Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Competition Trends - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

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Competition Trends - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_12: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_12: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_12: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_12: 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_12: There is no doubt that the dance competition industry embraces trends in ebbs and flows, with some trends wearing out their welcome and others vanishing in the air.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_12: This week on Making the Impact, hear from your IDA judges as they chime in about their favorite, least favorite, and most despised competition trends of all time.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_10: Hi Dance World and Happy New Year from Making the Impact.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_10: It's Courtney, I'm the host, and I am here with my fabulous co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_10: Courtney, happy new year! Happy New Year.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_10: Wow, it's 2023.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_10: Can you believe it?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_10: What even is that?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_12: It feels like the Jetsons something was set in like the 2020s that like we grew up in and it felt like so futuristic.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_12: And now here we are, just living life.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, we are.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_10: We are here, we are living life.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_10: It's a brand new year.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_10: I'm excited for the new year.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_10: I can't wait to see what the dance season holds for us in the competition world, in the convention world.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_10: It's gonna be a fantastic year.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_10: I can feel it.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_12: I mean, January means competition season.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_12: And I have to say, like the fall, I'm just honestly, maybe it's seasonal effective disorder, but I think it's also the fact that there's just not really competition in the fall.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_12: And I get really bummed in the fall because I really like to be busy and I like to be out at events every weekend.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_12: And so, like, January really starts the the beginning of my mood shifting because I know competition season is around the corner.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_12: So I hope everybody feels that way too.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, it really is.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_10: It is right there.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_10: Maybe some of you have already competed at some convention competitions.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_10: There are a lot of competitions who are starting earlier and earlier every year.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_10: And speaking of some of our IDA affiliated competitions that are kicking things off this month in January, we have Diva Dance Competition, who will be doing some solo duo trio events, as well as a brand new convention competition who is joining us over here at IDA, where where they will have one IDA affiliated judge on every panel at their event, and that is the Streets Convention and Competition.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_10: I'm really excited about that partnership.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_10: It's one of our very first convention competitions who wants to utilize what we do over here at IDA and make sure that they always have a fantastic judge on their judging panel.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_10: And these competitions are going to start awarding our making the Impact Judges Choice Awards.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_10: And I can't wait for us to start sharing those winners on the podcast again throughout the rest of our season.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_10: It's going to be really great.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, those are always a favorite for us, especially uh if we get the opportunity to watch those dances at events and then get to share them on the podcast.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_12: So really looking forward to all of that this season.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_10: Yes.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_10: And before we jump into this week's episode, all about competition trends, which is a hot topic, we want to share our sponsors for this week's episode.
• 3:08
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• 3:11
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• 3:14
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• 3:19
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• 3:31
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• 3:36
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• 3:38
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• 3:41
  SPEAKER_12: Use the exclusive code Impact15 for 15% off your first order.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_10: And their next sponsor who's been with us since season one is Level Up Dance Applies.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_10: Level Up Dance Applies is a family-owned and operated company and has been the leading retailer of top name brand dance gear since 2010.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_10: They proudly offer the largest selection of dance gear, such as Glamour Gear, Rack and Roll, Grit, KK Miami, and more, as well as their own line of dance bags, duffels, and many other accessories to ensure that you get to every competition in an organized fashion.
• 4:12
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• 4:18
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• 4:26
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• 4:35
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• 4:42
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• 4:44
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• 4:51
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• 5:03
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• 5:11
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• 5:16
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• 5:30
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• 5:35
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• 5:40
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• 5:43
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• 5:48
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• 5:55
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• 6:01
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• 6:04
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• 6:12
  SPEAKER_10: All right, Dance World.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_10: So today we are talking all about competition trends.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_10: These are the things that we as judges see at competition.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_10: Doesn't matter where we go regionally across the country.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_10: This is something that is just a trend in the industry itself.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_10: Maybe it's an old trend that we haven't seen for a while.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_10: Maybe it's a new trend that just popped up within the last season, or maybe it's a trend that's been here for far too long.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_10: We're gonna talk about all of the different trends that we see as judges and share our perspectives and thoughts all about them.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_10: It's definitely a hot topic.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_10: There's a lot of things to cover.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_10: And Leslie and I are flying solo without guests, but we have our IDA judges who have are going to chime in and send us some audio clips of some of their favorite and possibly least favorite trends that they see on the competition stage this season.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_10: So I can't wait to dive into this one.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_12: Me too.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_12: There's a lot here.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_12: Um, thank you to all of our IDA judges for contributing to this episode.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_12: Uh, we love you.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_12: We're so grateful for all that you do.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_12: Um, and it's so nice to be able to hear everybody's voice, you know, even if we can't get them physically here on the podcast.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_12: But it's just really nice to be able to continue to connect uh with our colleagues and our peers in this way.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_12: So let's jump in with uh maybe some trends that we miss, because I know I miss a lot about the the good old days.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_10: Oh yeah, I do too.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_10: Let's hear from our very first IDA judge, Chloe.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_08: Hi everyone, IDA Judge Chloe here.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_08: And a trend that I really, really miss from my competition days in the early 2000s is I miss beautiful, dramatic, lyrical dances.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_08: I feel like now we see a lot of dancers entering into either jazz or contemporary, and the lyrical category is always one of the smaller categories.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_08: And I would really love to see some classical lyrical solos at competition this season.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_08: Thanks so much.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_10: You just heard from IDA judge Chloe Roberts, who was, if you're a platinum premium member, she was recently on one of our QA episodes this season, and she's just such a spectacular guest on the podcast and judge and educator.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_10: And uh Chloe misses some true, real old school lyrical dance.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_10: What about you, Leslie?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_12: So much.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_12: I mean, like to me, that's one of the defining uh styles of competitive dance.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_12: Because I don't feel like lyrical dance really really existed in in the way that it did, you know, in the 90s and the 2000s, really before then.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_12: And so like to me, it it's a hallmark of the competitive industry is lyrical.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_12: And I think Chloe's right, like the lyrical category is very small, usually.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_12: And and usually I would say nine times out of ten, it's just sort of another contemporary dance.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_12: Yes.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_12: Like I've I very rarely see like that very traditional, you know, uh Celine Dion, Whitney Houston kind of like power ballad songs being used.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_12: And even if they are sometimes the movement, it's it's contemporized, which you know, for me, I'm a purist.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_12: I want some I want to PK arabesque into you know an attitude of turned out attitude turn.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_12: Like I want like everything, I want all the ballet in my lyrical.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_12: Oh my god.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_12: To a Celine Dion song.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_12: Shout out Maddie Kurtz.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I I completely agree.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, I always thank the teacher when I see true lyrical dance on stage.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_10: And I think like you said, the height of lyrical really came about in the 90s when it was kind of created, I think, is kind of, you know, if we go back in time and look at when did lyrical come about, and then, you know, with the fusion of styles, which I think we'll talk about soon, but how contemporaries dominating and ruling the world, that doesn't mean that we like blended into lyrical.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_10: Like to me, they're still very distinctly different.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_10: So when a choreographer or a studio really puts the thought into making a lyrical dance actually a lyrical dance, it makes me really excited.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_10: And I, and like obviously Chloe feels the same way, and obviously Maddie Kurtz feels the same way.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_10: And there are probably so many other judges who who just are sitting there wishing that they were watching true lyrical dance.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_10: So I agree, Chloe.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_10: I miss it as well.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_10: I miss a pretty lyrical dress, I miss the rhinestones, I miss, I miss like a tight, maybe a tight, a French twist is cute.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_10: Like I just want some classic lyrical yes to a power ballad, like you said.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_12: Listen, you have to have the power ballad.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_12: Ugh, it's so good.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, I'm I'm all I'm for that, Chloe.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_12: I'm here for you.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_10: And next up, we're going to hear from IDA Judge Jen, and she's gonna talk about a trend that she really loves seeing when it comes to tap.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_14: Hey, IDA fan, this is IDA Judge Jen down here in Orlando, Florida.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_14: And if you thought I was gonna talk about anything other than tap dance, you're sorely mistaken.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_14: I love that we are putting tap boards on stage.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_14: It is my favorite new trend.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_14: I love when someone drags a nice slab of wood on stage for their tap dancers.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_14: We can hear so crispy clear.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_14: It's just really awesome, and it makes me really happy that we're taking the time to do that.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_10: Jen Karafa is is talking all about this new trend that we see in the tap category, which is the use of tap boards.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_10: How awesome is that?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, I mean, I I think it's a cool uh what's the way to phrase this?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_12: It's a fix to a problem that feels universal at dance competitions for tap dancers, in that, you know, you never know what kind of stage you're gonna dance on, no matter what style of dance you're doing.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_12: But the majority of the time at a dance competition, there will be Marley.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_12: You know, nobody is usually gonna give you a hardwood floor to dance on, most of the time because the venue's not gonna allow that.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_12: And or the venue's floor is falling apart, so you really need that Marley to protect the dancers.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_12: But so, you know, from from time and time and time again, you see, you know, tap dancers really struggling on Marley to be heard.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_12: And that's a big complaint you hear across the board, haha, board in the dance competition groups is that, you know, my tap dancers can't be heard, and what do I do?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_12: And I think the fix has been, you know, tappers have just taken the the the world into their own hands and and purchased or made their tap boards and brought them, you know, to competition to ensure that their artistry is able to be heard by the judges and the audience.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_12: And I think that's, you know, I it's kind of unfortunate that the dancers have to make that happen on their own, but like I don't actually see another way around it.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_12: So, you know, I think that if that's the choice you're gonna make, it that's amazing and you will be better for it because we'll actually be able to hear what you're doing.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I I completely agree.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_10: And, you know, even just looking back, like this definitely is a new trend because this did not exist grow when I was growing up.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, I think actually, like, I can't specifically remember off the top of my head, like the first time I saw a tap board enter the space at a competition, but I do know that the first time I did, I was like, what's going on?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_10: Like, I was like totally floored.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I was really confused by it because I just didn't.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_10: I I mean at the time too, like I don't study tap all the time.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_10: Like I grew up tapping on Marley.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_10: I don't really even know that world of like tap boards are a thing.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_10: So um when I saw it, you know, introduced into competition, I kind of was like, why are they doing this?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_10: First, I was confused by it.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_10: But then once I saw how it impacted their performance and their sound quality and how they used the tap board in a in a great way, I was really excited and I was like, this is different, this is unique.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_10: And at the time it made its them stand out because you know, you're gonna remember the person that had the tap board, and not saying that that's like an automatic you get bonus points, but like at the same time, I I honestly I take you a little bit more seriously if you've like put the investment into like getting a quality shoe and also bringing like the proper floor that you want to showcase yourself to the best of your ability.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_10: So I I applaud people that bring tap boards.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_10: I mean I think like a lot of people will say, like, well, they aren't they aren't able to use the stage because they're stuck on right in the middle with their their tap board.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_12: And I'm like, yeah, but you know, it just depends on how it's executed and how the how they use it to be danced on a tap board, then that should show, you know, that it should if it's not choreographed to be on a tap board, that's your problem.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_12: Exactly.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_12: You didn't you didn't do the choreography in the way that it was meant to be presented, you know.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_12: So I think, you know, it's just in the like you said, the execution really matters with that.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_12: And yeah, I mean, I also I feel the same way.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_12: Like if you have purchased a tap board and tap boards are not cheap.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_12: Good ones are not cheap, neither are nice shoes.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_12: And so if you have taken you know it upon yourself to purchase these things and bring it to present your dance, yeah, I'm gonna take you pretty seriously.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_12: And most of the time the people who do those things are your advanced tappers, are people who take themselves seriously as as hoofers usually.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_12: Um, you're not usually seeing like Roquette style precision tap on a tap board.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_12: Like that's just not the style.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_12: But yeah, definitely I I kind of agree with you.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_12: I don't remember the first time I saw it happen.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_12: It was definitely in the last five to seven years.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_12: And it was very rare early on.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_12: But now I think people have realized, okay, if we if we want to really showcase what we do and pe have people take us seriously, especially non-tap judges or people who don't, you know, really know about tap in the audience, you know, when you can really hear it, it really makes a difference to really, you know, hear, dang, that was hard.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_12: Like, did you just hear all the sounds they made in that one, you know, two counts?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_12: Like, that's insane.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, at the same time, like an exceptional tapper should be able to tap on any surface and we should still be able to hear you.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_10: So for a lot of people that always make the excuse, like, well, it's the Marley and the and they just can't hear.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_10: It's no, because I've seen exceptional tap dancers make it work on the Marley.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_12: And maybe the tap sounds are not ideal.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_12: And that is really what it is.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_12: When you're a tap dancer who cares about your sounds, they're talking, they're not talking about I can't hear you at all.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_12: They're talking about the quality of the sound, whether it's resonant or bright or you know, there's a whole whole kinds of adjectives you can use to describe the kind of sound you like, which has to do with the flooring.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_12: You personally as a dancer, your shoe, the way the shoe is built up, like all these other things.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_12: So, you know, yeah, I get why people don't love to tap on Marley if you're like a legit tapper who really cares about the quality of your sound.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_12: But like Courtney said, if you're a good tap dancer, I will know that, regardless of what you're dancing on, because I also have eyes.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_12: You know, tap dancing's not just about the sounds, so yeah, exactly.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_10: And I know how you were saying that like most stages are always gonna be Marley, and there is nothing that we can do to prevent that.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_10: But I do think it would be interesting if our industry starts to evolve to have like this the competitions actually transporting tap boards on the trucks with them, like or something like that.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_10: Almost so interesting.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_10: I know, I mean, like I'm curious to know.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_10: It's like, okay, well, you you need one tap board that's this size, or you you know when you're signing up and registering for a competition, okay, or we have the tap boards that connect to each other, we can lay them across the front of the panel of, and then they can just utilize okay, the whole front half of the Marley is technically tap board, and then we're set up for the tap category at competition, and you know everyone's gonna be on a tap board, then we're all on the same playing field.
• 17:32
  unknown: Right.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_10: And like, yeah, you might not have that same consistency that you're used to with working on your own tap board, but that's what we have to deal with.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_10: All the other dancers have to deal with when we step onto a different type of Marley.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_10: So I think it could be an interesting person an interesting way to like have our industry continue to cater to every style of dance and offer some type of like tap board, complimentary tap board for tap dances or solos or something, and people can keep that in mind and choreograph in that way.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_10: Because then there won't be the excuse of the tap mics didn't work and and the floor was too whatever, and the Marley muffled my sounds.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_10: Uh-uh, sorry about it.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_10: You were on your tap board and you didn't get your sounds in, all right?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_12: The end.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_10: The end.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_10: So, yes, Jen Grafa, she loves her tap dance, and I am really glad that she brought up um a tap right a tap idea and discussion right off the top of the bat for this episode because tap is hugely important in our dance world.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_12: For sure.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_10: And speaking of tap, there's obviously so many other genres of dance that we see at competition.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_10: So let's get into the talk of styles and genres that we see.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_10: And first up, we are going to hear from the one and only Maddie Kurtz.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, this is IDA Judge Maddie from Tampa, Florida.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And another trend that I've noticed a lot of is fusion of styles, which can be really awesome and exciting to combine different styles.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: But this is my note to choreographers.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Let's be careful that we're not blending lines where they don't need to be blended.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, for example, I think most often we see this in the tap category where dancers are doing all of the conterns or aerials.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to see tap vocabulary.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: I want that showcased.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, go in the open category if you want to do that blending.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Another place we see it is in hip-hop.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Pirouettes are not hip-hop, and I think it's important that we're honoring hip-hop culture in our choreography and doing our research to make sure that we're giving our dancers the truest taste of the genre in which they are performing.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_09: Hi, this is IDA Judge Mary from Florida.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_09: And I would definitely have to say a current trend would be the popularity of the contemporary and lyrical divisions at competition.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_09: I remember a time when CAP was one of your larger divisions, but now lyrical and contemporary are busting at the scene.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_09: Also, the open category.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_09: That seems to be a huge trend.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_09: So many choreographers are now fusing styles together, creating new genres that there's no other place to put them but open.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_09: So I really think that's a new cool opportunity and definitely a trend that we're seeing.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_12: Um, first of all, shout out to all our Florida judges, just like taking off here from the sunny sunshine state.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_12: Yes.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_12: And we're very jealous, it's still cold here.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_12: But Maddie, I think I love that Maddie hit the nail on the head with fusion of styles, um, not honoring the style and the genre that you're talking about or that you're entering into, specifically with hip-hop.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_12: I mean, tap, I think you can, you know, there were very flashy tap dancers in the origins of tap dance, you know, the Nicholas brothers, everybody, you know, back then, the people who kind of fused Lindy Hop and Tap, like you were seeing all kinds of acrobatic tricks with some of these godfathers and godmothers of tap.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_12: But these days, again, I think that could maybe live in open just because it's a different world.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_12: You know, we're in a competitive environment.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_12: We're in somewhere where we are trying to box things in a little bit for a purpose.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_10: And a competition.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_12: Exactly.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_12: Exactly.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_12: And it's it's not just, you know, the performance art.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_12: We're not just doing the stare dance where they jump over each other in the splits for hooray, we're doing a cool number for no reason besides we're doing a cool number.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_12: Like here we're trying to do something that's being judged and being adjudicated.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_12: So I do appreciate, you know, her point of view about not blending lines and respecting the tradition of the genre that you're talking about.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_10: I agree.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, we're seeing this so much.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_10: And again, it's just the evolution of our industry and and how we evolve as dancers and as artists and as educators and choreographers.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_10: But I do think that genres exist for a reason and we have to know.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_10: Like, and another like quote from Maddie, like she said it on the podcast, you have to know the rules before you can break the rules.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_10: And if it's if it's turning into too much of a fusion, then I don't even know as a judge if you know what the rules are.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_10: It has to be clear for me as a training dancer.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_10: You are a training dancer who is getting judged by a professional.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_10: The professional needs to know what they're doing.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_10: Watching.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_10: If it's such a mishmash of things, it's just, it makes our job so much harder.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_10: And again, like Mary recommended, yes, it's great that there's that open category.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_10: And a lot of people are utilizing the open category appropriately.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_10: And y'all, if you haven't listened to our open category uh episode, you have to make sure you go listen.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_10: I don't know the number off the top of my head, but it's a great one.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_10: So go listen to it.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_10: Uh, because we cover this in detail.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_10: But that's there for the fusion.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_10: And that's great.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_10: But even within that, we still need to know what styles you're fusing together.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_10: Like I should be able to tell that was a hip-hop element versus that was a jazz element versus that's a contemporary element.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_10: Sometimes it just gets so muddled for me that it's it it makes our job really tricky.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_12: Well, and I think it makes our job tricky because then I can't, if I'm if I'm looking at an open routine which does really clearly delineate the lines between the things that you're fusing, that shows me that this dancer is technically proficient in all these styles that they're fusing together.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_12: Therefore, I can give them a higher technique score.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_12: If this dancer is presenting something that's fused and it doesn't I don't know where it lives, I don't know where it began, I don't know where it ends in terms of the style and the technique, that technique score is not going to be very high because I don't even know that you know what you're doing.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_12: You know?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_12: So like I think I think that's something to consider when when entering into open or choreographing routines that fuse certain things.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_12: Keep in like what is actually discernible within this piece for a judge.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_12: If I can't name a step, if I can't name a concept that you're doing and put it in a box, it's hard for me to judge it.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_12: Now, does that mean it's not valuable and worthwhile to do, like you said, sort of like more performance art?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_12: Do dance for the sake of dance.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_12: That's lovely, that's great.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_12: But like if you want me to judge it and give you a score compared to somebody else, then you you need to choreograph for that reason, you know?
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, absolutely.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_10: And the same, you know, I think that we really see this fusion of styles being forgot, like being used, but also kind of people are just taking advantage of it when it comes to acro and dances because again, it's like it's not an acro dance.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_10: If it's if it's an act, if it's in the acro category, do all your acro skills that you want because that's what it's meant for.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_10: But when we're seeing predominantly front aerials, chin stands, elbow stands, chest rolls in a lyrical dance, that's not lyrical.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_10: We just said what we want lyrical to be.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_10: We said we want pika arabests and turned out passes and ballet-driven movement, and you're doing a chin stand.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_10: Like, how is that lyrical?
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_10: So I think that that's something, and again, like also on the flip side of contemporary and how it's dominating, like we see contemporary in the wrong category all the time at competition because contemporary is dominating the world, and people want to just say, well, it's contemporary jazz, and well, it's contemporary lyrical, and well, it's contemporary modern.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_10: It's like, can't we just do the actual genres and not make everything contemporary?
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_12: Exactly.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_12: Well, I can't.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_10: I know too much, but I do love contemporary, don't get me wrong.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_10: I love contempor real contemporary when I see it.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_12: Contemporary, yeah.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_10: You know, but like, does contemporary need an aerial?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_10: FYI, it doesn't, because that's not contemporary dance.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_10: That's acro, everybody.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_10: Ah the fusion, it exists.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_10: The fusion.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_10: Speaking of genres, let's hear from two more IDA judges who are going to share some genres that they love seeing on the stage.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_13: Hi, this is IDA Judge Mary.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_13: And one of the trends that I've noticed in the last few years is a strong comeback for jazz.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_13: Real jazz dance in so many different styles and techniques.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_13: And one of the things that I really love within seeing it come back is the excitement and enthusiasm on the dancers' faces when they are performing and fully embracing my personal favorite style of dance.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_06: Hi, this is IDA Judge Rob from Massachusetts, commenting on competition trends.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_06: One trend that I have seen lately that I absolutely love is the focus on rhythm tapping.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_06: Um, for a really long time I saw um a lot of neglect on trying to match the musicality of the music that dancers are dancing to.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_06: So, this is a trend that I want to commend all of our choreographers for, but also our dancers for articulating the choreography that they've been given.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_06: Um, it could be a trend that is coming out of social media, whatever it is, I just say thank you because it's wonderful to see that stepping back into the tap genre.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_06: Good luck this year.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_12: Awesome.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_12: Thank you, Rob and Mary.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_12: Again, Mary coming to us from Florida.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_12: Um, Rob and Mary Roberts this time.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_12: Yes, all the Marys, all the Floridians.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, I mean, I'm happy uh obviously to see Jazz Jazz Dance come back, like she said.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_12: And I think maybe there has been a little bit of resurgence of excitement for a little bit of like the nostalgia of old older trends, you know, in terms of like early jazz dance pioneers and everything.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_12: I know that it's when you're thinking like the rat pack and like that kind of very cool Dean Martin kind of music.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_12: Um, I think I've I have seen a lot of that coming back too.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_12: So that's exciting that, you know, just choreographers out there are really trying to infuse a love of jazz dance into their students.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_10: I actually um I can't remember what episode we talked about this on, but I love an axle jump, an axle turning jump.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_10: Oh, and that is like true jazz dance to me in my head.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_10: And I've been seeing axles come back to the stage recently.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_10: And I just interesting.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_10: I know, and I get so excited.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_10: Although I will say that we need to work on the execution of the axles because we're not getting fully tucked.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_10: A lot of the dancers aren't finding that full tuck.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_10: Axles are hard, y'all.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_12: Like listen, they're so hard.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_10: They left because they're hard.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_12: They're they're hard, and like it's interesting to me.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_12: I can see where you're coming from with it being like a traditional jazz step, like that's a jazz dance step.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_12: But like for me, the power that it takes feels like it lends itself more to like, you know, because I learned axles like back when thrash jazz was happening, and it was like, I'm being gonna be super fierce and be like, Shawnee, axle.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_12: And you're like, you do the sweep around your head, and I love an axle too.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_12: And it's just interesting, like it it's so versatile.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_12: You can put an axle and you can make it like nice and cool if you can do it.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_12: You know, you can put it into a cool jazz dance, but you can also like really show your power with an axle because it's very hard.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_12: I love an axle.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_12: Man, when's the last time I did an axle?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_12: It's been a while.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_10: I'm gonna have to, you know, I every time I bring up the word axle, I always say I'm gonna add it to a combo.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_10: So I'm actually gonna do that this year.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_10: I'm gonna add it into a combo and see if the kids can do it.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_10: So if you're listening, you're getting a heads up, you might see it at Rebel, everybody.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_10: Make sure you practice your axle turns before you see me.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_12: First of all, practice your tuck jump because the tuck jump begins like that's where you're gonna fail.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_12: Not the fouette, but the tuck jump.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_12: If you can't get that leg up, it's over.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_10: Now, for speaking of jazz at competition, I will say, and we were I was just venting about how I see contemporary in the jazz category all the time.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_10: But at the same time, I do see this like new wave, new school style of jazz.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_10: And I don't call it contemporary jazz because I do think it's more of like a more current, updated version of jazz dance that has like come out of the like 2020, and it's just kind of, you know, if you think Molly Long, Project 21, like a lot of people are embodying that style of jazz.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, I truly personally think that she's really created a new name for our jazz category as Molly, like a Molly Long fan and like what she does.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_10: It's just it still has the classic basic fundamentals of jazz dance and just slightly tweaked to make it fresh and new.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_10: And I think that's really exciting for me as a jazz teacher to see because I do like pretty straightforward classic jazz.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_10: And then to see choreographers being innovative and kind of tweaking things, but still making those clean lines and having the strong dynamics and the attack and the things that I want to see in jazz is really exciting.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_10: So I applaud everybody for kind of like making it theirs.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_10: I but I do want to remind everyone to make sure it stays true to jazz, rooted in jazz, and not get get too contemporary on me.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_12: Yes.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_12: And, you know, in the world of jazz also lives the world of tap.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_12: Yes.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_12: So thank you, Rob, for your thoughts about rhythm tap.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_12: I I have I don't know that I've seen this as much.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_12: I would like to continue to see it.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_12: You know, Rob is not j Rob is judging more than I am, I think, recently in recent years.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_12: But I'm so glad that somebody somewhere is really uh creating choreography that is is working with the music and is really striving to achieve better musicality because that's really what tap dancing is.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_12: It's about the musicality and being an instrument with your feet.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_12: And so the fact that like somebody's seeing it somewhere means it's happening.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_12: So let's keep that going.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, especially if it's able to be if it's clear on the dancers and the execution, because there's so many times where like me as a judge, I'm watching a tap dance.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_10: I can see what the choreographer's going for rhythmically, but the execution isn't as strong from the dancer to actually deliver.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_10: So I, you know, on that end, I have been seeing interesting, unique, well-thought-out musical rhythm tap on stage.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_10: And I just want to just keep reminding the dancers to keep working on that musicality and the syncopation and knowing where the downbeat is and working with the metronome in class.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_10: So when you do get on stage, it's it we don't get excited and charge ahead.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_10: And then those rhythms get a little bit muddled because then it just makes our job harder.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_10: And like you said, you have to be a musician.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_10: Like that's what's really gonna make those tap dancers stand out to us and be memorable.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_10: It can be the easiest steps ever.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_10: If you're creating awesome rhythms with really great shading and clear footwork, then you're gonna score very high.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_10: Like, we don't need it to be like super intricate with the most advanced steps ever.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_10: I care more about the rhythm, actually, for me.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, exactly.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_10: So yeah, love seeing that as well.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_10: So thanks.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_10: Thanks, Mary and Rob.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_10: Let's head on over to hear from some more judges, and we're going to start talking a little bit about music at competition.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_10: Let's hear some of these recent music trends.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, this is IDA Judge Miranda from Buffalo, New York.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the trends that I am loving is kind of bringing back some of the classic music, being able to kind of recreate and put a contemporary modern theme on a song that we associate as being a classic song.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm absolutely loving because I think the possibilities are endless.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I think there's so much room to sort of grow and explore and to kind of create your new version of what a classic song is.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm loving, loving the trend.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_10: That is Miranda Spada from uh upstate New York, up in Buffalo area.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_10: And I totally agree with Miranda.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_10: I love hearing a throwback song.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_10: I love hearing those jams that you forgot about and then see it kind of recreated in a new way on stage.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_10: It's just it's I think there's like something really special when you all when you as a judge or even an audience member already connect with the music.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_10: You know what I mean?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_10: Whereas like I think it's exciting when I hear new songs that I've never heard before too.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_10: Like that really gets me excited.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_10: But especially if it's a song that like means something special to you and like maybe it's not super overused, or you just haven't heard it in like 20 years, and you're like, oh my God, I forgot about that song.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_10: I had so many of those moments this weekend when I was judging, and there was a studio that was using like every RB like early 2000s throwback that like I grew up in middle school with, and I was just like, I love this.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_12: I love it too, and I'm like even thinking further back.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_12: Like, I love when people use, you know, old Ella Fitzgerald songs or music from the 50s or the 60s.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_12: Yes.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_12: Just because there's I think I say this all the time, anytime we're talking about music, like there is so much music out there.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_12: Why do I keep hearing Forgive Me, Megan Trainer?
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_12: I'm sorry, Megan Trainer.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_12: I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_12: But like, there's just so much out there.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_12: So, like you said, when when people have the ability to go back in time and find an artist that maybe isn't played so often and reimagine the way a dance could be to that song, or put a contemporary spin, like she said, on an old piece of music.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_12: Like, I'm just obsessed because there's just so much out there.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_12: And, you know, I think music back in the day, I'm like 90, I'm everybody's grandmother.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_12: Back in the day, music was just written differently.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_12: You know, there wasn't, there wasn't like the great hit machine of people writing music in such a codified way.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_12: You know, yeah, there's always been verse chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_12: But I just think the older the music, the more interesting it was allowed to be.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_12: And there's some themes like you can find all kinds of appropriate kids' music going back into the 50s and the 60s because things, you know, things were just different.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_12: You're not having to weed through all this inappropriate music that's on the radio to try to do something interesting for kids.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_12: And I think this will lead us into our next conversation.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, it absolutely will.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_06: Hi everyone.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_06: This is Rob, your IDA judge from Massachusetts here commenting on competition trends.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_06: And I'd like to talk about very quickly um appropriateness and music choices.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_06: I know it's a hot box ticket.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_06: We have podcasts about it.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_06: We have commented on it in our uh Making the Impact Facebook group.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_06: So, what I would love to do is for to challenge all of our choreographers out there to really invest in time to look into um appropriate songs for age groups.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_06: Make sure that you're researching the lyrics of the song, all of them.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_06: There's opportunities, of course, to edit those those words out, but sometimes still the context or the the text itself is leaning towards something that feels inappropriate.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_06: So, dancers and choreographers, make sure that we're all choosing music that is appropriate for those that are on stage.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_06: It'll really help you in the long run.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_06: Good luck this season.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_13: Hi, this is IDA Judge Mary, and one song that I could certainly go without ever seeing another piece.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_13: Set two would be Cellblock Tango.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_13: Honestly, let's just let it go and move on.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_10: Mic mic drop from Mary Roberts.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_12: Oh, yes.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_12: What is there to say?
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_12: I mean, there's I am a person who agrees with Mary Roberts about uh cell block tango.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_12: I think it's a it's it's about murder.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_12: Um, if we're gonna be very like just real and honest and there's no getting around it, it's about murder.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_12: Like murder.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah murder.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_12: And it's that's a that's that is not child friendly, that is not, you know, it's not funny, it's not, you know, it can't be in this context of the musical.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_12: But at a dance competition, we're not in the context of a musical, which that movie is rated PG.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, the movie itself was rated PG 13.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_12: The show itself, you know, probably lifts up a little further than that um in a ratings system.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_12: So yeah, I'm I'm in agreement with no more cell block tango.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_12: I feel like you can, as much as I actually don't enjoy it, I don't like the Disney villain version of Cellblock Tango.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_10: Do you don't mind that or you No, I don't like it.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_12: Oh, you don't like it?
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_12: But I feel like it's fine.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_12: Like if you're going to do that, if you're if you must, if you absolutely must put a cell block on the stage and you're not doing jailhouse rock, I guess you can do Disney villain cell block tango.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_10: I the first time I saw that Disney villain cell block tango, it was hilarious because I'd never seen it before.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_10: And I was like, oh my God, that is so clever.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_10: That is so funny.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_10: What is this from?
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_10: Like, I'm so out of the loop with like trendy things, I guess, that are on like the internet and TikTok and things.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_10: I don't watch that.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_10: So I was just excited about it.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_10: I thought it was and the version that I saw was well done.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_10: Now a lot of people are using it, and it's not as impactful when it comes the first time as the first time.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_10: And I was watching one recently where I was just kind of like, it was uh juniors doing it, and it still says some like graphic stuff in it.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_10: Like it where I was just kind of like, oh, I know what we're like kind of Disney-esque in this, but it still feels a little inappropriate.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_12: Well, I also think, and I could be very wrong, that's also, and again, not that this community needs to be marginalized, but like that's I think it's a drag queen situation, like with the way whoever produced it the first time, I think it they were drag queens.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_12: And again, I I love a drag queen, but are we are we putting that on kids?
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_12: And is there the context for that situation at a family-friendly event?
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_12: I don't know.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_12: I I think I agree with Rob with invest the time, listen to the music, think about the context, go on Urban Dictionary, ask the teenagers in your life, because listen, even even us, like Courtney said, I don't watch TikTok.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_12: You know, I'm just not that is not the the world that I live in and inhabit, but there's so much going on on social media with music and phrases and terminology and popular things that like you do you we're not always gonna know.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_12: And like some of that's fair and some of it's negligent.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_12: So if you're if you are, you know, 100% I had no idea what Candy Shop was about, then I don't think that's true because watch the music video and listen to the words, but you know.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_10: But it's like, you know, like a song like that in that scenario and that example, it's like we've heard that song a thousand times.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_10: That song has been out in public for 20 years.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_10: How have you not figured out by in in 20 years' time that it's inappropriate?
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_10: Like, I I don't understand why it's taken you so long.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_10: Just because, and this is something for all of our parents to remember, and teachers and choreographers who are selecting the music, and uh again, the parents, because based on what I see in Facebook groups, parents are making music choices, which that concerns me a little bit.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_10: But regardless, just because you see it on competition stage doesn't mean that it's appropriate.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_10: So if you've seen someone else do Candyman and you're like, oh wow, I love this song so catchy, that doesn't mean that the judges were sitting there saying how inappropriate the song was the whole time.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_10: Like, that's probably what we were doing.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_10: We were probably sitting there saying this song's inappropriate, but you saw it on stage and you think that it's acceptable.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_10: No, just because it didn't get disqualified, nothing gets disqualified.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_10: So I think you we have to be a little bit more proactive and smart about our music choices because, like you said, Leslie, there is unlimited amounts of music out there.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_10: Unlimited amounts.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_10: There's no excuse.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_10: You have music at your fingertips.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_12: You have music at your fingertips, it's everywhere.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_12: The Andrews Sisters wrote exactly Candyman, except it was appropriate.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_12: Like they, like that is the style of their music.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_12: Look up Andrew's sisters, go down the rabbit hole of 1940s, you know, cute girl group, big band.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_12: It's all there.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_12: It is all there.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_12: It has nothing to do with cherries popping.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_12: Mic drop Leslie.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_10: Yes.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_10: Mic drop Leslie.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_10: And like speaking of just different music choices and like other other trends that we see in the music world, one of the things that I don't really love, and this is like a very recent trend, is this weird, like sound effect contemporary dances.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_12: You people keep talking about this.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_12: I have not experienced exactly what y'all.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_12: I don't think I have.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_12: It's unless it's dork.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_10: Like it's like just literally sound effects.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_10: It sounds like Stomp the Musical and without tap dancing and people just banging on stuff with weird sound effects attached, and then they're doing like really, you know, interesting contemporary.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_10: And it looks cooler because it's like perfectly in sync with the sound effects.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_10: But it's a huge trend right now that's just like weird to me.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_10: Like I've seen like nine-year-olds dance.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_10: I'm like, there is no way that this nine-year-old is pumped to go down to go dance to sound effects and be all intense in a contemporary dance.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_10: Like, let them have a joyful lyrical and like show their stage presence on stage.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, I guess I'm I mean, I don't maybe I've seen it, maybe I don't, maybe I don't enjoy it, so I've blocked it out or something.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_10: I'll send one to you.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, I mean, I can I can conceptualize it, and all I can think of is like, well, Bjork had weird sound effect music.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_12: I know.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_10: No, like I'm literally saying, like, there's no lyrics.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_10: It's not even considered instrumental music.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_10: It is straight up sound effects on garage band.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_10: Someone made a mix on garage band and pressed every instrument and sound noise.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_10: And it's just, it's just, I don't know.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_10: I think like someone must have won somewhere, and now everyone's doing it and trying to be cool, and like there's always a headspring, there's always a some, you know.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_10: Something like that.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_10: It's just once again, like once you've seen it once, it's not as impactful.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_12: And I think that I think everybody runs the risk of that happening.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_12: And choreographers need to know that, you know, yeah, there's innovative things that are happening in the dance world and and individuals can innovate.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_12: And but if it is something that is likely to catch on, like you said, like the first time you saw I can't remember what the cell block tango Disney one is called, but like the Disney version of Cell Block Tango, yeah, that very first time it was probably had less to do with the execution of the dance.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_12: It probably had more to do with the actual concept in the song that you were reacting to, I guess.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_12: Similarly here with your sound effect dance, you know.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_12: That was really different the very first time you saw it.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_12: And then if you saw it again even on a different person in a different city, it becomes less effective.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_12: Whereas, you know, and and again, kind of to each his own.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_12: Like that's that's obviously a personal preference, you know, that kind of is here nor there for me.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_12: But uh, you know, that's a thing that's happening now.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_12: Be aware.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I mean, I mean, be aware.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_10: I and to me, it just kind of feels like again, we're just following the trend.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_10: And that's what this discussion is about.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_10: There are many, many times where we as judges, we know that you as a dancer, you as a teacher, you as a choreographer, you're just trying to be trendy right now.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_10: You're just trying to do what you think fits in.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_10: Instead of being unique and different.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_10: Because that's what's gonna be memorable.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_10: Like following the trend is sometimes great, but in some scenarios, it's not gonna be as impactful as if you just did what you're used to doing and Yeah, or just stayed true to yourself.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_12: Like you said, I don't know that a nine-year-old's really excited to dance to a sound effect unless that nine-year-old said, I have had this dream that I was a robot.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_12: And in my dream as a robot, I did X, Y, and Z.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_12: And maybe the dance is portraying them in this, you know, Afro story.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_12: What's the word?
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_12: You know, like the um the punk, what is it called?
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_12: Cyberpunk world, you know, post-apocalyptic.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_12: Like, sure, maybe there's a con maybe there's a concept out there for that.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_12: But like if it's just movement to for movement's sake to a weird song because you thought it was cool, like, I don't know.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_12: It's probably more meaningful if you have a reason behind it.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_10: Totally.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_10: I agree.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_10: And I'm sure we could talk about song.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_10: I think we need to do a 3.0, uh, because we've done two musics at competition.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_10: I think we need to do another music at competition episode for season five.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_12: There's always, there's always something to be said about music.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_10: All right, so now let's shift gears and talk about costuming choices and some of the trends that we see in the competition world when it comes to costuming, and they have definitely changed over the years.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_10: Oh my gosh, tights or no tights, y'all.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_10: That is a trend.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_10: Let's hear from our first few judges.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_14: Also, in costuming, I love the trend of street clothes, specifically on a tap dancer.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_14: Like we just walked, we walked in, we jumped on the board, and we shed the board.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_14: And that is my favorite thing because it's the most rooted in reality for us and our style.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_14: And so keep rocking the skinny jeans and the homemade wooden tap boards.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_14: I'm here for it every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_13: Hi, this is IDA Judge Mary.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_13: And one of my biggest pet peeves is the one shoe.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_13: I don't understand it as a professional dancer, as a professional choreographer and director.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_13: I would never, and I do mean never, see a performer wearing one shoe.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_13: So let's get back to two shoes, people.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, seriously though, Leslie, can we please get I would I truly would have thought this trend would be done with by now.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_12: I it has been so long that it's like, why, why?
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_12: I don't understand.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_12: I still I agree with Mary.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_12: I'm I'm it baffles me.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_12: It doesn't make any sense.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_12: I the excuses that people use are not fall flat.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_12: Yep, they're not valid.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_12: There's things people say, and I don't I and I don't know, I do not know a single judge who has anything good to say about wearing one shoe.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_12: Never not a single one.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_12: And listen, if you're going to a competition, you are there to be adjudicated by a judge.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_12: You are asking for them to judge your routine from top to bottom, from bun to tap shoes, shoes.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_12: And if you have one shoe on, that affects my score on you.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_12: And that's just the reality of it.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_12: If you want to go do something else and not get judged and wear one shoe, that's your prerogative.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_12: Doesn't make any sense, but you're it's, you know, you're wrong, but you could do that.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_12: But in a competitive scenario, one shoe doesn't make any sense.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_12: Borrow a shoe.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_12: If you have lost a shoe, that also doesn't count.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_12: You must borrow a shoe.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_10: I I still I'm I'm truly baffled that this is still a trend.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_10: This is so 10 years ago, everyone.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_10: This is so 15 years ago almost.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_10: Like, I it needs to go.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_10: We have talked about this for practically five years straight on this podcast.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_10: You've seen it for at least 10 years in the forums online.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_10: And like you said, Leslie, I agree.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_10: There is no excuse that's going to be acceptable for this.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_10: I don't care what you say.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_10: Oh, they have to do their acro skill.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_10: Really?
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_10: Do they?
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_10: Do they have to?
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_10: Because we just talked about the fact that we want to see you jazz dance and not do acro skills.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_10: So maybe if you were jazz dancing and not acroing, then you could wear two shoes.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_10: Like to, you know, the you can spin it any which way you want to, and you're never gonna win this battle, all my friends out there.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_10: We as judges across the world are probably in agreement.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_10: I would say 99% of us want to see two shoes on stage.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_10: And a turner is a shoe.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_10: I don't care if you think it's not, it's a shoe.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_10: If your toes are covered up, it's a shoe.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_12: Well, and yeah, I I mean it's not a shoe, but in this context, it is a shoe.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_12: There should be two of them.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_12: Yes.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_12: Right?
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_12: Like I don't like them anyway, and that's a whole nother conversation.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_12: But in this context, they are considered a shoe.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_12: There should be two.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_10: It's just unfinished, it's unpolished.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_10: Like the the most gorgeous costume comes out, which speaking of trends that I love, I love the I love that a lot of people are putting a lot of thought into their costuming.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_10: I see like gorgeous custom costumes.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_10: I love all the resale groups for costumes where people can just buy the one from a friend from last year and it's already rhinestone and bedazzled and you know, beautifully made.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_10: How can you even think to spend$300 on a costume and look down at your feet and have one shoe on?
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_10: It makes no sense to me.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_10: Like it's truly presentation.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_10: If you care about presentation and you care about putting that much money into your costume and how great your hair looks, you have to think about the total package.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_12: And your feet are included in the total package.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_12: But on the opposite end of the spectrum, with Jen's comments about street clothes on tap dancers, I agree.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_12: I think, you know, I'd I'd I love a rhinestone myself.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_12: I had a rhinestone phone back in the day.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_12: But you don't need a rhinestone to win a dance competition.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_12: You don't need a rhinestone, you know, for certain styles of dance.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_12: Sometimes they're out of context and it doesn't make any sense.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_12: And so I do think, you know, if you're able to purpose street clothes, especially if you're a dancer who's in a bazillion dances that are in a rhinestone costume and you have a tap dance that doesn't require that, like save your money.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_12: Wear your nice pair of jeans that you may all maybe also after the season could wear just regularly.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_12: Wear your cute top, pair it with a nice pair of tap shoes, and call it a day because like Jen said, I think, you know, that is uh that is the way tap dancers tap tap is one of the only styles that you can get away with, and it actually makes more sense to show up to a tap class in not a Leotard and Tights.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_12: You know, you can still execute a tap dance no matter what you're wearing well.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_12: So I think that's a really it's that is a cool trend that I enjoy seeing as well, and probably saves some parents some money.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_10: If you're looking for a fresh set of eyes to critique your dance before you hit the stage of this competition season, then we would love for you to check out our service, IDA's online judges' critiques.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_10: An IDA judge will go through and critique your routine in a video critique, just like you'd receive a competition.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_10: But one of our best-selling and unique features is our additional feedback option, where not only will you be able to watch your judge critique your dance, but they will go back through from beginning to end and pause the video to elaborate even more with their professional level feedback.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_10: This service has been a game changer for so many dancers each season, and it is such a helpful tool to utilize while prepping for the competitive stage.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_10: You can even request a genre-specific specialty judge to complete your critique, so you are guaranteed to receive the most accurate feedback from a judge who specializes in your style of dance.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_10: IDA's online judges critique start at only$35, and they are available year round.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_10: Learn more about our service and submit your dance now by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting our website at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com slash online critique.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_10: We can't wait to see your dance.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, and I was actually gonna say that about other styles of dance too.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_10: I think it's really exciting when I see dancers come out in street clothes and not just street clothes, but like I can tell if you bought this cute little jumper from Forever 21 versus it's a costume catalog jumper.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, and and at least it's then it's different.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_10: You know, then it's not the same, you're not risking that someone else is gonna wear the exact same costume catalog uh costume as you.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_10: And like while on the convenience aspect of the studio to be able to just like click, click, click and pick the size and press order, you can kind of do that with a lot of stores now.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, there's so you can order anything online.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_10: Go on Amazon.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_10: You're gonna save half, like you're gonna save so much money by ordering just regular clothes, and it's gonna make the same thing.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_10: You're gonna find the same aesthetic as far as the costuming on stage, and then also be unique and and different.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_10: Because when you do order from a costume catalog, you are risking risking the fact that you might have the same costume as someone else.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_12: I'll say to me that's not the end of the world.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_12: Uh yeah, exactly.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_12: Costuming is the smallest amount of your score almost universally.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_12: But and I think, you know, when thinking about how you're choosing costumes, and that may also not be your choice as a dancer, it could be your studio owner's choice or your teacher's choice.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_12: But, you know, think about the context.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_12: If you're dancing, you know, to a very presentational, if you're dancing to big time by Linda Edder, I don't really want to see you in jeans.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_12: Like Linda Etter wouldn't be in jeans.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_12: You should be, you should be in something bright and sequined and flashy and fancy, you know, but vice versa.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_12: If you're if you're dancing to something more subdued, rhinestones might not be the answer.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_12: So I think always just think about the context of your piece when you're costuming it.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_10: And I want to go here br very briefly before we move on, but like I hinted at the tights versus no tights trend.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_10: Obviously, ginormous trend in our industry that has definitely come into play, I'd say within the last 15 years, it looks like it's not going anywhere.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_10: Um, when I was growing up, uh it was very I started I stopped competing around 2005.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_10: And you didn't really dance without tights back then.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_10: But I will say that like my studio started to introduce maybe in the last two to three years of me competing, we started doing more contemporary and modern styles, which then meant we had to be barefoot, but we didn't know how to be barefoot without being bare legged and not wearing tights.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_10: We never did the stirrup thing, we would just eliminate the tights entirely, but we never ever did the leotard trend.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_10: And that is a whole thing in itself because to every dancer listening, I give I give so much credit to you for being brave enough to go out on stage in literally a leotard with no tights on.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_10: Wow.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_10: That is I you couldn't pay me enough money to do that.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_12: I don't I just don't think you could either.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_12: Because it's not like you know, you can't really even compare it to wearing a bathing suit.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_12: Because when I'm wearing a bathing suit, I'm sitting, I'm walking.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_12: Maybe I'm writing down a water slide.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_12: But like I'm not doing a tilt, I'm not doing all seconds, I'm not doing a split.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_12: No, you know, it's just a different scenario altogether.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_12: And so, like you said, I you couldn't pay me, you could not pay me money.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_12: No.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_12: I don't need that money that badly.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_12: I will be wearing probably not even tights.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_12: I will probably be wearing a legging of some sort uh because it's over.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_12: And it would have been over when I was 14, 15, 16, 17.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_12: Like you just that wasn't a thing back then and it It wasn't.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_12: It's it's almost as um it's on the same line of the shoes, no shoes.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_12: Like I'm not gonna be so specific as to say don't do one or the other, because I think there's room for one or the other in the tights versus no tights scenario.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_12: But I think always you must consider the undergarment, you must consider the viewpoint of the people who are watching you, and you must consider your own comfortability and like really think about it.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_12: Don't just say, Oh, it's fine because Sarah does it.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_12: No, if you yourself are not comfortable not wearing tights and wearing a leotard, you can choose to wear tights or you can choose to put a booty short on, or you can choose to put a skirt on, or you can choose another costume entirely.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, if it's going to hinder your execution ability and, like you said, comfortable comfortable on stage to be able to perform at your fullest, it's not the right choice.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_10: Like, I don't think I have a strong feeling that a lot of dancers 13 and over do not come to class in just a leotard.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_10: Like with no tights.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_10: You're probably wearing a short.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_10: I know, right?
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_12: Exactly.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_12: You're like, I just can't, I can't even imagine.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_12: I'm going to like I'm going to jazz class where we're doing our devil pay sequence for jazz, and I'm just bare-leggedly devlopping.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_10: But you do it on stage competition under stage level.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_12: No.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_10: Again, I will say I actually think it's beautiful when I see a bare-legged dancer in a leotard covered properly, and I can, and I love how their leg isn't a different color than their the upper half of the body because sometimes uh tight skin colors don't match.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_10: So like I think it looks seamless and beautiful, and then I can see the full like leg engagement of all of the beautiful muscles in their legs and the articulation.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_10: Like, I think it's very, very pretty when it's done right, but I do think, like you said, there are instances and scenarios where like the costume isn't covering what needs to be covered, and you're just doing it because you're trying to be trendy and you don't even know what butt glue is, and like then this becomes a situation.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_10: So, like, I as much as I I think it's really it can be very beautiful, I think that it has to just be, you know, costumed properly and then comfort level, you have to be confident, you better own it if you're going out there in a leotard with node sights on.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_12: It's well, and what makes me sad too is like you just mentioned butt glue.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_12: Butt glue ruins your costume.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_12: You will not get that stain out of the seam of your costume that has stuck it to your rear end.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_12: And now you've spent$300 on this rhinestone leotard and you've ruined it by putting butt glue on when you could have just put on a pair of tights.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_12: I just, you know, it's kind of again, the things that baffle me in this world.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_12: And and also butt glue was designed for pageant people in bathing suits in which they walked.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_10: Now we're doing it.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_12: It's not it it's like, is it strong enough to withstand a three-minute dance?
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_12: I don't know.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_12: Sometimes it's not.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_12: Sometimes, and again, it's like sweat makes a difference.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_12: You the way what whether you're, you know, had lotion on, like some of it just there's there's ways you have to use it that impact how it uh performs.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_12: And I just think, you know, again, make well thought-out decisions when you're costuming yourself or your dancers.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_12: Consider all of the things we just said when you're thinking about tights versus no tights.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_12: Oh, yeah.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_12: The end.
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_10: Hot one.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_10: Tights versus no tights.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_10: It's not going anywhere, y'all.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_10: Gotta love it.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_10: All right, let's chat about some choreography and skills within choreography.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_10: I'm sure a lot of you have an idea as to what we might start bringing up on this next section.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_10: Let's hear from our first judge, Karen.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_07: Hello, this is IDA Judge Karen from Lake Zurich, Illinois.
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_07: A really great trend that we've seen on the stage this season is just a wonderful understanding of musicality.
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_07: It's so difficult to get there, but this season, something happened and everyone just heard it.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_07: They felt their music in their bodies and they allowed that music to just bring their performance to life and move them across the stage.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_07: It's so great to see everyone just understand what their soundtrack is telling them to do.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_07: So keep up the good work and keep listening to that music and let that musicality take over your bodies.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_07: And a trend that I've been seeing this year on the stage that I am absolutely loving is really well thought out and purposeful choreography that creates a really nice story.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_07: It allows us to go on a journey with these dancers and we can really see why they're dancing, and it presents such a wonderful work of art on the stage.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_07: It's great to see these artists from such a young age develop and grow throughout the year.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_07: So this trend of just artistry and choreography that tells us this awesome story has been so wonderful to see this season.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_07: Thank you so much for all that you guys have been doing and have a great season.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_10: You just heard from IDA Judge Karen Gore, and she is all about the musicality and the storytelling, which I have definitely seen on the competition stage lately.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_10: To all of my choreographers out there, you are putting such great work into the concepts and thoughts and themes that you're presenting on stage.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_10: They're very well thought out and just different and unique, especially in the contemporary category, I would say, because it's where you can really probably uh, you know, explore and push boundaries when it comes to different movement choices or song choices or types of execution.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_10: But I mean, I'm I'm even just comparing from like now to back in the day when I was competing.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, it's night and day what I watch on stage when it comes to what type of choreography and movement quality from these dancers and artistry.
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_10: Like it was really like we discussed at the beginning, it was very lyrical back in the day.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_10: It was like powerhouse lyrical that was very like emotional and expressive.
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_10: But now we're actually like going deeper than that.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_10: We're like really exploring the artistry from these dancers and digging that out of them at such a young age is so exciting and refreshing to see.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, I mean, just I have a feeling that the explosion of this kind of interesting and unique storytelling-based choreography came directly out of having so much time during the pandemic to really reflect on the world and the way that we present ourselves in it.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_12: Um, I just think that people had a lot of time to think over the past couple years and really decide like how do I want to show up in the world and how do I want to give back, um, especially for choreographers, you know, we really see our work as a gift and giving something to the community of of our dancers and our studios.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_12: So I I feel like, you know, as as unfortunate as the past couple years have been in many ways, there have been some beautiful things to come out of it.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_12: And I definitely think that's a product of the times that we live in.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_12: You know, that that's what we're seeing on stage is like you said, less of a, you know, I think the contemporary world, for better or for worse, you know, has given us more interesting opportunities for storytelling that I think lyrical is maybe a little limited in.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_12: I think for me, lyrical is more of a concept.
• 1:03:02
  SPEAKER_12: Like if you're doing storytelling within lyrical, it feels broader than contemporary to me.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_12: Feels like you can get very nitty-gritty about like point A, point B, point C, point D in a story.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_12: So I agree with Karen and I just I've never met Karen, but Karen sounds so lovely.
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_12: I would love to work with her.
• 1:03:18
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I know I've never met you either, Karen, an IDA judge.
• 1:03:22
  SPEAKER_10: And I hope that I get to meet you one day.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_10: And I I do I love her positivity and I love what she has to say and share.
• 1:03:28
  SPEAKER_10: And shout out to all of those great choreographers out there who are really impacting us behind the Jodas table and your audience.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_10: Let's hear from a few more judges when it comes to some of the tricks and skills we're seeing on stage at competition these days.
• 1:03:42
  SPEAKER_05: Hi, this is IDA Judge Sam from Massachusetts here to talk about some competition trends.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_05: One thing that I have been seeing is how our solos are so focused on the tricks, thinking there has to be a rubric in order to win.
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_05: Alyssa Cone turns, tilts, acro elements.
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_05: What I think will be really beneficial going into this new season is really focusing on the foundational steps, pot bureau turns, direction changes, weight shifts, isolations, going back to the basics, really showcasing right and left elements in your solo, not just your right leg extension or your right aerial, but really showing the versatility in your movement, um, starting again back to basics.
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is IDA Judge Ashley from NYC.
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the competition dance trends that I don't love to see is the leg grab hold, where dancers hold on to the working leg, but their pelvis is tilted forward to give the illusion that their leg is higher.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_00: But oftentimes this isn't proper alignment.
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I see a bent supporting leg.
• 1:04:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if they were in a neutral pelvis with the sit bones down, the leg could fully rotate and go even higher.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_00: But I often see dancers develop the leg, grab the leg or grab the foot, pardon me, and then tilt the body forward.
• 1:05:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't need to see that final pitch forward.
• 1:05:06
  SPEAKER_00: I would just love to see a beautiful develop a la secone or a beautiful leap or something else to show your flexibility and extension instead of doing this overused move.
• 1:05:19
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, this is IDA Judge Maddie from Tampa, Florida.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the trends that I've noticed in the past few years is competitive dancers showcasing a really extreme level of flexibility.
• 1:05:30
  SPEAKER_01: And while this can be super impressive and exciting, I also often see that dancers are not able to support this range of motion with muscle and power and strength.
• 1:05:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so I really, really hope that in the future we can start to focus a little bit more on balancing our flexibility with our strength.
• 1:05:47
  SPEAKER_01: And with that said, building in transitions so that we don't continue to see what have kind of become what I would like to call yoga solos, where we're just seeing a series of poses stacked one on top of the other.
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_01: I really am hoping.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_01: To see dancers move through space, especially in the contemporary genre.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_01: Let's not get stuck on just showcasing those lines.
• 1:06:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let's really, really move this season.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_10: Great advice from all three of our judges: Sam Quinn, Maddie Kurtz, and Ashley Peter.
• 1:06:16
  SPEAKER_12: I love what Maddie said about using transitions within the choreography instead of doing pose upon pose upon pose, because that also like Sam's suggestion to use a pot de bureau turn would be a great transition.
• 1:06:31
  SPEAKER_12: And I literally, as he was saying that, was like, man, a double back pot debure turn's like the hardest step in the world, and I never see them.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_12: Like, not just a one pot de braille, a back potabray turn, whatever.
• 1:06:41
  SPEAKER_12: Like everybody can do that.
• 1:06:42
  SPEAKER_12: But when you add the double in there, it's almost like you're chineeing backwards and it's really mean and I never see them.
• 1:06:47
  SPEAKER_12: And I'm like, huh, somebody should be mean and and choreograph that into a dance and like see if the dancers can do it.
• 1:06:52
  SPEAKER_12: Cause it's hard.
• 1:06:52
  SPEAKER_12: There's skills that we don't see because everybody's busy doing a lunge in their contemporary solo, and that's it.
• 1:06:58
  SPEAKER_12: So I I definitely agree with the back to basics, you know.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_12: And I actually this season I did see quite a bit of basic, specifically jazz elements, um, like in jazz dances.
• 1:07:10
  SPEAKER_12: But I was so, so excited because I did see a lot of that this season.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_12: And I feel like people are taking whatever advice they're getting from somewhere, whether it's us or, you know, other places, to go back to basics and really solidify some of those basic skills.
• 1:07:24
  SPEAKER_12: Because, you know, I think again, like you said earlier, Courtney, the first time you see a dance to a particular song might be really impactful because the song was really good.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_12: The first time you see somebody do a really whacked out trick, that's really cool.
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_12: But then you're like, well, this isn't impressive anymore.
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_12: If everybody can do these crazy flexibility tricks, but where's the rest of it?
• 1:07:46
  SPEAKER_12: Like, I need more.
• 1:07:46
  SPEAKER_12: And what I mean by more is not, I don't need your leg to go any higher.
• 1:07:50
  SPEAKER_12: It's already there.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_12: I need, I need what's underneath it because that's usually what's lacking.
• 1:07:55
  SPEAKER_12: So, you know, take it, take it down a notch and and focus on those really basic skills because I think those get lost in translation.
• 1:08:03
  SPEAKER_10: I think that they're just crucial to dance.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_10: Like again, it's it what concerns me as a judge is when I see those quote unquote yoga solos, it tells me that you haven't gone back to basics, that you don't know your basics.
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_10: Because if you did, you'd be doing them.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_12: Like there's well, yeah, if I don't see any, then I don't know that you know them.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_12: I kind of don't think you do.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_10: I want to know that you know the basic fundamentals of the style that you're presenting.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_10: And there is a stepping stone in building blocks to the education and how to teach and approach each genre of dance, where I I I would think that there is, and again, we don't have like a syllabus of how to teach jazz dance 101.
• 1:08:46
  SPEAKER_10: Uh and maybe some studios do have that, but like, and not a lot of people, I'm sure, don't follow it and are we're we're skipping ahead to things that are beyond what we're capable of doing when I just want to see a pivot turn in a potabouray.
• 1:08:59
  SPEAKER_10: And uh and then like even in contemporary, like like Maddie said, like, let's let's move through the space.
• 1:09:05
  SPEAKER_10: Don't just stand in one place and show me your beautiful leg line.
• 1:09:09
  SPEAKER_10: I want to see if you understand grounded movement.
• 1:09:12
  SPEAKER_10: I want to see you use your floor work, I want to see your transition from standing to the ground.
• 1:09:16
  SPEAKER_10: I want to see how you get from stage left to stage right and how you traveled to that place, and if you know what a triplet step is, and if you know that it's supposed to go high, high, low and your level changes.
• 1:09:24
  SPEAKER_10: Like there's so much more to dance in contemporary than a scorpion and a tilt.
• 1:09:30
  SPEAKER_10: And how many times do you have to do that?
• 1:09:33
  SPEAKER_12: Spoiler alert, scorpions are true-leading steps.
• 1:09:36
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, and gymnastics, like just to be real, like yeah, you know, and again, then we go back to the why are there trick, like why is there acro in contemporary?
• 1:09:43
  SPEAKER_10: Like, there's not.
• 1:09:44
  SPEAKER_10: So I think we have to get back to, like Sam said, back to basics and making sure that there's a nice the ratio.
• 1:09:51
  SPEAKER_10: We go back to the ratio all the time because I think we have to just stay true to the genre and true to the fundamentals of that genre.
• 1:09:59
  SPEAKER_10: When we when we lose it and we get into the fusion, it makes it just makes it tough to judge.
• 1:10:04
  SPEAKER_10: And you're not going to be as successful as you could if you would have just kind of used that more as a guideline.
• 1:10:11
  SPEAKER_10: Because in my head, I I don't have a checklist, but I have fundamental things that I would like to see.
• 1:10:16
  SPEAKER_10: And like, don't you think that as like a choreographer, you would want your student to showcase that to a judge?
• 1:10:22
  SPEAKER_10: If you don't showcase it, then that tells me you don't know how to do it.
• 1:10:25
  SPEAKER_10: And then that makes me question like, okay, cool.
• 1:10:28
  SPEAKER_10: So all you can do is a really beautiful leg.
• 1:10:30
  SPEAKER_10: What else can you do?
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_12: And I think speaking to Ashley's point about the the sort of develop into the grab, into the pull, into the tilt forward, to me, that is similar to the yoga solo situation where, you know, yes, we want to see skills.
• 1:10:48
  SPEAKER_12: I don't want to see a presentation of skills.
• 1:10:52
  SPEAKER_12: I want to see skills that are weaved easily into artistry and into a performance.
• 1:10:58
  SPEAKER_12: So the time it takes you to develop your leg, reach over there and get it and pull it up and then do a tilt and your hip is up.
• 1:11:07
  SPEAKER_12: I would rather just see a very clean, nice develop because that shows me that you take ballet.
• 1:11:12
  SPEAKER_12: That's that's all I need.
• 1:11:13
  SPEAKER_12: I don't need anything extra in that world.
• 1:11:15
  SPEAKER_12: And I think I'm happy with a pasta.
• 1:11:17
  SPEAKER_12: You know, with can we just get a developé through passe?
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_12: Can we go to coupe to passe and use our rotation?
• 1:11:23
  SPEAKER_12: Like usually no.
• 1:11:26
  SPEAKER_12: And if you can, then that's that's when I'm awarding you.
• 1:11:29
  SPEAKER_12: And but I think what again, people are looking for the pinnacle.
• 1:11:32
  SPEAKER_12: They're looking for, oh, I got my leg way up here.
• 1:11:35
  SPEAKER_12: And they're not thinking about how they got their leg way up there.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_12: Exactly.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_12: And I care more about how you got it there.
• 1:11:40
  SPEAKER_12: I don't care how high it is.
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_12: If it's right, it's right.
• 1:11:43
  SPEAKER_10: Yep.
• 1:11:43
  SPEAKER_12: And if it's right and you got it there in the correct way and it's correct, that's even better.
• 1:11:47
  SPEAKER_12: Do your little devlope leg catch, but then let go of it because that's better.
• 1:11:51
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 1:11:52
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, there's a progression.
• 1:11:53
  SPEAKER_10: We're skipping things.
• 1:11:55
  SPEAKER_10: We're thinking the leg, like you said, where we want to just get to the peak and the ins and outs are just as important.
• 1:12:01
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_12: So that's yeah, those are things that I definitely appreciate Sam, Ashley, and Maddie bringing up because you know, we're again, we're judges.
• 1:12:10
  SPEAKER_12: We're seeing this stuff weekend after weekend.
• 1:12:13
  SPEAKER_12: It's not none of these things that we're talking about are islands.
• 1:12:17
  SPEAKER_12: It's not just one person one time that's doing this, it's across the board because you know, Sam, Ashley, and Maddie judge all over the country, sometimes not even together, sometimes not even anywhere near each other.
• 1:12:29
  SPEAKER_12: And they're all talking about very similar things.
• 1:12:32
  SPEAKER_12: And so it's that's why we're doing this because it's it's a trend.
• 1:12:35
  SPEAKER_12: It's not a one-off.
• 1:12:36
  SPEAKER_12: So, like if you're if you're listening and you're you're seeing some of these things happening in your pieces or some of your kids are are doing this, take a step back and say, I wonder what what could we tweak?
• 1:12:48
  SPEAKER_12: How could we bring this back to the basics?
• 1:12:50
  SPEAKER_12: How could we put this skill into better use?
• 1:12:53
  SPEAKER_12: And maybe that means taking it out and do your do your heel stretch, you know, and your leg catch.
• 1:12:59
  SPEAKER_12: In practice, practice that because it's going to develop your strength and your flexibility.
• 1:13:05
  SPEAKER_12: But does that skill always need to go in the dance?
• 1:13:07
  SPEAKER_12: You know, I think it's gonna take a little bit more kind of like you said, Courtney, with not everybody utilizes a syllabus, not every judge has a checklist of things they want to see.
• 1:13:17
  SPEAKER_12: But like I think most of us, you know, we have an idea of this child looks like they've gotten from point A to point B to point C properly versus this child skipped point B to get to point C.
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_12: I mean, it's just kind of evident sometimes.
• 1:13:30
  SPEAKER_12: So make sure you're covering all of those bases as you're working with your students this year.
• 1:13:35
  SPEAKER_10: Absolutely.
• 1:13:36
  SPEAKER_10: And another trend that we see often is something that all three of the next judges want to talk about.
• 1:13:44
  SPEAKER_10: Let's hear what that trend is.
• 1:13:47
  SPEAKER_03: All right, guys, let's talk chin stands.
• 1:13:51
  SPEAKER_03: So as much as I realize and I can say I value the strength and the agility it takes to do a chin stand, that is an acrobatic art form thing.
• 1:14:04
  SPEAKER_03: I have never in my life as a professional dancer ever been asked to do a chin stand on stage.
• 1:14:10
  SPEAKER_03: And so I therefore don't see the purpose of them in a dance competition.
• 1:14:16
  SPEAKER_03: I think absolutely maybe one in an acro number, but in any other style, I just think a chin stand is unnecessary.
• 1:14:25
  SPEAKER_03: It blakes up the transitions, the fluidity of the number for a dancer to be there.
• 1:14:30
  SPEAKER_03: And on the most time, the view from the audience is like me seeing them red in the face, and it's just uncomfortable.
• 1:14:37
  SPEAKER_03: So that's just something to rethink for us this year.
• 1:14:41
  SPEAKER_03: Taking out those chin stands and add in some choreography for me, please.
• 1:14:46
  SPEAKER_08: Hi everyone, IDA Judge Chloe here.
• 1:14:49
  SPEAKER_08: A trend that I'm seeing a lot in the competition world these days is I'm seeing a lot of unsafe headstands and head springs.
• 1:14:57
  SPEAKER_08: And it's something that as a judge just concerns me.
• 1:14:59
  SPEAKER_08: I want to make sure that our dancers are properly trained to be able to do these kind of acrobatics.
• 1:15:04
  SPEAKER_08: So just really making sure that if you're putting that kind of trick into a dance, that you're working with your dancer on strength and correct placement of their body so that they're not going to hurt themselves in order to do these really amazing tricks.
• 1:15:16
  SPEAKER_08: So we love tricks, we love to see them, but we like to see them done with the correct technique.
• 1:15:20
  SPEAKER_08: Thanks so much.
• 1:15:21
  SPEAKER_06: Hi, this is IDA Judge Rob from Massachusetts.
• 1:15:26
  SPEAKER_06: A trend that I have seen for quite a while is headsprings or any kind of stalls that happen or are treated uh beginning in a triangle position.
• 1:15:39
  SPEAKER_06: The the trend I think can be really awesome.
• 1:15:41
  SPEAKER_06: The thing that I would love for people to really think about is more so elongating their spine, trying not to compress their vertebrae together.
• 1:15:49
  SPEAKER_06: It does give us um, as audience members and judges, a little bit of a scare sometimes when we really see everything kind of compressing down and into the floor rather than elongating up.
• 1:16:00
  SPEAKER_06: So my my trick or my critique to those individuals is to think about um how you would do it if you were standing up on your feet, right?
• 1:16:09
  SPEAKER_06: Just like you do at your ballet bar in ballet classes, extending all the way up and out through your spine.
• 1:16:14
  SPEAKER_06: Good luck this season.
• 1:16:16
  SPEAKER_10: Chin stands, headsprings, headstands.
• 1:16:19
  SPEAKER_10: My favorite things!
• 1:16:22
  SPEAKER_12: These are a few of your favorite things.
• 1:16:25
  SPEAKER_12: Oh my gosh.
• 1:16:26
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah.
• 1:16:27
  SPEAKER_12: You know, I did not grow up doing acro.
• 1:16:30
  SPEAKER_12: Me neither.
• 1:16:31
  SPEAKER_12: I would never in my life try to teach it, spot it, have anything to do with acro because I am not trained.
• 1:16:40
  SPEAKER_12: Acro is a beautiful expression of flexibility and strength and power and stamina when done correctly and when taught properly for dancers whose bodies are able to handle the kinds of things that acro requires of it.
• 1:16:57
  SPEAKER_12: And I think something that needs to be said, you know, that everybody, Jordan, Chloe, and Rob, I think this underscores what all all those people said.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_12: But some dancers are not meant to do acro, bodies are different.
• 1:17:10
  SPEAKER_12: And sometimes a chin stand is not available to everybody.
• 1:17:14
  SPEAKER_12: Sometimes it is just not within the anatomy of a dancer to do it.
• 1:17:18
  SPEAKER_12: And I'm that is what gives me so much pause when I watch routines on stage.
• 1:17:22
  SPEAKER_12: And I see the attempt, as Rob said uh so eloquently, to do some of these acro skills is that I I think it's a worthy cause to try to do anything.
• 1:17:35
  SPEAKER_12: But some some skills are either they're not there yet or they're being presented and they're just not they're not ready to be on stage because like he said, we get we get a little scared.
• 1:17:49
  SPEAKER_12: And I'm scared for the future of these dancers, their bodies, their health, their mobility because I think it's very trendy.
• 1:17:57
  SPEAKER_12: Acro is super trendy.
• 1:17:58
  SPEAKER_12: It's so cool to see some of the amazing things dancers and acrobacrobats, literal acrobats can do.
• 1:18:04
  SPEAKER_12: And it's not for everyone.
• 1:18:05
  SPEAKER_12: That is a very specific skill.
• 1:18:07
  SPEAKER_12: I think dance is for everyone.
• 1:18:08
  SPEAKER_12: I do not think acro is for everyone because it just requires so much more of your body that not everybody is able to do it, but everybody wants to do it.
• 1:18:18
  SPEAKER_12: And some of those desires circumvent the um safety of it all.
• 1:18:23
  SPEAKER_12: So Yeah.
• 1:18:25
  SPEAKER_10: Safety.
• 1:18:25
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, it comes right back around to safety.
• 1:18:28
  SPEAKER_10: I think that's the most important thing.
• 1:18:30
  SPEAKER_10: We talk about it all the time on the podcast.
• 1:18:32
  SPEAKER_10: You know, dancers doing tricks and skills that are beyond their level of ability, but then also following the trend of the trick.
• 1:18:39
  SPEAKER_10: This is a perfect example.
• 1:18:41
  SPEAKER_10: Like reverse worms came out of nowhere a few years ago.
• 1:18:44
  SPEAKER_12: They're starting to f out of nowhere.
• 1:18:47
  SPEAKER_12: What is it?
• 1:18:48
  SPEAKER_12: Who did that and decided it was a thing to do?
• 1:18:51
  SPEAKER_10: I don't know, but I rarely ever see them look beautiful.
• 1:18:53
  SPEAKER_10: Like they just look like you're convulsing on the floor.
• 1:18:56
  SPEAKER_10: They're painful.
• 1:18:57
  SPEAKER_12: They look painful.
• 1:18:58
  SPEAKER_12: And I and that's the thing.
• 1:18:59
  SPEAKER_12: It's like, are you and again, like Jordan said, listen, there are some people in the world who can do these amazing, cool, interesting, unique skills like a reverse worm, beautifully, safely, all the things.
• 1:19:13
  SPEAKER_10: Controlled.
• 1:19:14
  SPEAKER_12: Perhaps they are in circuit solar.
• 1:19:16
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 1:19:16
  SPEAKER_12: But that's it.
• 1:19:17
  SPEAKER_12: The majority of people, and I say this to the dancers out there like myself, had I grown up attempting to do some of the things that kids are doing these days in acro, I my body will not, would not, even in college, was rebelling against a high arabesque.
• 1:19:31
  SPEAKER_12: My bones don't do it.
• 1:19:33
  SPEAKER_12: And I would have been very, very, very sad and very upset that if if it was so hard for me to do a chin stand, because chin stands require a lot of back flexibility too, because a chin stand leads to where your feet go and touch your head.
• 1:19:45
  SPEAKER_12: You know, it only leads to more contortion of your body.
• 1:19:48
  SPEAKER_12: And what I'm what I want to just say to any dancer out there who's sad because their body really, really hurts and rebels against doing some of these acro skills, you will not be asked to do these the majority of the time.
• 1:20:02
  SPEAKER_12: If you want to be a dancer, nobody's asking you to do a chin stand unless your goal is to go to Cirque de Soleil, in which case you need to probably go to acrobatics.
• 1:20:09
  SPEAKER_12: And entering in the not dancing skin.
• 1:20:11
  SPEAKER_10: Entering in the acro category.
• 1:20:13
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 1:20:13
  SPEAKER_12: So, like, yes, while it is so it's very cool.
• 1:20:16
  SPEAKER_12: I'm not, I'm not saying the impressiveness is not there when people are doing these skills correctly.
• 1:20:21
  SPEAKER_12: I understand why they're desirable.
• 1:20:23
  SPEAKER_12: But I think also there's there's probably a subset of people out there who it's not accessible.
• 1:20:28
  SPEAKER_12: And you don't need to feel ashamed of that or bad or sad because it's just not for everyone.
• 1:20:34
  SPEAKER_12: And I don't think it needs to be presented as something that everyone must achieve to do anything good in your life.
• 1:20:40
  SPEAKER_12: You know, like you don't need it to instand, you don't need a headspring.
• 1:20:43
  SPEAKER_12: You just don't need it.
• 1:20:44
  SPEAKER_12: You need a pot de braet turn.
• 1:20:45
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 1:20:46
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, you need a pot de braet turn way more than you need a headspring.
• 1:20:50
  SPEAKER_10: I am letting everyone know.
• 1:20:51
  SPEAKER_10: Unless you're gonna be on college dance team, you do not need a headspring.
• 1:20:54
  SPEAKER_10: You will never use that headspring.
• 1:20:56
  SPEAKER_12: And even then, I want to go back to talk to uh Melissa and Carson about the headspring because like are they even really doing a headspring at Ohio State?
• 1:21:03
  SPEAKER_12: I don't know.
• 1:21:04
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I mean, I don't I don't know either.
• 1:21:06
  SPEAKER_10: I mean I mean, honestly, for me it's just the safety aspect.
• 1:21:10
  SPEAKER_10: It's it's very clear when I can tell when a dancer is trying to attempt it attempt a skill that they're not ready for and they're doing it because they think it's trendy and they're doing and even choreographically, I can tell when something feels very like abrupt and and out of place because you think as a choreographer that you need to do this skill because it's what's cool right now.
• 1:21:35
  SPEAKER_10: And that's actually not cool.
• 1:21:37
  SPEAKER_12: Like it's not.
• 1:21:39
  SPEAKER_12: Listen, like that's also like a peer pressure thing.
• 1:21:42
  SPEAKER_12: It's like nobody maybe nobody's directly bullying you at the studio saying, Well, you need to do a headspring, otherwise you're not fine.
• 1:21:48
  SPEAKER_10: Like, you're not gonna win first if you don't do a headspring.
• 1:21:51
  SPEAKER_12: It's like inadvertent peer pressure just from society and from watching, you know, what seems to be the cool thing on TikTok or whatever.
• 1:21:59
  SPEAKER_12: And you know, listen to your elders.
• 1:22:01
  SPEAKER_12: Like, I beg of you, please listen to us.
• 1:22:03
  SPEAKER_12: It is not necessary.
• 1:22:04
  SPEAKER_12: And we're your judges.
• 1:22:05
  SPEAKER_10: Like, you know, like you're trying to cater to us.
• 1:22:08
  SPEAKER_10: Like again, I I I I care about safety.
• 1:22:10
  SPEAKER_10: I care about like what we talked about, like compressing the spine, longevity, all of those jumps that fall and flail to their knees.
• 1:22:18
  SPEAKER_10: Like, if I hear a dancer's knees slam to the floor from where I'm sitting at the judge's table, that is so unsafe.
• 1:22:24
  SPEAKER_10: You can sm you can literally like smash your kneecap and you only get two knees in life.
• 1:22:29
  SPEAKER_10: Like, do you really want to get a new knee?
• 1:22:32
  SPEAKER_10: Like, I don't want that for you.
• 1:22:33
  SPEAKER_10: And you think that's worth it to emote and express and and think that you're giving me a powerful jump because the harder you slam, the more impactful.
• 1:22:42
  SPEAKER_10: No, it's the opposite.
• 1:22:44
  SPEAKER_10: And a controlled, safe, well-trained dancer would never in their life think to slam to their knees.
• 1:22:50
  SPEAKER_10: So to then like have a teacher even allow that to enter the stage, like that concerns me as well.
• 1:22:56
  SPEAKER_10: So there's there's a lot of things that I'm experiencing in my head as I'm watching these things happen.
• 1:23:01
  SPEAKER_10: And like, is there a rubric, like Sam said earlier?
• 1:23:04
  SPEAKER_10: There's not a rubric.
• 1:23:05
  SPEAKER_10: There's not a rubric as to our checklist of what we want to see achieved.
• 1:23:08
  SPEAKER_10: Do I need a headspring?
• 1:23:09
  SPEAKER_10: No.
• 1:23:10
  SPEAKER_10: Do I need a poorly executed headspring?
• 1:23:12
  SPEAKER_10: Absolutely not.
• 1:23:12
  SPEAKER_10: The other thing that I really dislike that's new and trendy is when you you're doing a headstand, but your legs go past no, no, not that.
• 1:23:20
  SPEAKER_12: Your poor lower spine.
• 1:23:22
  SPEAKER_10: And your neck or poor your neck is all crunched, and then you're you're going all the way into your hypermobilion in your back, and you're doing like this crazy counterbalance on your head.
• 1:23:32
  SPEAKER_10: It is so unsafe and it is not exciting.
• 1:23:35
  SPEAKER_10: It's scary.
• 1:23:37
  SPEAKER_10: It is so scary because I see it done so wrong way too often.
• 1:23:41
  SPEAKER_10: And all I think about is how much disc damage they're gonna have in their neck.
• 1:23:45
  SPEAKER_10: I think about their back when they're gonna be 30.
• 1:23:48
  SPEAKER_10: You as a parent need to think about their back when they're gonna be 30.
• 1:23:51
  SPEAKER_12: And I if my back's messed up, health insurance that's not gonna cover the chiropractic care.
• 1:23:56
  SPEAKER_12: And that and it's just who knows what's gonna happen in 25 years with health insurance.
• 1:24:00
  SPEAKER_12: So, like, don't do it.
• 1:24:02
  SPEAKER_12: Save your body.
• 1:24:03
  SPEAKER_12: And because again, you know, we're over here in our 30s.
• 1:24:06
  SPEAKER_12: Neither of us, you and I are not hyper-flexible, hyper mobile people, really.
• 1:24:10
  SPEAKER_12: Um, but we we have injuries and things that happened from from just basic stuff.
• 1:24:15
  SPEAKER_12: Like dancing, dancing's hard.
• 1:24:17
  SPEAKER_12: Even if you're even if all you're doing is a pot de baret turn, like there's there's still inherent risk and there's still ways that your body can be injured.
• 1:24:24
  SPEAKER_12: So why are you putting yourself through these extreme situations for the one dance in the Selene Dion Power Ballad?
• 1:24:32
  SPEAKER_12: Thank you for the Celine Dion Power Ballad, but I don't need you to slam your knees into the ground to you know to to get the point of dance about the Titanic.
• 1:24:39
  SPEAKER_12: Like I don't need it.
• 1:24:40
  SPEAKER_10: There's safer ways to do achieve the same thing.
• 1:24:42
  SPEAKER_10: And that's how I feel about every headstand, head spring, every single trendy skill that is unsafe.
• 1:24:48
  SPEAKER_10: It comes back to safety for me.
• 1:24:49
  SPEAKER_12: Well, and I think I think too, it's something I say regarding formations.
• 1:24:55
  SPEAKER_12: When I see a choreographer simply put the best answer in the center front constantly and they don't ever showcase everybody, to me, that's a choreographer not really doing their job.
• 1:25:07
  SPEAKER_12: Same thing here.
• 1:25:08
  SPEAKER_12: If if there's another way to express the power or the show this flexibility that is safer, that is doing your job, is finding the way to do this safely and not relying on, well, a headspring would work here.
• 1:25:21
  SPEAKER_12: She's not really ready.
• 1:25:23
  SPEAKER_12: I don't know that she's that comfortable.
• 1:25:24
  SPEAKER_12: She doesn't nail it every time.
• 1:25:26
  SPEAKER_12: Let's put that in.
• 1:25:27
  SPEAKER_12: That's not the move.
• 1:25:28
  SPEAKER_12: The move would be what can we do to showcase her power that is safe, that she nails every single time.
• 1:25:34
  SPEAKER_12: And she's learned how to do that.
• 1:25:36
  SPEAKER_12: That doesn't require 10 seconds of prep.
• 1:25:40
  SPEAKER_12: There's there's there are better ways to showcase the things that we do well that are safer.
• 1:25:46
  SPEAKER_12: And I think that's the mark of a good choreographer is figuring out how to do that.
• 1:25:50
  SPEAKER_12: Um, and so we are looking at those things on stage too and like, you know, is there a score box for that?
• 1:25:56
  SPEAKER_12: No.
• 1:25:57
  SPEAKER_12: But like, is it playing into my perception of your piece?
• 1:26:00
  SPEAKER_12: Yes.
• 1:26:01
  SPEAKER_10: Totally agree.
• 1:26:02
  SPEAKER_10: Well, I'm sure we could talk about that all day.
• 1:26:05
  SPEAKER_10: Maybe we need to have another acra episode on the podcast, or maybe just like special trickster skills or something, because we could talk about it for a very long time.
• 1:26:14
  SPEAKER_10: Maybe like tricks, a tricks episode.
• 1:26:17
  SPEAKER_10: We did our tricks versus technique, but maybe just straight up tricks and talk about all the different types of tricks.
• 1:26:23
  SPEAKER_12: Yep.
• 1:26:23
  SPEAKER_10: Um, to round out this episode, we have we get to hear from two more IDA judges.
• 1:26:29
  SPEAKER_10: And this is just about some event etiquette as well as reminiscing on some of the things we've seen throughout the years at awards and behind the scenes.
• 1:26:38
  SPEAKER_10: Let's hear from our first judge.
• 1:26:40
  SPEAKER_09: Hi, this is IDA Judge Mary from Florida, and I wanted to just talk about a couple fun trends that we don't necessarily see on the competition stage, but more behind the scenes.
• 1:26:48
  SPEAKER_09: What about the dressing room trends?
• 1:26:50
  SPEAKER_09: What about the huge dream duffels and rack and rolls and portable dressing rooms that you now get to come in with everything you need for competition in one big piece of luggage?
• 1:27:00
  SPEAKER_09: Believe it or not, back in the day we did not have those as dancers.
• 1:27:04
  SPEAKER_09: So that's kind of a cool trend.
• 1:27:06
  SPEAKER_09: Also, what about dance pins?
• 1:27:08
  SPEAKER_09: What about when your dance was done, you'd run out to the lobby to check out the media and see what your pictures look like and your videos look like, and you would get your best dance moves either put into a collage or a pin that you would wear on your jacket, or maybe your parents would wear on a jacket.
• 1:27:23
  SPEAKER_09: If you ask dancers now about dance pins, they may not know what you're talking about because that's kind of an old school trend.
• 1:27:30
  SPEAKER_09: But with social media now, we have these great opportunities where everything is emailed right to our parents or our family members or us with all of our videos and pictures.
• 1:27:40
  SPEAKER_09: So just some cool trends.
• 1:27:41
  SPEAKER_11: Hi, IDA.
• 1:27:43
  SPEAKER_11: So this is your IDA judge Marissa.
• 1:27:46
  SPEAKER_11: I am um recording this to let you guys know about any competition trends that are a pet peeve of mine.
• 1:27:55
  SPEAKER_11: Honestly, the biggest one is when people stand in the window.
• 1:28:00
  SPEAKER_11: Of a performer that's already performing, whether they're cheering them on or whether they're just like watching.
• 1:28:06
  SPEAKER_11: I actually like flag down the stage manager anytime I see that because I just think it's so disrespectful.
• 1:28:15
  SPEAKER_11: And I think there are so many other better ways to support a dancer on stage than to be in the wings.
• 1:28:21
  SPEAKER_11: It's also very distracting to the performer, very distracting to the judges.
• 1:28:26
  SPEAKER_11: I do understand that like everybody wants to try to support their fellow dancers.
• 1:28:32
  SPEAKER_11: However, there are so much so many other better ways to do that.
• 1:28:37
  SPEAKER_11: So and also over like screaming and cheering and just in excess is also something that I think we can like remove from competition.
• 1:28:48
  SPEAKER_11: It just it's it's a lot for the judges to take a.
• 1:28:52
  SPEAKER_11: But I I think it's just distracting to like the performers.
• 1:28:55
  SPEAKER_11: Well, of course they want to feel supported, but I think that there are better ways again to make them feel the love.
• 1:29:04
  SPEAKER_11: And that's all I have for today.
• 1:29:06
  SPEAKER_09: Hi, this is IDA Judge Mary from Florida, and I'm gonna talk about a competition trend having to do with award ceremonies.
• 1:29:14
  SPEAKER_09: So I remember back in the day, dancers would come on for awards and they would have their favorite stuffed animal or teddy bear, and it would be covered in every pin, metal, or ribbon they had been previously awarded, and it was such a fun trend.
• 1:29:27
  SPEAKER_09: And I really haven't seen that in a while.
• 1:29:29
  SPEAKER_09: But a trend that I do see that has been happening all over is the option for studios to donate their awards at some of the competitions, which I really think is a wonderful trend.
• 1:29:40
  SPEAKER_10: All right.
• 1:29:40
  SPEAKER_10: You heard from Mary and Marissa, our IDA judges, and they had some really great things to say when it comes to some trends we see off stage, actually, behind the scenes at competition in the dressing rooms, at one stage at awards, backstage.
• 1:29:58
  SPEAKER_10: And I really love what Mary had to say about the trophies and donating your awards and trophies, which Leslie, I know that they do that at Spirit of Dance Awards, which is a competition you direct for.
• 1:30:09
  SPEAKER_12: Yes, we um allow each studio to choose to donate their trophies to a charity of their choice every season, and you can choose whether it's just your solo trophies, your duo trophies, all trophies, just your group trophies.
• 1:30:22
  SPEAKER_12: We we kind of give everybody the option to do whatever they want.
• 1:30:25
  SPEAKER_12: Um, and specifically to donate to a charity of their choice.
• 1:30:27
  SPEAKER_12: And so that just allows it to be very special for the studio themselves that they get to choose where that money goes and support a good cause.
• 1:30:36
  SPEAKER_12: Sometimes it'll be a studio, you know, something that's specific to that studio or that studio's town.
• 1:30:42
  SPEAKER_12: Occasionally it'll be a scholarship for the studio uh, you know, that they have started in memory of somebody who used to dance there, perhaps.
• 1:30:49
  SPEAKER_12: So it's just a really and she's Mary's right.
• 1:30:51
  SPEAKER_12: This is something that happens at a lot of competitions around the country, which I just love because, you know, it it really teaches the dancers that competition is not just about the trophy.
• 1:31:00
  SPEAKER_12: That's a piece of plastic, and there's meaning in what we do.
• 1:31:03
  SPEAKER_12: There can be meaning in what we do besides just dancing for a trophy.
• 1:31:07
  SPEAKER_12: So I think that's a really cool trend.
• 1:31:08
  SPEAKER_10: Me too.
• 1:31:09
  SPEAKER_10: I absolutely love that trend.
• 1:31:10
  SPEAKER_10: I think it's so smart.
• 1:31:11
  SPEAKER_10: Whoever came up with it, and thank you to all of the competitions that offer it.
• 1:31:15
  SPEAKER_10: Thank you to all the studios that are taking advantage of it.
• 1:31:17
  SPEAKER_10: I think, you know, you can just buy one of the trophies at merch if you want a trophy, but do we need to go home with 15 trophies each kid?
• 1:31:24
  SPEAKER_10: Like, we probably don't.
• 1:31:25
  SPEAKER_10: I think the pins enough, the metals enough, the plaques enough, or getting those trophies and putting it to the a greater cause.
• 1:31:32
  SPEAKER_10: And I think that's just really exciting.
• 1:31:34
  SPEAKER_10: I'd feel really, really happy and lucky and special if I was a dancer being able to donate to a charity uh with my dancing.
• 1:31:42
  SPEAKER_10: How cool is that?
• 1:31:43
  SPEAKER_10: And speaking of offstage etiquette, what Marissa had to say when it comes to standing in the wings and cheering and watching your friends or to the audience members who are super loud.
• 1:31:54
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, we've seen the trend of like the cowbells and the sirens and like it sounds like a football game at a dance competition.
• 1:32:02
  SPEAKER_10: Like, we I think we do need to eliminate that trend for sure.
• 1:32:05
  SPEAKER_10: I think that like obviously showing support and clapping and cheering for your teammates.
• 1:32:10
  SPEAKER_10: But like one of the trends that it's not even a trend, it's just like a pet peeve that I hear all the time is when people like the whole dance just scream the person's name, Gil Courtney.
• 1:32:19
  SPEAKER_10: And then like 10 minutes and 10 seconds pass by.
• 1:32:25
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, I get it, her name is Courtney, that's cool, but like can we just watch the dance?
• 1:32:29
  SPEAKER_10: And it's it's it is very distracting to the judges.
• 1:32:32
  SPEAKER_10: It's distracting it's I'm sure it's distracting to the dancer.
• 1:32:34
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, a lot of studios are like, well, my dancers really love the energy when we're all screaming out here the whole time.
• 1:32:39
  SPEAKER_10: It's like, yeah, but it's I don't know, it's just a lot.
• 1:32:43
  SPEAKER_10: And especially like the backstage etiquette, like, y'all, if we if you can see the judges, we can see you when you're off stage.
• 1:32:49
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 1:32:50
  SPEAKER_12: And it's, you know, and you just never can tell.
• 1:32:52
  SPEAKER_12: I I really agree with Marissa on it is just poor etiquette to be in the wings watching your friend.
• 1:32:58
  SPEAKER_12: Because, you know, yeah, maybe it's your friend, but if you're in the wings just watching other people, you don't know who needs to exit where or when, or maybe a prop's coming on that you don't know about and you're in the way.
• 1:33:08
  SPEAKER_12: Like it's just bad form to be in the wings, period, if it's not your dance.
• 1:33:13
  SPEAKER_12: And my my question is always, and this up this applies to the teachers too, because teachers, some teachers are very guilty of being the one in the wings and that I can see as a judge.
• 1:33:23
  SPEAKER_12: And I my thing as a teacher, all I ever get to do when I'm teaching, when I'm working on choreography, is watch you from the side or from the front where you're right in front of me in the room.
• 1:33:34
  SPEAKER_12: I am desperate to see this dance from the back of the house.
• 1:33:38
  SPEAKER_12: I and I understand, like, I will forgive the my dancer really needs me backstage, like emotionally.
• 1:33:44
  SPEAKER_12: Okay, but please be out of the wings.
• 1:33:46
  SPEAKER_12: And also please go watch your dance from the front.
• 1:33:49
  SPEAKER_12: You choreographed this, you worked so hard on this, your kids look so great.
• 1:33:52
  SPEAKER_12: They're so happy to be able to be on stage and like show everybody what they've worked on.
• 1:33:57
  SPEAKER_12: Go to the front, get out of the wings.
• 1:33:59
  SPEAKER_12: The wings, like, there's the vantage point from the wings is not the one you want to see.
• 1:34:03
  SPEAKER_12: You want to see your formations, you want to see everybody doing their thing and being, you know, being seen by the audience.
• 1:34:08
  SPEAKER_12: So that's my deal about standing in the wings.
• 1:34:11
  SPEAKER_12: Um, so I agree.
• 1:34:12
  SPEAKER_10: And it is really interesting uh for Mary to bring up the whole dressing room and what's happening happening in the dressing room.
• 1:34:20
  SPEAKER_10: That's something that's very foreign to me because I when would I ever need to be in a dressing room as a judge?
• 1:34:24
  SPEAKER_10: Like, I'm not back there.
• 1:34:25
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 1:34:26
  SPEAKER_10: I just remember my days growing up and like a dream duffel and a rack and roll did not exist back.
• 1:34:31
  SPEAKER_10: Like how the industry has catered to the demands and need for these competitions is so fun to see.
• 1:34:39
  SPEAKER_10: And like, what a huge investment to be like, I mean, you're gonna use it through your entire competitive career.
• 1:34:44
  SPEAKER_10: One of those, you know, rolling roll and rack and dream duffels.
• 1:34:47
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, but like it's pretty epic.
• 1:34:49
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, it's it's freaking ginormous, those things.
• 1:34:52
  SPEAKER_10: I see the people roll them in.
• 1:34:53
  SPEAKER_10: I'm like, whoa, they're huge, but it fits all their things, everything, like all in one bag.
• 1:34:59
  SPEAKER_12: All the shoes, all the all the costumes, all the I mean, listen, all we had was a caboodle.
• 1:35:04
  SPEAKER_12: I had a purple sparkly caboodle that when you opened it, you know, it came it like came up with with the little tree, the little the tear.
• 1:35:12
  SPEAKER_12: But then I remember I had I still have some of these things that I like wallpapered the inside of my cabood with.
• 1:35:18
  SPEAKER_12: It was like pictures of dancers, and I had a little quote that I cut out of dance magazine from Jen Cody, who is a very short, she's shorter than me.
• 1:35:26
  SPEAKER_12: I think she's 4'10, dancer singer who was on Broadway at the time.
• 1:35:30
  SPEAKER_12: I think she was in oh my gosh, one of the Christmas shows.
• 1:35:34
  SPEAKER_12: It was pre-elf, so I can't remember what show she was in, but she's very, very short.
• 1:35:37
  SPEAKER_12: And her Oh, it was um it was so school.
• 1:35:40
  SPEAKER_12: She was in sous school, the musical.
• 1:35:41
  SPEAKER_12: And her the quote that she had was A dancer is a dancer, no matter how small.
• 1:35:45
  SPEAKER_12: And it was an article that she had been a part of.
• 1:35:47
  SPEAKER_12: And I ha I have this piece of paper from the magazine that but it had been had lived in my cabool for four years.
• 1:35:53
  SPEAKER_12: And like that's all we had.
• 1:35:54
  SPEAKER_12: We just had the caboodle, and you had just like a giant garment bag that was bursting at the seams and and your dance bag.
• 1:35:59
  SPEAKER_12: Right.
• 1:36:00
  SPEAKER_12: And your, you know, somebody, some mom brought a mirror, and some mom brought all the extra hairpins and whatever.
• 1:36:05
  SPEAKER_12: Um, so yeah, the Dream Duffel, I agree, is a cool new trend.
• 1:36:08
  SPEAKER_12: That's a thing that I don't think is going anywhere.
• 1:36:11
  SPEAKER_12: And I do think it's a a wonderful um addition to the community.
• 1:36:14
  SPEAKER_12: So thank you, makers of Dream Duffel and Rough.
• 1:36:16
  SPEAKER_10: And our sponsor level up dance supplies, who also make some really great dance bags for competition.
• 1:36:21
  SPEAKER_10: It's it's just so cool to see uh all of the things that have come about in our dance world based on the demand and the needs for our industry because it really has grown.
• 1:36:31
  SPEAKER_10: And I think that's why that those things have popped up is because that there wasn't as huge of a demand back in the day with competitive dance.
• 1:36:38
  SPEAKER_10: And now every studio is pretty much competing these days.
• 1:36:42
  SPEAKER_10: It's hard to find some that aren't.
• 1:36:44
  SPEAKER_10: So it's been it's been interesting like chatting on these trends uh today.
• 1:36:49
  SPEAKER_10: I loved what all of our judges had to contribute, and I completely agree with everyone.
• 1:36:54
  SPEAKER_10: So thank you to all of our IDA judges who helped uh chime in and share your perspectives and thoughts on the trend topic.
• 1:37:02
  SPEAKER_10: And to all of our listeners out there, I hope you enjoyed what you heard.
• 1:37:06
  SPEAKER_10: Maybe you will get back into the studio and re rethink some things before they hit the stage.
• 1:37:11
  SPEAKER_10: Maybe you're saying, nope, I love this trend, I'm sticking to it, I love it.
• 1:37:15
  SPEAKER_10: And even if the judges don't love it, I love it, and I'm gonna nail it and I'm gonna make sure that it's executed flawlessly.
• 1:37:22
  SPEAKER_10: Then you go, girl.
• 1:37:23
  SPEAKER_10: Good for you.
• 1:37:25
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, it's just, it's there's always gonna be trends.
• 1:37:28
  SPEAKER_10: There's always going to be new trends each and every year.
• 1:37:31
  SPEAKER_10: There's trends that we all miss, like those good old lyrical dances.
• 1:37:35
  SPEAKER_10: Everybody bring them back for us.
• 1:37:36
  SPEAKER_10: Maybe go buy a caboodle.
• 1:37:38
  SPEAKER_10: I think caboodles are back, actually.
• 1:37:40
  SPEAKER_12: I think they are too.
• 1:37:42
  SPEAKER_12: So yeah, definitely, definitely bring back the ones that we miss because we're your judges, you know, we're rooting for you, but like we like to get catered to a little bit too.
• 1:37:50
  SPEAKER_12: So, like, give me more Celine Dion, please.
• 1:37:53
  SPEAKER_10: Give me more Celine Dion, less headspring, safe dancing, no more knee slams, maybe a tight occasionally classic jazz dance.
• 1:38:01
  SPEAKER_10: You know, I love that.
• 1:38:02
  SPEAKER_10: There's so many things we could go on and on.
• 1:38:04
  SPEAKER_12: And most importantly, two shoes or no shoes.
• 1:38:08
  SPEAKER_12: D.
• 1:38:12
  SPEAKER_12: Happy New Year!
• 1:38:13
  SPEAKER_10: That's a wrap.
• 1:38:16
  SPEAKER_10: Thanks for tuning in to our very first episode of 2023 All About Competition Trading.
• 1:38:21
  SPEAKER_10: We'd like to send a huge thank you and shout out to all of the IBA judges who helped contribute to this episode.
• 1:38:26
  SPEAKER_10: We love you all.
• 1:38:28
  SPEAKER_12: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcast, Google Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 1:38:36
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• 1:38:42
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• 1:38:50
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• 1:38:56
  SPEAKER_10: Be sure to check out IDA affiliated competition Gems Dance Competition.
• 1:39:01
  SPEAKER_10: Gems Dance Competition is a fresh dance event created by studios for studios with the intent of changing the norm.
• 1:39:08
  SPEAKER_10: Their competitions are designed to be a positive experience for you, your staff, your students, and your entire family.
• 1:39:15
  SPEAKER_10: At GEMS, you are always guaranteed an encouraging educational, professional, and fun environment at each location.
• 1:39:22
  SPEAKER_10: With full panels of IDA judges at every event and locations throughout the Midwest, we highly recommend adding Gems Dance Competition to your 2023 competition schedule.
• 1:39:32
  SPEAKER_10: To learn more about GEMS and to register for an upcoming event, head to their website at danceegems.com and come show your Sparkle at Gems Dance Competition.
• 1:39:42
  SPEAKER_12: We can't wait to bring you the rest of season four of Making the Impact.
• 1:39:46
  SPEAKER_12: Look forward to our upcoming episodes, including topics like Stage Fright, our next spotlight feature, and stealing choreography.
• 1:39:53
  SPEAKER_10: Happy New Year from Impact Dance Adjudicators and Making the Impact podcast.
• 1:39:57
  SPEAKER_10: We'll see you next week.
• 1:39:59
  SPEAKER_10: Until then, keep dancing.