6:33
SPEAKER_03: So I am based in Indiana.
6:35
SPEAKER_03: My husband and son and I, we live up near South Bend.
6:38
SPEAKER_03: We travel as much as we can because there's not a whole lot of dance happening there.
6:53
SPEAKER_03: I've been in professional tap companies and modern companies.
6:57
SPEAKER_03: And now I travel and teach and judge and just love sharing my passion for dance and educating new generations of dancers to come.
7:10
SPEAKER_04: Yay.
7:11
SPEAKER_04: Awesome.
7:11
SPEAKER_04: And we love having you here.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: And Christina's been an a virtual comp judge for IDA and working remotely and just killing the game.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: You've been with us for so long on the roster.
7:24
SPEAKER_01: So we're very, we're very happy to have you.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: So thanks for joining us again.
7:28
SPEAKER_01: All right, and next up is a brand new guest to the pod, and he is also a brand new judge to the IDA roster, although he's been judging for many, many, many years.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: But he just recently joined IDA this season, and we're so happy to have him.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: I would love to welcome Tommy Scrivins to the pod.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh as she said, my name is Tommy Scrivens.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: Very excited to be here.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm originally from Brooksville, Florida.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Went to school at the Ohio State University.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of one of those weird dancers that like does like a bunch of things.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: So I started out in New York City once I moved here.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: I was working with Parsons Dance, which is a modern dance company.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: And also I've worked with uh this theater dance company called American Dance Machine for the 21st Century, which is pretty cool where we recreate all of these dances from the past.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: And most recently, I was uh fortunate enough to be a part of the Fossey Verdans series that was on FCS.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Cool, yes, exactly with Courtney.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: Yay! We didn't work all in the same episode, but I got to watch BC.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: And um currently I am an adjunct professor at Marymount Manhattan College, teaching their daily dance, and also I'm still teaching at local dance studios and etc.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: Well, welcome to the pod.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, welcome.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know you that you're a professor at Merrymount.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: That's uh year two now.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: In the dance department.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, no, the musical theater department.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh, musical theater.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: I went there for a semester.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: Oh.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: And then I left.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: But I was in the dance department.
9:04
SPEAKER_01: It does happen.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: Yay! Awesome, y'all.
9:07
SPEAKER_01: Well, we're super excited to talk about this important topic with you both.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: So thanks for joining.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:13
SPEAKER_04: So I think we're we're pretty lucky because, you know, Christina, I know we call you the top goddess, but Christina does everything as well.
9:19
SPEAKER_04: She's super well-rounded.
9:20
SPEAKER_04: And so we also have Tommy, who has experience in all kinds of things as well.
9:24
SPEAKER_04: So we want to talk about musicality as it applies to all styles of dance.
9:28
SPEAKER_04: You know, I think generally, I think the word musicality, for me at least, triggers tap in my head because it's involves involves more hearing the rhythm for the audience members also.
9:39
SPEAKER_04: But, you know, we have to remember that musicality applies to everything.
9:42
SPEAKER_04: So if somebody wants to jump in and give me kind of your Webster's dictionary definition of musicality, that would be great.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: For me, it's um when I think of musicality, I kind of think of two things.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: It's A, it's how the students take in what they're listening to, how they're, I guess the best word is how they receive it, how they hear the rhythm, how they hear the timing of everything.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: And then second, my favorite part is how they interpret it once we get to the artistry part of it as well.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: So I think those two things combine is what musicality basically is, the dancers.
10:15
SPEAKER_04: Nice.
10:15
SPEAKER_04: It's a little marriage of two worlds.
10:18
SPEAKER_04: I love that.
10:19
SPEAKER_03: Musicality also helps the audience to understand our dance language.
10:24
SPEAKER_03: So if we are having a conversation, you wouldn't speak in a total monotone, evenly broken up cadence of voice.
10:33
SPEAKER_03: So musicality allows our dance to have rises and falls and exciting moments and things that make you really stop and take notice.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
10:45
SPEAKER_02: That's that's totally it.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and just you know, how I love what I love what you both said uh about musicality and you know how you define it.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm just trying to think back at when I learned that, you know, like how how did we learn musicality?
11:03
SPEAKER_01: How when we were young, I'm thinking like, you know, baby ballet and like baby tap jazz combo classes.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think that those that's our first introduction, specifically in those tap classes, I think, is when you really kind of learn, well, what is the what is the downbeat?
11:22
SPEAKER_01: Or what is what is this rhythm?
11:24
SPEAKER_01: Clap to the beat, you know.
11:25
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of a lot of people that just don't have that natural rhythm at all.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: And it can be taught.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: It absolutely is can be taught.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: But I think that's like the first thing, or what is it, what is it the the song don't clap on the the opposite, you know.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: On the one, yeah.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: Is it is the one and the three?
11:44
SPEAKER_01: I mean like you know what I mean?
11:46
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, at every like you've been a dancer on stage when the audience starts clapping on the one and the three, and you're like, and you're like and it's hard to explain to somebody who doesn't understand why you don't do that.
12:00
SPEAKER_04: And I don't even have words to explain why, it's just no, don't do that.
12:03
SPEAKER_04: Not the one.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: I just I feel I just feel like internally it just feels wrong.
12:09
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's just an instinct that it's like, no, no, no, that's just bad.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: Just don't, don't ta clap on the one.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: But that's what some people naturally go to.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: That's where they would go to naturally without being taught how to properly listen to the music and feel the downbeat.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that yeah?
12:26
SPEAKER_04: Is there any does anybody have a a better reasoning for why we don't do that?
12:30
SPEAKER_04: It's like innate personal preference.
12:33
SPEAKER_00: I mean, for me, it's it's it is more of a personal preference.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: There's more of a groove to it when you're hitting on the even counts.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, sometimes I I purposely go on the one and three just to like switch it up and to like create like discomfort and like some type of movement, hitting on one, two, ha.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Right.
12:53
SPEAKER_04: Ha, it just makes it something different.
12:54
SPEAKER_04: It's a different, it's a different energy.
12:56
SPEAKER_04: It like you said, it does create discomfort and discordance and and and what how crazy is that?
13:02
SPEAKER_04: Like something as simple as putting an accent on a different count, like Christina said, tells our audience something in our language.
13:10
SPEAKER_04: You know?
13:10
SPEAKER_04: That's so interesting.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: What were you gonna say, Tommy?
13:13
SPEAKER_00: I was going back to what you were saying about how it's oh it's taught, and it immediately reminded me of when I was younger.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: I've been assisting dance classes since I was nine, so I've basically been teaching like my entire life.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: And I would teach with the combination classes, and at my studio, because we were we we were competitors, we're not like crazy competition kids.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: We uh we'd always do those combo classes and we'd always do it with song and dance.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: We combine those two things together.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: Like I can remember the song that we did, The Robot, is a dance of joy for every girl and every boy.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: And just remembering that and doing that and all of that and adding the things shuffle step, shuffle step, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do do, do, and you raise your arms to the beat, so you learn to find the musicality from the get-go.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that type of dancing isn't done anymore.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: They don't do the song and dance anymore.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: So kids aren't growing up come like understanding how to listen to the music and understanding counts at the same time.
14:13
SPEAKER_04: That's absolutely.
14:14
SPEAKER_04: And I was just thinking we were talking about like kind of gearing into the question of how do you teach musicality from a young age.
14:20
SPEAKER_04: And it's it's 100% the song and dance, you know, movement, creative movement that what you do in preschool, you know, sometimes even preschools do this as their art section, you know, their music section.
14:31
SPEAKER_04: And I do find that the more we head into this, you know, 21st century of kids are growing up faster than they used to, you know, a four-year-old doesn't want to do the robot dance.
14:43
SPEAKER_04: They want to do whatever is on TikTok.
14:45
SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
14:46
SPEAKER_04: They they don't want to do those foundational things that we all grew up doing.
14:50
SPEAKER_04: And I I've never heard that robot song, but now I want that robot to learn it either to teach in my tap class because so many of them.
14:56
SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah, get it.
14:58
SPEAKER_03: It's really good.
14:59
SPEAKER_03: And the boys love it too, which is fantastic.
15:01
SPEAKER_04: Wait, do you know the robot song, Christina?
15:03
SPEAKER_04: I do.
15:04
SPEAKER_03: I do.
15:05
unknown: Wow, I love that.
15:06
SPEAKER_04: Is it like a Kimbo?
15:07
SPEAKER_04: Like, who is that?
15:09
SPEAKER_04: Which which like company makes the makes that?
15:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: I all I know is they were they were done on records and it was just kind of been passed on from all the studios.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: Like her dance teacher knew them, her dance taught it to her.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: And so I learned them.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: And actually what's kind of fantastic is that my first dance studio, they are still doing them.
15:29
SPEAKER_02: Nice, I love it.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: They're on tapes though.
15:32
SPEAKER_04: Yes, sometimes they are.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm I'm actually thinking when we were just talking about teaching musicality.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I feel like that we definitely learn and intro have an introduction, like you said, Leslie, in those creative movement classes.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: I think that's what those should be geared around, is just getting young, little tiny baby dancers comfortable with listening to the music.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: And how does that make you move?
15:54
SPEAKER_01: And where what, you know, counts do you gravitate towards naturally before even knowing what counts are?
16:01
SPEAKER_01: Things like that.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: But I specifically remember an an activity that happened in my music class in elementary school, like not in dance.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: And I loved my music class and I ended up playing an instrument.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that helped me with my what did you play?
16:14
SPEAKER_02: I played a clarinet.
16:16
SPEAKER_02: What?
16:16
SPEAKER_02: I know, right?
16:17
SPEAKER_02: What?
16:17
SPEAKER_02: I know, so weird.
16:18
SPEAKER_02: You learn something new about your best friend every day.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: We played a clarinet from like fourth to I think I quit in seventh grade.
16:26
SPEAKER_01: So like sixth grade.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: But before that, in like first grade, I remember our teacher.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: She got she gave everybody a tennis ball.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: She put a song on, she said, bounce the ball to the beat.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Something as simple as that.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: Like, and one, and two, and three.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: And then she's like, Okay, now let's do a whole note.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: One, two, three, four, one, yeah, two, you know, whatever it is.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: And that's just different ways to learn how to count your music, which I really for some reason remember as a child, and everyone learned how to do that.
16:55
SPEAKER_01: This wasn't a dance class.
16:56
SPEAKER_05: Right.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, as teachers, that is being introduced, I think, or hoping it is in music classes.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: You know, do kids still take music classes?
17:06
SPEAKER_01: You know, is that included in it?
17:07
SPEAKER_01: Is kids no, it's not in like public school, it's not really not really.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: It's that it's really they it's about test course.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: My husband is a middle school assistant principal, and literally all of the programs are just I mean, they have some like band things, but it's it's not really being taught at all.
17:27
SPEAKER_03: Right.
17:27
SPEAKER_03: My son's music class is let's watch this video.
17:31
SPEAKER_03: They don't do any like hands-on anything, they haven't talked about beats or instruments or anything like that.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: That's so sad.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: It is because that is again the perfect introduction for all kids to learn, you know, musicality at its finest, but then even for dancers to like me, taking that from my elementary school class and taking it into dance class and being able to know what a quarter note is, what a full note is, how to listen to my music and count it.
17:57
SPEAKER_04: So Well now, you know, and and I've I've suspected that for a while, even though, you know, I don't have a ton of kids immediately in my life.
18:04
SPEAKER_04: But you know, you just hear like the arts programs are being canceled and and taken away, and you maybe get one music class a month, you know, whereas I had music three times a week and was in chorus from fourth grade through high school and like learned how to read music and learned, you know, all that stuff.
18:18
SPEAKER_04: But so now, you know, dance teachers, we're already responsible for so much.
18:22
SPEAKER_04: But here's another thing that is now your responsibility because you have the ability to do that.
18:27
SPEAKER_04: Public school teachers are are bound by a curriculum that's state mandated.
18:31
SPEAKER_04: So if their curriculum doesn't say you gotta teach quarter notes and whole notes and half notes in your one music class a month, you know, now the dance teachers we have, we do have that responsibility, I think.
18:41
SPEAKER_04: So congratulations.
18:42
SPEAKER_04: Here's another thing on your plate.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: Teach them music theory.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: Just a little bit of it.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about tap for a minute.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: Because I know that we said we're not gonna talk, you know, we're gonna talk about musicality in the sense of all styles of dance.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: But why when you kind of said the intro, Leslie, you said, you know, I immediately think of tap.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: Why is that?
19:05
SPEAKER_04: Because uh as I said, you can hear it.
19:08
SPEAKER_04: The audience can hear it.
19:09
SPEAKER_04: You know, it that's one of those things that, you know, aside from from people with hearing disabilities, you can hear it and you can see it.
19:17
SPEAKER_04: You know, whereas other styles of dance, most of the time all you're doing is visual, visually seeing their musicality, which, you know, again, depending on how somebody's brain works, you might not even be able to understand that musicality is what you're seeing, but you can hear it.
19:31
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
19:31
SPEAKER_04: And so, yeah, when I think of musicality, I I do think of tap and I think of, you know, the struggles that I've had teaching tap to kids who don't innately hear the beat and they can't get their body to move on the beat.
19:43
SPEAKER_04: And that is something that, you know, for somebody and for plenty of teachers, I'm sure, is a struggle.
19:48
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: When I think of like, you know, for me, whenever I'm working with tap dancers, I always say, you know, you have to think about it like it's a duet.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: The music is doing one part and you're doing the other part, and you have to fit those two things together.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: You have to listen and respond back and forth.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: You can't just do the steps because just doing the steps isn't going to work.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: You can know all the steps, but if it doesn't have the right tone, the right shades, it's not there.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like a lot of people just these days are just giving them tap dances, but not teaching them how to actually fit in with the music, how to actually listen to it as they're doing it.
20:25
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: Especially with these pop songs that everybody's tapping to.
20:28
SPEAKER_04: Ooh, stop it with the pop songs.
20:29
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
20:30
SPEAKER_00: That's when you really have to understand the music.
20:33
SPEAKER_03: As tap dancers, we are musicians.
20:36
SPEAKER_03: Like your number one is to complete the music.
20:40
SPEAKER_03: So, what can you add to the music that's not there?
20:44
SPEAKER_03: Trying not to compete with the music.
20:46
SPEAKER_03: But I feel like that goes in any style of dance as well.
20:50
SPEAKER_03: Something that I found myself saying over and over.
20:53
SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if it's because I've done all of my judging recently on a screen, it's easier to see.
20:59
SPEAKER_03: But I've said a lot like if you could give this phrase sound, what would it sound like?
21:04
SPEAKER_03: If you could sing it, what would it sound like?
21:07
SPEAKER_03: How can you tie your your movement into the music better?
21:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
21:12
SPEAKER_04: It's like I I make the comparison kind of similarly to you, Christina, when I'm talking about tap is that your your feet are another song.
21:19
SPEAKER_04: Like you said, Tommy, it's a duet.
21:21
SPEAKER_04: Your feet are providing some aspect of the music, but so is the music.
21:25
SPEAKER_04: And so, you know, when you're talking about how how would you vocalize a phrase, like that's brilliant.
21:33
SPEAKER_04: I love that in thinking about contemporary movement.
21:35
SPEAKER_04: And, you know, even if you yourself are not a singer, you know, as a dancer, you can still, you know, like, okay, well, this would be really a long note and this would be a staccato short note, and like you can that makes total sense, I think.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: And just like using sound effects to describe that a count, like that's something I can just do like an Arabas step, pique step or something.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, like exactly.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Just to verbalize it, I think that is such great advice for contemporary dancers in particular.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: I mean for all dancers, but you know, I feel like this could sound bad, but I feel like there's a lot of contemporary dancers that don't have the best musicality.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: And the ones that have like the mo amazing musicality are the ones that win.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: Because you can have a leg, you can have a flexible back, you can have a gorgeous point.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: But if you're not connecting to the music, then I don't care about all that.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: I shouldn't be able to just I should know what song you're dancing to.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: And the song should be guiding you.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: There's so many times where I'm like, what what song are you dancing to?
22:43
SPEAKER_01: Because I could put any song on here right now.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: It'd be the same dance.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: Same exact dance.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: And like you said, Christina, I love the fact that regardless if it's tap, you can be able to explore different rhythms into the song.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Create your own as long as it's visually seen and you're in the pocket of that of that beat and that song, then I'm gonna see that rhythm coming through, regardless if there's a physical tap on your foot or not.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: You know, you don't need that.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: You can do that in contemporary and create your own rhythms that aren't in the song, which is again kind of how we're always music musicians, depending on if it's a choreographer, but even as a dancer coming through that choreography, you know, and that's really where musicality comes.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: Like you have to be able to have you can't do that without musicality, is what I'm trying to say.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: So so many things.
23:31
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
23:32
SPEAKER_04: I was just doing an online critique today, and the dancer was using a song that just did this, and I'm making a very long straight line horizontally with my hand.
23:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, this the song had zero crescendo, it had zero day crescendo, it had no kind of it had no movement to it.
23:49
SPEAKER_04: And so I was speaking to the dancer because the choreography was doing the same thing.
23:54
SPEAKER_04: And so I said, listen, your responsibility as the dancer, given this choreography, is to give the music its crescendo and day crescendo.
24:02
SPEAKER_04: You know, you're the musician now, because if the song's not doing anything and you're not doing anything, then what am I watching?
24:07
SPEAKER_04: You know, so musicality has to, depending on the song, again, you know, a lot of times we are given a song that gives us what we're supposed to do.
24:15
SPEAKER_04: You know, you you we always talk about like, oh, this is the turn section, like you can just hear it, you know, or this is where a big, huge leap should come in.
24:21
SPEAKER_04: Some songs don't give you anything.
24:23
SPEAKER_04: So like it is you that has to be that visualization of the musicality.
24:28
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: Since we're on contemporary, it's actually it's funny that we're talking about this.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: I when I'm teaching my students contemporary, one of the first things I do with them as I sit them down, I'm like, you're gonna listen to the song first.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: I make them listen to the song, I make them count it, tell me how to count it.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: And then I also ask them what sounds do they hear?
24:47
SPEAKER_00: What mood that it makes them, how does it make them feel when they hear what are the words that are being said?
24:53
SPEAKER_00: Because so many times I feel like that just doesn't happen because everyone wants to do the combo, everybody wants to be fierce, but they don't understand that to be fierce, you have to do your homework, you have to lay down a foundation first.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: You have to have all of those things from the get-go so that later on, once you're doing all of that crazy fierce stuff, there's actually some substance to it.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's one of my favorite games.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: It's like count as I'll put on a song, a bunch of different songs also.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, tell me how to count this.
25:23
SPEAKER_02: Right.
25:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: One really good point.
25:26
SPEAKER_02: One time signature.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: One amazing song is the Dave Matthews band uh DMB, their song seven.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's a great one.
25:34
SPEAKER_00: It's like you have to count sevens at one point, then they switch to tens at one point.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: It's mean insane.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but how can they count sevens and tens if they don't even like counting to eight?
25:46
SPEAKER_01: Because kids don't like to count anymore.
25:49
SPEAKER_01: I ask this question every time I teach whether I'm at a convention with hundreds of kids in the room or whether I'm at a guest class and in studio.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: I say, who likes to count your music?
26:00
SPEAKER_01: Raise your hand.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: No one raises their hand.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: Okay, um, who likes to listen to the lyrics?
26:04
SPEAKER_01: Everyone raises their hand.
26:06
SPEAKER_01: And then I'm like, who likes to do both?
26:08
SPEAKER_01: And a few people might raise their hand.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: But I was like, both is probably the better answer than just the lyrics.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: But there should be way more dancers who like to count your music because you need to know how to count your music.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: Just like Tommy said, I mean, we should be able to put any type of song on, and you should be able to count it.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: And then we might throw you in a loop and give you like a you know, a crazy seven count or a ten count, and there's like a tag in the music.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: How do you count that?
26:36
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's how we navigate this together.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm going to do as a teacher is explain how to count that for you.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Actually, funny story now that I'm saying that, my best friend just called me the other day and said, I'm teaching America from West Side Story to my dancers.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: And can you just tell me how to count this?
26:52
SPEAKER_01: Because I know you've done this show a million times and I just cannot figure out how to count it.
26:57
SPEAKER_01: It's the worst.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Leslie, Leslie has the same thing.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: And then I gave up.
27:02
SPEAKER_04: I was like, we're not doing this song anymore.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: Which FYI, if anyone wants to know out there, you count it as one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: That's how you count it.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: That's how I learned it from the originals.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: But it's tricky.
27:16
SPEAKER_01: Like, even teachers are struggling with some of these counts, especially especially with some of these composers that are crazy.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: And but I love that challenge as a dancer.
27:26
SPEAKER_01: For me, because I'm such a counter, I love that challenge.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: It's like inspiring and it feels so rewarding when you finally figured it out.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: Like, oh my god, that was a seven count.
27:34
SPEAKER_02: I figured it out.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: You know, whatever it is.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: So I just want to stress how important counting is.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure Christina, you have your thoughts on that too, being the tap goddess.
27:44
SPEAKER_03: We play the find the one game.
27:46
SPEAKER_03: So I will I have a playlist of songs that crazy meters or changing meters or whatever, and we just find the one.
27:55
SPEAKER_03: You clap the one, you stamp the one, you jump on the one, whatever.
27:59
SPEAKER_03: Just because if you can't find one, you can't find anything.
28:02
SPEAKER_04: Right.
28:03
SPEAKER_04: Well, and if and if you can't find it on stage, and this is what I find, Tommy, speaking to what you were saying, that everybody just wants to be fierce, but nobody wants to put in the homework and do the substance part of being fierce, is so many times I'll be judging and looking at some, you know, an 18-year-old tapper in the advanced category, and they're doing some really cool stuff, but I can't find the one, which means you don't know what the one is.
28:26
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
28:26
SPEAKER_04: Because I'm pretty darn musical and I'm a good tap dancer and I'm a good tap judge.
28:30
SPEAKER_04: But if you can't find the one, then I can't help you.
28:33
SPEAKER_04: And that I and then I I truly, I truly can't help you.
28:36
SPEAKER_04: Only you can help yourself and your teacher can help you.
28:38
SPEAKER_04: And if that means you, and I don't want to say this lightly, but dumb down what you're doing.
28:43
SPEAKER_04: Because none of it's impressive to me if you're not doing it on the one 100%.
28:47
SPEAKER_04: Agreed.
28:48
SPEAKER_03: I've said that so many times.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: Same.
28:50
SPEAKER_03: Like I can't make sense of what is supposed to be what your timing or what your song is supposed to be.
28:56
SPEAKER_03: So I can critique your technique right now, but I can't make sense of your music.
29:02
SPEAKER_01: Right.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: Because again, we're going back to the fact that as a tapper, you're a musician.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: And you have like your job as a musician is to be in the pocket of the song and the beat.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: You you're just because you're on stage by yourself in a solo doesn't mean that you can just go like fire fast feet everywhere all over the place doing whatever you want.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: And oh my gosh, I did a double wing and a double pullback toe stand cramp roll.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: I don't care if you're not connected to the music.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: And I specifically, I'm thinking of musicality in the sense of all of the y'all know who you are, I'm about to call you out.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying I hate this, but all those tap dances that have a song, and then the song disappears.
29:44
SPEAKER_01: And then they're supposed to acapella for a little minute, but then the song comes back.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: And most of the time they're they're charging ahead on that a cappella section because they're not keeping that yeah, that metronome what like they're supposed to, and then they're waiting for the song to like re-enter back in with them.
30:03
SPEAKER_01: And it's just it's it's it's devastating.
30:05
SPEAKER_04: It is because like normally they're doing some good stuff, the technique is there, right?
30:11
SPEAKER_04: This the sounds are there, and it's like it is a little devastating to not be able to give you that diamond or that platinum or whatever the highest thing is, but I just can't do it because you're missing a whole section of of what I'm looking for at this age and level.
30:24
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
30:25
SPEAKER_03: Well, and half the time when it's that style of choreography, the a cappella section loses the groove that the music had or loses the s the phrasing.
30:35
SPEAKER_03: It it kind of checks out and we're in a different world for a little bit.
30:38
SPEAKER_03: And then, oh, here comes the music, let's go back over here.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: Right.
30:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's not impressive if you're literally not keeping that metronome and you don't like if the music doesn't jump in with you exactly where it's supposed to, because you did such a good job at maintaining that same rhythm during the a cappella section, then I don't care.
30:59
SPEAKER_01: Like why why would we even do this?
31:01
SPEAKER_01: And as a teacher watching, why would you think that this was successful every time?
31:05
SPEAKER_01: Like I I guess what I'm trying to say is it's not impressive to the judges by uh creating an a cappella section if you can't pull it off.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: And I think like as a dancer, you should be confident with that.
31:17
SPEAKER_01: And as the teacher watching in a rehearsal before it hits the stage, you gotta make the call, oh, you know what, you're just not nailing this music musicality here for this a cappella section.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: We're just gonna keep the song going because it's just not as impressive as I want it to be.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: It is impressive if it's done well.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it is cute every time.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: But you know, it's almost like a show stopping moment.
31:37
SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh shoot, you're back with the music.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: Like if it's done really well, we'll totally support it.
31:42
SPEAKER_01: But you know, I think it's I I very very small percent of the time have seen it done right correctly.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: We just mentioned the word being in the pocket, and immediately my brain goes to a s a particular genre that is, I think, abused a lot.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: And yes, I said the word abused a lot in competition.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: Hip hop.
32:01
SPEAKER_06: Ooh, yeah.
32:02
SPEAKER_06: Oh yeah.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: Musicality is I think it's just as important in hip-hop as it is in tap.
32:09
SPEAKER_06: A hundred percent.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's because they're both not to like go there, but they both are African diaspora.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: They are both things that are based off of polyrhythms.
32:18
SPEAKER_02: And so yes, please go there, keep going.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, but it's so important and it's so disheartening.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: And when you see a hip-hop dance and the dancers are basically, it's like y'all just clapping on the the odd numbers.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: It's one, five, seven the entire time.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: You're not rolling back in the pocket, and that's just that's what it's based off of.
32:40
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: And so it's just and it's it's I don't care how many pops you do, I don't care like how hard you hit the local, but if you don't have that musicality in it, it's done.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: It's like tapping and just slurring your sounds the entire time to me.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: That's the exact same thing.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: It is just slurring movement.
32:57
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
32:58
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
32:58
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
32:58
SPEAKER_04: And it's it's not impressive and it's it's it's a real disservice to the style.
33:03
SPEAKER_04: And I think we see that so much at competitions, you know, with hip-hop specifically, is that and like you mentioned a minute ago, Tommy, you know, tap dancing to pop music.
33:13
SPEAKER_04: Pop music doesn't serve tap dancing very well unless you are as much of a musician that can then do something else with what you're given.
33:22
SPEAKER_04: Otherwise, it's just very static.
33:23
SPEAKER_04: Similarly with hip-hop, like if you're not using the right kind of music to then give that style, like do that style properly, it's just, it's just not, just doesn't work.
33:34
SPEAKER_04: Like so your music choice goes into musicality.
33:37
SPEAKER_04: I mean totally.
33:39
SPEAKER_03: Well, and a lot of times in tap and hip-hop both, there's so much attack.
33:44
SPEAKER_03: Like we want to hit every single 16th note, we're hitting every everything.
33:50
SPEAKER_03: And we forget that the audience needs that relief.
33:53
SPEAKER_03: I tell my tap dancers, if we don't have silence in between the sound, we're just making noise.
33:59
SPEAKER_03: And that's not helpful to anyone.
34:02
SPEAKER_03: But the same can be said about hip hop.
34:03
SPEAKER_03: If you're just hitting everything, it's just noise.
34:06
SPEAKER_03: We can't make sense of it.
34:07
SPEAKER_03: Your audience has no idea what's going on.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: It's shouting.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: It's essentially just shouting.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: Right.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: It's having a loud conversation just as much as monotone.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: It's not great.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: That shouting can be just as deafening when it's just constantly coming at you.
34:26
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35:05
SPEAKER_01: And now let's get back to the show.
35:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm I'm I love how where this discussion has gone, and I'm so glad that you brought up hip hop, Tommy.
35:19
SPEAKER_01: And I I would like to mention to all of our listeners we have a hip-hop episode coming up soon in the season, so stay tuned for that because it's definitely needed.
35:28
SPEAKER_01: I also want to talk about some of the other genres, like ballet in musicality.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: I feel like that we all start with baby ballet class and we start with plies and tendus and you know, keep advancing up throughout our years of ballet training.
35:44
SPEAKER_01: You are counting your music in ballet.
35:46
SPEAKER_01: You cannot not count your music in ballet.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: And the thing that's confusing to me is why that doesn't like, even if you don't take tap, you know, not every dancer takes taps, sad.
35:57
SPEAKER_01: If you don't, you should, but you know, whatever.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: I get it.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's not your favorite and you don't love it, and you or you can't afford to take an extra tap class and you have to eliminate that genre.
36:07
SPEAKER_01: Well, at least in ballet, you're still getting musicality in your bar.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: You know, how long are we doing a plie for?
36:14
SPEAKER_01: Is it two counts?
36:15
SPEAKER_01: Is it a one count?
36:16
SPEAKER_01: How long's the grand plie?
36:17
SPEAKER_01: Does it fill an eight count?
36:18
SPEAKER_01: That's musicality.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: You can't do ballet without counting your music.
36:22
SPEAKER_01: So why, since majority of the dancers, I'm sure or I'm hoping and prior to everyone takes ballet, please, if you're entering the competition stage, you must take at least one day a week ballet.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: Why isn't that being translated over to our lyrical and contemporary training?
36:38
SPEAKER_01: Why aren't you naturally counting the song when you go into contemporary and giving me the excuse of, well, I like to listen to the lyrics.
36:45
SPEAKER_01: Well, of course you like to listen to the lyrics.
36:47
SPEAKER_01: I do too, as a choreographer, and I will give you the counts with the lyrics as well.
36:53
SPEAKER_01: But there's always a count.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: There is always a count.
36:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: There is.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I want to add to that lyric thing because for me, when I'm choreographing, the lyrics have rhythm too.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: Words have beat to them as well.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: So I like Jesse J.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: I was just a choreographed to a Jesse J song, and she has a song.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: You can do like an do like ain't man done.
37:17
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
37:18
SPEAKER_00: There's a rhythm to that, and you have to find that and listen to that as well.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: So it's cool if you want to listen to the lyrics and use that, but you have to use that rhythm as well to choreograph along with it.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, it doesn't make any sense.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Like all of those things have rhythm.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: That's also part of it.
37:34
SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
37:35
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, they're they're all a great big family that works together.
37:38
SPEAKER_04: 100%.
37:39
SPEAKER_04: And yeah, it is.
37:40
SPEAKER_04: I was thinking somebody posted a like a um, I don't even know what it was, a video or something, talking about the when you do just a degree from first, like what is that feeling?
37:50
SPEAKER_04: And somebody like put it next to a video of somebody striking a match.
37:54
SPEAKER_04: And I was like, oh, that's perfect.
37:56
SPEAKER_04: Like, but that's also musicality because your degree can't just like do do.
38:00
SPEAKER_04: Like the degage has to have like a feeling to it.
38:03
SPEAKER_04: And so, like you said, it it is interesting that that doesn't translate from ballet, but then that makes you wonder if the kid's not doing it, then then it's the teacher who's not doing it.
38:12
SPEAKER_04: That's that's my thought process of like, well, I guess the the teacher and the choreographer is saying this choreography goes to this words, right?
38:19
SPEAKER_04: These words, and that's what it is.
38:21
SPEAKER_04: So so I would challenge, you know, any teachers out there who maybe themselves are lyric choreographers or anything otherwise, like people's brains work differently.
38:31
SPEAKER_04: I love to count.
38:32
SPEAKER_04: I'll I'll only want to count.
38:34
SPEAKER_04: I don't care what the lyrics say.
38:35
SPEAKER_04: But some people are opposite of that.
38:37
SPEAKER_04: And so it's it's our duty to reach everybody in the way that they can absorb information.
38:43
SPEAKER_04: So anytime I'm choreographing, I'll give you the eight count, I'll give you the dot digga dot da-da, and I'll give you the hop, shuffle, step, ball change.
38:50
SPEAKER_04: Like, I'll give you all the tools.
38:51
SPEAKER_04: That way your brain can say, oh, all three of these things are the same.
38:55
SPEAKER_04: My brain likes this.
38:56
SPEAKER_04: This is how I'll do that.
38:58
SPEAKER_04: But if somebody ever asked me, I could do this.
39:00
SPEAKER_04: Like, we have to figure out how to do it all, honestly.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: It's very true.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: It's so very true.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: That's something that like I also make sure that I'm doing our teaching.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: I think part of the problem is that people get comfortable in a way that's easy for them and they don't think about it just like I mean, in dance, I always tell my students, I'm like, listen, you go to school, and when the teacher gives you something, you don't you don't necessarily understand it right away.
39:24
SPEAKER_00: So you can't expect that to happen in dance class.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: So as teachers, you have to use that same brain that teachers in school are using and cater to each, not each, but yes, to each student and try and give them a way so that everybody can grasp those things and manipulate and find other ways.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: Like you said, it's another thing to pile on, but that's what it is to be a teacher and not giving class, you know?
39:45
SPEAKER_04: Yes, and not giving class, and that's such a good distinction.
39:49
SPEAKER_04: Thank you for that.
39:51
SPEAKER_03: Something I'm noticing, I don't teach much here, so all of my teaching is done outside of this area.
39:58
SPEAKER_03: So something I'm noticing in studios around is that we have baby ballet and then we go to technique class.
40:06
SPEAKER_03: So we're missing ballet in the older ages.
40:10
SPEAKER_03: So, and in that technique class, there I'm sure there's a plie section in there and there's a Tondu section, but it doesn't have the same, we're not using the same classical type music or ballet phrase music.
40:21
SPEAKER_03: And I wonder if that is part of the disconnect in that musicality.
40:26
SPEAKER_03: Like we're taking the weight out of the musicality involved in a traditional ballet bar.
40:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: Right.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: Wait, so hold on, Christina, you're telling me, and this is news to me because I assumed that everyone in the world took ballet class to be on the competition stage.
40:40
SPEAKER_01: You're telling me that people are replacing ballet with uh just a technique class that incorporates a variety of different, you know, ballet techniques, but it's not like a traditional ballet bar with the center.
40:53
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
40:54
SPEAKER_03: So the one of the things I've seen, this technique class could be like a set one song bar.
41:02
SPEAKER_03: So you're doing plies, degougés, tandus, ronde jams, botmas in one song, and the next song is the choreograph stretch, and then the rest of the class is maybe working on turn seats.
41:14
SPEAKER_03: Flexibility and things happen.
41:16
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
41:17
SPEAKER_04: So one song.
41:18
SPEAKER_04: That's a kitchen sink if I've ever heard about it.
41:21
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and maybe maybe it's two songs, but it's a very short portion of the class.
41:26
unknown: Wow.
41:26
SPEAKER_00: And that I mean, and that's crazy to me because ballet is set up so perfectly for you, which is also why it's so important.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: That's why combination classes with younger kids are ballet and tap, because the two of them can lead you to being a very strong dancer because they both are so very important.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: Because the plies have a certain music, the tondus have a certain music, the frappes, the grandamas, all of them, all of them have different time signatures and different types of music so that you understand that musicality.
41:57
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not doing that, what are you doing?
42:01
SPEAKER_01: Right.
42:02
SPEAKER_01: Because, like, again, like you're learning musicality in ballet class.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: You don't even realize you're learning it.
42:09
SPEAKER_01: You don't even realize that you're doing a waltz in a three across the floor.
42:14
SPEAKER_01: You're learning that naturally, and it's getting ingrained in your in your you know body because you're doing it however many times a week.
42:20
SPEAKER_01: Repetition is key.
42:21
SPEAKER_01: That makes me nervous finding out that there are studios, you know, sorry if we're calling you out, but studios around the country that aren't even doing uh at least one traditional ballet class.
42:35
SPEAKER_01: And and that is so important, and especially if this said these said studios are also not taking tap.
42:42
SPEAKER_01: Because then where are we learning the the musicality?
42:44
SPEAKER_01: Not that it's just in ballet and tap, but like those are definitely uh styles of dance that you should be taking on the regular, and you are already doing yourself a disservice by not incorporating musicality.
42:57
SPEAKER_01: You're they're probably these studios I'm talking about are probably the ones that like the dance of the lyrics and don't know what counting is.
43:02
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
43:03
SPEAKER_01: Sad.
43:04
SPEAKER_04: Well, and you know, just thinking about why tap and ballet are such good partners for each other, you know, ballet is codified.
43:10
SPEAKER_04: No matter what style of ballet that you study, there's there's a reason it goes from pllias to botmas.
43:15
SPEAKER_04: There's a reason that that exists in that way.
43:17
SPEAKER_04: Similarly to tap, even if you're if you were studying Al Gilbert on a record, like I was, it's codified.
43:23
SPEAKER_04: You know, we all start with toe drops and heel drops and dig heels, and that's you know, it progresses.
43:28
SPEAKER_04: They're called progressions.
43:29
SPEAKER_04: Like that's why we do it that way.
43:31
SPEAKER_04: Lyrical, lyrical doesn't have that.
43:33
SPEAKER_04: Contemporary doesn't have that.
43:35
SPEAKER_04: Modern does, you know, we haven't spoken about modern, but like nobody's taking modern at the contemporary level.
43:41
SPEAKER_01: Yay, keep on keeping on.
43:44
SPEAKER_01: And like folks, let's talk about modern dance in college when you have a drummer in the room.
43:49
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, that is the most that was like the coolest thing ever.
43:53
SPEAKER_01: I've never experienced something like that.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: Or a pianist for ballet classes.
43:56
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
43:56
SPEAKER_01: It's just it takes it to a whole nother level.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: And again, And that's musicality.
44:01
SPEAKER_01: Hello.
44:02
SPEAKER_01: Like come on.
44:04
SPEAKER_01: So excited.
44:04
SPEAKER_01: It really is.
44:07
SPEAKER_04: I missed a live in-person dance class.
44:10
SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, like just taking a dance class in person with other people.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: And I would love to take a class with like a musician in the room.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: That just sounds so lovely.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: I can't tell you last time that I've done that.
44:23
SPEAKER_01: Alright, so we talked about musicality in a lot of different styles.
44:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna I'm gonna jump in real quick and talk about musicality and jazz because I love me some jazz dance.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: Y'all know my love me some jazz dance.
44:33
SPEAKER_01: Now here's another issue, and I'm I feel like I'm venting a lot today.
44:37
SPEAKER_01: So if I'm teaching on a convention, which I do a lot, and I usually teach jazz or musical theater, which can go hand in hand and as far as style stylistic quality, and I watch these beautiful dancers have the best musicality in their contemporary solos the night before a competition.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: But then they come to my jazz or musical theater class and they cannot figure out what's going on with the music.
45:00
SPEAKER_01: I gave them counts, I gave them rhythm, just like you said, Leslie.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: We give them the tools, I gave you lyrics, still can't find the beat.
45:07
SPEAKER_01: Why where do we feel again it's a disconnect in in blending the styles, but why do we feel that that happens in jazz, which also jazz we need to ex we need to explore the dynamics more in jazz across the board for everyone?
45:22
SPEAKER_01: But Tommy, go, you have your hand raised.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: I literally have my hand raised because it's it's something that I make sure that I give with my students because the problem with most studios now with jazz, and I know you love your jazz, Courtney.
45:35
SPEAKER_00: I know you and you real jazz.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: Jazz has turned into that vehicle that you learn all of your tricks in.
45:43
SPEAKER_00: Jazz is no longer jazz dance, it's where you are doing your bot mods, it's where you're doing your turn sequences, it's where you're going across the floor doing the progressions of like, but doing all of your tricks.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: Jazz is no longer jazz class, jazz is about tricks.
45:59
SPEAKER_02: Right.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: It's never about actually dancing.
46:03
SPEAKER_00: And I refuse in my jazz classes for the most part.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, you might get one leap, you might get a couple bop mots, but I bot a moss, bop mobs, botamols.
46:14
SPEAKER_00: But I'm going to I'm playing back to listening to the rhythm of that song and rhythm and style.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: You need to learn style.
46:22
SPEAKER_00: There's no style.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: So I feel like that is why when people get to jazz class, they just aren't there.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: It's because they don't think of jazz as a style.
46:33
SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
46:34
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about all the jazz dances that you do basically most jazz dances, they look like the competition routines that you'd see from a competitive uh dance squad.
46:44
SPEAKER_06: Right.
46:44
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: You know, like a college dance team or a drill team with all musical turns and sync and all of that perfect.
46:50
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're seeing.
46:51
SPEAKER_00: We're not actually seeing jazz walks and move and turn what's a none of that's happening.
46:58
SPEAKER_00: You know?
46:58
SPEAKER_04: Right.
46:58
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
46:59
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
47:00
SPEAKER_02: And we we see maybe two jazz per weekend.
47:03
SPEAKER_02: If it's really just even see it, it's probably contemporary in the jazz category.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: Right.
47:07
SPEAKER_03: I think that's a musicality thing too.
47:09
SPEAKER_03: Like our dancers are doing so much lyrical and so much contemporary that they want everything to be drawn out and long and big and grand.
47:18
SPEAKER_03: And when you ask them to make something shorter, they physically can't do it anymore.
47:22
SPEAKER_03: They don't have the body control to move quickly.
47:25
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right.
47:26
SPEAKER_03: And that goes back to ballet bar.
47:27
SPEAKER_03: We're not doing degays, we're not training how to move quickly out and in.
47:31
SPEAKER_03: So those muscles to go out and in aren't aren't there.
47:35
SPEAKER_03: That's probably another conversation.
47:37
SPEAKER_03: But yeah.
47:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
47:40
SPEAKER_01: Just the dynamics in general, how to hit something.
47:43
SPEAKER_01: You know, I I feel like every time I teach jazz, I try to vocalize, kind of like what we said at the very beginning of this conversation, vocalize how I want the movement to look.
47:54
SPEAKER_01: So I I talk, I'm like, and really I I'll even sing the lyrics and I'll like go higher on one of the words so I can get you to feel that or know that that's a dynamic shift and shading in what your movement should look like and that should be guiding you.
48:11
SPEAKER_01: I think that there are so many times we've talked about this as far as like the arcs of the song.
48:16
SPEAKER_01: There are dancers that just don't even know that that exists, the arcs.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: Some, you know, your example was there weren't any arcs.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: Right.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: So when you are given a song that has those dynamic shifts, you as a dancer need to guide off of that.
48:30
SPEAKER_01: And your movement quality should change a hundred percent because of that.
48:34
SPEAKER_01: You know, it should automatically change.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: Like you should you shouldn't even have to think about it.
48:38
SPEAKER_01: It should naturally grow or soften, you know, whatever it is.
48:41
SPEAKER_01: I need I feel like that's missing a lot.
48:43
SPEAKER_01: But in jazz in particular, I just feel like kind of like what you said, Christina, like the the hits aren't there, the quick movements aren't there.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: There are so many stunning contemporary dancers that get into jazz and don't look like a contemporary dancer trying to do jazz and not switching gears and being like, I'm a jazz dancer now.
49:01
SPEAKER_01: How do I, how do I adapt to this style differently?
49:04
SPEAKER_01: And what does that mean?
49:05
SPEAKER_01: And Tommy, I 100% agree with you.
49:07
SPEAKER_01: And I didn't even put that into the equation because again, I'm learning so much right now in this conversation.
49:12
SPEAKER_01: I can't believe that people are replacing ballet class with technique class that's not a full ballet bar.
49:18
SPEAKER_01: And then I think that jazz classes are getting replaced with like tricks and turns class and leaps and turns or whatever.
49:25
SPEAKER_01: And maybe there's like one jazz class, or they're just working on their their, you know, a combo, or I I feel like I miss across the floor, I miss progressions.
49:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like those are what really mold you as a jazz dancer.
49:37
SPEAKER_01: And I don't I don't know any different because that's how I grew up training.
49:41
SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of shocking for me to like hear that, oh no, no one does that, you know.
49:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's just people are trimming the they're calling they're calling it fat.
49:50
SPEAKER_00: They're think they're trimming the fat by going to the combination right away, but in fact, they're trimming the muscle.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: That's the problem.
49:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:58
SPEAKER_00: All of those things, like you need all of those things that are cross-floor so that you have a stronger foundation so that when you get to the combo, all the pieces are there and you can kill it.
50:07
SPEAKER_00: But if you don't have all those pieces before that, it doesn't work.
50:10
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
50:10
SPEAKER_04: It's a very fast food approach to learning a technique, you know.
50:16
SPEAKER_04: I and we are, I think just as a society where we're just all guilty of that, you know, we want immediate gratification.
50:20
SPEAKER_04: We want, you know, Netflix to come out with something new tomorrow.
50:23
SPEAKER_04: Like we just want it now.
50:25
SPEAKER_04: Is that Veruc assault in in uh Charlie and Chocolate?
50:28
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, she wants it now.
50:29
SPEAKER_04: We want it now.
50:29
SPEAKER_04: And and that's really that is a hard thing to kind of overcome.
50:33
SPEAKER_04: But that's that's exactly why you're seeing a technique class and a turns and tricks class as opposed to a ballet class.
50:38
SPEAKER_04: And so I think the compromise, if it's not even a compromise, it's making people do more things.
50:43
SPEAKER_04: But keep those classes, that's fair.
50:44
SPEAKER_04: Do you want to learn a leg leg catch turn?
50:46
SPEAKER_04: Fine.
50:47
SPEAKER_04: Take your take your tricks and turns class, but then you also have to go to jazz.
50:51
SPEAKER_04: Then you also have to go to ballet.
50:52
SPEAKER_04: I think that those tricks and turns classes need to be elective.
50:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
50:56
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
50:56
SPEAKER_01: Like I think that we can have them, we can offer them, but that shouldn't replace some of these classes.
51:03
SPEAKER_01: You know, may maybe tap is an elective, maybe hip hop is an elective, so should tricks and turns.
51:08
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna go work on my leg catch turns, we're gonna go work on my all of the con.
51:11
SPEAKER_01: But jazz class is jazz class with a warm-up, with isolations, with progressions and across the floor, you know, and that's walk.
51:19
SPEAKER_03: Teachers how to walk again.
51:21
SPEAKER_01: Give me a jazz walk, foot on the heels, do a strut across the floor.
51:25
SPEAKER_01: I don't like those are things that are gonna be helpful.
51:28
SPEAKER_01: And I got off the musicality talk for a minute, but that's okay.
51:31
SPEAKER_04: But you're you're hearing it from us.
51:32
SPEAKER_04: It all breeze in and out.
51:34
SPEAKER_04: It really does.
51:34
SPEAKER_04: It does.
51:35
SPEAKER_04: It does.
51:35
SPEAKER_04: It does.
51:36
SPEAKER_04: People have asked us, this is a very this is a topic we've been wanting to cover in more depth for two years.
51:42
SPEAKER_04: And, you know, people are always wondering, how do I get my dancer up to that that next level?
51:46
SPEAKER_04: How do I, how do we get a better score?
51:48
SPEAKER_04: How do we this is how and this is not easy.
51:52
SPEAKER_04: This this is something where you cannot expect this to happen overnight because it should have been happening since they were three.
51:58
SPEAKER_04: So if you have a dancer who's 15 who's not doing as well as you or they want to do at competition, investigate what their musicality looks like and investigate what that ballet class looks like.
52:10
SPEAKER_04: Add another one.
52:11
SPEAKER_04: You know, if if you're not already playing an instrument or being in band or taking music lessons, something as simple as a YouTube tutorial, you know what I mean, on musicality is is just gonna be such a good foundation for what we're talking about right now.
52:26
SPEAKER_03: There's some software that my son plays with that is basically like a DJ setup.
52:32
SPEAKER_03: It's a website, and you can click on the different buttons and you can pick what instruments it's gonna do, and then you push play and it plays you your song.
52:40
SPEAKER_04: Oh, cool.
52:40
SPEAKER_03: This is brilliant.
52:42
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna use this with everyone from now on.
52:45
SPEAKER_03: He's learned so much about music and he does not want to dance.
52:48
SPEAKER_03: He wants to do taekwondo, and okay, fine.
52:51
SPEAKER_03: But I feel like that little bit of musicality lesson that he got from this tiny little program that he found online is better than a lot of the the musicality that I encounter on a daily basis with dancers.
53:07
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
53:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
53:08
SPEAKER_04: I would love it if you could share with us when you think of it what that is, so we can include it in the show notes.
53:12
SPEAKER_03: I'll make a note to find that link.
53:15
SPEAKER_01: Because now I'm like, ooh, I want to do that.
53:16
SPEAKER_01: That sounds fun.
53:17
SPEAKER_03: It's amazing.
53:17
SPEAKER_03: I play with it.
53:18
SPEAKER_01: It's I think something that was interesting that you said, Leslie, is you know, you kind of you kind of said, like, if if you're not doing as well as you want to, maybe it's check your musicality.
53:32
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's important to hear because there are so many layers that we have to add to make us a fantastic dancer.
53:42
SPEAKER_01: And one of those is is musicality, or other things include performance quality, the technique, style, execution, so many all the things that we're judging you on at a competition that's on our score sheet, those come into play as to how your score ends.
53:59
SPEAKER_01: And musicality, although sometimes it may or may not be an actual subcategory in the score, that's still a part of the equation.
54:08
SPEAKER_01: And it's another layer that we have to add.
54:11
SPEAKER_01: You are like I said at the beginning, you could be the best technical dancer I've ever seen in my whole life.
54:15
SPEAKER_01: But if you aren't dancing to the music, I don't care.
54:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, we have to really make sure that we're doing that more in class.
54:22
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know how to stress it anymore, besides maybe you know, trying tap class or actually Kelly Kelly uh posted.
54:31
SPEAKER_01: Did you see that post that I reposted from Kramer?
54:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
54:34
SPEAKER_01: She uh Kelly, one of our judges, she posted she's a tapper and she posted this really great post on Facebook that I just recently shared.
54:40
SPEAKER_01: And she was like, Don't skip your tap class at convention.
54:44
SPEAKER_01: If you're paying to go to convention for this entire day, you've already paid for it.
54:48
SPEAKER_01: You know, you're there.
54:50
SPEAKER_01: If you don't take tap, go learn something new and maybe you'll learn something from that class.
54:53
SPEAKER_01: Or go jump into the level below you because you're intimidated that you don't take tap or whatever it is.
54:59
SPEAKER_01: Don't make an excuse or be versatile and take that as an opportunity to learn something new.
55:04
SPEAKER_01: And who knows, you might that might be a light bulb moment for you to figure out your musicality even stronger than you did before because you never took tap.
55:12
SPEAKER_01: And maybe after that you might go start taking tap class, and then your dancing will just evolve and change into so many beautiful ways because you're hearing the music differently and you're counting your music, which I I preach that every time.
55:23
SPEAKER_01: Y'all know if if you're listening, you took my class, you know I've asked you that question if you count your music.
55:27
SPEAKER_01: And you probably told me you don't.
55:29
SPEAKER_01: And now you and you know if you come back to my class, your hand better be raised because you know the answer to that question.
55:35
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I I love counting, Courtney.
55:37
SPEAKER_01: Dear Lord.
55:39
SPEAKER_01: I think please start counting.
55:41
SPEAKER_03: Going to tap classes, even at conventions, also opens up a whole new vocabulary.
55:46
SPEAKER_03: Like, yes, I hear us saying these things that I don't know that every dancer knows.
55:50
SPEAKER_03: Like, does everyone know what in the pocket?
55:52
SPEAKER_03: Does everyone know what it means to be to have shading and rises in the music?
55:56
SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't know that that's a language that is widely used among other dancers outside of tap and jazz and hip hop.
56:05
SPEAKER_01: That's true.
56:06
SPEAKER_01: Very true.
56:07
SPEAKER_01: That's a good point.
56:07
SPEAKER_01: And I I relate that as well to like approaching like a ballroom class.
56:11
SPEAKER_01: There's so much new language in in a ballroom class or a modern dance class or a Bollywood class that I don't know.
56:19
SPEAKER_01: And I would learn just by going to class and taking it once.
56:23
SPEAKER_01: So I think that some people are probably more excited to take a ballroom class because that's not as that's not offered at their studio ever.
56:30
SPEAKER_01: So it is, it does feel like a bonus elective.
56:33
SPEAKER_01: Whereas tap is offered, but I just choose not to take it because I don't like it.
56:37
SPEAKER_01: Or I tried it, but I didn't like it.
56:38
SPEAKER_01: Whereas it's like, no, every teacher's gonna give you a different experience.
56:42
SPEAKER_01: You could learn something new from you know, everybody's everybody's experience might be different.
56:46
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, nobody's ever harmed from having more information.
56:51
SPEAKER_01: Right.
56:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
56:52
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't hurt to like even if it's uh a small bit, uh it's going to shift your world that much.
56:58
SPEAKER_04: Totally.
56:59
SPEAKER_04: And like you said, Christina, it it is interesting because, you know, the first time I heard in the pocket, it was in the ref in reference to drummers and music and jazz.
57:08
SPEAKER_04: And uh but then it makes total sense as to why tap dancers apply it.
57:11
SPEAKER_04: Right.
57:12
SPEAKER_04: You know, because tap dancers are drummers too, just with their feet.
57:14
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
57:15
SPEAKER_04: So yeah, the vocabulary, that's if if that's the only reason you go do something new, that's why you should go do something new because it can be applicable across genres.
57:24
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, even just watching could be helpful.
57:27
SPEAKER_01: If you are too afraid to get up and participate or physicalize the movement in tap class at a convention, just go sit and watch and take and really listen and watch the other dancers apply what the teacher's saying.
57:39
SPEAKER_01: Just leaving class and going and like hanging out with your friends and eating lunch isn't going to do anything for you.
57:44
SPEAKER_01: You can definitely value from just sitting in and listening to class 100%.
57:48
SPEAKER_01: Take all of those opportunities that are there for you, you know?
57:51
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
57:51
SPEAKER_01: And hostiles.
57:52
SPEAKER_03: It's another way of training your ear.
57:54
SPEAKER_03: Train your ear to hear another interpretation of the music or train your your ear to hear a swing rhythm or just finding different grooves that you don't you're not used to hearing in your eight count arabesque.
58:07
SPEAKER_04: Right.
58:08
SPEAKER_04: Well, and another thing that I think is important too is as teachers, you know, I I gravitate towards a certain style of music.
58:14
SPEAKER_04: Tommy, I'm sure you do, Christina, you we all do.
58:16
SPEAKER_04: Right.
58:16
SPEAKER_04: But that is another thing I think as teachers that we have control over is okay, in order to teach musicality properly, I can't just keep listening to Ani DeFranco or Jesse J or whoever it is that you really love or whatever style.
58:30
SPEAKER_04: Like we really do need to take ownership of that ability to pull from different genres of music because they're all gonna have a different groove and a different feeling, and it's gonna then change what you do as your choreography, which is only gonna be better for everyone.
58:45
SPEAKER_01: All right, y'all.
58:45
SPEAKER_01: Well, this has been so good.
58:48
SPEAKER_01: I loved this conversation and I knew I would, and I knew you two were the perfect people for it.
58:55
SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for joining us, and I hope that to all of our listeners out there that you learned a little bit about what musicality is.
59:03
SPEAKER_01: We talked about a lot of a lot of different things, and we definitely covered every genre.
59:07
SPEAKER_01: We did.
59:08
SPEAKER_01: And we hopefully defined it for you.
59:12
SPEAKER_01: So, y'all, this was so great.
59:14
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
59:15
SPEAKER_01: And to lead us out, do you have any final thoughts that you'd like to share with the world about musicality?
59:22
SPEAKER_00: Keep pushing it, keep stressing it, don't be afraid of it.
59:25
SPEAKER_00: I feel like so many, like so many times, like we're afraid to do something that's outside of our comfort zone.
59:32
SPEAKER_00: Just push yourselves to go a little bit further.
59:35
SPEAKER_00: It's only going to benefit you and your students that much more.
59:38
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, definitely.
59:40
SPEAKER_03: Go give yourself a challenge.
59:42
SPEAKER_03: Keep in mind the qualities that make dancers stand out to you.
59:47
SPEAKER_03: For me, that's usually the dancers who are super connected to their music, who are super invested and showing me something about the song or about their story that I didn't notice for myself.
59:58
SPEAKER_03: I don't necessarily remember every dancer who kicks their face or does 400 pirouettes.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_03: So finding those ways to use the music to show us the different side of yourself or show us something new is always outstanding.
1:00:17
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for joining us for this fun talk about musicality.
1:00:21
SPEAKER_01: Follow our guests on social media.
1:00:23
SPEAKER_01: You can find Christina at ChristinaTap2 and Tommy at TommyToeSec.
1:00:29
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1:01:22
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1:01:25
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