Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Partnering and Lifts - Tips and Tricks from the Pros

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Partnering and Lifts - Tips and Tricks from the Pros · 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.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: Competitive dance has evolved over the years to include a variety of fun and exciting elements of other styles, including partnering in lifts that derive from ballroom and acrobatics.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Today on Making the Impact, our two guests, Jonathan and Oksana Platero, help us understand the best practices behind teaching partnering and lifts for competitive dancers.
0:48
SPEAKER_03: Hey y'all, welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
0:51
SPEAKER_03: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: It's Leslie Mueller Singe.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: I still have to figure out my last name.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: Do I say Singe?
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Do I say Mueller?
1:02
SPEAKER_00: I think it's still Leslie Mueller.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Legally, it's Leslie Singe.
1:05
SPEAKER_03: I think it's still Leslie Mueller in podcast world, at least for sure, because everyone knows you as Leslie Mueller.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: This is true.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: I think that's true.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: But yes, it's me.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: I'm here.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: You're here.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: And Courtney, it's my first event this weekend.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh yay, where are you heading?
1:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, actually.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Ooh.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm super excited to get down south and maybe have a little bit of warmer weather and see some great dancing early in the season.
1:32
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely, yes.
1:34
SPEAKER_03: I've been out on a few streets weekends already.
1:37
SPEAKER_03: So if you're coming to Streets Dance Convention this season, I hope to see y'all there.
1:43
SPEAKER_03: I will be at pretty much every single city on our 20 city tour now until May.
1:49
SPEAKER_03: Lots of dancing happening, lots of talent out there.
1:52
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, we're kicking off the season strong in 2026.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Ready to get get out there and see some great dancing.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: And we have a great episode for y'all today.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: This is one that Courtney, you mentioned earlier, we haven't really talked a lot about this topic, but it's time, and we have a packed episode today.
2:09
SPEAKER_03: Oh, we do.
2:10
SPEAKER_03: And we're talking about lifts and partnering, which a lot of people learn how to do uh in their time as a dancer and training dancer.
2:19
SPEAKER_03: A lot of choreography starts incorporating lifts, especially once you get into the teen and the senior categories in contemporary lifts, but also a lot of other styles like jazz.
2:30
SPEAKER_03: And I know that I didn't really have a lot of experience with partnering and I was always g being lifted by the group.
2:39
SPEAKER_03: But as far as like one-on-one partnering, I really didn't learn that until I became a professional dancer.
2:45
SPEAKER_03: So I am refreshed to see that a lot of studios are starting to incorporate that into their training, and dancers are being exposed to partnering as well in ballroom classes at conventions, which is so cool.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we've got some wonderful guests today, and we are excited to hear from them.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: But before we do, we have some sponsors to tell you about.
3:05
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3:08
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3:18
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3:29
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3:33
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4:01
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4:20
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4:33
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4:35
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4:42
SPEAKER_03: Dance World, we are here today, and we're talking about a really fun topic that we haven't really discussed much, actually.
4:50
SPEAKER_03: Now that I think about it, in seven seasons of Making the Impact, we have not really talked about how to partner and how to do lifts.
4:58
SPEAKER_03: Now, I if you remember, Leslie, I do think that we did touch on it a little bit in our duo trio episode.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we did.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: But I think, you know, it partnering's hard.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: And if you've never done it and if you don't have any experience doing it, it's hard to, you know, it's hard to talk about and find the right people.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I feel like a lot of us stumbled into partnering.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: We ended up on a job where they were like, you're doing partnering, and you're like, okay, here we go.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: So uh yeah, we're so excited to have our guests here today to talk through more of the educational aspect of partnering and lifts and not only for, you know, their specialty, which is more ballroom, but even with partnering and lifts in other styles of dance.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yes.
5:38
SPEAKER_03: I knew that I wanted to have guests like you hinted at Leslie that are actively teaching how to partner.
5:45
SPEAKER_03: I think that would be a nice perspective to have on this discussion because it's not just how flashy and amazing you are as a performer in in the partnering aspect, but how do you actually teach and get dancers to understand different grips and supporting one another and following and leading and lifting, the being the base or being the person that's being lifted?
6:05
SPEAKER_03: There's so many factors that go into um how to learn the skill.
6:09
SPEAKER_03: So I'm really excited for the two guests that we have joining today.
6:13
SPEAKER_03: They are friends of mine who I had the honor of teaching alongside for many, many years at Revel Dance Convention.
6:20
SPEAKER_03: They are still active convention teachers out every single weekend throughout the season teaching ballroom, but they do have a lot of experience in other styles as well.
6:29
SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited to welcome our guests, Jonathan and Oksana Plotero.
6:34
SPEAKER_03: Welcome, y'all.
6:34
SPEAKER_06: Hello, hello.
6:37
SPEAKER_03: I'm so glad that you could join us on the pod.
6:40
SPEAKER_03: And obviously, I I immediately thought of you both because I like I mentioned, I got to watch you teach throughout my years at Revel, but then you would also perform a lot in the closing show.
6:54
SPEAKER_03: And oh my gosh, everybody, it is unbelievable.
6:58
SPEAKER_03: Truly, my jaws on the floor every time you guys hit the stage together because you're not just doing ballroom dance, you're adding these level these layers of very, very hard lifts that are like mind-blowing and so so impressive.
7:13
SPEAKER_03: So I knew you'd both be like the perfect people to speak on this on this topic.
7:17
unknown: Yeah.
7:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
7:18
SPEAKER_03: It's our favorite topic, too.
7:20
SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
7:22
SPEAKER_03: Well, whoever wants to start, if you could share a little bit more about you, uh, where you grew up, your early dance training, what got you into dance, and um what your professional career has looked like, and then also what you're currently working on now.
7:39
SPEAKER_01: I was born in Ukraine and I started ballroom dancing when I was six years old.
7:44
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: My school just offered a little ballroom class, so I joined, and then from there I joined um bigger dance studio.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and then I've been competing every single weekend until I was 21 or 22.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: Wow, and um you know, and competitions would be all over the world, so that was really cool, and that gave me the opportunity to travel the world and see everything.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: And then once I moved uh to US in 2006, I've been doing more competitions, ballroom competitions, and I've been um consistently taking second place after uh Val, you know, Val Trikovsky on the Dancing with the Stars.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: He was always first, and then my partner will be second.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: And then, yes, so after I was finished with my competitive ballroom career, then um I've joined the Dancing with the Stars.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: And then I became a choreographer, and so you think you can dance together with Jonathan.
8:40
SPEAKER_01: And then I also got to compete in London on Strictlycom Dancing, the UK version of Dancing with the Stars.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, and now the Broadway musical, uh, all Broadway musical that's the latest and newest exciting project.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
8:56
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I love that.
8:57
SPEAKER_03: And obviously, Jonathan, you're gonna share with us, but I have to ask, how did y'all meet?
9:03
SPEAKER_04: So we met in LA.
9:05
SPEAKER_04: We were actually working with a choreographer, Jason Gilkison, and um he was coming up with a routine for So You Think You Could Dance as well.
9:12
SPEAKER_04: And that was a time when we weren't necessarily choreographers yet.
9:16
SPEAKER_04: We had just I was an alum on it.
9:17
SPEAKER_04: I was on season five.
9:18
SPEAKER_04: So we kind of knew each other from uh that season.
9:21
SPEAKER_04: He brought us in, and it was actually for the routine that it was a trio routine.
9:26
SPEAKER_04: It was Nick, Whitney, and Lindsay, yeah.
9:28
SPEAKER_04: So it was like uh they had a yeah, it was a cha cha routine, and uh I just remember walking in the studio, um, I think it was on like third street dance studio, right?
9:37
SPEAKER_04: Dance, yeah, third street in California, and yeah, I saw her there, and I I don't know, I knew exactly who she was, just because I've seen her on Dancing with the Stars.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: Ah.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: So I had no idea who he was.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: It was that guy.
9:52
SPEAKER_04: That's okay.
9:54
SPEAKER_04: And this is his thing.
9:56
SPEAKER_04: And then so um, no, I kind of knew that we were there for the same uh job, and that's kind of how we met.
10:01
SPEAKER_04: And it's funny enough because like he needed us for totally different things for the ballroom partnering aspects, and then for the tricks and lifts, because that was kind of like my specialty in what I did.
10:13
SPEAKER_03: I see.
10:14
SPEAKER_03: Interesting, and then the rest is history, like you said.
10:17
SPEAKER_04: The rest is history, yes.
10:19
SPEAKER_03: I love that.
10:20
SPEAKER_03: Uh well, thank you, Aksana, for sharing your story.
10:23
SPEAKER_03: And uh, Jonathan, you are up next.
10:25
SPEAKER_03: Tell us more about you.
10:27
SPEAKER_04: So um before dance or before anything, I was a gymnast.
10:31
SPEAKER_04: So I I did competitive gymnastics from like eight years old till 15.
10:37
SPEAKER_04: And then um, I think I don't know, I think I just kind of got burned out a little bit.
10:42
SPEAKER_04: As you know, like teenagers usually do, you know, we want to you know have a normal life, have some friends.
10:47
SPEAKER_04: I mean, I was in the gym like every single day, so it was tough for me.
10:51
SPEAKER_04: And when I decided to leave gymnastics, my parents were obviously devastated.
10:55
SPEAKER_04: They did not like that.
10:56
SPEAKER_04: You know, they wanted me to they devoted their whole entire, you know, their work and everything.
11:01
SPEAKER_04: It was a lot of money.
11:02
SPEAKER_04: I mean, gymnastics is a lot of money, as we know.
11:04
SPEAKER_04: So they were like, well, you cannot just not do anything.
11:08
SPEAKER_04: So they were taking salsa lessons at the time.
11:11
SPEAKER_04: And they said, so you can come try and take it with your parents?
11:17
SPEAKER_00: Like you went to the same class?
11:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, it's no yeah, no.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: Family activity.
11:21
SPEAKER_04: It was a I know that's exactly what I thought too.
11:23
SPEAKER_04: So my mindset was kind of like gymnastics, salsa.
11:27
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, all right, well, listen, uh, let's give it a shot.
11:29
SPEAKER_04: You know, I don't mind.
11:30
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
11:30
SPEAKER_04: I just remember walking in this huge ballroom because it's called salsa rueda style, which is like a, you know, you have different levels, but they're all in the same room.
11:40
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
11:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so you're just kind of uh learning all this.
11:42
SPEAKER_04: And I'm just looking around, I'm seeing the people, and it's you know, it's a it's a really nice community of people learning how to dance.
11:48
SPEAKER_04: I kind of went through the steps uh quickly.
11:51
SPEAKER_04: Um so for me, I was like, it's kind of boring.
11:54
SPEAKER_04: But I was stiff as a board, you know, being a gymnast.
11:57
SPEAKER_04: You have to go like this.
11:58
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, exactly.
11:59
SPEAKER_04: Nothing at all.
12:00
SPEAKER_04: Um, but then I saw people, uh they did like a performance, and I think that's what caught my eye.
12:05
SPEAKER_04: There was a professional team, they did a performance, and I was like, oh, that looks really exciting.
12:10
SPEAKER_04: And then I remember um seeing like a mini lift.
12:13
SPEAKER_04: And I think that's really kind of what caught my eye, the flashiness of it.
12:16
SPEAKER_04: And I was a gymnast too, so I liked that um athletic aspect of it as well.
12:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
12:21
SPEAKER_04: So that's kind of when I got more into it.
12:23
SPEAKER_04: And then from then on, I started studying different styles because I just wanted to.
12:27
SPEAKER_04: I was a huge fan of Soy Think You Dance for season one.
12:30
SPEAKER_02: As was everyone at that time.
12:32
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
12:32
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we all wanted to be in that show, you know.
12:34
SPEAKER_04: I mean, when that show came out, I was just like, I had never seen some of those things.
12:38
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
12:38
SPEAKER_04: Like I've never seen people do 10 pirouettes.
12:40
SPEAKER_04: I didn't even know what pirouette was.
12:41
SPEAKER_03: Right.
12:41
SPEAKER_03: Right.
12:42
SPEAKER_04: You assist your partner in pirouette.
12:44
SPEAKER_03: Right.
12:45
SPEAKER_03: That's true.
12:46
SPEAKER_04: So from then I wanted to just, you know, to try to study as many disciples as possible.
12:51
SPEAKER_04: And from there, I went to uh just for so you think you dance years later, made season five, and then after that, had the opportunity to become uh the sauce choreographer uh with Oksana, and then became an all-star, which is really, really exciting.
13:07
SPEAKER_04: And yeah, and now, you know, convention teacher, as you know, as you said, and then now off-Broadway musical, which will be our next adventure, which is very exciting.
13:16
SPEAKER_04: Uh, it's something that we've never done before, too, and we still get to kind of include not only what we do, but um different elements of it as well.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: Can you share the name of it?
13:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, tell us more in a little bit of detail.
13:28
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
13:28
SPEAKER_04: So it's called Blood Love.
13:30
SPEAKER_04: It'll be an off-Broadway musical.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: It's about very first them.
13:34
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the original vampire story, yes.
13:37
SPEAKER_04: Okay, I'm so coming.
13:39
SPEAKER_04: Oh my god.
13:39
SPEAKER_04: I can't wait.
13:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, me too.
13:41
SPEAKER_04: So exciting.
13:41
SPEAKER_04: It's it's it's sensual, it's sexy, um, all original music.
13:46
SPEAKER_04: It's there's some really good songs.
13:47
SPEAKER_04: I mean, there's some bobbers in there that you're really gonna enjoy.
13:50
SPEAKER_07: Sweet.
13:50
SPEAKER_04: Uh, our creator Carrie and Drew, uh, Drew DiCaro and Carrie Sharp.
13:55
SPEAKER_04: Um, this has gonna like been a project that she's done for we've been with this since five years.
14:00
SPEAKER_04: Five years.
14:01
SPEAKER_04: Really?
14:01
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
14:02
SPEAKER_04: It started off as a 45-minute show.
14:04
SPEAKER_04: It was in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
14:07
SPEAKER_04: Oh man.
14:08
SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah.
14:08
SPEAKER_04: And of all places.
14:10
SPEAKER_04: No offense.
14:10
SPEAKER_04: But what I know, but in a beautiful theater, you should have seen this theater.
14:15
SPEAKER_04: Really?
14:15
SPEAKER_04: It was incredible.
14:16
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
14:16
SPEAKER_04: So little by little, you know, it's we've we did a run in LA last year, and now it's it's finally like um an off-broadway.
14:25
SPEAKER_04: It's it's different setting too, because now it's gonna be on a in a an amazing stage.
14:28
SPEAKER_04: I mean, I don't want to give it all the way, but the stage is the set is incredible.
14:32
SPEAKER_04: It's out of this world.
14:34
SPEAKER_01: Even when we heard about it, we were like, we get to have bigger casts, just uh bigger production, it's gonna be at its biggest yet.
14:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
14:44
SPEAKER_04: It's it's been a growing um uh evolution of this, and the fact that we got to be a part of it is is something really exciting for us to do.
14:51
SPEAKER_04: Uh our our uh director, Hunter Bird, amazing.
14:55
SPEAKER_04: I mean, his vision, what he says, like when we're just in the room, he's like, okay, but we gotta do this, and you see this, and we're just like, um like you see it.
15:02
SPEAKER_04: He makes you see it before you're even ready to work on it.
15:04
SPEAKER_04: You're like, okay, you know, it's very inspiring.
15:06
SPEAKER_04: But um yeah.
15:07
SPEAKER_04: 2026, uh, which is right around the corner.
15:10
SPEAKER_04: I can't believe that.
15:11
SPEAKER_04: I know.
15:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, February 26th, opening night.
15:13
SPEAKER_04: Please come and watch Blood Love.
15:15
SPEAKER_03: How long is it running for?
15:17
SPEAKER_03: Open-ended, or does it have a closing date?
15:19
SPEAKER_04: Uh no, till May 10th, I believe, is our last show.
15:23
SPEAKER_03: Okay, that's a nice run.
15:24
SPEAKER_04: That's a long run.
15:25
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, great.
15:25
SPEAKER_04: So we have lots of time.
15:27
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
15:28
SPEAKER_04: We'll put the link in the show notes and you're in town, follow at Blood Love Show.
15:33
SPEAKER_03: Right on.
15:34
SPEAKER_03: Love it.
15:34
SPEAKER_03: Congratulations on that.
15:36
SPEAKER_03: That's such an achievement and thank you very much.
15:38
SPEAKER_03: So special.
15:38
SPEAKER_03: And I think that also just shows um to our listeners and world out there, like it does take some time for things to happen in the industry.
15:46
SPEAKER_03: You know, being with something from the ground up and staying with it for five years, coming from Wisconsin to another workshop in LA to another workshop in New York, and now it's finally hitting the stage.
15:57
SPEAKER_05: It's here.
15:57
SPEAKER_03: It's important to know that like process takes time.
16:00
SPEAKER_03: Right.
16:01
SPEAKER_03: And um, but also being with something from the jump and from the beginning, there's always a benefit to that because you hope that you continue to grow with oh my god.
16:10
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
16:11
SPEAKER_04: Right.
16:12
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: And what a neat, what a neat thing to like bring up too.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: And I think it kind of will tie into partnering a little bit.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: You said your director like makes you see it before you even jump into it.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yeah.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: Like that is probably how partnering, you should probably see it in your mind.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: You have to like visualize it before you can physicalize it, right?
16:30
SPEAKER_04: A thousand percent.
16:31
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
16:31
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
16:32
SPEAKER_04: You absolutely should have that mindset going into it, especially coming up in your tricks too.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's so true.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, great.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Well, now that we're here, let's jump in.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: We've already kind of started.
16:44
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: So I guess from my first question, I would love to hear from both of you what you think the most important thing to know about partnering is.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: So let's say you've you've got dancers, studio owners, teachers who've never taught it, never really done it.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: What is the like number one thing you want them to know about it?
17:03
SPEAKER_01: I think one of the most important things is knowing your role.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: There is always lead and follow, regardless of gender.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: It's just always have to be that dynamic in partnership because often people try to lead both and that would never work.
17:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
17:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
17:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
17:21
SPEAKER_04: And I think the other aspect that's really, really important, and it's crazy when you see some of these tricks.
17:26
SPEAKER_04: Tricks are 50-50.
17:28
SPEAKER_04: It's it's a 50-50 role.
17:30
SPEAKER_04: It's not just like, I'm gonna allow you to throw myself, uh, throw throw myself up to you, and then you gotta catch 100%.
17:36
SPEAKER_04: No.
17:37
SPEAKER_04: Uh, there's there's ways you have to hold your body when you're in the air, you know.
17:40
SPEAKER_04: It's there's also a misconception of when people think like, oh, I'm gonna partner uh this person for size and this person for size as well.
17:49
SPEAKER_04: It has nothing to do with that, you know.
17:51
SPEAKER_04: It's it it really is just the right training on how to be lifted and lift.
17:58
SPEAKER_01: You know, in the shows that we've performed, uh we have to be partnered out with people who are not professional dancers.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: And um sometimes John would get partner, you know, almost bigger than him.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: But if that partner knows how to hold themselves, they would feel lighter than somebody.
18:16
SPEAKER_07: It's very true.
18:17
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, very true.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: Knowing how to hold yourself and what to do when you've been lifted, that's huge.
18:22
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: That's a great thing.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: So would you say that anybody can learn to dance, like partnering?
18:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
18:29
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's it's it's definitely not just a physical thing, too.
18:33
SPEAKER_04: It's it's a mindset.
18:35
SPEAKER_04: Uh I know there are some personalities out there just because we've worked with them and we respect them as well, that really can't get their head into being lifted in the air or their feet coming off the ground.
18:46
SPEAKER_04: And I want to say, yes, everybody can do it, but at the same time, if you don't have the right mindset to do it, it's probably not gonna be the safest thing for you to jump into.
18:56
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
18:56
SPEAKER_04: That is uh that is its own work.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:59
SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
18:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and feeling safe enough.
19:02
SPEAKER_03: But for partnering, absolutely anybody can partner.
19:05
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's true.
19:05
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I see.
19:06
SPEAKER_03: Okay, yeah.
19:07
SPEAKER_03: I I think this these are all valid points.
19:10
SPEAKER_03: Um, the safety aspect, the mental game of partnering.
19:13
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I mean, I look back at similar to what you were saying earlier, Leslie, like I was immediately thinking of the fact that the first time that I truly learned how to partner was on Leslie and I worked on Royal Caribbean together.
19:27
SPEAKER_03: That's where we met.
19:28
SPEAKER_03: And our both for first professional jobs.
19:31
SPEAKER_03: I'm 19 years old learning how to dance in a heel and do disco partnering, and I've never done it in my life, you know, and I'm just hoping for the best.
19:39
SPEAKER_03: But like I very quickly learned how to support my upper body carriage to give my partner what they needed.
19:48
SPEAKER_03: And there was a lot of communication between me and my partner in the learning process of rehearsal, which moved so fast.
19:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but like they were expecting me as a professional who got hired, Leslie and I, that we should already know how to do this.
20:03
SPEAKER_03: It's just now learning the steps.
20:05
SPEAKER_03: I shouldn't be being taught how to how to learn how to partner on a professional job.
20:10
SPEAKER_03: So like I think it's really important for dancers to get exposed to that in some capacity.
20:15
SPEAKER_03: And I know that at convention, you are introducing partnering to dancers, which is so great.
20:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
20:21
SPEAKER_04: And that's that's actually that's exactly why we like to do that.
20:24
SPEAKER_04: You know, I think for when we first started with convention, it was more about, you know, just the original, you know, do footwork, and you know, we wanted to introduce it because of that reason alone, it's because I've been to so many auditions, and for me, thank God, I know partnering, you know.
20:41
SPEAKER_04: Right.
20:41
SPEAKER_04: But it it's so true, there's so many parts, and I tell the kids this sometimes too.
20:44
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, there's gonna be portion of the audition in your careers that you're gonna make it to, and you're gonna have to partner with a stranger.
20:52
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, with a stranger.
20:54
SPEAKER_04: So it's not even just about knowing how to partner.
20:57
SPEAKER_04: There, I mean, especially if something that we've always tried to find in others is can they get instant chemistry?
21:04
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
21:05
SPEAKER_04: Especially, you know, like that's a huge thing on its own.
21:07
SPEAKER_04: It's just like it's not just about dancing, like two people dancing solo together.
21:12
SPEAKER_04: It's finding that instant chemistry, the trust, you have to find that right away, especially, you know, if you're being lifted with somebody you have no idea, you know, because there's, you know, mistakes happen.
21:22
SPEAKER_04: It's it's it's inevitable.
21:23
SPEAKER_04: It's it's absolutely gonna happen.
21:25
SPEAKER_04: But again, you know, you're being thrown into this world that some people don't know.
21:29
SPEAKER_04: So at least if you have a little bit of knowledge uh about it, I think it'll help.
21:33
SPEAKER_04: You know, it's uh and again, and that'll help mensely as well.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Right.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, and that's why I asked your opinion on do you think everybody should be able to learn and can learn how to partner?
21:43
SPEAKER_00: Because I was a dancer.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: Courtney came out of high school into that first job.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: I came out of college into that first job.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: And based on a lot of different reasons, in my school, I was not allowed to take a partnering class.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: So I came at a disadvantage because I didn't know how to do it.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: And again, same as Courtney, it was like, I'm a small person.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to lift me.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm not dead weight, but I did have to learn how to hold myself and you know, give that trust and give that back to my partner.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: But I was actually recently at the Steps Conservatory um show, and just like as many dance programs, they're not a lot of men.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: So all the women were partnering each other.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: But it was so clear that somebody had taught the entire group of students how to lead and how to follow.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: And it was wonderful to see like everybody had had learned how to do this, and that's gonna serve them so well, you know, just like y'all are teaching at convention at an even earlier age.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: And it's also such uh an amazing opportunity for the follow to learn how to lead because it only helps you to understand when you know how to do both parts, then you're gonna be better in what you need to do because you have the knowledge of both.
22:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, there's actually a lot of times too.
22:48
SPEAKER_04: When Oksana was working with a partner for one of the shows that we did, um, where we had to work with a celebrity, so they don't really know how to dance or partner.
22:55
SPEAKER_04: A lot of times she would say, Because she's being led, but they don't know how to do it.
22:59
SPEAKER_04: Right.
23:00
SPEAKER_04: So she would say, John, can you come here and can you lead him into what I'm trying to do?
23:05
SPEAKER_04: So he would feel it.
23:07
SPEAKER_04: Right.
23:07
SPEAKER_04: And then when he feels it, he's like, Oh, okay, I understand now what you needs, what you need from me from that moment.
23:14
SPEAKER_04: And again, it's about learning both.
23:16
SPEAKER_04: You know, when you get to learn both, it's again, you just have more knowledge of going into the partnering aspect of it.
23:22
SPEAKER_04: You're gonna the resistance, the feeling of it, and you you need to know from both ends.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: And then in that situation, you know, when you do have to dance with not a professional dancer, it is a great set of skills again to know how to lead because I made my partner look like he leads me, but guess what?
23:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
23:43
SPEAKER_03: Wait, I love that so much, and like this has got me thinking because I have done, as we have just discussed, cruise ship shows where there's partnering.
23:53
SPEAKER_03: Then I've done like in the heights, which is like has an entire like Latin club salsa section.
24:00
SPEAKER_03: And I am I faked it till I make it in like in beginning and end.
24:04
SPEAKER_03: But I think it's because I would always have a really good partner that led me properly.
24:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
24:11
SPEAKER_03: And I can follow really well.
24:13
SPEAKER_03: So if if it was reversed, I think I would be an epic fail because I've never actually learned how to lead.
24:20
SPEAKER_03: I've only ever been a really good follow.
24:23
SPEAKER_03: So I think that that is a really interesting what it's really interesting that you said that it's important to learn both.
24:29
SPEAKER_03: Um, because I think that that's something that I could work on for myself to be even just a better educator, too, and and knowing how to describe partnering to other dancers.
24:40
SPEAKER_04: I think getting into the education part of it is is knowing both.
24:45
SPEAKER_04: I don't think it's like uh specializing in following and then being able to teach.
24:51
SPEAKER_04: Because you really do have to know both.
24:53
SPEAKER_04: Like when I started with the whole salsa program, like I was saying in the beginning, I went through the whole entire program as a lead, and then I went back and I did the follow because I wanted to know about it too.
25:05
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
25:05
SPEAKER_04: Well, because I also as being an instructor, and imagine if, you know, I mean, we we're super lucky that we get to teach convention together.
25:13
SPEAKER_04: But given if we had to go, you know, just one at a time, we'd still be able to do it.
25:18
SPEAKER_04: Right.
25:18
SPEAKER_04: You know, we still and and again, it's just having that knowledge.
25:21
SPEAKER_04: You really have to, you know, try to study these skills if you're gonna teach it uh as well as you want to, pretty much.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: And when we take the class ourselves sometimes for fun, I love it when the studio gives you the um option if you want to learn the lead or the following both.
25:39
SPEAKER_01: I think that's great.
25:40
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
25:41
SPEAKER_01: I love that!
25:43
SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, I'm learning so much.
25:46
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so like something I want to discuss, and I know that you guys incorporate a lot of lifts.
25:50
SPEAKER_03: We've talked a little bit about partnering, but like lifts, we see them at competition all the time, you know, in in every style.
25:58
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, a lot of times it's group lifts, like let's pile a group together and lift this person up, you know?
26:04
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
26:05
SPEAKER_03: But I have seen in many instances, especially duos in particular, where dancers are taking some more risks with lifting, with counterbalancing, with sharing weights, and even like some nice transitions in and out of the lifts.
26:22
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
26:23
SPEAKER_03: In all styles, not just can I feel like I'm immediately thinking of contemporary.
26:27
SPEAKER_03: I think we all kind of go there too, yeah.
26:29
SPEAKER_04: I know exactly what you mean.
26:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
26:31
SPEAKER_03: So, like what um what have you been seeing on stage that you really enjoy?
26:35
SPEAKER_03: And are there any anything, uh, any advice you can give to dancers that are executing some partnering in other styles outside of ballroom?
26:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, one thing I I'm definitely seeing with with um convention and some of the stage competition dances is I mean, they have such a level of trust.
26:52
SPEAKER_04: But I don't think it's necessarily a trust just with the partner.
26:56
SPEAKER_04: They they trust themselves to be able to do it.
26:58
SPEAKER_04: They know their bodies.
26:59
SPEAKER_04: I mean, they're I think outside of, I'm gonna say outside of uh ballroom because ballroom is so different than contemporary world and jazz and ballet.
27:07
SPEAKER_04: You know, there's you learn different styles.
27:10
SPEAKER_04: You you're not you're able to kind of roll on your back, like almost like do Ford rolls, you're able to do like into these aerial works.
27:16
SPEAKER_04: I think that really does help.
27:17
SPEAKER_04: And again, just being a gymnast on my own, I think that's what steered me into partnering.
27:21
SPEAKER_04: You know, it's so a lot of times I when I see this level of trust with these dancers, it's they're just giving it all, but trust is everything.
27:27
SPEAKER_04: And also there's no hesitation.
27:30
SPEAKER_04: They know how to hold their weight.
27:31
SPEAKER_04: So I that's what it's something I've seen beautifully.
27:34
SPEAKER_04: Now, one thing, the only thing I will say is sometimes that I do see is you don't want to see that trick coming.
27:42
SPEAKER_04: That's the only thing for yeah, it's like and some I've seen it done beautifully.
27:47
SPEAKER_04: I mean, it's also these dancers are coming up with the the craziest tricks that I've ever seen, you know, it's mind-blowing, and they're ch and they're kids.
27:54
SPEAKER_04: And they're kids, yes.
27:55
SPEAKER_04: But remember, when you're younger, oh yeah, and you're fearless.
27:58
SPEAKER_04: You're fearless.
28:00
SPEAKER_04: Trust me, yeah, yeah.
28:01
SPEAKER_04: You are fearless.
28:02
SPEAKER_04: So I think at that, you know, at that uh age, they're just like, nah, I mean, let's just try it.
28:07
SPEAKER_04: I mean, we've been to some studios, they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just go for it.
28:09
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, well, I haven't even tell you.
28:11
SPEAKER_06: Right.
28:11
SPEAKER_04: You know, but they're they're ready to go, you know.
28:14
SPEAKER_04: So they have that different mindset.
28:16
SPEAKER_04: Um, but it could also be a safety thing, too.
28:18
SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
28:18
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, no, it's it's um masking that that here it comes, you know, it's like you don't want to see it, you know.
28:25
SPEAKER_04: I I would say try to steer away from those kind of lifts that are just like there's ways to do it.
28:31
SPEAKER_04: And I think especially when in more expressive dances like contemporary, you're able to kind of mask a little bit.
28:36
SPEAKER_07: Mm-hmm.
28:36
SPEAKER_04: But I mean, yeah, I mean, some of these dancers, I I'm thoroughly impressed with them.
28:40
SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna lie, you know.
28:41
SPEAKER_04: And the the agility and the flexibility that comes with it too, it's beautiful.
28:45
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
28:45
SPEAKER_04: It's just becoming this this beautiful like combination of like almost the ballet technique into like the acrobats, you know, it's it's it's really nice how yeah, the evolution of it.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: I think one of the things, Courtney, that it makes contemporary partnering a little bit different than ballroom is like you were saying, Jonathan, there's so much like upright in ballroom.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: And like you are, especially if you're in a gendered, you know, partnership, you have the man, he's the one using his legs to do the lifting, but you you almost never see the woman do anything close to the floor.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: Whereas in contemporary, both of you are down and you can really get the floor to come up to come down to you know, so like that's one of the things I'm noticing that's that's you see that a lot more in in that different style of dance.
29:29
SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
29:30
SPEAKER_04: And and I think too, like with the whole upright, it's just like, well, ballroom, there's such a it's the resistance, you know.
29:36
SPEAKER_04: It's like there's a technique like that she was even like with Oksana when in the beginning, because I'm I don't come from a ballroom background.
29:43
SPEAKER_04: I came from Salsa and I started training through shows, ballroom, and oksana is my private teacher.
29:49
SPEAKER_04: But um but um you know, just simple things, I mean you won't be able to see it, but like resistance, you know, just like keeping this, you know, we don't open full arms to to extend into you know preparation.
30:00
SPEAKER_04: It's it's about keeping everything nice and close within, you know, the partnership.
30:05
SPEAKER_04: Um so I think that's something that kind of helps uh ballroom dancers uh kind of create these quick uh moments and lifts and tricks.
30:14
SPEAKER_04: But um but yeah, we don't get down to the floor like that.
30:17
SPEAKER_04: I mean I used to, but I don't know.
30:26
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31:44
SPEAKER_03: And now let's get back to the show.
31:54
SPEAKER_03: What you were just describing about like the resistance in your arm, like the tension in the arm when you're doing anything.
31:59
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
32:00
SPEAKER_03: And even just like the the carriage, understanding like your awareness of your lats and your your arms from your back.
32:09
SPEAKER_03: Lats is so important.
32:12
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
32:12
SPEAKER_03: But like I'm even thinking in any style of partnering.
32:16
SPEAKER_03: Like in any style.
32:17
SPEAKER_03: We all talk about lats.
32:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
32:18
SPEAKER_03: Like you have to.
32:19
SPEAKER_03: You cannot let your if you're getting picked up, you can't just let your shoulders come to your ears and just collapse.
32:25
SPEAKER_03: You know, like you have to give the resistance and shelf is what is often referenced.
32:30
SPEAKER_03: But like even the same with counterbalancing or pulling out or doing like a roll-in and a roll out and like a little kid dance or whatever.
32:38
SPEAKER_03: So we're introducing them to it, it's like there should still be we should still be executing the technique of that properly with getting them to understand like how to share the weight and not to lock out the arms and create support from the back.
32:51
SPEAKER_03: So I I encourage studios to make sure that like if you are teaching these like basic partnering introductions, then make also make sure that the basic technique of those partnering elements are really clear and clean.
33:07
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
33:08
SPEAKER_04: I mean, yeah.
33:09
SPEAKER_04: And you want to listen, I think when you're teaching something, you want to teach it right.
33:12
SPEAKER_04: Always.
33:13
SPEAKER_04: You know, yeah.
33:14
SPEAKER_04: There's a there's a there's a I don't want to say fake way to do it, but there is.
33:18
SPEAKER_04: Like it's like a shortcut.
33:21
SPEAKER_04: You know, it's just like it's almost like when we sometimes when we teach convention and we tell kids like, oh, we're gonna do ballroom, and then they'll do like the oh, you know, uh-huh.
33:28
SPEAKER_04: It's there, you know, it's it's not um they're not doing it wrong or anything like that, but I get why they're doing it.
33:33
SPEAKER_04: That's the way they see it.
33:34
SPEAKER_04: So sometimes when you're teaching partnering, like, oh, we're gonna do it just like in a roll in a roll out.
33:38
SPEAKER_04: Oh, well, we see it on TV like this, but it's really not.
33:41
SPEAKER_04: There is such a basic technique to it that can really help make it look better and you're also feel better, yeah, for both sides.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: I recently got married and we did a choreographed wedding dance.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: And thank you.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm a I'm a dancer and my husband is not.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: And it's just very interesting working with somebody who doesn't know, you know, and he caught on very quickly, and Courtney can attest he did a very good job.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: But like that, if if if you do a rollout and he is not resistant, you're like flying because I'm expecting, I'm just ready to expect what is supposed to happen and it doesn't happen.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, oh, humbling to come back to this like learning experience of oh, you're new to this, let me be patient.
34:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
34:21
SPEAKER_04: That's so funny too.
34:22
SPEAKER_04: And I think it really does always go back to the opening out because it's like the one thing everybody expects.
34:28
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
34:29
SPEAKER_03: It's it's so real.
34:30
SPEAKER_03: And I have to say, like, I like I've already admitted, like, I am very good at faking it till I make it and following.
34:39
SPEAKER_03: It's hard when you're good at that, because I'm good at that too.
34:41
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
34:42
SPEAKER_03: You know, so it's like I don't, I'm not trying to like I I guess I'm I'm flipping it to I'm sure we've all been there when you have a bad partner.
34:51
SPEAKER_03: No offense, but like yeah, you know I think we've all been there.
34:54
SPEAKER_03: We've all definitely been there.
34:55
SPEAKER_03: And like even the mention, and Leslie and I have vented about this before too, not just once you get the job, it's the before you get the job because the show has partnering in it, so it's gonna be in the audition.
35:06
SPEAKER_03: And they they need to see if you know how to partner, and then you get paired with someone that doesn't know what they're doing and doesn't know how to support themselves or you, and like there might be some crazy lift in the partnering.
35:20
SPEAKER_03: I remember, oh my gosh, Memphis on Broadway, which was a Broadway musical like a thousand years ago.
35:26
SPEAKER_03: There was some insane partnering, some type of like press, like overhead press for the men.
35:31
SPEAKER_03: Cinderella did that one too.
35:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yes, and freaking press, like a full press, and they wanted to see it at the audition.
35:37
SPEAKER_03: After eight hours of the audition.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I don't feel I don't feel safe with this man I've never met, yes, who is I and like you were saying earlier, like yes, it depends on who you're with, but like I was with somebody who was my height.
35:51
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
35:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm five feet tall.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: So if you don't, if you just if you equally weigh what I weigh and you are not a good partner, this is not going to work out.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: You don't even have the leverage to like no, you know, it just didn't, it didn't work, and neither one of us got the job, which is unfortunate.
36:05
SPEAKER_03: I've been in scenarios where like my partner has let me down from getting the job, even though I'm doing everything I can to show that like I I know what I'm doing.
36:17
SPEAKER_03: I mean, for example, you were there, Jonathan, you went through the whole thing.
36:19
SPEAKER_03: So you think you can dance.
36:20
SPEAKER_03: I mean, the audition process of that, they pair you up with people on purpose to like see if you can fail or succeed past them not knowing how to partner, you know?
36:30
SPEAKER_03: So I think that it's important for dancers to know that like there's growing pains with partnering and and your partnership.
36:37
SPEAKER_03: And obviously, if this is competition dance and you get paired with somebody, there's gonna be time to grow as a partnership.
36:44
SPEAKER_03: But sometimes as you get better and older and go into a professional world, you put maybe put into scenarios where there's no time to figure it out.
36:53
SPEAKER_03: You have to already have an idea of how to be a good partner right away.
36:58
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely, like an introduction at least.
36:59
SPEAKER_04: And again, that's why we we always encourage studios to introduce that, you know, and in the right way, obviously.
37:05
SPEAKER_04: Um, that's why we like to, you know, uh bring it to the kids at such a young age, too.
37:10
SPEAKER_01: So and that's when again, knowing how to lead when your partner doesn't know how to do that, so you can overcompensate and make it better for your partner generally.
37:18
SPEAKER_04: Right.
37:18
SPEAKER_04: Get you both.
37:19
SPEAKER_01: A little hotter, a little hotter went with lift, but with partnering.
37:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, lifts is a different thing.
37:23
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
37:23
SPEAKER_04: Lyft's is a totally different beast.
37:25
SPEAKER_04: Um just recently when we did the the auditions for Blood Love.
37:30
SPEAKER_04: Um, there was a portion of the audition, of course, it was gonna be partnering.
37:34
SPEAKER_03: That's what y'all do.
37:35
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be in the show.
37:36
SPEAKER_04: It's gonna be in the show.
37:37
SPEAKER_04: So I remember we there was one lift.
37:41
SPEAKER_04: We never want to bring crazy, crazy we never want to bring two auditions.
37:45
SPEAKER_04: I don't think it's necessary to bring tricks that are dangerous if you've never done tricks before.
37:51
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
37:52
SPEAKER_04: Like I would never do a trick where you know the the follow is gonna like dive to the floor and somebody has a catch at the you know at the last minute.
37:59
SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
38:00
SPEAKER_04: We'll bring some type of lifts to see if there's you know some type of strength in the legs and everything, you know.
38:04
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
38:05
SPEAKER_04: One where you're like Oksana's leg was on my shoulder and I kind of just pushed her up here.
38:09
SPEAKER_04: You know, her head straight up.
38:10
SPEAKER_04: But when we did that too, we understood the that there was gonna be a difference of level of partnering, so we wanted to make sure there was almost like two different options.
38:18
SPEAKER_04: They didn't have to do it because I didn't also want to base the audition and I wanted them to know that just because you didn't get the slips, you didn't get the job.
38:25
SPEAKER_07: Right.
38:25
SPEAKER_04: You know, you know, so we we always brought like two options and to kind of see, and also I think there was more female presenting than there was male presenting.
38:33
SPEAKER_04: So we also had to take that into account.
38:36
SPEAKER_04: Um, but we also gave people the choice.
38:37
SPEAKER_04: We're like, choose which side you like, you know, it doesn't matter to us.
38:41
SPEAKER_04: We're gonna give you two options regardless.
38:43
SPEAKER_04: For us, the main thing isn't about the lift, uh, it's just about especially this type of show.
38:49
SPEAKER_04: The instant chemistry that you can build with somebody, you know.
38:53
SPEAKER_04: Um it wasn't even too much about like let me see who has the best resistance in their arm.
38:58
SPEAKER_04: I would love to see that, of course.
38:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it's when you're not, you know, when you do partnering, but maybe just side by side, how do you look like you steal a partnership without even typing each other?
39:09
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's very key to us.
39:11
SPEAKER_04: I think that's great.
39:12
SPEAKER_04: That creates uh a great partnership.
39:15
SPEAKER_04: If you can see the partnership when they're not even touching.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: And that is something I was gonna add to um sometimes when we see partnering um on competitions, you know, when you just see two people dancing next to each other, it's like, why do you even have a partner if there isn't you know that's the most interesting thing about partnership, you know, when two people just like out to the audience and we just dance together rather than forget even about audience, it's what you create here.
39:39
SPEAKER_01: That is what is so intriguing and magnetizing.
39:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
39:42
SPEAKER_04: And I think it's captivating.
39:44
SPEAKER_04: I mean, you imagine if we were all behind that table in the audition, you see partnering, but you're gonna see that magnetic, that magnetism between a couple and be like, wow, they're they're in it, they just met each other, right?
39:56
SPEAKER_04: They have it.
39:57
SPEAKER_04: They may not have the lift, but they have it what we need.
40:00
SPEAKER_04: At least we can work on the lift.
40:02
SPEAKER_04: Sure, exactly.
40:02
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
40:03
SPEAKER_04: We can work on that.
40:04
SPEAKER_04: That is something that we cannot necessarily work on and spend too much time on, you know, with these projects.
40:09
SPEAKER_04: But if they have it, you know, that's what's gonna bring it in.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: And it's hard to like, I've I've had one of those experiences where it was like in the moment we were asked to just improv together and it worked.
40:20
SPEAKER_00: And for whatever reason, it it felt electric.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know how you teach that.
40:24
SPEAKER_00: Like for me, it was I trust myself enough to know that what I do is gonna be good enough.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: And he clearly felt the same way, and like we made eye contact and it was this beautiful moment.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: And but I don't know how you teach that.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: Do you have any like any advice?
40:39
SPEAKER_00: Because people want that, they want that experience, and I don't know.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: It seems just like there are different exercises.
40:45
SPEAKER_01: Like one of my favorite exercises, it's you know, you know, there are those body contact classes when you when you just find that you don't really know what you're doing, but you're reacting.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: So it's simply action and reaction.
40:58
SPEAKER_01: Like if he does something, you know, he blinks, I blink back, and we already create something, it's not much, but it's you know, you you can see this.
41:06
SPEAKER_01: It's it's is it like a hand movement and it's just reaction, you know, anything when we can create like do the way we touch, you know, it's like do you want to touch each other, or is it is it no?
41:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, like a relationship that you can show.
41:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, eye contact is a is a is a very important thing.
41:24
SPEAKER_04: Um, you have to be able to feel comfortable in a partnership, having that eye contact because I mean you tell stories with each other through the eyes, especially through movement, and then we see that through the body.
41:34
SPEAKER_04: I also think having a little bit of that acting training, I would say definitely get into like that uh that's something that we we love uh acting as well.
41:42
SPEAKER_04: We did acting classes a lot in LA, but I really I want to say that that kind of helped us a little bit more, you know, especially with that type of training.
41:49
SPEAKER_04: I mean, it's good to get all this type of training, especially if you're younger, you're trying to get into this career, do it all.
41:55
SPEAKER_04: Try it all.
41:55
SPEAKER_04: It's it's only gonna help you.
41:57
SPEAKER_04: You're gonna be exposed to it, I promise you, at some point.
42:00
SPEAKER_03: So I'm glad you're talking about eye contact because that's something that I as a judge will mention so frequently to any partnership that hits that hits the stage.
42:10
SPEAKER_03: Oftentimes they're not really looking at one another and especially past each other.
42:15
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, looking past through each other instead of like at each other, different.
42:19
SPEAKER_03: It is different.
42:20
SPEAKER_03: Like we as an audience can see it.
42:22
SPEAKER_03: Like also, I I feel like there needs to be that moment, that split second of connection to your partner before you go into that partnering trick or lift of whatever it is.
42:33
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
42:34
SPEAKER_03: And sometimes they're like not even they're like over here looking at somehow we're gonna do this.
42:38
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I'm just like, oh my gosh, I'm stressed for you.
42:41
SPEAKER_03: Like, I am scared in my seat because you didn't even connect with one another before you're about to lift them over your head.
42:46
SPEAKER_04: Well, yeah.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: It's just it's even as detailed as like breathing together sometimes when we without looking, without uh counting.
42:55
SPEAKER_01: It's like if we inhale to hit together and then we know on exhale, that's when we go.
43:00
SPEAKER_01: That's that's how you line up and time at part.
43:03
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, uh eye contact, breathing techniques, these are two things to really work on.
43:08
SPEAKER_04: Um, kind of what you were discussing, Leslie.
43:10
SPEAKER_04: Uh especially, you know, to try to build that instant chemistry so fast.
43:15
SPEAKER_04: It's very important.
43:16
SPEAKER_00: And luckily in like the competition studio world, you have more time to develop that.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: But it's wild because, like Courtney said, sometimes the students get to the stage and you're like, you've been doing this for clearly you've been doing this for a long time because like it's rehearsed, but that chemistry is not there.
43:31
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, what are you missing in rehearsal?
43:32
SPEAKER_00: And it's those acting, breathing, eye contact, like really taking the time to like, yes, we did all the technique.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: Let's throw that away and do all this stuff now.
43:41
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
43:42
SPEAKER_03: And another thing that Oksana, you mentioned counting.
43:47
SPEAKER_03: And I know that you were saying, like, yes, you can breathe together and look at each other, but counting is that something that you think is helpful or necessary or not necessary, especially not even.
44:00
SPEAKER_03: Even just with like a duo, a partnership, but even like group lifts and things like that are are counts important.
44:07
SPEAKER_01: I think coming from ballroom perspective, uh for sure account is everything because uh every little step, like you know, ballroom dancers practice rumba walk and it's just walking for forward or back with a specific technique, and we practice it for years and it's never perfect, you know, there's always room for improvement.
44:27
SPEAKER_01: And you break that down, that one walk into one and uh e two.
44:33
SPEAKER_01: You know, every every little section has uh a purpose, why that ah or e needs to be in there because that's how how detailed ballroom is, you know, you have to know which part of your body doing what exactly and when exactly.
44:47
SPEAKER_01: And so then when you have choreography, imagine how that one step multiplies now now that you have a choreography.
44:55
SPEAKER_01: So counts I think are extremely important, and also when you do um ballroom routines on competition, it's not a specific set of music that you know.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: It's always, you know, you get that's always blown my mind every time I see it.
45:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm like ballroom competitions, yeah.
45:11
SPEAKER_01: Ballroom competitions, yeah.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: You always do music.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: They just play music, and I'm like, how do you know when to go?
45:16
SPEAKER_04: That's why and they look like they're hitting this song every single time.
45:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's why counts are so important, and that's why that connection with your partner, you know, the higher, the higher the level um of ballroom dancers are, you know, they know that they get new music every time, they know their counts, but also because of lead and follow, sometimes you see them hold it.
45:36
SPEAKER_01: And you know that's not part of their choreography, but because the lead decided to hold, maybe he's familiar with that song.
45:42
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
45:42
SPEAKER_01: So he knows I'm gonna hold it until that break, and the good partnerships can do that, and and that dynamic and that detail in everything.
45:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
45:51
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
45:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, and y'all listeners, y'all know we love a count over here at Making the Impact.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: So both Courtney and I just started smiling when Oksana said yes, counts or everything.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: We were like, Great.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm so passionate about counts and yes, I got out of an answer.
46:03
SPEAKER_03: No I mean, I've I've seen like so many dancers and like it within choreography, you know, as a judge, I'm watching this dance as a whole before they've even done the big lift that like they've worked so hard on, right?
46:17
SPEAKER_03: With the group, and it's like one dancer getting tossed in the air or something.
46:20
SPEAKER_03: But even before that, I can already know if y'all are counting your music or not.
46:25
SPEAKER_03: So like I've already determined that.
46:26
SPEAKER_03: And then I get we fast forward to where this big lift is happening, and I'm a little bit stressed because I want to know that as a collective, we all know when we're prepping and when we're launching for the safety, not just the execution of the visual that we're trying to achieve, but also the safety element, which we haven't really we've taught we've mentioned safety, but I do think it's important to elaborate on safety because we're also big supporters of that.
46:52
SPEAKER_03: You mentioned that like sometimes lifts go wrong.
46:54
SPEAKER_03: It's in uh and it's inevitable sometimes in in life.
46:59
SPEAKER_04: It's gonna happen.
47:00
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
47:00
SPEAKER_04: I mean, I'd want to say it's gonna happen, but let's be realistic.
47:03
SPEAKER_04: Some these things do happen.
47:05
SPEAKER_04: Uh, it's only gonna make us better to know what to do in the situation that it does happen.
47:10
SPEAKER_01: And with lifts specifically, you know, during because it's not something you can improvise, that is something you have to rehearse and throughout that process, you will find every way possible that it could fail and could go wrong.
47:24
SPEAKER_01: So then once you do perform, you kind of know the safe uh exit way out of that.
47:29
SPEAKER_01: And as long as you don't show it on your face, you know, because audience never know what's supposed to be.
47:34
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's important.
47:35
SPEAKER_04: I would say, yeah, performance-wise, that is a good way to, I guess, mask it.
47:40
SPEAKER_04: Uh, I would say in the safety aspect of it, if anything does go wrong, it's not about hurry up, let's try to get back on track.
47:49
SPEAKER_04: It's making sure whatever happened, that you're both okay, that you can continue, that it's okay if you cannot, because I have been there.
47:59
SPEAKER_04: Um, I had a terrible injury mid-partnering trick.
48:03
SPEAKER_04: I thought I could keep going until I started feeling like, oh no, no, no, something's completely wrong.
48:10
SPEAKER_04: So it's I know.
48:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
48:11
SPEAKER_00: Yikes.
48:12
SPEAKER_04: So it is about knowing, making sure that whatever the uh happens, that the other person's safe, that you know, it's don't I have seen this and it kills me when I've seen I've seen like a partner unfortunately fall and the other partner is still going.
48:28
SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, that would that blows my mind because it's not only selfish, but you don't look good.
48:37
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
48:38
SPEAKER_04: You know, if it you don't, that doesn't make you look good.
48:41
SPEAKER_04: It's uh what makes you look like a great partner, if any of this ever happens, and I've seen that this happen as well, and get applause, is make sure your partner's okay.
48:50
SPEAKER_04: You know, everything's good, let's continue, get the eye contact, and bam, let's go right into it.
48:56
SPEAKER_04: You know, that is more impressive to me than the show must go on aspect, which you know, it's especially when it comes to lifts or mistakes.
49:05
SPEAKER_03: A hundred percent.
49:06
SPEAKER_03: I couldn't agree more.
49:07
SPEAKER_03: I think that it's so important for dancers to learn that as a part of their training because we are pushed so heavily in the show must go on.
49:18
SPEAKER_03: And I I think that I'm going back to our very first professional job, and it was a complete mind shift for me because in competitive dance, it's keep going, keep going, keep going.
49:29
SPEAKER_03: It doesn't matter, keep going.
49:31
SPEAKER_03: That's what you're instructed to do, that's what you're told to do.
49:34
SPEAKER_03: And then I got on my first professional job, and like when something goes wrong on that stage, they're like, stop the show, stop get off the stage.
49:42
SPEAKER_03: They're like, this is a safety hazard.
49:43
SPEAKER_03: If there's like something that fell off of a costume or something, safety hazard, we're not gonna stop the show, but we're gonna do whatever we can to get that thing off the stage.
49:51
SPEAKER_03: So, like, we've talked about that a lot on the podcast, just kind of try to like share another example that like in the professional world, we care a lot about safety, but we should also care about that in the training world of competitive dance, and if there is younger dancers.
50:06
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
50:06
SPEAKER_03: Like they're the they're not the pros.
50:08
SPEAKER_03: So if the pros are worried about safety, like we should make sure we're protecting the training dancers too.
50:13
SPEAKER_03: But like knowing when to say, I can't continue, or take or walking off stage, or having some type of signal with your partner where that check-in moment where they can just shake their head and say, uh-uh, and you grab the hand and you exit off stage, like gracefully, uh professionally.
50:30
SPEAKER_03: I think that's really important skill to teach our dancers.
50:33
SPEAKER_03: So I'm really glad that you said that, Jonathan.
50:35
SPEAKER_03: Because you know, I think a lot of dancers don't know what to do.
50:38
SPEAKER_03: So they're just like, I guess I'm supposed to go keep going.
50:40
SPEAKER_04: No, yeah, no.
50:41
SPEAKER_04: But you know, there's there's an adrenaline rush too.
50:44
SPEAKER_04: Like when something happens, I mean, you get that, it's like that.
50:47
SPEAKER_04: Of course, it's embarrassing.
50:48
SPEAKER_04: You know, you know, there's nothing worse sometimes than hearing the crowd go, oh yeah, right, right, right.
50:54
SPEAKER_04: But it messes, it messes up with your mind.
50:56
SPEAKER_04: So if you're trying to continue into something even more dangerous, now your mind's not there.
51:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
51:02
SPEAKER_04: You know, now your adrenaline's pumping.
51:04
SPEAKER_04: And when that what happens when your adrenaline pumps, you get out of timing.
51:08
SPEAKER_04: Uh, you're just trying to rush things, and again, that's another safety thing.
51:11
SPEAKER_04: It's it's okay to it again, it's it's happened to us.
51:15
SPEAKER_04: We've had those moments where in the audience were something didn't go right, and you hear the audience go, oh, you know, it's just about you know, knowing what to do in that situation.
51:23
SPEAKER_04: And again, it's just not about drive this force, it's like just keep driving unless we can.
51:29
SPEAKER_04: If we know again, having knowledge, we have that look, we okay.
51:32
SPEAKER_04: It's almost like in a spur moment, like time freezes.
51:35
SPEAKER_04: It's almost like, Are you okay?
51:36
SPEAKER_04: Can we keep going?
51:36
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
51:37
SPEAKER_04: There's just something about uh again, that partnership with the eye contact, with the breathing, all this kind of comes combined to know that your partnership's okay and you keep going and kind of you know, block it out.
51:46
SPEAKER_04: You're gonna have the feeling of you know, thickness.
51:48
SPEAKER_01: And again, just communication, you know, that that's for performance times, but during rehearsals, you know, when we do the routine, our routine, so many lifts over and over, you know, your body gets tired at certain point, and sometimes you have to clearly communicate like, are we going full out or are we marking the lift?
52:04
SPEAKER_01: Because so many times I've seen one of the partners goes for it, as the other one was not ready.
52:09
SPEAKER_01: And the you know, like one thought we were marking it and the other one was going for it, and that's when it's human.
52:15
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
52:16
SPEAKER_04: That's a that's a great point, actually.
52:17
SPEAKER_00: You also need to, especially when you're working with people who are new, Matt Senge, my husband, make sure they know what mark means.
52:23
SPEAKER_00: Because we would say, Let's mark it, and he would be like, Why didn't you do it?
52:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, because we're marking it.
52:29
SPEAKER_00: He goes, I didn't know what that meant.
52:31
SPEAKER_03: What is marking?
52:32
SPEAKER_03: What's that?
52:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, but like the terminology, you know, it's important.
52:36
SPEAKER_03: And like as things progress through your partnership, like if you are rehearsing the same thing over and over and like something still doesn't feel right, or like this grip is wrong, or they're always turning you out the wrong way, or they're putting you down too like too heavy, like whatever the case may be, communicate with your partner.
52:52
SPEAKER_03: Like if you're the base and you're lifting somebody and your partner is a loose, limp noodle and isn't giving you any support, tell them, like, hey, could you try to like engage your arms just a little bit more so I can really I'll be able to get more leverage on that lift, or other way around as being the person lifted.
53:09
SPEAKER_03: Like, if you feel like that they're not getting you to your maximum, or if you feel like that their grip is off, then like tell them, hey, you've been doing the grip like this.
53:19
SPEAKER_03: Could we try it like this for the next run through or whatever?
53:22
SPEAKER_01: It's also very important the way you say that because nothing kills trust more than blaming your partner.
53:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the way you communicate that.
53:31
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah, make it.
53:34
SPEAKER_03: Even like in um, I don't know if you've felt this in I know you guys are doing off-brahway show.
53:39
SPEAKER_03: And do you guys have a dance captain on the off-brahway show?
53:41
SPEAKER_05: Yes, yeah, we do.
53:42
SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
53:43
SPEAKER_03: I feel like that sometimes there's that like when you when you do have that in professional life, you have to like you can have the communication with your partner, but then like let's say they don't take your feedback or they don't take the note and they don't like it coming from you.
53:59
SPEAKER_03: And then you just feel like you're like, how do I fix this?
54:02
SPEAKER_03: Okay, I gotta go take tell the dance captain, and then the dance you have to get the dance captain involved, and that's just like another layer of like, you know, what's right in it feels good.
54:11
SPEAKER_01: It is the solution though, to have that third eye, the the you know, neutral person who's not taking sides and the coach.
54:19
SPEAKER_04: That can help out a lot too.
54:20
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, the way in which you present it is definitely key, but communication and a rehearsal is definitely important, knowing when to do it.
54:29
SPEAKER_04: And there's some been some times too when we were teaching tricks to studios, we'll always say if if one person doesn't feel right, especially in a group setting or a competition piece or something, if one person doesn't feel right, please be vocal.
54:42
SPEAKER_04: Stop, say something right there.
54:44
SPEAKER_04: Because one piece of the puzzle can ruin the whole entire thing.
54:47
SPEAKER_04: And and and and also if somebody's being lifted but one person on the bottom is just not ready, you know, just be vocal about it.
54:53
SPEAKER_04: It's really important.
54:54
SPEAKER_04: You're only gonna help yourself and you're gonna help the whole team too.
54:57
SPEAKER_04: It's okay to miss the lift, especially in rehearsals, you know.
55:00
SPEAKER_04: Um just be safe.
55:01
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
55:02
SPEAKER_00: I want to know before we start to wrap up, and this might be challenging, but I want to try.
55:07
SPEAKER_00: Can you both describe your favorite lift?
55:10
SPEAKER_08: Oh, okay.
55:11
SPEAKER_00: Like, is there a lift you think of like I love to do this lift, it's so much fun, and can you tell us about it?
55:15
SPEAKER_00: I know it's kind of hard because we're using words and not like showing.
55:18
SPEAKER_01: I I think one of the um we'll take it.
55:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna start a little bit further out.
55:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh, one of the um most fun jobs we've ever done uh was the real dirty dancing.
55:30
SPEAKER_01: And there was a reality uh competition show where um a bunch of celebrities were competing to be um the best Johnny and the best baby.
55:38
SPEAKER_01: Oh I guess.
55:38
SPEAKER_01: Of course, the famous lift, we had to do it and we had to teach it, and uh it was so much fun.
55:44
SPEAKER_01: And then a separate occasion where we got hired for this big job just to do that one lift.
55:51
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, we've done it so many times and we were never worried about it.
55:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but when so many people tell you, like, you know, don't mess it up.
55:58
SPEAKER_01: That's why you're that's 10 seconds, that one lift.
56:01
SPEAKER_05: Oh my why would they do that?
56:02
SPEAKER_00: Well, right.
56:04
SPEAKER_00: Stress.
56:05
SPEAKER_01: So that's a fun one and memorable one.
56:08
SPEAKER_01: We love the dirty dancing.
56:09
SPEAKER_03: Does that dirty dancing lift have a name?
56:10
SPEAKER_03: Like, or is it just called the dirty dancing?
56:13
SPEAKER_03: Okay, yeah.
56:14
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I've always heard it was the dirty dancing lift.
56:16
SPEAKER_05: I feel like if if you just say that, people are like, I know exactly what they know exactly what you mean.
56:20
SPEAKER_05: That's my favorite movie.
56:20
SPEAKER_03: Were like people doing that before dirty dancing is my question.
56:24
SPEAKER_03: Or did it get popularity from just like like you know what I mean?
56:27
SPEAKER_00: Because like I feel like you would see it in like hustle, like disco, like when people were doing lifts in disco, like you would see that sometimes.
56:34
SPEAKER_04: Okay, but yeah, I definitely but I think it got its popularity for sure from dirty dancing, absolutely.
56:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
56:40
SPEAKER_00: Um maybe in like ice skating.
56:42
SPEAKER_00: I feel like ice skaters do that and they spin, you know, while you yeah, you're right, yeah.
56:46
SPEAKER_04: But favorite trick, mine would definitely be we call it uh the backflip, the one where you you kind of roll up on me.
56:54
SPEAKER_04: So uh-huh, I know what you're talking about.
56:56
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
56:57
SPEAKER_04: So there's one I the reason why so pretty much Oksana's facing out, my hand is behind her, she like does a backflip half twist into my arm.
57:07
SPEAKER_04: Oh, and then the rest of her body rolls up onto my shoulders.
57:11
SPEAKER_00: Yes! Wow, and she ends up facing where her body faces down, her face faces down.
57:16
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, she's facing me.
57:17
SPEAKER_00: So ah yeah.
57:20
SPEAKER_02: So my gosh.
57:23
SPEAKER_04: It's uh it's a very it's a beautiful sensual lift, but we love it.
57:27
SPEAKER_04: Um, I think I love it so much because it has an aspect of gymnastics in it.
57:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
57:32
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
57:33
SPEAKER_04: With roots.
57:34
SPEAKER_04: And uh when I saw it, I saw two acrobats doing it once um before we tried it.
57:38
SPEAKER_04: Uh was an original lift of ours, but it's a trick that I saw two incredible performers do, and I just always wanted to do it when we got it.
57:45
SPEAKER_04: It was just that was really exciting.
57:46
SPEAKER_00: And so what's what's your experience like?
57:48
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it does it sounds like the tricks that you do, and there's some that are like their established tricks that like everyone knows, but like, are there there's probably a lot of trial and error, and you saw something, you're like, let's figure out how to do this.
58:01
SPEAKER_00: Like, is that kind of the process for y'all sometimes?
58:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
58:04
SPEAKER_01: And I do have one other favorite trick that falls into that cat category because we call it one hit wonder because we all saw something, we tried to uh you know uh make it our own, and we did it, and it was amazing.
58:18
SPEAKER_01: And the video we we thankfully caught it on camera, and it is on on our Instagram because we also send it to you.
58:24
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah, can you send that out?
58:26
SPEAKER_01: We're able to do it again, despite how much we tried, it was one and done.
58:31
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
58:32
SPEAKER_04: Never been able to figure it out, and it was so long ago.
58:35
SPEAKER_04: And and again, it was one of those things where it's it's one of those she just like from one side completely rolls over, uh almost like like a double revolution over and I catch her on the other side.
58:46
SPEAKER_04: It's just like it's hard to describe.
58:48
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I can't wait to see it.
58:49
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, we'll send it to you too, and I'll send you the the other one too, the one that I says my favorite.
58:54
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
58:54
SPEAKER_04: But um, I would say as far as like tricks, I it's really hard.
58:59
SPEAKER_04: I mean, people do it being an origin uh like an originator of a trick.
59:03
SPEAKER_04: Um it's difficult because tricks have been done.
59:05
SPEAKER_04: I mean, a lot of times people say this is my trick, but I've I've also seen in other places.
59:09
SPEAKER_04: Right.
59:09
SPEAKER_04: But it's just about gathering insp inspiration.
59:11
SPEAKER_04: You know, something that we like to do is like we'll see a trick and we're like, how can we get into it differently or it can add a bit differently?
59:16
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, or how can we put a a different twist to it, you know?
59:19
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
59:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because everything new is essentially a good forgotten old classic stuff with a twist and with a pretty much.
59:30
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm thinking of like all the old Lindy Hop videos where like those people were slinging their friends around and you're like, what is happening?
59:36
SPEAKER_00: And like people do that now too.
59:38
SPEAKER_00: It's a little more refined.
59:39
SPEAKER_00: But it's like you said, everything old is new again.
59:42
SPEAKER_00: So exactly, yeah.
59:43
SPEAKER_03: I guess like one of my final questions would be as far as speaking to the next generation of dancers who are learning like firsthand how to be introduced to partnering or maybe are starting to learn how to do lifts with one another, looking into your professional careers, and granted you both are like professional partnering, partnering ballroom partners.
1:00:06
SPEAKER_03: But like, what what skills in partnering in lifts, basic skills, should every dancer know to have a successful career?
1:00:15
SPEAKER_03: Are there anything that that come to mind, any particular lifts that like you should have an idea or have done before, before you get take that cruise ship job, or before you take that Broadway show, or things like that, just so they can learn, put on their list of, hey, I should I should make sure I I learn how to do that before I break into the industry.
1:00:34
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean I think that's something I was saying, just knowing what resistance means in a partnership, because that was something huge, you know, for uh for us, is definitely key.
1:00:42
SPEAKER_04: It's it's otherwise you're gonna have one partner that just flings themselves out.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_04: Uh I would say a basic lift, you're gonna be put on the shoulder or you're gonna be carrying somebody on your shoulder.
1:00:52
SPEAKER_04: It's yes, it's gonna happen.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_04: It's probably one of the most basic things.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
1:00:56
SPEAKER_04: Whether it's a leg on there, but you're gonna so I think you know, as a base, knowing that it comes from your legs, not from your back.
1:01:01
SPEAKER_04: Obviously, we all know that, hopefully.
1:01:03
SPEAKER_04: It's timing.
1:01:05
SPEAKER_04: Tricks are timing, so don't you know, don't forcefully try to do it.
1:01:08
SPEAKER_04: Make sure that both uh dancers are gonna be going at the same time.
1:01:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh I would also recommend a really fun way to um experiment with lifts.
1:01:18
SPEAKER_01: That's something we've tried a few times.
1:01:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's acro yoga class.
1:01:22
SPEAKER_01: It was so much fun.
1:01:24
SPEAKER_01: And it teaches you about weight in a safe way.
1:01:27
SPEAKER_01: And also you get to switch, you know, you both get to be uh lift like uh the flyer and the base because you know they use their legs for doing that, and it's just so much fun and it's kind of safe, and I feel like it's a great introduction to just understanding the weight.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_01: That is true and doing it with a partner.
1:01:45
SPEAKER_04: And we even took that class like after, you know, those when we've already have established, but it's good to know.
1:01:50
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and definitely just knowing that uh again, I'll just say this again it's a partnership is 50-50.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_04: Don't throw yourself into something.
1:01:58
SPEAKER_01: Because it's exciting, you know, when when people like partnering is exciting, lifts is exciting, but you have to contain your excitement and take it one tiny little step at a time, and you know, you break down every lift into drills and then you put it all together because otherwise it could be dangerous.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and core work, core work is important, especially for the lifty.
1:02:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:02:20
SPEAKER_00: I remember Courtney.
1:02:21
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember it was the end of I think Boogie Wonderland?
1:02:23
SPEAKER_00: No, it was the end of rhythm and rhyme.
1:02:25
SPEAKER_00: And it was just that that same up on your shoulder lift and you you assemble and they put you up your shoulder.
1:02:30
SPEAKER_05: It's everywhere.
1:02:31
SPEAKER_00: And I remember being that overly enthusiastic and like, man, I jumped and I went flying because the guy was not ready for me to have given him that much energy.
1:02:43
SPEAKER_00: He plopped me down, and it was like, oh, that was too much.
1:02:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I didn't need to plie that much.
1:02:47
SPEAKER_03: But don't get so excited.
1:02:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:02:49
SPEAKER_03: Keep it together.
1:02:50
SPEAKER_03: I'm trying to think of like lifts that I've like had to do as a professional.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_03: I re I remember someone in our cruise ship show did the one where like the dancer is in like the the person that's being lifted is in front, and they do like a flip over the shoulder and then pop up into like a straddle.
1:03:06
SPEAKER_03: Literally just that would be fun.
1:03:07
SPEAKER_03: And then you spin in a circle, and you like have to catch your straddle and like hold it.
1:03:12
SPEAKER_03: It's pretty, it's like a disco lift, I think.
1:03:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's yeah, yeah.
1:03:15
SPEAKER_03: You've got a funny story with that lift and the costume.
1:03:18
SPEAKER_04: Oh my god, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:03:19
SPEAKER_04: Cody one of my partners in the middle of the show, because that was a lift that we did too.
1:03:23
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
1:03:23
SPEAKER_04: And I, you know, when you bring her down, she comes on my back and then she kind of like rendezvous off.
1:03:28
SPEAKER_04: And I was going, I was like, why isn't why isn't she coming off?
1:03:30
SPEAKER_04: It's like yeah, I'm like, what's going on?
1:03:33
SPEAKER_04: We're in the middle of the show.
1:03:35
SPEAKER_04: And I'm like tripping over something, and it's her top.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_00: Oh no.
1:03:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
1:03:41
SPEAKER_00: She's like walked upstairs.
1:03:42
SPEAKER_00: I walked upstairs with her, yeah.
1:03:44
SPEAKER_00: Yes, her attached to you.
1:03:45
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, that that yeah, that lift is very common.
1:03:49
SPEAKER_04: Um, and something that you mentioned too, Corny, is um actually both the lats, just knowing you have to really work with lats because that is gonna help so much with somebody who's lifting, just that alone already makes the person lighter up there.
1:04:02
SPEAKER_03: So and a lot of male dancers, I mean, it's it's sad to say it, but being able to do a full press is I think very important for a lot of male dancers or someone on the bass because there have been a lot of shows.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_03: I when I did Finding Neverland, there was one dancer, usually the tiny dancer, that had a male partner who they had to offstage go into the full press and she's in an Arebus.
1:04:26
SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, and he has one arm and a leg, and he has to walk her from stage left to stage right.
1:04:32
SPEAKER_03: And that was the pass.
1:04:34
SPEAKER_03: But there were people that was like part of the audition was can you fully press and lock out a full person and maintain it for a little bit, 30 seconds at least.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, so it's like yeah, like these things matter as much as we, you know, you might you never know when you will need to know how to do it.
1:04:53
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
1:04:53
SPEAKER_04: But just be prepared for it.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_03: Right.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:04:56
SPEAKER_03: Well, this was a fun chat.
1:04:58
SPEAKER_03: I loved it.
1:04:59
SPEAKER_03: I learned so much.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_03: You both have shared so much wisdom and knowledge, and thank you for um all of the education that you're doing and bringing partnering and lifts to our competitive world.
1:05:09
SPEAKER_03: Because even though, yes, you are working choreographers and you've had beautiful professional careers and are still performing as well, like you are now into this competitive world within the competition and convention world.
1:05:20
SPEAKER_03: So I I'm really grateful that you're able to bring that to this side of the industry.
1:05:25
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:05:26
SPEAKER_03: Yay.
1:05:26
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, thank you so much for having us.
1:05:28
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_03: Okay, well, we always have our guests lead us out with one final thought.
1:05:32
SPEAKER_03: I know we've covered a lot, but if there's anything we missed that you want to share, any advice that you want to give to the teachers, the choreographers, competition dancers, uh, any any even professionals that you're that might be listening, final thought to lead us out on the episode.
1:05:49
SPEAKER_04: I think, yeah, I mean, for me, I would say like of course, encourage partnering um as much as you can for all the teachers out there.
1:05:56
SPEAKER_04: If you want to teach it, it's okay to seek for help if you don't know how to do it.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_04: Because you're only gonna create better dancers and in a better situation than that.
1:06:04
SPEAKER_04: So if you want to introduce it, if you're not familiar with it, get familiar with it, bring somebody, you know.
1:06:10
SPEAKER_01: Fun, definitely go for it.
1:06:13
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I would say that.
1:06:14
SPEAKER_04: So that would be kind of my thing, too.
1:06:15
SPEAKER_04: But I think everybody should experience partnering in their lives.
1:06:18
unknown: Yay!
1:06:20
SPEAKER_03: When Oksana, are you good with that?
1:06:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no.
1:06:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh like I said, I could I think partnering and lifts are so fun and so exciting.
1:06:27
SPEAKER_01: I cannot possibly imagine why would somebody not want to try it out.
1:06:33
SPEAKER_03: We hope you enjoyed our latest episode all about partnering and lifts.
1:06:38
SPEAKER_03: Special shout out to our guests, Jonathan and Oksana Plotero, for joining us on this fabulous chat.
1:06:43
SPEAKER_03: Don't forget to follow their dance journey on Instagram.
1:06:46
SPEAKER_03: You can find Jonathan at JonplateroDude and Oksana at OksanaPlotero.
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