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Regional Differences at Dance Competitions · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_00: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: Dance competitions happen all over the United States.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: And just like the slang we hear in different parts of the country, there are some unique differences in the dance styles, themes, and techniques found from coast to coast and everywhere in between.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Today on Making the Impact, we explore the regional differences that we've noticed through our time judging around the country.
0:44
SPEAKER_03: Hey y'all, welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
0:48
SPEAKER_03: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: Hello, Courtney.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: Excited to be here today, as usual.
0:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm super excited as well.
0:57
SPEAKER_03: We're back for another episode, and it's the new year, it's going great, competition season has arrived.
1:04
SPEAKER_03: And speaking of, we have been talking a lot on, and we've mentioned this a lot on the podcast on many previous episodes about how there may be some differences when the judges go out at different regions across the country, what they're seeing on the East Coast versus the West Coast.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna talk about that one today.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we have some awesome guests.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm really excited to hear their perspectives, especially because I haven't been out around anything but really the East Coast in quite a while.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: It's been a while since I've been to the West Coast.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: So I'm really excited to hear what is going on out there in the world and to give y'all as listeners just some insight into what's happening around the country.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, let's face it, we don't we don't all travel all over the place to dance.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes you are just in your little bubble.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: So it'll be really cool to hear about what's going on in all the regions.
1:51
SPEAKER_03: Yes, so let's get into this awesome episode.
1:54
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3:01
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3:09
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3:18
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3:41
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4:05
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4:10
SPEAKER_03: Alright, everyone, welcome to our post New Year's episode.
4:14
SPEAKER_03: And this is a fun one.
4:15
SPEAKER_03: I can't wait for this because we're talking all about the regional differences from what you see at dance competitions all around the country.
4:23
SPEAKER_03: And uh, of course, this has to be an IDA judge episode because all of our judges on the roster travel around the country to judge your dancers every single year.
4:33
SPEAKER_03: And this week we have two highly experienced judges who have been doing this in the biz for well over 10 years.
4:40
SPEAKER_03: They have been probably to every region in the United States and have seen the variety of talent that exists in each region.
4:47
SPEAKER_03: And there may be some interesting trends that exist based on where you're judging or what you know as a dance educator from where you grew up, and you go to another region and you're like, whoa, what's going on over here?
4:58
SPEAKER_03: So uh there's a lot of us who only go to regionals or maybe haven't been to our nationals yet, or maybe do a nationals that's local and never have branched out into the other side of the country or the another region in the country and don't really know what's happening over there besides just what you're seeing on social media.
5:14
SPEAKER_03: So now today on making the impact, you're gonna hear straight from the judges who have been there and judged that and tell you more about their experiences as a judge.
5:24
SPEAKER_03: I'm excited to welcome a brand new guest to our podcast and also a brand new judge to our roster this season.
5:29
SPEAKER_03: We're so excited to have her.
5:30
SPEAKER_03: I've been loving everything that she shares on social media and uh she's very, very experienced.
5:36
SPEAKER_03: She's been on every side of the table when it comes to the competition scene, as well as a former studio owner.
5:41
SPEAKER_03: I'm excited to get to know her even more right now.
5:43
SPEAKER_03: Please welcome Melanie Brook Durham to the podcast.
5:46
SPEAKER_03: Welcome, Melanie.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: Hello, thank you for having me.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to be here.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm an avid listener of the pod.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: So we love that.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: It is so nice to see your faces with the voices too.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: Just I know because I hear you a lot when I'm doing dishes, cleaning kitchens, walking the dog.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: So it's we're always with you.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: Always.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, there's another episode.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: I have to do a tour.
6:12
SPEAKER_03: I know.
6:13
SPEAKER_03: I feel like it is exciting to have something to listen to weekly.
6:15
SPEAKER_03: Like you never know what we're about to throw at you each week on a Thursday.
6:19
SPEAKER_03: And depending on where you when you listen, I always feel like that I have sleep something, even though I'm here and present recording, I still listen to the podcast.
6:27
SPEAKER_03: So I love having somebody listen to.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm excited to be here.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: And like you said, yeah, I've been on both sides, well, all five sides of the table, top side under and what's going on with the other competitions, as well as like choreographing and owning in a studio, running programs, but at the same time, like I'm really excited for today's topic because not a lot of people have this insight and the ability to speak on that or at least give a little bit of a little something into it.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited to be on here.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
6:57
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, of course.
6:59
SPEAKER_03: Well, Melanie, tell the world more about you, where you're from originally, uh, where you you are now, any uh early dance training and uh what you're currently working on.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sure.
7:12
SPEAKER_01: So, well, I am 43 years old.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: No, is it my favorite color is I am originally from Southern California.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: I grew up there dancing, owned a studio, sold it, decided like we needed just a change of pace, which was so nice.
7:28
SPEAKER_01: So we moved to northern Utah with one child.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: And since being here, we had another, which was in the plan.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: So I have a son and a daughter.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: My son is 12, he is a lacrosse player.
7:38
SPEAKER_01: He did dance for a little bit, but he loves to say, and I quote, the dancing is for sister.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: But don't let that fool you.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: He is the last one to leave the dance floor at every wedding we attend.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: So it he's got the bug.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: And he has been in school plays and musicals, so I don't know.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: It's there.
7:57
SPEAKER_01: My daughter is six years old, and she is just such a dancer, such a creative.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: My husband, um, we moved here and he is a law enforcement officer, so veteran, like just an amazing guy.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: He's one of the good guys, and sometimes they're very rare.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: Let's be honest, they can be rare, but I have a I have a golden nugget, so I'm not letting him get away.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: I teach up here, I dance um as far as like just on my own in my kitchen.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: I retired a long time ago for my own dancing.
8:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, hips are not the same anymore.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: And uh I uh oversee programs, I'm actually on faculty with Ballet West, specifically with their academy.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: May just mention that because I'm just involved with so much Nutcracker right now, and I know this comes out at the first of the year, and I'll be relieved.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's so nice to like take it to the um to the classroom and being involved.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: I'm a part of some other stuff that helps with leadership, with dance teachers across the country.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like just the experience and expertise that I've like built to have on my own, I'm able to give back in what I can.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: So it's been really nice to be, like I said, all five sides of the table.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, been with Disney specifically in Anaheim, and then I have dancers that have graduated with postgrad masters in physical therapy for dancers and just going on with something having to do with dance.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: And so that's been really gratifying to me.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: Not necessarily do they go on stage or cruise ships, and I love that, but they're also finding their own path and their own way through dance and what dance has given them.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: I've attended many a wedding.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: I think one of them's like uh she just had like another child.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, didn't I teach you piroettes?
9:31
SPEAKER_01: Like, what is happening right now?
9:33
SPEAKER_01: So, but it is nice to keep growing in it.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, 29 years of teaching dance now, and I mean, we're still going strong.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: So I pray that goes on for many years.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
9:44
SPEAKER_03: Love that.
9:45
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you're doing it all.
9:46
SPEAKER_03: And um, I love hearing that.
9:48
SPEAKER_03: And I know you've been doing a lot of judging and directing and things in the competition industry.
9:52
SPEAKER_03: So I can't wait to hear uh your West Coast perspective of all of this.
9:56
SPEAKER_03: So thanks for being here.
9:58
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
9:59
SPEAKER_03: Let's meet our next very special guest, IDA Judge, who is joining us here on the podcast.
10:04
SPEAKER_03: And it's been a hot second since they've been on the pod.
10:07
SPEAKER_03: And you know what?
10:08
SPEAKER_03: You know how I always share um the their previous episodes with the world, because I like to just give a little reminder in case you've listened to that episode and you can go back and give it a listen again after you listen to this one.
10:19
SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
10:21
SPEAKER_03: Not only was he in one of our hottest episodes ever, season two, episode 53, Tricks versus Technique, which was one of the hottest episodes in existence of Making the Impact, but we go all the way back to our very first episode ever of Making the Impact.
10:37
SPEAKER_03: Oh my god, that was so long ago.
10:40
SPEAKER_03: Season one, episode one.
10:42
SPEAKER_03: What dance competitions taught me.
10:45
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I have to give that one a listen.
10:47
SPEAKER_03: I need to really know.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, we were different people.
10:52
SPEAKER_04: I was in a completely different phase in my life.
10:55
SPEAKER_04: I remember being in my little closet in Los Angeles, and it was like my sliding door was closed.
11:01
SPEAKER_04: I was like, are we doing okay here?
11:03
SPEAKER_04: Okay, can you hear me?
11:04
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
11:04
SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, this was like a lifetime ago.
11:07
SPEAKER_04: That's so crazy.
11:08
SPEAKER_03: It's crazy.
11:09
SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm so happy to welcome one of the almost OGs from the very beginning, IDA judges, Mr.
11:16
SPEAKER_03: Troy Haywood to the podcast.
11:17
SPEAKER_03: Welcome, Troy.
11:18
SPEAKER_04: I'm back.
11:19
SPEAKER_04: Hello, everybody.
11:20
SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much for having me.
11:22
SPEAKER_04: I'm excited to be here and talk with y'all again and again and again about what's going on around the country.
11:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I know you've been out and around the country judging tons and tons for the past decade.
11:35
SPEAKER_03: And in fun fact, Troy took my jazz class a few weeks ago at Steps on Broadway.
11:40
SPEAKER_03: It was so much better.
11:42
SPEAKER_04: My first Steps on Broadway class, and it was at eight, what time, eight thirty at night?
11:47
SPEAKER_04: I was like, this is nuts.
11:49
SPEAKER_04: This is crazy.
11:50
SPEAKER_04: I'm here right now.
11:50
SPEAKER_04: But we were we were living, we were really living up there.
11:53
SPEAKER_03: Y'all were living, you were kickball changing and pure wedding at nine o'clock.
11:56
SPEAKER_03: It was wonderful, and I loved it.
11:58
SPEAKER_04: I know I had I had no idea that I had it in me.
12:02
SPEAKER_04: I had no clue.
12:04
SPEAKER_03: Well, Troy, we're happy to have you back.
12:06
SPEAKER_03: Could you share and remind everyone out there more about you?
12:09
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
12:09
SPEAKER_04: Hello, my name is Troy Haywood.
12:12
SPEAKER_04: I am a Charlotte, North Carolina native.
12:16
SPEAKER_04: I have not stayed here for my whole life, but born and raised.
12:22
SPEAKER_04: Um, I am also a competition kid.
12:25
SPEAKER_04: So I started training at a studio here when I was 14.
12:29
SPEAKER_04: Um, immediately went into the professional world as soon as I turned 18 in a very familiar familial company, Royal Caribbean Productions.
12:39
SPEAKER_04: So, yes, I did my first contract in 2007 and I stayed with them until 2011, so 18 to 22.
12:50
SPEAKER_04: Um, so I lived a whole life on those ships as well.
12:53
SPEAKER_04: And then during my contracts or in between my contracts, I got back into the studio and really fell in love, fell back in love with like creating and choreography.
13:04
SPEAKER_04: And as I grow older, I'm like, I used to, I've been doing this my whole entire life, whether I've been like getting a check for it, or whether I'm just like making everybody sit down and watch what I've made.
13:16
SPEAKER_04: Um, so it's really, really cool to like to see it all staying around me.
13:23
SPEAKER_04: I don't know, a little bit more about what I'm doing now.
13:26
SPEAKER_04: I am on faculty at a really competitive pre-professional company here in just outside of Charlotte.
13:33
SPEAKER_04: It's called Academy of Dance and Fine Arts.
13:36
SPEAKER_04: We're in Mooresville, North Carolina.
13:38
SPEAKER_04: Shout out to my homies.
13:39
SPEAKER_04: I've been here for, I've been a guest teacher here for about 10 years, but now I've been on faculty um for five.
13:48
SPEAKER_04: I consider myself a choreographer by trade.
13:50
SPEAKER_04: Um, that's my passion.
13:52
SPEAKER_04: I love to choreograph, but by day I'm a dance teacher.
13:56
SPEAKER_04: And yeah, I just work closely with the kids and uh I'm their jazz technique teachers.
14:03
SPEAKER_04: So we are in good company here.
14:07
SPEAKER_04: I'm a big, big, big jazz fan.
14:09
SPEAKER_04: And I think just what I've really found my niche in is helping young kids find their stylistic voice and like just like honing into like what's already inside of them that I can enhance a little bit more.
14:24
SPEAKER_04: Um, I find that that's like where my passion has really come up for me.
14:30
SPEAKER_04: And it's fun to watch these kids like find find their voice.
14:35
SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
14:36
SPEAKER_04: One of my kids just got accepted into the CLI conservatory for next season.
14:40
SPEAKER_04: So I am like so, so, so excited for her.
14:44
SPEAKER_04: Been working with her since she was a freshman.
14:46
SPEAKER_04: So it's like like those things are just like fueling me up so much because I don't know.
14:52
SPEAKER_04: I I love watching kids become themselves.
14:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
14:57
SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, that's what I'm doing.
14:59
SPEAKER_04: That's what's going on.
15:00
SPEAKER_03: Love that, Troy.
15:02
SPEAKER_03: Yes, you're making an impact on all of these dancers' lives and their journey throughout their time in the dance studio.
15:07
SPEAKER_03: And that's gotta be such a great feeling.
15:10
SPEAKER_04: It is, it is.
15:10
SPEAKER_04: I also own a small or not own, I manage a small little yoga studio in Charlotte.
15:16
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, the dance thing, that really is the thing that just keeps my my heart pumping.
15:21
SPEAKER_03: I love it.
15:22
SPEAKER_03: Well, y'all, we have so much to cover with two very experienced professionals in this industry.
15:28
SPEAKER_03: So let's talk about the regional differences at competitions.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, here we go.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: All right, y'all.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks for joining us again.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: And this is a big topic because, you know, we're really only also covering uh the United States.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the competitive dance industry is worldwide.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: So I'll be curious, you know, maybe we can do a trend around the world um in the future because I think it's definitely bigger than just us.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: But since we're here in the United States, let's start.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: Let's go, let's pop it over to Melanie and think about the West Coast.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: Because you spent most of your time over on that side of the country teaching.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure Troy, you've been over there judging too.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: But tell us about the West Coast.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: What do you think they're known for?
16:11
SPEAKER_00: What do you think is something that stands out as a trend or just as a general, general piece of information about dance on the West Coast?
16:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's definitely it has its own pockets, and I hate to use that word, but at the same time, it's very broad.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: So the reason I say it like that is because Southern California is always feels like a whole separate state than Northern California.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: So there's those two aesthetically different differences with just the regions and where you're brought up.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: So if I've been brought up with dancing in West Coast as far as Southern California, yes, there's LA, there's San Diego.
16:47
SPEAKER_01: But then once I would go to Northern California, Bay Area to go judge, it's dramatically different.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: I won't see the same thing.
16:56
SPEAKER_01: So for example, going up to San Jose, I'm gonna see more of the Bay Area with Chinese folk dancing.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna see the silks, I'm gonna see the fans, I'm gonna see the long silky sleeves and the headdresses.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: I remember I was there just a couple of years ago, and there was one with a, I want to say it was like an ostrich feather, a quail feather, and they literally had it in the headdress, and I was like, daddy, I'm loving it.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: And then they pulled it out and it became a prop.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: And it was this, I mean, I think my adjudication was a lot of like, I didn't see that.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: But it was gorgeously precise and pristine.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: And then what did they do with part of the choreography?
17:35
SPEAKER_01: They put it back and kept going.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay, stop right now.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: So it's not something I would see down in San Diego, right?
17:42
SPEAKER_01: So going down to San Diego, I would see there's some mariachi, there's some actual um flamenco, there's like it's based on your ethnic culture of the area.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: So for me, having that exposure within Anaheim and LA, Orange County, you are seeing some, but not as strong as far as like the ethnicity differences and Northern California versus Southern.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: So um, but there's also a little bit of a surfer vibe if you go towards the West Coast of the, you know, if I'm gonna be in Venice or Malibu, totally different.
18:16
SPEAKER_01: But also, too, I'm gonna say it the budgets are different.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: So if you're in Inland Empire, Riverside San Bernardino studio, where I owned my studio in Riverside, we would go and do nationals in Anaheim in Disneyland Hotel and all the things.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: And like you could tell who was coming from the valley, who was coming from Venice, because interesting.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you have 1400 pounds of rhinestones on.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: And I have five, but I'm working it.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: And so it was a monetary difference as a dancer and then also studio owner.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: You felt I felt pressure to also deliver something clean, maybe not loaded with rhinestones, but like it's gonna be clean lines.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: Let's get the hair right because you're still representing your studio in your area.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: And I know it's like so hard to say, but it doesn't matter which you wear.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: But I feel like there it's all about what you wear and what you're doing.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: I mean, down to the shoe.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if your shorts didn't have that certain brand tag on it, why are you wearing like why?
19:21
SPEAKER_01: Really?
19:22
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's disgusting.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: But nowadays, with all these different brands of dance wear that are now the fad via social media, make the real, be our ambassador, and all these things, it's it's increased.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: I want to say worse for wear, but the pressure of that.
19:40
SPEAKER_01: So I really like seeing the ethnicity of the dance coming on the stage and what's different for me as an adjudicator.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: It's exciting.
19:49
SPEAKER_01: It really is to see the different flavors.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: It's cool.
19:52
SPEAKER_01: And I wish there was more of that.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: I think there's a little safe zone, but even split between just that.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: And I will include Phoenix.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: You know, you have Nevada, Phoenix in that whole plot.
20:03
SPEAKER_01: For example, Phoenix, that's a whole nother ball of wax.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: There's there's a lot of pressure to be built and chiseled, and it's it's it's a lot of difference than okay, you're covered in rainstone.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's it's interesting as far as aesthetic goes.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Troy, have you been out to the west coast much to judge?
20:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I used to live in LA.
20:21
SPEAKER_04: So I lived in LA for three years.
20:23
SPEAKER_04: And while I was out there, I judged in just outside of LA in Santa Cl.
20:30
SPEAKER_04: Um, I don't even want to say it wrong, Santa Clarita.
20:33
SPEAKER_04: Is that real?
20:34
SPEAKER_04: That sounds real, yeah.
20:35
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
20:35
SPEAKER_04: And then San Diego, and then I judged the nationals one time in Anaheim.
20:40
SPEAKER_04: But other than that, those are the three places I've been in California and the whole West Coast.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: And did did you re did you notice anything different that stood out to you about that?
20:51
SPEAKER_04: I remember that that national event was it was so uh the tension was really high in the space.
21:01
SPEAKER_04: And uh every it felt like everybody was there to win the grand prize.
21:09
SPEAKER_04: And and it was almost like and I know that we're there like to compete, but a lot of what I saw was everybody kind of doing the same thing, but we're trying to do it better.
21:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, interesting.
21:22
SPEAKER_04: And interesting, yeah.
21:24
SPEAKER_04: We're just yeah, we're just trying to do it better than the other person.
21:28
SPEAKER_04: But I also was only in that little Southern California space.
21:32
SPEAKER_04: That the most north I went was Santa Clarita, which is just outside of Los Angeles.
21:39
SPEAKER_04: So I've only been down in the southern part, but that's kind of the the vibe that I was feeling.
21:46
SPEAKER_04: It felt, yeah, it just felt like I was just watching the same thing happening.
21:50
SPEAKER_04: And the talent is outstanding.
21:52
SPEAKER_04: Don't get me wrong.
21:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
21:54
SPEAKER_04: I was seeing some crazy stuff, but I dare I say I didn't see very much.
22:00
SPEAKER_04: originality, but it was also in a competition environment.
22:03
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
22:04
SPEAKER_04: As well.
22:04
SPEAKER_04: It was strictly competitive.
22:06
SPEAKER_04: It was, there was no convention attached or anything as well.
22:09
SPEAKER_04: So I find that that's also, if you weigh that in, there's a there's a difference there as well.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: That's true.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: But I will say in the last two to three years, it's been more artistic expression.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: So instead of more like robotic, it they're getting very brave.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: So where you'd probably see artistic ways to push the envelope in a concert dance performance or concert dance arena, they're bringing it to the competition stage in Southern California more so.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: And I will say Phoenix included.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: The last time I was in I was in Reno, but it was two years ago.
22:46
SPEAKER_01: And they were very I mean much similar but again in Reno, it was a regional a studio came from the Bay Area down to that region because they wanted a change of their pace.
22:57
SPEAKER_01: So I know we'll touch base on on that but that's also not uncommon because they're just competing around their own same old same old so they're like well let's get a let's get a win here.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: Let's get a leg up on this.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: So it is um there has been some really cool ideas and choreography coming out now but that's been the last three years I would say people are like all right well I see that I'm gonna one up it yeah cutthroat but I'm gonna do this and you're like where did that come from that was a jazz piece also wait my screen says you're eight how in the world there's still that happening crazy.
23:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah oh yeah I mean the town of Caliber out west is crazy.
23:34
SPEAKER_04: That's that's definitely a real thing because whenever I'm I'm like I'm picturing the nationals that I'm talking about I'm talking like I'm picturing this one dance studio that had these incredible little mini junior dancers that were doing I was like what in the world are you it's crazy.
23:53
SPEAKER_04: Yeah and it does it's it was throughout all of the ages too like mini junior teen senior they were all fantastic like they were all fantastic.
24:05
SPEAKER_03: You know what I feel like the West Coast kind of brings is a little bit of a fire compared not not like you know I I mean everyone has some fire but there's something really special about the confidence and the fire that the West a lot of West Coast dancers naturally have that worked into their training somehow.
24:24
SPEAKER_03: And like I think a lot of people always ask like how do I get my dancers to perform they're not confident.
24:29
SPEAKER_03: They don't have any expression they don't they're not emoting on stage or whatever it is but like there is something about like a like a full total package like 110% dedicated performance and maybe it is the cutthroat competitive nature of West Coast studios.
24:46
SPEAKER_03: I don't know but either regardless like that's not a bad thing to be competitive.
24:50
SPEAKER_03: It's a competition at the end of the day but I always feel like when I'm watching majority of these West Coast based studios, they just bring it when it comes to performance and then they have the technique to back it up and and like dynamics and attack and just it's like how do you teach that you know that is a quality that's really hard to for a lot of studios who admire what they're doing and and see the flash I think that's the thing like we all love a flash and a trick but when you add a flash and a trick with good performance and execution then of course that's gonna do well.
25:23
SPEAKER_03: And I think that you know a lot of times we're we're inspired by some of these really hard hitting exceptional studios that come out from California and Arizona and Nevada and Oregon and things like that.
25:35
SPEAKER_03: But that I think that performance quality is uh something that they really know how to do well.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: Well and I think too I mean I remember back back in high school I was taking classes at a couple other studios and they would have guest teachers come in from LA and from New York.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: And I remember specifically the very first time I took a class from a guest teacher who was somebody who was teaching in LA at the time.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: Just it was fresh and it was exciting and it was so current.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: It felt like they were pushing she was pushing the envelope of what you could ever even do just in terms of performance quality and energy level and and I remember thinking like wow that exists somewhere.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: And I think that idea and that feeling of like fresh and current and cutting edge and pushing the envelope comes from places like LA and like you know San Diego and places like that where they're they're cultural hubs in and of themselves not only for dance but for other parts of the culture where you're getting the music, you're getting the fashion, you're getting the pop culture and that just seeps down into dance as well.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: And that's I'm like that was 20 something years ago and it it still feels like that is that like places like that just feel so fresh is the word that I want to keep using.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: It's just fresh and like ah that's different.
26:48
SPEAKER_01: I love that there's parts of the country where it's big city right you have LA, New York Chicago, those have like I like to call those the pulse nucleus like you have your finger on the pulse you're if you're so if you're closer to LA that's why it feels fresh right like if they have a finger on the pulse of what's going on in the circuit or what's going on in the the biz the industry and it makes it fresh and exciting.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: And I'm really glad Courtney you mentioned um up like in Oregon because that includes West Coast.
27:13
SPEAKER_01: So Seattle they have their own vibe too the hip hop in Seattle is the hip hop in Seattle yes I mean and there's these wonderful tap dancers there too and I'm like what what where are you and sometimes they're at the same studio right hello timing and musicality.
27:27
SPEAKER_01: But like facilities and yes and even into Portland they have their own vibe but some of those studios and those dancers in the Portland area they have that flash so they're bringing in they're bringing in the people and some are just everybody's happy to be there but you do see certain flashiness I will say and it expands that coast.
27:48
SPEAKER_03: Okay so we have more regions to cover and let's talk about the Midwest does anything come to mind when you think about the Midwest and there are a ton of studios in the Midwest as well as tons of competitions that host events in the Midwest specifically and one of the things that comes to mind for me and I know that there's a lot of different hubs for it but tap dance is is definitely existing uh pretty well in certain pockets of the Midwest I'm specifically thinking of St.
28:14
SPEAKER_03: Louis I feel like they have a big dance scene there awesome talent in St.
28:18
SPEAKER_04: Louis across the board as well and then we have like you said uh the hub of Chicago which is very uh classic driven I think a lot of ballet influence a lot of jazz influence a lot of modern influence so anything else that you think about or have noticed when you judge in the Midwest regions that's what I was like what comes up for me whenever I think of especially those two places that you mentioned Courtney are just the bare bones of the dance like and they do it so well like like you said like the tap dancing it is there's it's clean and it's precise and there's no no questions no doubts no qualms about it.
29:03
SPEAKER_04: And that's what I kind of find up in Illinois as well whenever I go up there because I go I judge with positive vibes and that's kind of like their area right there.
29:13
SPEAKER_04: And I see precision and cleanliness and I'm trying to I'm trying to find the the right word uh precision cleanliness uh it's like the discipline maybe like a like a a stronger discipline of the the basics if that makes sense and then being able to expand them from there.
29:37
SPEAKER_04: Yeah because because I can see like I see it all we see it all whenever we're sitting there at the table all day we see uh beginner intermediate advanced and young to old all of this and what I see is a like a gradual understanding of like advanced in it in in the way that it's taught as well.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't know I don't know how how to explain like a progression like a very clear progression.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah that's what I want to see as a judge.
30:07
SPEAKER_04: Exactly yes like like we were just talking about the minis and the juniors over on the west coast and they're doing all of these crazy elements and tricks and then whenever I whenever we get into the center the more central of the country I see that we're taking slower steps to build a little bit more of like the foundation.
30:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah and it and it could be like like amount of time commitment you know if we were talking about like the budget of dance on the West Coast and we can even like drop in Florida to that Mexico let's be real the minis in Florida are insane.
30:44
SPEAKER_03: The dancers in Florida across the board are insane.
30:47
SPEAKER_03: So like let's sprinkle them into this like with this budget chat because maybe people can just have more time and money to spend on dance which means they can get to those basics quicker because they're in the studio more than maybe dancers in the Midwest possibly and granted with that I will like circle min Minnesota into the Midwest because they know how oh my gosh Minnesota they are dancing for their lives in Minnesota.
31:13
SPEAKER_03: And that is they eat, sleep breathe it it's it's hockey or dance in Minnesota, you know so like that's they put their time and energy and they're producing like similar top quality exceptional minis like the West Coast and Florida is doing.
31:28
SPEAKER_03: So I think it could come into like a budget aspect too where maybe some dancers just can't don't can't afford to be in dance 247 and that is okay because I like to see those basics like you described Troy being shown throughout each age and level of the studio.
31:45
SPEAKER_03: I like to see that natural progression of a studio because that shows me as a judge that you are taking the steps and maybe we don't need to always advance our minis beyond their capability at age seven or eight.
31:56
SPEAKER_03: I don't necessarily need that I'm equally as happy if they're doing a kickball change and a pivot turn, you know, at seven because that's what kind of my expectation is if they go beyond that that's on you and that's great as as long as the technique and the basics are there.
32:08
SPEAKER_03: But not everyone can afford to do that.
32:16
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32:19
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32:39
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32:49
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33:19
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33:22
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33:24
SPEAKER_01: Click the link in our show notes or visit our website at Impactdanceadjudicators.com slash online critiques to submit your dance today well and I find myself saying like it's hard because you you want to say okay you're doing wonderful to a dancer that's doing so much but you're also like hashtag too much too soon.
33:47
SPEAKER_01: So like where is the kickball change and the pivot turn and give me a I'm gonna say give me a jazz hand a pop of the hip if you can do that on a beat or on that double pop pop of the music I want to see that I don't want to see a right leg come up to another extension for the fourth time because I'm gonna say okay righty you showed me right I just show you have a left I can see it.
34:06
SPEAKER_01: Why aren't you using it?
34:07
SPEAKER_01: Like it goes back to those judging basics if you will right I'm gonna throw in the mix there also Branson and Des Moines.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: Des Moines just as a hub so I will say within the two years after pandemic I was there 2021 as well that was the first it we had studios from five different states come in because they were like we can't compete where we are where we want to and the the guidelines were more open and so it was it was a little over like overwhelming not gonna lie as judges were like we're really here we'll get out like a national like whoa oh if they had to open up an extra partition so many bodies were like okay okay we're fine we can do this but the dancers coming from different states around made it a true competition and I had been to Des Moines before so I just bring in that like it was another flavor.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: And they really commit in Branson coming down again it's another hub for nationals for a lot of companies but you get what the flavors are coming but those are hubs of talked about finger on the pulse right having that and they're getting brave they're getting brave big props by the way lots of props oh they love a pro they love a pro big props like drills guns like they're still doing it and they're like oh we can't have our empire state building in this room I'm like no you can't like what sorry sorry oh my gosh there was an Alice elevator with the birds I still remember this birds it was Amazon and they cut out these like eggs and the baby the little nugget children were adorable birds and they went into the eggs and they came and I was like wonderful but do we really need all of those like that's like a Broadway show.
35:51
SPEAKER_01: That was in Des Moines.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: Wow okay so they love their props they love their props but I wanted to throw those in there too is like if we're talking Midwest and going that area too because people will travel to get a new experience versus where they always go.
36:05
SPEAKER_01: I mean we know this but like I was kind of surprised at how it's transitioned and changed in the last like three or four years.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: I mean I wonder too about the Midwest you know the influence of dance team and that's where the precision might come from if some of some of our dancers might be doing that as well.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: Because I absolutely absolutely think that region of the country has the precision and I think that might be somebody shout us out you know out there from Minnesota.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: Tell us about it.
36:31
SPEAKER_03: But I do think that that's a real thing.
36:33
SPEAKER_03: I think a lot of the dancers are aspiring to join their high school dance team join the college dance team and then a lot of the teachers are coming from that world and bringing it into studio dance and that's precision is great.
36:45
SPEAKER_03: We love a precision moment.
36:46
SPEAKER_03: You know like I I'm always here for I'd rather see a precise routine than a sloppy routine.
36:51
SPEAKER_03: So I'm all about the precision.
36:53
SPEAKER_04: Word I think of Ohio whenever I think of especially those dance teams and for some reason it's Texas and Ohio that I go to every single year.
37:06
SPEAKER_04: I don't know what it is and I've always been feels like I've always been to a different place in Ohio and that's what I noticed.
37:14
SPEAKER_04: I I remember seeing this one studio in Columbus and their dance their group dances were so precise and they were so clean but then whenever their soloists came out they were able to break the rules a little bit and like move in their own stylistic quality I saw this one girl do bye bye blackbird and I was like oh my gosh it was so stylish but then they were doing like this intricate dance I don't know is that what we call it dance team choreography like yeah it was it was it it's crazy the balance that I that you can see there as well I think yeah I mean the versatility of being able to do both is that's really key.
38:00
SPEAKER_03: Because I feel like that year very like most of these styles of dance feel very separate like you can't do all of that under one studio umbrella but you can it's just a matter of like how much time you want to put into each like style and technique of a dance.
38:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
38:18
SPEAKER_03: And like we're getting even more precise where it's like it's not just tap jazz and ballet.
38:22
SPEAKER_03: Now it's like a classic jazz versus a dance team jazz versus a this you know and every studio has their thing and what they want to focus on.
38:29
SPEAKER_03: So if they do have an educator that has experience in that and they want to bring that to the mix, it's like introduce your dancers to it sure because that you don't know if they're gonna go on to that and especially if you're in a hub or a region that is every dancer wants to do that then like introduce them to it prep them for their goal.
38:46
SPEAKER_03: Just like how we want to prep them for like a career on Broadway or a career as a cruise ship dancer or whatever.
38:52
SPEAKER_03: It's like okay well if you if not every dancer wants to do that and they want to do a dance team then like how is your studio prepping them for that and not just waiting for those get having those budgets to bring someone in or have that experience.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna stay stagnant.
39:06
SPEAKER_01: And so these studios and regions that are like having all this versatility and eclectic changes they're finding a way they're they're doing it and that's amazing and you're gonna there's also space for all of it.
39:20
SPEAKER_04: There's like like one is not better than the other and one is not higher caliber than the other I think that that's what I see a lot of from like being inside of like a studio environment a lot is like the focus on like you were saying Courtney is like that's the style that we do here and everything else is I don't know it maybe doesn't count.
39:45
SPEAKER_04: It doesn't it's it's not for us.
39:48
SPEAKER_04: We don't do that here.
39:51
SPEAKER_04: But that's not how dance is you know what I mean who said is who said that who says that one it one is more important than the other because it's just everything is just different.
40:03
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah well it depends on the context.
40:05
SPEAKER_00: It depends on what you're talking about and where you are like yeah you know is it really necessary for a a prima ballerina to know how to tap dance?
40:12
SPEAKER_00: Probably not but like would it probably be a good idea?
40:15
SPEAKER_03: Yeah you know right okay let's jump over to the south and something that comes to mind right away for me in the south I have two things.
40:27
SPEAKER_03: There's a little bit of like a pageantry expectation to competitive dance in the south compared to many other many other regions no offense but like the resident southerner over here is laughing at you.
40:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah Joy is living for this right now I mean it it always shocks me sometimes because I feel like when the costumes come out I'm just like I'm blown away I'm like oh my god the amount of rhinestones the like custom to a tee the hair is done like it is yes yes there is just like definitely precision precision yes in every moment.
41:06
SPEAKER_03: So like that was one of like the first things that I noticed as someone who comes it's and it's across the board it's like every studio and and and regardless you know I think there's like a natural trend in the industry of like once kids get to teens and a little bit older they don't want to wear like as bedazzled and custom of costumes anymore.
41:24
SPEAKER_03: Depends on the style some still live for a bedazzled jazz routine costume but that's a trend in general but I think in the South it kind of stays more consistent throughout and one fun fact that I have to share because I thought it was the wildest thing I've ever seen when I was judging in I think it was Nashville was I was judging a dance and it was over and everybody clapped.
41:46
SPEAKER_03: And then there was exit music that came on there was a reprise that came on and it guided them off stage and I like the the first time I was like wait hold on uh did did your music like just cut out or something and like they had a choreographed exit to and I couldn't believe it.
42:04
SPEAKER_01: And I thought it was just one studio uh uh nope no it was multiple studios everyone at this competition like almost two thirds of the studios had exit music isn't that wild I know exactly what you're talking about I discovered that it wasn't it wasn't at a regional I discovered it at a national so imagine my face where I was like oh what wait what no one gave me a heads up and it was over and over and over I'm like you could have given me like competition you could have given me a note they did give a note like hey just just ahead of time we have a lot of clogging and blah blah blah and I was like great I'll prep myself they did not give a note about the exit music it was like oh I was supposed to know that right it's and it just makes us like question it's a bit of everything.
42:50
SPEAKER_03: Did the music glitch and then they start like doing a whole choreographed thing and I'm like so this is part of your dance?
42:56
SPEAKER_03: Like what's going on and then they just like wave an exit as they flatball change and walk waved.
43:01
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah it was like a full on exit oh they wave okay I thought they'd be a kickball change and a walk in a walk no it's a choreographed like and like by well thank you for coming to our show.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: Correct yeah I'll take that you know half the time they don't even bow you know what I mean so I'm gonna that is true that it exits music because at least you're acknowledging that I have sat through this you know and not not sat through it in a bad way but like I came I came to your show yeah no it it got me it perked me up I was like what is this madness?
43:27
SPEAKER_03: I don't like it.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: Like a 30 second gap of let let everyone clap for us and pause I wonder if that applied to their their their timing like their time a lot I know I was thinking that too and like how did the sound person not know to stop the music when it stopped you know like how did well I guess they got the note because we got the note well and it was surprising too because then I looked for it.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: Right.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: Right then I was like oh where's your acknowledgement and then I was like oh am I being so surprised Superior to know.
44:02
SPEAKER_01: But it was like the littles through the bigs, like the nuggets through the teens and seniors.
44:06
SPEAKER_01: Like everybody knew whether you had a solo or a duo, trio, small group, and even like those lines, they were like, and it do, and it wasn't a vocal.
44:13
SPEAKER_01: They it was timed out.
44:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:16
SPEAKER_01: It was timed out.
44:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it's not like a five, six, like they knew, and then like they're all but and they're like, whoa, you practice this is a part of your routine.
44:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: Very pageantry, very like, oh, we are not done.
44:28
SPEAKER_01: We are giving you the whole show top to bottom.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: Did you see my matching shoelaces?
44:32
SPEAKER_01: Because if you didn't this whole time, you're gonna see it on my walkout.
44:34
SPEAKER_04: Like bother until it's over.
44:37
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
44:39
SPEAKER_04: I kind of love that.
44:40
SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm here for it.
44:41
SPEAKER_03: Like you said, Leslie, I the amount of times I have told dancers to please be proud and take a bow before you just walk off stage.
44:48
SPEAKER_03: I would rather you have exit music and own your bow until you get to the wings than just like walk off stage like you hated what you just did.
44:56
SPEAKER_03: Like, come on.
44:57
SPEAKER_03: I I want dancers to bow more.
44:59
SPEAKER_03: So let's all put some exit music on.
45:02
SPEAKER_04: There is a special like extraness that happens in the South.
45:11
SPEAKER_04: It's just a little bit of extra seasoning.
45:14
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
45:14
SPEAKER_04: That only the South does it like we do it.
45:17
SPEAKER_04: And uh and I say we because I I consider myself a Southerner.
45:21
SPEAKER_04: 100%.
45:22
SPEAKER_04: And Leslie, you as well.
45:25
SPEAKER_04: Correct.
45:26
SPEAKER_04: Correct.
45:26
SPEAKER_04: I don't I don't know.
45:27
SPEAKER_04: There's there's this, there's a spirit down here.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: It feels very similar, but in a different way to that West Coast confidence that y'all were talking about.
45:37
SPEAKER_00: Like a lot of the Southerners have a similar confidence.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: And it's just a and and maybe it's less of a refined Southern confidence, but it's more of a like, we came here to show out.
45:47
SPEAKER_00: We came here to show you what we're working on.
45:49
SPEAKER_00: And here it is, you know, and that's also and let me say goodbye to you while I walk off the stage.
45:54
SPEAKER_00: You're welcome for that.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: You know, like I just gave you a show.
45:57
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of like confidence I feel like comes out of the center.
46:00
SPEAKER_01: Yes, ma'am, bless your heart.
46:01
SPEAKER_01: I gave you a show.
46:03
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna yes ma'am you to the day is long.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
46:06
SPEAKER_03: I know I think hip hop is decent down in the south too.
46:11
SPEAKER_03: Like because we have Atlanta and Nashville that kind of feel a little more commercial and tuned into some of the um, you know, like production.
46:18
SPEAKER_03: They do a lot of movies down there and things like that.
46:21
SPEAKER_03: I think there's like a little taste of LA that sprinkles into Nashville and Atlanta and kind of we find that those commercial styles existing a bit down south.
46:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I worked at a studio when I first got back from Royal Caribbean, actually.
46:35
SPEAKER_04: I started uh in 2011 and we were a pretty heavy convention studio in Charlotte.
46:41
SPEAKER_04: So we used to go down to Atlanta for all of our conventions, and whoof, it is it is it is different down there.
46:51
SPEAKER_04: And it is like, um, I like what I like about Charlotte is that we are right pretty much in the middle.
46:57
SPEAKER_04: So a lot of we get a lot of like people coming like this right now in this day and age, and but whenever you go a little bit down south, we're about three and a half hours from Atlanta.
47:09
SPEAKER_04: It is, and I just I keep on talking about the energy.
47:13
SPEAKER_04: It's not even just like on the stage, it's in the room, and then also outside of the room, it's like loud and hoop and holler and like cult, culture, man.
47:27
SPEAKER_04: That's like what I think about whenever I think about those um convention weekends and like rhythm dance center and uh dancemakers of Atlanta.
47:38
SPEAKER_04: Dance Makers of Atlanta is like that's what that's what I think about.
47:42
SPEAKER_04: That is quintessential competitive Atlanta right there for me.
47:46
SPEAKER_04: And they are out of control.
47:49
SPEAKER_04: Like whenever they come on stage, the sauce is so it is insane.
47:56
SPEAKER_04: It's crazy.
47:58
SPEAKER_04: It is just it is the sauce, and we and we just we sit there and we just enjoy it.
48:04
SPEAKER_04: It's it's really cool.
48:06
SPEAKER_04: And I think that the again, like the competition versus the convention scene.
48:12
SPEAKER_04: I definitely see Courtney exactly what you're talking about, it being pageantry, yeah, heavy, because a lot of these kids very very much do do pageants, and that is also the talent that they put in their pageant show.
48:26
SPEAKER_04: But whenever you go into a convention scenario, you see a little, a lot, a lot less of that, yeah, and um more of like of what's what's coming from from the soul.
48:40
SPEAKER_04: I sound such like a woo-woo.
48:43
SPEAKER_01: But that saucy spirit rawnness is coming out.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: They're like, I'm here to throw down and they're not joking around.
48:50
SPEAKER_04: Yes, the convention atmosphere is very like the everybody that comes on is very unique, and especially in Atlanta, because they're coming up, they're coming over, they're coming down, and it's just like this is what this is what we're made of, you know what I mean?
49:05
SPEAKER_04: That's like what it feels like.
49:07
SPEAKER_01: I feel like it's an appreciation, appreciative spirit, like you mentioned earlier.
49:11
SPEAKER_01: Like it's just a different flavor.
49:13
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if there's I don't know, I wouldn't even label it cutthroat, like we mentioned earlier with another coast.
49:18
SPEAKER_01: I would, it's a spirit, it's the sauce, it's the we are here to be happy, we're gonna, yeah, my throat and next team, we're both gonna get sweaty, we're gonna get into this class.
49:25
SPEAKER_01: I'm not here to run you over.
49:26
SPEAKER_01: It's something about the southern spirit, something about that, but they also are very appreciative.
49:30
SPEAKER_01: Like, and thank you for coming to my show as they have their exit off the stage.
49:33
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's a zone space.
49:36
SPEAKER_01: I love that the sauce.
49:36
SPEAKER_04: I love that.
49:37
SPEAKER_04: The classes in Atlanta at convention are so loud and spirited and so supportive, like people slapping on the floor and like I don't I've never really experienced that anywhere else before.
49:53
SPEAKER_04: It's just like, I don't know, there's a there's a special soul down in especially like down in Atlanta where I've been probably most of my hubs in the competition industry in the south.
50:07
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's yeah, that's that's the town.
50:09
SPEAKER_00: Like, and you know, I follow this Instagram account called Atlanta Influences Everything, and it does.
50:13
SPEAKER_00: It inv influences culture and music and dance and all kinds of stuff.
50:18
SPEAKER_00: You know, like you said, Courtney, there's people people come from other places to go to Atlanta now because they have a scene all of a sudden, you know, in the past 10 years.
50:26
SPEAKER_00: So and I think Troy, it's so interesting that you're talking about them slapping the floor and like really engaging in the class.
50:32
SPEAKER_00: I remember in auditions in New York for a long time, everybody felt it felt very like you wanted to be very respectful.
50:39
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and conservative and and reserved in class, and like people would come in from other places and be like, no, like hype it up, like clap for these people, be exciting.
50:48
SPEAKER_00: And I think that was always happening in the South.
50:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
50:50
SPEAKER_00: Or, like you said, it's like a collective, like, we are having a good time here.
50:53
SPEAKER_00: We're not, like you said, Melanie here to run anybody over.
50:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm here to throw down, you're here to throw down.
50:57
SPEAKER_00: Let me respect what you do and let me show you that respect.
51:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: Whereas up here in the New England area, north northeast, I'm gonna clap for you, but that might be all I do.
51:06
SPEAKER_03: Right.
51:06
SPEAKER_03: It's a little more, it's a more reserved, like you said, a little bit more structured and don't I don't want to break the rules type of mentality up north.
51:16
SPEAKER_03: And like now that we are we've arrived up north.
51:19
SPEAKER_03: We've arrived.
51:20
SPEAKER_03: We've arrived.
51:21
SPEAKER_03: And I'd say, like, that's where I end.
51:23
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm from Maryland.
51:25
SPEAKER_03: It's like some people consider it the South, but not really.
51:28
SPEAKER_03: I don't think it's the South at all.
51:29
SPEAKER_00: No.
51:30
SPEAKER_03: But you know, some people think that it is and it's not.
51:33
SPEAKER_03: And uh I'd say the mid-Atlantic and New England and north of that, there's something very, very classic about the training that happens over up there.
51:43
SPEAKER_03: There is like very clean, clear technique that is being delivered and offered in all genres of dance.
51:49
SPEAKER_03: And primarily I'd say it's more of the classical modern, like traditional lyrical dance, jazz dance, classic jazz dance.
51:58
SPEAKER_03: Modern dance even exists very much so um in this little pocket of the United States that might not exist in or appreciated as much or valued in training as much in other areas.
52:10
SPEAKER_03: So I think that, and that's like what I grew up with, and I still see it to this day, even when I go north and like judge in Massachusetts or judge up in Maine and things like that.
52:19
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, y'all are trained exactly like me.
52:22
SPEAKER_03: We are all on the same page, but like when I go to other regions and I'm like, oh wow, we are jumping ahead of things than like what I was able to do at this age, because that's a priority in this region versus that region.
52:32
SPEAKER_03: So that's like my take on what I grew up experiencing.
52:36
SPEAKER_01: Do y'all have anything to add about like I noticed more of the classic what you're mentioning, Courtney, when I was been judging in the Buffalo, Niagara Falls area.
52:46
SPEAKER_01: And again, it depends on if there's any Canadian studios that cross over to come.
52:51
SPEAKER_01: They bring a whole nother flavor, they bring a whole nother sprinkle of everything, but without taking that into like consideration, that's more classic.
52:59
SPEAKER_01: The lines, there's my modern, and I'm like, oh, this is yeah, we're in New York, but like it's a different pocket too, and more classic dance, I would say.
53:08
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's appreciated, it's appreciated.
53:10
SPEAKER_01: Like I was like, yeah, go for it.
53:11
SPEAKER_01: Not the same sauce as the South, not the same flavor as the West, not even the same like bubble I'm in called Utah, but like it's its own thing up there.
53:21
SPEAKER_01: And I appreciate it too because I was like, Oh, you're getting some really great training, and I'm seeing the progressions, and it was appreciated.
53:27
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I was a DMA boy, so I like I remember DMA like being really big up in New England.
53:36
SPEAKER_04: And so whenever I was going up for like our national competition, like when I think of New England, I think of Regold and Lenny Gold, and I think of Kyle Robinson and Teddy Forence, and just being at nationals and being like, how are they even who who told them how did well how are they dancing like that?
53:56
SPEAKER_04: Because it is just like so uh I redid our opening number for my first years uh at the Mr.
54:04
SPEAKER_04: Dance of America competition, and I remember I was in the back because it was not fitting my body at all.
54:12
SPEAKER_04: But then I was like in the same rehearsal room as Kyle, and I'm like, he makes it look so good.
54:19
SPEAKER_04: It's just like that real grounded, modern, modern, I'm gonna say like masculine, like heaviness in their in their movement.
54:29
SPEAKER_04: And that's like when I think of New England, I think of DMA, and I think of that training and and like the classic, but also just like the uh like the there's a rawness to it as well.
54:44
SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
54:50
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54:59
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55:11
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55:20
SPEAKER_03: Dancers engage in an immersive experience that blends training and performance, significantly aiding their preparation for a future career in professional dance.
55:29
SPEAKER_03: The trainees' schedule culminates in a premiere of new choreography, learned during the initial two weeks, and then showcased at the New Century Dance Project in the third week.
55:38
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55:45
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55:50
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56:18
SPEAKER_03: Because it's done so well always up there.
56:21
SPEAKER_03: And then all of those teachers that learned it from the greats, like Re, like whoever, have now then sprinkled off into their own studios.
56:29
SPEAKER_03: And now they're bringing that training to the next.
56:31
SPEAKER_03: And that's how every region works.
56:33
SPEAKER_03: But that's like it's almost like if that's all you know, then that's what you're gonna do.
56:37
SPEAKER_03: And it's no different than like exactly what's happening with some really exceptional West Coast studios.
56:41
SPEAKER_03: They were trained at this studio, and then all those students went off, and now they're teaching at all these other studios that are bringing what they learned from that one, and that's how dance works.
56:49
SPEAKER_03: But they're doing what they know, and that's what they were brought to do, like West Coast versus East Coast versus Florida versus wherever.
56:57
SPEAKER_03: And it just influences how you're trained.
56:59
SPEAKER_03: And like the fun things about this regional chat is that then there's sometimes dancers who were trained in one region and then go to another region, and now they're gonna bring that training to the other region that they have no idea what it even is, because it's kind of it's just a different style and way of learning and a priority, I guess, in in how training is uh delivered to students.
57:20
SPEAKER_03: And I I think that the East Coast New England has just always just really emphasized the importance of that style and it's worked for them.
57:28
SPEAKER_03: So they've just stuck with it.
57:30
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, you know, it's it's fun to see that it still exists because a lot of people, and I don't want to I don't want to label it as old school at all, but a lot of people would say, Oh, that's kind of an old school way of training, or that's an old school way to look at it.
57:43
SPEAKER_01: I just call that good school.
57:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, no, it's good school, it's good schooling, it's the good foundation of basics.
57:50
SPEAKER_01: I know that even as an educator coming from California to Utah, I was different just because that's where my training was.
57:57
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Oh, that's exciting.
57:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, it is right, right?
58:02
SPEAKER_01: But it's another way of doing it.
58:03
SPEAKER_01: Or one person might be like, Well, that's a little strong, or that's a little direct.
58:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, girl, that is where I come from.
58:08
SPEAKER_01: Do the bottom.
58:09
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's like what are we here to waste time and money?
58:12
SPEAKER_01: Like, what's going on?
58:13
SPEAKER_01: And so it's a whole different.
58:14
SPEAKER_01: I will say also, too, I'm just gonna throw this in there.
58:17
SPEAKER_01: Is I've adjudicated in Honolulu, and that's a whole nother different flavor as well.
58:21
SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
58:22
SPEAKER_01: So it's interesting in the sense that I knew I was going into that perspective of something different.
58:28
SPEAKER_01: I took it upon myself to connect with someone here locally that is trained and does a lot of hula and tongan.
58:36
SPEAKER_01: And I reached out to him and said, Can you give me a private lesson?
58:40
SPEAKER_01: Not because I'm gonna go perform.
58:42
SPEAKER_01: I need to know what I'm looking for.
58:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the flow, the fluidity, what the storytelling means for hands and arms.
58:48
SPEAKER_01: And it helped me in my adjudication, obviously.
58:50
SPEAKER_01: I it was my own personal like investment of doing it, but it really helped for me to talk about what is going on on stage because yes, they brought hip hop, they brought jazz, and then when there's the beautiful hula trio, I can see where things were going.
59:06
SPEAKER_01: And that's that's a region in itself, right?
59:08
SPEAKER_01: Like it's beautiful.
59:09
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
59:10
SPEAKER_01: I feel like, and some of some of those Hawaiian studios come up to like Oregon to do nationals and they're bringing the flavor, right?
59:16
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's bringing the schmorker sport, this buffet into nationals, and we all take note of it.
59:23
SPEAKER_01: And if you notice, they all take notes and they go back to their studios and they're like, nope, we have to increase the rhinestones, or nope, we have to increase the training.
59:30
SPEAKER_01: Nope, we have to like they are hopefully taking it in, and not every studio goes to a nationals and gets that too.
59:36
SPEAKER_01: So they're also working with what they got.
59:38
SPEAKER_03: So and that's like the beauty of nationals.
59:41
SPEAKER_01: That's the beauty of nationals.
59:42
SPEAKER_00: What's the beauty of nationals?
59:44
SPEAKER_00: A lot of nationals are regionals, and that's that's the point of you know, part of this conversation is that like if you don't have that opportunity and if you don't choose a nationals that feels like a nationals, you're not gonna get that.
59:55
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna get the Schmorgas board, you're not gonna see it.
59:59
SPEAKER_00: You know, and I love, I think I bring this up almost all every episode.
1:00:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, on YouTube, you can look for Showstoppers videos from like 1992, and you can still see back in the day when they actually when the Nationals was a nationals, and you could very visibly see the best talent in the country was so different from each other.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_00: Because they really won a regionals in Baltimore and a regionals in Portland, and then they came to their nationals and wherever the heck it was, and then you really saw the difference.
1:00:26
SPEAKER_00: Now I just don't know.
1:00:28
SPEAKER_00: Like I'd be really curious, because I haven't been to it, you know, a million nationals, and none of us have, but like really to see which nationals really showcase the national talent.
1:00:39
SPEAKER_00: I just don't know who does that.
1:00:40
SPEAKER_03: I just think it's I mean, I think like the dance awards, obviously.
1:00:45
SPEAKER_03: I think that that is the nationals these days.
1:00:48
SPEAKER_03: I don't really and maybe like SDA's like world thing that they do in New Jersey.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_03: I think that that's like as close as we can get to a real nationals where multiple regions and and people are coming in.
1:01:00
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, at many other smaller scale nationals, even for convention competitions that usually only have one nationals, they are getting people from around the country that come to just that one.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_03: But when you think about it, there's still a million other nationals that are still existing.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_03: So, like back in the day, like you're talking, Leslie, there were only a few nationals that you could really go to because there weren't as many competitions.
1:01:23
SPEAKER_03: So I know that those were like very, very impactful moments for me in my youth because I remember going to the down the street nationals, which was Ocean City, Maryland for me.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_03: But like California Studios showed up, and that wasn't the first time I've ever seen dancers dance like that in the West Coast.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_03: I was mind blown.
1:01:39
SPEAKER_03: Like, I thought I was good.
1:01:40
SPEAKER_03: Uh-uh, I am not good anymore compared to them, you know?
1:01:43
SPEAKER_03: And like you, you would like run into the auditorium to watch this studio because they were that good.
1:01:48
SPEAKER_03: And the same thing applied when I went down to Florida for American Dance Awards nationals.
1:01:54
SPEAKER_03: There were Detroit coming in, there was Canada coming in, and that was my first time seeing dancers at that level that aren't the ones that we compete against next at the studio next door every every weekend.
1:02:05
SPEAKER_03: You know, like that's the point of nationals to see those regions come together and see what are you doing that's really great and what are they doing that's really great, and be inspired and influenced by one another.
1:02:15
SPEAKER_01: And how beautiful is that to see that it's a buffet, yes, but it's like it's so nice to see all of it.
1:02:22
SPEAKER_01: And I I like Leslie was saying, they bleed through.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_01: It's hard to see what this national springs.
1:02:26
SPEAKER_01: This I mean, you really have to find those national pockets that are, oh, this flavor and this flavor and this sauce and this, you know, then but I also think like they're trying, but it's really hard because there's so many more competitions now.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_01: There's so many more local competitions, you know.
1:02:42
SPEAKER_01: Susie, whoever is open to competition, and it's just really hard to see that deciphering and differences, but it's there, it's there.
1:02:49
SPEAKER_01: You just have to look for it and you just have to be open to it.
1:02:52
SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's why we're seeing more studios travel across states.
1:02:56
SPEAKER_01: There's been more of that happening in the last three to four years, I'm gonna say, since pandemic, because they wanted opportunity, but they're also like, let's see what's going over there.
1:03:04
SPEAKER_01: They'll make it a vacation, they'll do it.
1:03:05
SPEAKER_01: And that's why it's exciting to see that studio come from California or the, you know, maybe it's a nationalism with constant, like they came from Texas, like it is happening.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: So hopefully, maybe that's a good thing.
1:03:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think so.
1:03:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I I I'm glad I'm glad we got to this little nationals addition to this chat because I do think that plays a part in this conversation uh heavily.
1:03:26
SPEAKER_03: And that is something we brought up in our 200th episode as well, Leslie, that we were kind of we hinted at when it comes to nationals.
1:03:33
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, I I think that is what is so cool about nationals as a judge too, seeing everyone come together.
1:03:41
SPEAKER_03: And it oftentimes really is like a preference thing because each studio and each region has something that is so special and unique for you to get to this battle at the end of the weekend that you're all up against each other and you're like, Okay, well, do we pick the precision studio or the classic technique studio or the one that's super artistic or or the cutthroat killer dynamics performance studio, you know?
1:04:04
SPEAKER_03: Like, and that you can kind of almost guess, I think they're from here, I think they're from here.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_03: You can get a little idea of where everyone comes from, and it's so cool.
1:04:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, and it's exciting as adjudicators because we're learning from each other, like, oh, that's what you prefer.
1:04:18
SPEAKER_01: Why do you prefer that?
1:04:19
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you came, like, where were you brought up?
1:04:21
SPEAKER_01: And like they might be this judge next to me, might be heavy tap hip hop, and then this one's heavy ballet.
1:04:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, I'm Jad's lyrical, and also like, okay, let's and heavy acro, like, okay, but then we need to, it's it's us also making those hard decisions and choices, but we're also learning so much from each other while we're learning about these answers coming from five different states, you know, and it's it's exciting.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_04: I'm just I'm just thinking about nationals and how we used, I think the nationals that we went to, they had one back in the day.
1:04:53
SPEAKER_04: And because we like we weren't DMA kids, we the first nationals that I ever went to, because I started really late, we didn't have one of those battles at the end.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_04: I was like, what are we doing?
1:05:05
SPEAKER_04: What are we doing?
1:05:06
SPEAKER_04: And then but I didn't like even realize that that was what was happening until I went to Star Power.
1:05:13
SPEAKER_04: And I was like, this is what a battle is.
1:05:17
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, this is so exciting.
1:05:19
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:05:20
SPEAKER_04: I feel like I feel like we were maybe whenever I was training, we were maybe afraid to show up in those spaces because it was so competitive and high caliber.
1:05:31
SPEAKER_04: And that is that kind of is a little disappointing because that's like what makes us so much.
1:05:36
SPEAKER_04: Like when I see my my kids from this perspective going into a place that they maybe aren't super familiar with, where they are bringing something different, they show up as someone I've never even seen before.
1:05:51
SPEAKER_04: So it's like I think whenever we're we're kind of like staying in our own little bubble or going to a nationals, that's One of five nationals that's literally, I mean, just in the little corner of the country, we're doing ourselves the disservice because we're really just doing the same thing over and over and over again.
1:06:13
SPEAKER_04: And it's like, it just seems a little boring.
1:06:17
SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
1:06:18
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like the it the if if one studio is doing that and they're going to the one nationals that's the closest to them, probably the studio next door is going to that nationals too.
1:06:27
SPEAKER_00: So then you really are.
1:06:30
SPEAKER_00: You're just, yeah, you're just in the same little microcosm bubble of the regionals you already went to.
1:06:35
SPEAKER_00: So it's just a repeat of the regionals that you already went to, but longer?
1:06:39
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't think longer.
1:06:40
SPEAKER_00: And that's not what we need.
1:06:42
SPEAKER_04: We don't need longer.
1:06:45
unknown: That's the truth.
1:06:46
SPEAKER_03: What if there was like a rule that if you came to a regional, you have to go to a nationals in another region?
1:06:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh man.
1:06:53
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine fun?
1:06:55
SPEAKER_03: I would love that, but nobody would be.
1:06:56
SPEAKER_03: Isn't that the point?
1:06:57
SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry, but like, isn't that the point?
1:06:59
SPEAKER_03: It's a national.
1:07:00
SPEAKER_03: Like it is not meant for you to go to the one down the street.
1:07:03
SPEAKER_03: And like if you want to do that as a bonus, that's cute.
1:07:05
SPEAKER_03: But like at the same time, it is an expensive thing to go and do where you're going to compete against the same people, maybe like a few bonus studios that you've never seen before that actually did travel in for this because they wanted to try to make it different, you know?
1:07:17
SPEAKER_03: Like you might have to go the extra 50 miles and go somewhere else.
1:07:20
SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah.
1:07:22
SPEAKER_04: And it's typically the the people that are bringing something different, something unique to the table that is like refreshing for us judges that sit there for hours upon hours who take the cake, they do the best because it's like it's finally we're seeing something different from somewhere different, you know what I mean?
1:07:43
SPEAKER_03: But it's that's a great point.
1:07:46
SPEAKER_04: The brain, some minds don't think like that.
1:07:49
SPEAKER_03: Uh yes, because like we've kind of said, we're we're all very influenced or trained similarly or have similar styles and trends that we gravitate towards that we see within our community in our dance region.
1:08:02
SPEAKER_03: So if you're just staying in that same dance region for nationals and you're not that studio that takes the risk and tries some a different region out, then you're gonna blend.
1:08:10
SPEAKER_03: Unfortunately, you're gonna blend.
1:08:12
SPEAKER_03: And then, like, I mean, we're not saying you're boring at all, but it could get it's exciting when something else wakes us up and changes it up, and it's because, oh wow, oh, that's the studio that came all the way from Florida to the New Jersey Nationals.
1:08:26
SPEAKER_03: Oh, well, of course, now I can see why they're winning because there's just something different about what they're bringing to the table.
1:08:32
SPEAKER_03: They're not blending in.
1:08:33
SPEAKER_03: And I think that everyone wants to have that uniqueness and wants to find that individuality in the competition scene.
1:08:39
SPEAKER_03: So I do, I think it is important if you are going to invest in a nationalist because it is an expense and an investment.
1:08:47
SPEAKER_03: Like, take the risk, try something new, go somewhere different, dance alongside others that you've never heard of or seen before at a regional competition.
1:08:56
SPEAKER_03: It's just gonna make your dancers stronger and better and more fun overall.
1:09:01
SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say be brave because coming from California, like, yeah, I was a show pop showstopper kid, and we knew what it was to be around other people that travel to Anaheim.
1:09:11
SPEAKER_01: They want to go to Disneyland and do all that fun stuff with their competition.
1:09:14
SPEAKER_01: But if your studio doesn't go, then maybe it's a family vacation.
1:09:18
SPEAKER_01: Be brave, take a friend or go by yourself, go to the nationals, go to the convention competition, experience it.
1:09:24
SPEAKER_01: There's quite a few dancers here in northern Utah.
1:09:28
SPEAKER_01: I can specifically say I want to say statewide, but I would I would put my I would put my stamp of approval on that one.
1:09:33
SPEAKER_01: That they go as by themselves or with a friend.
1:09:36
SPEAKER_01: They take their solo or their duo, not because they're like, Oh, I'm gonna win the whole thing.
1:09:40
SPEAKER_01: They want that experience.
1:09:41
SPEAKER_01: So they go to Vegas, they go to Reno.
1:09:43
SPEAKER_01: They I know three that just did it this summer.
1:09:45
SPEAKER_01: They're like, our studio does nothing of the sort, so we're gonna go.
1:09:48
SPEAKER_01: And one of them is a male dancer, and he's like, I want that experience because I'm only getting so much where I'm at at my studio.
1:09:55
SPEAKER_01: And he grew, I mean, he's 14 and he grew, and I just was amazed at the bravery.
1:10:01
SPEAKER_01: But he said it was really exciting to take classes along these dancers from West Coast, Oregon.
1:10:06
SPEAKER_01: There was one I think he said came from Iowa or something like that.
1:10:10
SPEAKER_01: Like they trucked it and he was like, it was so fun.
1:10:14
SPEAKER_01: So if you are in an area where you're like there for a vacation, look up the class.
1:10:19
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm in if I'm gonna be in Atlanta.
1:10:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm I mean, I want to go and sit in on those convention classes Troy was mentioning.
1:10:25
SPEAKER_01: I want to go to church, I want to be taking those in movement holery and I said, teacher, like there's something about the spirit and the excitement, and I think that's a really great thing if you can't, or at least try, because we can speak all day long about all these regions and different things.
1:10:42
SPEAKER_01: You won't know until you've experienced it and also had a little sprinkle of it.
1:10:46
SPEAKER_01: But I also think if we're all here for team dance and we all love dance so much, like experience all those spices and sauces then, because it'll be good for you, I promise.
1:10:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:10:56
SPEAKER_00: And and on the other side of the coin, you know, we're talking kind of to dancers now, go take the class, go do the thing.
1:11:01
SPEAKER_00: Studio owners, if you're listening, don't.
1:11:04
SPEAKER_00: I mean, yes, of course, bring in who you need to bring in and who you can bring in to teach.
1:11:07
SPEAKER_00: But if you can find a guest teacher who happens to be in town on tour from somewhere crazy, somewhere interesting, somewhere not the studio next door.
1:11:15
SPEAKER_00: Bring those, because like I said, that one teacher I had from LA blew my mind when I was in high school, just of the other kinds of dance there are, there are other kinds of expression.
1:11:26
SPEAKER_00: I had no idea.
1:11:27
SPEAKER_00: And icing on the cake, she told me she was like, Oh, you're doing this really well.
1:11:30
SPEAKER_00: I think you could come out to LA.
1:11:32
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I could do what?
1:11:33
SPEAKER_00: Because that was just not in my realm of consciousness as to something I could do.
1:11:37
SPEAKER_00: And I didn't go do that, but it put something in my brain that wasn't there before.
1:11:41
SPEAKER_00: So, like, if you can give your kids experiences, if you can't go to the nationals five states over, fine.
1:11:47
SPEAKER_00: But can you bring somebody in from five states over?
1:11:50
SPEAKER_00: Can you bring somebody in who is on tour?
1:11:52
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can all always give other opportunities to see what this giant melting pot of dance is.
1:11:59
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I love that.
1:12:00
SPEAKER_03: Troy, final thought from you.
1:12:02
SPEAKER_04: It just offers you an opportunity to try something new.
1:12:07
SPEAKER_04: Whenever I was going to these conventions, I was one of three male dancers in my studio, and the other two were pretty much just tappers.
1:12:17
SPEAKER_04: So I didn't see anybody who I could gravitate towards, try to mimic my dance teachers, were both women.
1:12:25
SPEAKER_04: So I was like, whenever I would go into those places, it gives the opportunity to try something new and see like how it fits or dances life.
1:12:36
SPEAKER_04: And I think I've probably said that on every single podcast that I've been on with y'all.
1:12:41
SPEAKER_04: But it is, it just like imitates life so much, and then it gives you the availability to just keep on doing more and more and just keep evolving.
1:12:52
SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
1:12:53
SPEAKER_04: Otherwise, we're just like sitting still, and that just seems so time consuming and boring.
1:12:59
SPEAKER_04: And and when we could be just, I don't know, there's so much out there to discover if we just step outside of our little block a little bit.
1:13:12
SPEAKER_03: We hope you enjoyed our latest episode all about regional differences in the competitive dance scene.
1:13:18
SPEAKER_03: Special shout out to our IBA judges Troy and Melanie for joining us on this chat.
1:13:22
SPEAKER_03: Don't forget to follow them on Instagram.
1:13:25
SPEAKER_03: You can find Melanie at mystic underscore Melanie5678 and Troy at Troyography.
1:13:31
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1:13:45
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1:13:54
SPEAKER_03: Be sure to check out IDA affiliated competition, Gems Dance Competition.
1:13:59
SPEAKER_03: Gems Dance Competition is a fresh dance event created by studios for studios with the intent of changing the norm.
1:14:06
SPEAKER_03: Their competitions are designed to be a positive experience for you, your staff, your students, and your entire dance family.
1:14:13
SPEAKER_03: At GEMS, you're always guaranteed an encouraging educational, professional, and fun environment at each location.
1:14:20
SPEAKER_03: With full panels of IBA judges at every event and locations throughout the Midwest, we highly recommend adding Gems Dance Competition to your 2025 competition schedule.
1:14:30
SPEAKER_03: To learn more about GEMS and to register for an upcoming event, head to their website at dancegems.com and come show your sparkle at Gems Dance Competition.
1:14:40
SPEAKER_00: Season 6 of Making the Impact is bringing you more great episodes in the coming weeks, including Winning versus Losing 2.0, the next genre spotlight episode on Rhythm Tap, and diversity on judging panels.
1:14:52
SPEAKER_03: Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode.
1:14:54
SPEAKER_03: We'll see you next week.
1:14:55
SPEAKER_03: Until then, keep dancing.