Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Q&A With Courtney LIVE - December Edition

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Q&A With Courtney LIVE - December Edition · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_00: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: Hello everyone! Welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast.
0:36
SPEAKER_01: And we are live today on Facebook.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: We are doing our next episode of QA with Courtney.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: This is the December edition.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: So welcome to the episode.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: We're so excited for you to join us.
0:50
SPEAKER_01: And thank you for being here today.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: If you're tuning in live on the live stream, we are broadcasting this in our Facebook group and on our Facebook business page at Impact Dance Adjudicators on Facebook.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: And we go live every other month and then turn this into a podcast episode.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: So this is a live podcast recording happening right now.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: So if you're joining us and tuning in and watching today, then feel free to give us a shout-out in the comments so we can say, hey, hello, Diana or Deanna, Martin.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: Hi, how are you?
1:23
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for tuning in.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: We're excited to have you.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: And this is season three.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: I hope you all have been enjoying season three so far.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: We've had so many fabulous guests on the podcast and so many more to come.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: We're really excited about that.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: And happy holidays to everybody.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: It's December.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: Today is officially December 1st.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: And I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving with their families.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: And I'm ready to get some decorations up.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm ready to get into the spirit of the holiday.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: So I hope you are too.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: And I hope that you get to spend it with your loved ones, doing what you love and staying happy and healthy, everybody.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: And maybe some of you are getting prepared for nutcracker season or about to have a nutcracker at your studio, maybe some type of holiday show, or maybe you're just still in that convention grind because it's convention season as well.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: And speaking of conventions, I'm heading to Revel Dance Convention this weekend, teaching in Portland, Maine.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to be back at Revel.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, we are super excited for this episode.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: We have a very special guest that I'm going to introduce to you soon, but I want to tell you a little bit more about what's going on in IDA land.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: And the very first thing that is so exciting is we have officially hit 100,000 downloads on our podcast.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, cannot believe it.
2:45
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, thank you, thank you, every single person that has tuned in, that has shared, that has subscribed, that has left us reviews.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: It's absolutely unbelievable.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: And we actually officially hit 100,000 listens back in November, but I'm finally announcing it now.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: So yay for that.
3:03
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, everybody.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: We love you all so much, all of our fans, literally around the world.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: We can see where y'all listen and it is everywhere, which is so cool that we're reaching people and dance lovers across the world.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: So thank you, thank you.
3:17
SPEAKER_01: Hello, Melissa.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: So nice to see people here with us today.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: And thank you to everyone who has left reviews.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: Thank you to everyone who has donated to us on our Kofi account.
3:31
SPEAKER_01: So if you've heard us talk about it this season, we added a new element to our podcast for all of our fans to be able to share their love with us and donate towards our podcast.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: So, as you know, this is a free platform that we have here.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: The podcast is absolutely free to listen to weekly.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: We have weekly episodes every Thursday.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: And if you love what you're hearing and you love the content that we're producing, then head on over to Kofi.com slash making the impact and donate as little or as much as you would like to share with us.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: And all of your donations go right back into producing future episodes and seasons of Making the Impact.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: So we love hearing from so many of you.
4:16
SPEAKER_01: You get to leave reviews with your donation, which is awesome, and all of the kind words and the very generous donations that we've received so far.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: So thank you everyone who has donated.
4:27
SPEAKER_01: And if you would like to donate during the live stream, we'll give you a shout-out.
4:31
SPEAKER_01: You'll see your donation pop up during the stream as well.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: So head on over to Kofi.com slash making the impact or click the link in the show notes to learn more and donate to our show.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: But before we jump into the official episode, I do want to share a little bit about our sponsor for today's episode, which is a fantastic app called Arrange Us.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: And I would love for you to learn a little bit more and see what they're all about now.
4:57
SPEAKER_01: Arrange Us is a mobile app that allows you to visualize your formations on stage in a convenient and easy way.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: Just add your dancers straight into the app, and then you can move them around effortlessly with the tip of your finger.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: Sounds easy, right?
5:11
SPEAKER_01: You can watch your transitions come to life, color coordinate your dancers, and once you are done, you can even share it with your team.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: And one of my favorite features from Arrange Us is you can now synchronize your music with your formations.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: This app is a game changer for our dance world, and I highly recommend checking it out.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: You can try it now for free by clicking the link in our show notes and downloading the Arrange Us app now in the App Store.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: This is such a great app for all of you dance teachers out there to check out.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: It is a great way to look at your formations on your phone or your iPad and visualize it and keep it all in one place.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: It's a game changer.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: I use it all the time when I am guest choreographing, and I'd love for you to check it out.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much again to Arrange Us for sponsoring this week's episode.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: All right, everybody, it's time to bring in our very special guest joining us today.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: And as you know, with our QA episodes, we always bring in an IDA judge to have another perspective to help answer all of your questions.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: And this judge has been on the roster since last season.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: They are new last season, and I'm so grateful that we discovered them because they're so fabulous, a fantastic educator, and an amazing person as well.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to get to know them even more today.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: Coming all the way from the windy city of Chicago.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm very excited to welcome Danny Duane Wells II to the live.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: Welcome.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: Hi, hi, oh my gosh.
6:49
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much, Courtney, for having me.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm so happy that you're here and you're a very first-time newbie guest on the podcast as well.
6:58
SPEAKER_03: Yes! I was so pumped.
7:01
SPEAKER_03: I've nonstop talked about it since you asked me to join the podcast.
7:05
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, this is gonna be exciting.
7:07
SPEAKER_03: I absolutely love this.
7:09
SPEAKER_03: I think your podcast has brought so much to the forefront of just like the education of dance, but also just some of those unknown, like those unanswered questions that like people are always like, I'm too shy to ask, or it especially in a competition setting when you cannot speak to the adjudicator.
7:24
SPEAKER_03: Right.
7:24
SPEAKER_03: Like, how do we get to have these questions answered?
7:27
SPEAKER_03: And I think this is just such a a very tangible and like very like relaxed manner of being able to just talk about some of those things that like go on in both adjudicator's head but as well as like dance studio owners and choreographers.
7:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: I totally agree.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: And that's really why we started this podcast to really kind of like bridge the gap and you know, talk, elaborate even more on some of these hot topics that are obviously existing in the dance competition world.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: So I know you're immersed in this competitive dance world and you have so much experience.
7:57
SPEAKER_01: I know that you just joined our roster last season, but you've been judging for many years and have Yeah, about 10 years.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: So experienced.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: And I'm so glad that you found IDA and came our way.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: But if you wouldn't mind sharing a little bit with all of our listeners and our viewers out there a little bit more about who you are, where you're based, any career credits you'd like to share, and tell the world about Dee Dee.
8:20
SPEAKER_03: All right.
8:21
SPEAKER_03: Well, first of all, I love that you called me Didi.
8:24
SPEAKER_03: My friends and family call me that.
8:25
SPEAKER_03: So everybody, you can go ahead and call me Didi, especially if you ever see me around and I'm adjudicating you and be like, hey, Dee Dee, be like, hey, what's up?
8:32
SPEAKER_03: Holla back, keep it real.
8:33
SPEAKER_03: So, yes, I was born in Atlanta, so I'm a Southern boy, you know, one of them Georgia Peaches, y'all, but raised in Los Angeles.
8:40
SPEAKER_03: I graduated from the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts.
8:43
SPEAKER_03: A lot of people were like, well, where is that?
8:44
SPEAKER_03: I mean, like Josh Groben graduated from there, Corbin Blue graduated from there, he was in my class.
8:49
SPEAKER_03: Tons, tons of outstanding choreographers and dancers, one being Norwood de la Cruz.
8:54
SPEAKER_03: The third, I'm gonna throw that out there to y'all for those who are um taking classes at uh Juilliard.
8:58
SPEAKER_03: He graduated, he's also an adjunct teacher there.
9:01
SPEAKER_03: And from there, I went to San Diego State.
9:04
SPEAKER_03: I worked as a Disneyland performer in between like my junior year in high school all the way through to college.
9:10
SPEAKER_03: I've done primarily regional musical theater and some non-equity tours.
9:15
SPEAKER_03: My really, really fun one that people, I mean, like I feel like this tour never really gets as much credit as it deserves.
9:20
SPEAKER_03: But a lot of dance adjudicators come from these tours, which was Sesame Street Live.
9:25
SPEAKER_03: And uh I played uh Cookie Monster.
9:27
SPEAKER_03: So give it out to all the cookies out there.
9:30
SPEAKER_04: I love that.
9:31
SPEAKER_03: And um have lived all over, you know, uh trained with Alonzo King for a little bit, trained with the Ailey program.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: I've lived in San Francisco, I've lived in Minneapolis, I've danced a little bit with Xenon dance company there.
9:42
SPEAKER_03: I now live in Chicago, Illinois with my husband.
9:44
SPEAKER_03: We've been here for about five years.
9:46
SPEAKER_03: Join on six, I believe.
9:48
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, I do a lot of dance educating, a lot, a lot of adjudication.
9:54
SPEAKER_03: I don't really choreograph much when it comes to competition, but um I do really much enjoy the teaching at conventions and getting the opportunity to see like outstanding choreography from all these amazing choreographers all over the country and even the world, and getting the opportunity to just like really take dancers to the next level.
10:12
SPEAKER_03: I think because we also sometimes we get stuck in a rut in our heads of like it's about this specific technical execution and we forget that like there's so much more.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: Right.
10:21
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
10:24
SPEAKER_01: Totally agree.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: And yes, you're you're fabulous.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: We're so happy to have you here.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for joining us today on the live and on the podcast for the sorry.
10:34
SPEAKER_03: I wish I had I I wish I had your hair.
10:36
SPEAKER_03: Like somebody should screenshot this and save it because this is exactly the hair I want for spring.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, we'll make it happen.
10:42
SPEAKER_01: We can do a little swap.
10:43
unknown: Awesome.
10:44
SPEAKER_03: You'll go bald for spring, and I'll definitely do curls.
10:46
SPEAKER_03: It's in.
10:47
SPEAKER_03: I love it.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: We have a handful of questions that were pre-submitted that we're gonna kick things off with, Didi.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: So this one is actually coming from an anonymous dance parent who reached out, and this is their question.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: They said, My daughter's lack of expression is frequently called out during rehearsals, but very little solutions are given to her.
11:11
SPEAKER_01: She's been coming home feeling diminished and insecure, and it's making the issue worse.
11:16
SPEAKER_01: Do you have any tips or tricks to help?
11:19
SPEAKER_03: Well, this is, you know, I'm glad you bring this up.
11:22
SPEAKER_03: And and to this dance parent, I think this is so awesome that you're investing in this because it could be a situation where you're just like, uh, I don't know, right?
11:31
SPEAKER_03: I've had this conversation with some people who work with neurodiverse uh dancers who are on the spectrum.
11:38
SPEAKER_03: And so sometimes it could be that your dancers on a neurodiverse and they're on the spectrum and they actually don't understand what expression they're supposed to have, and therefore they're confused while dancing while other uh other dancers are specifically showing an expression and they're like, is that the expression I'm supposed to show?
11:55
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
11:55
SPEAKER_03: So the entire time they're actually thinking through what expression they're supposed to show, which does not show the expression.
12:02
SPEAKER_03: So they get trapped up in that in the process.
12:04
SPEAKER_03: Or it could be a lack of communication as to the connection to the song.
12:10
SPEAKER_04: Right.
12:10
SPEAKER_03: Often for me, when it comes to a dancer who's like, I'm like, you know, like this is a fun jazzy song.
12:15
SPEAKER_03: Fun jazzy to me as a 33-year-old does not mean the same to a fun jazzy as a 13-year-old.
12:21
SPEAKER_03: That's a 20-year gap, right there, and like an understanding of music completely different.
12:26
SPEAKER_03: I think what's best, and for I would say for this parent, is to sit down and have a conversation about how the dancer feels in the number.
12:33
SPEAKER_03: What does this number bring up?
12:35
SPEAKER_03: What kind of emotions does it bring up?
12:36
SPEAKER_03: If it makes you feel fierce, what does it feel to feel fierce?
12:40
SPEAKER_03: Who are people you think have a fierce attitude?
12:43
SPEAKER_03: And then bring up pictures of those people.
12:45
SPEAKER_03: Because then what we're able to do, because that's uh this dancer could be a visual learner and getting the opportunity to look at somebody being fierce and showing that facial expression will also help them connect it as they're dancing.
12:57
SPEAKER_03: Yes, in the beginning, it's gonna be a little bit of paining by numbers.
12:59
SPEAKER_03: So it's gonna be like fierce look while doing this number, fierce look while doing this number.
13:05
SPEAKER_03: But like at some point, it's gonna become second nature.
13:07
SPEAKER_03: They're gonna go, I feel fierce, or I feel happy.
13:10
SPEAKER_03: And it's just it's gonna become a second nature of like this is my catalog of expression, both facially and body-wise, like musicality, that I've now stored into my my performance like database.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: Right.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I love that advice of asking the dancer, how do you feel when you're doing this choreography?
13:30
SPEAKER_01: And the interesting thing is, is that we're always going to feel have different emotions or should have different emotions every time we do different types of movement.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: For jazz, like you said, jazz I might feel fierce.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: And then lyrical, I might feel sad, or whatever it is.
13:48
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: But I also think that the teacher, and I don't know, you know, what's happening in the classroom besides that this dancer's just getting told they need to emote more.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: But I want to make sure and know that the teacher is actually giving them the proper tools to understand what the expression's supposed to be, what the emotion and the intention in this dance is supposed to be.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: I feel like so many times teachers just press play on a song and then just like expect emotion.
14:17
SPEAKER_01: And one, the kids have no idea what the song's about.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: We never talked about the lyrics, we never talked about the story, we never talked about the intention.
14:24
SPEAKER_01: And if those things aren't discussed in the classroom, how are kids just supposed to magically know how to perform, you know?
14:32
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it that is so true.
14:33
SPEAKER_03: Courtney, like you couldn't have been even like any more like real, like you hit the nail right on the head.
14:38
SPEAKER_03: The situation is as an adult, we have accumulated life experiences that help us emote, right?
14:45
SPEAKER_03: So whatever has gone on in our lives have made it easier for us to hear, and you know, I'm gonna throw her name out there because everybody knows the minute a Celine Dion song comes on, we all feel a specific type of way.
14:57
SPEAKER_03: And that's because we have life experiences to connect to my heart will go on.
15:03
SPEAKER_03: It no, not all of us have been in a sinking ship, but we've all been on a sinking ship.
15:08
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
15:09
SPEAKER_03: And so it we're able to express, oh my gosh, I know that feeling of I'm so in love with you, but this is clearly not gonna work.
15:17
SPEAKER_03: My heart will go on is such an important situation.
15:21
SPEAKER_03: Like, and a nine-year-old has not gone through that.
15:24
SPEAKER_03: Right.
15:24
SPEAKER_03: So for us to go, and Celink, Dion's on, so you know what to do.
15:28
SPEAKER_03: The diva's on.
15:29
SPEAKER_03: Everybody knows, right?
15:31
SPEAKER_03: Implication.
15:32
SPEAKER_03: Everybody assumes no, right?
15:35
SPEAKER_03: Instead of sitting down going, okay, so listen to the lyrics, especially with like minis and juniors.
15:41
SPEAKER_03: What I find is a really good tool, especially as a dance like instructor, is type uh print out the lyrics, have them take crayons or have them take highlighters.
15:51
SPEAKER_03: And as we're listening to the song, I want you to use a certain color and underline the word that makes you feel this way.
15:59
SPEAKER_03: Underline the word that makes you feel this way, and underline the word that makes you feel that way.
16:04
SPEAKER_03: And then we take a pencil and I want you to write, what movement are we doing on that word in a lyrical number?
16:10
SPEAKER_03: And they go, Oh, well, we're doing like a passe and we're reaching.
16:14
SPEAKER_03: Well, that's funny because you highlighted you're here as you use the red, which makes you feel warm and comforted, right?
16:22
SPEAKER_03: And we're doing a passe with an arm reach, looking, you know, like our porta is reaching up.
16:26
SPEAKER_03: Maybe that warm feeling you're getting is because you're reaching towards somebody you know is always gonna be there.
16:31
SPEAKER_03: Maybe that's your parent, maybe that's your grandma, maybe you know, whatever that essence is.
16:36
SPEAKER_03: Now I've now we've gone through different ways of connecting both the emotion, the intention, and the choreography.
16:42
SPEAKER_03: And yes, again, I say this in the beginning, it's gonna be a little pain by numbers because in their head, they're trying to place it together.
16:49
SPEAKER_03: But at some point, it's gonna become a second nature thing because we've now given them the toolbox to take things and break it down and go, this is how I best emote.
16:59
SPEAKER_03: This is how I best understand music, this is how I best understand intention and performance quality.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I totally agree.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: Totally agree.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: I think all of those tips are so helpful.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: So, to this anonymous dance parent, maybe give that lesson that print out the lyrics of the song that they're struggling to connect with and do this suggestion that Didi just mentioned about, you know, the coloring and everything.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: Such a good, like you said, some people might be a visual learner.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: And the only I'm trying to go back and think, like, well, how did I learn how to emote and and things like that?
17:33
SPEAKER_01: I think another thing is when in the visual aspect of really seeing how it's supposed to look, as far as like if your teacher's like, you're not using your expression enough, that I need to see an example of what you want it to be, then like because the dancer might think that they're giving emotion and they're not, you know?
17:52
SPEAKER_01: So I think I think that if you if the teacher comes and says, Well, let's all watch how this dancer is doing it, or I know from my experience when I was growing up, we always had some the older girls that were ahead of me, they just were naturals.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: Like I looked up to them and they just they were my inspiration.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: So I guided off of them and they did all the things right.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, I need to be like them.
18:16
SPEAKER_01: I would watch them and they would perform, so I would perform, you know?
18:19
SPEAKER_01: Right.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: So if you have like a visual reference and the teacher could be like, this dancer is showing the emotion exactly how I'm looking for it, I want you all to kind of adapt that, adapt to that and you know, take that in and see if you can find that too.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: But I think at the end of the day, we have to make sure, like you said, we have as adults, we have more life experience and have gone through more emotions than these children have.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: And it might be a little, it might be trickier and harder to really guide them to find, to dig deep and find those types of emotions and be vulnerable enough to do that on a stage in front of people.
18:57
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's a lot to ask.
19:01
SPEAKER_03: And as much as we go, oh, you're not gonna be judged, you're not gonna be judged in the rest of the world because whoever anybody else says doesn't matter, except for in a competition where there's a judge who is going to give you feedback and what they feel matters.
19:17
SPEAKER_03: So it's a very nerve-wracking.
19:19
SPEAKER_03: I completely understand.
19:20
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: Well, I hope that this helped answer our anonymous question from the Dance Mom.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: And thank you for sending that in.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: Hope this feedback was helpful.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: All right, next up we have two questions coming in from our viewers in the comments.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: So thank you, viewers, for tuning in and asking.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: Yes, viewers! Yes, viewers, we love you.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: And they're actually kind of similar.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: So I'll I'll show you the first one, and this is coming from Melissa, and she asked, Any tips for first-time solo dancer?
19:51
SPEAKER_01: And then April also asked tips for a first-time musical theater soloist.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: So solos across the board, and then specifically a petite musical theater soloist.
20:05
SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.
20:07
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so first and foremost, when it comes to first-time soloists, ah, right?
20:12
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so it's always nerve-wracking.
20:13
SPEAKER_03: We and I will always say the first thing I always want to let them know is everybody on the other side of that table, everybody who's an adjudicator, wants you to win.
20:21
SPEAKER_03: That's it.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: We're rooting for you.
20:22
SPEAKER_03: Once you hit that stage, I want you to win.
20:25
SPEAKER_03: I want you to get the highest score you've ever gotten.
20:27
SPEAKER_03: That is all I want you to do.
20:29
SPEAKER_03: When you leave that stage, I want you to feel like, oh my gosh, I feel brilliant.
20:34
SPEAKER_03: So get on stage.
20:36
SPEAKER_03: Yes, there are gonna be some bits and some bobbles you may leave behind.
20:39
SPEAKER_03: Don't worry about that.
20:40
SPEAKER_03: Keep pushing through to the end because ultimately, this is an experience that's gonna set you up for the 3,000 other solos you're gonna do and you're gonna slay every time.
20:48
SPEAKER_03: So, like, let's try that, right?
20:50
SPEAKER_03: The other thing is I want to always talk about specifics with talking with music for first-time soloists.
20:56
SPEAKER_03: First time soloists choose a song that makes you feel good.
21:01
SPEAKER_03: I always stray away from doing lyrical numbers or contemporary numbers with first-time soloists because contemporary and lyrical numbers really take some really advanced, advanced, advanced connection and technique.
21:18
SPEAKER_03: And a lot of that time you are going through suspension.
21:20
SPEAKER_03: It's a lot of like dev le pay for three counts.
21:23
SPEAKER_03: Right.
21:23
SPEAKER_03: Or maybe, and I'm like, if you are already nervous to be on the stage by yourself, imagine how nervous you are trying to suspend on that stage technically by yourself.
21:33
SPEAKER_03: No one else is around you.
21:34
SPEAKER_03: Right.
21:34
SPEAKER_03: Like it's one of those moments.
21:35
SPEAKER_03: So I think I always stray away from that.
21:37
SPEAKER_03: And then lastly, is I always air towards the side of you want the dancer to feel good about what they did on stage.
21:48
SPEAKER_03: Yes, challenge them a little bit, but we want them to feel good about what they did on stage.
21:52
SPEAKER_03: So see their technical aspect, see where their technical level is, and bump it up just a hair.
21:57
SPEAKER_03: Just because everybody in their age bracket.
21:59
SPEAKER_03: So let's say that.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: The uh first time soloist is a teen, just because everybody in their age bracket may be doing Alis Grand Alisacone turns, don't put in Grand Alisacone turn because of their age bracket.
22:11
SPEAKER_03: Put them where they're supposed to be because they're going to score better if they are one, having more fun on on stage, and two not like head down dreary about technical aspects they may not be ready to be doing.
22:26
SPEAKER_03: So, like, I'm fine with you going ahead and like, okay, you're a teen and you really should be doing double pirouettes.
22:32
SPEAKER_03: Let's go ahead, let's add a double pirouette and let's add a right pirouette and a left pirouette because there is no such thing as a right turner or a left turner.
22:39
SPEAKER_03: We're just dancers, so we're fabulous.
22:40
SPEAKER_03: I want to see both sides.
22:42
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, and I want to see expression and you know, stage presence.
22:45
SPEAKER_03: But like, those are really what I would say.
22:47
SPEAKER_03: I would definitely say, remember, when you hit that stage, we're all ready for you already.
22:52
SPEAKER_03: Two ultimately let's stay to away from contemporary, away from lyrical, just because of all the amount of technique and suspension needed for that.
23:00
SPEAKER_03: And let's really work on something that's fun and a song that really connects to the dancer's energy and makes them feel really excited.
23:07
SPEAKER_03: And then lastly, let's see the technical level they're at and bump it up a little bit because all solo should be slightly challenging.
23:14
SPEAKER_03: We want to push your technique, but we do not want you chasing after technical aspects that you're not really ready for.
23:20
SPEAKER_03: Love it.
23:21
SPEAKER_03: Which leads me.
23:22
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: Love it all.
23:24
SPEAKER_03: Which leads me into our minis musical theater number.
23:29
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
23:30
SPEAKER_03: First and foremost, age appropriate.
23:32
SPEAKER_03: Yes, age appropriate, age appropriate.
23:36
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
23:36
SPEAKER_03: Y'all, y'all, y'all, age appropriate.
23:38
SPEAKER_03: Don't get me wrong.
23:39
SPEAKER_03: Do I love a good cell block tango?
23:41
SPEAKER_03: I live for cell block tango.
23:43
SPEAKER_03: I have gone and seen Chicago on Broadway.
23:46
SPEAKER_03: I can't tell you how many times.
23:47
SPEAKER_03: I have seen my friend play Mary Sunshine on Broadway so many times.
23:50
SPEAKER_03: I played Mama Morton at a regional theater in Chicago.
23:54
SPEAKER_03: It's fabulous.
23:54
SPEAKER_03: Don't get me wrong.
23:56
SPEAKER_03: The show is amazing.
23:57
SPEAKER_03: It is not for anybody under the age of 18, really.
24:02
SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna lie.
24:03
SPEAKER_03: Selbuck Tango really deals with some things that let's stay away from it.
24:10
SPEAKER_03: So I always say that one, age appropriate.
24:12
SPEAKER_03: Two, make sure that the costume helps embody the character because at that age, with an eight-year-old, they need costume to feel like the character.
24:23
SPEAKER_03: Later on, we can also discuss the uh the aspects of like you should be able to be, you should be able to be Ephanine and Le Miz, whether you're wearing a satin gown or a leotard, it shouldn't matter.
24:35
SPEAKER_03: But at the age of eight, what you really need, you need to embody, you need to step outside of yourself and become the character, because I think that's that's where our performance, performance quality, and aspects are gonna come from.
24:46
SPEAKER_03: If I'm not being, if I'm not Dami Dwayne, but who I am as I get to be seaweed in hairspray.
24:53
SPEAKER_03: And I'm now seaweed in hairspray.
24:55
SPEAKER_03: I'm wearing my cute polyester top, my very stretchy, you know, bottoms on, and I'm able to wear jazz shoes and I feel like I'm in the 70s.
25:04
SPEAKER_03: Like, there it is.
25:05
SPEAKER_03: Now I have a different character rather than I'm Dami Dwayne playing seaweed, because then I'm gonna make some personal choices that may not actually work for that character or may not read off the stage.
25:16
SPEAKER_03: And that's because I'm trying to be authentic, right?
25:19
SPEAKER_03: And that's difficult.
25:20
SPEAKER_03: Whenever I judge adjudicate on a musical theater number, I always go with this acronym.
25:25
SPEAKER_03: I go, I call it TIPS.
25:26
SPEAKER_03: So it's T-I-P-S.
25:28
SPEAKER_03: So it's technique, intention, personality, and either style or singing.
25:33
SPEAKER_03: So I always say the technique is very important, right?
25:36
SPEAKER_03: I am looking to see if you can distinguish between a flex foot and a tondu.
25:41
SPEAKER_03: I need you to know the difference between it.
25:42
SPEAKER_03: And it can't be in between, right?
25:44
SPEAKER_03: I need you to know the difference between a passe and a coupe because in the middle is a poope, and that's not a natural position.
25:50
SPEAKER_03: So we're not really worried about that.
25:51
SPEAKER_03: It's a coupe or the passe, right?
25:53
SPEAKER_03: And then intention.
25:55
SPEAKER_03: This goes right back to like expression with the that uh the first question we had.
25:59
SPEAKER_03: Like, what is the intention of the character you are playing?
26:02
SPEAKER_03: What is your goal?
26:03
SPEAKER_03: What is what has happened before this song?
26:05
SPEAKER_03: What is going to happen after this song?
26:08
SPEAKER_03: Why is this song important?
26:09
SPEAKER_03: Because in musical theater, we understand this that the people in the musicals don't realize they are singing.
26:15
SPEAKER_03: They are having a conversation and they're so overwhelmed with an emotion, whatever the emotion is, it comes out as a song.
26:23
SPEAKER_03: And then at the end of it, the discussion is over, the conversation is over.
26:26
SPEAKER_03: So we have to realize the intention is the song.
26:29
SPEAKER_03: What is the intention?
26:30
SPEAKER_03: What is our goal?
26:31
SPEAKER_03: And then personality.
26:33
SPEAKER_03: How am I showing, how am I showing that I'm having fun or how am I showing that I connect with the character as myself?
26:40
SPEAKER_03: And lastly, I'm a huge, a huge component.
26:44
SPEAKER_03: If you're doing something like, I'm gonna be very specific, anything like moving out, very Twilight art, very contemporary specific, contemporary ballet, jazz, that's a style.
26:54
SPEAKER_03: And if you've seen it and you're gonna find inspiration, I like to use the word inspiration, do not copy.
26:59
SPEAKER_03: If you find inspiration from what you have seen, and I see some similarities in the movement patterns and qualities, I understand what that is.
27:08
SPEAKER_03: Because not all of moving out music had lyrics, you know, and sometimes like 42nd Street, there's not always gonna be a lyric to what's happening.
27:15
SPEAKER_03: So I understand that there may not be able to lip sync.
27:18
SPEAKER_03: But if there are lyrics and there is a soloist, your mouth better be moving.
27:23
SPEAKER_03: You better need all of the chapstick before and all of the chapstick after.
27:28
SPEAKER_03: Your lips better be dry.
27:30
SPEAKER_03: Dry, honey.
27:31
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't want you better know every lyric, every breath, every cough, every giggle.
27:37
SPEAKER_03: You gotta know it.
27:38
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's lip syncing.
27:39
SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, it's just a jazz, fun jazz number or fun lyrical number to a musical theater song.
27:44
SPEAKER_03: And I think and starting at Minis, Minis is always a good one.
27:48
SPEAKER_03: Because minis learn as much as we think they're like not listening to us, they are sponges.
27:53
SPEAKER_03: They are absorbing every word you say.
27:55
SPEAKER_03: So a musical theater number is great for them because you get to incorporate both their jazz technique or their ballet technique in this music with musicality.
28:02
SPEAKER_03: And this is the one time they're allowed to move their mouth and sing the words rather than counting out six, seven, eight while they're dancing.
28:10
SPEAKER_01: What I agree with as far as I agree with all of the things that Didi just said with that answer to the question.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: But I think it's really awesome that his perspective of the music, what he expects to see in a musical theater is lip sync.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: Because if you are a listener to our podcast and you have listened to our musical theater episode, which is from season one, a lot of us were like, do we want lip sync for a solo?
28:35
SPEAKER_01: And we all kind of said no.
28:36
SPEAKER_01: But I think that the end of the day, it's gonna be preference.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: First of all, it's always going to be preference.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: And next, if you're gonna do it, you have to commit to it.
28:47
SPEAKER_01: So I think that a lot of times people just, you know, tell their dancers to move their lips and there's no acting involved in the expression.
28:55
SPEAKER_01: And that's where we're, as judges, we need to see that total package.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: We really need to believe that you're seeing those lyrics.
29:02
SPEAKER_01: So whether you're lip syncing or you're not, no matter what, there should be acting incorporated into any type of musical theater solo, whether you're eight or whether you're 18.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: And actually, this goes hand in hand with another question from what we were just talking about, goes hand in hand with a question that was previously submitted from Catherine on Instagram.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: And they would like to know how much dancing should be in a musical theater solo.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: So, in a musical theater solo, we're talking about musical theater now.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: So, this is also helpful for April, whose daughter's doing an a musical theater solo this year.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: Kind of like what ZD said, I mean, there needs to be all of the his tips, the T I, P S, all of those things.
29:43
SPEAKER_01: That is definitely, definitely needs to be incorporated in there.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: But I think that what makes it different from a jazz dance to a musical theater song and actually being a musical theater dance is the acting that I'm talking about.
29:56
SPEAKER_01: Which means that there doesn't necessarily need to be a full-blown, jam-packed, stereotypical jazz dance solo on the stage.
30:07
SPEAKER_01: I it doesn't, it needs to be different from the jazz category.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: So make sure that we're thinking about that and we're incorporating that into the choreography.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: And that's a note more for teachers to consider is yes, we want to see their technical ability, like Didi said.
30:24
SPEAKER_01: But I think it's also important to remember that we are a character, we are acting.
30:29
SPEAKER_01: And in musical theater, especially if you've ever seen a Broadway show, it's going to be majority acting unless you're in a very, very, very dance-heavy show.
30:39
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's the one thing that's a little bit tricky, is that we feel because it's a competition, that we need to like jam-pack it with tricks and things.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: But if the tricks make sense to the show that you are portraying, like for example, newsies, there's tons of tricks and newsies.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: For example, cats.
30:54
SPEAKER_01: There's tons of tricks and cats.
30:55
SPEAKER_01: If you're dancing to those songs, great.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: But if you're just picking a random musical theater song and then throwing a ton of tricks into it to make it a competitive dance, it's not really a right fit for the musical theater category.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: I'd I'd rather see less tricks and more acting and more character development, if that makes sense.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: But we have another anonymous question that I would be happy to answer.
31:17
SPEAKER_01: And this is coming from a choreographer that submitted it ahead of time to me directly.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: And they said, How do you bring more artistry in your younger, less advanced dancers?
31:29
SPEAKER_01: Also, how can you help them engage through their backs and their upper bodies more while performing choreography?
31:35
SPEAKER_01: So if Didi is able to rejoin us, I will reread that question for him to give his perspective as well.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: But I think this is a very hard question.
31:48
SPEAKER_01: And I have a feeling that there are a lot of choreographers who are feeling the struggle at the very moment as well with their younger dancers.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: And I I really think a lot of it comes with maturity, honestly, when it comes to knowing how to be an artist.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like we said at the beginning, the dancers that we're working with that are young haven't had as much life experience to really connect to in their movement.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: And they're kids, you know?
32:19
SPEAKER_01: Think back to when you were a kid.
32:21
SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, running around doing whatever, not listening to anybody.
32:27
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you just have to remember that they're children and it's going to be hard to get them to really become an artist.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: Like you might see other dancers their age becoming.
32:38
SPEAKER_01: And I think that the hard part is when you are young and just kind of navigating your, there's so many things to think about when it comes to your dance training, whether it's the technique and the performance.
32:52
SPEAKER_01: But I really think that how they're taking class is going to make an impact on how their performance comes alive on stage and through choreography.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: I think making sure that dancers aren't just drilling certain tricks or elements in class and really focusing on that movement quality that is going to be needed for them to be able to execute whatever choreography you're presenting to them.
33:17
SPEAKER_01: Like it goes back to training, it comes back to what is happening in the classroom.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: And if they're getting exposed to that at a young age and they're getting more comfortable and familiar with this is what a swing is supposed to feel like, this is what a contraction is supposed to feel like, this is what a reach all the way through my fingers is supposed to feel like.
33:34
SPEAKER_01: In something as simple as warmup, which is repetition week after week.
33:38
SPEAKER_01: Every single week, we do the same exact warm-up with the same drills in it that are going to prepare you for the choreography.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: Then I think that is maybe a helpful suggestion on ways to get them to feel a little bit more comfortable.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: And let me see, I think Dee Dee is back.
33:57
SPEAKER_03: Sorry, viewers, thank you so much for being so patient.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: Well, Dee Dee, I was answering one of our other questions while I was waiting for you to rejoin us, and I mentioned to the viewers that I would restate the question for you.
34:12
SPEAKER_01: So I'd love to hear your perspective because I was just finished wrapping up my perspective on it.
34:17
SPEAKER_01: And this was submitted anonymously previously from a choreographer, and their question is how do you bring out more artistry in your younger or less advanced dancers?
34:30
SPEAKER_01: Also, how can you help them engage through their backs and their upper bodies while performing choreography?
34:37
unknown: Woo!
34:38
SPEAKER_03: Okay, wow.
34:39
SPEAKER_03: Um It's a tough one.
34:40
SPEAKER_03: Pandora's box.
34:43
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna start with, I'll start with engaging through your back, uh, through performance and choreography.
34:49
SPEAKER_03: That is definitely that is a repetition reinforcement situation.
34:54
SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be all about using the warm-up time, using the stretch time as we warm up for class, as you warm up to start to teach.
35:04
SPEAKER_03: I mean, let's not skirt around it.
35:07
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes, as choreographers, we get into a situation where like, all right, y'all warmed up, good.
35:12
SPEAKER_03: Let me dive into this choreography.
35:14
SPEAKER_03: Because in your head, you're really focused on the choreography and you think ultimately the young dancers just want to get to choreography too.
35:20
SPEAKER_03: Yes, I understand that.
35:21
SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, I tell dancers all the time, no, we are not doing crunches, so you get abs.
35:26
SPEAKER_03: That's not how you get abs.
35:27
SPEAKER_03: You don't get abs from doing crunches.
35:28
SPEAKER_03: But what you do get is lower abdominal awareness.
35:31
SPEAKER_03: So when I say, oh, use a contraction, you'll understand where your lower abdominals were because we just did a warm-up and you now feel them.
35:39
SPEAKER_03: You know where they are, you're aware of your obliques, you're aware of a lower abdominal pelvic girdle like connection.
35:45
SPEAKER_03: That is why we do crunches before we start to do any choreography that I'm gonna do, because I'm gonna use a lot of low pelvic floor movement and I need you to know where it's gonna initiate rather than doing a whole bunch of this.
35:55
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, nope, it needs to go lower.
35:57
SPEAKER_03: But if we haven't had that conversation and you haven't been able to connect to it, I'm speaking to you, you know, in Egyptian and you only understand Greek.
36:05
SPEAKER_03: Like, we're not gonna have a conversation.
36:07
SPEAKER_03: So that's one.
36:08
SPEAKER_03: And two, it's all about the explanation of initiation.
36:14
SPEAKER_03: So, yes, this is beautiful and it's a great shape, and it's a shape that we all know.
36:19
SPEAKER_03: I could definitely do it from just my arm where nothing, like, I mean, like, even seeing myself do it, or like there's nothing else involved to it.
36:26
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, oh, okay, very doll-like.
36:28
SPEAKER_03: Or you over-engage and it's like, okay, well, I don't need you to do all of that.
36:32
SPEAKER_03: But what I do need you to do is connect it where something happens because the arm is moving.
36:37
SPEAKER_03: Why?
36:37
SPEAKER_03: It's because it's fully connected to the other arm and through the back.
36:40
SPEAKER_03: Understanding, hey, this shape is pretty, but the reason we're doing this shape is because your back goes wide and then all of a sudden it connects to your tricep, which then connects to your bicep, which then pushes through all the way to your wrist.
36:52
SPEAKER_03: That is a whole back connection.
36:53
SPEAKER_03: So when I want you to do this, I don't want you to do this.
36:56
SPEAKER_03: I want you to go back first.
36:58
SPEAKER_03: Then the arm comes through, which also connects through a contraction.
37:00
SPEAKER_03: There's 13 different things happening.
37:02
SPEAKER_03: I want you to explore that.
37:03
SPEAKER_03: See how you can make it over dramatic, see how you can make it lessening.
37:07
SPEAKER_03: Okay, now that we've known what too much is and we know what not enough is, find the happy medium because that's where I want it.
37:13
SPEAKER_03: That's it's all about exploration, especially with the younger ones.
37:16
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
37:16
SPEAKER_03: Because they are just coming into their bodies.
37:18
SPEAKER_03: And I mean, and they're gonna, again, we all know they're gonna change again and become a young adult, and then they're not gonna know their bodies for another about a year and a half of like, I don't know where everything just went.
37:28
SPEAKER_03: My center of gravity just changed.
37:29
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
37:30
SPEAKER_03: So that's very important.
37:31
SPEAKER_03: I think repetition, using that conditioning time, not just to tondu, but to understand why there's a ton do, why it works with the back of your legs, why the rotation is happening, and how that then is applicable to the next, the next situation, which would be your choreography.
37:45
SPEAKER_03: That's one.
37:46
SPEAKER_03: And the first end of the question artistry.
37:49
SPEAKER_03: Uh the artistry.
37:51
SPEAKER_03: The artistry of it is to explain that it's not just about how high your leg goes.
37:57
SPEAKER_03: It's not just about how articulated your toes are, it's why.
38:02
SPEAKER_03: And you know, and this is a really good conversation to have, like, specifically around like I had the conversation around what is the same and what's different between ballet modern, lyrical, and contemporary.
38:13
SPEAKER_03: And everybody's like, oh, well, I don't know.
38:14
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, well, contemporary, the shapes lead the storyline.
38:19
SPEAKER_03: I don't care what the song says, I don't care what like what the lyrics are, it's all about the shapes.
38:26
SPEAKER_03: So the shapes lead the storyline, right?
38:28
SPEAKER_03: Lyrical, the lyrics lead the storyline.
38:31
SPEAKER_03: The shapes like support and enhance the storyline, but what is being said in the song is what I am following and how you are best emoting and supporting what is being said through shapes.
38:42
SPEAKER_03: Modern is just like ballet, there is a repertoire, there is a vocabulary that I am looking for specifically in both ballet and in modern.
38:50
SPEAKER_03: Don't call a piece a modern when they go in their head and they point their toes and they're walking around like a crab.
38:55
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, that's that's technically called contemporary, and they're like, oh, that's postmodern, right?
39:00
SPEAKER_03: And we gave postmodern another name, which is contemporary.
39:03
SPEAKER_03: So, like, we have to understand these things, which then leads to artistry.
39:07
SPEAKER_03: If I understand that I am doing a contemporary number and that these shapes lead the storyline, then I am not connecting to what the lyrics are saying.
39:17
SPEAKER_03: I'm connecting to the musicality.
39:19
SPEAKER_03: How are they saying what they're saying?
39:21
SPEAKER_03: And I use a great example of somebody who I just I live for their music, um, Sam Smith, they them.
39:27
SPEAKER_03: I think they explain, like when you listen to their music, Sam Smith says things in a very particular way to emphasize the word, which is both beautiful for a lyrical number, but also very tangible for a contemporary number.
39:45
SPEAKER_03: You know, not that I'm gonna sing on the podcast, but like, stay with me.
39:50
SPEAKER_03: Like, how long is he holding?
39:52
SPEAKER_03: Like, how long are they holding on to stay?
39:54
SPEAKER_03: And is that stay a suspension?
39:57
SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, I use the word suspension and how they said it.
40:00
SPEAKER_03: That makes sense as to how I'm doing this movement.
40:03
SPEAKER_03: It's supposed to be suspended.
40:05
SPEAKER_03: Suspend it until the end of the word.
40:07
SPEAKER_03: Not that I'm dancing to the lyric, I'm actually now dancing to the musicality, I'm dancing to the texture, I'm letting the shape tell a story, and then you have an artistry.
40:15
SPEAKER_03: Now you have a storyline.
40:16
SPEAKER_03: Now I'm following something, and now as a dancer, I'm thinking beyond, oh, here comes the double pirouette situation.
40:23
SPEAKER_03: Boom, hit, hit, done.
40:25
SPEAKER_03: Like, no, I get to bring expression and I get to bring understanding and musicality to the performance.
40:32
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's that's what a lot of young performers, especially young performers, are missing when it comes to artistry because it's like they're learning an aesthetic.
40:40
SPEAKER_03: They're going, oh, I see this, this is what it must be, rather than I feel this and I understand that.
40:46
SPEAKER_03: So again, it leans towards both the choreographer and the dance educator, like the teacher, to explain, let's sit down, let's talk about what you feel, what you hear.
40:58
SPEAKER_03: A lot of times, especially if it's a contemporary number, I will like have the dancer close their eyes and just listen to the music in their headphones.
41:06
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, I just want you to take a piece of paper and I want you to take a pen and I want you to draw how it sounds.
41:12
SPEAKER_03: So, like, if it sounds like a whole bunch of words, maybe it sounds like this, like maybe it feels like this.
41:16
SPEAKER_03: Or maybe if all the lyrics feel like, so then I need to see that on the paper.
41:22
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so now that you understand what that feels like, maybe my choreography cuts through the ebb and flow.
41:27
SPEAKER_03: So maybe the choreography goes straight to and then up and then it dips and stays low, then up and comes.
41:34
SPEAKER_03: So now do you see how it matches what's going on in the music?
41:37
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yes, and now you understand why that contraction takes six counts rather than one, two, three, four, five, six.
41:45
SPEAKER_03: I need the artistry of one, two, three, four, five, six connect to the next moment.
41:49
SPEAKER_01: I think answered the question.
41:51
SPEAKER_01: I think you totally answered the question.
41:53
SPEAKER_01: And what makes me so happy is that the first part of your answer when we brought you back in, and listeners, if you weren't aware, Danny got disconnected for a minute.
42:04
SPEAKER_01: So I was answering the question at first, and I and I don't know, Dee Dee, if you were in listening while I was answering, but we said the same thing, which makes me so happy.
42:18
SPEAKER_01: And because it must be true.
42:20
SPEAKER_01: Yes, like we are on the exact same page when it comes to just like I said exactly the same thing as repetition in in warm-up.
42:28
SPEAKER_01: Warm-up is important.
42:29
SPEAKER_01: Warm-up is the place that you can get that repetition, and incorporating those movements that you are putting into your choreography into the warmup is just going to allow that repetition for the dancers to get more familiar with it.
42:45
SPEAKER_01: I love that you said that because it just like confirmed what I said.
42:48
SPEAKER_01: And the other thing that's important as far as artistry, and I think a lot of us see these dancers that are just getting younger and younger and more advanced and more advanced, they have the groundwork.
42:59
SPEAKER_01: They have the technique.
43:01
SPEAKER_01: They're in the studio all the time.
43:04
SPEAKER_01: And you need to have the foundation.
43:06
SPEAKER_01: Not that dancers who are still working on their foundation can't have artistry.
43:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that, but I think it's it comes easier to them when the technique and the foundation and the basics are there because they're now they're at the next level.
43:22
SPEAKER_01: Now they don't have to worry.
43:23
SPEAKER_01: Trust the technique at that point.
43:26
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
43:26
SPEAKER_03: And then Yes, Courtney, I say that every time.
43:30
SPEAKER_03: I always have this conversation with dancers.
43:32
SPEAKER_03: I go, what makes an American ballet theater dancer more enjoyable to watch than you think it is to watch yourself?
43:40
SPEAKER_03: And they're like, oh, because they can kick to their forehead, or because oh my gosh, she can do six pirouettes on point.
43:46
SPEAKER_03: And I go, No.
43:47
SPEAKER_03: What makes it so much enjoyable so much more enjoyable to you is that she's not worried about the technique.
43:53
SPEAKER_03: She's going to hit fourth position, push all the way through her foot, articulate all the way to the top of that toe.
43:59
SPEAKER_03: She's gonna pull that.
44:00
SPEAKER_03: Above that supporting knee.
44:01
SPEAKER_03: She's gonna place that porter bar where it needs to be for her rotation.
44:04
SPEAKER_03: She's gonna spot, spot, spot.
44:05
SPEAKER_03: And now she is worried about the musicality.
44:09
SPEAKER_03: Now she is staying with the music because it's a live orchestra.
44:13
SPEAKER_03: She is thinking about the piccolo that's playing that she really enjoys.
44:15
SPEAKER_03: And the piccolo brings kind of a joy to our heart.
44:18
SPEAKER_03: And we get to experience the joy because the technique is already there.
44:22
SPEAKER_03: I tell them all the time, I'm like, it's just like walking.
44:24
SPEAKER_03: Could you imagine?
44:25
SPEAKER_03: I was like, when you were a child and learning how to walk, yes, it was awkward.
44:29
SPEAKER_03: And everybody's like, oh my gosh, I'm worried about you walking.
44:31
SPEAKER_03: No one knows we're not worried about you walking, but now you can, now you can walk in style.
44:36
SPEAKER_03: Now you can tip, you can put a heel on.
44:38
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
44:38
SPEAKER_03: Be sassy.
44:39
SPEAKER_03: Right.
44:39
SPEAKER_03: You know, you can put a boot on and be, you know, beyon saying, I'm a survivor, whatever it needs to be.
44:45
SPEAKER_03: But now you walk, you walk and you walk with confidence.
44:48
SPEAKER_03: You can slow walk, you can fast walk, whatever you need to do, because you're not worried about that technique of walking.
44:53
SPEAKER_03: You already know how to do that.
44:54
SPEAKER_03: Right.
44:55
SPEAKER_03: Get to the point where I'm not worried about the technique of doing a pirouette.
44:58
SPEAKER_03: Pull it up and let's go.
44:59
SPEAKER_03: Right.
45:00
SPEAKER_03: And now, while I'm doing a pirouette, what am I actually thinking about?
45:03
SPEAKER_03: What am I actually spotting?
45:05
SPEAKER_03: You know, you can spot beyond what is actually in front of your face.
45:08
SPEAKER_03: You can see, you can have an imagery, and you're spotting what the song is telling you to look at, and you're spotting, spotting, and your face is expressing, oh my gosh, I see something else.
45:17
SPEAKER_03: I'm spotting joy.
45:18
SPEAKER_03: Or here I come to this Panche.
45:20
SPEAKER_03: I'm not just going to a Panche.
45:21
SPEAKER_03: I'm actually diving into the music.
45:23
SPEAKER_03: I feel myself teeter up and over that bassoon that is being played.
45:27
SPEAKER_03: Like that's how it becomes something else.
45:29
SPEAKER_03: Right.
45:29
SPEAKER_03: It's because you're not worried about all the things that we're training, and that's our job as a dance educator, to train those things to get them to a place where we become beyond muscle memory.
45:40
SPEAKER_03: I always say, beyond muscle memory.
45:42
SPEAKER_03: Muscle memory means that you are aware of it.
45:45
SPEAKER_03: I want to go beyond muscle memory.
45:47
SPEAKER_03: I want it to be involuntary.
45:48
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
45:49
SPEAKER_03: I want every time you pull up into a passe that it pulls up beyond that supporting knee without you having to think about it.
45:55
SPEAKER_03: You should not have to go, here comes a pirouette.
45:57
SPEAKER_03: I want you to go, and this is the part of the song that whirls.
46:00
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
46:01
SPEAKER_03: And you just happen to be turning.
46:03
SPEAKER_03: Right.
46:03
SPEAKER_01: And like I said from the beginning of the this question, it really comes with some maturity, I think, because you have to, and what and how you answered it, musicality is a key element to the artistry, I think.
46:18
SPEAKER_01: And it's not just doing the steps anymore.
46:20
SPEAKER_01: There's more to it.
46:21
SPEAKER_01: There is intention, there's connection.
46:22
SPEAKER_01: And if I shouldn't be able to put on any song and it shouldn't be the same dance.
46:27
SPEAKER_01: It's I need to see it connected to this specific song that it was choreographed to, and the dancers need to feel that.
46:33
SPEAKER_01: I think that's like the gist of this episode is the dancers need to feel the movement and really understand it.
46:40
SPEAKER_03: Say it again for those in the back row.
46:43
SPEAKER_03: Courtney, let them know.
46:45
SPEAKER_01: We're telling them.
46:46
SPEAKER_03: The dancers need to feel, honey.
46:48
SPEAKER_01: They need to feel it.
46:49
SPEAKER_01: They do.
46:50
SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for answering that one.
46:52
SPEAKER_01: I know that was a long one, but it was so good.
46:53
SPEAKER_01: And we have one more question that came in in the comments.
46:56
SPEAKER_01: If you are still able to stay with us, Steede.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
47:00
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
47:00
SPEAKER_01: Have a little bit of time.
47:01
SPEAKER_01: Okay, sweet.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: We'll answer this one more question.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: And this is coming from Becca.
47:06
SPEAKER_02: And Hi, Becca.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: They said, Any tips on how to get dancers to venture out of their comfort zones of certain types of dance and realize they can love another type?
47:17
SPEAKER_03: Uh, Becca, this is a brilliant question.
47:20
SPEAKER_03: Because what we do, we get stuck in our rut, especially, you know, even as adult dancers, we go, I'm a this dancer, or this is where I feel strongest.
47:28
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
47:28
SPEAKER_03: Yes, I'm glad you feel strong there.
47:30
SPEAKER_03: That we're gonna continue to reinforce.
47:32
SPEAKER_03: We're now gonna bring everything else up to that same comfort level.
47:35
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna do everything we possibly can to get there.
47:37
SPEAKER_03: Here it comes the dreaded I word improvisation.
47:41
SPEAKER_03: And everybody's like, oh no, don't make me improv.
47:45
SPEAKER_03: And trust me, I'm the same person when it comes to tap.
47:47
SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm a proficient tap dancer.
47:49
SPEAKER_03: And when it comes to adjudicating, I know all the vocabulary words, I know how it's supposed to be executed.
47:54
SPEAKER_03: I can even demonstrate it for you.
47:56
SPEAKER_03: When it comes to improvisational tap, uh me too.
48:02
SPEAKER_03: Oh my god, he is scared.
48:05
SPEAKER_03: And I'm always like, no.
48:07
SPEAKER_03: And there's an outstanding tap educator and instructor in Chicago, and he travels around the world.
48:13
SPEAKER_03: He's brilliant.
48:14
SPEAKER_03: His name is Mark Yonnelly, and because of Mark Yannelli, I have gotten a lot stronger, both improvisation and just exploring the like sounds.
48:23
SPEAKER_03: And because of him, I feel more confident about it.
48:26
SPEAKER_03: I think improv is going to be your best tool.
48:29
SPEAKER_03: And I would definitely look into choreographers such as like William Forsyth, Peanut Bausch, anything with Clifton Brown, anything from Alonzo King, anything from Xavier Hicks, anything from Drew Jacobi, Pronk, like all the ideas that then make you explore.
48:47
SPEAKER_03: A fun one with uh William Forsyth is point-point line.
48:51
SPEAKER_03: I don't know if anybody's familiar with that.
48:52
SPEAKER_03: Look it up, look it up, look it up, look it up, look it up, point point line.
48:56
SPEAKER_03: So it's like there's two points, right?
48:58
SPEAKER_03: And there's a line in between.
48:59
SPEAKER_03: The line's in invisible, but I mean like if I shift the points, now the line is a diagonal.
49:03
SPEAKER_03: If I wiggle the points, now the line like it takes its own shape, right?
49:07
SPEAKER_03: So you can do that as a contemporary moment.
49:09
SPEAKER_03: You go, okay, so everybody, you cannot do a pirouette, you can't extend your leg.
49:13
SPEAKER_03: You literally, the only thing you can do is do extensions through your back and through your arms.
49:17
SPEAKER_03: And I want you to give me jazz movement, jazz interpretation of this song.
49:22
SPEAKER_03: And I like to use improvisational jazz music where they can't find the beat the entire time.
49:28
SPEAKER_03: They have to explore it and like let it wash over them.
49:31
SPEAKER_03: And so they're like, Well, I don't know what a jazz porte-bras looks like.
49:34
SPEAKER_03: You don't know what jazz porte-bras will look like.
49:35
SPEAKER_03: Well, show me what, show me what you feel.
49:37
SPEAKER_03: What does a music feel like?
49:38
SPEAKER_03: And so, like, they're feeling it, and they're like, Oh, so if I did right.
49:42
SPEAKER_03: So, what you do is you just take that line, and if I take the line and I move the line this way and I did that.
49:47
SPEAKER_03: Now, if we put a pirouette in there, so instead of just moving the arm, that was a pirouette and drop the arm.
49:53
SPEAKER_03: Now I feel stronger because I feel more confident.
49:56
SPEAKER_03: Because for some like it felt authentic.
49:58
SPEAKER_03: That movement felt authentic, it's still a jazz movement.
50:01
SPEAKER_03: Or you can do the same point-point line and make it lyrical.
50:04
SPEAKER_03: Okay, why don't you take these point point lines?
50:06
SPEAKER_03: I want you to connect that line to this line, but I want you to use just your head.
50:09
SPEAKER_03: So, how would you use just your head in a lyrical way?
50:11
SPEAKER_03: Like make it feel soft.
50:12
SPEAKER_03: Maybe I want to feel the line.
50:14
SPEAKER_03: What does it feel like to take it and dance and feel that line?
50:18
SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, now you're understanding lyrical.
50:20
SPEAKER_03: And now, now that we've taken away all these things that you rely on, I'm a turner, I'm a jumper, I'm a legs person.
50:28
SPEAKER_03: We take away all those things that you lay, like you crutch on.
50:32
SPEAKER_03: And now I want you to feel the artist who is inside of you.
50:35
SPEAKER_03: All of us have it.
50:36
SPEAKER_03: How does that expression feel?
50:38
SPEAKER_03: Okay, now we're gonna add a technique, like a technical expression on top of that.
50:43
SPEAKER_03: Because I think if we get to the core of it, if we really reinforce the passion of movement, the passion of dance, we can ignite energy for love of different genres.
50:56
SPEAKER_03: I mean, they're young and where they get accolades, where they get compliments is where they're going to lay on.
51:05
SPEAKER_03: Because we're they're in a very developmental stage of their life.
51:08
SPEAKER_03: And why would I run towards something that I'm not getting a compliment on?
51:12
SPEAKER_03: Why would I make myself why would I stress myself out trying to become a better ballet dancer?
51:18
SPEAKER_03: If when I do jazz, everybody applauds.
51:21
SPEAKER_03: When I do ballet, you have constructive criticism.
51:25
SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna step away from that.
51:26
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna do all the things that you really praise me for.
51:29
SPEAKER_03: Well, let's praise them for effort.
51:30
SPEAKER_03: I'm not saying let's not hold them accountable for corrections.
51:34
SPEAKER_03: I'm not saying let's not give them critical like constructive criticism, but I am saying praise them for stepping outside of their bounds, stepping outside of the box, stepping outside of the genre they feel comfortable in, and encourage them to explore more.
51:48
SPEAKER_03: Encourage, and the encouragement is going to come from try this.
51:52
SPEAKER_03: Now I want you to do it as many times as you want until it feels comfortable for you.
51:56
SPEAKER_03: And now I applaud you for it.
51:58
SPEAKER_03: Because at the end of the day, we all just want somebody to understand that we're an artist.
52:02
SPEAKER_03: At the end of the day, everybody just wants to be seen and to be heard and a place to feel validated.
52:07
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's where, I think that's where we have that uh that difficulty of we're like, oh, I don't want to try that genre.
52:13
SPEAKER_03: Well, it's because when I step into that genre, I feel uncomfortable and people are going to give me critique about it rather than, yeah, I'm gonna get a critique about it.
52:21
SPEAKER_03: But at the end of the day, I almost I'm also gonna be told, wow, you did really well in that class.
52:26
SPEAKER_03: I'm glad you stepped outside of your boundary.
52:28
SPEAKER_03: I'm glad you did something that was not, you know, lyrical.
52:30
SPEAKER_03: I'm glad you did something that was not contemporary.
52:33
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm proud of you for trying something that wasn't a jazz number.
52:36
SPEAKER_03: I'm proud of you for stepping into that hip-hop class and understanding that yes, you identify as a bun head, but you also went in there and you brought that same technique when they dropped to second position and isolated.
52:47
SPEAKER_03: I saw you really, really utilize your turnout.
52:50
SPEAKER_03: And that really brought some dynamic expression to the way you were using your chest for isolation.
52:55
SPEAKER_03: Like things like that.
52:56
SPEAKER_03: That's our job as educators, yeah, is to use the vernacular that does not shun or does it push you away from, right?
53:03
SPEAKER_03: But to invite you in to explore.
53:05
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
53:06
SPEAKER_03: Sorry, that's my soapbox.
53:07
SPEAKER_03: I always get in that one.
53:08
SPEAKER_01: I love your soapbox.
53:09
SPEAKER_01: They're it's they're so good.
53:11
SPEAKER_01: Every single soapbox, you get on.
53:13
unknown: Thank you.
53:14
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't agree more.
53:16
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think that, like you said, we don't want to discourage dancers.
53:20
SPEAKER_01: And it is a hard, it is a hard thing for kids to take criticism sometimes.
53:24
SPEAKER_01: It's hard for adults to take criticism sometimes and feedback, you know?
53:28
SPEAKER_01: Like it's and it's hard sometimes for them to feel comfortable and in a safe place.
53:34
SPEAKER_01: And I think that one of the important things for dancers to really kind of sit down and figure out is you can have a favorite style, you can have a style that you feel super happy and comfortable in, but then we have to take another step back and decide like why are we dancing?
53:53
SPEAKER_01: Do we love do we do it because we love it?
53:55
SPEAKER_01: Are we doing it just for fun?
53:57
SPEAKER_01: Or are we doing it because we we do think we can go somewhere with this?
54:02
SPEAKER_01: And if it's the if it's the second choice of I might want to be a professional one day, or I might want to be a dance teacher one day, then versatility is extremely important in your career in any aspect.
54:15
SPEAKER_01: The more you know, then the more valuable you will be.
54:19
SPEAKER_01: And the only way that you'll be able to, you know, be learn those styles is trying it.
54:25
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to learn how to do hip hop.
54:29
SPEAKER_01: If you never step foot in the hip hop class every time the opportunity is in front of you, there are so many dancers at conventions that just skip out on the classes they don't want to take because, oh, I don't do tap.
54:40
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't do hip-hop.
54:41
SPEAKER_01: It's like this isn't, you're already there.
54:44
SPEAKER_01: Like go learn something new.
54:46
SPEAKER_01: And oftentimes, that's what I really love about conventions because there have been so many times where not even when I'm not just when I'm teaching, when I watch other dancers take a ballet class and approach it very differently.
54:59
SPEAKER_01: And people leave class saying, like, wow, I I really loved ballet today.
55:04
SPEAKER_01: Like, I really loved that class.
55:06
SPEAKER_01: That one teacher might have inspired them in that way for them to go back to the studio and walk into ballet class with a completely different approach, with a completely different view.
55:16
SPEAKER_01: And that can be applied to so many other styles.
55:18
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the tap teacher was inspiring at the event this time and it made them fall in love with it.
55:24
SPEAKER_01: To expose dancers to different choreographers and different teachers and educators.
55:30
SPEAKER_01: It's just going to be more helpful.
55:32
SPEAKER_01: It's so important for them to not just, I mean, I love you all studio teachers.
55:38
SPEAKER_01: You're all doing fantastic things.
55:39
SPEAKER_01: You guys are the foundation of these dancers' trainings.
55:42
SPEAKER_01: But I think it is important for dancers to also take class from others and see a different perspective and see how another teacher is going to explain something.
55:50
SPEAKER_01: And there's that light bulb that might trigger, you know, for that correction, just like judges.
55:56
SPEAKER_01: Teachers say it all the time.
55:57
SPEAKER_01: Like, I've been telling my dancers this exact same correction, and now a judge says it, and now they're actually gonna apply it, you know?
56:03
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
56:04
SPEAKER_01: Like the same thing can be applied to even just taking class and adapting to new styles.
56:09
SPEAKER_01: It might be intimidating and scary at first, but you never know until you try.
56:13
SPEAKER_01: So I just think that dancers need to sit down and really think about like, why are you here?
56:18
SPEAKER_01: Why are you doing this?
56:19
SPEAKER_01: Are you doing this because you love to dance?
56:21
SPEAKER_01: Then take a risk and try something new and jump into a class that you've never done before.
56:26
SPEAKER_01: You never know.
56:27
SPEAKER_01: You might love it, you might hate it.
56:29
SPEAKER_01: That's a learning lesson.
56:30
SPEAKER_02: You may hate it, but that's okay.
56:32
SPEAKER_01: And that's okay.
56:32
SPEAKER_01: There are so many classes I've taken that I'm like, oh, God, can't wait till this is over.
56:36
SPEAKER_01: This is just not for me.
56:38
SPEAKER_01: And that is okay.
56:40
SPEAKER_01: We are allowed to feel that, but we also can make a choice.
56:43
SPEAKER_01: If we didn't love it, we don't have to go back, but you might love it.
56:46
SPEAKER_01: You just don't know.
56:48
SPEAKER_01: There's no point in having that, you know, that thought in your head before you even step foot in a class, like, oh, well, I'm not a tapper, so I'm not gonna take this class.
56:57
SPEAKER_03: Like we say dance, dance is a buffet, it's not, it's not a menu.
57:01
SPEAKER_03: Like you don't have to come, you don't have to walk in and go, I'm having the ballet and that's all I'm having.
57:06
SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
57:07
SPEAKER_03: You can like you can go up, you can have a little bit of the ballet, and like, oh my gosh, that jazz looks really nice today.
57:12
SPEAKER_03: I don't know who prepared the jazz, but I'm gonna I'm gonna have a little bit of this jazz.
57:16
SPEAKER_03: That tap over there, look at that.
57:18
SPEAKER_03: They put a little extra on top of that tap.
57:20
SPEAKER_03: I got a little season on it.
57:21
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna put some tap on this plate too.
57:23
SPEAKER_03: And look at this acro over here, honey.
57:25
SPEAKER_03: The whipped cream on top of this acro.
57:27
SPEAKER_03: We're doing it.
57:28
SPEAKER_03: Like, it's okay.
57:29
SPEAKER_03: You don't have to go, I'm choosing to have just the tap tonight.
57:34
SPEAKER_03: That's it.
57:34
SPEAKER_03: I I refuse to do anything else.
57:36
SPEAKER_03: I'm just worried about the tap.
57:37
SPEAKER_03: Like, right, no, explore.
57:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
57:40
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love that.
57:41
SPEAKER_01: I love that so much.
57:42
SPEAKER_01: That is so well said.
57:44
SPEAKER_01: And truly, yes, Becca said, I'm putting that on a shirt.
57:48
SPEAKER_01: Dance is a buffet, not a menu.
57:51
SPEAKER_03: Honey, dance is a buffet, not a menu item.
57:53
SPEAKER_01: Like, it is, it's so true.
57:55
SPEAKER_01: Well, Dee Dee, this was so good.
57:57
SPEAKER_01: And I do apologize for your technical difficulties, but you came back flawlessly.
58:01
SPEAKER_03: Listen, we always come back.
58:04
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
58:04
SPEAKER_03: You don't have to get ready if you stay ready.
58:06
SPEAKER_03: We were, I was like, we'll be back.
58:09
SPEAKER_01: I knew you'd be back, and I'm glad that we navigated that.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: And sorry for any viewers that were tuning in, but we made it work, y'all, like we always do over here at Making the Impact.
58:19
SPEAKER_01: And such an informative episode.
58:21
SPEAKER_01: I know so many of our fans love these QA's.
58:24
SPEAKER_01: They just love hearing from the judges and having real questions answered directly from the pros.
58:31
SPEAKER_01: So, Didi, I am so grateful that you joined us today.
58:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm so thankful for you spending your afternoon with us.
58:37
SPEAKER_01: I hope that I actually get to meet you in person one day because I haven't met you before.
58:43
SPEAKER_03: Uh, we share so many friends in common.
58:46
SPEAKER_03: And I used to live in New York, I lived in Washington Heights.
58:49
SPEAKER_03: Holler up to my Washington Heights, 157th and Riverside Drive, Yo.
58:53
SPEAKER_03: Yes! Um, yes, but yeah.
58:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm over in Astoria, Queens.
58:58
SPEAKER_03: Oh, okay, Astoria is where I'm at.
59:00
SPEAKER_03: That's cute.
59:01
SPEAKER_03: There's some cute restaurants over there.
59:02
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
59:03
SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about it.
59:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm so spoiled.
59:04
SPEAKER_03: Love Astoria.
59:05
SPEAKER_01: But yes, we will definitely connect in in real life person soon, I hope.
59:09
SPEAKER_01: Maybe judging alongside each other one day.
59:12
SPEAKER_03: Yes, I would love that.
59:13
SPEAKER_01: And I would just I'm just so grateful for you and thank you for being on the IDA roster.
59:19
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being a part of this podcast episode.
59:21
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for sharing your wisdom and knowledge with the dance world.
59:24
SPEAKER_01: And everybody Say bye to Danny Duane.
59:29
SPEAKER_01: Bye, you all.
59:30
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much, Danny Duane.
59:32
SPEAKER_01: We love you.
59:34
SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
59:35
SPEAKER_03: I love you too, Courtney.
59:36
SPEAKER_01: All right, everybody.
59:37
SPEAKER_01: Well, we're wrapping up our episode.
59:39
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, if you haven't joined our Facebook community, you can definitely do so.
59:44
SPEAKER_01: It's free to join.
59:45
SPEAKER_01: You must be affiliated and connected into the dance world.
59:48
SPEAKER_01: It's called Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast Community.
59:51
SPEAKER_01: You can find it on Facebook or click the link in our show notes on the podcast.
59:55
SPEAKER_01: We would love for you to join us there.
59:56
SPEAKER_01: We chat a lot of dance, we ask a lot of questions, we post our weekly episodes, we take polls from all of our fans.
1:00:03
SPEAKER_01: It's a great time over there.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_01: So join us now.
1:00:06
SPEAKER_01: Final thing to share with you all before we close out.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_01: If you haven't heard, IDA does online judges critiques.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_01: So if you're prepping your dance for the season, if you're a soloist, if you are a teacher looking for a fresh set of eyes to watch your group routine, you can send your dance straight to IDA, and one of our fabulous IDA judges will critique your dance.
1:00:32
SPEAKER_01: Just like you would receive a competition.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_01: So you don't have to go to the competition, all you have to do is grab your iPhone, film your video in studio, and send it our way.
1:00:42
SPEAKER_01: You can also send us previous competition videos if you would like that to be critiqued as well.
1:00:47
SPEAKER_01: And the great thing about this service is that it goes more in depth than your standard competition critique.
1:00:52
SPEAKER_01: So as we know a competition, you only get three minutes and that's it.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_01: And the judges say what they watch and then they move on to the next dance.
1:00:59
SPEAKER_01: With our online judges' critiques, they will watch your dance through and give you feedback just like competition.
1:01:05
SPEAKER_01: But with their additional feedback feature, they will go back through from beginning to end, start and stack your video, and give you 10 to 15 minutes of additional feedback post-critique, which is our best-selling feature.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_01: And no wonder because it is so helpful to use before your dancer hits the stage of season, or even while they're mid-season and they're not getting the feedback that they want at competition and they just need to have another fresh set of eyes, send it our way.
1:01:29
SPEAKER_01: Critique started only$35.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_01: And if a lot of you might have taken advantage of our Black Friday sale that we just had, so thank you if you did.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_01: And if you're a studio owner or a danceager interested in submitting a lot of entries or a lot of dances our way, then we do offer bulk discounts as well.
1:01:46
SPEAKER_01: So if you'd like to send in your dance and learn more about IDA's online judges critiques, you can head on over to our website at impactdanceadjudicators.com slash online critiques and submit your dance now.
1:01:59
SPEAKER_01: All right, everybody, that is a wrap for this month's QA with Courtney Live on Facebook.
1:02:07
SPEAKER_01: Special shout out to our fabulous guest, Danny Duane, for joining us.
1:02:12
SPEAKER_01: And we have some great episodes coming your way soon on the podcast.
1:02:17
SPEAKER_01: We have a recreational dance versus competitive dance episode coming.
1:02:22
SPEAKER_01: We have a Latin ballroom episode coming your way, and uh Etiquette Tips for parents.
1:02:28
SPEAKER_01: Ooh, that's gonna be a hot one.
1:02:30
SPEAKER_01: So be sure you hit subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
1:02:34
SPEAKER_01: Stay connected with us on Instagram and Facebook.
1:02:37
SPEAKER_01: Join our community and stay tuned for more of season three of Making the Impact.
1:02:43
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for viewing and listening to this week's episode.
1:02:47
SPEAKER_01: We'll see you next time on the live.
1:02:48
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much, y'all.
1:02:50
SPEAKER_01: Bye.