Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Making the Impact LIVE at Capezio NYC - March 2024

Transcript

Making the Impact LIVE at Capezio NYC - March 2024 · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_08: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_08: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_08: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_08: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:24
SPEAKER_02: Hey podcast fans, hope you're having a wonderful summer.
0:28
SPEAKER_02: We are currently on our summer hiatus before season six, but we wanted to share a sneak peek into one of our recent platinum premium episodes.
0:35
SPEAKER_02: By being a platinum premium member, you get access to exclusive focus episodes on Public Two Made to help you support our podcast, plus a bunch of additional products.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: Enjoy this sneak peek from our live podcast event held at the Compute Fly Chip Store in New York City.
0:51
SPEAKER_02: And be sure to join our Platinum Premium Podcast subscription now for only$5 a month to tune in to the full episode.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: Hey everyone! Can you hear us?
1:07
unknown: Yeah.
1:08
SPEAKER_02: Little bit, a little bit.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Welcome, y'all, to our very first ever Making the Impact live in New York City at the Capizio flagship store.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:25
SPEAKER_08: Super excited to be here.
1:26
SPEAKER_08: Yes, thank you for everyone who joined us in class this morning.
1:29
SPEAKER_08: Um we had a great time.
1:30
SPEAKER_08: I danced, crazy.
1:32
SPEAKER_08: Courtney Ludd class.
1:33
SPEAKER_08: Love it.
1:34
SPEAKER_02: It was great.
1:35
SPEAKER_02: It was a great class.
1:36
SPEAKER_02: Fantastic dancing, everyone who came, so thanks for jazzing.
1:39
SPEAKER_08: Yes, and who who was like a little nervous about it?
1:41
SPEAKER_08: Raise your hand.
1:42
SPEAKER_02: Any dancers who were nervous about class?
1:44
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, listen, y'all did great.
1:45
SPEAKER_08: Everybody tried and nobody failed.
1:48
SPEAKER_08: It was awesome.
1:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:49
SPEAKER_02: Don't be nervous for class, classes, class.
1:52
SPEAKER_02: It's meant you're meant to try something new.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: That's why you came all the way here to New York City to do that.
1:57
SPEAKER_02: And also just to introduce if anyone is new here to Making the Impact, I'm Courtney Ortiz.
2:04
SPEAKER_08: I'm Leslie Miller.
2:05
SPEAKER_08: We are the hosts of Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast, and we are in our fifth season.
2:10
SPEAKER_08: So we've been on the air.
2:12
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
2:12
SPEAKER_08: Yes, thank you.
2:14
SPEAKER_08: Started back in 2019, uh pre-pandemic.
2:17
SPEAKER_08: So this has been a labor of love and just something we were excited to do for the greater dance community, and it has grown in such an amazing way.
2:25
SPEAKER_08: Um and now we're able to do things like this and incorporate people live and in person, which is so amazing because we hear from you online sometimes.
2:34
SPEAKER_08: But to be able to see faces that like actually listen to our podcast is really, really cool.
2:38
SPEAKER_08: So thank you all for coming.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're yeah, I I love being, I feel like so many times when I go into dance studios, people are like, I know your voice so well.
2:47
SPEAKER_02: I listen to your voice all the time in my AirPods, in the car on the way to dance class or competition.
2:54
SPEAKER_02: And now I get to actually see you in person.
2:55
SPEAKER_02: It's just full circle.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, yeah.
2:57
SPEAKER_02: So I love um interacting with fans.
2:59
SPEAKER_02: I love meeting new dancers.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: So thank you to all the dancers that came and danced with us.
3:04
SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, we're excited to do some live events.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: We've done a few before.
3:09
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, and this is, you know, we're hoping to make this a thing so that maybe in different places in the country, like y'all are lucky.
3:14
SPEAKER_08: We're here, you're here, close enough to be here.
3:17
SPEAKER_08: But we have friends all over the country, all over the world.
3:19
SPEAKER_08: Um, so one one day, maybe, you know, Europe.
3:21
SPEAKER_08: We'll see.
3:22
SPEAKER_08: Oh my gosh, put it out there.
3:23
SPEAKER_08: I'll go to Europe.
3:24
SPEAKER_08: Let's see.
3:24
SPEAKER_08: Sounds great.
3:25
SPEAKER_08: Um I'm curious though, who has who knows us?
3:27
SPEAKER_08: Who has listened to the podcast before or knows us personally?
3:30
SPEAKER_08: Raise your hand.
3:31
SPEAKER_08: Cool.
3:31
SPEAKER_08: Who is brand new and is like, I've never heard of you before?
3:34
SPEAKER_08: Who are you?
3:35
SPEAKER_02: Ooh, welcome.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: Cool.
3:37
SPEAKER_08: We have new friends.
3:39
SPEAKER_08: Um well, and on your chair, you received a little piece of paper that tells you a little bit about who we are.
3:43
SPEAKER_08: Um, Courtney and I are friends.
3:44
SPEAKER_08: We've known each other since a very long time ago.
3:47
SPEAKER_08: Something ridiculous, like 17 years.
3:48
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, that sounds right.
3:49
SPEAKER_08: Definitely over 15 years.
3:50
SPEAKER_08: Yep.
3:51
SPEAKER_08: Um, we are both professional dancers.
3:53
SPEAKER_08: Courtney is still a professional dancer.
3:54
SPEAKER_08: I'm retired.
3:55
SPEAKER_08: I work for Capezio, which is how we got this beautiful space.
3:57
SPEAKER_08: Thank you, Capezio.
3:58
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Capezio.
4:02
SPEAKER_08: Um but yeah, Courtney and I worked together on our first professional job on Royal Caribbean cruise lines, stayed friends ever since.
4:08
SPEAKER_08: Um, colleagues, audition buddies, all the things.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:13
SPEAKER_02: So if you have questions about that as we get going when it comes to being a pro dancer or what it's like to work on a cruise ship, that's where we met.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: And it's really cool because the friends you meet on professional dance jobs, they stay with you for a very long time.
4:29
SPEAKER_02: We have a handful of our personal friends that are in the audience right now.
4:33
SPEAKER_02: We love y'all Rob, Sam, Macy, Emily, that we've all met through our time as dancers who are also now judges for IDA.
4:41
SPEAKER_02: And if you're like, what is IDA?
4:42
SPEAKER_02: What's Impact Dance Adjudicators?
4:44
SPEAKER_02: That's a company that I started back in 2014.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
4:49
SPEAKER_02: It was actually created in um my friend Rob's apartment.
4:54
SPEAKER_02: We were brainstorming about judging one day and uh just how to change the industry a bit and make it better for a better experience for the attendees at dance competitions to get quality critiques from your judges and also to create more opportunities for dance judges who wanna judge in the industry since there's so many competitions now.
5:15
SPEAKER_02: And then also for competitions, easily find judges for competition.
5:19
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's just a full circle thing, and we've been doing it now for close to 10 years, and it's been great.
5:24
SPEAKER_02: We do we pre-screen all of the judges that are on our roster.
5:27
SPEAKER_02: We have 150 judges out all around the country, and they go out every single weekend and judge dance competitions.
5:34
SPEAKER_02: The fun thing is that we picked this weekend in particular to do the event here because there are no competitions happening on March 30th because of the holiday weekend.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: Yes, take a break.
5:47
SPEAKER_02: Also, we were like, when can we even do a live podcast in the middle of competition season?
5:52
SPEAKER_02: And we were like, everybody's off on March 30th, and maybe people will come if no one's at competition.
5:58
SPEAKER_02: And here you all are.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: So thank you all for being here today, and thank you for supporting our podcast and Impact Dance Adjudicators.
6:05
SPEAKER_02: It means the world.
6:06
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, and so this episode is being recorded.
6:08
SPEAKER_08: Um, you've all uh said yes, please, you know, record my voice for this.
6:12
SPEAKER_08: So this will be released um at a later date on our podcast so people around the country can listen and then hopefully get excited to experience a live event themselves.
6:20
SPEAKER_08: We have a lovely assistant here, Hannah, who is going to be taking this microphone.
6:25
SPEAKER_08: If you have a question that you'd like to ask us once we get started, Hannah's gonna be the person that's gonna bring you the mic so that your voice will be recorded.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: Leslie said this is a QA podcast.
6:34
SPEAKER_02: So if you've ever listened to our pod, usually we do roundtable chats where we have a few different voices and we talk about a specific topic, but we also do QA episodes where I go live on Facebook and I usually have a judge alongside me and people chime in and ask questions about the dance world.
6:51
SPEAKER_02: It can truly be about anything today.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: So if you have a question about dance training, if you have a question about what it's like to be a professional, if you have a question on competition dance, since our podcast is about the competitive dance world, maybe you want to know more about what should I wear on stage, or does my costume matter, or what type of training should I be doing in the studio, or why is my score not higher?
7:13
SPEAKER_02: I mean, any question at all is totally welcome for us.
7:17
SPEAKER_02: So start brainstorming, get those questions prepped.
7:20
SPEAKER_02: I know, because we have a whole hour here together to answer questions for you.
7:25
SPEAKER_02: So I hope you have some good ones prepared.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: And we want to hear from dancers, we want to hear from parents, we want to hear from teachers if you're if you're here as a teacher.
7:33
SPEAKER_02: We want to hear all voices chiming in through this interactive day and this interactive podcast recording.
7:40
SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
7:41
SPEAKER_08: Are you ready to kick it off?
7:44
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
7:44
SPEAKER_08: We have a few questions that we can start with if nobody would like to go first.
7:47
SPEAKER_08: But if somebody might like to go first, oh well, we have a taker over there.
7:53
SPEAKER_02: And look who it is.
7:55
SPEAKER_02: It's Sam Quinn.
7:56
SPEAKER_02: This is one of our IDA judges.
7:59
SPEAKER_09: Okay.
8:00
SPEAKER_09: So the Facebook group had a post this past week about what to wear in convention, socks, shoes.
8:07
SPEAKER_09: I think it'll be interesting to hear your real take perspective on how you should show up in convention classes, whether it's shoes, socks, barefoot.
8:16
SPEAKER_09: Um I think it's a fun conversation to have, and it was like blowing up on Facebook.
8:21
SPEAKER_09: It was.
8:21
SPEAKER_09: Let's bring it to the pod.
8:22
SPEAKER_08: Bring it to the pod.
8:24
SPEAKER_08: Woo! Well, so thank you, Sam, for that question.
8:26
SPEAKER_08: Um yes, we so we also have a Facebook group, um, Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast community.
8:32
SPEAKER_08: Um I think we have about 3,000 members, something like that right now.
8:35
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
8:35
SPEAKER_08: Uh so we have a lot of conversations that go further than just our conversations on the podcast there, where you do hear from a lot of the IDA judges because they're the people behind the table and behind the mic.
8:44
SPEAKER_08: So yeah, we had a conversation the other day that was a pretty lively discussion about shoes versus socks versus witch shoes versus maybe your barefoot versus does it matter?
8:55
SPEAKER_08: Yes, it does.
8:56
SPEAKER_02: So that's I saw a lot of jazz shoes in my class today, which I'm not saying you can only wear a jazz shoe in class.
9:02
SPEAKER_02: You can it's class, your class is your class.
9:05
SPEAKER_02: So I I care about safety first.
9:07
SPEAKER_02: So when we are lucky enough to be in spaces where we have a sprung floor and a Marley floor, jazz shoes.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: If if socks feel good for the resistance for you, that's great.
9:17
SPEAKER_02: As long as you're not like slip-sliding around.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: I'm not like, I think that that post in particular, everyone was like, Courtney hates socks, anti-sock.
9:25
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I'm not anti-sock.
9:27
SPEAKER_02: I am here for a sock.
9:28
SPEAKER_02: I love a sock.
9:29
SPEAKER_02: I dance in them regularly.
9:30
SPEAKER_02: As long as they're not restricting me from being able to execute the dancing that is taking place.
9:35
SPEAKER_02: So if you can still feel grounded and do your weight shifts and do all of your weight transfers in your sock, wear your sock.
9:41
SPEAKER_02: It is your class.
9:42
SPEAKER_02: Have a good time.
9:43
SPEAKER_02: But if it's ice skating under there for you and you can't even grip the floor and feel grounded, then guess what?
9:49
SPEAKER_02: Socks gotta come off.
9:50
SPEAKER_02: Or put a jazz shoe on.
9:51
SPEAKER_02: Right.
9:52
SPEAKER_02: Jazz shoes have rubber.
9:53
SPEAKER_08: I'm a big old jazz shoe proponent, personally, and something I want to tell everyone socks are cool.
9:59
SPEAKER_08: They're cool.
10:00
SPEAKER_08: They work really well for some people.
10:03
SPEAKER_08: For some people, they do not.
10:04
SPEAKER_08: They do not work well for me.
10:05
SPEAKER_08: I find them incredibly slippery.
10:07
SPEAKER_08: I can't get grounded, I can't turn, I'm afraid I'm gonna fall.
10:10
SPEAKER_08: I don't wear them even though they're cool.
10:12
SPEAKER_08: I wear a jazz shoe because the jazz shoe works for me.
10:15
SPEAKER_08: So, you know, a lot of you dancers out there are at the age where you want to just be cool.
10:20
SPEAKER_08: That's fine.
10:21
SPEAKER_08: But if you're if you're like, I cannot do this choreography in a sock, well then maybe it's time to take the sock off.
10:26
SPEAKER_08: And like you're still cool because you're a dancer and you're an individual and you're a human being and we're all cool.
10:31
SPEAKER_02: It's cool to know when the It's cool to know how to take class properly.
10:36
SPEAKER_02: Like that is cool because it's gonna make you a better dancer at the end of the day, and you're gonna understand how to wear a multiple different footwear as well as dancing on different surfaces because we're gonna dance on.
10:47
SPEAKER_02: We actually had the potential to do class in here.
10:50
SPEAKER_02: If you look down, it's a wooden floor.
10:52
SPEAKER_02: Would you have worn a sock in here?
10:54
SPEAKER_02: I don't know about that.
10:55
SPEAKER_02: You would have been it would have been an ice skating ring.
10:57
SPEAKER_02: You probably would have been like, yeah, those jazz shoes feel really good on this wooden floor right now.
11:01
SPEAKER_02: I love the jazz shoes.
11:03
SPEAKER_02: And I love a bare, I'm a barefoot girl, like I love dancing in bare feet.
11:07
SPEAKER_02: It just I if it gives me everything I need.
11:09
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's a little too sticky if I'm trying to do turns, but you gotta you gotta figure it out.
11:14
SPEAKER_02: And I always come with um like well, I have a water bottle, like if it's too uh slick, I have a water bottle, I put water down, I blop my feet.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: I always do that for auditions too.
11:24
SPEAKER_02: Even when I take class, if I'm wearing like a Lazuka heel or a character shoe, blot my ball on my feet so I can make sure the resistance is what I need it to be to execute the dancing that is taking place.
11:36
SPEAKER_02: So as far as like footwear for convention, I think that you should have like every shoe in your dance bag, every shoe that you ever have owned, put it in your dance bag because you never know what the teacher will ask.
11:48
SPEAKER_02: They might say, put on a character heel for musical theater, and you might have done that one competition dance where you wore character heels that one time and put them in the dance bag.
11:57
SPEAKER_02: You never know.
11:58
SPEAKER_02: You you want to come prepared for the teacher.
12:00
SPEAKER_02: Right.
12:00
SPEAKER_02: And carpet dancing isn't great at convention classes.
12:04
SPEAKER_02: You're dancing on carpet, it's never fun.
12:06
SPEAKER_02: It's never fun, but it is what it is.
12:10
SPEAKER_02: It is what we have.
12:11
SPEAKER_08: So protect yourself and do what's right for you within the confines of what has been asked of you.
12:16
SPEAKER_08: So if it has been asked of you to put on a character shoe, if you have it, put the character shoe on.
12:21
SPEAKER_08: If you don't have it, you know, then the next step is what's the next best thing?
12:25
SPEAKER_08: Probably a jazz shoe, a padini for a musical theater class.
12:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I there have been times where I asked dancers, or I'll say at the start of class, if I'm teaching musical theater, like, this can be done in heels.
12:36
SPEAKER_02: If it feels too dangerous once you put your heels on, then you, as a smart dancer, knows when it's time to take them off.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: You it's your class.
12:44
SPEAKER_02: If you can't execute it in the footwear, I don't want you to feel like I can't take my heels off because Courtney said I need to be in heels.
12:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would like you to, but if it's restricting you, then don't.
12:54
SPEAKER_02: We can we can work our way up to the heels.
12:56
SPEAKER_02: That's I want you to have a good class at the end of the day.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: I want you to walk away feeling confident and good about it and not, oh, my feet hurt so bad because I'm in a heel and I have a blister and I can't get my grip on this floor.
13:07
SPEAKER_02: Like, it's not about that.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we want to come to class prepared, but at the end of the day, safety first.
13:12
SPEAKER_02: That's the most important thing.
13:14
SPEAKER_02: So great question, Sam.
13:15
SPEAKER_08: Thanks, Sam.
13:16
SPEAKER_08: Thanks for that.
13:17
SPEAKER_08: Great question.
13:18
SPEAKER_08: Opening up the floor to anyone else.
13:20
SPEAKER_08: Ryan?
13:21
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
13:21
SPEAKER_02: Oh, we gotta come up and put the money.
13:23
SPEAKER_08: Ryan, who did the amazing turned-out position at Courtney and Car today?
13:28
SPEAKER_02: Step forward.
13:28
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
13:29
SPEAKER_06: Let's say I'm at like a dance call and there's like an improv like thing that you can do.
13:35
SPEAKER_06: Should I wear pirouettes or should I wear barefoot?
13:40
SPEAKER_08: Alright, so if we're at dance competition and there's an improv category or an improv opportunity and it's a lyrical opportunity, do I wear pirouettes or should I go barefoot?
13:49
SPEAKER_08: That's the question.
13:50
SPEAKER_08: Great question.
13:51
SPEAKER_02: Great question.
13:52
SPEAKER_02: I say wear whatever makes you dance your best.
13:57
SPEAKER_02: Because improv is for you.
13:59
SPEAKER_02: It's not about the team, it's not about every like it's that's improv is individual.
14:04
SPEAKER_02: It is totally for you.
14:06
SPEAKER_02: So if you want to wear your pirouetters, if you know you're gonna be able to do your amazing pirouettes and you you're gonna feel the most confident in improv, I want you to wear the pirouetters.
14:13
SPEAKER_02: If you'd rather be barefoot, but you prefer if you want to wear bare feet, that's fine.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: But I think the most important thing for that, when it's individual, is whatever works best for you.
14:24
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna be like, oh, I wish she was bare feet, even though her improv was amazing.
14:29
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna be like, Wow, that improv was amazing.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm not even looking at what's on your feet.
14:34
SPEAKER_08: Except for if there's only one shoe.
14:37
SPEAKER_08: When there's only one shoe, we are looking at that.
14:39
SPEAKER_08: So please wear two.
14:40
SPEAKER_08: If you choose to wear a shoe, wear two.
14:42
SPEAKER_02: Wait, that's a good point.
14:43
SPEAKER_08: That's a really great point.
14:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a really great point.
14:46
SPEAKER_08: I'll always bring that up.
14:47
SPEAKER_08: If you ever hear from Miss Leslie on your critique, I'll say it and then I'll leave it alone, but I'll say it.
14:52
SPEAKER_08: Two shoes or no shoes.
14:54
SPEAKER_02: Two shoes or no shoes forever.
14:56
SPEAKER_02: If you've listened to the podcast, you've heard us preach about it.
14:58
SPEAKER_02: It's important.
14:59
SPEAKER_02: We still see it at competition often, and most of the time a lot of dancers are like, Well, I need to do my acro.
15:05
SPEAKER_02: I need my other foot free for my acro.
15:08
SPEAKER_02: I'm thinking to myself, I would rather you not do your acro and wear two shoes or wear no shoes and do your acro.
15:15
SPEAKER_02: But we can't have the in-between.
15:17
SPEAKER_02: If you can't do your acro with two shoes on, are you ready to do your acro?
15:22
SPEAKER_02: That's my question.
15:23
SPEAKER_02: Which you've heard us talk about it.
15:24
SPEAKER_02: It's a controversial.
15:26
SPEAKER_08: It's controversial and it will never end.
15:28
SPEAKER_08: So we'll leave it there so it will take over this podcast.
15:32
SPEAKER_08: But yeah.
15:33
SPEAKER_08: Ryan, that was a good question.
15:34
SPEAKER_08: Thank you.
15:34
SPEAKER_02: Great question from a dancer.
15:36
SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Ryan.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: We have more.
15:39
SPEAKER_02: Ooh, so many more.
15:40
SPEAKER_02: Another dancer.
15:41
SPEAKER_02: Come on up.
15:42
SPEAKER_03: I know in the competition world nowadays, like times have changed.
15:46
SPEAKER_03: I know a lot of judges have like they value a lot of tricks.
15:51
SPEAKER_03: So do you think that it's important to have your aerial as like a regular scale for competition dancing?
15:58
SPEAKER_07: Wow.
15:58
SPEAKER_03: That's a great question.
15:59
SPEAKER_03: Fantastic question.
16:00
SPEAKER_02: And what was your name?
16:01
unknown: Grace.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: Grace.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: Grace, where are you from?
16:04
unknown: Pennsylvania.
16:05
SPEAKER_02: Grace from Pennsylvania, a dancer with this awesome question.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: Wow, that's a great question, Grace.
16:11
SPEAKER_02: Woo!
16:12
SPEAKER_08: Um, yeah, we can applaud for that.
16:14
SPEAKER_08: Um I think.
16:17
SPEAKER_08: No, I don't think, I don't think you have to have your aerial.
16:19
SPEAKER_08: As a regular old person who loves to dance and goes to dance competition, nope.
16:23
SPEAKER_08: I want you to be a great dancer.
16:24
SPEAKER_08: Your aerial and anything that goes upside down to me is icing on the cake.
16:30
SPEAKER_08: If you can move me, if you can give me great technique doing everything upright, then I'm I'm A-Okay with that.
16:36
SPEAKER_08: Aerials are cool.
16:38
SPEAKER_08: They are.
16:38
SPEAKER_08: I've never been able to do one.
16:39
SPEAKER_08: I wanted to, never learned.
16:41
SPEAKER_08: But it's not, I dance professionally with no aerial.
16:45
SPEAKER_08: So you don't have to have it.
16:47
SPEAKER_08: They are they are they are cool.
16:48
SPEAKER_08: If you have the opportunity to learn and you want to learn, great, do it.
16:52
SPEAKER_08: But don't think that that's the end all be all of dance.
16:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I agree.
16:57
SPEAKER_02: I think that aerials are like bot maz these days in competitions.
17:01
SPEAKER_02: They feel like bot maz.
17:02
SPEAKER_02: I feel like every dancer hits the stage and that's like a part of their dance because they can do it.
17:08
SPEAKER_02: We're like training aerials to a point where it's the same as a triple pirouette and a side bot ma and a regular good old calypso.
17:16
SPEAKER_02: It's almost at that point now where you I expect to see an aerial.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: Do I need to see it?
17:23
SPEAKER_02: No.
17:23
SPEAKER_02: But I I kind of am just like, I betcha this dancer's gonna give me an aerial at some point in this solo today.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: And then it happens, and it's if it's great, then I'm here for it.
17:32
SPEAKER_08: Well, and it's not surprising anymore.
17:33
SPEAKER_08: I feel like 20 years ago, you were very wowed by somebody who came out at your age and danced beautifully and then did an aerial.
17:41
SPEAKER_08: That was like, but now it's not that impressive anymore because a lot of people can do it.
17:46
SPEAKER_08: And so, you know, you I guess you have to kind of decide like how impressive do I want to be?
17:51
SPEAKER_08: Is that something that I value?
17:54
SPEAKER_08: Is there other things that can take the place of that, you know?
17:58
SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, for me, I know that if and like you talked about tricks, right?
18:02
SPEAKER_02: So like Ariel's a trick, there's a lot of other tricks.
18:05
SPEAKER_02: I feel like I wish I saw more dancing happening on stage in in dances at comp.
18:11
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes there's so many tricks that there's not the transitional steps.
18:14
SPEAKER_02: And in class today, if you took class, we worked on transitional steps: pot de bureau, triplets, pivot turns, chasse steps, like those are the in-betweens, oftentimes the preparation that leads you into the trick.
18:27
SPEAKER_02: So if you can't even do the chassis step with style, but you have this beautiful, huge soda shaw that's powerful and amazing, I'm still thinking about the chasse step that happened.
18:39
SPEAKER_02: I I I know that I saw how great that that soda saw was.
18:43
SPEAKER_02: But I care that you weren't on the balls of your feet in your chasse and you were leading with your heel or your arms weren't in that clean position in your chassis step.
18:50
SPEAKER_02: Like those things matter too.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: And I think the emphasis on tricks sometimes gets you know so prioritized.
18:56
SPEAKER_02: For a lot of dancers too, like dancers in the room, who feels like you have to prioritize who feels like you care a lot about tricks and you feel obligated to prioritize tricks?
19:05
SPEAKER_02: Anybody?
19:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah?
19:07
SPEAKER_08: And don't be don't be like, feel bad about that.
19:09
SPEAKER_08: That's just kind of how it is now.
19:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we had a couple of maybes over there.
19:13
SPEAKER_02: But me too, when I was young.
19:15
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to do every trick.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: Are you kidding me?
19:17
SPEAKER_02: And I still love doing tricks, they're so fun.
19:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:19
SPEAKER_02: My body hurts when I do that, but they're fun.
19:22
SPEAKER_08: Right.
19:22
SPEAKER_08: And and that's fair and fine.
19:23
SPEAKER_08: And with you know, all of the big stuff, of course, you want to work up to that, but you just can't forget that the little stuff matters too.
19:29
SPEAKER_08: That literally the whole class we had in Courtney's class today, minus the pirouette and the leap.
19:34
SPEAKER_08: That was in a fan cake, I guess.
19:36
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
19:36
SPEAKER_08: That was all just basic stuff.
19:38
SPEAKER_08: And first of all, y'all did great.
19:39
SPEAKER_08: So somebody's training you really well out there because I saw nobody stumbling over a triplet.
19:44
SPEAKER_08: I saw nobody being confused about which direction we are changing.
19:47
SPEAKER_08: Like all of that is really foundational key stuff that every judge looks for.
19:51
SPEAKER_08: And then we look for the icing on the cake.
19:53
SPEAKER_02: Right.
19:54
SPEAKER_08: So, you know, I think just in life generally, of course, of course you want to eat the icing first.
19:58
SPEAKER_08: Yes, but you have to like eat the cake first.
20:00
SPEAKER_08: You have to make the you have to make the cake before you ice it.
20:02
SPEAKER_02: Ooh, yeah.
20:03
SPEAKER_02: I like that.
20:04
SPEAKER_02: Make the cake before you ice it.
20:06
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, we love tricks.
20:08
SPEAKER_02: You love tricks.
20:10
SPEAKER_02: Make sure they look great if you're doing them.
20:12
SPEAKER_02: You know, we're all gonna work.
20:13
SPEAKER_02: Make sure they're safe when you're doing them?
20:14
SPEAKER_02: Safe, safety.
20:15
SPEAKER_02: There have been a lot of times I've seen aerials where I like am scared.
20:19
SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm scared.
20:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I'm scared for the dancer.
20:22
SPEAKER_02: I I don't want you to get hurt.
20:23
SPEAKER_02: That's the last thing I want.
20:25
SPEAKER_02: And front aerials, let's talk about those really fast because those are like the new aerial.
20:30
SPEAKER_02: Front aerial, regular aerials are the b the new bot ma.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: And front aerials are like the new aerial because we're just we keep advancing.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: Like we keep getting making things harder and harder and harder.
20:42
SPEAKER_02: And it's very hard to do a front aerial.
20:45
SPEAKER_02: It is impressive if you can do a front aerial.
20:48
SPEAKER_02: But if it has bent legs, forgotten about feet, and I'm and you're this far off the ground, and I'm scared that you're going to literally break your neck, then I don't want to see your front aerial.
20:59
SPEAKER_02: At least not on stage at competition.
21:01
SPEAKER_02: That can be for class with mats, with safety, but not on the carpet concrete at convention, not on stage in the wrong shoes at competition.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: Like, save it for class.
21:12
SPEAKER_02: We can work our way up, but they should be beautiful and seamless.
21:15
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes I feel like again, that's the pressure, right?
21:18
SPEAKER_02: Of like, well, the dancer that got first overall at the last competition did a front aerial, so now I need to do my front aerial if I want to get first overall.
21:26
SPEAKER_02: That's not how it works.
21:27
SPEAKER_02: I care about all those in-between things so much more than that front aerial.
21:31
SPEAKER_02: But we see the wow and we think that's what it is.
21:33
SPEAKER_02: Right.
21:33
SPEAKER_02: You know, sometimes we see the tricks only, and you're like, well, that must be what it was.
21:37
SPEAKER_02: That must be it.
21:38
SPEAKER_02: I'm inside the brain of a judge trying to figure it out, analyzing what is what was it that made this dancer get the win, get first.
21:46
SPEAKER_02: Right.
21:47
SPEAKER_02: And usually it's more of that foundational technique for me that surpasses I can see overall when I watch a dancer if they have that foundational technique over the tricks.
21:56
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes the tricks are there too.
21:58
SPEAKER_02: Right.
21:58
SPEAKER_02: It just that's important.
22:00
SPEAKER_08: When people get confused, they don't realize that that particular first place person not only has these tricks but has all this other stuff too.
22:08
SPEAKER_08: And you know, you you might think in your head, well, we have the tricks, I have the tricks, but do you have that basic training and the basic transitions?
22:15
SPEAKER_08: And that's usually where it kind of that's the difference.
22:19
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
22:19
SPEAKER_08: That's the difference.
22:20
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
22:20
SPEAKER_08: So that was a really excellent question.
22:22
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
22:23
SPEAKER_02: Good one.
22:24
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: What else?
22:25
SPEAKER_02: What else?
22:26
SPEAKER_08: Where are we going?
22:26
SPEAKER_02: Oh man.
22:27
SPEAKER_08: All the it's all the dancers.
22:28
SPEAKER_08: I'm obsessed.
22:29
SPEAKER_08: I love that.
22:30
SPEAKER_08: Where should we go?
22:31
SPEAKER_08: Let's go on to this side of the room.
22:32
SPEAKER_06: When you're a professional dancer, do you get a lot of opportunities?
22:37
SPEAKER_08: Well, you uh you create your own opportunities.
22:40
SPEAKER_08: You have to show up.
22:41
SPEAKER_08: You can't just sit around and say, Well, somebody will hire me, right?
22:44
SPEAKER_08: Somebody will watch my YouTube video, somebody will watch my TikTok.
22:47
SPEAKER_08: Nope, you gotta go.
22:48
SPEAKER_08: You gotta promote yourself.
22:49
SPEAKER_08: You have to go to class, you have to go to an audition, you have to talk to your friend Macy and say, Hey, do you know this person?
22:54
SPEAKER_08: Maybe you could hook me up and like, you know, let me meet them.
22:57
SPEAKER_08: You have to network.
22:58
SPEAKER_08: Um and that's what you guys are doing today.
23:00
SPEAKER_08: You guys are gonna meet all these other people from different studios and different spaces, and you're gonna grow up.
23:05
SPEAKER_08: And if you decide to do this with your life, you're gonna know these people already.
23:08
SPEAKER_08: You have already networked from how old are you?
23:10
SPEAKER_08: From 11.
23:12
SPEAKER_08: You started networking today because now you have new friends that want to do this too.
23:16
SPEAKER_08: So, yeah, you get a lot of opportunities if you create a lot of opportunities.
23:20
SPEAKER_02: Ooh, great answer.
23:22
SPEAKER_02: And I'll chime in really fast too.
23:25
SPEAKER_02: Um, yes, you get opportunities.
23:29
SPEAKER_02: Yes, you have to create them for yourselves.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: Yes, you also have to grind and audition like crazy.
23:36
SPEAKER_02: I always tell dancers, and you may have heard me say this on the podcast, that I I call myself a professional auditioner more than a professional dancer.
23:45
SPEAKER_02: Because as a professional, you audition more than you actually get to dance.
23:50
SPEAKER_02: That's the sad, honest truth.
23:51
SPEAKER_02: Unless you book Lion King on Broadway and you can sit in that role eight times a week for 10 years straight, because that show's not going anywhere.
24:00
SPEAKER_02: Same with dancers who are in Wicked, same with dancers who are in Chicago.
24:04
SPEAKER_02: I'm just talking Broadway right now.
24:06
SPEAKER_02: But a lot of jobs end, even like Taylor Swift's dancers, they're on a contract, they're not booked forever.
24:12
SPEAKER_02: They're gonna be on tour with Taylor Swift, and then they have five months off before her next tour.
24:17
SPEAKER_02: What are they doing?
24:18
SPEAKER_02: Just kicking their feet up, hanging out?
24:20
SPEAKER_02: No, they're auditioning, they're grinding, they're looking for another job.
24:23
SPEAKER_02: Maybe they can find a gig here or there in between the tour, or maybe they can find another job that's better than the Taylor Swift tour, which what would that actually be?
24:32
SPEAKER_02: But you know, you never know.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: And and take that job instead.
24:35
SPEAKER_02: That's the hard part, is like we we can't predict what's next for us.
24:40
SPEAKER_02: That it's that's a that's a really like crazy part of being a professional dancer, which some people hate and some people love.
24:46
SPEAKER_02: Like, I thrive off of that.
24:48
SPEAKER_02: I love waiting for that phone call and having it change my life.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: And there have been many of those phone calls that truly change your life, that you get that job that you've been like fighting for and it makes it all worth it.
25:00
SPEAKER_02: Or you never get that phone call, and that's a hard reality of it, too, being a professional.
25:05
SPEAKER_02: So you're doing all the work, you're doing the things right, you're grinding, you're networking, you're auditioning, and the phone call never comes.
25:12
SPEAKER_02: And you're like, what am I doing wrong?
25:13
SPEAKER_02: What am I?
25:14
SPEAKER_02: And then maybe a different opportunity comes for you that you weren't even looking for, and then you go in that direction.
25:20
SPEAKER_02: So it's kind of fun because life takes you in many different places.
25:24
SPEAKER_02: Even that's how Leslie and I met.
25:26
SPEAKER_02: I was in school here in New York City, Marymount, Manhattan, up on the Upper East Side, moved here from Maryland, went to school because my parents wanted me to.
25:34
SPEAKER_02: Hi, mom and dad, back there.
25:37
SPEAKER_02: And um, I did what they wanted and I went to school for them.
25:40
SPEAKER_02: And I hated school.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: And I called up Royal Caribbean because they already offered me a job before.
25:45
SPEAKER_02: I already auditioned, and they said, Call me when you're ready.
25:48
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Okay, I'm ready.
25:50
SPEAKER_02: I'm calling you now.
25:51
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, on Thanksgiving break, I'm like, I hate school.
25:54
SPEAKER_02: Can you hire me?
25:55
SPEAKER_02: They're like, we can get you on a ship in um February.
25:58
SPEAKER_02: Does that work for you?
25:59
SPEAKER_02: I said, Yep.
25:59
SPEAKER_02: Sign me up.
26:00
SPEAKER_02: Then that's how I met Leslie.
26:02
SPEAKER_02: And I would have never thought, walking into my freshman year of college, that in six months from that, from then I would be on a cruise ship because I thought I was going to school for four years.
26:11
SPEAKER_02: That was my plan.
26:12
SPEAKER_02: That's what I was told I was supposed to do.
26:15
SPEAKER_02: But the temptation of this city really got me.
26:19
SPEAKER_02: I was like, I was looking at the audition websites every day, wanting to be at an audition instead of modern dance class.
26:27
SPEAKER_02: No offense, modern dance.
26:28
SPEAKER_02: But I was just like, I don't want to go to modern right now.
26:31
SPEAKER_02: I want to be at the wicked audition.
26:33
SPEAKER_02: What am I doing?
26:34
SPEAKER_02: Like, I wanted to like hit the ground running in New York City.
26:37
SPEAKER_02: The temptation was just so overwhelming in this space.
26:40
SPEAKER_02: Like, I feel like I should have gone to a college, not in New York, and it would have like actually allowed me to go to college and experience college.
26:47
SPEAKER_02: But because I was in New York City in college, it was like, no, I gotta be at Broadway Dance Center, I gotta be at Steps on Broadway, I gotta be out of that audition.
26:55
SPEAKER_02: So, luckily enough, they had a role for me.
26:58
SPEAKER_02: I was able to meet Leslie, and then I saved my money, and then I moved back here to pursue all of that audition, professional auditioner life.
27:07
SPEAKER_02: So create the opportunity.
27:10
SPEAKER_02: And I'm still doing it, yeah.
27:12
SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm very grateful for every opportunity that my career has presented me.
27:17
SPEAKER_02: And it's definitely been fun, it's been challenging, it's been overwhelming, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
27:24
SPEAKER_02: I think you have to really have thick skin for this biz uh if you make it as a professional.
27:29
SPEAKER_02: And it's not cut out for everyone.
27:31
SPEAKER_02: I think that's the important thing for a lot of dancers because there's definitely there's it, it's an amazing uh career.
27:39
SPEAKER_08: People always say if there's anything else that you think you might want to do more, go do that.
27:45
SPEAKER_08: Because dance is really hard.
27:47
SPEAKER_08: It's really hard.
27:48
SPEAKER_08: Dance generally is hard.
27:49
SPEAKER_08: You guys go to class every day, right?
27:50
SPEAKER_08: It's hard.
27:51
SPEAKER_08: Sometimes you're like, ugh, I don't wanna.
27:53
SPEAKER_08: Sometimes you're like, ugh, I don't wanna, but you gotta.
27:55
SPEAKER_08: Because you live in New York City and you gotta pay your bills and you gotta, you know, you gotta do the thing.
27:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:00
SPEAKER_08: So if there's anything else that you think you might want to do more, explore that option because dance, you know, it it gives back a lot, but it it takes a lot out of you too, you know?
28:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I don't I don't think that like that being said, I think it's always great to have like something in your back pocket to fall back on for sure.
28:18
SPEAKER_02: But I don't think you shouldn't try.
28:20
SPEAKER_02: Like, give it a shot.
28:21
SPEAKER_02: Go if that's something you dream of doing, like, I want to move to New York and I want to do what Courtney and Leslie have done and be professionals.
28:28
SPEAKER_02: I want to work on a cruise ship or I want to be on Broadway.
28:30
SPEAKER_02: Like, do it.
28:31
SPEAKER_02: You can do it, you can make your dreams come true.
28:33
SPEAKER_02: You just gotta really put in the work and have have like grit and uh determination is important, and like don't give up.
28:42
SPEAKER_02: There will be a breaking point, I'm sure, at some point for most dancers.
28:45
SPEAKER_02: Uh I know a lot of dancers that have come, tried it, and they're like, it's not for me.
28:49
SPEAKER_08: And that's okay.
28:50
SPEAKER_08: You tried.
28:51
SPEAKER_08: And the cool thing is, like, I'm not a professional dancer anymore.
28:54
SPEAKER_08: I did that, and now I work for Capizio in product development.
28:58
SPEAKER_08: But I know everything about dance shoes, I know everything about dance competitions, I know everything about teaching everything.
29:04
SPEAKER_08: Everything.
29:04
SPEAKER_08: I'm saying that very loosely, but I know the business because I've been in the business.
29:09
SPEAKER_08: So I was able to transition to this job really easily because I know what I'm doing.
29:13
SPEAKER_08: I know the industry.
29:14
SPEAKER_08: So you guys are dancing now.
29:16
SPEAKER_08: Maybe you're not gonna dance after high school, but you might work, you know, in admin for a dance company.
29:22
SPEAKER_08: You might work in marketing for a dance company.
29:24
SPEAKER_08: You may there's all kinds of things you can do to keep dance in your life after you've finished physically dancing or while you're still physically dancing, because you gotta do something while you're up here to make some money while you're auditioning every day.
29:35
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
29:35
SPEAKER_08: So you could come work at Capisio and start learning how to fit point shoes.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
29:39
SPEAKER_08: There's so many, there's so many ways to keep it a part of you.
29:42
SPEAKER_02: Actually, fun fact, uh, our videographer Britney putting you in the spot.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: I actually taught Britney at dance conventions when she was young, like full circle up in up in New England.
29:55
SPEAKER_02: And then when Brittany moved to New York, I was like, and and heard that they were a videographer, I was like, do you want to film my dance classes at Stephstone Broadway?
30:04
SPEAKER_02: Hey, are you available for a live podcast at Capizio?
30:07
SPEAKER_02: Do you want to come film it?
30:08
SPEAKER_02: And keeping dance in their life now, even though and they still dance as well, but you know, there's so many ways to keep dance in your life, even if you're not a professional dancer all the time.
30:19
SPEAKER_02: So that's another fun little it and it's a very small uh community.
30:23
SPEAKER_02: The dance world is very small if you haven't figured that out yet.
30:26
SPEAKER_02: So um, meet everybody in our meet and mingle afterwards, like get to know where everyone's from because you might see them in class again, you might see them at college again, you might see them at convention, you might see them at a at an audition one day.
30:39
SPEAKER_08: Great question over there.
30:41
SPEAKER_02: Great question.
30:42
SPEAKER_08: All right, where do we want to take it to this time?
30:45
SPEAKER_03: Right here.
30:45
SPEAKER_08: Right here.
30:46
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
30:47
SPEAKER_03: From a professional point of view, do you think that you're supposed to have like all three splits and like all the flexibility you can have?
30:54
SPEAKER_08: Oh great question.
30:55
SPEAKER_02: Good question.
30:57
SPEAKER_02: Flexibility question.
30:58
SPEAKER_02: Also, what's your name?
31:00
SPEAKER_02: Liliana, where are you from?
31:02
SPEAKER_02: New York.
31:03
SPEAKER_02: Love it.
31:03
SPEAKER_02: Liliana from New York, flexibility question.
31:06
SPEAKER_02: So good.
31:07
SPEAKER_08: Um, flexibility is helpful for sure.
31:10
SPEAKER_08: I think nobody is ever gonna ask you in an audition to do all three splits.
31:15
SPEAKER_08: I don't I don't know when that's ever gonna happen.
31:17
SPEAKER_08: Is it helpful to like have them?
31:18
SPEAKER_08: Yes, but I don't think anybody's gonna ask them, ask for, ask for them.
31:22
SPEAKER_08: And it's not gonna be a make or break, I don't think.
31:25
SPEAKER_02: I would say your bot maw is more important than your split, but you probably have a great split if you have a great bot maw, if that makes sense.
31:34
SPEAKER_02: Um because there you're gonna do a lot of botmas in your career, a lot.
31:38
SPEAKER_02: And if it's here versus here, they'll probably look at the here dancer first before the here dancer.
31:44
SPEAKER_02: Even if it's placed beautifully and everything's great, but something about getting it all the way, you know, kick your face type of bot ma, like that's that's powerful and impressive.
31:54
SPEAKER_02: And the leg line is really nice, right?
31:57
SPEAKER_02: So um and it depends.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: Like, if you're doing a show like Moulin Rouge, for example, they're doing can kicks 24-7.
32:05
SPEAKER_02: I mean, they and or the Roquettes, for example, right?
32:08
SPEAKER_02: You have to know exactly where to stop your leg.
32:10
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes they don't want it to get to your face.
32:13
SPEAKER_02: You that's the other thing, is that if you're overly flexible, if you're hypermobile and you don't have the strength to support that hypermobility, then are you gonna really know or do have the awareness to know where that leg line needs to hit to make the picture happen for the stage?
32:29
SPEAKER_02: That's a that's a really tough thing because a lot of dancers want to just like whack the leg all the way up and and have it go.
32:36
SPEAKER_02: And for solos and things, great.
32:38
SPEAKER_02: But also there have been times and even critiques at competition, I'm like, that one.
32:41
SPEAKER_02: So, how hard are we going for?
32:43
SPEAKER_02: Are we at a 90?
32:44
SPEAKER_02: Are we trying to go up to our face?
32:46
SPEAKER_02: Because I see a lot of different options, a lot of things going on, and sometimes we have to sacrifice the height to uh make it work for the actual choreography and what's what they want.
32:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:58
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
32:58
SPEAKER_08: So I would say concentrate on your botmas before your splits.
33:01
SPEAKER_08: Splits are great and you can always practice them more.
33:03
SPEAKER_08: And but some you know, some bodies were not meant to be in a split.
33:07
SPEAKER_08: That's just anatomy, right?
33:09
SPEAKER_08: So do the best for you and don't overdo it.
33:11
SPEAKER_08: And I would say again, like Courtney said, the botmas probably what we're looking at more if you're looking in terms of an audition.
33:17
unknown: Yeah.
33:17
SPEAKER_08: Good question.
33:18
SPEAKER_08: Great question.
33:19
SPEAKER_05: Oh my gosh.
33:20
SPEAKER_08: Head over here.
33:21
SPEAKER_08: All right.
33:22
SPEAKER_08: Tell us who you are first.
33:23
SPEAKER_05: My name is Haley.
33:24
SPEAKER_08: And where are you from?
33:25
SPEAKER_05: Um, New Jersey.
33:26
SPEAKER_08: Perfect.
33:27
SPEAKER_08: Go ahead.
33:28
SPEAKER_05: Um, does the dancer's song influence the judge's opinion about the dance?
33:34
SPEAKER_08: Ooh.
33:35
SPEAKER_08: Wow.
33:35
SPEAKER_05: That's a good question.
33:36
SPEAKER_05: They're coming with the good questions today.
33:38
SPEAKER_02: Wow, y'all did y'all prepare these questions?
33:40
SPEAKER_02: I'm impressed.
33:41
SPEAKER_02: No, they're just coming to you as you listen.
33:44
SPEAKER_02: We actually like just did a podcast that yesterday.
33:47
SPEAKER_08: We did.
33:47
SPEAKER_08: We're you'll hear it in a few weeks about a very similar topic to that.
33:51
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
33:51
SPEAKER_08: Um, it can sometimes, right?
33:54
SPEAKER_08: Everybody has songs that they, you know, that touch them in a certain way or that make them feel a certain way.
33:59
SPEAKER_08: And yeah, some, you know, we try our best.
34:01
SPEAKER_08: I think I can speak for most judges, like, you try your best to be as objective as possible.
34:05
SPEAKER_08: And, you know, even if you love the song or you hate the song, you're trying to just talk about the dance and the moment that you're in.
34:11
SPEAKER_08: Um, but yeah, I mean, when I hear, like I personally will never get tired of um, oh, what's the musical theater song?
34:17
SPEAKER_08: I can't even think of it now.
34:18
SPEAKER_08: Everybody hates it.
34:19
SPEAKER_08: I love it.
34:20
SPEAKER_08: Oh, um, yes, I love my new philosophy.
34:23
SPEAKER_08: I love it, I love it, I love anybody that does that song.
34:26
SPEAKER_08: I think that song is so funny.
34:28
SPEAKER_08: Some people hate it, but like I try to watch it and just be objective about you know the routine.
34:33
SPEAKER_08: Whereas somebody who hates it, hopefully they do the same thing.
34:36
SPEAKER_02: But I don't hate it.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: I'm just sick of hearing it.
34:40
SPEAKER_02: You know, I think there's a difference.
34:41
SPEAKER_02: It's like when you hear it so many times that you're like, man, there's just so many other songs out there.
34:46
SPEAKER_02: Like, why are we picking this exact same song for every single dancer?
34:50
SPEAKER_02: That's when it is hard sometimes.
34:52
SPEAKER_02: I'm not going to be like, you're getting a lower score because I've heard this song a million times.
34:56
SPEAKER_02: Right, no, absolutely not.
34:58
SPEAKER_02: And also, even just like personal preference, like, I'm not a country musical I don't listen to country music, so I don't love country music, but I'm not gonna be like, I hate country music, so you're getting a low score.
35:10
SPEAKER_02: Like, no, that would never happen ever.
35:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, even like I'm not a huge spoken word dance fan, but if it's well executed and you know what the spoken word is about and you did a great job and the choreography is great and the execution is great, you're gonna get a great score, even if I don't want to hear a spoken word song.
35:28
SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't get a choice as to what comes out on stage.
35:30
SPEAKER_02: I have to be completely object objective as possible.
35:34
SPEAKER_08: But yeah, it doesn't, it doesn't really well.
35:36
SPEAKER_08: And if you're thinking about like, is a song overused and is that gonna influence a judge, think about that.
35:42
SPEAKER_08: Like, if you do a really interesting take on an overused song, if you're the most unique version of that song that I've ever seen, then I don't care.
35:49
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
35:49
SPEAKER_08: But if you kind of just do the same dance you'd do every time you do a lyrical dance to that one song we keep hearing, like then I'm not as interested.
35:57
SPEAKER_08: You know what I mean?
35:58
SPEAKER_02: The amount of songs that exist in the world, so many.
36:01
SPEAKER_02: So many.
36:01
SPEAKER_02: And even for the dancers, like if you don't have Spotify or Apple music, get it.
36:06
SPEAKER_02: Ask, ask for it.
36:08
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I mean, and there's a lot of free, you can listen to a lot of music on YouTube.
36:12
SPEAKER_02: Like, start uh experiencing and listening to different types of music because it will influence you as a dancer too.
36:19
SPEAKER_02: You don't just rely on your dance teachers to tell you what music you're dancing to.
36:24
SPEAKER_02: Um improv in your room to different types of of I mean, I don't know.
36:29
SPEAKER_02: Does any does anyone improv in their room?
36:31
SPEAKER_02: Because I used to improv in my my bedroom for good time.
36:34
SPEAKER_02: I see hands.
36:35
SPEAKER_02: That's great.
36:36
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, like put your headphones on or put your music on and just put on a shuffle and see what happens and just dance to different types of music and see what you like to move to.
36:46
SPEAKER_02: It might change the way you dance, and then that might inspire you to be like, I want to do my solo to a song like this next year, and just like opening up your eyes to different types of music in the world because we need music to dance.
36:57
SPEAKER_02: We can dance without music, but it's better when we have music.
37:00
SPEAKER_08: Right.
37:01
SPEAKER_08: And look and listen to something other than the top 40.
37:04
SPEAKER_08: Everybody, everybody in this room, listen to something that's other than the top 40.
37:07
SPEAKER_08: Find the jazz station, find the oldies station, find something that's different because music right now is very similar to itself.
37:16
SPEAKER_08: You know what I mean?
37:16
SPEAKER_08: Like and it's being made that way for a reason.
37:19
SPEAKER_08: And so if the further we back we can reach in time and it to different cultures and different avenues, uh that serves everybody as as humans and as dancers, I think, even more.
37:29
SPEAKER_02: All right, thanks for that great question.
37:31
SPEAKER_02: We have a hand over here.
37:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this young lady right there.
37:35
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Mia from New York.
37:37
SPEAKER_00: Um at conventions and auditions, like what's the best way to get in the front and noticed without coming across as rude?
37:46
SPEAKER_00: Right.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: Like pushing people out of the way.
37:47
SPEAKER_08: Awesome question.
37:48
SPEAKER_08: Wow.
37:49
SPEAKER_08: Ooh.
37:51
SPEAKER_08: I'm really short, so people tend to like let me go into the front.
37:54
SPEAKER_08: Don't physically push anybody, obviously.
37:57
SPEAKER_08: Um, but just be confident in how you get there.
38:01
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, don't shove anybody, but and and don't think you always have to be in the front.
38:06
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
38:07
SPEAKER_08: Um, especially if you are a taller person, listen, like this is real.
38:11
SPEAKER_08: This is coming from my perspective as a short person.
38:13
SPEAKER_08: If all the tall people are in the front, then I can't see, and that's a problem.
38:16
SPEAKER_08: Um, so you know, if you know that, hey, I can see, I can, I can see, then be the gracious person and step back a little bit, right?
38:23
SPEAKER_08: Because you're gonna go in groups, right?
38:25
SPEAKER_08: Conventions are always letting you go in groups.
38:27
SPEAKER_08: So at that point, then you can pop to the front in your group, um, no matter how tall or short you are.
38:32
SPEAKER_02: I think it has to do with the best place for you to be in the room to learn properly.
38:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm the type, I'm a shorty too.
38:39
SPEAKER_02: Leslie's a little shorter than me, but I'm a shorty.
38:42
SPEAKER_02: I'm five, two, and I'm a back corner learner.
38:46
SPEAKER_02: I want to be in the absolute back.
38:48
SPEAKER_02: Why?
38:48
SPEAKER_02: Because the most space is back there, so I can actually do the dance full out and not be crammed like sardines in the front.
38:55
SPEAKER_02: I like to have an angular view to learn from the back of the choreographer.
39:00
SPEAKER_02: And it and especially if we're in like a class setting, I like to bounce that off the mirror so I have the angled view.
39:06
SPEAKER_02: But if I'm standing directly behind the choreographer, I can't learn because I can't see me in the mirror or I can't, it's too up close and personal.
39:13
SPEAKER_02: I like to see the bigger picture.
39:15
SPEAKER_02: So, like you as a dancer need to figure out where do you learn best in the space.
39:19
SPEAKER_02: And then here's my tip: you kill it in the back, and then when you break it into groups, you sneak your way to the front, and then you kill it in the front, and then the teacher's gonna be like, Where'd you come from?
39:29
SPEAKER_02: And then own it in the front after that.
39:31
SPEAKER_02: Like, once you feel confident with the material, you don't want to be in the front.
39:35
SPEAKER_02: We're all learning, but like you want to feel confident if you're in the front, you know, like, and if that's where you learn best, that's great.
39:41
SPEAKER_02: But I like to like come come in hot like during the combination, be like a little sneaky in the back, and then sneak attack, come to the front, and everyone's like, Where did this person come from?
39:52
SPEAKER_02: Whoa, they're killing it.
39:53
SPEAKER_02: I didn't even see them.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: And I I even do that in auditions too.
39:57
SPEAKER_02: So um, as and as someone who as a professional auditioner on the dance side, but now also on the other side of the table on the choreographer's end, sometimes it feels a little like intense when there's really eager dancers that in the front, just like with big eyes and like over the top, you know.
40:16
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you just want it to be chill and relaxed.
40:18
SPEAKER_02: Like uh, we can get a read on dancers like just by their body language and their energy in the space, and not saying like don't be eager, but also like don't come across as like a lot, you know what I mean?
40:31
SPEAKER_02: Because like I then I'm start thinking like, well, would I want to be in a rehearsal with you for eight hours every single day?
40:37
SPEAKER_02: Are you gonna be a lot?
40:38
SPEAKER_08: Right, is that the energy you bring to the table every time?
40:41
SPEAKER_08: Because we all have to be responsible for the energy we bring into the room because you influence everybody else.
40:46
SPEAKER_02: So I think that learn where is best for you, and then in groups, come in and and you don't also have to be like in the front center.
40:55
SPEAKER_02: Like I as a convention teacher, I can see everyone all over.
40:59
SPEAKER_02: So I'm also watching in the back too.
41:01
SPEAKER_02: Like, and I will call out the dancers.
41:03
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I see you back there, like I see you killing it back there because you have the space and and everything.
41:07
SPEAKER_02: So learn wherever's best for you, but just be confident when no matter what, when it's your time to like, okay, I feel good about this.
41:13
SPEAKER_02: I got this, I'm gonna come out and I'm gonna show them what I got.
41:16
SPEAKER_02: Like, that's your time to shine.
41:18
SPEAKER_02: Hopefully, that's helpful.
41:19
SPEAKER_02: That was a good question.
41:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, great question.
41:22
SPEAKER_02: All right, wow.
41:23
SPEAKER_02: Let's cut over here.
41:24
SPEAKER_04: Hi, my name is Neela from New Jersey.
41:27
SPEAKER_04: So, coming from a professional in the dance world, how do you stand out in competition?
41:31
SPEAKER_04: Like, how do you place in like the top 10 or top 20?
41:35
SPEAKER_02: So, you want to place in the top 10 or top 20.
41:37
SPEAKER_02: How do you stand out of competition?
41:39
SPEAKER_02: Mmm.
41:40
SPEAKER_02: Sorry, I keep putting you first.
41:42
SPEAKER_02: It's okay, Leslie.
41:43
SPEAKER_08: It's okay.
41:43
SPEAKER_08: I'm like, ooh, there's so many things to say.
41:45
SPEAKER_08: Your technique.
41:47
SPEAKER_08: Technique is always the highest possible score within a broken down score.
41:51
SPEAKER_08: So technique is what's getting you that first place a hundred percent of the time.
41:56
SPEAKER_08: Um, next down usually is performance.
41:58
SPEAKER_08: So those are your two top scores that are gonna matter.
42:01
SPEAKER_08: Everything else, and you know, here's a fun fact: when I when I judge and I'm given prof uh technique, performance, um, costume appearance, overall impression.
42:11
SPEAKER_08: Like there's five things for me to score out of a hundred.
42:13
SPEAKER_08: I start at the bottom.
42:15
SPEAKER_08: I can give you five points.
42:16
SPEAKER_08: Overall impression, you look great, cool.
42:17
SPEAKER_08: Your tights aren't ripped, great.
42:19
SPEAKER_08: You know, performance and technique are the top two scores.
42:22
SPEAKER_08: I wait to put those scores in because those are the ones that matter the most.
42:26
SPEAKER_08: So, you know, my top ten are my top technicians.
42:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it's like a total package thing.
42:32
SPEAKER_02: And uh, we an episode's coming soon where we kind of talk about this uh as far as judging, but um sometimes like even the top three, it's almost just an opinion at that point because all the three dancers could shift into third, second first, or second, third, first, whatever.
42:50
SPEAKER_02: They could all be first place.
42:52
SPEAKER_02: They could.
42:53
SPEAKER_02: And it'll just be who liked that choreography better, who thought it was executed better, maybe someone liked their costume better and they gave them better score.
43:02
SPEAKER_02: You know, like it's it's down to like those tenths of points that uh you you think don't really matter.
43:07
SPEAKER_02: But sometimes when it's like that tight for top three, and it could be again, like you hear all the time, three different judges could have could be a completely different outcome.
43:18
SPEAKER_02: And that's honestly very, very true.
43:20
SPEAKER_08: And sometimes my top three, there's just one of those unspoken something that I can't put into words.
43:25
SPEAKER_08: Like there's just something special.
43:27
SPEAKER_08: There's all that other stuff.
43:28
SPEAKER_08: There's the technique, there's the performance, there's the skill, there's the choreography, and then there's just something.
43:34
SPEAKER_08: And I can't describe it.
43:36
SPEAKER_08: It's just it's a it's a quality that some dancers have that are like, oh, I could watch that dancer do literally anything.
43:42
SPEAKER_08: They could walk across the stage and I would stand up and applaud because they just have that thing.
43:47
SPEAKER_08: Um, and so everybody has that thing.
43:49
SPEAKER_08: Sometimes it just doesn't come out.
43:51
SPEAKER_08: So, you know, find what your thing is, what makes you special, what comes out of your eyes when you dance.
43:57
SPEAKER_08: And even if you don't end up in the top 10 or the 20, I bet you you get.
44:00
SPEAKER_08: A comment, somebody on the panel is going to say, Wow, you have something really special.
44:05
SPEAKER_08: I need you to work on that bot mob.
44:07
SPEAKER_08: But you have something, you know what I mean?
44:08
SPEAKER_08: Like there's going to be things in there to critique.
44:11
SPEAKER_08: But if you find what that is to share with the world, like that's that's really what we care about too.
44:16
SPEAKER_08: But that shines through for me for that top three when it does become everybody could be first place by the top three, then I'm I'm kind of looking for what's what's pulling me to that person.
44:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like performance is a big one.
44:29
SPEAKER_02: Like Leslie said, I mean, those are our top two scores.
44:32
SPEAKER_02: So if you have amazing technique but no performance, you might not win, unfortunately.
44:37
SPEAKER_02: If you're doing all, if you're doing all of that, that's great.
44:40
SPEAKER_02: But then we're gonna add more layers to it.
44:42
SPEAKER_02: Like with technique, there's movement quality and there's style that is within the technique.
44:48
SPEAKER_02: And you probably are gonna have good movement quality in that genre if you have good technique.
44:53
SPEAKER_02: They kind of go hand in hand, but like was the dancer who got second's movement quality not as strong as the dancer who got first, or there's style in the execution of that genre.
45:02
SPEAKER_02: Like we're getting down to the nitty-gritty at that point, where it's like, yes, technique is great, but then there's more layers to it.
45:08
SPEAKER_02: So um, transitions are part of movement quality, understanding how to move through the space and transition from that trick to that trick, like we kind of talked about, or no tricks.
45:19
SPEAKER_02: There might not be tricks in your dance, there might not be a single trick in your dance, but understanding how to connect it.
45:24
SPEAKER_02: And I'm a big one for musicality.
45:27
SPEAKER_08: I I think that's that's good to mention too, because oftentimes your top three might include a tap dancer.
45:33
SPEAKER_08: And when there's a tap dancer in the top three, I get super stoked because that means the judges recognize that tap is just as legitimate as contemporary or lyrical or jazz.
45:42
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
45:42
SPEAKER_08: And, you know, a lot of times sometimes you don't have a very strong tap judging panel.
45:47
SPEAKER_08: And that that may be a reason you you don't land where you feel like you should land, is because maybe the judges don't have the background to really recognize that this tap dance lives just the same technically as this contemporary dance, but they're such different entities that if you don't know enough about both, you may not know that that tap dance is excellent.
46:06
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
46:06
SPEAKER_08: And that's that's the hard part when I know that there's tap I know there's tappers in here.
46:10
SPEAKER_08: Um so I wanted to make sure we mentioned that because when when there's a good tap panel, you're gonna see a tap.
46:15
SPEAKER_08: And if there's good tap dancing, you'll see tap high up in the in the um, what do you call it?
46:20
SPEAKER_08: Scores.
46:21
SPEAKER_08: Scores, things.
46:22
SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of judges who like don't know tap, but also just give it an a hundred because they're like, that looked impressive, and they don't know anything about they're like, they just shuffled around and like made sound, and I think that was really cool.
46:34
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, yes, they were really good.
46:36
SPEAKER_02: But also like that contemporary dance that just went like is actually way harder based on this specific tap dance.
46:44
SPEAKER_02: Like sometimes they'll be blown away by like how fast the feet are moving, but the sounds were a mess, or the they weren't actually like in the pocket of the musicality properly, but they'll still score it high.
46:55
SPEAKER_02: And I'm always like, not sure how I feel about that, because you have to be a very you have to be a true musician to be a tap dancer.
47:04
SPEAKER_02: It is like you are a musician, you are adding a sound, an additional sound and instrument to the music.
47:11
SPEAKER_02: So you have to know where that downbeat is.
47:13
SPEAKER_02: We see so many tap dances that just charge ahead with rushing, rushing, rushing, rushing.
47:17
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, everything is great, but you are rushing.
47:19
SPEAKER_02: So I can't score you well because you're rushing.
47:22
SPEAKER_02: You have to listen to your music, slow it down, find that downbeat.
47:25
SPEAKER_02: We gotta go.
47:26
SPEAKER_02: If that means we gotta take out some steps, then we take out some steps.
47:29
SPEAKER_02: It's the same thing as editing with a jazz dance.
47:31
SPEAKER_02: If there's too many tricks, we take out the trick so you can execute it better.
47:35
SPEAKER_02: Like that comes down to your execution score.
47:37
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, there's a lot of factors that come into play with how things score at competition.
47:42
SPEAKER_02: And it is really hard to judge a tap versus a contemporary versus a jazz versus an acro.
47:47
SPEAKER_02: It is a very hard job.
47:49
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, and and that's what it is overall.
47:50
SPEAKER_08: So it's everybody.
47:51
SPEAKER_08: It's not just jazz, you know, top ten.
47:54
SPEAKER_08: Um, so yeah, dance competition's hard.
47:56
SPEAKER_08: It is.
47:59
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48:05
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48:11
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48:33
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48:41
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