Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Making the Transition To A New Age Division At Competition

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Making the Transition To A New Age Division At Competition · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_04: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_04: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_04: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_04: 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_04: There comes a time in every dancer's life when they're faced with a challenge.
0:27
SPEAKER_04: A difficult decision, a tough combination.
0:30
SPEAKER_04: Or our topic today, making the transition to a new age division.
0:34
SPEAKER_04: Getting older can't be avoided, but making the impact is here today with some advice for dancers on how to gratefully step into a higher age division at competition.
0:44
SPEAKER_02: Hey dance world, welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
0:48
SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Courtney Court.
0:49
SPEAKER_02: And I'm here, like always, with my fabulous co-host, Leslie Mueller.
0:54
SPEAKER_04: Hello, Courtney.
0:55
SPEAKER_04: How are you doing today?
0:56
SPEAKER_02: I am good.
0:57
SPEAKER_02: How are you?
0:58
SPEAKER_04: I'm also good.
0:59
SPEAKER_04: We have been a podcasting away.
1:01
SPEAKER_04: So I'm happy to be here with you.
1:03
SPEAKER_04: And it's been actually a really great day of podcasting.
1:06
SPEAKER_04: So I'm so excited for listeners to hear this episode and all the other ones we recorded.
1:10
SPEAKER_02: Yes, absolutely.
1:11
SPEAKER_02: We definitely have had a full-blown podcasting day over here.
1:15
SPEAKER_02: And I'm really excited for this week's episode because we're talking about age divisions, but not just what we expect in those divisions.
1:24
SPEAKER_02: We're also talking about making the transition to a new age division.
1:28
SPEAKER_02: So there's so many dancers out there who, I mean, everyone's going to transition to that next age division at a point in time in their dance journey.
1:37
SPEAKER_02: And they might be nervous, they might be scared, mom might be stressed, teachers might be scared as well or stressed out.
1:44
SPEAKER_02: Don't be stressed, y'all.
1:45
SPEAKER_02: You got this.
1:45
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be okay.
1:46
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna talk all about it.
1:47
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna talk about what we expect to see and also what it's like to transition.
1:53
SPEAKER_02: What are the things that the judges are truly looking for when you are going from age 12 to age 13 or age 15 to age 16?
2:02
SPEAKER_02: Things like that is what we're talking about all day long today on the podcast.
2:07
SPEAKER_04: And we have some awesome guests, some excellent dance educators and IDA judges who are helping us out on this podcast today.
2:15
SPEAKER_04: So we're really looking forward to having them chat with us.
2:18
SPEAKER_04: But before, I think we have a few sponsors.
2:21
SPEAKER_02: Yes, we always have some fabulous sponsors over here at Making the Impact, and we really are so grateful for each and every sponsor who is sponsoring us in season four and helping us make this podcast possible.
2:32
SPEAKER_02: So shout out to all of our sponsors and let's see who our first sponsor is for this episode.
2:37
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3:06
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3:14
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3:20
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3:26
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3:32
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much to Fave4 for sponsoring us in season four.
3:35
SPEAKER_04: We are also so grateful to Level Up Dance Supplies for sponsoring us into season four this year.
3:40
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3:47
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3:55
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4:02
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4:05
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4:09
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4:15
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4:20
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4:27
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4:31
SPEAKER_02: And I have one other sponsor I can't wait to share with the dance world, and that is Young Arts.
4:36
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4:42
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5:05
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5:14
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5:20
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5:28
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much to our sponsors for sponsoring this episode.
5:31
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5:35
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5:38
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5:42
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5:43
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5:54
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6:02
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6:10
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6:12
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6:16
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6:23
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6:34
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6:42
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6:46
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6:50
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6:53
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6:56
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7:02
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7:06
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7:08
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7:09
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7:14
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7:21
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7:34
SPEAKER_02: All right, everybody, we are so excited to jump into this week's episode and we're talking about their age ranges this week.
7:41
SPEAKER_02: So maybe your dancer is about to be at the low end of the age division.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: Maybe they are nine in the nine to eleven.
7:50
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe they're 14 in the 12 to 14, that's the high end of the age division.
7:55
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe they are about to transition into a brand new age division that they haven't been to yet and they're a little bit nervous about it.
8:03
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna talk about the things that your judges are looking for when transitioning to those age divisions, and maybe just what you know the expectation is for each age division.
8:14
SPEAKER_02: What's different between a junior dancer versus a teen dancer or a petite dancer versus a junior dancer, things like that.
8:21
SPEAKER_02: Because every dancer is gonna have to face this at a point in time.
8:24
SPEAKER_02: We're all getting older over here, y'all.
8:25
SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna be bumping up to the age divisions, everybody.
8:30
SPEAKER_02: We've all been there, we've all done it over here.
8:32
SPEAKER_02: At least our panel, uh, the disc the people who are discussing it today, have all been there in no shoes.
8:38
SPEAKER_02: So I'm really excited to actually welcome back guests to our podcast, and they're both IDA judges who have been on previous episodes of Making the Impact.
8:48
SPEAKER_02: So the first guest that I would love to welcome back to the pod, you may remember her from season one, episode seven, age range expectations, and season two, episode thirty-two, how to execute unique choreography concepts.
9:04
SPEAKER_02: I'm very excited to welcome back IDA Judge Miranda Spada to the podcast.
9:08
SPEAKER_02: Welcome, Miranda.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: Hey, I'm so excited to be back.
9:10
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for having me.
9:12
SPEAKER_02: Yay! We're so excited to have you.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's really fun that we put you on this episode because, like I said, you did the age range expectations episode.
9:21
SPEAKER_02: So absolutely.
9:22
SPEAKER_02: For all of our listeners, you can go back and listen to that and really hear we kind of really clarified our expectations, which I think we're gonna discuss again today on the podcast, but even go into further detail with our, you know, our thoughts on transitioning to the age.
9:36
SPEAKER_02: Right.
9:36
SPEAKER_02: No, absolutely.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: No, I'm excited.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: So, Miranda, if you wouldn't mind refreshing everybody's memory and tell the world a little bit more about you.
9:43
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
9:44
SPEAKER_03: Just a quick little recap.
9:45
SPEAKER_03: I grew up in Pennsylvania and I went to school at the University of Buffalo, where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance.
9:52
SPEAKER_03: And I just went into the teaching world.
9:54
SPEAKER_03: A lot of doors opened up for me there.
9:56
SPEAKER_03: And I'm currently the competitive director at Tunnel Wanda Dance Arts in Buffalo, New York.
10:00
SPEAKER_03: And I also direct and run my own mentorship program for dancers called LEED, and that kind of gives um dancers from the ages of six all the way up until when they're done the just the chance to pursue a more aggressive path and dance with their goals and their own ambitions.
10:15
SPEAKER_03: So I also get to judge as part of IDA.
10:17
SPEAKER_03: I get to judge all across the country and you know pass on my passion and education to the next generation.
10:22
SPEAKER_02: So I love that.
10:23
SPEAKER_02: And you've been on the raster for so many years now.
10:25
SPEAKER_02: We're so happy to have you with us.
10:27
SPEAKER_02: Very excited.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: And yes, let's uh we're gonna chat all about that soon.
10:31
SPEAKER_02: But first, I have to introduce one more special guest who is joining us back on the podcast for a real deal episode this time because you may remember him from last season.
10:41
SPEAKER_02: He joined me on a QA with Courtney, our December edition.
10:45
SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to welcome back IDA judge Danny Duane Wells the second.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back, Danny Duane.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Hi, everybody.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to be back.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, thank you, Courtney.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Leslie, for having me back.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: And what's up, Miranda?
11:00
SPEAKER_00: Danny!
11:03
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I love it.
11:05
SPEAKER_02: And this is a fun one.
11:06
SPEAKER_02: And we haven't had like a full IDA judge episode in a minute.
11:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:11
SPEAKER_02: So I'm excited that we have like just all the IDA flavor up in the house today.
11:15
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna chat all the judging things.
11:18
SPEAKER_02: So, Danny Duane, I'm excited to have you on, like I said, like a real deal episode and not just answering questions this time around.
11:25
SPEAKER_02: So if you wouldn't mind telling the world a little bit more about you and uh sharing what you're working on now.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Danny Duane.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I'm Southern, I have two first names just for y'all out there.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Y'all can call me DD.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: If y'all receive me out in the bouts, I am born in Atlanta because nobody does it better than the South, but raised in Los Angeles.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: I am a Dada kid, so a Debbie Allen Dance Academy child.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: I also graduate from LOXA, Los Angeles County High School of the Arts.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, I graduated from San Diego State with a BFA in dance with an emphasis on dance pedagogy and concert dance.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: And I have a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: I've worked in a couple of tours.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, I work in a lot of regional theaters all over the country.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: I am a huge advocate for dance education and have just recently worked at Cornell College as a special guest dance professor and a choreographed, one of the music schools I'm working on now.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: And I work as a choreographer for a wide range of ages when it comes to musical theater, both in high schools, elementary schools, and just at recreational programs.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: And I am also proud to be part of the IDA judging roster.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: So I'm an adjudicator for IDA and live for it.
12:40
SPEAKER_02: Well, we live for you.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: And we do.
12:43
SPEAKER_02: We love having you on the team and we are so grateful for your support.
12:46
SPEAKER_02: So yay.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to have you both here with us.
12:49
SPEAKER_02: Let's jump on into this one.
12:51
SPEAKER_02: I'm so pumped.
12:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:52
SPEAKER_04: Well, so we, like we said, we had covered the age division expectations pretty, pretty well, I think, in season one.
12:59
SPEAKER_04: So, listeners, if you haven't heard that, that was a long time ago.
13:03
SPEAKER_04: So go forever ago.
13:06
SPEAKER_04: But I would love for us to sort of refresh and rehash just a little bit so people kind of know where we're talking about, especially with the sort of the the names of the not levels, but the names of the divisions, because I think at some competitions it's a little bit different.
13:20
SPEAKER_04: So we want to just clarify what we're talking about before we start talking about it.
13:23
SPEAKER_04: So I guess Miranda, you want to get started with like the minis, the tinies, the nuggets.
13:30
SPEAKER_04: I would have a competition and call them the nuggets.
13:32
SPEAKER_04: That would just be that would be what I would call them.
13:35
SPEAKER_03: So in reference to like the ages or the levels, the ages, the minis.
13:39
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
13:39
SPEAKER_03: The ages.
13:40
SPEAKER_03: So I am for minis, ages can be anywhere, I'm gonna say from seven to nine.
13:44
SPEAKER_03: I feel like that seven to nine range, sometimes you're gonna see even eight to ten.
13:49
SPEAKER_03: You know, when we were growing up, there was nothing really below seven.
13:53
SPEAKER_03: And now there's, you know, even four, you know, things like that.
13:57
SPEAKER_03: So I I consider to be the minis anywhere between like seven and nine.
14:00
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
14:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:01
SPEAKER_02: And seven and nine.
14:03
SPEAKER_02: I mean, what types of things are we looking for in that seven to nine.
14:07
SPEAKER_04: Oh I guess exclude levels from this as much as you can because we all know that there's be even within a mini, a seven-year-old can still somehow be beginner intermediate or advanced.
14:19
SPEAKER_04: So just seven-year-old, seven to nine.
14:21
SPEAKER_04: What are we talking about here?
14:22
SPEAKER_03: 100%.
14:23
SPEAKER_03: I feel like for the seven to nine-year-olds in the minis, I think it just is a really true understanding of the basics.
14:29
SPEAKER_03: Because I think what happens is when they're so young, we're just so in a rush to keep teaching them and teaching them and teaching them that we often overlook the details of the basics, which is tough.
14:38
SPEAKER_03: You know, when you're teaching seven to nine-year-olds, their interest level is not going to be on the basics.
14:42
SPEAKER_03: However, when I see a seven to nine-year-old who's prepping for their pirouette, a jazz pirouette, and they've got their back heel up and their front heel down and their knees are nice and in line and their arms are strong, I know that they have a good understanding of the basics.
14:55
SPEAKER_03: Right.
14:55
SPEAKER_03: Even just, you know, when you're thinking of run, run, garantite, what their feet are doing, are they looking at the floor?
15:01
SPEAKER_03: Just very basic stuff that I think we kind of overlook as teachers sometimes because we want to we wanna make sure that we're keeping the interest level, we're trying to make sure that they're progressing correctly.
15:09
SPEAKER_03: But when I'm looking at the seven to nine-year-olds, I'm looking for like the understanding of the basics, a proper understanding of the basics.
15:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, across all genres, 100%.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: 100%, yes.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: I completely concur.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: I think, especially when it comes to minis, we we often get to a situation where we're like, oh, this number is so much fun.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: And like, let's try an illusion and let's try like a panche.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I would absolutely love to see a solid preparation for a jazz pirouette, a solid preparation for a turned-out pirouette when they're running when we do a grand chouche, are we thinking about that brushing off the floor, just elongating those legs?
15:42
SPEAKER_00: It does not have to hit 180.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: I just want to see the mechanics and the understanding, yeah.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: Those kind of things that set you up for the next, the next level to then take a little bit further.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: But I think if we if we really emphasize and really highlight and celebrate the fundamentals in the minis, I think we're your leaps and bounds, excuse the poem, uh, your leaps and bounds in a manner in the in your journey.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: I think it really sets you up for really strong.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know we're gonna talk about them later, but it sets you up for really strong seniors.
16:09
SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
16:10
SPEAKER_03: I like what Danny said about the potential to or about on preparing, because I feel like the minis, you can kind of use the word of like you're looking for potential because you're not expecting perfection.
16:20
SPEAKER_03: You're not expecting, you know, anything when you were saying about doesn't matter if it's a 180.
16:25
SPEAKER_03: You would rather see someone that's executing it from beginning to end, prep, middle of it, end of it, you're looking for potential.
16:31
SPEAKER_03: You're looking for the soloist or the group that really exhibits the potential to really become great as they get older.
16:38
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
16:38
SPEAKER_04: And the word celebrate, Danny, I love that you use that because, you know, I think you're right.
16:42
SPEAKER_04: We people do get excited because they're little sponges, they're like, I want to do this cool thing and that cool thing, and they're so eager.
16:47
SPEAKER_04: But if we can celebrate the really well-timed step together, step touch or the perfect pivot turn that goes straight front and straight back, like celebrate those little things so that they're excited about that, so that maybe they're not distracted by the illusion.
17:01
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
17:02
SPEAKER_04: They're not ready to do that yet.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: No, it's an illusion that they're ready for an illusion.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: Listen, and those are spelled two different ways, y'all.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: Hey, keep it real.
17:11
SPEAKER_04: We study English here in dance school too.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: We're not just artists, we're educated artists.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: Try me again.
17:19
SPEAKER_04: Oh, I love it.
17:20
SPEAKER_04: Well, okay, then I'm gonna try you again.
17:22
SPEAKER_04: The next age division.
17:24
SPEAKER_04: So we kind of covered minis, basics, solid, clean basics.
17:27
SPEAKER_04: Next age level, we're looking at juniors, juniors-ish, juniors, nine, nine to eleven, ten to twelve.
17:33
SPEAKER_04: And again, we can get into all that, like how people break that up soon.
17:37
SPEAKER_04: But that next level up, what you're looking for?
17:40
SPEAKER_00: So I will tell you for juniors, the next level up, what I am looking for is that clean foundation.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: And now we're figuring out how we connect each movement without there being that overanticipation in the face of like, oh, I went from a pirouette, I landed.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: I need to turn to do a chausset.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: I would love for you to go pirouette, I land, I turned out and I work through that chasse into the next move.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: We're trying to uh, for lack of a better term, smooth out the glitches.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Whereas in a mini, I'm fine if you do a pivot step, turn around, prep, foot comes up, comes down, I'm fine with that in a mini's.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: In the juniors, I would like to see prep for a pirouette.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: When you come out of that pirouette, you are tonduing into the next chausset.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: Now, does that mean that you do a chaise into a side aerial?
18:25
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: What I would love to see is that you have an understanding that each movement is a phrase, it connects to the next thing.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: Again, we have to think about it also in like the level of which they are like education-wise.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Are they writing compound sentences yet?
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: So their sentence is, I went home.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: And so I went home.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: I prepped, I turned, my foot came down, I chassed to the next position.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: I went home.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: That's fine with me.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: I don't need you to say, I turned the corner and I jumped out of a trash can and blah blah like that's too much.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: And if we're trying to like, if they're too busy trying to figure out how do I do this next trick or how do I do this next advanced level thing, what you lose is when they go to the next level, they're too busy worrying about, oh, all the transitions or the connections or everything don't really matter.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: The the judges want to see district to district to district.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm looking for.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm not looking for maneuver to maneuver maneuver.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking for how do you connect the next one maneuver to the next move maneuver.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's where we are with the juniors.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: You start to understand phrasing and we start to build in musicality because then when we get to the next level, we can work on artistry.
19:33
SPEAKER_04: Right.
19:34
SPEAKER_04: Miranda, would you would you concur?
19:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I agree.
19:36
SPEAKER_03: I kind of like to think of it as um, you know, like the minis could be considered, you know, you're you're performing words, you're performing steps.
19:42
SPEAKER_03: And then the juniors, you're kind of performing a sentence.
19:45
SPEAKER_03: You're starting to acknowledge how you connect, which is kind of where you were going with, you know, the transitions coming in and out of the things versus landing, you know, having your pirouette and you land and maybe you hold for a couple of counts so that you're mentally getting ready to go into the next versus now you're connecting things together and it's a little bit more fluid.
20:01
SPEAKER_03: I think another thing that I look for too for the juniors is I'm kind of looking for a little bit more of like a comfort feeling on stage, where I don't want to feel like you can do it, sweetie.
20:12
SPEAKER_03: I want him to be a little bit more like a little more in control and a little bit more ownership of what they're doing.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:17
SPEAKER_03: Still understanding that they have a whole, you know, they're still blossoming.
20:20
SPEAKER_03: But I think at the junior level, there's that little difference in this is maybe not their first time competing.
20:25
SPEAKER_01: Right.
20:26
SPEAKER_03: So now I want to see a little bit more ownership and confidence of kind of what they're presenting.
20:30
SPEAKER_03: You know, if they make a mistake, are they, you know, reacting and making a face?
20:33
SPEAKER_03: Are they, you know, stopping mid, you know, dance and forgetting what they're doing and running off.
20:37
SPEAKER_03: You know, I want to see a little bit more growth individuality-wise with the juniors as well.
20:42
SPEAKER_02: I think something that makes me excited for the juniors and and I think like we kind of what you hinted at, Miranda, is like the minis are kind of still like they'll perform, but they're still figuring things out, their brains on overdrive.
20:55
SPEAKER_02: Like they really have to concentrate.
20:57
SPEAKER_03: And it's choreographed, you know, it seems very choreographed.
21:00
SPEAKER_03: You have to kind of coach your students through performing when they're little, unless they have a natural inclination for performing.
21:05
SPEAKER_03: You do, you have to say, okay, listen to this word.
21:07
SPEAKER_03: What would you do on this word?
21:08
SPEAKER_03: You would smile, you know, big cheeks, big face, um, you know, look sad.
21:12
SPEAKER_03: You know, you kind of have to coach them.
21:13
SPEAKER_03: Whereas in the juniors, you sort of want them to take a little bit more ownership of what do you feel?
21:18
SPEAKER_03: Instead of, you know, what do you hear?
21:20
SPEAKER_00: What do you feel?
21:20
SPEAKER_00: What would you do?
21:21
SPEAKER_00: You know.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: Completely, completely piggybacking on uh what Miranda said.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: It's that it's that little more confidence.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that you know what a passe is.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: I don't want your, I would love to know.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: I've set, it's up, I'm moving, and I'm and the confidence is what um, and definitely as an adjudicator, that's what I adjudicate when it comes to the juniors.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm adjudicating how confident they feel with their technical aspect.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, we'll probably talk about levels and later, but like that's how I determine a level.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: I want you to feel confident as a novice junior, knowing that this part of the song is where I do the grand bat ma, and this is the accent that I'm looking for.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: Even if the if the accent's on four, we press.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: One, two, swinging up and hit it on three and four.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: Then we're coming down.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Like that's what I want to see.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: Rather than like in the minis, I'm fine with you going prep on one, looking up on two, tandy one three, grandbot ma four, coming down.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: I would love to see that kind of seamless understanding and confidence in the technique that you have and whatever level that is as a junior.
22:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:21
SPEAKER_02: And juniors, like what I love about juniors is that they're fearless.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: Like juniors have like no care in the world.
22:28
SPEAKER_02: They're gonna come out there, they're gonna give it their all.
22:30
SPEAKER_02: Like they own the I mean, the I mean, there's probably many juniors that don't have that confidence, I'm sure.
22:36
SPEAKER_02: But honestly, I think across the board, as a generalized thing, I notice even when working with juniors at conventions and things, they will try anything, they want to do everything.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: They do like yeah, I just love that about the juniors.
22:48
SPEAKER_02: And then when we transition to the teens, I feel like we lose that a little bit.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: And I want them to keep that fire a little bit more for the teens.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:59
SPEAKER_03: So let's talk about it.
23:00
SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about teens.
23:02
SPEAKER_03: I think for like my own students, when they know they're going into the teens, that's when the like the mental shift really changes for them.
23:08
SPEAKER_03: I think in many ways, because think about it, when you become a teenager in general, there's so many changes and so many differences in your life, school, and just in yourself.
23:17
SPEAKER_03: And I feel like that also translates, you know, into the dance world as well.
23:20
SPEAKER_03: I usually find that the teen division and the teen convention rooms tend to be the biggest.
23:26
SPEAKER_03: I feel like that's always the place where more pressure seems to be.
23:29
SPEAKER_03: And honestly, I find that the teen room is just like out of control.
23:33
SPEAKER_03: So there's so many amazing teens.
23:35
SPEAKER_03: And so yeah, I think that there is this huge mental shift of I'm a teen.
23:40
SPEAKER_03: And I think that there's more apprehension than there is like I'm a teen.
23:44
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
23:45
SPEAKER_03: I think that there's a lot more going in the opposite direction of where we as educators would like them to go.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: I completely concur.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: And I think, oh my gosh, I love that we're talking about this.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: I get I'm gonna try not to be too cerebral and too like in this in the realm of like the inner inner portion.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: But like I think what we um where we regress from as from juniors into teens is is that like that group celebration.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: So as juniors, what I what I encourage and what I constantly, my mantra is the idea that we celebrate ups and we celebrate downs.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: I celebrate, I celebrate any attempt.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: You attempted a double pirouette, you know what?
24:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna clap for you.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: We hopped out of it.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give you the correction of hey, we want to make sure we maintain that high passe, push it into that nice releve.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we're spotting, watch that portable bra.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: But I'm going to congratulate you on that attempt in the classroom.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: And I want all of us to clap for that.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: I think that's also what we learn, you know, that New York mentality of when someone goes for six pair website and they fall in the class and everybody stands and gives them a applause.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: Like, I feel like that's where we have to learn that now.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: Because as a transition into teams, what we gain is a competitive nature and the competitive nature, the awareness of the competition.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: If we did not understand how to celebrate our ups and our downs as juniors, and we started too early with the idea that perfection is the, is the is the goal.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't achieve perfection, you're not worthy of like applause.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: If you don't achieve perfection, you're not worthy of accolades.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: Then I think when you get to be a teen, you get too internalized of like, you know what, I'm not getting it right, and this is not right, and everybody can see that I'm not doing it right.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: And so we lose that tenacity, we lose that courage.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: And that's where I think you start to see, like in very much like oil and water.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: You see the ones who clearly, as juniors, were strong dancers, or everybody clapped for them when they started learning really advanced maneuvers and technical skills.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: And then we see the ones who are maybe a little more wallflower-ish.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: And so they didn't get that applause, they didn't get the like congratulations.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: So then when they become teens, now there's this pressure, both outside of the uh the dance studio and inside of the dance studio to be perfect.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: And that's where we actually lose the ability to just like be carefree and do be daring and to make bold decisions.
26:03
SPEAKER_04: And I think at that age too, you like you said, Danny, you you get into this more competitive mindset.
26:09
SPEAKER_04: And I think in that mindset, too, is almost a scarcity mindset of, well, if I clap for her, that's that's I I can't clap for her.
26:17
SPEAKER_04: I have to be the one that's being clapped for.
26:18
SPEAKER_04: I have to preserve myself, you know, and like that's a super psychological, like, you know, evolutionary thing.
26:25
SPEAKER_04: But but that like if we can start, like you said earlier, celebrate at six years old your fabulous pivot turn and everybody's excited that Sally got her pivot turn.
26:35
SPEAKER_04: And then juniors, same thing.
26:37
SPEAKER_04: Just keep if we keep going that way, maybe we can like infiltrate that scarcity competitive, you know, wallflowery.
26:43
SPEAKER_04: Like, I can't, I can't do this, so I'm not even gonna try mindset.
26:46
SPEAKER_04: But like if we just celebrate everybody trying, maybe more people would try.
26:50
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I agree.
26:51
SPEAKER_03: I think when you're watching, I do a lot of when my kids are at conventions, I'll just sit and observe.
26:56
SPEAKER_03: I think it's important to also kind of observe what's happening, you know, within the room as well, just to kind of see social cues.
27:03
SPEAKER_03: And when you're in like the junior room and you get the call outs, you know, the teacher calls you out to do it.
27:08
SPEAKER_03: They don't care who it is.
27:09
SPEAKER_03: They're just whooping and hollering and they're just you're they're just worried about like they don't care.
27:14
SPEAKER_03: When you get to the teen room, you see immediately, like you can see the face and the expression.
27:19
SPEAKER_03: It's almost like, well, why did I get chosen?
27:22
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
27:22
SPEAKER_03: And then it almost comes into like when the callouts are done and oh, we're gonna do it again.
27:28
SPEAKER_03: You see, the juniors just like it's completely eliminated from their mind, and they're like rushing back to the front to do it.
27:34
SPEAKER_03: Whereas the teens, they almost like give up.
27:36
SPEAKER_03: If they weren't chosen, they're like, Well, why would I try again?
27:39
SPEAKER_03: Because I wasn't chosen, right?
27:40
SPEAKER_03: You know, I feel that that's also completely evident in those two rooms as well.
27:46
SPEAKER_03: Wow, yeah.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean, at its core, it is it's sportsmanship at its core.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: It's the understanding of like all effort, if it's an effort, is awarded and should be awarded.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, we often people, there's a lot of people who are out there who are like, oh my gosh, we've gotten to the point where everybody gets a trophy, we've gotten to the point where everybody, blah, blah, blah, blah.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: And I go, I understand that you want there to be a number one, you want there to be a number two, and they want there to be a number three.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: I understand that.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: What we're hoping through dance, like through dance competition, is that we're building strong, confident, and respectful artists.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: Those who go, oh my gosh, I'm so glad Miranda got chosen because you know what?
28:28
SPEAKER_00: When she does that grumb ma, it gives me chills.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead, girl, get them in the front.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: So then when we go, okay, now we're all gonna go again.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go, let's get in here.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna be right next to Miranda, honey.
28:37
SPEAKER_00: We kicking these legs.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: Because that actually that only makes our community that only makes our community that much stronger.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: It only builds that much stronger dancers when I'm not intimidated by Miranda's my my Miranda's like achievements.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: Miranda's achievements inspire me.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: Right.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: Because I never know if something about me and like because I don't know if something about me inspires Miranda.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: But if I already get in my head of like, oh, she's perfect, I'm not her, I can't be around her.
29:05
SPEAKER_00: But Miranda is like, you know what?
29:06
SPEAKER_00: I love it when Danny Duane gets up there.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: His like energy when he does A, B, C, and D, we don't ever get that moment to share that with each other because I'm too busy feeling defeated because she does something that very well that I think I don't do well.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: And she's looking around for me, like, but where is he?
29:22
SPEAKER_00: Because he was real fun to dance next to him.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: I'm we we've now separated ourselves and we don't get that opportunity for that amazing uh like camaraderie and like artistic, just like collaboration, things like that.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Which I think leads us into the next, I think that leads us into the next level.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm like, this leads me right into the scene.
29:39
SPEAKER_02: One thing I one thing I want to say briefly about the teens that I think I notice often is just kind of like the changes that we were talking about, just maybe they have their growth spur, maybe they, you know, are in this new, they woke up and their limbs are long and whoa, how do I navigate this?
29:57
SPEAKER_02: And I I think that comes with that hesitation of navigating this new body that you might be in because all the training that you worked on worked for this, you know, four foot five little nugget, and then now you're like five foot six all overnight.
30:14
SPEAKER_02: And it's a really hard transition, I think, for a lot of dancers, you know, when they're growing through their growth spur.
30:19
SPEAKER_02: We all go through it.
30:20
SPEAKER_02: We've talked about it on the podcast before.
30:22
SPEAKER_02: So I do notice that in the teen.
30:24
SPEAKER_02: It's sometimes like the little just you know, a little bit awkward trying to navigate, figure out how the mechanics work again, and like, well, my legs were straight in my my jet, and now all of a sudden they're not anymore because I have to lengthen further than I want to, and stuff like that.
30:39
SPEAKER_02: So I think, especially in the early teen, yeah, you know, like the 1213, it's like that.
30:46
SPEAKER_02: And then I think that's why there's so much debate on like what the right ages are supposed to be for the teen level, because like a 14-year-old or a 15-year-old is, you know, have gone through their growth spurt and have kind of figured those mechanics out, whereas like the 12-year-old 13 are still figuring it out.
31:03
SPEAKER_02: So it's like, is it fair?
31:04
SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, there has to be age division.
31:06
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we have to break it down at some point.
31:08
SPEAKER_02: So that being said, let's talk about the senior or the highest age division, which is oftentimes either 15 and over, 16 and over.
31:18
SPEAKER_02: I think that for the most part, right now it's at 15 and over, is what I think is what most so.
31:23
SPEAKER_02: What are we looking for there when it comes to those seniors?
31:28
SPEAKER_03: I think for me, I I feel like a lot of people are gonna naturally want to say, like, um, I use the word lightly perfection, but I feel like for me, I'm almost kind of on the opposite.
31:36
SPEAKER_03: I feel like I would rather see the seniors be a little bit more open to taking the risks and not being so safe with their solo because I feel like when you're in the senior division, you're at the end of your competing career and I feel like this should just be a time of celebration instead of it being a time of overthinking and a time of, you know, trying to make it so cookie-cutter clean that we're losing the idea of exploring and being raw and open.
32:00
SPEAKER_03: So I feel like more often I tend to switch to if I'm looking at someone that's just really pouring their heart out and really like exposing themselves as a dancer and a human on stage, I'm more inclined to connect to that than I am to a senior dancer who is taking a little bit more of a cautious approach to what they're doing, playing it safe.
32:17
SPEAKER_03: I wanna, I want you to just go and be you on stage.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: I completely concur.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: I think often what we get into is the idea that um seniors are they're the pinnacle, they're perfect.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: When they get on stage, there is never a flaw, there's never an issue, there's they never miss the music.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: I am looking for a senior who is artistically themselves.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: I want to see personality, I want to see who you are as an artist.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: This is the moment where this is the moment where you need to understand, like, and I and I tell people this all the time.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: My my favorite, my favorite advice I'd ever been given by like one of my dance mentors was honey, we got tons of rehearsals.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: So when you walk in this dance audition, I'm not looking for you to be perfect.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking for the fact that, like, one, I want to work with you, two, you have a sense of self.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: So when when you're performing, I'm not gonna have to pull some personality that I didn't.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, this is a fun number.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: You look like you were constipated.
33:09
unknown: This is not gonna work.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Right.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, right, oh my gosh, like that's what it is.
33:14
SPEAKER_00: If I'm feeling a music a certain way, I want to see that in a senior.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: If if a senior is feeling really happy about the song, I want to see that.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: If a senior gets on and they're doing a tap solo, I don't want to see you staring at the floor, really trying to clean up that like paddle and roll into a seven-count riff, into a like, get your face off the floor.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: I want you to see why are you so excited about the fact you just did a double wing into a grab off?
33:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, why is that exciting?
33:38
SPEAKER_00: What is that?
33:38
SPEAKER_00: How does that enhance the music?
33:39
SPEAKER_00: What does that feel like in your body?
33:40
SPEAKER_00: What does that feel like as an energy?
33:42
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm looking for.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: And I think what we really should, again, I'm gonna use the word celebrate, what we really should celebrate in seniors is just self-expression.
33:51
SPEAKER_00: It's no longer just a grand bot ma.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: It is it's truly the essence of a grand bat ma, which is a big beat, right?
33:58
SPEAKER_00: How are you emphasizing this big beat?
33:59
SPEAKER_00: Is it an accent?
34:00
SPEAKER_00: Is it a slow big beat?
34:02
SPEAKER_00: Is it a legato?
34:03
SPEAKER_00: Does this grand bat ma connect to that side aerial?
34:06
SPEAKER_00: Because what really in the music is bah ba da.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: And so, really, the choreographer put in this idea of bah ba-da-da.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: How are you expressing that?
34:14
SPEAKER_00: Don't just give me a side aerial and be like flip and I'm done.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: I got it, it was clean.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, mm-hmm, that's nice.
34:20
SPEAKER_04: Right, and then what?
34:22
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, and now like and if I wanted to watch a cyborg or a robot dance, I would go to Disneyland and sit on it's a small rope because guess what?
34:32
SPEAKER_00: They're perfect every time they turn to the left.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: Every time they turn to the right, every time it's a small hands, they're always on beat.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: That's because they're robots.
34:41
SPEAKER_00: Like I want to be more.
34:43
SPEAKER_00: That's because they're robots.
34:44
SPEAKER_00: That's because they're robots.
34:49
SPEAKER_03: No, and I think too, like if you think of um, if you kind of think of like the dancer as a whole beyond the stage, I think a big thing for seniors is I love to use the expression, you know, you're a senior, it's a privilege and it's a responsibility.
35:01
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
35:01
SPEAKER_03: And I think too, with the senior, I think we get so caught up in the me, me, me.
35:06
SPEAKER_03: It's my last years, it's my last chance, it's my time.
35:10
SPEAKER_03: But what are you doing to give back to the people that are coming behind you?
35:13
SPEAKER_03: What example are you showing?
35:15
SPEAKER_03: How are you acting in classes?
35:16
SPEAKER_03: What are you doing backstage?
35:18
SPEAKER_03: How are you representing yourself as a senior dancer?
35:21
SPEAKER_03: Because that's truly a part that I think we're missing is, and I get it, we were all senior dancers at one point, and we were all in that like, I only have this much time left and I just am focusing on myself.
35:31
SPEAKER_03: And you can, there is room for both.
35:33
SPEAKER_03: I think it's important to remember that as a senior dancer, you are paving the way and you are setting the path for the teams and the juniors and everything and how you act and how you present yourself on and off stage is going to be more of a lasting impression sometimes than even what you do on stage.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: I completely agree.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: Miranda, oh my gosh.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, hashtag throwing out wherever Miranda is teaching, if she's teaching a masterclass, everybody needs to go.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: Um it's this, it's this understanding there that like when seniors, when you see seniors who get on stage, and I mean, like, this is where we learn healthy competition.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: This is where we learn how we need to uh act in auditions, this is where we get to learn how we perform.
36:13
SPEAKER_00: It's all like I always encourage seniors, it's okay to tell the minis, the juniors, the teens that you feel nervous.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: You're not perfect, and you let them know that you know what?
36:23
SPEAKER_00: I am really actually slightly nervous about that side arrow.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: But listen, if it doesn't happen, I'm doing a dive cartwheel girl, and we're going right to an extension.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is, like saying those little things, letting them know that no, if I mess up, it does not mean it's the end of the number because two things.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: One, the adjudicators do not know the choreography that I am about to do.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: Whatever I'm getting on stage is brand new to them.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: And so it is a treat that I am walking on stage, period.
36:52
SPEAKER_00: And two, I'm going on stage representing us.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna go on stage.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be excited to just take the stage, and whatever happens on that stage happens on that stage.
36:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna walk right off.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: And I can't wait to high-five all the ninnies.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to shake hands with the juniors.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: That kind of camaraderie really builds healthy, healthy mental health, like within the dance community, but it also builds uh accessibility when it comes to uh to adult performers.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: Like you're building a young contributing artist at senior level.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's really important.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: We as we as dance educators need to be thinking, how am I assisting this young contributing artist to when they become a professional artist or whatever they do, if they want to become a nurse, if they want to become a lawyer, how am I helping them understand what's important as an adult to contribute to the world?
37:43
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
37:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you're you're one of the last few people that really are gonna have an impact before they go off onto their own.
37:50
SPEAKER_03: You know, you are some of the last teachers and mentors and educators that are a big part of these kids' life in any capacity before they take that step into adulthood.
37:58
SPEAKER_03: So, how are you gonna use that?
38:00
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, what do you want to teach them?
38:01
SPEAKER_03: You're right, you're very right, Danny.
38:03
SPEAKER_03: I like that.
38:08
SPEAKER_02: Hey Dance World, it's Courtney, and I want to tell you about a program that is near and dear to my heart, and that is Young Arts.
38:15
SPEAKER_02: Young Arts is one of the only organizations in the United States that supports young, aspiring artists across 10 different disciplines, including dance.
38:23
SPEAKER_02: Young Arts offers a national arts competition, open to visual, literary, and performing artists between the ages of 15 to 18, or in grades 10 through 12.
38:32
SPEAKER_02: And guess what?
38:33
SPEAKER_02: Applications are now open.
38:36
SPEAKER_02: By applying to Young Arts, your dancer will have the chance to receive mentorship and scholarship awards, gain access to a lifetime of creative and professional development, and become part of an uplifting intergenerational community that helps artists connect, create, and collaborate throughout their career.
38:51
SPEAKER_02: As a Young Arts alum and dance winner in 2007, I can't tell you how eye-opening and impactful my experience was as a high school senior heading to Young Arts Week in Miami.
39:02
SPEAKER_02: I met lifelong friends, worked with legendary icons in the dance world, and grew as an artist.
39:07
SPEAKER_02: This program is so much more than just a scholarship opportunity.
39:11
SPEAKER_02: It truly changed my life and helped me start my career in the dance world.
39:15
SPEAKER_02: I highly encourage and recommend all dancers who are aged 15 to 18 to apply to Young Arts and enter into their national arts competition now.
39:24
SPEAKER_02: The deadline to apply is by October 14th, 2022.
39:28
SPEAKER_02: Learn more and start your application today by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting their website at youngarts.org slash apply.
39:44
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
39:45
SPEAKER_02: I was gonna talk maybe about now that we've kind of classified and talked about what we're looking for in the age divisions, I kind of want to talk about choreography in in the age divisions and the expectations because I think that there's a lot of pressure as far as what the teachers think needs to happen when dancers bump to another age division and another age division, which I think there is some, you know, things that I want to see as a judge choreographically, what is given to them.
40:12
SPEAKER_02: Does this feel you know what like what they should be doing at this age choreographically and skill-wise, but also in transition-wise and also in the style of material that is being given to the dancer.
40:26
SPEAKER_02: So things like that.
40:27
SPEAKER_02: Let's touch on anything, any age division, how when it comes to choreography.
40:31
SPEAKER_03: I think for if we're talking about choreography with the difference in the levels, I think that what you should see in each level progression-wise, I don't necessarily think it has to do so much with what, but I think with how.
40:43
SPEAKER_03: But when you're talking with choreography, I think that it's okay as a choreographer to kind of take a little bit of an ego check sometimes when you're getting older because there might be ideas that I have in my head, but when you're doing like teens and older, their bodies move differently than yours does.
40:58
SPEAKER_03: And so I have like very candid conversations with my older dancers saying, listen, let's have this kind of relationship where if something doesn't feel right or you feel like this could be a little bit better on your body, then I want you to be vocal about it and we can find something that works.
41:12
SPEAKER_03: Because I don't want a dancer to go on stage with just my vision and mine because my body moves differently.
41:17
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, maybe they connect differently to a certain step.
41:20
SPEAKER_03: So I think your choreography has to be able to ebb and flow between your initial vision and your ideas and what you want, and then also combined and merged with what the dancer's limitations are and what they feel like they can contribute to a degree.
41:33
SPEAKER_03: I mean, there's you there needs to be lines and boundaries, but I think that you'll find dancers that you can have those conversations with about let me know what feels good, let me know what feels awkward, how does this transition feel?
41:43
SPEAKER_03: What can we do to fix it?
41:44
SPEAKER_03: Kind of conversations.
41:46
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm a huge believer in Miranda.
41:48
SPEAKER_00: You're brilliant.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: I can't sing your accolades.
41:51
SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm a huge believer in when it comes to competition, it the transition is not about what, it's about how.
41:58
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to your studio, if at the studio you have set a rubric for for the people who have trained this amount of hours, this is what we're looking for, progression from this age to this age, this age is at that age.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: That gives you a really nice realm of technical execution that will then aid in the choreography as you transition through through each level.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: We as adjudicators, I am not going to say, oh, you're a junior, you need to have a side aerial.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: One, as a kinesiologist, I understand that it takes a certain amount of flexibility, a certain amount of leg power that they may not have if they're only training so many hours.
42:35
SPEAKER_00: So if they're a junior and they do not have that, please do not try to throw a side aerial in just because we think all the juniors are doing side aerials, because then there's that's a massive pressure that you're pushing on somebody who may not be ready for that.
42:47
SPEAKER_00: And they may need to be a teen for the amount of hours they need to train to be ready to do that side aerial.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
42:56
SPEAKER_00: That's when you put it in.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: When they put in a side aerial, I don't want it to look like I did a chine and I have to stop.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: And now I'm going to take three steps, and now I'm going to high hurdle for the side aerial.
43:05
SPEAKER_00: If that's what they're doing on stage, it's the same thing I have a conversation with like grand elsecones.
43:10
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know the difference between a grand Elisicone and a fuette, then you're not ready for a fuente or a grand else cone.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: Don't just throw it in.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: I need you to know what the difference is, what are the mechanics of it before we even attempt to put that in a number?
43:24
SPEAKER_00: And how do I cleanly come out of this into the next transition?
43:28
SPEAKER_00: If you feel like they are doing that in class, then we put it in.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I support that statement with the idea of yes, we do add some challenges for dancers because we need to challenge our abilities.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: But that is because I have seen you in class.
43:42
SPEAKER_00: I know you were this close to doing this thing.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, this adjacent to what this thing we would love to achieve.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: Let's do this adjacent thing because that's actually the prep for this thing that we're gonna do over here.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: Right.
43:54
SPEAKER_02: The building block of stop trying the mechanics.
43:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:58
SPEAKER_00: Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Tell people all the time, I'm like, stop trying to keep up with the Joneses because what the Joneses have, you don't have, and that's a-okay.
44:05
SPEAKER_00: Just because someone's driving a BMW and you drive in a Volkswagen bug does not mean your car is lit any less great.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: It gets you from point A to point B, and ultimately that's what I want you to do.
44:17
SPEAKER_00: I don't need you to get there and be like, and these and these rims are this.
44:20
SPEAKER_00: Like, girl, you get on stage.
44:24
SPEAKER_03: I was just gonna say, I think for choreography for levels, if you want to kind of think of it this way, like this is kind of how I process it.
44:30
SPEAKER_03: If you're a choreographer approaching a mini dance, think of it as like, I'm writing the steps out, I'm writing what counts go with it.
44:37
SPEAKER_03: You know, I'm gonna pivot turn one, two, three, that kind of thing.
44:40
SPEAKER_03: When you get into the junior, you might have the same idea, but you might have little notes in the margins, like they are growing and learning new things.
44:46
SPEAKER_03: Maybe by this point they might have this.
44:48
SPEAKER_03: So maybe have some room to kind of add the teens, you're kind of starting more with the vibe and the um, the idea and the energy.
44:58
SPEAKER_03: And then I feel like with the seniors, it's almost kind of like a blank canvas.
45:01
SPEAKER_03: And you kind of just start with you put like the dancer and then you go off of the dancer.
45:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
45:07
SPEAKER_03: So it kind of like just progresses into almost less.
45:11
SPEAKER_03: You kind of have more choreography in the beginning, and then you start to kind of like taper off.
45:16
SPEAKER_03: The creative process is more involved, but I feel in terms of choreography itself, it kind of actually gets a little less.
45:23
SPEAKER_02: That's a great way to look look at it.
45:24
SPEAKER_02: I think that's super true.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: For me, for me, it's like minis is a theme.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: Minis, it's a thing.
45:32
SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's what I'm working with.
45:34
SPEAKER_00: There's a theme.
45:34
SPEAKER_00: This, and I understand that this tangible theme will work for you for juniors.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: It's theme with personality.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: What is what are your in it?
45:42
SPEAKER_00: How are we portraying that thing with the energy you're doing?
45:45
SPEAKER_00: It's a jazz number.
45:46
SPEAKER_00: How does the energy feel like in a jazz number?
45:48
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to teens, now I am looking for smooth transitions as well as personality, right?
45:56
SPEAKER_00: So now I'm looking for personality.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna tell you how to feel.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: How do you feel and show that to me with seniors?
46:03
SPEAKER_00: It's a full story, it's a full story.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: How are we telling in a complete storyline from the beginning all the way to the end?
46:10
SPEAKER_00: How have you led me on a journey?
46:12
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, ballet, whatever it is, how are you leading me on a story?
46:17
SPEAKER_00: And I think if we if we start with that, especially as choreographers, you get to assess the level as you understand.
46:23
SPEAKER_00: This is uh Wizard of Oz theme.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: What are things from Wizard of Oz that you understand as a mini?
46:29
SPEAKER_00: I feel like I often challenge myself when I'm a choreographer.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: I go, if I was choreographing a Wizard of Oz number, could I do a Wizard of Oz number for a mini?
46:38
SPEAKER_00: Could I do a Wizard of Oz number for a junior?
46:39
SPEAKER_00: Could I do a Wizard of Oz uh number for a teen?
46:42
SPEAKER_00: Could I do a Wizard of Oz number for a senior?
46:44
SPEAKER_00: How does that change?
46:45
SPEAKER_00: What happens?
46:46
SPEAKER_00: It also, I mean, that connotates your music.
46:48
SPEAKER_00: Wizard of Oz for a mini.
46:49
SPEAKER_00: We're probably doing the lollipop guild and we're doing a lot of skipping and we're holding a lollipop.
46:54
SPEAKER_00: We're making sure we're doing the clean angles for a junior.
46:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm going, all right, so maybe this time you're a flying monkey.
47:01
SPEAKER_00: And how does the witch call you in?
47:03
SPEAKER_00: As a teen, I am going, okay, so now you are the scarecrow and you're doing the scarecrow number.
47:08
SPEAKER_00: How does your personality fit in?
47:10
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to like contract and then lift back up?
47:12
SPEAKER_00: And how does that spine really tell like your personality?
47:15
SPEAKER_00: And as a senior, maybe you're doing wicked.
47:18
SPEAKER_00: And now I was gonna say the senior now feel and how is it?
47:21
SPEAKER_03: Now the senior is you are Dorothy.
47:24
SPEAKER_03: You actually were the witch, right?
47:26
SPEAKER_03: Right.
47:27
SPEAKER_00: There's a whole create the vision.
47:30
SPEAKER_00: Dancing through life, hashtag.
47:32
SPEAKER_04: Yes, dancing through life.
47:34
SPEAKER_04: And I think a good those, like, I love the the way that this particular part of the conversation went in terms of like theme of piece and almost uh, like you had mentioned earlier, Danny, like cerebralness.
47:48
SPEAKER_04: And so I think in the nitty-gritty of it all, like if we're going from a mini or sorry, a junior to a teen dance, the juniors are really the last year I want to see you be in two straight lines and then switch lines.
48:00
SPEAKER_04: This is the last year I want to see you get into two diagonal lines and go across the floor.
48:04
SPEAKER_04: I don't want to see that in the teens because what once you shift from being 12 and like you said, doing sort of the like, we've got our basics down, now we're confident in the basics.
48:14
SPEAKER_04: And then in the teen level, I need to see the complexity of how you're doing everything.
48:19
SPEAKER_04: It's not enough just to be in a straight line and do a bot ma.
48:22
SPEAKER_04: What does the picture look like overall choreographically?
48:25
SPEAKER_04: Because that is where I think people, I think choreographically people get a little stuck in that where it's like, man, I've been it's been so easy for these kids to be in two straight lines and then switch the line and then be in a V and be in a W.
48:36
SPEAKER_04: And like you can do all these kind of like Roquette-esque formations really, really easily because it's just putting pins on a page.
48:44
SPEAKER_04: But then when you get to that next level where you're 12 in the 12 to 14 category, in order to compete with those 14-year-olds, those 12-year-olds have to do some more interesting stuff on stage.
48:55
SPEAKER_04: You know?
48:55
SPEAKER_04: And that's where that's where I think the the challenge lies in moving up in age division, is not only do the kids have to have that confidence in the thing that they're already doing, it's the execution of how you're doing it and visually what does it look like?
49:09
SPEAKER_04: And are they able to achieve your vision of something more interesting than two lines?
49:14
unknown: Right.
49:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
49:15
SPEAKER_02: I I mean I totally agree.
49:17
SPEAKER_02: I I feel like that that junior to teen is probably the hardest uh division to transition into.
49:24
SPEAKER_02: And I I really just am I I mean, I think transitions are a huge one as far.
49:30
SPEAKER_02: And we're actually having an episode about just transitional steps this season, which I'm really excited about.
49:35
SPEAKER_02: But I I think that's what really makes the dancer each year not only transitioning to the age division, but also your transitions in the choreography, in the execution.
49:47
SPEAKER_02: And it goes on both ends.
49:48
SPEAKER_02: It goes by the choreographer, like you said, Leslie, even something as simple as I'm switching lines, it needs to be a little bit more complex.
49:55
SPEAKER_02: It needs to be a little bit more thought about in the in what is given to the dancers.
49:59
SPEAKER_02: And then the dancers have to be able to execute that as well and take some more risks when we get into that teen and over division.
50:06
SPEAKER_02: And even when it comes to choreography, I think that there also we're gonna have another discussion on this in another episode about appropriateness of choreography.
50:14
SPEAKER_02: But I think there's like a big pressure of dancers who are advancing quicker than expected at a younger age.
50:20
SPEAKER_02: So now they're doing advanced style themes earlier than they should be.
50:26
SPEAKER_02: And I and not even like, I'm not even talking about like inappropriate as far as like risque dances.
50:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm talking even about like things that just are like a little too mature for them.
50:36
SPEAKER_02: Like they don't even really like instrumental songs that are just so far out there.
50:40
SPEAKER_02: I just it feels very senior to me and not junior.
50:45
SPEAKER_02: And so I I do want to kind of just mention that I noticed that and I don't again don't feel like you have to follow the trends, everybody, because you can do like a happy, like lovely junior dance that's very appropriate for the age and not feeling like we have to follow these trends of this like robotic, abstract, crazy, instrumental crash bang boom music, because that's what's cool right now.
51:11
SPEAKER_02: Like they'll get there, they can do that when they're a teen or when they're ready for that.
51:16
SPEAKER_02: Uh, there's so many other choices that you could be doing, giving your juniors, but why are we following the trend?
51:21
SPEAKER_02: Like, I think there's so much of that pressure.
51:24
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
51:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm a I'm a huge advocate for that.
51:26
SPEAKER_00: You know me, Courtney, especially as like an acro person.
51:30
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm a touch just right on that one, especially with acro.
51:33
SPEAKER_00: So often everybody's like, oh wow, she can do a full a full twisting layout.
51:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, mm-hmm.
51:40
SPEAKER_00: That's great.
51:41
SPEAKER_00: She's also a junior, which means she's going through growth spurts, which means every time she's jolting that landing on a full twisting layout on a stage that's front floor, right?
51:52
SPEAKER_00: You are jolting growing joints just to prove to me that she has that ability.
51:57
SPEAKER_00: When give her the time, give her the ability, give him the time, give her the uh them him the ability, give them the time to understand where their ligaments are going to be, where their body is going to set in.
52:10
SPEAKER_00: You can still train that at the studio, and we're still fine with a great round of backhanding back layout that softly lands, and and it's and I'm fine with that.
52:19
SPEAKER_00: And then when they get to be a teen or a senior, all right.
52:22
SPEAKER_00: So our body's kind of set in what it is, and we know that when we finish that full twisting layout, that we are in the air when it finishes and we are shock absorbing as we land, rather than I'm learning how to snap my hips down to land it.
52:35
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, no, no, no, no, do that at the studio on a sprung floor on a map in safety, yeah.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: Right.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: Don't don't bring it here just because they oh, look, we've learned how to do it.
52:44
SPEAKER_00: We're now gonna throw it in.
52:45
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
52:46
SPEAKER_00: Keep training it.
52:46
SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
52:47
SPEAKER_00: Keep training it at the studio until you come in here.
52:51
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
52:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
52:53
SPEAKER_00: When you come to this competition, because you know that you can rotate in a full layout, you probably know that you're gonna softly land that full layout because you have enough height.
53:03
SPEAKER_00: You know how to control that rather than trying to throw something.
53:06
SPEAKER_00: It's huh.
53:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm completely with you.
53:08
SPEAKER_00: Transitions, understanding that we're not chasing anything other than our own goals and our own standards.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: Stop chasing after everybody else.
53:16
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
53:17
SPEAKER_00: Like it's okay.
53:19
SPEAKER_00: It is okay, y'all.
53:20
SPEAKER_00: It is okay.
53:21
SPEAKER_00: It's all right, y'all.
53:22
SPEAKER_04: I have a question that we didn't cover that I would like to hear covered because I think people, the parents specifically really think this is a thing, and I don't think it's a thing.
53:32
SPEAKER_04: So, Danny, when you're judging, Danny Duane, does the actual age of a dancer come into play when you're judging?
53:38
SPEAKER_04: Because I know at some competitions, like on your screen or on your page, you'll see to age division, which will be nine to eleven or whatever it is.
53:46
SPEAKER_04: Every now and then you'll get to see nine or ten or eleven next to that dancer's name.
53:51
SPEAKER_04: When you get to see that, are you taking that number into consideration or are you just still sort of looking at it as a division?
53:59
SPEAKER_00: I absolutely do not take the age, like if it shows like seven or four, I don't take that into consideration at all.
54:07
SPEAKER_00: I go, are you a mini novice?
54:10
SPEAKER_00: And if you're a mini novice, what are you bringing on stage?
54:13
SPEAKER_00: And I I even don't I don't compare other dancers to any um to other dancers.
54:17
SPEAKER_00: Like in that, I think that's that's really important.
54:19
SPEAKER_00: I I want parents to hear this and hear this strong.
54:22
SPEAKER_00: I do not compare the dancer on stage to the dancer who came before them or the dancer who's coming after them.
54:29
SPEAKER_00: I adjudicate your dancer based on what they presented.
54:32
SPEAKER_00: Novice, this is what I think a novice score, but like a technical score for a novice is.
54:38
SPEAKER_00: And are you at the higher end of that technical score?
54:40
SPEAKER_00: Are you in the middle range of the technical score?
54:42
SPEAKER_00: Are you the lowest end of that technical score for technique?
54:44
SPEAKER_00: And then I look at the execution.
54:46
SPEAKER_00: Now, the lower end of the technical score.
54:49
SPEAKER_00: You can hold a passe, you can't exactly rotate, you're just prepping, passe, step out of it and chasse.
54:55
SPEAKER_00: Great.
54:56
SPEAKER_00: That's probably the lower end of that technical score.
54:58
SPEAKER_00: How's the execution of that?
55:00
SPEAKER_00: Are you connecting that passe?
55:01
SPEAKER_00: Is that fourth position fully like is it a turned out or is it parallel?
55:05
SPEAKER_00: Do you know which one it is?
55:06
SPEAKER_00: Do you know how to execute that?
55:08
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm looking at.
55:09
SPEAKER_00: What's your showmanship?
55:10
SPEAKER_00: I am truly adjudicating what you are presenting, not what I think at your age you should be doing, not at what your age somebody else is doing, and not even in the same level what somebody else is doing.
55:23
SPEAKER_00: I don't know the technical uh rigor or like regimen at somebody else's studio.
55:27
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, because at that point, now what I am adjudicating, I am not adjudicating the student, I am now adjudicating the teacher.
55:34
SPEAKER_00: And like, how does that help the student?
55:37
SPEAKER_00: How does it help you if I think, well, she's nine and I don't know why you don't have her doing side aerials?
55:42
SPEAKER_00: That don't help nobody.
55:44
SPEAKER_00: That does not give any, that does not give any adjudication, does not give any adjudication to what I'm being presented.
55:50
SPEAKER_00: Because now what I'm doing is I've created an imaginary rubric in my head, which cannot be conveyed amongst the other judges because it's going to be only in my head.
56:00
SPEAKER_00: That's when you get those like if that happens, then you'll get like wide range scores that makes no sense.
56:06
SPEAKER_00: And people are like, well, I don't understand why that jour judge gave them such a high score and that judge gave them a low score.
56:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's because we're uh that judge is adjudicating what they saw in the in the potential, and that judge is adjudicating what they saw previously and how you didn't compare up.
56:18
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, like that's I I feel like that's where I'm at with that.
56:21
SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's less about me adjudicating against an age range, and it's less about me adjudicating, it's less about me adjudicating versus like where you're training.
56:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm adjudicating what is being presented on stage.
56:34
SPEAKER_00: And ultimately for me, like bring something that the dancer can be confident with on stage, and yes, give them a little bit of a challenge, but at the exact same time, I want to see execution.
56:44
SPEAKER_00: And ultimately that's where I'm at with that.
56:46
SPEAKER_02: I'm curious to hear your thoughts, Leslie.
56:48
SPEAKER_04: So when I'm judging, if I do get the opportunity to see an actual age, because a lot of times you don't, you know, many, many times on your Dance Comp Genie or whatever, all you're seeing is either or nine to eleven.
57:02
SPEAKER_04: That's it, Sarah Jones, you know, whatever, or novice mini lyrical solo.
57:08
SPEAKER_04: But on the off chance that I do get to see age eight, you know, or age, you know, seven to nine, if I'm watching the dance and I'll I'll do the exact same thing you do, Danny.
57:17
SPEAKER_04: I'll just I'll watch for the execution.
57:18
SPEAKER_04: What are you doing?
57:19
SPEAKER_04: How are you doing it?
57:20
SPEAKER_04: Are you executing it properly?
57:22
SPEAKER_04: Is the technique there?
57:23
SPEAKER_04: If I'm seeing something exceptional, then I will look at the age, if it's there.
57:29
SPEAKER_04: Because then I have to say, oh, okay, well, wow, she's six or she is seven, and all these other nine-year-olds, she's she's blowing them out of the water and she's only seven.
57:41
SPEAKER_04: So if if there if there's an exceptional child that's in a in a category, especially if it's small enough.
57:47
SPEAKER_04: Now, listen, if there were 25 of you, I might not be paying that much attention to your actual age, you know.
57:52
SPEAKER_04: But if it's small enough where it's like, oh, I remembered that most of these kids were nine, but this girl is seven and she came out and she did all these things super well, super properly, technically sound, all the things are great, you might get a couple of of little nudges from me point-wise, because you're you're that much younger than the whole category, you know?
58:10
SPEAKER_04: And and it goes the opposite direction too.
58:12
SPEAKER_04: If I'm seeing, you know, if I'm looking at Sally Sue here and she's seven and she's doing her very, very best against these nine-year-olds who are blowing her out of the water, you know, then I I can't be, you know, mean Miss Leslie and and count you off for just being probably just turned seven, yeah.
58:29
SPEAKER_04: Competing against nine-year-olds who are about to turn 10.
58:31
SPEAKER_04: So, you know, sometimes it it does depend, you know, and and a lot of times these days, man, all these kids look 12.
58:38
SPEAKER_04: Everybody looks 12.
58:39
SPEAKER_04: And then the 12-year-old look 25.
58:40
SPEAKER_04: So I don't know how old you are.
58:42
SPEAKER_04: I really don't.
58:44
SPEAKER_00: I literally didn't say, um, ma'am, are you old enough to be at the club?
58:50
SPEAKER_00: Oh, third grade.
58:51
SPEAKER_00: Okay, never mind, never mind.
58:53
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I see, I see.
58:54
SPEAKER_00: I got you, I picked your ID.
58:55
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I see.
58:56
SPEAKER_00: Okay, got you.
58:57
SPEAKER_00: See that again.
58:57
SPEAKER_02: I wish that more competitions would tell us the actual age of dancers, actually.
59:02
SPEAKER_02: Because I do find it very helpful.
59:04
SPEAKER_02: I also think, like, even on the other end of the spectrum in the senior division, like I can kind of tell if a dancer is a little bit more seasoned and matured than, you know, the 18-year-old.
59:17
SPEAKER_02: They're dancing different, they're carrying themselves different.
59:20
SPEAKER_02: They have something a little bit more mature about them versus that 15-year-old at the bottom of the division that's still kind of figuring things out a little bit and getting comfortable in themselves and their body.
59:32
SPEAKER_02: And that 18-year-old is just confident and has something about them.
59:37
SPEAKER_02: And I oftentimes have to look down at my.
59:40
SPEAKER_02: And then there's times when there that 15-year-old is dancing like an 18-year-old, and I'm like blown away.
59:47
SPEAKER_02: So for me, I you know, I shouldn't have to like look at you and and try to figure out how old are you?
59:54
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to be thinking that while I'm judging.
59:56
SPEAKER_02: Like I should be able to have a reference of, oh wow, she's at the bottom of this division.
1:00:01
SPEAKER_02: Wow, she is keeping up with those 18-year-olds at the top of it, or you know, whatever division it is.
1:00:08
SPEAKER_02: So I find it helpful, but I I wish more comps would tell would share that.
1:00:13
SPEAKER_02: You know, I think when the comps are really big, they have it broken down by individual just actually ages.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_02: Like it's still the overalls are within the 12 to 14, but here's age 12, right?
1:00:26
SPEAKER_02: 20 lyrical dances, and here's age 13, 20 more lyrical dances.
1:00:30
SPEAKER_02: You know, it's like broken down into that, so we have a better idea.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I I think that's an interesting, interesting question.
1:00:37
SPEAKER_02: Cause I I it it comes into play for me a little bit, but we're not always again given those tools, you know.
1:00:42
SPEAKER_00: You know what, Leslie, I completely and like Leslie and Corley, I completely concur with that.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_00: I think that's what it is for me.
1:00:48
SPEAKER_00: I think that most often a lot of the competitions just give you like an age bracket.
1:00:51
SPEAKER_00: And so for me, I just try not to like, oh, I'm not trying to look at your number, but like having that number, it does give perspective.
1:00:58
SPEAKER_00: And right, it's a perspective.
1:01:00
SPEAKER_00: And I and I have to fully acknowledge having perspective allows for appropriate accolades, allows for appropriate adjudication.
1:01:11
SPEAKER_00: So I wish more competitions told you where they were in that age bracket.
1:01:16
SPEAKER_00: Because if you are 18 and we are struggling with a double pirouette, how many hours is this brand new for you?
1:01:23
SPEAKER_00: Is this like I would love the ability to know why we are having this technical execution supportness?
1:01:32
SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, how is that happening?
1:01:34
SPEAKER_00: Is it a concept?
1:01:36
SPEAKER_00: Are you really nervous?
1:01:37
SPEAKER_00: But like, yeah, right, right, regardless of the level, novice, intermediate, advanced, I would like to know that that would actually help.
1:01:44
SPEAKER_00: It helps set realistic and appropriate adjudication.
1:01:49
SPEAKER_00: And for me, I'm I'm always going to lean towards the education of it.
1:01:52
SPEAKER_00: It helps to give realistic and appropriate applicable adjudication.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_04: Right.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_04: Well, and you made such a good point about, you know, putting your own rubric in your head about what their syllabus might look like or what that studio might do or what that teacher's doing with the student, you know, and in reality, we don't know.
1:02:06
SPEAKER_04: And that is what makes our job hard, right?
1:02:09
SPEAKER_04: Is that we're just trying to work off of our own experience, our own understanding of the competition's rules, our own trust in the studio that's entering these kids properly and the right level and, you know, whatever.
1:02:21
SPEAKER_04: And so I think for parents out there and people who are wondering, oh, well, you know, what should what should my my 11-year-old or 10-year-old do, whatever when they're trying to get into the next, not even trying, because they have to age it, because that's normal.
1:02:33
SPEAKER_04: I would love to actually consider their actual age in my adjudications, but sometimes I can't because I don't know it, you know.
1:02:40
SPEAKER_04: So I think it happens less than they think it does, where it's I'm, you know, judging the nine-year-old differently than I'm judging the 11-year-old.
1:02:46
SPEAKER_04: I I wish I could.
1:02:47
SPEAKER_04: That would make life easier for everybody, it would make it more fair, it would make it more equitable, but like I can't because it's not there most of the time.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I don't know.
1:02:55
SPEAKER_00: It just says nine to eleven.
1:02:57
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
1:02:58
SPEAKER_04: And again, we all look 25.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:03:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, all these nine-year-olds look 18, and every 18-year-old looks like the 34.
1:03:05
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, oh, okay.
1:03:07
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think that was a great, great question to kind of I think we needed to definitely answer that one for sure.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_02: It definitely fits into this discussion and is a question that a lot of, like you said, a lot of parents, a lot of teachers are probably thinking about.
1:03:21
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I think at the end of the day, with when it comes to advancing to the next level, the aged level is what we're talking about.
1:03:28
SPEAKER_02: It's, you know, we really we really classified what we're looking for.
1:03:33
SPEAKER_02: And obviously, you know, we should be pr progressing and we should be challenging our dancers.
1:03:39
SPEAKER_02: But I really think that it goes back to basics again.
1:03:42
SPEAKER_02: Like w we to what we said we want from minis is the foundation and the basics and the fundamentals, and we want to see that being taught.
1:03:51
SPEAKER_02: Like I can tell, like you gave an example earlier, uh Danny Duane, of like going into an aerial, but like how are you going into the aerial?
1:04:00
SPEAKER_02: Like, I can tell if you have the foundational skills and the basics based on your preparation, and that is going into any type of anything, anything.
1:04:12
SPEAKER_02: So if I can tell as a judge, if you're not ready, then we have to go back to basics.
1:04:18
SPEAKER_02: And it doesn't matter the age, it doesn't matter.
1:04:21
SPEAKER_02: But I think that that's the main thing is that some of us feel that trend pressure of I have to do headsprings, I have to do this, I have to do that.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_02: And maybe we're not ready.
1:04:32
SPEAKER_02: Maybe we need to scale it back, keep it simple, go back to the foundation, go back to the fundamentals, nail those, give us a clean routine with clean transitions, with clean timing, with clean precision, and then we can work on those skills in training class, not on stage at competition.
1:04:50
SPEAKER_02: And then we can advance each level, you know, up and up and up over because that's like I just I think there's just too much pressure of what people think wins.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_02: And we're over here preaching on this podcast all the time that you don't need to have six pirouettes in your in your dance to win.
1:05:10
SPEAKER_02: Like you don't.
1:05:11
SPEAKER_02: People think that you do because that's what they see winning.
1:05:14
SPEAKER_02: But I also like off more oftentimes than not, that dancer that's doing six pirouettes is stepping with their foot turned in and has the back foot flat and is doing other technical flaws with it.
1:05:27
SPEAKER_02: So to m then again, it goes back to basics.
1:05:30
SPEAKER_02: Like, how did you even get to do six pirouettes if you don't even know how to do the prep correctly?
1:05:34
SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm it just it blows my mind.
1:05:36
SPEAKER_02: So I think that's what like for me, I I just wanted to go back to the back to the basics and keep that with us.
1:05:43
SPEAKER_02: That fundamental training is what's going to guide you to each level.
1:05:48
SPEAKER_02: And as your choreography advances and as you learn new skills, keep that with you because that's how you're going to succeed.
1:05:55
SPEAKER_02: If you lose the training and the technique as you progress and you don't keep it.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_02: Then your score is not going to be as high as you expect just because you have a new skill.
1:06:04
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, cool.
1:06:05
SPEAKER_02: You have a new skill.
1:06:06
SPEAKER_02: But is it executed properly?
1:06:08
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:06:08
SPEAKER_02: Most oftentimes not.
1:06:10
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there are many people that are doing things right.
1:06:12
SPEAKER_02: But you know, if you're wondering why.
1:06:15
SPEAKER_02: So I think it's just the avoiding the pressure of feeling like you have to put every trick in the book in your dance just because you're going up a division or I have to have this by the time I get to the teens.
1:06:24
SPEAKER_02: There's not really a checklist of no what you should have.
1:06:27
SPEAKER_02: It's very much like we said, how it's executed.
1:06:31
SPEAKER_02: And if that technique and that foundation is there.
1:06:34
SPEAKER_03: I think uh for a final thought for me, I would say when transitioning, this can go both for dancers, this can go for parents, this can go for teachers.
1:06:41
SPEAKER_03: I think that it's important to remember that you have a whole new assignment.
1:06:45
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's a whole new blank slate of work and progress and opportunities, but to be patient and to be calm and to not put like so many expectations because, you know, coming off of the end of a season where you were at the top and then immediately going back into a season where you're at the bottom can be really challenging mentally for the dancer who has having a trouble like separating the two.
1:07:07
SPEAKER_03: You know, even like just this past summer, starting choreography again.
1:07:10
SPEAKER_03: You know, these kids are just used to finishing up a season where it's perfect for them and they're confident.
1:07:14
SPEAKER_03: And then you're learning new choreography and you can sense the frustration of, well, I don't have it.
1:07:18
SPEAKER_03: And I have to remind them, you're not supposed to have it.
1:07:20
SPEAKER_03: You know, you have to remember this is brand new.
1:07:22
SPEAKER_03: Give yourself some time, give yourself some grace.
1:07:24
SPEAKER_03: And I think it's important to also remind the dancers and, you know, uh parents, I'll always include parents too, parents and teachers is to just, you know, trust your process and read your dancer.
1:07:35
SPEAKER_03: Have uh make sure that you're kind of, you know, noticing when it's time to push a little bit more, when it's time to pull back a little bit.
1:07:41
SPEAKER_03: Because even within the same age, you're gonna have dancers who are just ready to just keep going, and then dancers that need to be nurtured a little bit more.
1:07:47
SPEAKER_03: So as you're moving from level to level, just really try to look at them as a dancer and a person and just kind of, you know, do it by case by case basis.
1:07:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm a huge supporter of like, and I think I think what like sums up for me, like the idea of transition like between uh between age range and and and levels is yes, I'm I know you saw somebody do six pirouettes and they got a high score.
1:08:14
SPEAKER_00: Don't be, and and this is for the untrained eye.
1:08:16
SPEAKER_00: This is and this specific this specific note is for the uh for the parent who goes, see, if you're not like if you're not like Donald, if you're not like uh Taylor, if you're not like Jessica, you see how many pirouettes she does, you see how many pirouettes he does, see how many pirouettes they do.
1:08:30
SPEAKER_00: That that's why they keep winning.
1:08:31
SPEAKER_00: Don't be baffled or or fooled by the idea that more is more, because it's not even less is more.
1:08:39
SPEAKER_00: It literally is how are you doing whatever you're doing, less or more.
1:08:44
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're that's what we're adjudicating.
1:08:47
SPEAKER_00: When you did six pirouettes, did you take a breath at the end and you were balanced?
1:08:51
SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately, if you did a double and balance, your score is probably gonna be right.
1:08:56
SPEAKER_00: Your score is probably just as good as someone who did six pirouettes and balance.
1:09:01
SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately, what I am looking for, I am looking for like the confidence, the transition.
1:09:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking for how you were executing that.
1:09:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you did six, but was your foot down?
1:09:11
SPEAKER_00: Because your foot was down and you kept bouncing off of your heels and go back up to that relevant during the pirouettes, it doesn't matter how many you did.
1:09:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna adjudicate what and the the technique you presented and how you executed that, and that's not gonna get you that high score.
1:09:25
SPEAKER_00: Watch the people who I'm like, and I and I say this to everyone, and this is to the dancers and this is to the choreographers, this is to the studio owners.
1:09:32
SPEAKER_00: Watch the people who are getting high technical scores, watch people who are getting high execution scores, and see what they're ranking because that is going to tell you what we are actually looking for as judges.
1:09:44
SPEAKER_00: We're not looking for an amplitude of of like tricks or an amplitude of technical of like uh high technical maneuvers.
1:09:54
SPEAKER_00: We're looking for confidence and execution.
1:09:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking for smooth execution, I'm looking for really nice foundation.
1:10:03
SPEAKER_00: But the dancers that always mesmerize you are the ones that you are baffled as to how they went from one thing to the next thing and how it was seamlessly put together.
1:10:12
SPEAKER_00: And that is all in the foundation.
1:10:14
SPEAKER_00: You can't skip foundation because you can't, if you skip foundation, you get glitches.
1:10:19
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be little bumps and like clear, like uh body uh misunderstanding of how things are connected because you there's no foundation for it.
1:10:27
SPEAKER_00: There's no understanding of how you move through the floor into the next thing.
1:10:30
SPEAKER_00: Really, those found and I and I understand that, and I say this to all the studio owners I hear you, I see you, I understand it is very difficult to keep young minds interested and active in the foundation.
1:10:44
SPEAKER_00: What we have to do as dance educators is like celebrate the foundation, celebrate the like fundamentals from the get-go.
1:10:53
SPEAKER_00: Celebrate those fundamentals all the way up until they graduate out of competition because that's where we're gonna make strong artists.
1:11:02
SPEAKER_02: We hope you enjoyed this week's episode all about transitioning to a new age division.
1:11:07
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1:11:10
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1:11:18
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1:11:50
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1:11:55
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1:11:58
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1:12:02
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1:12:07
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1:12:13
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1:12:23
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1:12:35
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1:12:42
SPEAKER_04: Season four of Making the Impact is coming at you with some great topics.
1:12:46
SPEAKER_04: Stay tuned for a look at competitive dance in other countries, a breakdown of top dance styles, and why dancers need a proper warm up.
1:12:59
SPEAKER_02: Until then, keep dancing.