Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / A Day in the Life of a Dancer on Tour

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A Day in the Life of a Dancer on Tour · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_01: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_01: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: Our Day in the Life series continues with today's episode of Making the Impact, all about being on tour.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: Cassidy Noblet and Brian Watson give us their unique insight into the experience of touring, both with music artists and Broadway musicals.
0:42
SPEAKER_04: Hey y'all, welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
0:46
SPEAKER_04: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: Hello, Courtney.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: Happy uh podcast day, as usual.
0:54
SPEAKER_01: Always happy to be here on what will be a Thursday in real life.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: Yes, and 2026 is here.
1:00
SPEAKER_01: Brand new year.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: It's still always challenging for me to get that six in there.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: I know.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: In a few days, and it's hard.
1:07
SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes, it's a whole new year and a lot of fun ahead in the dance world that we live in and the competition dance world because season is quickly approaching.
1:18
SPEAKER_04: I know that my season starts this weekend with streets, dance convention, and competition.
1:24
SPEAKER_04: I'll be out judging and teaching to kick off my 2026.
1:28
SPEAKER_04: I cannot wait to see the talent.
1:30
SPEAKER_04: It's gonna be amazing.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: I can't believe it's just already here.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: We s we complain all of the fall and we're like, we miss competition.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: When is it competition season?
1:37
SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden, here it is.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: So hope everybody is ready for their first events coming up soon.
1:43
SPEAKER_01: And I sure am ready to get out there behind the table in a few short weeks for me.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: So um yeah, just really excited to get it started, but mostly excited about this episode today because it's a good one.
1:54
SPEAKER_04: It's a great episode today.
1:57
SPEAKER_04: We are back in our Day in the Life series, which so many people are loving.
2:02
SPEAKER_04: I love them because we get to sit down with industry pros who have lived the life of whatever our topic is.
2:10
SPEAKER_04: And today we're talking all about a day in the life of a dancer on tour, which I think that so many dancers dream of being on tour one day.
2:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
2:20
SPEAKER_04: Um that was always a goal of mine.
2:22
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
2:23
SPEAKER_04: I mean, it can be.
2:24
SPEAKER_04: It can be.
2:24
SPEAKER_04: It seems like it.
2:25
SPEAKER_04: It seems like it would be.
2:26
SPEAKER_04: And I I mean, we've both toured in our in our lifetime as professional dancers, and there's some luxury aspects to it and not so luxury aspects to it, and a lot of sacrifices that you have to make to be on tour.
2:38
SPEAKER_04: But I think one of the most fulfilling things for me on tour is getting to travel the world or the country on someone else's dime is one of the the biggest perks.
2:49
SPEAKER_04: You get to go to so many places you probably would have never gone on your own and experience new cultures and people and food and sites.
2:58
SPEAKER_04: And I think that's what's so cool about being a dancer is the opportunity to travel.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: And these two guests today have traveled a in a variety of places, and we'll hear about those shortly.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: But we just want to remind you, as usual, if you love what we do, if you enjoy our podcasts, um, we would really appreciate a review on whatever platform you choose, Apple Podcasts, Spotify.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: We are hoping to get onto YouTube.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: So if anybody has loves to listen on YouTube, we will be there at some point soon.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, if you have a review to share, if you love what we do, please let us know and leave us a five-star review that helps us get up in the ratings and available to more people.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: So shoot us a review if you have a chance.
3:40
SPEAKER_04: Yes, tell us that you love us.
3:42
SPEAKER_04: Tell us what you love about making the impact.
3:44
SPEAKER_04: We've been around for seven seasons, y'all.
3:47
SPEAKER_04: So if you're just finding out about us, we have a lot of catching up to do.
3:51
SPEAKER_04: But for all of our tried and true die hard fans that have been there from the start, we really hope that you uh continue to enjoy season seven on the podcast and today's episode.
4:01
SPEAKER_04: But before we jump in, let's hear from our wonderful sponsors.
4:07
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4:12
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4:19
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5:02
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5:10
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5:22
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5:53
SPEAKER_04: I learned so much from all of our guests that join us because sometimes I haven't experienced the day in the life that they have experienced in their dance careers.
6:02
SPEAKER_04: And this is a great way to get an inside glimpse into what it would be like being on Broadway or dancing as an NFL cheerleader or working on a cruise ship.
6:11
SPEAKER_04: But today's episode is all about being a dancer on tour.
6:16
SPEAKER_04: And we have two brand new guests who are joining us, bringing two different sides of the touring lifestyle: a Broadway national tour and a music artist national tour.
6:27
SPEAKER_04: So I'm sure they have very similar um experiences living on the road, but also being on a Broadway show versus working with a music artist, I'm sure are drastically different at the same time.
6:39
SPEAKER_04: So I can't wait to hear all about their journeys living on the road.
6:42
SPEAKER_04: And first up, I'm very excited to bring the commercial side of this chat here today.
6:49
SPEAKER_04: They have toured extensively for their entire career with some of the biggest artists in the country.
6:57
SPEAKER_04: A few to a few to share.
6:58
SPEAKER_04: Janet Jackson, hello, excuse me.
7:01
SPEAKER_04: Leslie and I went and saw Janet Jackson recently live in concert.
7:05
SPEAKER_04: And oh my gosh, it was the best thing ever.
7:07
SPEAKER_04: And the dancers were dancing for their lives.
7:09
SPEAKER_04: So I 10 years with Janet Jackson, Spice Girls, another fave of mine, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyonce.
7:18
SPEAKER_04: The list goes on.
7:19
SPEAKER_04: I am so thrilled to welcome Cassidy Knoblett to the podcast.
7:23
SPEAKER_04: Welcome, Cassidy.
7:25
SPEAKER_04: Hi, thank you for having me.
7:27
SPEAKER_04: Yes, we're so happy to have you.
7:29
SPEAKER_04: We've actually had your sister, uh, Casey, on the podcast previously as well, and is a good friend of Leslie's.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: The one and only I love my sister.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: She's like the pioneer for the family for dance.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: So, like, nothing but love for her.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Talented family, talented family.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: And we're excited to have you on and meet you today.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Excited to be here.
7:50
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
7:50
SPEAKER_04: Well, Cassidy, I know I shared a few of your touring specific credits, but I'm sure that you have many other credits in your dance career outside of just touring.
8:00
SPEAKER_04: So if you wouldn't mind sharing with our dance world a little more about you, where you grew up, how you got into dance, what took you out to LA, and then any other career credits you'd like to share and what you're working on now as well.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, well, I actually started in the dance studio, my mom's dance studio.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: And I was a little being, but Casey was five years older than me.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Casey.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh she kind of was the steed that got us moving to where we wanted to because Jacques Dambois, who was a, you know, he was Balanchine's protege for New York City Ballet.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: He was coming down to North Carolina to do a workshop at Duke University.
8:37
SPEAKER_00: And my sister was like nine years old.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: My mom was like, we're going.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: So my mom took my sister and went to this workshop, and Jacques fell in love with her.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was the thing.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: He was like, You're great.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: I have a kids' program called the National Dance Institute in New York City that helps get kids out of bad homes and gets them the arts and dance and starts to put, you know, this world into their journey.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: And he was like, I'd love for you to come up.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: So when Casey was nine, mom and Casey both went up to New York to start training in his summer program.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: And that like opened our world.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: And then when I was seven, I was just old enough.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Jacques was like, Does Cassidy want to come?
9:15
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Yes.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: Why?
9:17
SPEAKER_00: Because there's also an FAO Schwartz Toy Store there that I would love to experience on my off days.
9:22
SPEAKER_04: So that piano.
9:24
SPEAKER_04: I love that piano and FAO Schwartz.
9:26
SPEAKER_04: Tom Hanks.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: Literally, I was getting ready to be Tom Hanks there.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: And um, yes, I started going to New York when I was seven, and that just kind of changed the world.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: So train at North at National Dance Institute during the day and then go take it steps in Broadway Dance Center with like the working industry people.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: And um, then my sister actually went to Northtown School of the Arts for her senior year high school.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: I was like, you know what?
9:48
SPEAKER_00: Good idea.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: My junior year.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I'm gonna follow you because she got really great modern and ballet training there.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, that'll really add to the commercial lane that I already train in.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Because like it dance studio in North Carolina, Roxboro, not cool for a boy to dance.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm like the only boy in town dancing in small town.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: And you also have to go back to like, I was born in the 80s, so boys dancing at that time, absolutely not.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: Not okay.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: So I also had to play sports, so I was really just kind of doing that.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: So the point of the matter is I was like, I need to get more experience in the professional training.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: So I went to North County School of the Arts, auditioned for NYU for my first year of college, went there for six months, hated it, sorry, because I came from like conservatory to like a university.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: So academics were heavy for me at NYU, but at School of the Arts, I was doing like 10 hours of dance a day.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: NYU, I was doing like two.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: So I was like, went back.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: And then as the summer came up after my first year of college, there was a new agency opening in New York City from Los Angeles called Clear Talent Group.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, you know what, universe?
10:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna audition for this.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: And if I get it, you're giving me permission to leave school and go chase my dreams.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: One thing led to another.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: I got the I got they wanted to put me on their roster, and I was like, okay, I'm quitting school and I'm going right after what I want.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: And that led me to New York.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I've been going to New York since I was seven.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of like my stomping ground.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, ultimately there, I wanted to be in Rhapsody's company, the one and only Rhapsody.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: And that was my goal.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: And in the first couple of months, I got it and I trained with her for a couple of years, and then there wasn't a lot of auditions in New York.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I gotta go to LA.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: And that kind of led to me being um an artist that was trying to do everything.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: You know, I never had my eye on one thing.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: It was that I have a voice, I have a passion, I have a work ethic.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: I just want to do it all because I don't know what the business has to offer.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what each job would be like.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what um each crew that I could work with would be like.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: And so I just kind of pushed through that.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: And for me today, I still, you know, I've been in the business since I was 18 and I'm 41 now, but I take class every day.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: I choreograph almost every day.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: I still audition, I still perform, I choreograph, I create a direct, I direct.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: But I just say that because there's so much you learn.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: As you learn, you like, there's so much I don't know, the more that I know.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, I still need to do this.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: So I take on new things all the time.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: And I just kind of love this business.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: Like I just I keep, I put I take, you know, I say you have to dream and and put your wishes as stars.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: But like every time I pull one down, I'm like, oh, here's three more.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: So it's a little cluttered up there, but I'm like, I just want to enjoy the journey.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: There is so much in this business, and it continues to change.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: So, but just to your question, something I think that's been like really important to me outside of touring was doing the Super Bowl with Katie.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: But that was a job that came from being on the road with Katie.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: So for us, there are a lot of projects during the touring time that they get that are really exciting because of the hype of a tour.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: The companies are trying to push their visibility everywhere so that people come.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: So, Super Bowl was something I got to do with her.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: Luckily, because you know, it's only like a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: And I happened to be with her during that time, which was really great.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I with her too, I got to do the entertainment weekly cover of a magazine.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: And it's not often that they bring their dancers in because they can just have their whole blam squad to do that.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: And I really enjoyed that she it was about us being on the tour with her and what that life was like.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: But currently, I'll just say the the last little things, because I've shifted also out of performing with like a choreography as well.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, I assisted Galen as an assistant choreographer on the new movie that came out, a Big Bull, Beautiful Journey, with Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, which was like, it was really nice because I've worked with Marg twice.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: I did the Harley Quinn movie back in the day.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: Well, not back in the day, but Harley Quinn Birds of Prey when she was, she had her own film and Ryan Heffington did a piece.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: So I got to dance with her then.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: And then I did the Oscars for I Am Ken for the Barbie movie.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: So I'm like sitting here, and then I'm we're filming, and then Margo walks in the room and she's like, Cassidy.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, the moment that she remembered me was I'm like, this is everything that it makes it for.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Like these relationships that I'm building, this superstar remembered my name and was happy to see me.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, how can you want anything different?
14:20
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't seem like cool.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: I don't care about the thing.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, all right, we have a connection and it's special.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: And so, and then in April, the new Michael Jackson movie is coming out that I'm in.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: Which goes ties to, yeah, I got to do two big things in this.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: We did one and then there were reshoots that came up, and I am uh got to I got put in another thing.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I'm gonna be in the new Michael Jackson movie as a dancer.
14:41
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, cool.
14:42
SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, congrats! I can't wait to see it.
14:44
SPEAKER_04: I just saw the previews for it when I saw the wicked movie in theater.
14:48
SPEAKER_04: So um can't wait to see you in that.
14:51
SPEAKER_04: That's really exciting.
14:52
SPEAKER_04: Congratulations.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
14:54
SPEAKER_01: Man, and that absolutely ties into our next guest.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, very exciting for Courtney to uh to do a little spiel about our next our next guest.
15:04
SPEAKER_04: So, our next guest is bringing us the Broadway National Touring Experience, and boy does he have some experience living on tour.
15:15
SPEAKER_04: They have been in Wicked the Musical on tour, Hamilton on tour in Puerto Rico and National Tour, and they are currently on tour in MJ the Musical.
15:29
SPEAKER_04: There's the tie-in right here, right now.
15:31
SPEAKER_05: It's crazy.
15:32
SPEAKER_04: I am so excited to welcome Breon Watson to the podcast.
15:35
SPEAKER_04: Welcome, Breon.
15:36
SPEAKER_05: What's up, Courtney?
15:37
SPEAKER_05: How are you?
15:39
SPEAKER_04: I'm so good.
15:40
SPEAKER_04: And fun fact, way, way, way back when Breon was a student, I taught him at a dance convention.
15:48
SPEAKER_04: The only dance convention I went to, by the way.
15:51
SPEAKER_04: The one and only dance convention of your life I taught you.
15:54
SPEAKER_05: I swear.
15:55
SPEAKER_04: And then, like, even more fun full circle, Brion was looking for a sublet at a point in time, and I connected him with Leslie, and Leslie and Brion were roommates for a while.
16:07
SPEAKER_05: It's crazy how everything ties in.
16:10
SPEAKER_05: And so it's crazy listening to Cassidy's story and the connections that we have.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
16:16
SPEAKER_05: Um, his journey is kind of similar to mine, which is good to hear, you know, especially coming from North Carolina.
16:24
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
16:26
SPEAKER_05: You know, it's so crazy.
16:27
SPEAKER_05: But I started out at the age of eight, where I'm from, we do an annual production of The Wizard of Oz every year.
16:34
SPEAKER_05: They just celebrated 30 years, by the way.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Oh, cool.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
16:37
SPEAKER_05: And my younger brother was a part of that.
16:39
SPEAKER_05: He would do that every year.
16:40
SPEAKER_05: And I was into sports, believe it or not.
16:43
SPEAKER_05: Football, basketball, soccer, baseball, everything.
16:46
SPEAKER_05: So I was athlete, I was an athlete already.
16:48
SPEAKER_05: But I just one year I I just said to my parents, you know, I wanted to, I just wanted to do it with my brother.
16:53
SPEAKER_05: I just wanted to do it with him.
16:55
SPEAKER_05: So they got me into theater, and that's where I started to find out who I was.
17:01
SPEAKER_05: You know, I was a pretty active child.
17:04
SPEAKER_05: I was um expressive.
17:06
SPEAKER_05: They would um, I would walk in the barbershop, they would call me Little Terror.
17:10
SPEAKER_05: Because I just have I just had so much energy, you know, they didn't know what to do with it.
17:14
SPEAKER_05: But I found I found that theater was an outlet for that.
17:18
SPEAKER_05: So I, you know, did community theater, and then I started dance.
17:21
SPEAKER_05: I only started dance because of theater.
17:23
SPEAKER_05: I wanted to become well-rounded.
17:25
SPEAKER_05: So I started to get into training.
17:27
SPEAKER_05: I didn't train much in dance.
17:29
SPEAKER_05: I was really more into theater.
17:31
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
17:32
SPEAKER_05: I didn't start really training until I was a senior in high school.
17:36
SPEAKER_05: I went to um, you know, a studio back at home.
17:38
SPEAKER_05: And that studio was uh it taught me I was always performance-based.
17:43
SPEAKER_05: It was always for me, it was always what what's the story you're trying to tell?
17:47
SPEAKER_05: It was always acting based for me.
17:49
SPEAKER_05: Um, I started training at the studio and then I went to summer intensive, you know.
17:54
SPEAKER_05: I started going to the dance theater Harlem summer intensive and Alvin Ailey summer intensive.
17:58
SPEAKER_05: And that's when I really like started to see, okay, let's maybe dance.
18:03
SPEAKER_05: I was a natural dancer.
18:04
SPEAKER_05: I was flexible, you know.
18:05
SPEAKER_05: I was like, maybe let me see what I, you know.
18:09
SPEAKER_05: I was like, let me see what I can do with this, you know.
18:12
SPEAKER_05: So that's when I auditioned for the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music for musical theater.
18:19
SPEAKER_05: I auditioned for that.
18:21
SPEAKER_05: That was my top choice.
18:22
SPEAKER_05: When I got in there, I canceled every audition that I had after that.
18:26
SPEAKER_05: I don't advise that, but that's what I do.
18:31
SPEAKER_05: Just like Cassidy, I only stayed for six months.
18:35
SPEAKER_04: Really?
18:36
SPEAKER_05: I did.
18:37
SPEAKER_05: I did not love it.
18:39
SPEAKER_05: It was a culture shock for me.
18:41
SPEAKER_05: I I wasn't, I was, you know, uh a young black boy from North Carolina.
18:46
SPEAKER_05: I I didn't know anything about that world.
18:49
SPEAKER_05: So I stayed there for six months and then I left.
18:53
SPEAKER_05: I had to like, you know, reconfigure how I was going to get to where I was going to get to.
18:58
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
18:59
SPEAKER_05: Um, so I started um auditioning.
19:01
SPEAKER_05: I auditioned for the Muni.
19:04
SPEAKER_05: Courtney.
19:05
SPEAKER_05: You burned at the Muni.
19:06
SPEAKER_05: I saw you at the Muni.
19:07
SPEAKER_05: We saw each other at the Muni.
19:09
SPEAKER_04: Yes, because like your cast was after, like I was in rehearsal and you were coming.
19:13
SPEAKER_04: I forget, but we I saw you there on one of the contracts.
19:16
SPEAKER_05: Jerome Robbins, right?
19:18
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
19:18
SPEAKER_05: See?
19:19
SPEAKER_05: See, I remember.
19:20
SPEAKER_05: I remember I auditioned for the Muni at the age of 18.
19:23
SPEAKER_05: You know, and everyone in the, you know, the program at CC and was like, freshmen, freshmen don't get that job, this, that, and the third.
19:29
SPEAKER_05: And I said, I don't care what you say.
19:31
SPEAKER_05: Right.
19:32
SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna go.
19:33
SPEAKER_05: And I ended up booking the job, I booked Harrispray.
19:35
SPEAKER_05: Um, and then after that, I just went to Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive um on a full scholarship.
19:40
SPEAKER_05: And I stayed, I just ended up staying at Alvin Ailey for their certificate program, which was three years.
19:46
SPEAKER_02: Oh.
19:46
SPEAKER_05: And just like Cassidy, you know, I wasn't used to um, you know, the academics all the time.
19:52
SPEAKER_05: So it a conservative a uh conservatory worked better for me.
19:56
SPEAKER_05: I was just used to, you know, dance, dance, dance.
19:59
SPEAKER_05: And that just worked better for me and my lifestyle.
20:02
SPEAKER_05: And then after that, I like you said, I booked Hamilton with Lynn in Puerto Rico.
20:08
SPEAKER_05: I was, I did a sit-down at San Francisco for about 15 months before COVID hit.
20:13
SPEAKER_05: COVID hit, you know, I stayed with Leslie, which was a great time.
20:20
SPEAKER_05: I'm so grateful for that.
20:21
SPEAKER_05: I'll always be grateful for her for um taking me into her place and giving me a place to stay when I had to get out of North Carolina during the pandemic.
20:29
SPEAKER_05: I had not lived at home since before college.
20:32
SPEAKER_04: Right.
20:32
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
20:33
SPEAKER_05: You know, it was so it was different.
20:34
SPEAKER_05: I was like, I gotta get out of here.
20:36
SPEAKER_05: I gotta figure out I gotta figure it out on my own.
20:39
SPEAKER_05: And then after the pandemic, I continued to do Hamilton, and then I ended up doing Wicked for nine months, and then I ended up booking MJ musical on tour.
20:49
SPEAKER_05: Um, I've been with MJ for about three years now, and I made my broad Broadway debut with um MJ.
20:55
SPEAKER_01: Yay! So kind of kind of similar to Cassidy being able to do the Katy Perry opportunity because of having been on tour.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: You, you know, maybe it's not directly because of you having been on tour with MJ, but like, you know, like Cassidy said it's Broadway called.
21:10
SPEAKER_05: Right.
21:10
SPEAKER_05: For for me, and I think what people should know is this industry is all about the impression you leave on people.
21:18
SPEAKER_05: You know, Cassidy is talking about the connections he's making with, you know, these stars, and but you're you're a star too, Cassidy.
21:24
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
21:25
SPEAKER_05: Like it's all about the connections and how you um your work ethic and and and how you leave a space, you know.
21:33
SPEAKER_05: So that has helped me in my career.
21:36
SPEAKER_05: I mean, that's how I really got in the door for MJ.
21:39
SPEAKER_05: Michael Balderama, who was the um one of the uh assistants for Hamilton.
21:45
SPEAKER_05: I worked with him in Hamilton and then I reached out to him about MJ.
21:48
SPEAKER_05: I knew the tour was coming up, and I was like, like I I love the show and this is the show I want to do.
21:53
SPEAKER_05: And then he brought me in for it, you know, and he knows my work ethic, you know.
21:57
SPEAKER_05: So it really is about that.
21:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Well, and like what Courtney and I were saying earlier before we we got on the episode that, you know, I've never met Cassidy, but every single thing I have ever heard about Cassidy from everybody that I know is that he is a wonderful human being.
22:12
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: Having worked, having lived with Brion, Brionne is a wonderful human being.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, these are the right people because they're gonna come on and be wonderful human beings, which is like step one.
22:23
SPEAKER_05: From North Carolina.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: Well, obviously.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Listen, you know, the southern, the southern mentality.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's like your your reputation precedes you, and you also both happen to be very talented, but you also your core is a good person, you know.
22:39
SPEAKER_05: I'm telling you, it's that in when you talk about like mental health, especially on tour, it is the most important thing that keeps me going.
22:47
SPEAKER_05: Like people keep asking me, like, Bring on, how are you doing?
22:50
SPEAKER_05: And I'm talking about like, you know, these are not easy shows.
22:52
SPEAKER_05: Right.
22:53
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
22:53
SPEAKER_05: And I are not.
22:54
SPEAKER_05: Always find myself in the hardest track.
22:58
SPEAKER_05: Always it is I I lie to you not.
23:01
SPEAKER_05: And it every time that I do, it teaches me something new.
23:04
SPEAKER_05: You know, so I'm grateful for it.
23:06
SPEAKER_05: But mental health is the most important thing that gets me through being on tour, doing a show eight times a week.
23:14
SPEAKER_05: I have to make sure that my everything is aligned, you know, my body, my heart, and my spirit is aligned.
23:21
SPEAKER_05: Because if it's not, I won't be able to one go on stage and give the most genuine and you know, performance that I can.
23:29
SPEAKER_05: Also, I won't be able to interact with people like I need to interact with people.
23:33
SPEAKER_05: That's the main thing about this is you are with people 24-7.
23:39
SPEAKER_05: You know, some of these people I have been with more than family members.
23:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:44
unknown: Right.
23:45
SPEAKER_05: So for me, that's the most important part is just maintaining my mental health.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: Cassidy, can you speak a bit to that, having done this for as many years as you have?
23:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I think humanity trumps all.
23:58
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: I think that your ability to give your art back to the world is secondary to who you are as a human because the way you are as a human allows you to connect.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: It opens the channels of love, giving.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I think what's really important is because so many dancers, I don't speak of this badly, I just think from my observations, dancers sometimes come in and do the dance job.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: Hang with the dancers, do the thing, leave.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: I am a different bird or breed.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: I talk to every person.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: And I'm it's it's my father.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: My dad talks to my what do they say?
24:32
SPEAKER_00: You um, there's never a stranger you didn't know.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: Is that the saying or something?
24:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: My dad talks to everybody.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: As the older I get, I'm like, oh my God, not what I am you.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: I talk to every single person on tour.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: That is from the caterers to the cleaners to the bus drivers to our wardrobe, to our hair and makeup, to our riggers, to our lighters, to our soundboard, to our, you know, grips.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: Every single person, especially when you're on tour, is part of your family.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: And those relationships are really valuable for two reasons.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: One, they're valuable because there's some wonderful people on this planet.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: And you don't get to know them unless you open your mouth and say hey and make a connection.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to get in your bubble and do what you do.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: The second is, and and maybe on too, if you don't just want to be a dancer and you want to move up that ladder.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: One thing I've always enjoyed is like once I was on the road and then, you know, a later tour become dance captain, it's really important that I understand how to speak to people.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: So instead of being like that thing over there, right there, is in the way.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: Don't don't talk to someone like that.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: That's not their language.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: Right.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: That that light over there, or you know, the LED screen right here is shifted about a foot over, which is blocking the stairwell for our entrances from backstage.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: Things like that show respect to the people that you're talking to.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: Going up, how is your day?
25:52
SPEAKER_00: How are you feeling?
25:53
SPEAKER_00: How is your family?
25:54
SPEAKER_00: Are you hanging in there?
25:55
SPEAKER_00: Do you need anything?
25:56
SPEAKER_00: It really makes your art once you are on stage that much better because the gift is shining.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: It's getting the oxygen, it's getting the like fact that you understand the magnitude of the power that you are in.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: You are part of a show, and the show is everybody.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: And it is a privilege and an honor to have a platform to perform.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: So when your family on the road and the people you work with and all of that stuff is like this, the gift is untouchable.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: And then the people that it can reach and touch in every single city is magical.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: So I always think it's like humanity before art because your art can be dubbed, but if your humanity is awful, nobody wants to buy it.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants to be able to do it.
26:37
SPEAKER_02: So true.
26:37
SPEAKER_02: That is so true.
26:39
SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes to all of it.
26:41
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
26:42
SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, I love it.
26:44
SPEAKER_04: Well, I would like to dive into some more touring specific details.
26:49
SPEAKER_04: And I know that Brianne, you mentioned in your intro that, and as we've talked many times on the podcast, for all of our listeners out there, you probably have an idea by now because Leslie and I are musical theater people that like on Broadway, you do eight shows a week.
27:03
SPEAKER_04: You get one day off a week.
27:05
SPEAKER_04: And for touring lifestyle, you typically only get Mondays off.
27:09
SPEAKER_04: And sometimes that's a travel day for tours on Broadway.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: And if you're on a non-union tour, good luck to you.
27:18
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
27:19
SPEAKER_04: There is a big difference in the Broadway community of a non-union versus union tour.
27:24
SPEAKER_04: And most likely for the union tours, you're having longer sit-downs in different cities, at least a week, sometimes a month, sometimes multiple months.
27:32
SPEAKER_04: Um, so you're not doing those travel days as frequently.
27:35
SPEAKER_04: But then for the non-union tours, you might be in a a coach bus on every other day.
27:41
SPEAKER_04: You might be sleeping on the coach bus.
27:43
SPEAKER_04: You might be doubling up, bunking up with friends.
27:45
SPEAKER_04: Like it, it's they call them bus and truck tours where there's one-nighters and you're next-a literal bus.
27:51
SPEAKER_04: Literally the next day you're in a new city.
27:54
SPEAKER_05: It reminds me of I just saw something of Debbie Allen, that famous monologue that she does in famous if you want fame.
28:01
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yes, fame costs.
28:03
SPEAKER_05: And then like every day I'm like, you're so right.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: Fame does cost.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: But yes, today via the Breon part of the world, is we're talking about a Broadway national tour, which has a few more perks than a non-union tour.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: Sure, yes.
28:18
SPEAKER_01: But Courtney, what was your what was your question?
28:20
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
28:20
SPEAKER_04: I guess my question is for Cassidy.
28:23
SPEAKER_04: Now we've learned for Breon that you've currently been with MJ for three years on the road.
28:30
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
28:30
SPEAKER_04: Is now for Cassidy, when you've said that you've toured with Janet for 10 years, does that mean that you literally didn't come home for 10 years?
28:38
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, no, 10 years of touring, just 10 years of tour life.
28:43
SPEAKER_04: So how long, like how long is a a music artist tour typically?
28:48
SPEAKER_04: And like, do you come home ever?
28:51
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of what happens in our world with artists depends on how big the artist is.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: And that means are they US big?
29:00
SPEAKER_00: Are they US and Europe big, or are they global big?
29:02
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: I have done luckily, the artists I've been with have been global.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: So it is it has been a different type of tour.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: A tour could last anywhere from six months to, I mean, my last tour with Katie was three years.
29:18
SPEAKER_04: Like you, like, like straight for the most part.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: With promo.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: So that included promo.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: So generally, so we'll say, let's start this.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Let's say an artist is getting ready to come out with a new album and they want to start releasing singles.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes what can happen is you can start to learn a song or two and do promo tour, which will be spot dates in different cities and different countries around the world to promote the singles because the singles lead to the buying of the album.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: Well, or now streaming, and then which leads to the ticket sales.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: While that's happening, that may say, Great, let's do you on Jimmy Fallon.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Cool, we have the VMAs coming up.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: Let's promote the song here.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: Let's go to Europe and do the EMAs.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh, let's go do top model in Germany, and you'll just come, you know, they'll perform there.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: Let's do, you know, the NRA awards, or let's go to Australia and do Good Morning Sydney, you know, things like that.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: So the idea is during promo tour, get the songs and the the album out to the world before you start touring.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: So that could be six months to a year.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: Some artists just crank now because everybody understands albums aren't selling, so they are okay.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: Great, we released a single month ago, next one's out.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, wow, that was quick.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: You know, so that can start promo.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: And then if you once regular tour starts, um, a lot of the times it'll be America and then Europe, Australia, we'll do like Japan and China and Asia, and then some people will do spot dates in Africa.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: So we generally do maybe five continents, six continents sometimes for a tour, but we are not we're not bus and truck except in America and Europe.
30:54
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: And it's a little different because with a music artist, the schedule of touring and the shows depends on what the artist wants, as well as in combination with what the path can be during that time with the venue's availability.
31:11
SPEAKER_02: Right.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: Generally, like I've been on roads, like when we with Beyonce, we only do four shows in a row, two, two two shows off.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, two days off, three shows, one day off, two shows, four days off.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: And it can change.
31:25
SPEAKER_00: But most of the time, unless you're doing like a really big city, I'm on a new city every day.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: Like finish the show, get on the bus, wake up in the middle of the night, move into a hotel, get up in the middle of the night, take all your stuff off, try to go back to sleep, wake up, gym, sightsee, leave about you know two or three in the afternoon, get back on the bus, go do all that stuff, show, and then do another city.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: This is basically a non-union tour.
31:53
SPEAKER_00: But with Calypso, but with a sleeper bus.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we have beds on our bus.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: But yes, even nicer.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: Nicer.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: Well, yes, and it can depend.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: So, like with a big artist, like our bus could be front lounge, uh-huh, tables, you know, like couches, kitchen, middle bump, uh, middle area is your beds, six on each side, back lounge.
32:15
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: We only use that to sleep from venue to the hotel.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: Right.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: I've luckily been on A-list tours, which uh meaning I'm I don't say that in that way.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying, like, I my experience has been sleep on the bus for a couple hours, get up and move to a hotel.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: Right.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: Some people stay on the bus and that is their home until they get to the venue.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: And the venue is where they shower and sleep and eat and do all that.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: It can depend.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: So America and Europe, we do bus tours.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: Then once you leave and you go to Australia, Asia, you know, Africa, things like that, you have to do flight tours because the show has to travel the entire thing over and cities aren't close.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: Right.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: So they're not trying to keep you on the bus for 36 hours.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: Wake up, we'll fly you the next day.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: So that is a little bit easier, but time zones.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: A lot more time zones.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:10
SPEAKER_01: Time zones.
33:13
SPEAKER_04: So how does that compare to your travel on Broadway?
33:18
SPEAKER_04: I know I mentioned that Mondays is typically the travel day, which also equals the day off, but sure.
33:24
SPEAKER_05: I will say MJ is the first show that I've done One Weekers with.
33:28
SPEAKER_04: Oh, okay.
33:30
SPEAKER_04: And so Hamilton and and Wicked, you were sitting down for longer periods of time.
33:34
SPEAKER_04: Like how long were you in a city?
33:35
SPEAKER_05: For Hamilton, I was at least in a city for two weeks.
33:39
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
33:39
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
33:40
SPEAKER_05: At least.
33:41
SPEAKER_05: Wicked, yeah.
33:42
SPEAKER_05: Wicked, I was only with nine months, so we did I was in Chicago for two months and DC for two months.
33:48
SPEAKER_05: So, you know, a little bit more of a home base.
33:51
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
33:52
SPEAKER_05: Um, MJ threw me for a loop.
33:55
unknown: Okay.
33:56
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
33:58
SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah, I had to figure out a lot of things.
34:00
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
34:01
SPEAKER_05: But that's it's interesting hearing Cassidy's story because uh I didn't know I I'm interested to see how like how do you continue to like stay in shape or continue to like, you know, make sure you you remember the choreography or like, you know, because uh you're doing you said, you know, two two or three days and then you're off.
34:22
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34:28
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34:52
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35:22
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35:26
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35:37
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36:00
SPEAKER_02: So for us, it it's work ethic.
36:04
SPEAKER_00: Every morning, like we go to the gym.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: We especially for males on these pop tours, body is gonna be part of our what we were sold for.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: You know, that is what the industry requires.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: And even if you're not necessarily shirtless, you will be.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: But if you're not, your arms are still out or you're in something that it that shows physique.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: So we have to make it very standard that part of our schedule every single day is our training in the gym.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: And if we don't, like I would always request like if we're going to a place and the hotel doesn't have a gym, that y'all will provide access for us or reimburse us to go to one.
36:41
SPEAKER_02: Right.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: Have to.
36:42
SPEAKER_00: There's no way I'm getting on stage besides somebody not at my best.
36:46
SPEAKER_05: Right.
36:47
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
36:47
SPEAKER_05: Physically.
36:48
SPEAKER_05: I'm I'm doing, you know, I have the set eight shows a week.
36:51
SPEAKER_05: So we only get that one day off, and sometimes because they're one weekers, I only have a day to rest, but we're traveling.
37:00
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
37:01
SPEAKER_05: So it's hard to sometimes to have to reset my body into like, you know, especially doing, you know, MJ is like very active.
37:10
SPEAKER_05: You know, we're doing, you know, a lot of different styles of dance.
37:14
SPEAKER_05: It's low to the ground, but then we have to turn around and like pull up, you know?
37:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
37:20
SPEAKER_05: So there's a bunch of different things that it calls for.
37:22
SPEAKER_05: So I will have to I will say that it helps me knowing that I have a set schedule.
37:27
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
37:28
SPEAKER_05: You know, that you know what you know what you can expect every week.
37:31
SPEAKER_05: Yes, because I'm I'm not I've never experienced what Cassidy's talking about, you know, having to um really make sure that I like going to the gym.
37:39
SPEAKER_05: You know, you know, I do go to the gym, you know, cross-train, but I have the show, you know.
37:45
SPEAKER_05: Right.
37:46
SPEAKER_05: The show helps you keep in shape.
37:47
SPEAKER_05: Yes, because of the daily, yeah.
37:49
SPEAKER_05: For sure.
37:50
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: And I do find that like it's so important because we're traveling generally every night.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: Unless you, you know, like when you're in LA, you may have three or four shows.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: Some sometimes they may want to do two shows, but still two days tops with that that second night traveling.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: Right.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: We always are we start to get used.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: What I always say is this is you gotta find comfort in the discomfort.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: You gotta find stability in the instability because that becomes the life.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: And I really enjoy the momentum of it all because you're like new city next day.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: Great, and you have to do the same thing.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: So you eventually we don't have super long that we have to do things at the venue, though.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: So let's say we come in with our sound, we we come in and have our sound check.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: And but that can change every day depending on what time the trucks got there, because they have to set the show up every single night and break it down every yeah, that's hours of work.
38:44
SPEAKER_04: They have the like hardest schedule of everybody beyond.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: So let's say you first start the tour and they start breaking it down, it takes them four or five hours.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: They get it to like two and a half, three.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: So they are learning to do that, but depending on how long the drive is, let's say they don't get there till two in the afternoon.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, then they have that, which pushes everything slightly back.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: So you're you're always just kind of listening.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: What time are we going today?
39:08
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
39:09
SPEAKER_00: Okay, what time sound check used to be five.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's gonna be at six today.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: Right.
39:12
SPEAKER_02: Got it.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: Oh, she wants to add a new song in.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
39:16
SPEAKER_00: DVD's coming up.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: We need to have rehearsal, you know.
39:19
SPEAKER_00: And like one thing I did with Dance Captain, because you were talking about practice and how do we know.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: When I was Dance Captain on Katie, I thought something that was really important for me, which really made my schedule intense too, was after the show every single night.
39:31
SPEAKER_00: So I'm getting off stage by 11, getting on the bus by 11:30 or 12 to have like my little bite to eat.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: I would get a copy of the show and I would watch the entire tour every night and I would take notes.
39:41
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't going to bed till two or three, maybe just arriving at the next blaze or sleeping for an hour and doing all that.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: But I would make sure that the show looked good.
39:52
SPEAKER_00: And I'd be like, this isn't, we need to do this, or let's just take a segment and do this.
39:55
SPEAKER_00: And the other thing is we don't have swings.
39:57
SPEAKER_04: Right.
39:58
SPEAKER_04: That that is something that is really interesting to me.
40:03
SPEAKER_04: Coming from the musical theater world, and Brian, how many swings do y'all have on tours?
40:10
SPEAKER_05: We have four male swings and three female swings.
40:14
SPEAKER_05: Wow, they're a lot of swings dancer swings.
40:17
SPEAKER_05: That's great.
40:17
SPEAKER_05: Not even to mention like the leads and yeah, uh-huh.
40:20
SPEAKER_05: They're on the few at each place.
40:22
SPEAKER_05: They are.
40:23
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:24
SPEAKER_05: Lovely.
40:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know.
40:26
SPEAKER_01: No swings over there in other commercial touring land.
40:30
SPEAKER_04: And for our listeners out there, if you're curious to know what is a swing, we did a whole episode on swings and understudies from I think it was two seasons ago or last season.
40:40
SPEAKER_04: So go give that a listen.
40:41
SPEAKER_04: It is pretty much the people that save the day when someone is sick or injured or took a day off um and they jump in in place of that dancer or ensemble member.
40:51
SPEAKER_04: But it is interesting to hear that So who saves the day on the commercial tour?
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Are you are you ready?
40:58
SPEAKER_00: Yes, so ready.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay, off stage.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: Oh, she's sick.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: So when you're coming up, you go, y'all take center.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: I'll switch and I'll go on the fly.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: In the moment?
41:11
SPEAKER_00: Five, six, seven, eight, dude.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
41:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: That's that pressure.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, come on over here.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: Literally talking and figuring it out.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's been times like I remember I was sick one time.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: Every time I came off the stage, I would go to the medic room and throw up, and then I'd be like, hear the music coming, run back to the stage.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: There will be people because when injuries happen or sickness happens, it it is happening generally in real time.
41:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:37
SPEAKER_00: Because everybody tries to push through because they're like, there's no one to do my track.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: Right.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: So when we try to push through, and sometimes you can't, and you're like, oh great.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: So you're not gonna be here for legendary lover.
41:47
SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
41:48
SPEAKER_00: So you're not gonna have a partner, you shift over, we're gonna do this, go.
41:52
SPEAKER_00: And we just make it work and we take care of the artist.
41:55
SPEAKER_00: As long as the artist looks good and we make the choreography look symmetrical and are able to keep the idea.
42:01
SPEAKER_00: I tell you, 99.999% of the audience has no idea.
42:05
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
42:07
SPEAKER_00: So we don't we don't we don't even get we don't train in that in the commercial business either.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: Right.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: We don't really train for what do we do in this case because everything is different.
42:16
SPEAKER_00: You don't know what problems you're gonna reach or right.
42:19
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's interesting.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: We have no swings, we handle it in real time.
42:23
SPEAKER_04: Insane.
42:24
SPEAKER_04: That is I can't believe that works.
42:25
SPEAKER_04: Like kudos.
42:26
SPEAKER_04: Also, I feel like no offense, but I feel like music artists can afford to add at least one swing that could be like interchangeable and throw them in.
42:36
SPEAKER_04: I I don't know.
42:37
SPEAKER_04: I mean, there have been so many instances of shows that I've done that don't have understudies or swings, and it's just like a disaster.
42:43
SPEAKER_04: You know, it's just like a free-for-all when when that that instance happens.
42:47
SPEAKER_04: So it's like a big huge music artist, why would you take that risk when you know you're living on the road for however long?
42:54
SPEAKER_04: You know, yeah, I know.
42:55
SPEAKER_04: It always comes down to money.
42:57
SPEAKER_04: Always comes down to money.
42:58
SPEAKER_04: But, you know, I think there's been a lot of progress for Broadway at least, especially Union Broadway.
43:04
SPEAKER_04: Um, there can be more.
43:06
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
43:07
SPEAKER_04: There can be more.
43:08
SPEAKER_04: Um, but have you ever swung, Brianna or were you already always an on-stage track?
43:12
SPEAKER_05: Always an on-stage track.
43:13
SPEAKER_04: Got it.
43:14
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
43:14
SPEAKER_05: I don't know if I would like to swing.
43:16
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
43:16
SPEAKER_05: I I am so addicted to the hype of doing it every night now.
43:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
43:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
43:22
SPEAKER_04: It would be really weird to not.
43:23
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
43:24
SPEAKER_05: I don't know if I could sit back there.
43:25
SPEAKER_05: Like, even when I'm swung out, I don't know if I could sit back there and just be like, oh, when am I gonna I don't know how I don't I knowing you, I feel like you would hate it.
43:34
SPEAKER_05: You gotta be going and moving and I also would hate it because I would also be very like analytic about it.
43:40
SPEAKER_05: Like I would like have a binder and I would like, you know.
43:43
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I I would just I would I feel like I would rip my hair out.
43:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
43:47
SPEAKER_04: Now, I do have a question that kind of connects to the swing situation because obviously we just learned that on music artist tours, there isn't a swing.
43:55
SPEAKER_04: There isn't a replacement, there isn't a backup plan.
43:57
SPEAKER_04: Um Broadway tours, there are Sounds like yeah, all of those things.
44:02
SPEAKER_04: There is a system in place if someone can't be there.
44:05
SPEAKER_04: Now, that being said, do you as dancers in a tour get to have a day for you?
44:12
SPEAKER_04: What if you need to take a day off for you?
44:15
SPEAKER_04: Or what if you want to go to home and fly home for your sister's wedding or something?
44:21
SPEAKER_04: Or what if you want to be home for the holidays, but you're supposed to be on the road?
44:25
SPEAKER_04: Do you have to sacrifice those things when you're on the road?
44:29
SPEAKER_04: Or is there the option to say, I need this day off?
44:32
SPEAKER_04: Can I put in a two-week notice request?
44:35
SPEAKER_04: You know?
44:36
SPEAKER_05: From my experience, it depends on the show.
44:38
SPEAKER_04: Oh.
44:39
SPEAKER_05: With Hamilton and MJ, we had a lot of offstage people.
44:43
SPEAKER_05: So we were they were more willing to give days off, you know, personal days.
44:49
SPEAKER_05: We get a personal day a month, you know.
44:51
SPEAKER_05: And and sometimes they're very lenient with it.
44:53
SPEAKER_05: You know, sometimes they'll be like, Yeah, you know, they don't count 'em up, you know.
44:57
SPEAKER_05: But with Wicked, they're not a lot of offstage people.
45:00
SPEAKER_05: So you're they're not approving a bunch of like personal days, you know what I mean?
45:05
SPEAKER_05: For the holidays, I it you never get the holidays off.
45:10
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
45:10
SPEAKER_04: Performers.
45:11
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, if if you have um, because they have like what they call like blackout days.
45:16
SPEAKER_05: Right.
45:16
SPEAKER_02: Oh.
45:17
SPEAKER_05: Where um you cannot, you know, call not call out, but like you can't take dates off during the holiday season.
45:23
SPEAKER_04: I see.
45:24
SPEAKER_05: So everyone kind of comes together and you know gets through that.
45:27
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
45:28
SPEAKER_05: Now with MJ, I am lucky this year.
45:30
SPEAKER_05: I have a three-week layoff.
45:32
SPEAKER_05: Oh, wow.
45:32
SPEAKER_05: So that's penciled into your your tour life.
45:35
SPEAKER_04: You don't get a choice, that's just how it played out.
45:37
SPEAKER_05: Yes, yes.
45:38
SPEAKER_05: So I see.
45:39
SPEAKER_05: I get to have Christmas and New Year's off for the first time in years.
45:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
45:47
SPEAKER_04: Now, what about like vacation?
45:49
SPEAKER_04: Like it does vacations?
45:52
SPEAKER_05: A week of vacation every six months.
45:54
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
45:54
SPEAKER_04: So two weeks a year.
45:56
unknown: Yeah.
45:56
SPEAKER_04: And you could put a request in.
45:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, is it scheduled for you, or you could say I want April 10th to Yes.
46:02
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you can take it whenever you need to take it.
46:05
SPEAKER_05: Outside of the blackout dates.
46:07
SPEAKER_05: Outside of the blackout dates.
46:11
SPEAKER_01: Read your contract.
46:12
SPEAKER_04: And that's another thing, too, that like I've seen a lot, and maybe people have heard, but there is such a thing called a vacation swing.
46:19
SPEAKER_04: So another another layer to the swing life is like sometimes they'll fly in somebody just for Breon's vacation because he wants to go have a tropical paradise week off, and someone knows.
46:30
SPEAKER_05: No, Brion needs to have a tropical paradise.
46:32
SPEAKER_04: Need needs and deserves to have that.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: I do get the cancun trip coming up from here.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
46:40
SPEAKER_04: I need a deserto.
46:42
SPEAKER_01: Take note.
46:44
SPEAKER_04: So yeah, I mean, I think that it sounds like the Broadway tour has that system in place to always have coverage when needed and allow people to have some time off a little.
46:56
SPEAKER_05: Cassidy, where Cassidy comes from, they're making it happen in the moment.
47:04
SPEAKER_05: And you know, we have that as well on stage two, you know, unforeseen circumstances of whatever, you know.
47:11
SPEAKER_05: But Cassidy is like, he's in the trenches.
47:15
SPEAKER_05: He's making it happen.
47:18
SPEAKER_04: So how did days off work for you, Cassidy?
47:21
SPEAKER_04: Or do they?
47:22
SPEAKER_00: And you you know what's interesting is because we all of our tours are based around the artist.
47:28
SPEAKER_00: Why?
47:28
SPEAKER_00: Because the artist is the one that is funding everything.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: So kind of, it is a personal agenda and mixed with record label and management, how they want to schedule these things.
47:38
SPEAKER_00: And you know, for example, Spice Girls.
47:41
SPEAKER_00: They originally we so we had a charter plane.
47:45
SPEAKER_00: They didn't want to do any commercial anything.
47:47
SPEAKER_00: So Virgin bought a plane for us, and all of the tour was on it.
47:51
SPEAKER_00: And the Spice Girls had their entourage, so they had a lot of their family, their hair and makeup, their children.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: So the tours can be based off the artist's personal life and what that schedule looks like.
48:03
SPEAKER_00: They may be like, I want to do two shows and then a day off, two shows and then a day off.
48:07
SPEAKER_00: So again, everything stems from the desire of the artist and then how they can make that work.
48:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, when it comes to like vacation days or anything, that's not what's a vacation day.
48:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's like you're gonna go, you're gonna have a three-month leg in America, and then there's two weeks off before you go to Europe.
48:24
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
48:25
SPEAKER_00: So we'll have we'll have the time off in between our legs.
48:30
SPEAKER_02: Right.
48:30
SPEAKER_00: Which is great because at the same time, you you you see we know our schedule because those shows are set during that month.
48:35
SPEAKER_00: So I know, like, okay, I'm gonna get two days off here.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: Our days off, they could be travel days.
48:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, most of the time we travel right after a show.
48:42
SPEAKER_00: But in that world, we we kind of make every day a vacation that day too.
48:47
SPEAKER_00: So if I'm in a new, if I'm outside of America, we're all gonna try to go explore every city.
48:52
SPEAKER_00: So you get up, you do your gym, and then you go out and do it.
48:55
SPEAKER_00: So it becomes the most part, yeah, the perks of touring.
48:58
SPEAKER_00: It's like part of the lifestyle.
49:00
SPEAKER_00: But holidays, I will say this there was Christmas is generally one that people get off.
49:07
SPEAKER_00: New Year's, maybe not.
49:08
SPEAKER_00: Generally, a lot of shows for New Year's, but most of the artists want Christmas with their families.
49:13
SPEAKER_00: Thanksgiving, rare, rare, but like when I was on tour with Beyonce, we weren't home for Thanksgiving.
49:19
SPEAKER_00: Y'all, Miss Tina Knowles came in and made Thanksgiving dinner for the entire tour.
49:24
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
49:24
SPEAKER_00: 150 to 200 people to be cooked for the whole tour with the tour.
49:30
SPEAKER_04: It's amazing.
49:30
SPEAKER_00: And so you'll always have.
49:32
SPEAKER_00: You do.
49:33
SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, artists are really good about understanding that you give up your entire life for them.
49:38
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
49:39
SPEAKER_00: Their schedule, whatever they want their holidays to look like, what they want their touring life to look like, what time they want their shows, what they want the rehearsal.
49:45
SPEAKER_00: You literally give up your life to be a part of theirs.
49:48
SPEAKER_00: And they really appreciate that a lot of the times.
49:52
SPEAKER_00: So no vacation days, no sick days.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: It is, I will say, it is very rare that you're gonna leave to go do a wedding or a thing like, for example, I don't know if it's gonna, I'm gonna say it's a regret or not, but I will say it sits on the earth, the verge of one for me.
50:09
SPEAKER_00: My grandmother passed away in 2013, 2014, and she passed away a day before opening night of Katie's tour.
50:19
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
50:20
SPEAKER_00: And we were in, we were not in America, we were in Europe, and I was like, I didn't go to my grandmother's funeral because I was dance captain and I had the biggest dance track, and she's getting ready to release her tour.
50:34
SPEAKER_00: So we've been in rehearsal for three months for this tour.
50:37
SPEAKER_00: And I made the decision not to go.
50:41
SPEAKER_00: And she was like, if you need to go, you can go.
50:42
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sitting here, like, what do I do?
50:44
SPEAKER_00: Do I like personally take care of this?
50:46
SPEAKER_00: Or everything that has been spent on writing, it's my personal thing, or do I let 200 some people down plus the record, plus the labels, plus the fans?
50:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, when are they gonna redo the show?
50:56
SPEAKER_00: I have one of the two biggest boy dance tracks.
50:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm in charge of everything, I'm the one seeing things.
51:01
SPEAKER_00: So I was like, but I didn't go.
51:03
SPEAKER_00: So just in the aspect of yeah, if there's little things you can ask, I don't know if you will get them.
51:09
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they could and they'll do it like a quick fix of certain numbers, but generally we are on the road for them, their schedule, their life, their time, and we enjoy the in-betweens enduring.
51:19
unknown: Wow.
51:20
SPEAKER_05: That's the sacrifices we make as artists.
51:22
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
51:23
SPEAKER_05: I in moments like those, I try to find solace in knowing that my loved ones would want me to do this, you know.
51:32
SPEAKER_05: They would want me to to um make the choice to, even though it was a difficult choice, to do what I always long to do.
51:40
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
51:41
SPEAKER_05: So and it is a difficult thing.
51:43
SPEAKER_05: And that's what I think people should know is like artists, we sacrifice a lot.
51:46
SPEAKER_05: Uh-huh.
51:47
SPEAKER_05: You know, uh some people see like the hype of it all, you know, they we we're on stage and you know, it's you know, a big moment, everything's exciting.
51:55
SPEAKER_05: But what what is happening behind the scenes?
52:00
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
52:00
SPEAKER_05: And they that's what I think is important for moments like this, like podcasts like you guys um have, because people get a chance to really understand that it's more than just that.
52:12
SPEAKER_05: I'm dealing with more than just my body.
52:15
SPEAKER_05: I'm dealing with my my mental health as well.
52:17
SPEAKER_05: I'm dealing with my you know, my family and my spirit, and you know, it's more than just what you see.
52:23
SPEAKER_05: But that's anything, you know what I mean?
52:25
SPEAKER_05: And that goes back to what Cassidy said.
52:27
SPEAKER_05: Humanity.
52:29
SPEAKER_05: You know, humanity.
52:31
SPEAKER_05: Every every time when I wake up, that's what I remind myself.
52:35
SPEAKER_05: You know, you are you are human, you are a person at the end of the day.
52:40
SPEAKER_05: I don't care about I I love what I do, I love being an artist, but I don't care about any of that if I'm not okay.
52:48
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
52:49
SPEAKER_05: Because at the end of the day, it's going to end.
52:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
52:52
SPEAKER_00: Right.
52:53
SPEAKER_00: And a really important point about that is when you think about how many people are involved with your show, meaning the talent on stage.
53:01
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
53:02
SPEAKER_00: This many.
53:02
SPEAKER_00: Right.
53:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
53:03
SPEAKER_00: So you're like you you feel, you're like, I am one of the few doing this in the world.
53:11
SPEAKER_00: Do I have the energy?
53:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm game.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: Whatever this journey looks like for, I'm game.
53:18
SPEAKER_00: Because you know, I and it look especially with us.
53:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, now you get towards like Taylor and them where they can have 20 gagas toward 20 to 30 dancers, which is big, but most of the time, six to ten.
53:28
SPEAKER_00: So you're like, there's only six or ten of us on this tour in the world dancing with this artist.
53:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm good.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: I don't need sleep.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: Get me on the stage.
53:36
unknown: Yeah.
53:37
SPEAKER_05: And even in that, even in that, knowing that, you still can lose sight of that.
53:43
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
53:44
SPEAKER_05: You can still you still can get caught up in the moment and and and forget how much work it took to get there.
53:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
53:51
SPEAKER_05: What you sacrifice.
53:52
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
53:53
SPEAKER_05: It is a sick thing.
53:55
SPEAKER_05: And it's so you have to constantly remind yourself.
53:58
SPEAKER_05: You have to constantly surround yourself with good energy and good people.
54:02
SPEAKER_05: And remind yourself, oh, yeah, I know.
54:04
SPEAKER_05: I remember not going to my grandmother's funeral.
54:07
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
54:07
SPEAKER_05: Like it's hard.
54:12
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's hard.
54:13
SPEAKER_00: Also, outside of the within touring, we we talk about the show, but as as Brian was saying too, like mental health, the spiritual part of your journey is the anchor to how you flow each day.
54:25
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
54:25
SPEAKER_00: And that you also have to build in time to take care of the spirit, whether it's meditation, whether it's prayer, whether it's journaling, whether it's whatever your individual thing is, that is the one glue that maintains the groundedness and the ability to adapt every single day.
54:43
SPEAKER_00: So I just want to say, like, for people, it can't just be about the physical.
54:47
SPEAKER_00: We have to balance out with the non-physical.
54:50
SPEAKER_00: And that is paramount for success and happiness.
54:55
SPEAKER_00: And that extra little thing that gets you going when you're like, I can't get through this number.
54:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can.
54:59
SPEAKER_00: There it is.
55:00
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
55:00
SPEAKER_00: That thing that I worked on for the last week in the morning for 20 minutes, that's it.
55:05
SPEAKER_00: All those little things come together in those moments that lift you up and like put your mind back to gratitude.
55:10
SPEAKER_00: Put your mind back to like, what is the bigger picture?
55:13
SPEAKER_00: Put your mind back to like, I am here living my dream.
55:18
SPEAKER_00: And this little the person's energy coming towards me, no fine with that.
55:22
SPEAKER_05: You have because you're gonna be met with a lot of different kinds of energies now.
55:26
SPEAKER_05: You are.
55:27
SPEAKER_05: We're not, you know, when you say it's you know a family, I mean, there are people in your family that you don't really mess with.
55:33
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
55:35
SPEAKER_05: You know, and I and I love you, you know what I mean?
55:37
SPEAKER_05: I I I care for you, but I don't fool with you.
55:40
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
55:41
SPEAKER_05: So you have to make sure that you know yourself and and you know, and you know where to put your energy, you know where to allocate your energy, you know what I mean?
55:49
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
55:50
SPEAKER_01: And also remembering you you have connections and people in your world outside of this touring life, too.
55:56
SPEAKER_01: It's like you have to continue to maintain those relationships and friendships and familial ties because there's there's a bigger world than what you're in, you know.
56:05
SPEAKER_04: You can get stuck in a little bit of a bubble and this kind of dream world that you're living in and forget about this, like you said at a point, Brian, this is gonna come to an end eventually.
56:17
SPEAKER_04: This contract is gonna be over soon.
56:19
SPEAKER_04: And have you stayed up to date with the outside world?
56:24
SPEAKER_04: So you can walk right back into the hustle and grind of whatever's next for you.
56:29
SPEAKER_04: Right.
56:29
SPEAKER_04: And the sacrifice aspect of tour, I think, is a big component that I'm glad that we've touched on.
56:35
SPEAKER_04: Um, I felt the same thing, and I'm so sorry that like that was such a tough decision for for you to have to meet Cassidy on your tour.
56:43
SPEAKER_04: And like, I remember feeling so guilty when I booked the International Tour of West Side Story because my grandfather had always been sick, and it was just a matter of time of like, when is he gonna go?
56:55
SPEAKER_04: And then I immediately was like, what if I'm in Europe when my grandfather passes?
57:01
SPEAKER_04: You feel these these family-related obstacles that are getting in the way of your dreams.
57:07
SPEAKER_04: And it's really, it's really hard to like comprehend what do I do?
57:10
SPEAKER_04: How do I make this work?
57:11
SPEAKER_04: How do I still do do I even take this job?
57:14
SPEAKER_04: Is it worth the risk?
57:15
SPEAKER_04: And then you have to look at the fact of all of those things you just described.
57:19
SPEAKER_04: I got myself to this point.
57:21
SPEAKER_04: I I worked hard for this.
57:23
SPEAKER_04: This is my time.
57:25
SPEAKER_04: My family will understand and respect it.
57:27
SPEAKER_05: I mean, but if they don't, it's not for them to understand.
57:32
SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
57:33
SPEAKER_04: Even partners too, and like partners in life, boyfriends, girlfriends.
57:39
SPEAKER_04: I've seen so many dancers book a job that will take them away from their loved one for a six-month period and say no to it because they can't leave their partner for that long.
57:49
SPEAKER_04: Oh, I don't know.
57:50
SPEAKER_04: I don't think I can it's like that, those types of things, that is a sacrifice.
57:54
SPEAKER_04: And if you're meant to do this job, you're meant to be with that person, they will support you and make it work because that is only six months of your entire life.
58:04
SPEAKER_04: And it will do you really want to look back on that job that you earned and you booked that could change your life for the better, to be like, well, I just sat at home because I my boyfriend didn't want me to leave.
58:14
SPEAKER_05: You know, and it's that's how this industry has taught me to how to be a better human being from jump.
58:20
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
58:21
SPEAKER_05: Like it's because you are you have the ability to step outside of yourself and be like, okay, I'm making these sacrifices and I'm able to really just remember what it took to get there.
58:33
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
58:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
58:35
SPEAKER_05: And and and and no decision is better than the other.
58:38
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
58:38
SPEAKER_05: I I don't judge anyone for the the decisions they make, you know, because it at the like I said, you want to be cool with the decisions you make for yourself.
58:47
SPEAKER_01: Right.
58:48
SPEAKER_05: Not how someone else feels about the decisions I made for me.
58:51
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
58:52
SPEAKER_05: Because you don't know what's going on in my head, my body, my spirit.
58:55
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
58:55
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
58:56
SPEAKER_05: So I think that's the most important thing for anyone, not just artists, to remember like, even if you end up making the wrong decision, you make you trusted yourself.
59:05
SPEAKER_05: You know what I'm saying?
59:06
SPEAKER_05: You trusted that intuition, that discernment.
59:09
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
59:10
SPEAKER_01: Like you've learned, okay, wow, that was actually wrong.
59:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna not do that next time.
59:14
SPEAKER_05: That's right, but I made the decision myself.
59:16
SPEAKER_05: Right.
59:17
SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
59:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
59:18
SPEAKER_04: Whew, the the sacrifices we make to live our dreams, y'all.
59:23
SPEAKER_04: I mean, truly, but how lucky are we?
59:26
SPEAKER_04: And we have all, all four of us have been on tour in some capacity.
59:29
SPEAKER_04: Even cruise ship is a tour because you're floating at sea.
59:32
SPEAKER_04: You can't go anywhere.
59:33
SPEAKER_01: You can't, you know, and like I think we've all had to make those hard decisions.
59:36
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't supposed to be the um maid of honor in one of my best friends' weddings.
59:40
SPEAKER_01: And I booked a tour, and it was a bus and truck where like they are absolutely not giving you a day off for anybody's wedding.
59:46
SPEAKER_01: And I had to say no, and it it did.
59:48
SPEAKER_01: It sucked, you know, and it it it did sort of it didn't damage our relationship, but it limited our relationship.
59:55
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, would I make a new decision now?
59:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't think so, because that tour was really important to my career and it was important to making me who I am today, you know, and that is that is what it is.
1:00:07
SPEAKER_01: And like we live with the choices we make and that's right.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_05: And you're gonna learn from all of them.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
1:00:12
SPEAKER_05: Like that's what I try to look at experiences, good or bad.
1:00:15
SPEAKER_05: I experienced it and I and I took something from it.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_05: So I'm so I'm grateful for it, you know, good and bad.
1:00:21
SPEAKER_05: I don't I don't I don't try to think about changing anything that I went through because I it it it's who I am as a person, you know?
1:00:28
SPEAKER_05: It's what it's what's crafted me to be the person that I am today.
1:00:32
SPEAKER_01: Y'all, who knew the touring conversation would be so deep?
1:00:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was just like, what do you eat on tour?
1:00:37
SPEAKER_01: How do you feel your body?
1:00:39
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's not a question.
1:00:40
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about the deep stuff.
1:00:41
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
1:00:42
SPEAKER_00: But you know what's interesting too about it is that there is no right decision.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_00: There is a decision, and there's an intent, an intention behind the decision.
1:00:51
SPEAKER_00: And I think we uh, or even for myself too, is like, I have to understand if I'm making a decision that is in alignment with what I feel is right or kind or less harmful, that is kind of what I have to lean on.
1:01:04
SPEAKER_00: And people forget that in the entertainment business, uh, we are working for other people.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_00: So unfortunately, we are always faced with decisions that are going to put somebody else with us.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_00: And unless you're in the entertainment business, I don't think you understand the importance of what each decision does because of how it leads to something else.
1:01:25
SPEAKER_00: And you don't know, like, you don't understand that for you know, if you had to miss the wedding, of course it's a once-in-a-life tame.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_00: It's not something that you want to miss.
1:01:34
SPEAKER_00: Everything you've put up into your life to get to this point right now, this one job then could lead to the next 15 years of your evolution and opportunity and platform and who you're gonna meet.
1:01:45
SPEAKER_00: And it's really hard that we just kind of I've learned to just like as you said, I just respect, I don't know what's going on in your life, and you have to make a decision that is best for you.
1:01:53
SPEAKER_00: And no one else's opinion on it matters.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_00: Because you're not in my shoes, you don't understand.
1:01:59
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, it's like we just have to eventually find, I always say, what is my decision and where is it coming from?
1:02:05
SPEAKER_00: And at least that those things are in alignment doesn't mean I'm not, I might not have to digest it and figure out like how do I deal with this decision.
1:02:12
SPEAKER_00: But at least I can go to bed saying, I at least try to come from the right place, which is I think is important.
1:02:18
SPEAKER_00: Where are you coming from?
1:02:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying no to your wedding because I'm malicious and I hate you.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_01: It's because I have to, I have to weigh the value of these things for my personal journey.
1:02:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:02:29
SPEAKER_00: And both are equally important.
1:02:30
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, I am my hand is tied behind my back where I have to make a decision.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_00: And your one day is very special.
1:02:37
SPEAKER_00: This could also become a year and a half for me.
1:02:40
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:02:41
SPEAKER_01: Well, and this is coming from someone who did just get married and invited a whole bunch of performing professionals who, some of whom had to say I'm booked and blessed, and I can't come to your wedding.
1:02:50
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, I get it.
1:02:51
SPEAKER_01: I can't be upset because you have a gig.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_01: And again, that's gonna maybe determine the next gig you get.
1:02:56
SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna look at my pictures online and be like, oh, Leslie, you look amazing.
1:02:59
SPEAKER_01: Happy wedding day.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_01: I'll take that one.
1:03:01
SPEAKER_05: I just I remember the conversations we've had regarding everything, love relationships, and I I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw that news and like just I'm congrats, and I'm like so happy for you.
1:03:17
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
1:03:18
SPEAKER_05: I haven't had a chance to tell you that face to face.
1:03:21
SPEAKER_05: Uh, you know, we text, but yeah.
1:03:23
SPEAKER_01: Well, um, you know, less full disclosure, people on the internet who listen to us, Brian lived in my apartment with me during like a very dark time of like relationships and what am I doing with my life?
1:03:33
SPEAKER_01: And am I should I stay in New York City?
1:03:34
SPEAKER_01: And it was really, you know, a challenge in my personal life, but also my professional life of if I'm not in New York, does that mean that I've failed as a dance professional after 15 years?
1:03:43
SPEAKER_01: If I leave, if I don't do this anymore.
1:03:45
SPEAKER_01: And so Brian and I have had a lot of deep conversations.
1:03:48
SPEAKER_01: And with Brian being like, you know, and again, there's people who listen to us who are, you know, at crossroads in their dance journey as well.
1:03:55
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, Brion was new and fresh to New York City and was very excited about the industry.
1:04:00
SPEAKER_01: And I was not, you know, we were at opposite spectrums of the dance journey.
1:04:05
SPEAKER_01: And it was, I thought it was gonna be very hard to have have his new exciting energy in in my space of like, I'm tired and I am jaded, and this dance industry has like, you know, screwed me over.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_01: But it was actually very refreshing and it was nice to like see, okay, there are people out there who are still excited about this and who work really hard and then get what they want due to that hard work.
1:04:25
SPEAKER_01: And that's, you know, kind of again why I was like, Brian is the right person for this because he comes to every space with this like fresh, exciting, honest energy.
1:04:34
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, just really glad you're here.
1:04:36
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
1:04:38
SPEAKER_04: Yay! Tangents, tangents, but I feel like we could talk about this for for forever.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_04: So I don't want to keep you guys for too long.
1:04:47
SPEAKER_04: Before I like give our closing question, is there anything that's really crucial to touring life that we haven't touched on that you want the world to know about?
1:04:58
SPEAKER_04: Good, bad, fabulous, fun, exciting, yeah, fun.
1:05:02
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_04: Anything come to mind?
1:05:04
SPEAKER_04: Like, what is like like the main thing that the people should know?
1:05:07
SPEAKER_04: Like, this is what's like this is what you're signing up for, type of thing.
1:05:11
SPEAKER_02: Food.
1:05:11
SPEAKER_04: Reality check.
1:05:12
unknown: Food.
1:05:14
SPEAKER_04: Like good food?
1:05:15
SPEAKER_05: Like, do you get to trying to I feel like tr um I have been eating out for years.
1:05:20
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:05:21
SPEAKER_05: Like I Home Cook meal, what's that?
1:05:24
SPEAKER_05: And I can cook.
1:05:26
SPEAKER_05: But I feel like I fell out of love with cooking.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_05: I feel like trying to, I guess, I guess, you know, maybe I don't know, maybe I don't know.
1:05:36
SPEAKER_05: We've talked about a lot.
1:05:37
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:05:38
SPEAKER_04: But food's a good one.
1:05:39
SPEAKER_04: We didn't talk about food.
1:05:40
SPEAKER_05: That's true.
1:05:41
SPEAKER_05: I like thinking about a food and you know, it's a different food cute kid touring, you know, the world in the country.
1:05:48
SPEAKER_05: But also the unhealthy part of it too.
1:05:50
SPEAKER_05: You know, it's hard to maintain um a healthy it can be hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle if you're not careful.
1:05:57
SPEAKER_04: And one thing I want to mention about food for all listeners and like we didn't really talk about like money and what's provided when you're on tour and things like that.
1:06:06
SPEAKER_04: But for most tours, you are housed, you get they travel you and they give you a stipend for food, a per diem for food for most tours under pay.
1:06:18
SPEAKER_04: In addition to your pay.
1:06:20
SPEAKER_04: So you are one of the perks of tour life in any scenario is you are going to save so much darn money that I know people who have been on tour for 10 years and they can buy a house, a glamorous house, because they've been yeah, because they've worked so hard on the road and they got rid of their apartment wherever they lived and said buy my apartment or they throw a sublin in there because when you're on the road you have literally no expenses besides like your cell phone and your healthcare like you know that's you're pretty much taken care of when you're on the road.
1:06:54
SPEAKER_04: So I think especially when I'm looking at it from maybe a residency like in um in Vegas residency for a music artist versus a tour.
1:07:02
SPEAKER_04: Vegas residency oftentimes expects you to like move to Las Vegas or wherever the city is and you have to pay for your housing.
1:07:11
SPEAKER_04: Same with Broadway.
1:07:12
SPEAKER_04: If you book Broadway you have to find an apartment in New York City and you're paying rent and that your salary is going towards your rent.
1:07:19
SPEAKER_04: But when you're on tour, you don't have to pay no rent because they cover they cover it for you.
1:07:23
SPEAKER_04: You're getting in a hotel you can get an Airbnb like whatever it is.
1:07:26
SPEAKER_04: So you're pocketing more money when you're living on a tour con touring contract versus a sit-down.
1:07:34
SPEAKER_04: So just something to think about but typically food is provided and or covered in some way while you're on the road.
1:07:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah and we for us to depending on the artist sometimes we have caterers travel with us every city.
1:07:46
SPEAKER_00: So amazing and that and they do and with that it's great because of so many food things.
1:07:50
SPEAKER_00: So there will always be like a fish a chicken a meat seven different sides eight different salads so everybody can eat because there's so many different types of people and and you can outside of your per diem then if you're at the venue you just eat theirs.
1:08:03
SPEAKER_00: So like you said it is really important.
1:08:06
SPEAKER_00: I was going to say one of those little the two little things I was thinking about is one don't get caught up in the hype of being on tour save every penny you can because when people arrive at that place the funds are coming in you're seeing the world and I've been on many tours where people come back from a year and a half two years broke because they've spent all of their money and I see it happen a lot.
1:08:28
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just saying save every single penny you have live off your per diem.
1:08:32
SPEAKER_00: If you want to do stuff live off your per diem.
1:08:35
SPEAKER_00: Put everything else away um but another thing do it it is worth it touring is like the best aspect of the business seeing the world on somebody else's dime seeing new people on someone else's dime connecting like you know we're doing shows for anywhere between 2000 to now 1800 people a night and the roar of the crowd when the lights go off there is no other feeling like it I will tell you touring is the best job in the commercial business because when those lights go off and those people start screaming they're not just there for the artist they're there for you too because dance has become such an integral part of shows that you you have fans in the out there.
1:09:19
SPEAKER_00: You have people that are like I came to see you and you're like it's the best feeling so amongst all the hard stuff that roar of the crowd will get you through every little thing that you need to and also knowing that you can come back and be like I can actually start a life I can start to build a game plan for my future I can buy in property where I can you know I wanted to get a nice car.
1:09:43
SPEAKER_00: I want you can have access coming back from tour.
1:09:47
SPEAKER_00: So everybody please keep it on your bucket list to do.
1:09:50
SPEAKER_04: It is worth everything that you go through we hope you enjoyed our latest episode all about a day in the life of a dancer on tour.
1:10:00
SPEAKER_04: Huge shout out to our special guests Brianne and Cassidy for joining us on this wonderful discussion.
1:10:07
SPEAKER_04: Don't forget to follow their touring journeys on Instagram.
1:10:11
SPEAKER_04: You can find Cassidy at Thumper Deuce and Brionne at Breon underscore marquise.
1:10:17
SPEAKER_04: Also be sure to check out Breon on tour currently with MJ the musical coming to a city near you.
1:10:24
SPEAKER_04: And be on the lookout for Cassidy in the upcoming Michael Jackson Biopic releasing April 24th 2026 in theaters don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
1:10:39
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1:10:45
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1:10:53
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1:11:02
SPEAKER_04: Be sure to check out IDA affiliated competition Elevation on tour Elevation on Tour is redefining the dance competition and convention experience.
1:11:12
SPEAKER_04: Driven by a commitment to service, integrity and innovation, Elevation on tour is constantly evolving to ensure the best for your studio.
1:11:21
SPEAKER_04: Engage, embrace and elevate your dance experience at Elevation Dance Convention.
1:11:27
SPEAKER_04: The convention atmosphere is carefully crafted to promote inclusivity, personal growth and character development.
1:11:34
SPEAKER_04: With their inspiring faculty, Elevation on Tour empowers dancers to return to the studio with a newfound energy and love of dance.
1:11:41
SPEAKER_04: Elevation on Tour competitions offers three performance levels, stunning awards and a distinguished four judge adjudication panel, including two specialty critiques for choreography and technique.
1:11:52
SPEAKER_04: Don't miss out on the teacher hospitality suite and dedicated warm-up area at every location.
1:11:58
SPEAKER_04: For more information about Elevation on tour, visit their website at ElevationOntour.com.
1:12:04
SPEAKER_01: Coming up next on Making the Impact, we've got a throwback episode on stage and costume malfunctions, an episode on partnering and our next spotlight Thanks for tuning in.
1:12:13
SPEAKER_04: We'll see you next week for some more wonderful episodes