Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Performing Arts High Schools - The Value in Attending

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Performing Arts High Schools - The Value in Attending · 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: The dance world is inhabited by all kinds of dancers from many walks of life.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: Here at Making the Impact, we love to highlight areas of the dance world that not everyone has experienced.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Here with us today are two dance educators who straddle the worlds of competitive dance and dance within performing arts high school to give us a taste of what dance is like in a public school setting.
0:46
SPEAKER_04: Hi everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
0:50
SPEAKER_04: I am your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
0:55
SPEAKER_04: Courtney, how are you doing?
0:56
SPEAKER_04: I'm doing great.
0:56
SPEAKER_04: How are you doing?
0:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm so great.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: I am glad we are kind of easing into the dance season, almost into like the thick of the fall, and I just can't wait to start seeing some dance.
1:09
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I know.
1:10
SPEAKER_04: And you're gonna see some dance pretty soon with NYCDA if you go out to any of their fall events that are creeping up very quickly.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Yes, if any of my friends down south are gonna be at Mobile in October next month, come see me.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be there um learning the ropes of some event managing for them.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: And it's our first event uh NYCDA for the season.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: So we're all really excited to get out there and like I said, see some dancing.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: It's time.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: It's been too long.
1:38
SPEAKER_04: I know.
1:38
SPEAKER_04: It's just like such a long hiatus from nationals until when the comp season starts.
1:44
SPEAKER_04: But like let's be real, you're getting a taste of it early starting in October.
1:47
SPEAKER_04: A lot of people have to wait until January and February to even get a taste of that in the judging scene.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: That is true.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I'm excited to go out a couple times this season and and just see what the talent across the country looks like.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: It's been a while since I've judged, you know, I'm not judging anymore, but it has been a while since I've traveled extensively to judge.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: So I was, you know, five, six years ago seeing talent across the country.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: And now I'll be able to get to do that a little bit again.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: So I'm really excited.
2:14
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm excited for you.
2:16
SPEAKER_04: That's awesome.
2:17
SPEAKER_04: And um, speaking of dance and the season, we're actually talking about another side of our dance industry today, which is performing arts schools.
2:27
SPEAKER_04: So this can be middle school, this can be high school, but this is separate from your competitive dance studio.
2:33
SPEAKER_04: This is actually a school that you go to, you get graded on dance, you actually get a degree or a high school diploma.
2:41
SPEAKER_04: And we're excited to talk about this today because I think that a lot of dancers out there either are already attending a performing arts high school, might have the opportunity to audition for one, maybe aren't even familiar with this opportunity that exists for our dance world.
2:55
SPEAKER_04: So I can't wait to dive into this topic because I think it's an important one.
2:59
SPEAKER_04: And I hope the parents are excited too.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and we have some really amazing guests, um, longtime friends of Courtney's, judges and teachers that have been in the business for a long time from both sides.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: So I think that's going to be a really unique perspective that we hear today from both, you know, people in public school education for dance as well as people who understand the competitive aspect as well.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to jump in.
3:22
SPEAKER_04: But like always, before we jump into this week's episode, we want to tell you about our sponsor, and that is Young Arts.
3:30
SPEAKER_04: Young Arts is an arts organization that supports young artists across 10 different disciplines, including dance.
3:35
SPEAKER_04: Their national arts competition is open to artists aged 15 to 18 or currently in grades 10 through 12, where selected winners can receive cash scholarships, mentorships from leaders in the industry, a lifetime of professional support, and the prestigious honor of being a young arts winner.
3:52
SPEAKER_04: Competition finalists in their senior year are further eligible for a nomination as a U.S.
3:56
SPEAKER_04: Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of the nation's highest honors for high school students.
4:01
SPEAKER_04: As a previous Young Arts winner myself, I highly recommend that you check out this fantastic program and opportunity for your dancers.
4:07
SPEAKER_04: It truly is life-changing.
4:09
SPEAKER_04: The deadline to apply for their 2024 National Arts Competition is October 13th, 2023.
4:14
SPEAKER_04: Learn more about Young Arts and start your application today by clicking the link in our show notes and visiting youngarts.org slash apply.
4:22
SPEAKER_04: All right, everybody, it's time to listen to this week's episode.
4:26
SPEAKER_04: I'm sure you're excited about it because we're talking about performing arts high schools.
4:31
SPEAKER_04: I think that every dancer growing up in the competitive dance world might have the opportunity to consider a performing arts high school in your area.
4:39
SPEAKER_04: I know there's a lot of areas that don't have access to performing arts high schools, but there are some really fantastic schools throughout the country.
4:47
SPEAKER_04: And if that opportunity presents itself to you and your students or your dancer, I say go for it if that opportunity is there.
4:55
SPEAKER_04: And we're gonna learn all about why you should go for it or why you might not want to go to a performing arts high school today in this week's episode.
5:04
SPEAKER_04: We have two fabulous guests who are joining us who have tons of experience in that performing arts high school world.
5:10
SPEAKER_04: They're gonna share all about that with you.
5:12
SPEAKER_04: And the very first guest I'm excited to welcome to the podcast is a brand new guest.
5:16
SPEAKER_04: She is a very, very old friend of mine.
5:19
SPEAKER_04: I've had the pleasure of dancing alongside her in shows in Atlantic City at the casino, some Christmas shows.
5:25
SPEAKER_04: She's another shorty dancer like me, gotta love it.
5:28
SPEAKER_04: She's a fierce little modern dancer.
5:30
SPEAKER_04: And she is currently the director of dance at a performing arts high school in Northern Virginia.
5:35
SPEAKER_04: I'm excited to welcome my friend Jamie Howes to the podcast.
5:38
SPEAKER_04: Welcome, Jamie.
5:39
SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
5:40
SPEAKER_04: I'm so excited to be here.
5:41
SPEAKER_04: Yay, and thanks for supporting our podcast.
5:44
SPEAKER_04: I know you've shared it with your students.
5:46
SPEAKER_04: And I've actually had the pleasure of teaching at your performing arts high school in the past, which was so cool to connect with them in your beautiful performing arts space.
5:55
SPEAKER_04: Like it's gorgeous.
5:56
SPEAKER_04: And you're sitting in it right now.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm so lucky with the space that we have.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: It's so inspiring.
6:02
SPEAKER_01: We've got these beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows, and my students still ask when you're coming back, Courtney.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: So we might have to talk about that as well.
6:08
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
6:09
SPEAKER_04: Let's make it happen.
6:11
SPEAKER_04: Awesome.
6:12
SPEAKER_04: Well, Jamie, if you wouldn't mind telling the world a little bit more about you, where you grew up, what your early dance training was like, any career credits that you'd like to share, and then maybe share with us how you became the director of dance.
6:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: So I'm a Jersey girl.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: I grew up in central New Jersey.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, I was a comp kid my whole life.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I had the opportunity when I was in eighth grade to audition for a performing arts high school in my county.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: That meant I was gonna have to leave all my childhood friends and decide to go kind of on my own.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, I also had a lot of dance buddies that I knew were going there as well.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: So I was really interested in pursuing dance professionally even at eighth grade.
6:52
SPEAKER_01: I kind of knew I kind of had to decide then kind of if I wanted to pursue this performing arts high school.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: So I had kind of the best of both worlds, a studio setting and a performing arts setting.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: I got to dance every day.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: And then from there, I started looking at universities.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: I ended up attending George Mason University in Northern Virginia, got my BFA in dance there, as well as my K through 12 education endorsement, which is why I'm qualified to do what I do.
7:17
SPEAKER_01: And so I had the pleasure to perform incredible works by many guest artists there.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love the program.
7:23
SPEAKER_01: From there, after I graduated, I moved back to New York, New Jersey area, and I started dancing right away.
7:30
SPEAKER_01: I signed with uh Block NYC within the first year that I moved.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: I got to tour nationally and internationally with modern dance companies, uh, some regional theater shows.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: I did uh quite a few TV appearances.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: So I had a really eclectic performing career and I wanted it to be that way because I always knew I wanted to come back and do exactly what I'm doing.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm so lucky that it worked out the way that it did because I wanted that experience.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: I wanted that for myself, but I really knew that I wanted those experiences to speak that into my students' lives so that I, you know, knew the ins and outs, maybe the things that I wasn't aware of or I wasn't taught before I got there.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: And so my teaching philosophy is I teach my students what I wish I knew before I got to college, before I got to professional world.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: And so that's kind of where I kind of lead my entire uh curriculum.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: And so I uh met my now husband in college, who um he's been a teacher here for I think now 15 years.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: And so when I went off to tour and all that stuff, he stayed here after that.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: Actually, when he bought me a dog is when I came back.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: So we joke all the time.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: He's like, You wouldn't come back for me.
8:39
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
8:40
SPEAKER_01: So we got a dog and I was like, I can't be away.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: So I ended up transitioning my career to the Northern Virginia area.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: I did some shows.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: DC has a really vibrant theater community, and so I was lucky enough to do a few shows, regional shows.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: And then I came back to my alma mater and was an adjunct professor uh for Ballet and Modern.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: I did that for a little while, and then this school opened, and I it was just kismet.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, the timing was absolutely perfect.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: I was able to jump in on the ground floor.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: Um, I am the originating director, and so I've really gotten to build this program exactly how I personally feel dancers should be educated before pursuing dance at either at the collegiate level professionally or just in a deeper kind of way.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: So, and I've been here ever since.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: Well, what a great story! And I just love hearing how you knew you knew that what you ultimately wanted to do was this, and you're here doing that.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: Like that's just inspiring and amazing.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: You know, thank you.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: And and I do share that with my students.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: So my students have to develop a portfolio, my seniors as their extra project.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: They have project, they have to develop a portfolio with an artistic statement and kind of rounding out their kind of careers.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: I did that in college.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: I kind of modeled the program a little bit how my college program was, but now at a high school level.
9:58
SPEAKER_01: And in my speech, it I wrote that one day I wanted to return and become the director of dance at performing arts high school.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: And so I read that to them and they're like, I'm like, follow your dreams.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, too.
10:10
SPEAKER_01: It's it's really honestly, I'm very lucky.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm very lucky, and I love absolutely love what I do.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: And you're a mommy, and I'm a mommy.
10:17
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I started as a dog mom.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: We have two dogs, and now I have uh a little girl and a little boy.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: Aw.
10:24
SPEAKER_01: Yes, our happy little family in Northern Virginia.
10:28
SPEAKER_04: I knew all of this about you.
10:29
SPEAKER_04: I attended your wedding.
10:31
SPEAKER_04: Like I I know everything about you, but I also just like you restating all of that.
10:36
SPEAKER_04: It really feels like that you are the person that checked off everything on your list as you with your goals and your career and your dreams.
10:45
SPEAKER_04: Like that is so exciting.
10:46
SPEAKER_04: And timing is a big part of that in our life as adults in general, um, regardless if we're gonna be a dancer in any type of career path.
10:54
SPEAKER_04: But like it sounds like timing really worked in your favor with all of these things.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, it did.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I look back and it's not without regrets either.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: There are things where I'm like, wow, I really made the wrong decision here.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: There are any or whatever.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: But if I had made a different one, I might not be here.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, there are always, there are always wrong decisions or things that, like, hey, maybe I would do differently.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: But now the way it's panned out, absolutely, I've checked all the boxes.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: I've I've hit my goals, and it's not again, not without challenges and struggles and confusion.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's the things that there were moments of frustration and confusion, but it was in those moments that I was like, oh, I see now that I've had to bridge the gap to get here.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I I completely agree.
11:34
SPEAKER_04: Yay.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: Aww.
11:36
SPEAKER_04: Well, we're so happy to have you here and can't wait to chat with you about the school.
11:41
SPEAKER_04: And also, I love that you went to a performing arts high school growing up too.
11:45
SPEAKER_04: So I'd love to hear that experience as well.
11:47
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
11:47
SPEAKER_04: All right, y'all.
11:48
SPEAKER_04: Let's meet our next very special guest who is a returning guest to our podcast.
11:53
SPEAKER_04: You may remember them from season two, episode 55: The Benefits of Having a Dance Mentor.
11:59
SPEAKER_04: And one of my dearest friends who I've known for many years, teaching alongside them on conventions and in studios.
12:05
SPEAKER_04: I'm so excited to welcome back James Manning to the podcast.
12:10
SPEAKER_04: Welcome, James.
12:11
SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
12:11
SPEAKER_05: Thank you so much for having me.
12:13
SPEAKER_05: And first of all, huge congratulations, season five, Liza and Courtney.
12:16
SPEAKER_05: This is incredible.
12:18
SPEAKER_05: So huge, huge congratulations to the success of this.
12:20
SPEAKER_05: And I will say I am such a consistent listener.
12:23
SPEAKER_05: I will say it makes, you know, a long drive go by so quickly.
12:27
SPEAKER_05: And it's so great to hear everyone's perspective and just stay so connected within the dance world.
12:32
SPEAKER_05: So thank you so much for having me.
12:33
SPEAKER_04: Oh, we're glad you're back.
12:36
SPEAKER_04: Yes, we're so happy to have you back.
12:38
SPEAKER_04: And immediately when we decided to to put this episode into the mix, I was like, we gotta have James because I know that I've just been loving your journey with this as you are the dance department chair at Pittsburgh Kappa, and that is within the Pittsburgh Public School.
12:56
SPEAKER_04: So I'm just like so impressed by this achievement of yours that happened a few years back.
13:01
SPEAKER_04: And you were also weren't weren't you at another school before right before that too?
13:06
SPEAKER_05: I was.
13:06
SPEAKER_05: So when I moved back from New York City, I was at another performing arts high school.
13:09
SPEAKER_05: It's actually a charter school, and then now the school I'm at that you mentioned, Courtney, is Pittsburgh Kappa, which stands for creative and performing arts.
13:16
SPEAKER_05: And we're actually not only a performing arts high school, we actually start at grade six.
13:19
SPEAKER_05: So we are six through twelve and it is a public magnet school.
13:23
SPEAKER_05: So students audition.
13:24
SPEAKER_05: And I know we'll get into it in in this conversation of what a magnet school is, what a charter school is, what our students audition, and they can begin at grade six.
13:32
SPEAKER_05: They re-audition for high school, uh, but then they can be there essentially from sixth to twelfth grade.
13:37
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
13:38
SPEAKER_04: Oh, I love that.
13:39
SPEAKER_04: That's so unique and different.
13:41
SPEAKER_04: I can't wait to learn all about that.
13:42
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
13:43
SPEAKER_04: Cool.
13:44
SPEAKER_04: Well, if you wouldn't mind sharing a little bit more, refreshing all of our listeners, listeners' memory, since it's been a minute.
13:49
SPEAKER_04: You you haven't been here since season two.
13:51
SPEAKER_04: So we're bringing you back.
13:53
SPEAKER_04: Tell us a little bit more about you.
13:54
SPEAKER_05: Well, it feels great to be home.
13:56
SPEAKER_05: So uh season five.
13:57
SPEAKER_05: Listeners, if you remember or I'm, you know, happy to be here.
14:00
SPEAKER_05: Hello.
14:00
SPEAKER_05: Grew up in Rochester, New York, so upstate New York.
14:03
SPEAKER_05: Grew up, you know, similarly to Jamie and said CompKit, you know, just did the thing.
14:08
SPEAKER_05: I did not go to a performing arts high school.
14:10
SPEAKER_05: It was always something that I wish I could have had access to.
14:13
SPEAKER_05: I actually did not live within the city.
14:14
SPEAKER_05: So I was not able to kind of attend, you know, the ongoing conversation of which is very illegal, of whose address could we put to go to this school.
14:23
SPEAKER_05: You know, never really, never really panned out.
14:25
SPEAKER_05: My parents didn't really want to enter that territory.
14:28
SPEAKER_05: So I did not go to a performing arts school.
14:30
SPEAKER_05: I had to go to, you know, I hate to say it, a normal public high school, which I did not love.
14:35
SPEAKER_05: I will say I would have loved to have been around people that had a like mindset, you know, mindset like myself, which is why I loved my dance studio.
14:42
SPEAKER_05: I grew up at one specific dance studio in Rochester.
14:44
SPEAKER_05: It's called Dance 22, does not exist anymore, but got a really well-rounded dance education, I will say, you know, as I reflect as an adult, there are many things that I wish I could have had as well alongside that dance education, but they really kind of just fostered my creativity and fostered like me having a voice as a dancer and making it a realistic goal for me to make this a profession.
15:05
SPEAKER_05: So it's something that I have always known that I wanted to do.
15:08
SPEAKER_05: I then studied at Point Park University in the Conservatory of Performing Arts.
15:12
SPEAKER_05: I graduated actually a year early because I was offered a job in a concert dance company.
15:16
SPEAKER_05: So danced for them at the August Wilson Dance Ensemble for four years, you know, toured South America.
15:21
SPEAKER_05: We did Jake's Pillow, we did summer stages in New York City, you know, multiple choreographers, Kyle Abraham, Sidra Bell, Jarell Grand Moultrie, people that I've I've looked up to, you know, in a concert dance setting forever that I was able to work with at age like 20, 21, you know, not even able to grab a drink, but I was working with the most well-known choreographers in contemporary dance.
15:41
SPEAKER_05: And then from there I danced a little bit with uh the Houston Met Dance Company.
15:44
SPEAKER_05: I also danced with Owen Cox in Kansas City, and then kind of made my transition to New York City, danced for Ballet Inc., a few other project, you know, bass moments, and then kind of really transitioned to musical theater.
15:55
SPEAKER_05: It's something that I never really did.
15:57
SPEAKER_05: Started taking voice lessons.
15:59
SPEAKER_05: I did West Side Story at Paper Mill Playhouse, Courtney and I did in the Heights at PCLO together.
16:04
SPEAKER_05: I did musies.
16:06
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so kind of have made my way through.
16:09
SPEAKER_05: Always taught on the side.
16:10
SPEAKER_05: That was always something that, you know, I always enjoy doing.
16:13
SPEAKER_05: And then luckily have also choreographed on television.
16:16
SPEAKER_05: So I have um choreography credits on Lifetime Television, Apple Television, and Netflix.
16:20
SPEAKER_05: Um, I've been very fortunate and very blessed to become a little bit of like a go-to here in the city of Pittsburgh because a lot of things do film here.
16:28
SPEAKER_05: And being, you know, kind of like a first contact, still going through the process of having to get hired, however, but being kind of like a first contact in terms of anything that shoots here in the city of Pittsburgh, being kind of like a movement or uh choreographer on set.
16:41
SPEAKER_05: So that has allowed me to kind of really make great connections and community here in the city of Pittsburgh.
16:46
SPEAKER_05: And yeah, became the dance department chair actually after being at a charter school, became the dance department chair at Pittsburgh Kappa in 2020.
16:53
SPEAKER_05: So during the pandemic, slight pause there because that was very interesting and very difficult, I will say.
17:00
SPEAKER_05: We were virtual from September until May of that first school year.
17:05
SPEAKER_05: So complete instruction curriculum, fundraisers, performances, marketing, all those types of things that happen on site were done virtually.
17:13
SPEAKER_05: And I had never really, I had I taught in the building before I choreographed, I, you know, I knew a lot of the teachers and dancers and students and community, but it's very different to step in as a leader and try to implement things from through a screen.
17:26
SPEAKER_05: So that first year was really interesting for me, but I will say I feel like after that, I can do anything.
17:30
SPEAKER_05: I feel like anything is possible because we did it through a screen.
17:33
SPEAKER_05: So in person, I have you there, we're good.
17:35
SPEAKER_05: We are so good.
17:36
SPEAKER_05: And with anything, you know, it takes time to see your vision and leadership change.
17:41
SPEAKER_05: That there were some changes that needed to be made with the Met department.
17:45
SPEAKER_05: You know, it it it carries a legacy.
17:47
SPEAKER_05: We have two dancers right now in the Alvin Ailey company.
17:49
SPEAKER_05: Kyle Abraham graduated from Pittsburgh Kappa, which was a merger with uh Rogers.
17:54
SPEAKER_05: Billy Porter graduated from Pittsburgh Kappa.
17:56
SPEAKER_05: So it's a little bit of a name and it has a little bit of weight, which I I honor and try to cherish every single day as I step into my leadership and teaching role.
18:05
SPEAKER_05: But so funny, Jamie, that you say that you always knew you wanted to lead, you know, or be at a performing arts school in a leadership role.
18:12
SPEAKER_05: So did I.
18:12
SPEAKER_05: It was so interesting during college, like even before saying my career or you know, wanting to choreograph on television or dance.
18:19
SPEAKER_05: I always said when someone said, Oh, what do you want to do after?
18:22
SPEAKER_05: I said, I want to lead a performing arts high school.
18:24
SPEAKER_05: That was something that I don't know where that idea came from.
18:27
SPEAKER_05: I don't know how I was able to manifest that at, you know, 19 years old or where that came from because I didn't go to a performing arts school, but it was always there.
18:35
SPEAKER_05: And it's funny to look back now how it's been so full circle and and to be in the position I'm in.
18:40
SPEAKER_05: So as I said, it's a six through 12.
18:42
SPEAKER_05: So I oversee it's over 100 dancers.
18:44
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
18:45
SPEAKER_05: And each graduating class or each class has about 12 to 15 students.
18:49
SPEAKER_05: Um, that's kind of our max 15 and they audition and we'll get into that.
18:53
SPEAKER_05: So yeah, so yeah, each class 15 is kind of the max.
18:56
SPEAKER_05: I think 18 is kind of like our biggest class.
19:00
SPEAKER_05: Oh no, I'm lying.
19:01
SPEAKER_05: Our current 10th grade will be, I think there's 20 of them.
19:04
SPEAKER_05: But it's still it, it's it's really ideal to have kind of that smaller number, individual attention, and then as a whole, the department is pretty large.
19:11
SPEAKER_05: So but each class, yeah, it's really important for me to get to know them and really kind of just foster what they want to do.
19:18
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
19:18
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
19:19
SPEAKER_04: I love it.
19:20
SPEAKER_04: Yes, this is so cool.
19:22
SPEAKER_04: And I think what's really exciting about this discussion is that obviously, and we're gonna get into it in a brief second, but we wanted to put this on our podcast, which is obviously geared around the competitive dance world because I think that there are a lot of dancers from the competitive dance world that end up auditioning and end up going to performing arts high schools.
19:42
SPEAKER_04: So they're transitioning from that comp world that they know and love.
19:46
SPEAKER_04: And maybe the focus now shifts to whatever the curriculum and the the styles and the genres are for that performing arts high school might be different than what is happening in the competitive studio.
19:57
SPEAKER_04: And maybe there's dancers like the opportunity you had, Jamie, where you could kind of simultaneously do both.
20:02
SPEAKER_04: And then there's a lot of dancers who might have to sacrifice competitive dance to attend the performing arts high school.
20:08
SPEAKER_04: So I think it's a big decision for a lot of dancers making that choice when it's time to make it.
20:13
SPEAKER_04: And I'd love to jump into this chat.
20:14
SPEAKER_04: So thank you both for being here.
20:16
SPEAKER_04: Let's go, Leslie.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, James, I am like you.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: I did not grow, I grew up within the city limits of a county that had a performing arts high school.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: But because I was in the city, I couldn't go to the county school, couldn't even audition.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: So I feel, I feel you because our I'm from Marietta, Georgia, where Pubblebrook is one of the best performing arts high schools in the state.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: And all I saw all of my friends who lived in Cobb County get to go to this performing arts high school.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: And I had to go to Marietta, you know.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: So like I feel you and any dancers out there who are not able to have this opportunity, you can create your own opportunities, but like feel the feelings because it's legitimate to to feel like you're missing out on something.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Because as we will hear uh from these two educators, you are missing out on something.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, that's a bigger political picture of like districting and like whatever within your community, which is for another day and another conversation.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: But I just wanted to like throw that out there that I feel you feel the feels.
21:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: Since we're talking about, you know, are we coming or do you have kids that are coming from comp the comp world?
21:19
SPEAKER_00: Because it is a very different space, but I think they I think those children can really benefit from from the environment that y'all are producing.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: So do you have, do you know that?
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that about your kids?
21:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: So I most of the kids that actually come into this program have only really experienced either the classical ballet worlds where um that's really their focus, or the competition world.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: And so in the audition, a lot of the times I'm the first time they're experiencing modern.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: And it's a it's kind of an eye opener.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: And they come in and they're kind of like, Who's this crazy lady?
21:52
SPEAKER_01: And what is the drop swing?
21:54
SPEAKER_01: But by January, so we do kind of these we call we do like juries, like kind of these.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Midterm assessments, and then we'll have a sit-down interview and kind of talk about their progress.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: And for the freshmen, I always say, like, how do you feel?
22:06
SPEAKER_01: What are we thinking about modern?
22:08
SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden they're like, I love it.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: It feels so good and it's so different.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: That's the big thing I get from all of my new students, whether they're transferring in at, you know, 10th grade, 11th, whatever, or my freshmen, they're always like, it's different.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: It's different.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: And I'm intrigued.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they're not sure yet, but most of them, I would say the vast majority are coming from a competition background.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: And that's why they're intrigued by this, because they're seeing their upper class teammates, competition teammates that do go here and all of a sudden they're seeing these different movement qualities and they're seeing this different maturity, and they're just seeing this growth, this extreme growth from these students.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: And they're intrigued and they they want to see, they want to see what it's about.
22:53
SPEAKER_05: That's great.
22:53
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, very similar.
22:54
SPEAKER_05: Many of our kids obviously do competition, or also, as you said, classical ballet.
22:59
SPEAKER_05: Interestingly enough, I feel like a lot of our kids do, but then a lot of them don't.
23:03
SPEAKER_05: Specifically in high school, some of them, you know, decide to not continue with their competitive school because of our schedule at the performing arts high school, you know, having all the additional performances, all the additional commitments, or some of the opportunities, as we've said, that are only offered to say like a performing arts high school versus a competition school.
23:22
SPEAKER_05: Frankly, the kids have just enjoyed more.
23:24
SPEAKER_05: So, like I know we'll get into it, but National High School Dance Festival, that's one specifically that is not offered to a dance studio.
23:30
SPEAKER_05: And that, you know, was it an eye-awakening just experience, I think, for students that get to experience it.
23:36
SPEAKER_05: It really is such an incredible opportunity for students that are enrolled at a performing arts institution.
23:42
SPEAKER_05: So a lot of my kids, it just varies.
23:44
SPEAKER_05: A lot of them are able to make it work.
23:45
SPEAKER_05: And I will say I've been able to create some great relationships with some of the studios where, you know, I've actually had studios call me and say, you know, what is your schedule?
23:54
SPEAKER_05: Send it to me ahead of time so I can kind of like map around you.
23:58
SPEAKER_05: Or, you know, I don't want to have any conflicts, so let's make it work.
24:01
SPEAKER_05: Or even, you know, shout out to a specific studio owner and I hope she will listen to this.
24:05
SPEAKER_05: She actually, you know, I gave her my cell.
24:07
SPEAKER_05: She called me because she's like, they had a competition the same week as high school dance festival.
24:12
SPEAKER_05: And she's like, oh no, the kids are doing both.
24:14
SPEAKER_05: I don't care.
24:15
SPEAKER_05: This opportunity sounds incredible.
24:16
SPEAKER_05: Let's make it work.
24:17
SPEAKER_05: Like, I don't care, whatever.
24:19
SPEAKER_05: And we made it work.
24:20
SPEAKER_05: Like, as soon as I found that information, I sent it to her.
24:22
SPEAKER_05: As soon as she found something, she sent it to me.
24:24
SPEAKER_05: She even then had the parents kind of on board with like, you know, we're gonna shawl from this, she's gonna be here, we're gonna do this.
24:30
SPEAKER_05: So it's it's really creating that communication and making it very clear as to, I'm not trying to compete in any way with your competition studio or your training, because in so many ways it is so connected and so similar, but it is so very different at the same time.
24:44
SPEAKER_05: Because I think that's something to remember as well.
24:46
SPEAKER_05: We are in a school.
24:48
SPEAKER_05: That's like what I try to remember also in terms of like there's so many situations I don't have to deal with, which is wonderful in terms of sometimes, you know, what comes along with a dance studio, drama and things like that.
24:59
SPEAKER_05: Because we're in school.
25:00
SPEAKER_05: Like I remind myself of that often.
25:03
SPEAKER_05: Like we are in an institution, this is your educational house.
25:07
SPEAKER_05: Like, this is not a dance studio, you know, this is this is school at the end of the day.
25:11
SPEAKER_05: And how are we serving you as a student, as a person, not just a dancer?
25:16
SPEAKER_05: I think that's also something in a performing arts school that is really implemented, or at least in my program, as to like, how are we creating the entire person?
25:23
SPEAKER_05: Because we have the academics, we have the arts, and the person.
25:27
SPEAKER_05: So how are we putting that all together to then allow you to move forward in life?
25:31
SPEAKER_01: It's like a carbon copy, honestly.
25:33
SPEAKER_01: Your experience to my, I'm like, yeah, yes, it's not just me.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: That's so refreshing and it's it's so it can connect.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: I didn't mean to cut you off.
25:40
SPEAKER_04: Oh, no, no, you're totally fine.
25:42
SPEAKER_04: I think that it's really interesting to hear this.
25:44
SPEAKER_04: And I love hearing that there are studios that are willing to prioritize the performing arts high school if they and I'm I'm assuming if you know they have enough students that are planning to attend and want to make it work.
25:58
SPEAKER_04: And I want to share very briefly my situation growing up because mine was very kind of specific and particular in the sense that we have a beautiful performing arts high school in Baltimore called Baltimore School for the Arts.
26:11
SPEAKER_04: It's what Step Up was based off of.
26:14
SPEAKER_04: If you saw the movie, um it's like love.
26:20
SPEAKER_04: Love.
26:21
SPEAKER_04: And of course, that was like around the time that I was going, you know, making the choice to go.
26:26
SPEAKER_04: And all there were a handful of dancers that were older than me that attended the school, and they were stunning.
26:33
SPEAKER_04: And the dancers were beautiful.
26:34
SPEAKER_04: They were already great when they went to school, but then they just got even better.
26:37
SPEAKER_04: And then all the dancers looking up to them were like, oh, well, maybe we need to go to BSA.
26:42
SPEAKER_04: Like maybe that's where I should take as parents too.
26:44
SPEAKER_04: Everyone's like, I guess we gotta go here.
26:46
SPEAKER_04: And then there was a batch of us in my my year that my small group friends, we always were paired together.
26:52
SPEAKER_04: We were we were at the top of our age at the studio, and it was that time for us to make that choice.
26:58
SPEAKER_04: Went to audition at BSA and all of us got in.
27:01
SPEAKER_04: And the studio decided, my studio growing up, my competitive studio decided to make the decision to not allow us to go if we wanted to continue to dance at the studio.
27:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we weren't allowed to go to the school at the same time if we wanted to compete because they didn't like the amount of conflicts and commitments.
27:21
SPEAKER_04: And, you know, everyone would put BSA first, the nutcracker.
27:24
SPEAKER_04: Oh, sorry, can't be a comp rehearsals, I can't be at ballet class tonight, like whatever it was.
27:29
SPEAKER_04: So, and the funniest part about it all, and I I absolutely adore my teacher.
27:34
SPEAKER_04: She uh taught me everything I know, but she attended the school.
27:39
SPEAKER_04: So it's just like, what in the world?
27:41
SPEAKER_04: Like it is just so bizarre.
27:42
SPEAKER_04: And I will never forget the meeting that I had with my teachers making the choice because I actually didn't want to go to the performing arts high school because I hated ballet.
27:51
SPEAKER_04: And that's all you did it there.
27:53
SPEAKER_04: You did ballet and point and moderns.
27:54
SPEAKER_04: And I was like, I want to do jazz dance, I want to do other styles.
27:57
SPEAKER_04: So I they kind of convinced me not to go.
28:00
SPEAKER_04: And it was also a very far commute from my home, about an hour plus each way.
28:04
SPEAKER_04: So it was a big commitment to like make the choice.
28:06
SPEAKER_04: And I look back and I kind of regret not going like now, because I think it could have led to a lot of great opportunities.
28:12
SPEAKER_04: But I'll never forget them saying, like, Courtney, you you're a jazz dancer.
28:16
SPEAKER_04: You're not gonna be a ballet dancer, you're not gonna get what you want at Baltimore School for the Arts.
28:21
SPEAKER_04: You need to stay here at the studio.
28:23
SPEAKER_04: You want to do jazz and compete.
28:25
SPEAKER_04: And they just completely convinced me to stay.
28:27
SPEAKER_04: And like, granted, I'm glad because I really liked the high school experience that I got.
28:31
SPEAKER_04: I got the football games and I got this and that.
28:34
SPEAKER_04: And I really enjoyed that, but it was a really tough decision for me.
28:38
SPEAKER_04: And I wish that my studio just would have been a little bit more cooperative and flexible with this be this school that produces stunning dancers.
28:47
SPEAKER_04: And not like they were crap.
28:48
SPEAKER_04: It'd be one, it'd be a different story if they weren't doing anything right, you know?
28:52
unknown: Right.
28:52
SPEAKER_04: And the sad part about it is with that rule, they lost a ton of dancers because a ton of the great dancers ended up going there.
28:59
SPEAKER_04: Right.
28:59
SPEAKER_04: Is that still a rule?
29:00
SPEAKER_04: Do you know no idea?
29:02
SPEAKER_04: I have no idea.
29:02
SPEAKER_04: And I'm curious to know if it is, but it was a big transitional period.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: Many of the girls in your group end up going to school and leaving the studio.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: So your group also diminished.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
29:12
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
29:12
SPEAKER_04: And I was like one of two left.
29:14
SPEAKER_04: And it was just like it was tough.
29:16
SPEAKER_04: It was a really tough decision.
29:18
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
29:18
SPEAKER_04: So I, you know, to all the other studios out there, like if there is a performing arts high school that is, you know, that is great, that is going to look great on a resume, that is going to provide those opportunities, don't like restrict a dancer from going.
29:32
SPEAKER_04: Cause it really made it a tough decision for me.
29:34
SPEAKER_04: And I'm, as you said earlier, Jamie, like each thing that we do might have not let us my life would be completely different if I went there.
29:42
SPEAKER_04: Who knows, good or bad?
29:43
SPEAKER_04: Who knows?
29:44
SPEAKER_04: Right.
29:44
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, I just want to share that because I think that it's it still cre baffles me when I think about it uh to this day.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: And well, and hearing how different it can be with James, and you're talking about this one golden studio owner who's just happy to work with you and just you guys are on the same page about like we want to make dancers better.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: We can both do that if we work together, you know.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: I that's amazing.
30:06
SPEAKER_05: That's something this summer, for some reason, that's really been resonating with me as I've been teaching.
30:12
SPEAKER_05: So, Courtney, essentially, like your studio is limiting you from additional training and opportunities.
30:17
SPEAKER_05: And I think that's something that, you know, and I say this respectfully to all the studio owners listening.
30:21
SPEAKER_05: I think that's something that really has to be kind of evaluated in terms of the way that you then advise or guide your dancers.
30:28
SPEAKER_05: Because I think that there are so many opportunities that are presented to kids now, way more than we ever had, you know.
30:34
SPEAKER_05: And I understand there are people, you know, poaching and trying to, you know, take kids from studios and all of that.
30:39
SPEAKER_05: That's not what I'm speaking on.
30:40
SPEAKER_05: But I do think there is something so wonderful about having so many opportunities and being able to take advantage of them.
30:47
SPEAKER_05: And I think if there's someone kind of telling you, like, absolutely not, you are not allowed to do that.
30:52
SPEAKER_05: I don't know if that is the best place for you.
30:54
SPEAKER_05: Again, who knows?
30:55
SPEAKER_05: Courtney, if you would have gone to you know the performing arts school, maybe your life would be completely different, good or bad.
31:00
SPEAKER_05: Who knows?
31:01
SPEAKER_05: However, I think there's something too and for parents to realize and just think about, just to think, like sometimes that might not be the best home for your dancer if someone is completely saying to you, absolutely not, I only want them at my studio, and that's it.
31:14
SPEAKER_05: Because in reality, we know as a dance community and as professionals, like the world is so small, and the more people you know and get to know and work with is only going to help you.
31:24
SPEAKER_05: You know, someone else on your resume or something else you can put in your pocket and walk away with is extraordinary.
31:30
SPEAKER_05: That little bit of additional exposure could help your dancer tremendously.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: So I've had that same experience where studio directors have been teaching master classes over the summer, and a lot of these studios have students who come to my school and they are like, we are so glad that this our student is with you.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: We love the program, we love coming to the shows.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: Like, I have all that same support.
31:52
SPEAKER_01: And it is true, just like James was saying, some students will come here and then decide not to compete just because maybe this kind of movement speaks to them more and they want to dive in more.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: And so for me, I was like, Oh, am I gonna be the least liked teacher in Northern Virginia?
32:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was like, oh no.
32:06
SPEAKER_01: But really, it's just these teachers are like, they like this feeds them, like this is what is helping them grow.
32:12
SPEAKER_01: And they'll still take technique classes at the studio, but some of them just decide not to continue.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: But really, it's just these studio directors are like, we love this opportunity for our students because a lot of the times, you know, and I'm sure we'll get into this later, but we're teaching anatomy, kinesiology, and we're teaching cross-training, we're teaching dance history that a lot of the time you can't get into that.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: It's studio setting entertainment.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: And so I think a lot of these studio directors are like, yes, get that, that their students are going to be so well-rounded because now it's a holistic kind of team effort.
32:43
SPEAKER_01: And also, too, you know, now I've got students coming from across the county that are in different studios, and so then they see each other at competitions, and it's just a more beautiful atmosphere there.
32:52
SPEAKER_01: So it's like an extension of their family, and they're cheering on other studios because their buddies and that number.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: And it's just, you know, watching these dancers that are moving so differently based on like their studio training come here and grow together too.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: It's just making them so much more versatile.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: And I I've experienced that as well.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: Like, studio directors are like, yes, please.
33:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like how can we support?
33:13
SPEAKER_01: We love that.
33:13
SPEAKER_01: Let it the same thing.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: They'll be like, Hey, do you have your audit?
33:16
SPEAKER_01: Do you have your performance schedule?
33:18
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to avoid any conflicts.
33:19
SPEAKER_01: And even when there is, they're like, We'll make it work.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: We want them to be at the show, we want them to be in this residency, in this, you know, audition.
33:26
SPEAKER_01: They are so willing to work with us.
33:28
SPEAKER_01: That's why.
33:28
SPEAKER_01: It's just honestly, it's been really dreamy how beautiful it's been.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: And it surprised me, honestly.
33:33
SPEAKER_04: That's great.
33:34
SPEAKER_04: I think that's something I'd like to jump into is the differences between your schools, as far as Jamie.
33:40
SPEAKER_04: I know, briefly, and like this is something that I mentioned about like my high school experience going to a normal non-performing arts high school in my small town in Maryland.
33:49
SPEAKER_04: I really wanted to like experience normal life with like boys and football games and bonfires and just like high school.
33:58
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
33:58
SPEAKER_04: And yep.
33:59
SPEAKER_04: I don't know why that mattered to me so much when I was in eighth grade, but it did.
34:02
SPEAKER_04: So, like, that's listen, it matters to everyone.
34:04
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
34:04
SPEAKER_04: I guess it does.
34:06
SPEAKER_01: Because it does.
34:06
SPEAKER_01: It mattered to me.
34:08
SPEAKER_04: You have that at your school.
34:10
SPEAKER_04: You have football games.
34:11
SPEAKER_04: And tell us a little bit about what your school's like.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: So to kind of rewind a little bit, I my performing arts high school also had football soccer.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: I was actually a two-varsity athlete in high school for soccer and lacrosse.
34:23
SPEAKER_01: And when I was in eighth grade, I had to decide between my performing arts high school or like my neighborhood school because they had a really strong lacrosse program.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: And I was considering going to school for lacrosse.
34:31
SPEAKER_01: And I had to decide then what I want to do with my life.
34:33
SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm glad I chose here.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: But but I I continued to play full varsity soccer and varsity lacrosse for my four years.
34:41
SPEAKER_01: I went to football games, homecoming court, I have a key club, French club.
34:45
SPEAKER_01: Like we have it's a full comprehensive high school, mine growing up, and here as well.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly we have all the APs, we have, you know, all everything, all the varsity sports, everything you would want in a, I guess, typical high school experience.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: And because I was so involved after school, I was juggling dance and soccer lacrosse, all the things, you know, National Society.
35:07
SPEAKER_01: I really pushed my dancers to be involved.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: So I love that because I felt like my athleticism on the field made me a stronger dancer as well.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: And vice versa.
35:17
SPEAKER_01: I loved that about my experience.
35:19
SPEAKER_01: And I just love that our dancers are involved past our halls.
35:24
SPEAKER_01: I don't want us to just be closed in our four walls.
35:27
SPEAKER_01: I want the dance program to be everywhere on the field, um, leading the school, being a part of the development of new clubs.
35:35
SPEAKER_01: Like I want them because just like James was saying, like we want strong individuals.
35:40
SPEAKER_01: I know not all our dancers are gonna pursue this, you know, beyond, you know, high school or college, but I want a well-rounded, I want to help build well-rounded people and leaders and future educators, future, you know, doctors.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: Like I want them to be fully involved and I want our curriculum to support that, to, you know, teach them just the skills to be adaptable in any profession, to be creative in any profession.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: And so that's what I think is so thrilling about.
36:08
SPEAKER_01: That's why I love it so much because it is so similar to my experience.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: And that stuff really mattered to me.
36:13
SPEAKER_01: Even finding a college when I wanted to go to a university setting, I loved, you know, George Mason had this conservatory-based program, this really strong technically based dance program.
36:22
SPEAKER_01: But also they had, you know, boys and parties, you know, all this kind of stuff.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: And so that's I that was important to me.
36:30
SPEAKER_01: And I played club lacrosse at Mason too.
36:33
SPEAKER_01: And so it was, it was just as the person, like looking holistically as the person, I'm really glad we have all this stuff to offer these kids.
36:41
SPEAKER_05: Ours is actually uh different.
36:43
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so we do not have sports teams.
36:45
SPEAKER_05: Surprisingly, though, the kids are able to kind of like it's like an application process, they can like cheer or play for their homeschool, if that makes sense.
36:53
SPEAKER_05: And it's kind of like a case-by-case situation of it being approved.
36:57
SPEAKER_05: You know, I'd like to sit here and say that I I don't allow them to do it, but Jamie, as you said, like I'm more worried about, and I think it's as I get older as an educator, I'm more worried about the person.
37:06
SPEAKER_05: So, like, if you want to do something additional, I think that's wonderful.
37:09
SPEAKER_05: I think there has to be a little bit of limits.
37:11
SPEAKER_05: Like, I will say specifically with you know, one of the sports the kids are allowed to do, or if they do it for their homeschool, they can only leave early if it's an actual game, like for their practices, they can't leave early or if it conflicts, like they it just I I will not allow them to leave.
37:25
SPEAKER_05: And that's kind of like an upper administrative rule.
37:27
SPEAKER_05: I didn't really come up with that, so I'm just kind of going along with it if it makes sense.
37:31
SPEAKER_05: But I do think it it creates a well-rounded human.
37:34
SPEAKER_05: And I I want to go back to Jamie, what you said about you know, that not all of the students when they leave will become professional dancers.
37:40
SPEAKER_05: You know, I think as I stepped away from my performing career as an educator, that really bothered me.
37:45
SPEAKER_05: Like, well, why why?
37:46
SPEAKER_05: Why are you not why don't you want to do this?
37:48
SPEAKER_05: What like what is the problem?
37:49
SPEAKER_05: I've given you all the tools.
37:51
SPEAKER_05: But I think now, again, as I get older and a little bit more established as an actual educator, fully like making myself vulnerable in this, that's okay.
37:59
SPEAKER_05: I think that's fine.
38:00
SPEAKER_05: I think it's fine because then if you're going to be a doctor, if you're going to be a physical therapist, if you're going to be a lawyer, I have now contacts in all of those worlds.
38:08
SPEAKER_05: And you know that I was your dance teacher.
38:10
SPEAKER_05: So I think there's something really great about that.
38:12
SPEAKER_05: And I think, you know, it's something I've thought about, especially with our kids starting in sixth grade at my school, you know, from sixth grade to 12th grade, maybe that was just one small part of your life.
38:21
SPEAKER_05: And if you don't want to do it, that's fine.
38:23
SPEAKER_05: But you did it so much from sixth to 12th grade, cool.
38:27
SPEAKER_05: If you don't want to go to school for dance because you did it for that long, you five days a week, you did all of this curriculum, all of these festivals, all these types of things, and you truly know in your heart this is not what you want to do, because we know in this world it's very difficult.
38:40
SPEAKER_05: That's fine.
38:41
SPEAKER_05: That's almost better that you're able to identify that.
38:44
SPEAKER_05: But I think there's also something really cool about my school that I don't have the sports, but the the spirit at my school and in and being able to like rep your school, your pride is so strong.
38:54
SPEAKER_05: And it's just kind of a thing of like how you I think when you're in the environment, you just end up doing.
38:59
SPEAKER_05: So, like most of the dancers now they want to do the musical, or they then do National Honor Society, or they then do four court is like the biggest activity at my school.
39:07
SPEAKER_05: There's like these after school four court tournaments that are like huge.
39:11
SPEAKER_05: You would think it's like a club.
39:12
SPEAKER_05: The lights are out, the music's glaring.
39:14
SPEAKER_05: What is that?
39:14
SPEAKER_05: Four court, it's kind of like it's kind of here's the thing, guys.
39:17
SPEAKER_05: I don't do sports, I don't really know.
39:19
SPEAKER_05: I think it's like it's like volleyball, kind of, but it's like a tournament, and it's like once a month the student council hosts it, but it's packed.
39:27
SPEAKER_05: When I say like every kid is there, it's like there's loud music, they sell snacks, it's like, you know, I think there's like an admission fee, and you know, the proceeds go towards something each month, or you know, and it's something it's really cool to see that the kids want to be so involved.
39:41
SPEAKER_05: And I will say at my school, the kids really have the ability to have student voice, which is really wonderful, and being able to just present their opinion.
39:49
SPEAKER_05: And there is also such a strong academic push at my school as well, which is wonderful.
39:53
SPEAKER_05: So not only are the arts heavily, you know, important, but your academics are as well.
39:58
SPEAKER_05: And I really admire that about my administrative team at my school and also just the students, that culture that's been built as to I have to hone in on my craft, but also my grades, I I have I can't play around.
40:10
SPEAKER_05: You know, they love to come to me when that that grading period is like, I gotta finish.
40:14
SPEAKER_05: I'm like, that's not my problem.
40:15
SPEAKER_05: You can finish that outside of dance class.
40:17
SPEAKER_05: But it's great to see that, it's great to see that urgency though, that they are so worried about it, you know, because I feel like for me in high school, my grades, I didn't care, I'll be honest, because all I wanted to do was dance.
40:29
SPEAKER_05: But it's great for them to, I don't know, to have that value of their grades do matter and the artistry matters.
40:36
SPEAKER_05: And then also the extracurriculars.
40:37
SPEAKER_05: So I don't know.
40:38
SPEAKER_05: I I I enjoy being able to see them thrive in other things or know that they're great.
40:43
SPEAKER_05: You know, I had a dancer, she actually graduated this past year.
40:46
SPEAKER_05: She actually won states for track, like in her freshman year.
40:49
SPEAKER_05: So, like to me, that's also I got to post about that.
40:52
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
40:53
SPEAKER_05: Like, you know, a Kappa dance major won state.
40:56
SPEAKER_05: Like, that's that's great for me.
40:57
SPEAKER_05: I think that's great for her.
40:58
SPEAKER_05: I think that's great for her fellow dancers to see and her classmates that, you know, it's not one thing, you know, and she was an excellent dancer.
41:10
SPEAKER_04: Hey Dance World, it's Courtney, and I want to tell you about a program that is near and dear to my heart, and that is Young Arts.
41:18
SPEAKER_04: Young Arts is one of the only organizations in the United States that supports young, aspiring artists across 10 disciplines, including dance.
41:25
SPEAKER_04: Young Arts offers a national arts competition open to visual, literary, and performing artists between the ages of 15 and 18 or in grades 10 through 12.
41:34
SPEAKER_04: And guess what?
41:35
SPEAKER_04: Applications are now open.
41:38
SPEAKER_04: By applying to Young Arts, your dancer will have the chance to receive mentorship and scholarship awards, gain access to a lifetime of creative and professional development, and become part of an uplifting intergenerational community that helps artists connect, create, and collaborate throughout their career.
41:55
SPEAKER_04: As a Young Arts alumni and dance winner in 2007, I can tell you how eye-opening and impactful my experience as a high school senior was heading to Young Arts Week in Miami.
42:05
SPEAKER_04: I met lifelong friends, worked with legendary icons in the dance world, and grew so much as an artist.
42:11
SPEAKER_04: This program is so much more than just a scholarship opportunity.
42:15
SPEAKER_04: It truly changed my life and helped me start my career in the dance world.
42:19
SPEAKER_04: I highly encourage and recommend all dancers who are aged 15 to 18 or currently in grades 10 through 12 to apply to Young Arts and enter into their national arts competition now.
42:30
SPEAKER_04: The deadline to apply is Friday, October 13th, 2023.
42:34
SPEAKER_04: Learn more and start your application today by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting their website at youngarts.org slash apply.
42:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a full-time educator, but I I have that in me.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, why aren't you gonna do this?
42:58
SPEAKER_00: If you're spending so much time, why wouldn't you just do like do it?
43:02
SPEAKER_00: But I think again, I think we all we learn as we age and you you start to understand a little bit more about yourself and other people that you're around and the kids that you teach.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: And so you have somebody who's danced with you from sixth to twelfth grade and they decide they want to go into nutrition or accounting or whatever it is.
43:19
SPEAKER_00: Now in five or six years, we're gonna have an accountant who understands dance and who's gonna be able to either support somebody who's dancing, support an organization that supports dance, or is going to be a dietitian who can say, Hey, I know, I know how you guys work.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: Let me help you.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: So the more people who understand dancers because they've been dancers that end up doing other things, that's part of our job too as educators, to know okay, listen, you're not going to be the next Burznikov, you're not going to be the next Misty Copeland, but you're going to be somebody who helps that person.
43:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think that's so important, especially like you said, in the public school system where, yeah, some of us.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: Are gonna go on and do this, but a lot of us aren't.
44:02
SPEAKER_01: And I do that too with our senior portfolio kind of that I mentioned previously.
44:08
SPEAKER_01: The seniors do have to say, okay, you know, I'm going to school, I'm studying this.
44:12
SPEAKER_01: Some many do dance, but some do not.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: And as a part of that portfolio, they have to outline the skills that are transferable for what they're pursuing.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: Like one's going to going to be a vet one day, and just creative thinking and these communication skills, like they're just how you take the skills that you've learned through dance, through this experience, but how can that transfer to what you are going to pursue?
44:35
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, absolutely.
44:36
SPEAKER_05: It's like that we always say, you know, it's cliche, but it's like the dance skills are the life skills.
44:41
SPEAKER_05: So everything you learned within this studio or within these, you know, four years, seven years, however long you've been in the program, you will take this away.
44:49
SPEAKER_05: You know, I think there are days where, I mean, Jimmy, I'm sure you experience this where the kids they don't want to dance.
44:54
SPEAKER_05: Like it's literally like pulling teeth.
44:56
SPEAKER_05: I there are plenty of days like that, especially as we get into like January, February, March, where it feels like the school year is never going to end.
45:03
SPEAKER_05: However, it's like reminding them, like we just that consistency.
45:06
SPEAKER_05: When you then wake up for college next year, you're gonna have that same feeling.
45:10
SPEAKER_05: But how can you push through?
45:11
SPEAKER_05: How can we keep moving forward?
45:13
SPEAKER_05: How can you take this mindset, these skills to then adapt, you know, wherever you are in one year from now?
45:19
SPEAKER_04: So something I'm curious to learn more about is what a day in the life looks like.
45:25
SPEAKER_04: What are the day-to-day classes that they're taking weekly?
45:29
SPEAKER_04: Are there elective classes that they can take?
45:32
SPEAKER_04: How is their schedule structured?
45:35
SPEAKER_04: Is it based on the grade that they're in or can they advance to higher levels?
45:41
SPEAKER_04: I'm just so curious because it's so it's very different.
45:45
SPEAKER_00: I mean and I want to tag on to that question.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: Do you have to maintain a certain GPA to stay in the program?
45:52
SPEAKER_05: I love that.
45:53
SPEAKER_05: So for us, if I could go first, everything kind of structurally changed a little bit after COVID.
45:58
SPEAKER_05: So I'm not going to speak on the GPA requirement because things are always, you know, it's just a little bit different after the pandemic, I will say.
46:05
SPEAKER_05: But for us, a day in the life, you know, specifically our middle and high school schedules switch.
46:09
SPEAKER_05: So middle schoolers have dance in the morning and then they have academics in the afternoon.
46:13
SPEAKER_05: And then high schoolers, it's the complete opposite.
46:15
SPEAKER_05: So they have academics in the morning and then dance in the afternoon.
46:19
SPEAKER_05: So middle school, it's about two and a half hours, and then high school, I think it's exactly three hours and it's five days a week.
46:25
SPEAKER_05: And our schedule is kind of set up where the first chunk of time, five days a week, is a technique class and it's based our program is based in ballet jazz and modern.
46:33
SPEAKER_05: And then the second half is considered repertoire, which is preparing for the concert.
46:38
SPEAKER_05: That includes, though, obviously that's that's the time when we have masterclasses.
46:41
SPEAKER_05: And what I try to do is because the program being based in ballet jazz and modern, masterclasses are always in a different style.
46:46
SPEAKER_05: I mean, obviously, we have plenty of contemporary and modern masterclasses as you know, companies tour and they come to Pittsburgh.
46:52
SPEAKER_05: But I try my hardest.
46:53
SPEAKER_05: We've had masterclasses in like West African, hip hop, tap, salsa, yoga, pilates.
46:59
SPEAKER_05: You know, I just try to really vary it.
47:01
SPEAKER_05: And when anyone reaches out or anyone's in town, I try to obviously bring them in.
47:05
SPEAKER_05: In terms of the levels for us, it doesn't matter what grade you're in.
47:09
SPEAKER_05: You can you can level up it, you can dance with.
47:11
SPEAKER_05: So like a freshman could be in the highest level.
47:13
SPEAKER_05: Generally, I try not to do something like that, but generally from 10th grade on, if if I feel that they're ready for the highest level and they should be pushed in that way, I think, I think that's great.
47:22
SPEAKER_05: We have actually tossed around do they perform with their level or do they perform with their grade?
47:27
SPEAKER_05: Because it's really nice, like especially say then the seniors, you know, dancing together for the last time, whatever.
47:32
SPEAKER_05: So we've done a little bit of both.
47:34
SPEAKER_05: So repertoire has kind of included them dance with their levels or audition-based.
47:39
SPEAKER_05: So we bring in guest choreographers basically from January on, and all of that is audition-based.
47:43
SPEAKER_05: So that is any grade possible could be in a piece.
47:46
SPEAKER_05: So it just kind of varies.
47:48
SPEAKER_05: But in terms of the schedule, every day is definitely a technique class, and then obviously rehearsal, or you know, one day a week we have set aside for our dance academics.
47:57
SPEAKER_05: So Jamie, you mentioned like anatomy, kines, all those types of things.
48:00
SPEAKER_05: Ours are specifically like that start in sixth grade, kind of like an essentials class for kids to really understand.
48:05
SPEAKER_05: Because you have some kids coming from a studio, you have some kids coming from a ballet school, and you have some kids that really just don't have much dance training, but in the audition, they were wonderful, you know.
48:13
SPEAKER_05: So it's like seeking to grow.
48:15
SPEAKER_05: So it's like an essentials class of like, how do you walk in the room?
48:17
SPEAKER_05: You don't wear your shoes on the Marley, what do you wear?
48:20
SPEAKER_05: How do you put your hair in a bun?
48:21
SPEAKER_05: What does it mean when a teacher says we're going across the floor?
48:24
SPEAKER_05: How do you thank your teacher at the end of class?
48:27
SPEAKER_05: You know, things that like a sixth grader typically would know at a dance studio, but everyone can review that information, you know what I mean?
48:34
SPEAKER_05: Be reminded of like a class etiquette, and then they kind of just vary from there.
48:38
SPEAKER_05: So like it goes into there's like a composition, dance history, we have like an industry essentials class, and then similarly, like a senior seminar, which is where there's actually time for them to create and work on like a portfolio, or they do like a fully produced senior showcase at the end of the year as well.
48:54
SPEAKER_05: So it's time to work on that where they fully produce it.
48:57
SPEAKER_05: I basically just oversee, so they do their own lighting, they create their own marketing, they create their own ticket link.
49:02
SPEAKER_05: Like it is completely on that.
49:04
SPEAKER_03: Oh god.
49:04
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
49:05
SPEAKER_05: And interestingly enough, this year I tested positive for COVID the night before the senior showcase.
49:11
SPEAKER_05: But it was great because they completely had it all.
49:16
SPEAKER_05: It was it was their show.
49:17
SPEAKER_05: So they knew exactly what they needed to do.
49:19
SPEAKER_05: They have to communicate, you know, with our lighting teacher, they have to organize their tech schedule, they have to do it all, they have to figure out costumes.
49:26
SPEAKER_05: It's all on them.
49:27
SPEAKER_05: So it's something that they have to fully, fully produce and they should be able to as a senior.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yep.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm just I'm just agree.
49:34
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, yep, all that.
49:35
SPEAKER_04: Yep, also like I don't fully agree.
49:36
SPEAKER_04: But no one's learning that at a dance studio.
49:38
SPEAKER_03: I'm just throwing learning.
49:41
SPEAKER_04: I would that's amazing.
49:42
SPEAKER_04: What skills they're gonna be able to take away from that is amazing.
49:46
SPEAKER_04: They can really go in any path.
49:48
SPEAKER_04: I wish that I learned those types of things.
49:50
SPEAKER_04: That's awesome.
49:51
SPEAKER_05: And like in a non, sorry to add one more thing, like with learning those skills, you know, naturally with 17 and 18 year olds, it becomes a little bit like, well, I don't know how to do that.
49:59
SPEAKER_05: What do I, how do I?
50:01
SPEAKER_05: These are the tools that I've given you.
50:02
SPEAKER_05: So you have to be able to take a moment and figure it out.
50:06
SPEAKER_05: Cutting your own music.
50:07
SPEAKER_05: Oh, well, I didn't know it needed to be in this format.
50:10
SPEAKER_05: Well, that's why we're now you do.
50:12
SPEAKER_05: That's why now you do.
50:14
SPEAKER_05: Oh, a lighting sheet, I didn't know.
50:16
SPEAKER_05: Well, that's why we had a lighting meeting.
50:18
SPEAKER_05: Oh, you were on your phone.
50:19
SPEAKER_05: I'm so sorry.
50:20
SPEAKER_05: That's why we had a lighting meeting.
50:21
SPEAKER_00: I guess you have no lights.
50:23
SPEAKER_05: I guess you have no lights.
50:24
SPEAKER_05: That's why it'll be a checklist.
50:26
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
50:27
SPEAKER_05: So it's very it's it's holding them accountable, and that's something that I really stand firm in in terms of, you know, again, going on to dance or not.
50:35
SPEAKER_05: Right now, this is what you have to do.
50:36
SPEAKER_05: So you are being held accountable to create your lighting sheet and it should be turned in for the lighting team to be able to figure out how to light your your piece.
50:45
SPEAKER_05: So yeah.
50:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so similar, so similar.
50:48
SPEAKER_01: A kind of a similar but different story.
50:50
SPEAKER_01: When I was having my first daughter, I thought I was going into labor the night of our first senior showcase.
50:57
SPEAKER_01: I was in the hospital until four o'clock in the morning that next day.
50:59
SPEAKER_01: And I was just texting my colleagues, I'm like, they're fine.
51:01
SPEAKER_01: Just someone unlock the unlock the other.
51:05
SPEAKER_01: I was telling the doctor, I was like, listen, I have a show and they're like, you in it.
51:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I'm not in it.
51:10
SPEAKER_01: No, I don't want to be in it.
51:11
SPEAKER_02: But right.
51:11
SPEAKER_01: Luckily, I was fine.
51:12
SPEAKER_01: I was able to go, but I was like wheeling around in the car in my chair backstage and I'm talking, but but yeah, I was like, I just need someone to unlock the room, they'll be fine.
51:21
SPEAKER_01: And like that, totally so similar.
51:23
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly the goal at the end of it.
51:26
SPEAKER_01: And again, no matter if they are choosing to dance or not, you teach the same exact curriculum for every single student.
51:32
SPEAKER_01: It's the same dance education because that's what they signed up for.
51:35
SPEAKER_01: So, and that's what they'll get.
51:37
SPEAKER_01: And so, so similarly, yes, those seniors take it and run with it because it's theirs, right?
51:42
SPEAKER_01: And it's kind of their final, you know, footprint on the program anyway.
51:45
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm like, yes, everything you're saying.
51:48
SPEAKER_01: Our schedule is a little bit different.
51:50
SPEAKER_01: So our dancers, we have levels dance one, two, three, and four.
51:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, they all have to audition, of course, to be a part of the program.
51:58
SPEAKER_01: We do keep all the freshmen at the same level freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
52:03
SPEAKER_01: For me, just on our end, I love seeing that.
52:06
SPEAKER_01: Again, we've got dancers coming from really classical ballet background and dancers that are coming more jazz trained that might not, like I didn't like ballet in high school.
52:15
SPEAKER_01: Now I absolutely love it.
52:16
SPEAKER_01: But it's like it's really wonderful to watch them watch each other.
52:21
SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden it levels out.
52:23
SPEAKER_01: And that's the really fun part about seeing them progress through the four years.
52:26
SPEAKER_01: Like when they're seniors, the last day of class will watch all of their pieces we've ever done.
52:31
SPEAKER_01: And we will, you know, we laugh, we cry, all the things.
52:33
SPEAKER_01: But they're like, wow, how much they've grown as a group, which is really cool.
52:38
SPEAKER_01: Because again, these students are still going to their classical ballet studios and these are still doing jazzy competition.
52:44
SPEAKER_01: But when they're here, when they're under this roof, when they're roof, when they are getting this choreography, they are one body on stage.
52:50
SPEAKER_01: So it's for for me, I love seeing that and seeing that them kind of progress together.
52:55
SPEAKER_01: And as freshmen, they kind of watch the seniors in our concerts and they're like, oh my gosh, they're like one body on stage.
53:02
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, you'll get there, guys, just wait.
53:04
SPEAKER_01: And then they're like, I don't know how it happened, but it did.
53:06
SPEAKER_01: And it's a really, it's really fun to kind of see how that goes because again, they can learn from each other.
53:12
SPEAKER_01: There are dancers that are stronger in ballet than others and stronger in jazz, stronger in modern.
53:16
SPEAKER_01: So I just love that there are different leaders and different units that we do.
53:21
SPEAKER_01: But aside from that, we have I see them every other day.
53:25
SPEAKER_01: So this is more, I don't want to say it's like an elective because it's not.
53:29
SPEAKER_01: It's it's a much more intensive program than elective, but that's kind of how it's put into schedules.
53:35
SPEAKER_01: So they have dance with me every other day, except for our juniors.
53:38
SPEAKER_01: Our juniors have me every day their junior year because we have our technique, our dance three class, and then they'll have their composition repertory class when they start to get into choreography techniques and composition theories and all that.
53:50
SPEAKER_01: So I will have them uh technique one day, choreography the next, and and so on.
53:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, so the way I kind of structure the curriculum, because again, I know most of these students are getting technique at their studios every day.
54:03
SPEAKER_01: So we'll start the year in ballet.
54:05
SPEAKER_01: We'll do technique for the first big chunk of school.
54:08
SPEAKER_01: After that, we will get into the respective history of ballet.
54:12
SPEAKER_01: So each class has a different era of dance history that they're studying.
54:16
SPEAKER_01: And then they will do a dynamic alignment unit, which each class again has a different area of the body they're studying.
54:22
SPEAKER_01: We kind of work up from the feet and the ankles to the knees and the hips to the core and the torso to the upper body for the seniors.
54:28
SPEAKER_01: So we kind of work through, and that's kind of why I also keep them at the same level so that they're, you know, they're just progressing and they're learning new material every year.
54:36
SPEAKER_01: And then we'll get into kind of the modern unit.
54:39
SPEAKER_01: We'll get into repertory, we'll start um building uh the concert uh material.
54:43
SPEAKER_01: I do a class piece, I choreograph class piece for each class for the concerts, and then we'll do modern history as well, do some fun projects related to that.
54:52
SPEAKER_01: We'll finish the year in jazz with jazz history as well.
54:55
SPEAKER_01: We do that for each era of jazz, and then they do specified projects.
54:59
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the year, the freshmen do a dance careers project.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: So they research a dance career, either kind of a peripheral dance career, like maybe again, like a nutritionist, but something that can support the dance profession, or it can be a professional dancer.
55:11
SPEAKER_01: My sophomores start building their dance reels, so they get kind of a technological kind of portfolio going.
55:18
SPEAKER_01: So they start building dance reels, video editing, music editing.
55:21
SPEAKER_01: Juniors do a cross-training project for over the summer.
55:24
SPEAKER_01: So they make a nutrition plan, they make a cross-training plan.
55:26
SPEAKER_01: So they have to find different modes of cross-training, and they build, they each come in with cute little planners of like, on this week, I'm gonna do rock climbing.
55:33
SPEAKER_01: And so they'll do that.
55:34
SPEAKER_01: That's their kind of fun project.
55:36
SPEAKER_01: And then the seniors, of course, their educ pro exit project is their portfolios and their senior solo showcase that they're producing.
55:43
SPEAKER_01: But we also do so the same way James was talking about um bringing in guest artists that's audition only.
55:49
SPEAKER_01: That's I do the same thing.
55:51
SPEAKER_01: We bring in guest artists throughout the year.
55:53
SPEAKER_01: And so anybody can audition for any of those.
55:55
SPEAKER_01: So we've got seniors dancing with freshmen, freshmen with solos, juniors, seniors.
56:01
SPEAKER_01: So that's a really great way to also make it cohesive as well.
56:05
SPEAKER_01: Because I tell them, you know, even though you're freshmen, you're still in the company of that senior.
56:10
SPEAKER_01: You need to be able to perform the same rep as that senior.
56:14
SPEAKER_01: And so we are working, you know, the technique that I give each class, it's pretty much the same.
56:18
SPEAKER_01: There will be, dependent on the class, you know, we'll need to focus on certain things, but I'm giving the same technique classes because you are a company.
56:26
SPEAKER_01: Yes, you're in dance one, but you're a company.
56:28
SPEAKER_01: So you need to be able to go on that stage.
56:30
SPEAKER_01: And I shouldn't be able to say, oh, okay, that that's a big that one is, you know, so it's really the same technique for the entire company.
56:38
SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
56:39
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
56:40
SPEAKER_04: It's so interesting.
56:41
SPEAKER_04: And I'm sure there's so many more schools out there that exist that are very, very, very different from y'all's.
56:46
SPEAKER_04: Like it's it's so interesting.
56:48
SPEAKER_04: I'm refreshed to hear that you both have jazz in your curriculum because, like I mentioned, my school didn't really have jazz.
56:54
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
56:55
SPEAKER_04: And that was what scared me from even going was losing that.
56:59
SPEAKER_04: And I think this is also relatable in the sense of picking colleges and stuff.
57:03
SPEAKER_04: You know, it's like a similar discussion where we've had that talk on this podcast before about, oh, well, you know, this program doesn't have tap and this program doesn't have jazz, or I can't take it till I'm a junior and it's things like that.
57:14
SPEAKER_04: Like finding the right fit even for a high school, you might be limited with your choices.
57:18
SPEAKER_04: Let's be real.
57:19
SPEAKER_04: Some so, like we said, some cities don't even have access to a performing arts high school.
57:23
SPEAKER_04: And if you do, then there's probably one that you can go to and you just got to do whatever their program is if you choose to go there.
57:29
SPEAKER_04: But is it the right fit for you?
57:31
SPEAKER_04: Is it covering things that you're gonna be interested in and you know, going in that direction?
57:35
SPEAKER_04: So it is really interesting to hear what types of opportunities you're presenting.
57:40
SPEAKER_04: And with that being said, can we talk about National High School Dance Festival a little bit, those types of opportunities that are exclusive more to specific performing arts high schools that dance studios and competitive studios might not be able to have access to?
57:54
SPEAKER_04: I'd love to hear any of those opportunities, especially for the parents.
57:57
SPEAKER_04: I think they'll like this.
57:58
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, National High School Dance Festival really, I mean, is a is a wonderful opportunity for dancers.
58:04
SPEAKER_05: So, you know, there is a limit as to how many students you can bring.
58:06
SPEAKER_05: So I know each school does a little bit differently.
58:08
SPEAKER_05: We have to do kind of an audition at the beginning of a school year and the kids kind of commit.
58:12
SPEAKER_05: So they have rehearsal usually like two to three times a week, and then we do our filming.
58:17
SPEAKER_05: Jamie, I don't know how you guys do it, but we film like in October, so that it's kind of just like done, completely put away.
58:22
SPEAKER_05: We walk away from it, and you submit in order to perform.
58:26
SPEAKER_05: So there are multiple performance opportunities.
58:28
SPEAKER_05: There are kind of like a lower end of in terms of like an in-studio performance, then there are showcase concert, and then a gala is like the highest.
58:37
SPEAKER_05: So you have to submit in order to you can submit either two to three pieces in order to be adjudicated and then obviously placed in a showcase.
58:44
SPEAKER_05: So that's a really great opportunity because here in Pittsburgh, so Point Park has hosted the national conference the last few years.
58:50
SPEAKER_05: Every other year is national, and then every other year is regional, which is in multiple locations.
58:54
SPEAKER_05: But national has been here in Pittsburgh.
58:56
SPEAKER_05: So the kids that come and travel, and even my kids, they perform on the biome stage, which is a historic stage in the city of Pittsburgh in downtown the cultural district, which is gorgeous.
59:06
SPEAKER_05: I mean, you know, any national dance company, international dance company, that's generally where they perform in Pittsburgh.
59:12
SPEAKER_05: So it's it's a huge honor to be able to step on that stage.
59:15
SPEAKER_05: Then additionally, students are granted the opportunity to audition for, I don't know the exact number, it was like 150 summer programs, colleges, universities, all in one audition.
59:25
SPEAKER_05: So you do have to pick 10 of your students.
59:28
SPEAKER_05: So generally it's geared towards juniors and seniors that want to pursue this or attend a summer program and they audition and there's a time frame, and they, you know, it's like an hour and a half and they go through a ballet class.
59:39
SPEAKER_05: I think it's a jazz class and a modern class.
59:41
SPEAKER_05: And not every single time frame has the same amount of schools or people or representatives, but they're just coming in and out.
59:48
SPEAKER_05: So your students then could get a call back on the board to, you know, go speak with someone and multiple.
59:53
SPEAKER_05: All 10 of my students, I will say probably this last year had callbacks for different programs.
59:58
SPEAKER_05: So it's very fortunate for them to be able to again not only dance, but then have to communicate and introduce themselves and get to know a representative, say from you know, Perry Mansfield or Broadway Dance Center or Point Park University and say, like, hi, you know, I'm here to speak with you about your summer program.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_05: My name is, I attend Pittsburgh Kappa.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_05: How can I make this reality?
1:00:20
SPEAKER_05: You know, then being able to actually speak and verbalize what they want or if they have interests.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_05: And it's about what?
1:00:26
SPEAKER_05: It's four days total, Jamie, right?
1:00:28
SPEAKER_05: Like four days.
1:00:28
SPEAKER_03: Yes, yep.
1:00:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:00:29
SPEAKER_05: So it's like a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and it's jam-packed.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_05: I mean, all day, every day are classes, and then each night there are performances.
1:00:37
SPEAKER_05: And I will say, I don't know how your kids were, Jamie, but when I say it was the most, the most gratitude I've ever seen in them to experience something like that and us be in our home city, which was great.
1:00:50
SPEAKER_05: But on the other side of downtown, our school is downtown, so it felt like we were away.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_05: It was interesting.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_05: They like didn't feel like they were in their home, you know, territory.
1:00:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:00:58
SPEAKER_05: It was incredible.
1:01:00
SPEAKER_05: It was so wonderful and such a great relationship building, bonding moment.
1:01:04
SPEAKER_05: We did, you know, we do a big group dinner, we, you know, the audition process, just like it just was so fun.
1:01:09
SPEAKER_05: Then being able to, our kids actually opened the gala, which was a huge deal for them.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_05: They closed one of the showcases with a Christopher Huggins piece.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_05: So having other kids around them that are so like-minded and that we're cheering them on, that have the same goals, the same age, just it was wonderful.
1:01:25
SPEAKER_05: And it was great to see them grow in those four days.
1:01:28
SPEAKER_05: And also then, most importantly, go back to school with that excitement and bring it back and say, like, oh, but next year I'm doing this.
1:01:36
SPEAKER_05: Oh, I'm definitely going.
1:01:37
SPEAKER_05: Oh, I'm like, well, I don't know.
1:01:39
SPEAKER_05: We have to audition, we have to, you know, like, oh, and we're gonna do this next year.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_05: Right.
1:01:44
SPEAKER_05: Like, however, we gotta like, you know, we'll see.
1:01:46
SPEAKER_05: But um, that's one festival that we do, National Arts and Dance Festival.
1:01:49
SPEAKER_05: And then I do also want to mention we also do IABD, which is International Association of Blacks and Dance.
1:01:55
SPEAKER_05: That's not something we've done every single year, and it's something that I believe just our seniors did a few years ago.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_05: I know the conference is in Memphis.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_05: This upcoming year we will not attend because it's right around the same time.
1:02:05
SPEAKER_05: So a lot of the festivals are in kind of January, February, March, just due to that being kind of the audition time for summer.
1:02:12
SPEAKER_05: So we will just do, we will do regional high school dance festival this year in Virginia.
1:02:16
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:02:17
SPEAKER_05: So oh, we'll see.
1:02:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
1:02:20
SPEAKER_01: Yay.
1:02:21
SPEAKER_01: Oh, good.
1:02:22
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:02:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:02:23
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we had such a similar, like similar experience.
1:02:26
SPEAKER_01: It was incredible.
1:02:27
SPEAKER_01: And it gives them a taste of almost being on tour a little bit.
1:02:30
SPEAKER_01: You know, you've got you're taking classes and then you have to run to the theater.
1:02:33
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
1:02:34
SPEAKER_01: We were so thrilled this year.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_01: We had four of our five pieces selected to perform, a gala, close a showcase as well, and outstanding student choreography, and kind of the way you were saying, the students have to talk to, you know, these recruiters.
1:02:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, for the outstanding student choreography showcase, your these students who choreographed it have to go and talk to this adjudication panel and talk about their piece, advocate for what their vision was and have a conversation and answered yield these questions from these active dance professionals and get feedback.
1:03:03
SPEAKER_01: It's the most incredible experience.
1:03:06
SPEAKER_01: They came back and they just started weeping of just pride and like, I can't believe we just did that.
1:03:11
SPEAKER_01: That was amazing.
1:03:12
SPEAKER_01: And then again, all like, you know, the dancers who didn't go, they're like, I can't do it.
1:03:15
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:03:16
SPEAKER_01: And then again, these dancers get to see from across the country what their peers are doing.
1:03:21
SPEAKER_01: And even for me right now, hearing James, you talk about your program, I'm like, okay, I'm doing that right.
1:03:24
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's good.
1:03:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, me too.
1:03:26
SPEAKER_01: Like it's absolutely.
1:03:28
SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay.
1:03:29
SPEAKER_01: And then seeing how things are different.
1:03:31
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's that's so interesting.
1:03:32
SPEAKER_01: I didn't think about it that way.
1:03:33
SPEAKER_01: Like, it's really just so inspiring, just like a competition is a weekend competition to see other studios.
1:03:39
SPEAKER_01: But now this is at, you know, a national level level and international.
1:03:43
SPEAKER_01: There are schools that are coming from Canada and beyond.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_01: A few years ago, uh, there was a school from Australia, Hawaii.
1:03:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's yeah, it's really cool.
1:03:52
SPEAKER_01: It's really, it's a beautiful experience.
1:03:54
SPEAKER_01: And then again, networking, and then even, you know, there's only one of me in the county.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_01: So then when I get to see colleagues and, you know, talk about our experiences and feedback and kind of brainstorm together, it's really just it's an incredible week, honestly.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_01: It's the highlight.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of work, it's exhausting for them.
1:04:11
SPEAKER_01: They come home and it's like a quiet bus coming home.
1:04:14
SPEAKER_01: But it it's honestly it's life-changing because they also have professional companies coming in and performing throughout the week, and then they have master classes, and it's just it's everything you could want for you know a performing arts program.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_01: It's really special.
1:04:29
SPEAKER_01: It's really something.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_05: This year's performance, the feature company was complexion.
1:04:33
SPEAKER_05: So that was also something that being able to see my kids see complexions for the first time was, I mean, I don't know how you're my kids were like just out of their body.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_00: They were a jaw-drop.
1:04:45
SPEAKER_05: Out-of-body experience, you know, truly.
1:04:49
SPEAKER_01: I watched them more than I watched than I than I watched the other.
1:04:53
SPEAKER_05: Yes, same.
1:04:54
SPEAKER_01: Same.
1:04:54
SPEAKER_01: Look at them.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_01: They're so happy.
1:04:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad I get to do this.
1:04:57
SPEAKER_01: I know.
1:04:58
SPEAKER_05: And it's it's interesting because, you know, at school, you know, there's sometimes I will say, I will say it boldly, there's pushback with things that I say it needs to be this way, or your hair has to be this way, or when you walk in the room, you will not do this, or you know, and it's like sometimes I feel like they roll their eyes and they walk away, or you know, it's like, okay, whatever, Mr.
1:05:15
SPEAKER_05: Manning.
1:05:16
SPEAKER_05: I will say when we were put in that position, they just did.
1:05:20
SPEAKER_05: They they listened, it it worked.
1:05:22
SPEAKER_05: And it's like how you're saying we had to like quickly get ready in the bathroom, and they had on little dresses, and then we're going to a show after dancing all day.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_05: There was no issue.
1:05:30
SPEAKER_05: They just, it just, it was like that environment inspired them, and it was great to see that they were able to adapt to what is realistic and what will be expected of them in the future.
1:05:40
SPEAKER_05: Again, in dance or in real life, going from this job interview to that, you know, class or whatever it may be.
1:05:46
SPEAKER_05: It was really reassuring.
1:05:48
SPEAKER_05: Jamie, how you said it's like hearing and knowing.
1:05:50
SPEAKER_05: Oh, I'm doing it right.
1:05:51
SPEAKER_05: There was a moment for me as an educator to sit back and actually say, like, okay, all right, like I'm okay, like we are good.
1:05:58
SPEAKER_05: Like, what I'm absorbed what I'm saying.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_05: Actually.
1:06:01
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, which is really good.
1:06:02
SPEAKER_05: I think also because sometimes as an educator, you don't always get that.
1:06:06
SPEAKER_05: You don't always get the reassurance of like what you are doing is working or is making the impact.
1:06:12
SPEAKER_05: No pun intended, making the impact that you want it to.
1:06:16
SPEAKER_05: You know, so I think it's also really, really important for an educator to be in a setting like that as well to just see what everyone else is doing and mix and mingle.
1:06:23
SPEAKER_05: And my kids made the comments so often, like they just couldn't believe how many people I knew when we were there.
1:06:30
SPEAKER_05: And it's like, but guys, that's that's how this works.
1:06:32
SPEAKER_05: Like that's the industry, how this works.
1:06:34
SPEAKER_00: That's how it is.
1:06:36
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna know these people too soon.
1:06:38
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:06:38
SPEAKER_05: That's it, right?
1:06:39
SPEAKER_05: We'd be running at Aaron and I'd stop to talk to someone.
1:06:41
SPEAKER_05: They're like, okay, I gotta go.
1:06:42
SPEAKER_05: Like, keep moving.
1:06:44
SPEAKER_05: So, but it's it's it's again for them to see and really realize like that's exactly how this world works.
1:06:49
SPEAKER_05: Like, you you can't burn a bridge.
1:06:51
SPEAKER_05: You truly, you just you you will know someone, one degree of separation, no matter what.
1:06:57
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
1:06:57
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, one of my students who is going to Arizona University this year found her roommate at the festival.
1:07:04
SPEAKER_01: Like they became friends.
1:07:05
SPEAKER_01: It's like that's what you do.
1:07:08
SPEAKER_01: That's what you do.
1:07:08
SPEAKER_01: It's a beautiful atmosphere, really.
1:07:11
SPEAKER_04: Oh, y'all.
1:07:13
SPEAKER_04: This has been such a great learning conversation for me.
1:07:17
SPEAKER_04: And I think for so many of our listeners, I hope that it's just a completely changed perspective of what you may have thought of performing arts high school was all about.
1:07:27
SPEAKER_04: I hope that this maybe inspires some dancers who are listening to maybe consider it as something that they can look into if that's accessible to them in their uh city and state and home and county, and uh do your research, really research and see what the program is like.
1:07:43
SPEAKER_00: Ask questions, send emails, attend uh find a current student who's there and ask their brain, you know, real questions.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_04: Yes, like all of that is so helpful in making that decision because it is a tough decision whether you're making it to head into middle school like James's school or whether you're heading into high school like Jamie's school.
1:08:01
SPEAKER_04: There's so many different types of programs out there.
1:08:03
SPEAKER_04: So I hope that this kind of like opens the door for a lot of dancers because I do think that performing arts high schools are a beautiful thing.
1:08:11
SPEAKER_04: And I like I said at the start of this, I kind of regret looking back, not and seeing all where all my friends went with their careers.
1:08:18
SPEAKER_04: And I'm very proud of my career.
1:08:20
SPEAKER_04: But at the same time, I always think, what?
1:08:22
SPEAKER_04: How even how much more of a better dancer would I be technically if I went and did ballet every single day at that at that school, you know?
1:08:29
SPEAKER_04: So it's amazing.
1:08:30
SPEAKER_04: And you both have such a wealth of knowledge that you shared in your experiences, and it's been just a wonderful chat.
1:08:36
SPEAKER_04: So I'm so grateful for you both and such great friends through my life.
1:08:39
SPEAKER_04: And I'm so proud of all that you've accomplished in your careers in the performing side and in the education side.
1:08:45
SPEAKER_04: So congrats on your achievements and running these programs.
1:08:48
SPEAKER_04: It's really, really inspiring, especially for a lot of the listeners out there who might have this exact same dream as you as I want to run a performing arts high school one day.
1:08:57
SPEAKER_04: That's that's really awesome.
1:08:58
SPEAKER_04: So thank you.
1:09:00
SPEAKER_01: This has been so fun.
1:09:01
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
1:09:03
SPEAKER_04: How we have our guests lead us out on making the impact is with one final thought on the topic today.
1:09:08
SPEAKER_04: So anything you'd like to share in regards to performing arts high schools, you can speak to parents, dancers, other dance studios out there, other schools, whoever you want to speak to.
1:09:17
SPEAKER_04: Final thoughts.
1:09:18
SPEAKER_04: Let's start with Jamie.
1:09:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know what?
1:09:22
SPEAKER_01: Just always bet on yourself.
1:09:24
SPEAKER_01: Always take the risk.
1:09:25
SPEAKER_01: If you're not sure, seek the knowledge, seek the information.
1:09:29
SPEAKER_01: But if something is lighting you up inside and you think you should go for it or learn more about it, bet on yourself.
1:09:36
SPEAKER_05: Same thing, you know, bet on yourself.
1:09:38
SPEAKER_05: But I think my main thing I always love to say and resonates with me, even as an adult, ask the questions.
1:09:44
SPEAKER_05: If you have a question, ask.
1:09:46
SPEAKER_05: Get someone who might know the answer.
1:09:48
SPEAKER_05: If someone doesn't know it, ask someone else.
1:09:50
SPEAKER_05: And always have your options.
1:09:51
SPEAKER_05: You know, what if you do take the route over performing arts high school?
1:09:55
SPEAKER_05: And maybe you don't, but what if?
1:09:57
SPEAKER_05: Keep that option open, explore all the options, audition for the school, keep keep every single option open.
1:10:03
SPEAKER_05: So ask the questions and then also allow yourself to have every option possible.
1:10:07
SPEAKER_05: Because you never know.
1:10:08
SPEAKER_05: A year from now you may want to do what you thought you didn't want to do, you know.
1:10:11
SPEAKER_05: So I think having a backup plan or having not even a backup plan per se, having options.
1:10:16
SPEAKER_05: I will just keep saying that.
1:10:18
SPEAKER_05: Always allow yourself to have options.
1:10:19
SPEAKER_05: So being prepared for that and wherever that takes you.
1:10:22
SPEAKER_05: So ask some questions and keep all your options up.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_04: We hope you enjoyed this week's episode all about performing arts high schools.
1:10:31
SPEAKER_04: Be sure to follow our special guests on social media.
1:10:34
SPEAKER_04: You can find Jamie at jamie.k.co and James at JA Washi One.
1:10:43
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1:11:06
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1:11:13
SPEAKER_04: Be sure to check out IDA affiliated competition Gems Dance Competition.
1:11:18
SPEAKER_04: Gems Dance Competition is a fresh dance event created by studios for studios with the intent of changing the norm.
1:11:26
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1:11:34
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1:11:40
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1:11:50
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1:12:01
SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes, including getting back to the basics of dance, what makes a winning routine, and being an independent dancer.
1:12:09
SPEAKER_04: We'll see you next week.
1:12:11
SPEAKER_04: Until then, keep dancing.