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All About Improv! · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table in a dance competition?
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: This is making the impact of a dance competition podcast.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: 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_03: For many dancers, the idea of dance competition is enough to send them directly to the back corner of the dance studio, helping against hope that no one sees them.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: For others, it's a welcome benefit from the structure and rigidity of dance podcasts.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: Whether you love it or hate it, improv is now a huge part of the competitive and professional dance world.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: And today on Making the Impact, we're here to give you some tips and tricks to making improv your new best friend.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Hi everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Podcast Family.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited for this episode topic today, and this is all about improv.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: So we're going to be diving deep into this.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: We have some spectacular guests here with us that shall meet very soon, but we just want to share a few updates in IDA land for all of the listeners out there.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: And happy new year to you all.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: 2021 is starting off strong, and we just wrapped our wrapped judging for our fall and winter virtual competition, which is so exciting.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: The event was such a huge success, and we had a great time watching all the entries.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: All of our judges really, really loved it.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I hope that everyone who participated enjoyed the experience so far.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: Our top 20 challenge is actually going to be live streaming on January 17th.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: So coming soon.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: So head over to our website to check that out.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: You can live stream with us on Sunday and watch from your living room and watch all the fantastic talent.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: And if you missed out on this virtual comp, don't worry because we have more coming your way.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: Head to our website now to check out our dates.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: We have a February 15th registration opening for our solo and group competition.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: So through the season, we're going to be hosting more virtual events.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's just a great way to get some some awesome feedback from our IDA judges and an a good backup plan.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we all are having so many fingers crossed and we are hoping and praying that the season is going to be a successful go, but you also never know.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: So having some virtual options in your back pocket is not a bad idea.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: So go check out our virtual competition at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com/slash virtual competition and mark your calendars to register then.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: And we have some other exciting news.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yay! Yay! We've been talking about this for so long and we've finally gotten it together.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: We finally figured out how to make it happen.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: We're excited to share that we're launching our Facebook group for the podcast.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_05: Yay!
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's called Making the Impact, a Dance Competition Podcast Community.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_03: It officially launches on Facebook tomorrow, January 15th.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're listening to this on launch day, it happens tomorrow.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: All of the podcast fans are welcome to join.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_03: We're hoping this is gonna be a place for you to stay up to date with new podcast releases.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna be posting fun questions about the competitive dance world.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: You can connect with other fans from around the world because we do have fans from all over, which is super cool.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: You can also send us questions because we always want to answer your questions.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: We want to know what you care about in the dance competition world.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: So you can send them over straight into the group.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna be sharing fun promotions and giveaways from our sponsors, who we love.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: So many great sponsors, as well as hosting an occasional QA with an IDA judge where a judge on the roster is gonna jump into the group for the day, answer all of your questions in real time.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna be moderating who's allowed in the group.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_03: So you have to answer a handful of questions regarding the podcast and the dance industry before you're approved.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_03: We want to make sure it's a safe space and a fun way to interact with our fans and for you guys to connect with others in the competitive dance world because we're just a great big family.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: Because as we say every week, it's a very small world.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: So head over to Facebook tomorrow, January 15th.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_03: Search for our new group.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: Again, it is called Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast community.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna link it in the show notes once the group is live.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: So we hope you'll join us there.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, please join us over at this Facebook group.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: We're really excited to make this possible and we can't wait to connect with you.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I know Leslie just mentioned that in our Facebook group, we're going to have some promos and giveaways from our sponsors.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I'd love to share with you one of our sponsors this season, Level Up Dance Supplies.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure you've heard us talk about Level Up and they are so fantastic.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: And if you are still not fully stocked with your dance gear for this season, Level Up Dance Supplies has your favorite brands of rolling rack travel bags, garment bags, pop-up changing tents, perfect for competition, and so much more.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: Level Up was started by a dance mom, so you can be assured that quality, affordability, and selection are the top priorities.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: So head on over to LevelUpdanceupplies.com now and order all of your essentials for the competition season and use our exclusive podcast promo code Bravo5678 at checkout to receive$10 off your order.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to welcome our guests to the podcast.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's finally time to meet who we have with us, and we actually have two newbies, two newbie podcast guests, yay, that are brand new to Making the Impact, and I'm really excited.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: So uh the first guest that I would like to welcome is an IDA judge on the roster, and I'm so excited to get to know her more because I've never got I've never had a chance to meet her personally, but I'm going to get to know her tonight.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I would love to welcome IDA Judge Rebecca Gurden to the podcast.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_04: Hello, hello.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much for having me.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_04: I'm so excited to get to know this really fabulous group of new people.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yay!
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: We're super excited to have you, and we're really excited to hear all your thoughts on improv dance.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: But before we jump into that, do you mind sharing with the listeners out there a little bit about you, who you are, where you're based, what you're working on, any career credits you want to share?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_04: Sure.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_04: So I took a little bit of a uh different route.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_04: I am currently based out of Metro Detroit, and I studied dance and business in college.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_04: So I always kind of knew that I wanted to take the more creative behind-the-scenes route.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_04: My passion in dance is actually choreography and like content creation.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_04: So that's what I've pursued over the last 10 years.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_04: Um right now I am working both highly within the competitive circuit, traveling, setting work, and then I also work within uh pre-professional and professional ballet schools.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_04: So I do a lot of work with dancers who are working to pursue traineeships and you know, jump them up to the next level in dance.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: Love hearing that, and thanks for all that you're doing for our next generation of dancers.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Next up on the pod is another new guest and is actually someone that I am just now meeting.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: I know Leslie, you know this guest for a long time.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yes.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: JBC and I go back way, way, way back.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_03: Way back to the early 2000s.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: Oh.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome everybody, Joshua Blake Carter.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yay!
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yay, thank you.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think 2002.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds about right.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: 2002.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: The year everything changed.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And our worlds became better.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love it.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Joshua, welcome to the podcast.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: We're so happy to have you here, and I'm so excited to get to know you even more tonight.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: So if you wouldn't mind uh sharing a little bit about you, where you're based, what you're currently working on, and any career credits.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I am based in Chicago, Illinois, where I've been for the last 11 and a half years working with Giordano Dance Chicago.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was a company dancer for eight seasons.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: During that time, I uh took over the directorship of Jordano 2, uh, which is kind of our training company uh for you know recent college graduates up to like age 27 or 28.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it actually has grown because our second company has grown, which is great.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm also the operations manager for the company.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my year-round job.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um additionally, I am uh I do a lot with choreography.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: I you started my choreography career working with ballet companies.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, when I um started working at Dornano, it I was very lucky that it naturally rolled over and I was able to create uh several works for the main company as well as uh a new work for the second company each season.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then I most recently started dabbling in uh some uh musical theater and uh choreographed newsies at one of our equity theaters uh here in Chicago uh last year.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, just doing it all.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm really excited for this discussion.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you both for joining us tonight.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: Alrighty, friends.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: So let's jump right on in.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_03: I'm now that I know more about Becca, I'm so excited that we have kind of you guys have worked in similar capacities in terms of with ballet companies and and ballet people, but in terms of improv, so just like generally for our listeners who maybe aren't familiar, what is improvisation in dance?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: I think for me, improv is essentially dance at its purest form.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_04: It's something you can do as early as the age of three in the form of free stance.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_04: We all know that game.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_04: And it's something you can do as you get older, as maybe you're experiencing your body starting to break down.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_04: It's something you can do when you're injured.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it's really just dance and movement at its purest form.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_04: More so where like the music just sort of takes over and you don't have this sense of judgment and you don't have this sense of what you should be doing.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_04: You're just letting your body guide your movement.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I think something that I learned as I got older, because I didn't I used to be scared of improv.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And as I got older, yeah, right.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And but I I learned it is such a great tool as a choreographer.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Not only like, you know, a lot like a lot of times you give movement to dancers and it's like not working, and they'll naturally do something that is not necessarily you're not asking them to improv, but it is an improvisation moment where they have a a transition or something that's unique to them, and ultimately that's what gets kept because that's you know, they're the ones who have to dance it, not you.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: That's how their body wants to move.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: There's a blend of, I think, I think that's where improv really comes into structured dance too, is is being able to tap into it and utilize it when you have structured material as well and how they they really cross over.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I agree.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I I love that what you just said, Josh, about being scared of improv.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think that there are so many dancers who might be listening today or on this podcast, yes or hello on this podcast.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: That I don't I mean, at a point in time or still currently are afraid of improv.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it is something that is you know, kind of like what you said, Becca, it's it's not really you can't really teach improv.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: You can have an improv like structured class.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: You can like learn how to navigate improv more successfully, but you kind of just do it, you know?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: And it's kind of scary because there is not much structure to it unless you're, you know, basing your improv around a certain genre or descriptive words.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think that's what scares people about improv is well, what you're not gonna tell me what to do?
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: And everyone's like, yeah, no, you just get to do whatever you want.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's kind of a scary thing for dancers when we're always being told what the choreography is, you know, and improv is that moment where you can just kind of be free.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: The free the freedom can be scary.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know, Josh, you can probably relate to this working in a ballet setting, but ballet is so rigid and it is so regimented.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_04: So when you have these younger ballet dancers and you're asking them, you know, give me a reach or give me a leg or move like this, they don't always know what to do with that.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_04: And they they are very scared of it.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_04: And most dancers do go through that initial fear, and that's why I think it's so important to just continue with the education on the topic.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and I think that uh we said something about it before we all hopped on.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: We were kind of all just chatting, and Courtney, I think you said something about, you know, it is more in studios now than it ever was.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, so it's also a generational thing.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, as a as a, you know, in my mid-30s, like we didn't, you know, when we were growing up, we didn't do it a lot.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: But then I was towards the end of my performing career working with choreographer Peter Chu.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: He that's how he builds work, is he does structured improv.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you you you bring that up, Courtney, because that actually made me appreciate and understand improvisation in a completely new way because someone gave me parameters around it and allowed me to slow down and allowed me to really dissect movement differently than I had been asked to before.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then in some ways, which then makes the expansion bigger.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: So you have all this, oh, just improv, the music's on, go.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that is what's so scary.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think you give somebody like, you know, a one little restriction, and you know, how we are as people, we've tried to find a way around it.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so, or how do we navigate it?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that that actually giving somebody a parameter makes them think outside of it.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: I think my early experiences with improv had none of that because, like you said, I I don't remember ever having to improvise probably till college.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: And even then, because of the school I went to, we were not living in the modern dance world.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: We weren't living in contemporary, we were living in American musical theater, American dance styles, in which tap there's improv, but really that's it, you know.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_03: So I think perhaps in tap class and rhythm tap, we were, you know, we did a tap jam or we did a tap circle, and that's where I was asked first to improv.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_03: And it was like, oh no, no, no, no.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_03: I just need to do a time step.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: Tell me which one, and that's fine.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: But but I there weren't parameters, and I think that's like you said, Josh, is is scary because it's too open, it's too big.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: If you narrow the focus, that's when I become more comfortable.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like, okay, lead with your elbow, got it.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_03: Like, give me something, anything.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I think that's I think that's important to, and I'm glad you mentioned that, Leslie.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like that's important for teachers to hear because, like, like you mentioned, Josh, and like we briefly mentioned pre-pod recording.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: It is becoming more known in the studio setting to incorporate improv into some classes.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: I believe that the reason for that is because contemporary dance is now a class at a lot of in-studio settings, and now contemporary and improv go very much hand in hand a lot of the time.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna go there on this topic where improv and contemporary, that's not the only genre that you can improv in.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like Leslie mentioned, you can improv and tap, and we'll talk about this more.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: But I do feel like that studios are now incorporating improv a little bit more.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: And it is scary if you if a kid has never been exposed to a true improv class with structured, guided movement and different situations, like lead with your elbow, or only do floor work, or stay in one spot, or different kinds of you know, ideas around that.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: It does help you be less intimidated.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: You're not as intimidated walking into the free-for-all improv because you've had that experience.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that it is important to mention that if if you're a teacher listening and you're not incorporating improv into your class, do it.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: Every now and then just like have an improv session because I think that dancers need to kind of get a little bit more comfortable with that sooner than later.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and on the other side of that too, I see a lot of times when I go and teach contemporary somewhere and I have a really structured warmup, I can see a lot of people perhaps don't do a structured warm-up in a contemporary class.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that there needs to be a balance because while improvisation is such a part of dance in general, so is a lot of technique.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, technique is not the end-all be-all.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Believe me, I've seen dancers with not the strongest technique be the ones we hire because they have the passion, they have the soul, they have the, you know, they have the that burning thing, but also the technique has to, you know, there have that has to be there to support it.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of people are s depending on what kind of dance you want to do, of course, but I in contemporary class specifically, I see technique being replaced with improvisation only.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think the two can coexist beautifully, but they have to they have to coexist.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: I I agree.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_03: Even just seeing sometimes, you know, at the few competitions that I've worked for that have an improv contest, you know, where you really are just seeing a bunch of kids on stage from different places being told go to this piece of music, you know, their improv either turns into a bunch of the same like mush of nothing, but then also here's my leg, here's my turn, here's my split, here's my leg again, here's my leg again, here's my leg on the other side, maybe.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: So like I think the again with the narrowing of the focus, it has to be considered that improv maybe doesn't need your leg or your pirouette, but it also can't just devolve into like I just think it's mushy, like it's a mushy movement unless you have like a focus.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_03: But again, I'm not I don't like improv.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_03: So mine looks mushy.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_04: Well, and to add on what Leslie was saying, I think it's really good to teach your students those techniques of lead with your elbow, stand in one spot, because you can tell them, hey, when you go to a convention or you go to a class, why don't you give yourself a prompt?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_04: Why don't you say, okay, I'm going to dance like I'm in water?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_04: Or I'm going to only bend one knee or whatever, you know, and you can tell these dancers that's gonna make you think outside of your normal boundaries versus like maybe the dancer who is a little more intimidated when they walk in and they see 300 people, and you know, you know all those settings can be.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I kind of want to go in this direction for a minute now that you brought up that scenario of improv at competitions.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, to our listeners out there, there is improv being incorporated into the competitive dance world now, which I love and support so much.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's fantastic.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_02: There are competitions that are hosting improv challenges.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: I've seen improv being like a part of the title portion of a competition where they have to submit their headshot and do their solo.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: And then also improv, you know, like there's ways that people are making this possible.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's a lot of conventions out there that actually host an improv competition and like there's a winner, you know, like it's it's really, really great.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I really, I really love that you went in that direction.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that what's worth mentioning with that is there are different types of improv.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that when you're in a in a competition improving, you're being judged, you're being, you know, looked at as who has the best improv.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that especially kids immediately think, I gotta show off all of my tricks, right?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like, oh, I gotta show myself off.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's what that's what it is.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: And in a way, it's kind of almost like you're doing a freestyle more than you're doing like an improv.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: You're doing like your best you instead of this is improv dance.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: And you can improv dance in all different genres.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't have to be just contemporary, but I think that that's the issue is we is kids are just like, well, let me just do tricks, and there's no in between, there's no connecting connecting steps, transitions is what they're called.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: And the other thing for everyone that needs to know.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Because we don't see a transition ever.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: Let's be real.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: I miss a transition.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: No, but I think what makes a fantastic improv dancer is someone that has musicality.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's who that's what I love most about like a wonderful improver.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: I was just gonna say, I'm interested to know what people adjudicate improv on, you know, because it is so personal.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and it's it's just like, you know, any art form, right?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: It there everybody's gonna have their own opinion about it.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so I know that when we judge a formal style of dance, right, it's the same thing that what I necessarily think about it isn't is not the end-all be all opinion.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that you know, improv is even more intimate than that because it is truly your personal experience in that moment.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do you adjudicate that?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: How do you say you're better than this person?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not even about you're better then, but what what is better today about this than that, right?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_04: So I've actually adjudicated improv several times.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_04: I can't speak for every adjudicator because it's so personal, so I can only really speak to my experience doing it.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_04: But what I actually look for when I'm adjudicating improv is musicality, the heart and soul of the dancer is that protruding and then actually transitions.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_04: So it goes back to what you're saying about technique, Joshua.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_04: The dancer still needs technique, and if they are a technically trained dancer, like if they're doing jazz improv and they have that nice chassis or that nice, you know, lead with the heel moment, you're like, ah, there it is, you know, like there's that technique.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_04: It's so ingrained in your body that you're doing it while you're just letting the musicality take over.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_04: And that for me is everything.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_04: They're they're giving it with the technique that's just so ingrained in their body they don't have to think about it.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_04: I'm like, you got it.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_03: Well, cause in what I see too, a lot of times when these in these improv contests, even if they're just like for fun.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: The end of the day.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's usually how it happens with I think a lot of competitions.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I've run them a couple times before where like I'm in charge of the music choice.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: And most of the time, I'm not going to give you 12-year-old dance student what you probably want to improv to.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to give you right.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not giving you that.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to give you, you know, 1950s doo-wop.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: Do something to that that you can improv to that.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: But if you're there trying to be all gooey and mushy and contemporary to a doo-wop song, like you're not winning my improv contest because you're not taking what I've given you and put yourself into what it is.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_03: Your style and vibe.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: And that's and that's worth mentioning too.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: If Leslie throws you a doo-wop song and you're a contemporary dancer and you're like, I'm gonna contemporary this improv.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: Contemporary this improv and make it yours with this dooop song.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: And how do we do that?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: We probably do that with musicality and shading and texture.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: Just because it's not a contemporary style song doesn't mean that you still can't improv to it.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: You as an as a dancer should be able to improv to whatever music is given to you, and you put your own style and flavor into it, and that's what makes it yours.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: But that, and like Becca said, that's really what's going to make an improv dancer stand out to me is those those things that you mentioned, Becca.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like I said at the beginning, we don't I don't need a trick.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: I don't.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: If you have a if you have a cute trick that you want to show me, great.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: Go for it.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: If it's beautiful, if it's flawless, if it's like your go-to that you know you're gonna nail, I'll take it.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: But I want to see how you're using your focus.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: I want to see your use of levels.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: I want to see how your brain immediately connects to this song that you've never heard before or that you weren't expecting to hear, and what how you can find the musicality within that.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: Because you could be doing a walk and just connecting to the music, and I'll be intrigued.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: Than if you're just like running around and showing me every trick in the book with zero transitions.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: With no within with no thought to what the music is doing.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like it's not even there.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: You there needs to be connection to the music in improv, 100%.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's times in your life that the kind of improv that you pull out your tricks and your you pull out your your best things will be there for a sometimes a commercial audition.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: People will say, What tricks do you have?
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: They will ask that and they will want you to improv and show us your best.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna give you, put the music on, give me your best shot, right?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then other times, you know, that is clearly not, you know, there that's something I think you learn as you get older, right?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Is reading the room.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: What's the situation?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Totally, right?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like knowing what to wear to an audition.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing about what facet of yourself do you need to bring out to show to you know acquire that job.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_04: Sometimes I'll walk into a brand new studio and I'll just say, All right, everybody, show me your best jump.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_04: Five, six, seven, go.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_04: And they all kind of just look at me like, you want me to do what?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, show me, show me your best jump.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, it's just kind of seeing like who's got that confidence, who's got that, you know, who's brave enough to get in front of a new choreographer and show me what that what they can really do.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_04: And then sometimes I'll walk into a room and just say, All right, everyone, close your eyes and move to the song.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_04: You know, like there's a lot of different ways to go about achieving one goal.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_04: And improv is kind of about knowing when to do what.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Hey listeners, it's the end of January.
• 25:26
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• 25:31
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• 25:34
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• 25:42
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• 25:52
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• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: And now let's get back to the show.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: It is kind of interesting to me, and I know I know we briefly t mentioned this, but and I love how you started off this conversation, Becca, with mentioning freeze dance.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: That was such a great example because it truly is improv for our little our little ones.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: That is really their way of being introduced to it.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: Or I'm just gonna put the music on and y'all just dance, have fun.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's improv.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like whenever I've done improv in classes before, the younger dancers, I'd say like 12 and younger, are really fearless and love improv and cannot wait for it and are begging to do it.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: And then you hit that teen group.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: And at teen and older, unless they were brought up doing improv regularly, they are absolutely terrified.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: And they don't want to kind of break out of their shell and try something new.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas, and I think that's just in general.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think that when we're younger, we're more fearless.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: And like improv is that opportunity to just be free.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, are there any anything that you can think of as far as like guidance on how to get some of our, you know, teens and seniors who may not love improv or may not feel as comfortable in it?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: Any like advice on how to really like help them love it?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_04: I would try to incorporate it into your just your daily dance routine, whatever that is, especially now during quarantine, during all these crazy times.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_04: Like, what better opportunity than now?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I think I've danced more in my living room these last nine months than I've danced in a studio, you know?
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_04: So I would encourage dancers who are hesitant to try it to sit in their bedroom, turn off their lights, and just jam.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, just a little bit each day, and then hopefully their teachers and their educators are incorporating, you know, like, okay, modern or contemporary class, the last ten minutes, we're gonna improv, you know.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_04: They do that technical warm-up, they get that technique in, and then they spend you know, it it doesn't take much, but it takes consistency.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_04: I think improv is a skill.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, if you're not if you're not utilizing it or or exercising it, right, it atrophies like anything.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel that way, you know, creating when I I've had a few opportunities throughout this pandemic to to create, but like starting out one of the times actually I had almost like panicked.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, how do I make dance?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: I forgot, you know, because I hadn't been I hadn't been exercising that muscle.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: But going back to that question, Courtney, I think another great thing that, and um, it's you know, it's always a money thing, but getting curtains to cover your mirrors, you know, is such a strong like exercise, not only for actually when you're, you know, rehearsing uh an actual piece, you know, a dance work, it's great.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: But also, I think a big part of our fear lies in seeing other people in the mirror, you know, because we actually aren't worried about them seeing us where they are in the room.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: We see them see us in the mirror.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and so taking that element out and making the room just a room, I think is really big.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: And if curtains aren't a thing, like if that's not gonna be in the in the budget this year, change your front, right?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: Face back, face the back, face the side, but you know, find other ways to take people out of that normal situation and get everybody a little uncomfortable, perhaps.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because instead of every you know, some people are comfortable, some people aren't.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let's all change something up.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's something that I would my my recommendation.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_04: Even just turning down the lights.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, if curtains, curtains are a really great idea, but if that's not an option, you know, turning down the lights or turning off the lights.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_04: I've even had, you know, students bring in their little iPhone and you got the little iPhone lights, and you know, it's just it's it's you know, there's ways to make the room feel a little bit safer.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, right.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because something I always I always mention this if I ever do improv and in a class, especially in like a gust teaching situation, and the kids are scared, I'm like, don't even lie to me and tell me that you don't dance in your room.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: You probably put your music on or your ear pods in and you are just jamming in your bedroom.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: I know you do it.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_02: We all did it.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: I would do it all the time.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think the scary part is they're like, oh no, now people are watching me.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, my friends are watching me.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: If you break into groups for improv and like there's people standing on the side and everyone's just watching, you know, it's like it is a little intimidating to have people watch you improv when it does feel so intimate and your own thing.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: Which is why I think, like, like you mentioned, Becca, I mean, if we are all still remotely dancing and, you know, dancing in your home studios now that every kid seems to have because of this crazy world we're living in.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, just go into that safe place and just start improving whenever you want to just move a little bit, try out different songs, see what that makes you feel, and start improving in different styles of dance and not just always go to your go-to and challenge yourself, you know.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: Think about, okay, well, what did I just do in my last improv?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: I did this trick and I did this and I was on the floor a lot.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'm gonna change it up.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said, giving different prompts to yourself.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_02: You can really structure your own improv in your own safe place.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, I I think if you, if dancers start doing that on their own, just whenever they want to kind of just move a little bit and listen to a new song and groove and jam, then they'll feel more comfortable when they do get into that studio setting.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: And don't worry about if people are watching you in class.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, class is class, we're all supportive, we're all here together.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, hopefully they're not just like watching you, they're watching everyone collectively and we're all probably improving together at the same time.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_03: Well, in real, we're all very worried about ourselves.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_03: So, like, yeah, I'm not super interested in watching you because I'm very concerned if I look stupid.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like alone by myself.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if and if I'm watching you, I'm really honestly probably doing that thing where my eyes glaze over and I'm thinking about how did I do?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_05: Right, yeah.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Do I need to, what can I do differently?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like, you know, you're watching, but you're not you're not watching in a judgmental way at all.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, Leslie, we're worried about ourselves.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_03: Well, and I've found as I th one of the first things you said, Becca, was like, as you get older, like improvisation is is good to figure out what your body can do, wants to do, feels like doing.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, I retired from auditioning and performing a couple years ago, and I've been having to re- and had surgery last year.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_03: So like I've had to relearn what I what my body wants to do, what it can do, what it can handle anymore, you know, what my muscles think that you, because I did it for so long, well, surely you can do this.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_03: Your muscles just think they can do it.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_03: And the next day you're like, oh no, no, I can't do that anymore.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_03: But it's been really good for me just in the pandemic.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: Whenever the mood strikes me, no matter what I'm doing with my day, if my if I feel like I want to dance, if there's a song on, I just do it.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: I just I stop whatever I'm doing and I do it because I know that that mood doesn't strike me often anymore as much as it used to, and I don't, and I don't have to do it anymore.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_03: So that like when it comes into my body that I want to move, I'm like, oh, here we go.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_03: We're doing this.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_03: Like we're doing this.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_03: I still love it.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_03: It just doesn't, it doesn't come as naturally and as easily anymore.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, children and teachers and everybody out there, like, you know, listen to your body.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like your body will tell you what it wants to do.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_04: Totally.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_04: So I actually would consider myself an improv-based choreographer.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_04: That's like primarily the way that I choreograph and create pieces, not only for myself, but for students, for professionals, for college students especially.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_04: I love improv-based pieces.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_04: I've also suffered through some injuries and had to kind of change the way that my movement vernacular works.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_04: And I've actually come up with really, really creative pieces at that collegiate level where I'm like, okay, maybe I can't move my body this way, but I can move it this way instead.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_03: And that's different and interesting and easy.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_04: And it's different and interesting than what maybe I would have done two years ago.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_04: And then you set it on these dancers that have the training, and you're like, wow, that really works, you know, like that that really clicks, and then they feel it in their bodies and they add their little moments to it and their little freezes, and all of a sudden everything just starts falling into place with a piece.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_04: So for me, improv is essentially the most effective tool to create choreography and to generate movement.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_04: I personally can't, one doesn't go without the other.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in a lot of ways, like you're like an injury or a way our bodies are moving, that's a a parameter that causes us to improv and change and move differently, right?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: It is a it's a prompt.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a prompt that makes us create in in new ways.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm doing everything on my left now.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like my right foot can't support a releve for very long.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_03: It can't jump.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm like, well, guess we're doing this on the left.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry, guys.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, we all were kind of improving in March when we didn't know what we were doing last March, you know.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like we're like, well, I guess we're all gonna move to Zoom and we're gonna turn virtual and become videographers and filmmakers.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, that's improv.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: Look at how resilient the artist community is.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: We really did improv.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: We we in a different use of the word, you know.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I I that's I mean, it's obviously so true.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's so true.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_02: And Becca, I really love what you were saying about choreography, and I'm really glad you like took us there because I was going to mention that next.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like improv is the perfect introduction for dancers into exploring what it feels like to be a choreographer.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: You if it's someone yourself, you know, if you're trying to create material.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: Typically, I mean, I'm not speaking for everyone, everyone has their own process as a choreographer, but a lot of teachers and choreographers will probably put a song on, listen to that section, improv a little bit, feel it out, see what worked, see what doesn't, and then stick it and keep it and move on.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then you just keep doing that forever and ever, and then you have a dance.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's just it's crazy to think that.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: But that is another reason why it's so important to incorporate it into studio training because it might really have be that light bulb moment for a young dancer who even if they're afraid of improv or finally like maybe it does finally click and they're like, Oh, I love this.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then they start improving at home and then they start getting really creative, like, whoa, I want to create a piece.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's like the kind of like stepping stone leading them into the right direction of finding their voice in choreography, I feel.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_02: Totally agree.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, you know, uh in our college program, we had to take improvisation before you could take choreography composition class.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_05: Same.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: And some a lot of summer workshops, I'll do, you know, a little choreography class for high school kids who are interested in in choreography.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, for the most part, it's the entire session is improv-based.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, guided group improv, solo, you know, uh investigations, but things that are all improv-based because how else do you discover how you like to move if you don't just you know if you don't improv?
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_03: What it tell me more about, because I didn't experience any of this at all.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like I know what it is and I've you know watched a lot of it, but solo improv versus partnered improv, because that's something that is a whole nother ball game when you're working with somebody else, but it's the unknown.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like explain how that process works, Joshua, with what you do.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, we used to, I don't think we do it quite as much.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know, I'm not in the room all the time with the dancers, but when I was in the company, we did partnering and partnered improv a lot.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: Very similar to, it was more, it felt very much like a trust exercise, honestly.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, finding ways to fill each other's space, you know, around and creating shapes, but also, you know, actually lifting each other and sharing weight.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: Fast forward working again.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna bring up Peter Chu because it was such an improv-based process, but with all of these exercises, and there were a lot of things he would have something called transporting, where you go and you would actually you would lift your partner, male, female, didn't matter who you're the gender of the person, the lifter or the liftee, you were expected to transport.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there were, but there was no right or wrong way to do it.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: There were other exercises like walking on air and you're pressing into each a group of people's hands and being moved around the space by the different people, and you're actually never touching the ground because of how you're pushing into people's hands.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: So there's all these different ways of, and it never looked the same.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: There was no one way to do it.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there was there was the the actual physics of it that had to ha occur, but the way it looked and appeared was never the same way twice.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that's one way to think about partnered improv, but I think the other way, again, is you know, when you're creating with two dancers, is a lot of times they they know better what the natural ins and outs are, you know.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so you may want it so bad for one for it to happen a certain way.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't, and it doesn't, but half the time it's better, you know.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_04: It's so much better, it's usually always so much better.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_04: So you're like, all right, that's not what I wanted, but looks good to me.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let's keep it.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm like, I'll keep it.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_04: Funny story.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_04: So my first college audition, we I didn't really grow up improving.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_04: I don't I know you guys mentioned you didn't really grow up improving that much either.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_04: So I get to a college audition, right?
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm in my legatter to my pink tights, and you know, I survived the ballet cut.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_04: And then they're like, All right, we're gonna improv.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_04: Everybody get a partner and hold on to your partner.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_04: And they threw us into this like weight share, you know, like you're the rock, and then another person's like the mover.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's actually a pretty basic partner improv exercise.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_04: Man, I panicked.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: I was just like, oh my god, what do you want me to do?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like that story is so important because we're gonna be faced in your current dance career in studio or college audition scenario or professional career where you're going to be put in a position where it's not just you, it's you're relying you have to rely on someone else as well.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what that's probably why you panicked, Becca.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's probably not the fact that you couldn't improv.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's now, oh my gosh, I have someone else.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_02: And it's they're gonna make or break me, honestly.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: Especially in an audition setting where you don't know their background, you don't know their training, you don't know if they can counterbalance with you and and share weight.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: You've never, you know, it is, and like you said, Josh, it is a trust moment there.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_02: And at least in like the company setting, you know who they are.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: I can't tell you how many times I've been at a professional audition where I've been paired up with a complete stranger and they say, do lifts and flip upside down and do this, do that.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm terrified for my life, for my safety.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_02: And also, are they gonna prevent me from getting this job right now if they can't partner or don't know how?
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think that's that's the thing that's always tricky with any sort of partnering, even if it's choreographed partnering.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I can totally understand your fear because I've been there too.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's scary.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like I I only had I've had maybe two experiences like that in the musical theater world where they have, without warning, didn't warn you in the breakdown, didn't warn you in the room.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_03: Like at the end of the audition, they're like, okay, so we're gonna pair up, and you're like, huh?
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_03: And then of course, I'm, you know, 4'11.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_03: So they give me the shortest guy, which like that's not helpful because usually he's probably not partnering either.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like short guys don't usually get to partner.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm like, oh, can you do you know how to do this?
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_03: Can you support my weight?
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_03: I know I'm a good partner.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_03: I can support my weight, but like you are as tall as me.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_03: How is this gonna work?
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and luckily the couple times that it's happened, I got very, very, very lucky and got some amazing guys who I met at the audition.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_03: And now we're still friends.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, we do partnering at every audition we do.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember when it was when it was me in that position auditioning, I remember it was stressful.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_00: And we still do the same four, eight count phrase that I did in 2009.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: We still do it now.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, because it because we know what it demonstrates, we know what it shows, and there is that trust element that is in there.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you gotta have a you gotta be able to jump in there.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: They were, you know, you're also looking for that, you know, even if it doesn't go perfectly, you're looking for that element of do you have the confidence and the the gumption just to go for it?
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it doesn't go great, but we can see that too.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: You it wasn't out of fear that you didn't get it.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: It just wasn't we can fix it.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: We can fix that, we can rehearse that.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: We can fix strength, you know.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: So sidebar.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: I've got it all sidebar, sorry.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_04: I think contact improv can help break some stereotypes in the dance world too, of who should be improving with who and in what way.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_04: You know, there's obviously musical theater is the first thing that comes to mind because there's certain standard things you sort of like expect, but I think this goes across all genres of dance, is that you know, girls can lift girls, guys can lift guys, we can weave in and out.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_04: There can be a three-girl trio.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, you know, it doesn't matter.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_04: And I think even teaching that to pre-professional students is really important now to kind of break the mold of how partnering is being used.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_03: That's a hundred percent.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we just had a we just had a gender in dance episode, and this kind of got brought up a little bit as well.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_03: That like, you know, we're we're breaking barriers here in in 2020 and 2021, and you know, this past couple years has just really shown us that there can be more done, there should be more done, and it's only opening up more interesting art.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_04: And not just necessarily genders, but also like in some ways, even just like body types, like lifting the tallest, lengthiest female is funny.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_04: Her long legs, you know, like lifting, it doesn't always have to be, you know, oh you're the you're the little peanut.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_04: Let's just lift you up in the air and improv with you, and you know, like let's try new things with different people.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_04: And I think exploring that through improv exercises, especially in the classroom, is a really good way to open up dancers to new roles.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_02: Totally.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't agree with that more.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I I we were kind of in a discussion of like the professional world of improving, like how why we need to know how to improv if we want to.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: Continue on with dance as a career in any capacity.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm curious to kind of talk about that briefly for a minute.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_02: Any specific examples as to how you've used improv in your professional career?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: I know Becca, you give the example of you know having to do it at a college audition, which I'm sure many dancers who are listening to the podcast probably will have a college audition if they want to go to school for dance.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then even past that, I mean, I have some stories I can share.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_02: But do you have any experiences where you have had to use improv in a professional setting?
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: Two things come to mind.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: One's it one is a partnering thing, and it was a ha-da-duh, no one else is on stage, me and my partner.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: And after the first lift, her feet don't touch the ground again for like a minute and a half.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's you know, all strength and the way you shift your weight and all of that.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I was supposed to get her up onto my shoulder, and it didn't happen.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: And because that didn't happen, the rest of the duet couldn't happen.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so we improved an entire duet.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um on stage.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh god, I don't know.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: I've never watched it because it was a strength, the actual feeling comes back inside of me.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: Your body displays your body just like however, like it was not career-ending, meaning nobody was like, oh, what was that?
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the only people who knew were the people who didn't.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't even remember our artistic director saying anything about it.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't think it was, I mean, I think that we were really because we didn't show it A in our face, right?
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: And we we stayed connected and we never lost sight of each other's eyes.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that we always, you know, we really had this moment of connectivity of like stay together, follow each other.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: And my other uh time was we were doing a piece with live music, and the musicians cut out an entire section of music during the proposition.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_03: Was this what you were talking about with Jolt the other day?
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was Jolt, yeah, yeah.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_00: So we were we were at a festival, a music festival, and we did not always perform this particular piece with music, live music.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we all get off stage and they stopped the music before our next entrance to get us.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: The entire company had to make it across the stage in this big transition.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a speaking part that happens in the piece.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: So the guy comes out to do his speaking part because he's like, Well, I don't know what these guys are gonna do.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: But literally, the other nine of us were on stage left and should have been on stage right.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so we quit we quickly gave each other a task and said, Let's go.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we made it across the stage in a core a non-chore graphed improvised transition.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_00: So it's definitely, and you know, you just gotta have that confidence, and yeah, that's part of what improv is, right?
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: Is it's just the confidence in your yourself and then trusting your group if it isn't a group situation.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_04: Anything, Becca?
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_04: I think you pretty much summed it up.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, those are those are really good examples.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's yeah, that's pretty much the worst of the worst.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_02: I know that in in my professional career, and I'm sure Leslie, you have some improv stories from just the audition world.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but I feel like that I, as a professional dancer and a professional auditioner, actually, that's what I call myself, not a dancer, a professional auditioner.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_02: I improv at every single audition.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_02: Every single audition.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: I can't tell you an audition where they didn't say improv before the combo starts or improv after the combo ends.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_02: You don't want to just stand there when the music's playing and you're waiting for your five, six, seven, eight count in.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you want to move a little bit.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: You don't I don't I don't need flips and fute turns, but like just feel the music and it's a little bit less awkward.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, those are always opportunities when we're we're asked to improv.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_02: But a few other scenarios for me, I have a handful.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_02: First one that comes to mind is Cirque du Soleil.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_02: If you've ever auditioned for that show, that is a part of the process for Cirque to become a Cirque du Soleil dancer.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_02: You have to improv.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I will never forget, I was at Vegas, which is where they hold majority of their dancer auditions, and I made it through like three rounds of cuts, and now it's the improv cut.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_02: And you're going one at a time and they give you a prompt.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_02: They literally pull out of a hat and and it's and you're watching everyone, and it's it's a horrible.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_02: And you're just dread, you're just waiting to figure out what it what kind of prompt am I going to get.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I think mine was like sad astronaut.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_02: What was what my my Oh it sounds like a name, a squad cast name.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_02: It does, it does.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_02: And honestly, it was it was the wor I got I got dealt the worst hand out of all of the different topics.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_02: Some people had like uh fiery coyote or something ridiculous.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I mean it's just these descriptive words are ridiculous, but like that is what they want to see.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_02: And and if you've ever seen a circus old show, I mean, you can you can understand how artistic and and you know kind of out there it is.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_02: And the people who really took that improv exactly how like described it.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're sitting watching as a viewer, you're like, wow, you really do look like a sad astronaut.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_02: You really do.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_02: They then you would make it to the next round.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_02: But I couldn't figure out how to be a sad astronaut.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I got cut because I got dealt a really, a really crappy hand, to be honest.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just that's what it was that day, you know, and like that kind of traumatized me a little bit afterwards because I thought it was a great improver, but I really couldn't even show my best self at the improv because of my prompt.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_02: So like that's a sit a sticky situation.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_02: And another one that's an example I'm sure so many people know is so you think you can dance.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's a perfect example of having to be an improv dancer.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_02: Multiple cuts before you even get to Vegas week, before you're solo, you are actually doing freestyle with like 20 dancers on stage.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_02: And you usually go one at a time and you maybe get three counts of eight to like show them what you got.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_02: And in those situations, even though we kind of talked about how we don't love this, you kind of need to have at least like a one go-to trick up your sleeve of something that is your signature.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's something that you know, if you're a turner, show me that you can turn and give me all the other good stuff.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_02: But in and like you kind of mentioned Josh earlier, like that's a commercial audition.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_02: That is a commercial style improv.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_02: And we need to know the difference because there are difference, you know.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_02: If I don't know, I mean, that's that's the other example that I think a lot of people can relate to a little bit more with when it comes to So You Think You Can Dance, because it is and it's probably, you know, it doesn't have to be a jazz improv, but you it was similar to what we were talking about at improv competitions.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_02: You don't know the song, you don't know what you're gonna get.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_02: So if you thought you were gonna go do do ballet, maybe you jazz up your ballet because it's a jazzy song or whatever it is.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you have to be ready to like for anything when it comes to like those commercial style audition improv scenarios, which you'll experience all the time if you do pursue dance as a career.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_04: So, particularly, I think right now I'm working with a lot of students who are on the cusp of do I want to do commercial dance or do I want to do college dance?
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_04: And there's a lot of dancers kind of on the cusp, you know, where they could go either way.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_04: And I think them knowing the difference of what they're being asked to do is so, so important.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_04: A college modern program in Bravo Audition is gonna be very different than the so you think you can dance, music video, you know, street audition.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_04: Totally.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_04: And you really gotta be able to switch gears.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_03: Well, and like we talk about all the time, versatility.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you can't be a one-trick pony anymore, even in the ballet world.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_03: Like that world has evolved as well to turn into so much more.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_03: And so, which is why I think, you know, if you haven't gotten the gist, folks, we're urging you think of improv as more than just contemporary.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_03: Because, you know, again, with the do-wop, I don't, I don't want to see your contemporary version of doo-wop.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like I've put this on.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_03: A world has been created, a vibe has been created.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_03: How do you, how do you do that?
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_03: How do you live in that?
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_03: Because on So You Think You Can Dance, it's not gonna, you know, maybe it's not gonna matter.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like, cause it shows you didn't pay attention.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I think especially in the commercial dance world, we are looking for you to be cognizant of what we've asked in the musical theater world.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_03: We're asking you to be cognizant of the time period of the movement style, you know, of all these other things, which is why I think, you know, not only be versatile in your movement quality and your understanding of style, but be well versed in history and music history and everything.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, even if you don't go to college, study things, you know, it pays.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, for our concert dance auditions for Giordano, the last thing you do, you make it to the very end of the audition and you have to improv.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if there's no cut after that, so it's be it's simply because now this is we really want to see you.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_00: We've asked everything else we wanted to see.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_00: We wanted to see you do this piece of rep and that piece of rep, and we wanted to see you lift or get lifted.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now we want to see anything we haven't seen from you yet that you want us to see.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_00: However, we're gonna give you a more classical piece of music.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because just because we're a jazz dance company doesn't mean you're gonna be doing, you know, ne necessarily classical jazz dance all the time.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_00: Jazz, jazz, like anything, is ever changing, right?
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it's evolving.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something Gus Rodano always said was it's always new, it's always evolving.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: Jazz is always changing.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's you know, that's kind of the twist I think to our auditions is this is is that people think they're gonna improv in jazz.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_00: And in in fact, we the music we choose, while we you may not think it is classic jazz music, you can still use your jazz quality to it or show you know, it's exactly what we've been saying, right?
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_00: About about, you know, if it's a use your contemporary style in the do-wop, but be musical to it.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_00: Show us how your contemporary style can, you know, how the isolations from jazz influence that, right?
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's like we go back back around again to what we said before.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_02: Trust your technique.
• 54:01
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you really and that's why we need that technical foundation in all styles of dance.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we train for, that's what we work on and repeat every week in class.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_02: Now we have to trust that our technique is there to let us be free in our improv and and layer on the other additions like musicality, like style, like using your like being grounded in using your plie.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, things like that are what those are the layers that we need to add onto on top of the improv to make it successful.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_02: So, and yeah, I mean, and I I even want to briefly touch on tap improv, like you mentioned before, Leslie.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm sure people are probably like, wait, what?
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_02: Tap improv?
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, tap improv is scary.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_02: Terrifying.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_02: Even for a tap dancer, I feel like.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_02: I I feel like it's scary for any, yes, I agree.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_02: Unless you're like professional, like this is your thing, you are so confident in tap.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think that the scary part about tap improv is that you can tell if someone has rhythm or musicality right away.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if you're if you're in like a tap circle and each person gets three counts of eight or four counts of eight or something.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_02: If there's not that metronome like tempo downbeat from everyone and they can't find the pocket of the then it's just terrifying.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_02: You're like off the whole time.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like and it's almost more embarrassing because, you know, like we said, most of us are focused on ourselves in improv, but you're focused on the visuals.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_03: But in tap, you've got visuals and audio audio, audio, audible things.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_03: So, like not only am I worried about what I look like, but I'm also worried about if I'm on that downbeat.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_03: And if I'm trying to be interesting with my improv, kick am I a good enough musician with my feet to keep that consistent tempo while also trying to be interesting with my timing and my syncopation and my push beats and like all the things.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I think that I start, you know, even with I've been doing some zoom tap classes recently with beginners, which has been really fun and difficult because zoom and tap is a challenge, as all of you teachers out there know.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_03: But one of the ways I love to end most of my tap classes, even if you are a beginner, is a tap circle.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_05: Totally.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_03: And and I never grew up doing that, and which is why I think it was hard for me as I went to college and learned more rhythm tap and was forced to do that.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, just giving them simple parameters, just like we talked about, like I need you to use the steps that you know and fill up four counts.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_03: You can do tap, tap, tap, tap, or you can do da-ga-diga-da-da-da-da-da-da.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_03: I don't care what you do, but it has to fill four counts.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_03: And and and it's challenging, you know, for kids who only know shuffle ball change and Irish and maxi forward because they don't quite have the idea that, oh, I can just make four sounds with my feet.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't have to be like a step.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's a big challenge for beginner tappers if you're not already learning in that style.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_03: You know, which is it, but it's good.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's good for your mind, it's good for your brain, and it's good to just do it.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think that's great advice.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's so you just hit on something that just like was like a light bulb for me.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I first started choreographing and I would make I would be so committed to every step, and it had to be this, and it had to be a technical step.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_00: It had to be a step out of the dance book that I knew.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_00: And when I finally realized that I could do anything and I could call it dance, like, you know, I was like, I was so much freer.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, you know, and again, it comes from that improvisation topic.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, and that's so interesting because I'd never thought of it as it related to tap, but that's so true.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you're still tapping, it you're making four sounds, it doesn't have to be a step.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_03: And and they are all steps.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, a toe drop is a step, a heel drop is a step, it's one sound, but it doesn't make it any less of a step than a shuffle ball change or an Irish, whatever.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I think there are so many schools of thought with tap that, like, if you're not teaching, you know, tap syllabus, A, B, and C, whatever, that the hoofing version of making sounds and making rhythms without it being called something is not tap.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_03: And they can coincide.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_03: You know, both of those worlds are valid and can be married, I think.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_03: I think it is just a matter of like you have to start at the beginning because it is much harder to go from learning your codified tap syllabus to then not thinking in step terms.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_02: I love the idea of the tap circle at the end.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's just a perfect way to incorporate improv into the into class for tap.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_02: And that way we're really incorporating it into all styles of dance so it's not foreign and and unexpected and a shock when someone's asked to do it.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_02: But I also hope, and I and P if you are a listener to the pod and have listened to every episode, you've heard me say this before.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_02: But tap is so important for all styles of dance.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_02: We've all said it, and I've said it a lot on this episode, but we've all said that musicality is extremely important in improv.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_02: That is what's going to separate you from the person next.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_02: I don't care how great your tilt jump is.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_02: I don't care if you did 5,000 pirouettes.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_02: If you don't have musicality while doing that when you're improving, then the person with musicality is gonna, you know, catch my attention more than you.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so where does musicality come from?
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_02: It comes from all styles, but especially tap.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_02: Especially like what Leslie said.
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_02: You can't be a tapper without rhythm and tempo in musicality.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_02: So that tap, even if you despise tap, even if you have two left feet, I don't care.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's going to help you in your other styles and help you improv too, because that's what we're talking about today.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_02: So get into the tap class, everybody.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_03: Well, and one of the I like sort of I had I had more time at the end of class the other day than I thought I would.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_03: We just got through what I wanted to do quicker and I was like, oh, I have more time.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_03: So I we played tap telephone.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_03: So I had the first person had to come up with four counts, pass it down, and they all had to do, they all to come up with each four counts.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_03: And then I I surprised them and I made them go backwards.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_03: And they were like, ugh, Miss Leslie, that's rude.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_03: And it was, it was stressful, but it was good because it it it challenges your brain in such a different way than shuffle ball change, shuffle ball change, shuffle ball change, turn.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_03: El Gilbert, rest in peace.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_03: We love you, and your video, you know, your records.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_03: But, you know, it's it's that improvisational challenge that I think is just good for our brains in general.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_03: Not only just for dance, but for everything.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it just stretches the muscle, like we've been saying.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, y'all, this was so good.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_02: This was such a good discussion.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I really think that um, you know, to everybody that's that's listening and tuning in, um, hopefully you'll love improv even more than you already do.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like we said, it's it's so important, but it is becoming more, you know, seen in in the competitive dance world and more incorporated into our training.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_02: And if it's not incorporated into your training, then start incorporating it.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_02: Why not?
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_02: Take some risks and explore how improv can help improve your dancing in all styles and how free you get to feel while you improv.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_02: And especially for all my dancers that are pursuing planning to pursue a professional career, whether it's just college dance or beyond, make sure that you're improving in all-style.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_02: So to our lovely guests who joined us, thank you so much for spending your night with us.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_02: This time we're recording at night.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I would love for you both to lead us out with any final thoughts you may have on improv or any words of advice to dancers, to students, to parents, teachers, studio owners, anyone out there that you'd like to share with.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna speak to the students who might be a little bit afraid of improv to anybody listening who might feel apprehensive or scared of it.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_04: Just look at what the last year has brought us, right?
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_04: All of these changes and all of this turbulence and all of our life.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_04: Look at improv as a challenge.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_04: We have collectively faced so many challenges and so many things, and I think that for anybody who is afraid to use improv as a tool to learn how to express yourself better, and also just grow as a dancer.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_04: And if you're a teacher out there and you're not incorporating it into your classes, there are a ton of exercises to start with.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_04: There are a ton of things you can do, and you will be so surprised at the growth in your students, both in and out of the classroom.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_04: So I would say just go for it.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna uh I'm gonna speak to everybody, but especially dancers.
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_00: Confidence is key.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_00: Confidence in yourself.
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you you we have so much confidence to even put on a leotard and tights or whatever it is that you're wearing into dance class, get in the room and stand there sometimes with a group full of strangers, and then we all of a sudden we go into our shell and don't want to dance.
• 1:02:41
  SPEAKER_00: Look how much confidence it took to get to that point.
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's truly incredible what we do every day.
• 1:02:47
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, we have to be that for ourselves because while, yes, our families and our friends are great supporters, they also have to find it for themselves.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_00: So if we're not, if we're not feeling it and and and able to be confident in ourselves, we can't support each other.
• 1:03:02
  SPEAKER_00: So really, really continue focusing on on yourself and uh you know keep finding that inner joy, which will uh really help that confidence, you know, flower.
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for joining us for this wonderful discussion about InFox.
• 1:03:21
  SPEAKER_01: You can follow our guests on social media, Becca at choreobyca and Joshua at ABC Choreography.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_03: If you haven't subscribed to the Daily Impact, the Dance Competition Podcast, what are you waiting for?
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_03: You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Twitter, and Amazon Podcasts.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you are looking for another set of eyes to watch your dance before you officially hit the competition stage this year, be sure to check out our IBA online judges critiques.
• 1:03:49
  SPEAKER_02: This service is extremely personalized where you can request your judge to be on the lookout for specific requests, like technique, performance, execution, choreography, and so much more.
• 1:03:59
  SPEAKER_02: Our additional feedback critiques offer more than the standard you receive at competition.
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_02: Not only will you be able to see your judge and watch them critique your dance, but they will even go back through from beginning to end while starting and stopping your video to go even more in-depth with their feedback.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_02: Critiques are at only$35, so head over to our website now to send us your dance at ImpactDancejudicators.com/slash one line critiques.
• 1:04:24
  SPEAKER_03: We are having a blast with the second half of season two, and you won't want to miss what's coming up.
• 1:04:29
  SPEAKER_03: Stay subscribed for our next spotlight episode, non performance career options for dancers, and presentation for the competition stage.