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Lyrical vs. Contemporary - Separating the Styles · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table in a dance competition?
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: This is Making the Impact, the Dance Competition Podcast.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: Each week, we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: In this episode, we tackle a most important topic: the differences and similarities between lyrical and contemporary dance.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: This week, we're here in the studio with IDA judges Maddie and Christina to discuss exactly what makes lyrical different from contemporary and why it matters to competition.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_04: Alright, everybody, welcome to Making an Impact.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_04: I am your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_04: Hey everybody! Oh yeah, we're really excited about this topic tonight: Lyrical versus contemporary.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_04: Super, super hot topic.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_04: We're here to talk all about it.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_04: We have two amazing IDA judges, Maddie and Christina, are here with us today, and they're gonna share a little bit about themselves and their background, and then we are gonna get right to it with this great topic.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_04: So, Maddie.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_04: Hey! What's up?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: Tell us about yourself, a little bit about your background, your training, and what you're doing now.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so I grew up in Westport, Connecticut, outside of New York City, and I grew up training at the Divalda and Cyrico Dance and Music Center in Fairfield.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I now live in Tallahassee, Florida, where I straddle the lines between commercial and concert dance.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: So currently my day job is working as a research associate at a choreographic residency center, and then I'm also adjunct faculty at Florida State University.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also teach in choreograph at studios and universities throughout the Southeast.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I have my own company called MK Rep.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: It is a project-based contemporary company.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we perform mostly in the Northeast, but we're gonna get some more stuff going on, and I'm super excited to be here.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yay! And Maddie is also an admin for ID.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_04: So she does a lot of behind-the-scenes work with us.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_04: She is currently helping us screen potential judges to join the roster, which she's amazing at, by the way.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_04: I love, love, love that.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_04: You just love that job so much.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_04: I love it.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_04: You're so good at it.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_04: You're amazing.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Submissions are great.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone's awesome.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out to all of you.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_04: Keep them coming.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_04: All right, Christina.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_04: How are you?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: How are you doing?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_03: Hi, everyone.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm super excited to join Courtney and Leslie and Maddie today.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: This is such an important topic.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_03: I've been a professional dancer and choreographer in the industry in both LA and New York for the past 10 years.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: And during that time, I've worked on cruise ships from Norwegian cruise line to RWS and Holland America, Oceana Cruise Lines.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: I've done some national tours.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I currently am working out here where I am an active teacher as well as judge for IDA, which is so exciting because I get to share my passion that I've had for dance.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: I grew up as a competition dancer on the East Coast, and I think it's so great that we're doing this because when I was competing, we didn't have any of this, any help or any tools to let us succeed kind of in the industry.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: So we were fish out of water, right?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_03: So I think it's really awesome that we're able to do this and talk about this topic today.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_04: So happy to have both of you guys here and your amazing knowledge and expertise in these styles.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: So, guys, we're super excited to talk to you both about this.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think I'm personally really excited because we've got like a super academic background with Maddie.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you're teaching at FSU, you've you've got an MFA yourself, and then we've also got the more commercial side of things from Christina.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: So when we're talking about lyrical versus contemporary, you know, both of those have a place in the commercial world and in the competitive world.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: But then I feel like contemporary kind of lives in a more academic place naturally.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm super excited to hear about those two different worlds from both of you.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: Today's episode was inspired by a blog that was released in January of 2018.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: We had four IDA judges contribute to that.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: And it is called Contemporary versus Lyrical Separating the Styles.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: And if you listeners want to hear more about that or read more about that, check us out at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com/slash judges blog.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: So let's dive right in, everybody.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna let you guys decide amongst yourselves who wants to define lyrical dance.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_03: Well, for me, lyrical dance really right, it's in the title of lyrical.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's that expression of movement and movement, right, that's fluid as well as really interpreting interpreting, excuse me, the lyrics of the music.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like that can really be the cut and dry of it there, right?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's interpreting those lyrics.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: From the moment that you step on the stage, the story has to start to be told.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: Even before even the music starts, just from your expression, just from your demeanor, just from the way that you walk out, the story has to start to be told.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: As a viewer and an audience member, whether you have right many years of experience in dance and you're a judge like we are, or someone who who's a complete outsider knows nothing about dance, they are the ones, right, the average person that should be able to understand and find that story from the way that you're interpreting your lyrics.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's what's really important for me as a judge for lyrical is exactly what you just said.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: You know, somebody with a dance background is gonna view something like lyrical differently than your average lay person who, you know, doesn't know what they're looking at necessarily in terms of technique.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: But a normal I call I call non-dancers normal people.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's a it's a compliment.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: But normal people should be able to watch a lyrical dance and understand the story based on what the movement is, what the expression is, what what the dancer is trying to convey through the lyrics.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I think you hit the nail on the head right there, Christina.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: Maddie, do you have anything to add about what you believe lyrical dance is?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so when I was growing up old school, we always called it lyrical jazz.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: So to me, I'm thinking about this foundation that's born out of kind of a melding of jazz and ballet techniques and how those two things can live together.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I know we're gonna get to the contemporary side in a second, but for me, it really has to do with movement quality and the importance of really smooth transitions and the lyrical vocabulary, I think, tends to be a little bit more codified.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: So like recognizable steps to us dancers, your pirouettes, your jetes, etc.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: So things that are nameable that are coming from these different vocabularies.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I love that idea of the nameable steps.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, if if we're looking back in terms of, you know, where lyrical came from, it came from jazz, you know, it came from that melding of styles, and they did originally call it.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: I remember my mom, you know, my mom owns a dance studio and she would tell me about back when they start first started dance conventions, and it was lyrical jazz, and that was a new thing in the 70s.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like it was just this like big deal because it it was such a new way of moving and a way of expressing yourself.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: So I I sort of love that that lyrical jazz kind of terminology because it it harkens back to like what it originally stood for.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, when I think of lyrical, I agree with both of you in every way.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_04: When I'm judging lyrical, I'm really looking for like a solid ballet foundation.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, I I think that the ballet is a big part of lyrical for me.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_04: And of course, once we s you know discuss contemporary, it is also an important element as well.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_04: But I'm I'm really looking for as a judge that that difference in the quality of movement with lyrical being a little bit more fluid, a little bit more graceful, and complementing it with that ballet background.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Christina, you were gonna say something a second ago.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: I was just going to agree with Courtney as well as Maddie with as we get to contemporary and we start to define it, just to remember that really lyrical is, as you said, that lyrical jazz.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_03: So it's lyrical, right?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_03: Lyrical is ballet and jazz.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: And that's really it.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: Where we do get to contemporary, there can be elements of lyrical in contemporary, which I think is the reason the lines start to get blurred.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_03: But for the sake of lyrical, it really is jazz and ballet.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so since we're here in this lovely transition that you just led us into, Christina.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: Speaking of transitions, we'll have an episode on that, I'm sure.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and how important those are.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: But so so here we are with that that muddied line of okay, where do we draw the line between lyrical and contemporary?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: Maddie, let's talk about where you think contemporary kind of developed and where it's gone.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I obviously am coming from this really academic place, so I think about it in terms of history and lineage.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: So you have modern dances, this rebellion to ballet, and then postmodernism comes out of that.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then contemporary came as a response to postmodern dance, at least in New York.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: So thinking about knowing rules to then break them.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: So obviously, there are a lot of influences coming in from lyrical, from jazz, from modern, from all of these different forms.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that contemporary lives in this place of getting rid of the need to codify.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: So you have steps that are not nameable, you have different qualities living together.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this happens in other forms of dance too, but you like tell the kids you're teaching not to point or flex their feet.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: And but there's a sense for me, at least as a teacher and as a judge, of you have to know the rules to break them.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe there's this place of having to understand lyrical dance to then be able to dive into the contemporary.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'll start there and leave it to you.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_04: That's a beautiful start.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_04: That is so important, and I think that that is one of the reasons why a lot of teachers are uncertain as to where to place the the dance.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: And even too, you know, the thing you said, Maddie, about you must learn the rules before you can break them.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, here's here's an opinion.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: All of these things are opinions, guys.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: Just listeners, let's remind ourselves of that.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: A seven-year-old doesn't fully grasp the ballet concepts in order to break those concepts to then do a contemporary solo or a contemporary group routine.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: I just I personally, as a judge, don't ever see that executed to my liking.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, if I'm looking at a contemporary seven-year-old dance, but she doesn't yet quite understand the foundations of ballet and jazz, which would have then led to lyrical, which would have then led to contemporary.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like she's got a couple more years before all those things start to come together.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, that's that's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's a good one.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: 100% agree.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: I love that you said that, Leslie, especially because what I was going to say, and I'd love to hear your your thoughts on it from the three of you.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_03: But I think it's almost where contemporary and competition can be very, very different than what contemporary is in the professional world.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it's for that reason that a seven or an eight-year-old doesn't understand their body placement and as well as how to make those different shapes with their body and how to explore and how to find, right, push the edge, but not going over it.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's where the line is pretty fine because when we do have students that are doing contemporary in the contemporary category, and it's not exactly what contemporary is, but again, what is contemporary can be lyrical, jazz.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes there's even those elements of hip-hop in it.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_03: So I feel like it is that fine line between what is in the competition world as well as what professionals are doing when you go see a contemporary.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking a lot about the commercialization of contemporary dance.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we're talking about like what is, I really like what Christina said about competitive contemporary being so different from what's happening out in across the dance field, whether you're in a more commercial or concert setting, it's still really different from what's happening that we're judging in a lot of cases.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like it's a a big part of that is coming from so you think you can dance, because I feel when I was in like seventh grade competing, there was no contemporary category.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: There was lyrical and there was modern.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: And you're either in the lyrical slash modern, yeah, so good.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: You're in the lyrical slash modern category, which like that's another problem to talk about another day.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Or you're in, or it's lyrical and modern are separate.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: So and then Mia Michaels came along and was like, we're doing contemporary, and then but a lot of what we're seeing on TV, I would argue, again, opinion that it's lyrical.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, if you're doing all of the conterns, you're in the lyrical category.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's not contemporary.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you're doing an aerial career, like an aerial is not contemporary dance.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can go upside down and you can invert your body, but like not with no hands.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's acro lyrical.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I I do attribute a lot of this line blurring to what's happening on TV.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: And it almost feels like too, and and I I will I'll be completely honest, I didn't grow up doing contemporary at all.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: Zero.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: I went to a college that didn't teach contemporary or modern.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: I went to a school that taught musical theater-based ballet tap and jazz.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: So my contemporary vocabulary is very limited in the first place.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: And when I'm when I look at it sometimes, I'm like, okay, well, if this looks like a lyrical dance, but they flexed a foot and they bent an arm and then they did an aerial, but it's in the contemporary category.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, well, am I the crazy one?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like, is that contemporary?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes I wonder.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Because it really ge it gets a little messy sometimes.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, like you said, the So You Think You Can Dance kind of world has has almost done that, and like maybe not to a disservice because it's brought more people out to the choreographic forefront and you know, people can express themselves differently.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: But I think in terms of like, you know, if you're going to a dance competition and you're trying to put yourself in a box essentially, you know, you can very easily put yourself in the wrong box.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like for me, especially as a choreographer, when I'm teaching my students, contemporary is also in a way an exploration.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of times I give them a little bit of freedom compared to if I'm choreographing a lyrical solo, where this is the beginning, this is the middle, and this is the end, and from start to finish, this is the choreography, and you're to do it exactly how it is.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: Where contemporary, there's a little bit more of something that I do on my body may not look the same on one of my students when they're competing.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: So we almost mold it in a different way to make it fit for them.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe my floor work and grounding, again, is different than the way they do it in a contemporary routine.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I feel like in that way, there's a little bit more exploration in the contemporary category.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's something that fits best on the student, not the way that the choreography is exactly set, if that makes sense.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_04: When you look at lyrical dance, it like we talked about, it's a foundation of jazz and ballet.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_04: So we know what the steps are for jazz and ballet.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_04: In ballet class, you're either right or you're wrong, pretty much.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you can't there's really no in-between ballet, which is another reason why a lot of people don't like to bring ballet to the competition world because they know they're going to get judged the hardest.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_04: And then you can open up to a little bit more expression and interpretation in other genres.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_04: And then we get to contemporary, where it's kind of just like it can be a free-for-all with a blend of jazz, lyrical, ballet, modern, public, hip-hop.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so there is more leeway to score it differently.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_04: There is not a right and a wrong with contemporary as often when we're judging it.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_04: So I think that's another reason a lot of people love that category.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_04: It's definitely not an open category.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_04: I'm still looking for specific foundations.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of my expectations from comp from contemporary dance when I'm judging come from a modern-based background.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_04: I really want to see contractions, use of plie, things like that are what I kind of look for.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_04: And it depends, of course, on the style of contemporary, and there's so many different types of contemporary that we see at competition.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_04: So it's a very fine line, like we kind of discussed, but whereas lyrical, it's kind of it's either right or wrong, sort of.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_04: You know, there's definitely more there's some freedom in there.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_04: It's not ballet, but it's got that foundation.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_04: And those are that's what we're really judging on.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_04: So contemporary is a little all over the place.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and just to piggyback on that, but with contemporary having that freedom, I think I personally, as a judge, would like to see it get closer to where you were just talking about seeing contraction, seeing even though you're falling off your center, right?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: You're still using your abdominals and you're still supported instead of a free-for-all, right?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_03: Just because someone throws, you can't just throw in a backhand spring or a side aerial because it's contemporary.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_04: I want competition to kind of like lay the the guidelines down a little bit better for the category itself.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_04: I think that a lot of the gener the teachers have grown up with lyrical, and a lot of teachers are now, like we kind of talked about, contemporaries kind of newer to the dance world, the well, at least the competitive dance world.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_04: So I think even, you know, breaking down what we are looking for a little bit clearer so the studios and the teachers know, oh, this is what they are looking for, and this is how they're really judging this style of dance, because that's kind of why we're here to talk about it, so we can really differentiate the two styles a little bit clearer for listeners.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: Did I'm curious, did either one of you guys grow up doing anything like YAGP?
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I did, so I don't think any of us really have knowledge of that world, but you know, they have a contemporary category as well.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: Which just from from doing research on my own and having come across some of the videos, you know, that contemporary is contemporary ballet.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like you were that is a whole nother thing that I think in in our competitive dance world we don't see.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, very rarely do I see a contemporary dance and see any any contemporary ballet in it, which I think is really interesting.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because that's completely valid too.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we just never see it.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_04: That would be kind of cool if like the contemporary category had little like subcategories where when you're registering you could you could label it as contemporary ballet, contemporary jazz, contemporary whatever, contemporary modern, I don't know, like whatever you feel like labeling your dance, just so the judges have a clear understanding going in as to what you think this dance is labeled based on whoever choreographed it.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_04: Because sometimes I watch a contemporary dance and I'm like, this is a jazz routine.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like I don't understand why this isn't in the jazz category, but are like why is why is it in the contemporary?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_04: Well, probably because she had 14 solos.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that could be can't compete against yourself.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: She has to put it somewhere.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, another opinion.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um ding ding ding.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: Just because you have 14 solos doesn't mean you need to put it in a category just willy-nilly.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, that really is what the open category is for.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if if you do have two jazz solos, okay, we'll put one in the jazz category and put one in the open category.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: But try not to pass off your lyrical dance as a contemporary dance just because you already have another lyrical dance.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: Because that that that's I think teachers and students, you know, if that's the student's choice, is doing themselves a dis disservice by doing that, because you're, you know, if if you do happen to have a more lyrical contemporary dance and it happens to be in the category with all, you know, you never know who's going to show up at competition, but like it shows up and everybody else's is like really, you know, quote unquote hardcore contemporary, you know, you you just did that to yourself.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think that's something to consider that maybe people don't consider.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and one thing to go off of that, it's usually what I see often is the other way around where it's contemporary solo in the lyrical category.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_04: Like people don't realize what r lyrical really is anymore.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_04: And it's like, oh, I have two contemporary solos, and I'll just put this one in the lyrical, and I'll just add a little like PK arabesque, and it's officially lyrical now.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Or like floaty dress.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_04: Like change my costume, like not wear Leashard this time, and whatever it is.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm I'm kind of like, this is still contemporary.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_04: Like, this is pretty much the exact same contemporary solo that you showed me.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm all for a contemporary and a lyrical, but I want them to be like completely different styles if that's what a soloist is choosing to bring, even group routines at the same time.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_03: Well, what's funny about that, you mentioning like change of costume, sometimes I think students as well as teachers thinks think it's a matter of, oh, contemporary.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'll just go barefoot.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_03: So now we're in we're we have a contemporary solo chat.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: And that's not the case.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's more to it than just rolling your tights up.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Go back.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Also song choice.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think people are like, I put on Feline Dion, therefore I am doing lyrical.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: And while I would argue that you probably are if you're dancing to that music, it's so important to take a step back and look at what you're actually like what is the movement vocabulary.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Fully, not like throwing the PK Arabaskin, but are you focusing on technique that's born out of ballet or are you focusing on technique that's born out of floor work and releasing and contracting and being driven by your pelvis through the space or whatever it may be?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think so often it just turns into like, well, this song had lyrics.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't that lyrical?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just one can be one component if it's a component of it.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_04: That being said, I've heard teachers ask this question.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: And also discuss this where people have said, Well, do I does my song need to have lyrics if it's in the lyrical category?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_04: Can it be an instrumental?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_04: And you know what is what are your guys' thoughts on that?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_04: Maddie had her hand up real quick.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: I I this is my opinion, and my opinion is that it's solely based on movement vocabulary.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're doing what looks like lyrical, it doesn't matter.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: To me, like, yes, lyrical can refer to responding to lyrics, but it has to do with the quality, the lyricism of the movement, the flowy lusciousness and the transitions and the smoothness and the clarity, as opposed to translating lyrics in your body.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_03: So what's funny is I agree with you on that, but also in a way disagree.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's because for someone like you, you understand what the lyrical movement is.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I think if everyone understood that, then it doesn't matter if you're dancing to lyrics, if you're dancing to no music, or if you're dancing to an instrumental.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: But for competition purposes, because I kind of feel like everyone out there in this new age has no idea what's going on, it's almost like I want to tell them, Well, yes, you need to have lyrics.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_03: So at least we have a base of following somewhat of the rules and then right, just basically dancing and moving to the lyrics.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_03: But yes, in a professional world, and if the lines weren't so blurred, and when I was growing up performing and competing, doing lyrical dance, absolutely a lot of the movement that I did because it was all ballet-based, it was lyrical movement, and we did do it to instrumental socks.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, shout out to Celine Dion.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, always.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think she's on my wall back here.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: See?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: There she is.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_04: Everyone loves a good Celine Dion lyrical dance.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_04: We're never gonna hate them.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_04: I love I love them for that.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Power of a dream.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, power of a dream.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, so good.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_03: That was so so many times we won.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, love that.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: But that was when we were doing ballet to a lyrical song.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: I mean exactly.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: We didn't at my studio we only had ballet and jazz.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: That was it.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_03: And then we only got to do there were no lyrical classes.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_03: The only people who got to do lyricals were the students on the competition team.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: And that wasn't even the class, probably, right?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was like the choreography.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: I was thinking about what you guys were both saying, like that you agreed but disagreed, and I feel the same way because um, you know, there are people out there who do understand that movement quality, and that if you understand it and you teach it well and the student understands it, then boom, that's you know, that is lyrical.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: I choreographed a number a couple years ago for a student who wanted I always make my soloists write stories.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like if they're gonna do a lyrical dance or a contemporary dance, for me, you have to have a story.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: It has to make sense.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to see you moving around on stage to music.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: I need there to be something more behind it, especially for like if I'm gonna spend this much time with you creating this thing, like it has to mean something to you.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: I want to be able to see that.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so we were struggling between she wanted to put it in contemporary because she felt like I think I think students, teenagers these days feel like contemporary is cooler for sure, and they feel like it's gonna do better, and they feel like it's more it's just it's the cool thing to do.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: And so we ended up putting it in lyrical.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: It was a song that was an instrumental version of like a cold play song or something.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, if you knew the song, you knew the lyrics like in your head.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: But it was about her having this, you know, she finds this love letter and she reads this love letter and she's so happy because this person loves her, and then it was it was it's my favorite piece of choreography to date.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: We had it tied to like an invisible wire and it flew away.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: Somebody had like a fishing pole in the in the wings and they snatched it away and it flew away, and she was like dancing around trying to find it.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: And because we had that very clear storyline that she had physically written for me, the judges totally understood, even though there were no lyrics.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, and I said, You're gonna do better in this in lyrical because they can imagine what these lyrics might be, because what you're doing makes so much sense.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think it would have done as well in contemporary because it didn't it doesn't fit in that world, you know.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_03: For you describing it, I feel like I can envision it being in the lyrical category, absolutely.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I think afterwards she was happy that we made that decision, you know, and then looking at the competition, like her actual competition in that other category, it was like, oh no, that didn't fit in there.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's like which of these things do not belong, and it's like that thing would not have belonged.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm really glad that we made that choice.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that, you know, is something you should talk about with your student, you know, teachers that, like, okay, well, I know you might want to put this here, but here are the reasons why it might be a better choice to put it elsewhere, you know.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and that's something that I wanted to mention.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_04: Like you mentioned, Leslie, contemporary is like the coolest thing ever right now on the comp scene.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_04: Like lyrical is like fading away.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_04: It's not cool, it's like old news, sort of.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_04: Same with jazz, sadly.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_04: So that being said, the contemporary category is jam-packed crazy.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_04: And either way, I think that teachers, when choreographing solos specifically, because maybe a dancer like Leslie mentioned, might want to put it in contemporary.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_04: But I think that the teachers need to go in knowing what style they're planning to choreograph on this dancer that works best for them and laying the wall down and not letting the dancer say, Well, I want contemporary.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_04: Of course you want contemporary, but you're not ready for contemporary.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_04: And we're gonna give you a beautiful lyrical dance and you're gonna do great with this one.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_04: And maybe we'll see how this goes this year.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_04: And if you've succeeded, then maybe you're gonna be mature enough and ready enough to handle a contemporary solo next year, and we can change the style and foundation.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_04: But it really comes down to the teachers knowing their students, knowing their strengths, and properly placing the dance because it's not the kids deciding where it goes, it should really come down to the teacher.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: With that as well, I almost and I feel like I'm gonna get a backlash for this, but unless you're in the preteen category and higher, you shouldn't be doing contemporary because you probably cannot understand that movement.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: And that's really the bottom line.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_03: And the funny thing is with you saying, right, that everyone wants to do contemporary because they think it's cool.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: But as Maddie had said before, what they're doing on Say You Thinking Dance, really, that is lyrical.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's not contemporary.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: So everybody thinks what's cool is contemporary, but really it's lyrical.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_04: Lyrical's cool, guys.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_03: Lyrical's cool, guys.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, agree.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_04: My favorite style of dance.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: We love lyrical.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love lyrical.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, let's let's switch gears really quick.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: I want to ask you guys about so, you know, it's gonna be inevitable.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: Dance teachers, dance studio owners, competitions, they're they're gonna do what their clients want.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: And clients want contemporary for three-year-olds.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: Just kidding.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: I hope not.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, seven seven years old.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: There's there's a contemporary class out there for a seven-year-old.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: There is a seven-year-old doing a contemporary dance.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: How can we help the teachers to like what are we looking for?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: What do we want to see in a seven-year-old contemporary dance?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: If we're gonna see it, I at least want to see a couple of different things.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: What do you what do we need to see?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about this before.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Courtney mentioned wanting to see like basic elements from modern dance.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I would agree with that.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think seeing some contractions, maybe some like easy drop swings, I want to see them using their plie and moving in and out of the floor even though they're seven.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: I also think it's a nice opportunity to pull from ideas from creative movement and improvisation.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, obviously, not telling a seven-year-old, like, go improv for three minutes.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, maybe there are moments when they improvise within some sort of set of rules, like, here you circle your arm in any way you want for eight counts.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, pulling those ideas actually is gonna make that dancer grow and also like have to use critical thinking skills in the moment and make choices in the moment, which goes so far beyond dance, like just encouraging agency in a seven-year-old is really important.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's like a soapbox moment.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I I think that you can fill time with task-based activities, not the whole time, but some of the time.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's such a smart way to approach it.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, even in class, like you know, maybe I don't want to see you, like you said, improv on the stage necessarily, but you know, if if you are devoting 45 minutes to an hour of a class, you know, in in that kind of style, like you said, pulling from creative movement, I think is so smart.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it doesn't have to be, you know, act like a bear or walk like an elephant or whatever, you know, the actual the quote unquote children's creative movement gurus who uh we should have somebody on that does that because that's a you know whole nother world as well.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_02: But I think that's a really smart idea, like you said, to create some agency.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_03: I do think then there should be more of that element of modern, but then why aren't we doing a modern solo?
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's just it's really hard to wrap around the fact that especially when I teach seven and eight year olds, and I um I see them every day and I understand their movement and their minds, even for them to do a contemporary solo is just I don't know, it's not it's not in a service to them in a sense, it's not in a service to them.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think that they're growing as a dancer by giving them that or giving them an hour of that.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_03: I'd rather see them do technique.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_03: But if it is based on floor work and like using different shapes with their body, then then I'm okay with that.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: But running from one end of the stage to the other and back with anticipation is not contemporary dance either.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't want to see you filming the stage in the movement with that.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of where I am on that topic.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_03: But going back to what Maddie said, where I do have to say I am seeing more solos being cut down.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: So we're not seeing those three-minute solos anymore.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_03: I do think that most videos and features are getting the hint, but that really then stresses the fact that if you only have a minute and 10 seconds to show me your solo, I don't want to spend 50 seconds of that figuring out if this is a lyrical or contemporary game.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_04: That's a great point, right?
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_04: And that's how I feel so often when I'm sitting in the judge's chair, and that's why we're here talking about these two styles, because they are blending.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_04: And that being said, I mean, a lot of genres at competition are blending, and there's a lot of fusion of styles, which I'm all about, but at the same time, this isn't a show, this isn't recital, this is competition, and there's categories for a reason.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_04: So why even have categories if we're not gonna actually, you know, place them properly or choreography?
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: A set of rules, right.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and that applies to genre, different genres of dance, that applies to the levels, which is a whole nother topic, that applies to age ranges, which you can't really, you know, you are an age or not, you know, but the age ranges are there to help you compete against who is in your age range and level and you know, at the age you are.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_04: The same should be applied to the genre of dance, unless we're doing the top overall.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_04: But there I've been in many situations where there's been an awesome studio at competition, and you get a feel, you know, we all get a feel of each studio's kind of preferences or habits like throughout the weekend, and it's like, oh, that's the contemporary studio.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_04: They're fierce at contemporary, oh that's the tap studio.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_04: I love them, they're awesome.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_04: You know, we we kind of get to know the studios throughout the weekend.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_04: And I judged a studio that was amazing contemporary, stunning technique, beautiful movement quality, choreography was awesome, but that's all they did.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_04: And they would put contemporary in the jazz category, and they would put contemporary in the lyrical category, and they claimed to be doing multiple genres, but they never did anything but contemporary.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_04: And the sad thing is that we couldn't really, you know, we we want to judge what's in front of us.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_04: We, you know, it's not the dancer's fault that this isn't technically jazz.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_04: So I am like, well, the choreography was great, the technique was great, performance was great, so I'm judging the dance for what it was, even though it was improperly placed in the wrong category.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, for me to see like a dance that was improperly placed win first overall in the wrong category, I'm like, how does this work?
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_04: You know, so this is kind of like a heads up to the teachers, is like we want you guys to understand how to place your dances properly so we can judge them to our best ability in the genre that you picked.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_03: At the day, we want you to succeed.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_03: We're not here to be right, we're not mean.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: We as well succeed.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_03: So the only way you're gonna do that is by going in the proper category.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_03: But like you said, when you have a situation where you can't really move them, I think then that also goes on to the competition.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_03: If somebody was 16 and they're placed in the 10-year-old category, we would move them.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_03: So why can't it be the same if you're doing lyrical in the contemporary category or contemporary in the lyrical category?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_03: Why can't we move you?
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_04: I I actually say that often on my critique tape.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_04: If I'm watching a dance, you know, I might not be able to deduct points or anything like that.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't want to penalize the dancers because, you know, the teacher might have improperly placed them in this specific competition based on the genre.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_04: But if I'm watching a lyrical dance in contemporary or a contemporary dance in the lyrical category, I will always say, hey, you know, I'm a minute in, I'm like watching this dance.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_04: I'm like, is this really lyrical?
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_04: A minute in, I'm like, mmm, not really lyrical.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, teacher, this is a note for you.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_04: I just want to let you know, I think this definitely belongs in the contemporary category instead.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_04: You know, next time you go to a conversation, just make sure that you appropriately place this dance, you know, and just give the teacher a heads up because maybe the teacher thought it was lyrical.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, our my opinion was that it wasn't.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_04: And that's that's what we're here to do is to not only uh provide feedback and critiques to help better the dancers, but also maybe help the teachers in the process as well to really learn how to differentiate each style of dance.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_04: Anybody have any final thoughts?
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_03: My final thought to the teachers out there for the students is do when it comes to competition, do what is best for your students.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_03: Don't give them contemporary movement that they can't do.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_03: Don't give them lyrical movement that they can't do.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe they are a better technical dancer.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_03: They have a lot of ballet and jazz foundation and they look beautiful doing a lyrical dance.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_03: Do that.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, there are times when as dancers and as teachers, we do want to push the envelope and stretch ourselves.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm not a contemporary dancer.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_02: Nope, nope, nope, nope, lyrical all day long.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_02: But would it behoove me or would it have behooved me when I was 16 to have stretched myself and like, okay, well, let's see, you know, what else I can work on doing this contemporary dance.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's we're always, you know, welcome to that as well.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and a lot of times, you know, I will see a dancer who, you know, has a wonderful teacher in a wonderful studio who has said, okay, you excel at this and you excel at this, and this is your weak spot, but you're still gonna do this weak spot solo.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you can I mean, we can tell.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like Courtney was saying, you know, we some it not that we I don't know your studio name, but like if you bring enough numbers over the weekend, I I know, you know, where you come from, or at least the grouping of people that you come from.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, there's there's always a dancer that I'm able to call out and say, you know, like I can really tell you've worked hard on this.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, this clearly does not come as naturally to you as another style, but like thank you for bringing this and stretching yourself.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's really important to consider too.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that that that probably happens more often than we think.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, I I always applaud the dancers if you have to do multiple solos.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_04: I'm saying like and any two, three, four, we've seen it.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_04: We've seen dancers come out there.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_04: And we talked about this earlier.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of dancers will come out and they'll give me two contemporary solos and put one in open and add a little bit of acro in it, or they'll put it in lyrical and think that it's lyrical and it's not.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_04: You know, things like that.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_04: I always applaud the soloists that do actually take some risks and try.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_04: And if that you are gonna have multiple solos, you're gonna have a solid solo in your best style that showcases you your best.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_04: And then try something new.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_04: You know, don't play it safe.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_04: Try a hip-hop solo, put the tap shoes on and try a tap solo and take some tap privates and make this amazing.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it'll probably help you get better at that style than if you didn't, you know, take that risk and try doing a solo.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_04: But on our end, as judges, and I'm sure I'm speaking for everyone, we don't want to see three of the same solos.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_04: I want to see completely different styles if you're gonna come out on the stage multiple times.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_04: Or just come out one time, blow us away, literally blow us away where we cannot forget about you and leave it, leave it there and take home first place, you know, because you probably will.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think another thought for teachers, we're talking about Leslie mentioned, oh, I should stretch myself and do this other thing.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: What about stretching yourself within the same category and coming up with new patterns and new vocabulary?
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because so often we just see four kids from the same studio doing the same lyrical solo, essentially, to a different song, and that gets boring and we forget about all of them, no matter how beautiful they are.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to challenge teachers to remember that, and I also want to challenge teachers to not be scared to go off trend.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like Courtney, you're saying, make the kid put on their tap shoes.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, as a contemporary lyrical person, like those are my two areas.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: There is nothing I love more than a fierce tap solo.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like there is nothing better.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I, if I see a good tap solo, I will score it extremely high because it's not what we've been watching all day.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it usually does blow me away, technically and in terms of performance.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just exciting to see things that are coming from other influences besides what we're seeing on TV or on Instagram.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: Not that there's anything wrong with contemporary and lyrical.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: I still love them.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_04: I love a good contemporary dance, and I love a good lyrical dance.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I there have been times where I am the artistry that I see on stage at competition these days is unbelievable.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_04: It's something I've never seen before.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, of course, there's obviously a lot of trends, and of course, we're all influenced by what we see on Instagram, on TV, on the competition stage from our competitors.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_04: But at the same time, I want to give a giant shout out to a lot of the competition choreographers out there, specifically ones that are pushing boundaries, who are bringing art to the stage, who are looking at the total package, who are bringing a different movement quality to competition, because you know, the competition dancers at least, I feel like that this is is kind of fading away, but they usually have a you know specific rep reputation.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I'm a competition dancer, and then like you just think one thing, and it's like, oh, well, you only know how to do tricks and you don't have technique, and you you're a great performer, but you don't know how to really take ballet class, or you don't really know how to take a modern class.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_04: And I feel like that the great thing about contemporary in the competition world is that it's bringing more foundation to exposure to modern and and artistry a little bit more to the competition world, which is wonderful.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_04: And there's such beautiful things happening out there.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_04: I I I just sometimes I just sit back and speechless on the critique tape watching gorgeous choreography that like is meant to be on television.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_04: And it's really, really great to see.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_04: But at the same time, I love me a good lyrical dance.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_04: I hope you enjoyed this discussion about lyrical and contemporary and helped clear up what your judges are with the horror competition.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_04: If you want to follow our amazing guests on Instagram, you can find Christina at dancing underscore warrior and Matty at MaddiePird92.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_04: A quick shout-out from one of our sponsors at IBA Affiliated Competition.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_04: IDAMAN Dance Competition is a complete competition experience.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_04: You don't want to win.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_04: You choose your stage writing for every entry from their nine color palette, bringing a more professional feel and energy to the stage, and gives the choreographers more artistic control to see their work come to life.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_04: With improv competitions and a dance-off entertainment challenge.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_04: HD offers a morning warm-up class on the stage to encourage dancers to start the competition day like a professional and gives them a chance to really feel the floor.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_04: HD is passionate about continuing education and offers a variety of scholarship opportunities to their dancers.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_04: On top of it all, Hydaman is committed to providing a fresh, fun, positive, and professional competition experience for the dance community.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_04: For more information, visit HDDancecompetition.com to see when they are coming to a city near you.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have a question you've been dying to ask a judge?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: Now is your chance to send us your questions.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: We might answer them on the show and give you a shout out.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_02: Submit your questions to us on our website at www.impact danceedjudicators.com/slash podcast via audio or text.
• 42:53
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• 42:58
  SPEAKER_04: The more positive reviews we get, the more great content we can bring to you all about things dance competition.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_04: Head over to Apple Podcasts to rate it and leave us a review now.
• 43:08
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• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: Coming up in the next few weeks, we've got Boys in Dance, Lyrical versus Contemporary, Choreography, and so much more.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_04: As always, we're so glad you joined us for this episode of Making the Impact.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for tuning in.