Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Senior Feature - A Look into the Lives of 3 Graduating Senior Dancers

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Senior Feature - A Look into the Lives of 3 Graduating Senior Dancers · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Each week, we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Normally in May, senior dancers are gearing up for their final regional competitions, last studio recital, and all the fun that leads up to graduation.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Since the COVID-19 outbreak in March, dancers have seen all of these special events canceled or postponed indefinitely.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: On this week's episode of Making the Impact, we wanted to recognize some of these senior dancers to find out how their final dance competition season has been affected and hear about their plans for the future.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_05: Hey everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_05: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I am here today with my co-host Leslie Mueller.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, everybody.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_05: Before we jump into this week's episode, we want to say thank you to all of our listeners and subscribers on the podcast.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_05: We've had such a blast creating this for you, and I know our judges have loved joining in on the discussion throughout the season.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_05: We're nearing our end, which is so sad, but we're excited to say that we have hit over 20,000 downloads since our launch back in October, and we couldn't have done it without you.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_05: So thank you so much for your support.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_05: Be sure to follow us on social media at Impact Dance Adjudicators to stay up to date with all of our new episode releases, our judges' tips, and you can even check out our new virtual dance competition, which has a registration open now.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: We are really excited to announce that we have a new sponsor for this episode.
• 1:39
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• 1:41
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• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: CDI was created to educate the next generation of dancers, teachers, and parents about the ins and outs of our crazy business.
• 1:51
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• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Join CDI this summer for technique, mock auditions, industry seminars, dance on camera, a music video shoot or Broadway style production, headshots, red carpet night, and more.
• 2:03
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• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Can't get to them in the summer?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: CDI also offers a winter three-day program that culminates in a halftime performance on the court of a pro or college basketball game.
• 2:17
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• 2:19
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• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: You can find CDI Online at www.commercialdanceintensive.com, on Facebook and on Instagram at Commercial Dance Intensive.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Are you ready to work in the commercial dance industry?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: You will be, and the Commercial Dance Intensive is here to make it happen.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_05: We are so excited for today's episode because we are here to talk with three amazing high school seniors who have had their final competition season taken away from them due to the COVID pandemic.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_05: We have had so many great submissions from our Instagram contest and heard so many stories.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_05: It was really hard to narrow it down and choose only three dancers to chat with today, but we chose these three because of their unique and interesting stories.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_05: So let's meet our very first senior dancer.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_05: First up, we have Catherine Gregorius.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_05: She is from Florida, and she sent in such an awesome submission to our senior feature contest on Instagram.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_05: So I know that me and Leslie are both really excited to get to meet her and learn a little bit about her.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_05: So welcome, Catherine.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_05: How are you?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_05: I'm good.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_05: So happy to have you here remotely from Florida.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_05: So if you don't mind sharing with all of our listeners out there, telling them a little bit about who you are, where you're from, what studio you dance at, and anything else, just to kind of introduce yourself.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, like you said, my name is Catherine.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm from Claremont, Florida.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: I've lived here since I was one.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it's pretty much my hometown.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: I have been dancing at Claremont Academy of Dance in Claremont, Florida for the past 15 years.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I started when I was three in a foundations class and I've been there ever since.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Couldn't get me out of the studio.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_05: So awesome.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_05: I love it.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_05: And I know that in your submission, you mentioned that you are obviously a senior.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_05: So you are planning to go to college, right?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, I am.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_05: Do you want to share what you're going, where you're going, and what you're going to school for?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I am going to the University of Central Florida in Orlando in the fall, which is only about 45 minutes away from me.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm pretty close to home still.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I will be majoring in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise and sport physiology.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then I will be minoring in dance.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope to go to physical therapy school after I get my undergrad and concentrate in being a physical therapist helping dancers.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I can say that both me and Courtney both have visited physical therapists who specialize in dancers.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: So please come, you know, once you get your masters and everything, come up to New York and help us out because we're going to be real old and broken by then.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I think it's really awesome that you already know that's what you want to do as a career path.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_05: And I think that's it's so awesome to hear that you not only are going to school for physical therapy, which is such an awesome career, but you want to specialize in dance therapy.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_05: And obviously, I think that comes from you growing up in the studio and being a competitive dancer your entire life.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_05: But there is such a huge demand for dance therapy out there.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_05: So I really want to uphold you for, you know, going in that direction.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_05: It's so awesome.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I, as a dancer, I've had so many injuries and, you know, had to go to physical therapy so much.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I just thought, you know, that would be so cool if I could give back in a way that I've had to go through.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: I've been there, done that.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it would be really awesome for me to be able to help people that were in the same situation that I was in most of my life.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_05: So Yeah, we actually were talking about that, Leslie, last week on our episode about cross-training.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_05: We were talking about injury prevention and things like that.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_05: So that is totally right on track.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_05: And I think another thing that's really awesome about this career path is a lot of people think that, you know, if you're a physical therapist, you just go to the same place all the time and work in the same physical therapy office.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_05: But I know a lot of people who work on tour as a dance physical therapist.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_05: And that's kind of really exciting because even though if you're on the back end of, you know, you're not on stage performing and you're helping the dancers off the stage, you can still have a career like traveling the world in the country with a dance company or a Broadway touring show.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_05: So there's really so many opportunities.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_05: Obviously, you're going to be in school for a little bit of time with your physical therapy degree.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_05: But, you know, once you're finished with that, there's so many options to, you know, head into the industry and so many different paths with that.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_05: So really exciting.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, it is.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so let's back up a little bit.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we've kind of talked about your future.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about your present.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: What was your senior year competition season supposed to look like?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Did you get a part of any of it before all this happened?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I did.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So actually, when we started rehearsing and everything in August, you know, we had finished most of our dances, and then in October, I broke my foot.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I was out of commission for a little while, which kind of stinks.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: But in early December, I was able to get back to it.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then we had our first competition at the end of January, where we competed one of my group pieces, and then it was optional for duets, trios, and solos.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: So super glad that I opted to do that.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Then we did have a full studio competition the first few weeks of February, and then we were supposed to have one at the end of March that got canceled, and then supposed to have one next weekend, which has been rescheduled to the end of June.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we have had to switch nationals as well.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll be going at the end of July instead of the beginning of July.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: So just hoping that everything still happens.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_05: I know because I want you to have your senior dance season.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, it's it's been really, really hard that this has all been going on.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_05: So I am glad that you were able to get, you know, the first ones in there and get on stage a little bit.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_05: Has your studio decided what they're doing with the recital?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: We rescheduled our recital.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was supposed to be the first weekend in June.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: We've pushed it back two weeks.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're hoping that we'll be able to get in the studio maybe the first two weeks of June.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if we're able to open by then and then just kind of run all of our recital dances that we've been able to finish over Zoom classes that we have each week.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we're hoping that we'll still be able to have it in a theater at a bigger venue.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: But if not, then we are gonna try to figure out anything possible to still be able to have a recital, even if it has to happen in our dance studio.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it will happen.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: So totally I mean, that's the cool thing about creative people like in the creative industries is that like we're creative, we're gonna figure it out.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like if we have to do, you know, one at a time and then we're gonna put it all together on a video as our group dance, like something will happen.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_05: Thinking about, you know, competition and reminiscing a little bit.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_05: Do you have any of your favorite competition or studio moments from your time with your studio throughout all these years?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, actually.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: So my favorite group dance that we ever did was a lyrical group called I'm Alive.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: We did it two years ago.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember the first time that we listened to the music in the studio, and I was so excited because at first it was on our bid sheets, it came out as a contemporary piece.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I listened to the music and I was like, this is so happy contemporary.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like at that point, I was like, you don't see happy contemporary anymore.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I was so excited, and that feeling just kind of went through all of us, and we did so well with that dance the entire season.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: We ended up winning at nationals, and then we had a grand championship at that nationals, and we ended up being runner up with that, and it was just a really special moment as a team because we had fought so hard and we had come so far with it.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a favorite past memory.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then this year, my favorite memory, I have a duet with my very best friend, and we've been able to compete it twice already, and it's just it's been really awesome.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I absolutely will cherish that memory forever.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I hope we get to put it on stage again.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I do too.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: I hope so too.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I really love that story about you know how you've succeeded with your group routine, and I think that that's really important to remember in this industry, you know, regardless of what path you go after your studio.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_05: But it is about teamwork, I think that's a big, a big thing to remember.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_05: And sometimes we forget because we get so wrapped up in maybe like the solos and the whatever, but that's what it's about group teamwork.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_05: And it sounds like that your studio and all of your teammates really came together with that contemporary piece.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_05: You all kind of felt the same feelings while dancing it, which probably then showed on stage in your performance and to the judges and you know, everyone watching.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_05: So it sounds like that you guys really had a beautiful moment together.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_05: I really love hearing that, especially how you got runner up in national.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_05: So that's a huge achievement.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_05: So congrats on that.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_05: You're welcome.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: We were talking before you got here, Courtney, about like how it's been kind of being at home and being with family and doing everything kind of online now, but we never really touched on to like dance class on Zoom.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me about what your studio is doing to facilitate having classes from home.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we've been having our same weekly classes, just with maybe a little bit different times on Zoom.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Each week, we've been running competition rehearsals as a big group on Friday nights.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: We've been doing privates for solos and duets and trios over Zoom.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we've been able to finish all of our recital dances over Zoom, which is awesome, and still able to get some class and really focus on technique, which is amazing.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: All of my teachers have been absolutely fantastic throughout this entire thing.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's awesome that we get to, you know, still dance, even if it's in the foyer of my house, which is where I'm currently dancing in.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Anything is better than nothing.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just really thankful that we're able to have Zoom classes because I know some studios aren't able to do anything.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, and I could not imagine going this long without taking a dance class.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think you've learned about yourself as a dancer from doing it this way?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's really made me focus on what I feel my body is doing versus how I see myself in the mirror.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Cause at the studio, you're always so like looking at yourself and you're like, oh, that doesn't look good.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: But now it's more about like, I don't have a mirror in front of me.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: So what feels good in my body?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then if I record myself, I actually sometimes find that what feels good in my body actually looks a lot better than what I would have done before.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's such a good point.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's really smart.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's like an incredibly mature way of taking class.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: And also with your future plans of being in physical therapy, I mean, that's what matters is how it feels.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yes, we want it to look correct, but like if it doesn't feel correct, we can't get to that correct aesthetic.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that's awesome.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_05: Just to kind of wrap this up, because it goes by so fast, but I love getting to listen to your story.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_05: Do you have any, you know, final thoughts or any final things that you'd like to share with the dance world who is listening that you you wanna, you know, tell them or anything that you any words of advice or any kind of little sign-off that you'd like to share?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I know that this time has been really stressful for everybody, me included, especially because as a senior, you know, this is the last of everything, but it's really made me appreciate and look back on what I have been able to do, be fortunate for what I'm able to take part in, even from my house, and just to look back on those awesome experiences that I've had with my team and my studio and just make me really thankful for everything that I do have, even though we feel like so much has been taken from us.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: So just hang in there and stay strong and keep taking advantage of all the wonderful resources that we're getting right now through dance.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_05: That is such great advice and so true.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_05: So, to finish out this interview with you, Catherine, it was so lovely chatting with you and learning all about you.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_05: And I'm very, very excited for your future and I wish you all of the best moving forward with your uh new degree and going to college.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_05: How exciting! Thank you so much for joining us on this interview and sending in your submission and your inspiring story.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_05: We're really excited to see where your future takes you.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_05: Next up in our senior feature interviews, we have Emma Manjol coming from Massachusetts.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_05: Emma's story really inspired us because uh she only started dancing when she was 13 years old.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_05: So we're really excited to hear her entire dance story.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_05: And Emma, we're so happy to have you here with us.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_05: Welcome.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you for having me.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, of course, and thank you for entering into our senior feature contest on Instagram.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_05: So feel free to share with all of the listeners out there a little bit about you, who you are, where you're from, what studio you dance at, and anything else you want to share in an introduction.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, great.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm from Acton, Massachusetts, and I'm 17 years old.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: I dance at Spotlight Dance Academy.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's in Westford, Massachusetts, so it's a couple towns over.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: I started dancing when I was 13, which is a little late where most people start when they're like seven or like two, but I did it.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um I had done a little bit of like gymnastics before, but I had never really danced.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I didn't think I would ever be a dancer.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, no, I could do gymnastics, I could do flips, but I was like, dance, like, no, that's not me, which little did I know because no.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um I was going to college to be in a dance company, and I've started competing, and I it's like my whole life now, so it's just crazy how that happened.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_05: I love it.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_05: I'm I'm so curious.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_05: So you said you kind of dabbled a little bit in gymnastics, but how did you get into dance?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_05: Like, what really kind of made you say, I want to go to dance class?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Well, this is kind of embarrassing.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: I watched I watched dance moms, and I was like, Oh, this is totally exactly how the dance world is.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this is what dance is like, this is too stressful.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I couldn't do this, even though I did like gymnastics.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, no, like I wouldn't be able to do any of this, I wouldn't be able to compete.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, my parents would be like, We're not doing this.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: But I thought it was so cool, all the stuff they would do, like they would do Alce Cons and like knee drops.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know the terminology, but I was like, I could do that.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I would go to my basement and I would just start like doing turns, and I had no technical foundation, so they were like horrendous, but I would just box them out, and then I kind of started to self-teach myself how to do all these different tricks, which I kind of did in gymnastics too, because I didn't do gymnastics consistently.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I would self-teach myself how to do things, and my mom one day was like, Why don't you try dance?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I don't know, like that's not me.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: But my cousin was like wanted to take a hip-hop class at like a random studio.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: So my mom was like, Oh, we'll do it too.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: So we took like a couple hip-hop classes, and I didn't really vibe with the studio, so I was like, No, this isn't me, like I'm not a dancer, I'll just go back to doing gymnastics.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: She's like, No, Emma, like, stop.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you you could do dance, like, let's find another studio.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I started just searching online because I was like, Yeah, I do want to do dance.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I could see myself doing it, but I never really thought I would get anywhere because I was you know, 13.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: So everyone else has been doing this for longer.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I searched a bunch of studios in my area and I found Spotlights.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: And the reason I found them was because they had master classes with like Chloe Lucasiac and like Ruff Island.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh my gosh, like incredible, like famous dancers have been in the studio.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, Mom, we have to go to this one.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_02: She's like, Oh, okay.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: She didn't know, she doesn't, my mom still doesn't know anything about you.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't know what I got myself into.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: I feel bad for her.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: She took me there one night.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: We were just driving by.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Oh, this is the studio.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: So we went in to look at it, and I just loved the whole building.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I could totally see myself dancing here.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know that I would be like living there basically, but I was like, Yeah, I could take like a class here, that'd be fun.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I signed up for two classes that were just back-to-back, like rec classes, and I just fell in love with it.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_05: Oh my gosh, that story is epic.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_05: I love it.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: I know, yeah.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: Dance mom's fired me for certain things.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's so funny that like several times you were like, maybe, never mind.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: No, I'm gonna do this.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like you just kind of have not, but then all of a sudden, like, here you are, and you know, dance, dance finds you.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if it wants you, it finds you it did.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, definitely.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I agree.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_05: And you know what?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_05: I'm just gonna let you know that you are probably not actually, I'm gonna guarantee that you are not the only dancer in the world that was inspired by dance moms and now thank you.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so that's like the great thing that dance moms brought to the world was inspired so many people to start dancing.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_05: So I really love that story.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_05: I I wasn't curious, I didn't even know that story.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_05: I knew that you started dance late.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_05: And I actually have had the pleasure of not only teaching Emma at Spotlight previously, but I've had the pleasure of judging you and watching you grow throughout the years with critiquing your solos, and it's just been a joy because you have such a natural talent.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_05: You were meant to dance, even if you didn't know and weren't sure.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_05: But like Leslie said, dance really did find you because you just have the most beautiful facility and the athletic quality to your movement, and it was just meant to be.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_05: It was like a perfect blend of everything with your gymnastics background and then fusing dance.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_05: And honestly, I mean, to see where you've come, like now knowing that you're only 17 right now and you only started dancing how a few years ago, and to know what kind of dance you are, it's just really unbelievable.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_05: So, congratulations on like all your success in such a short amount of time.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and you know, that is that is a hard thing, like you said, it's it's hard to kind of figure out well, can I even make this possible?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_05: I'm starting so much later.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_05: But yeah, like I said, I think that you were able to, because you have such a natural quality, you were meant to be a dancer.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, absolutely.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and you're also not the only person who taught themselves how to do all the second turns in a random space.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: No, I had no idea what I was doing.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like it seems to make sense, you know, with physics.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: I know it clicks eventually.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, since you've only been dancing for the past couple years, you don't have a ton of competition seasons under your belt.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so, how has it been to kind of lose this one?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: What was did you get a competition season at all before COVID-19 shut everything down, or what?
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's been very hard.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: I went to Nubo, which was wonderful.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad that that was early in the season because it's Nouveau, it's amazing.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I was happy that I got to go to that one.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: We did go to Groove and we also went to like a prep competition, I think that's what it's called for Spirit of Dance, which I love spirit of dance.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I was glad I got to do my solo and my duo a few times.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: I got to do a small group once, but I never got to compete, like productions and large groups.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: So it's definitely been hard, especially since I've only had a couple of competition seasons in my life.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's Difficult, but I'm glad that I got those first couple at the beginning of the season.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: What is your studio doing in lieu of having competition season?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: What's your what's your dance life look like right now?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, they were just sending us exercises and things like that to do, and we would record ourselves and then send them in.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: We're starting Zoom classes on Monday, so that'll be good.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know if I completely remember all my dances, but I want to go over those.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that'll be good.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, yeah, it's definitely not the same as being the studio, of course, but it's good to have a great dance community surrounding all of us.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: And there's the other online classes with like Mark Meismer and all of those incredible choreographers.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: So there's been a lot of opportunities, even though we're stuck in our houses.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_05: Do you have any favorite competition or studio memories that you'd like to share with us?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_05: I know that you mentioned in your submission that you won the title at Spirit of Dance Awards in 2019, which we love Spirit of Dance Awards over here at IDA.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_05: They're one of our affiliated competitions, and Leslie actually works for them as well.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: I love them, yeah.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_05: So do you have any other favorite memories from your time at the studio?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: Well, my second year of competing, we went to Disney to like perform there at like the Performing Arts Center, and we got to take a masterclass, and that was so awesome because I really got to see what the industry is like in commercial dance-wise.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: So that was great.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: And we got to, you know, take masterclasses with incredible like choreographers that worked there, and we got to perform, and it was just so fun getting to travel with my team.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that just having fun too is so important because I'm really competitive about dance and very passionate, like I'm serious about it, but sometimes it's stressful and you lose that, like uh you're supposed to be loving this.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: You're supposed to love what you do.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: So it was really fun to just travel and do something that wasn't really competitive, but it was um also a really great opportunity.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: So I loved that memory a lot.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_05: So heading into your future now, because you are a senior and you are heading to college, right?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_05: So where are you going and what are you majoring in?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to Sacred Heart University, which is in Fairfield, Connecticut, and I'm majoring in psychology and minoring in dance, which I was gonna do double major with psych and dance because I wanted to get as much training as I could.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: But when I went to Sacred Heart, I realized that the minor was like perfect for me because I was getting great training and the comp I'm in the dance company there, which I auditioned for, and I was like, I just need to minor because I'm gonna get great training, I'm gonna learn so much if I get to be in the dance company.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I chose the school a lot because of I mainly chose it well, I loved it for a lot of different reasons, but a big reason that I chose the school was because of the dance company.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's really there's a lot of talent there, which I want to be challenged.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I yeah, I'm really excited about that.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_05: That's awesome.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_05: And what do you hope to do once you graduate with your psychology degree?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'd love to do maybe be a therapist or work in family counseling or something like that, but I'd also love to maybe do something with dance therapy, that would be really cool, or even open a studio when I'm older with the dance education that I get, or work as a dancer, but also use my psychology degree too.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not completely sure yet, but I definitely want to have dance in my life for as long as I possibly can, but I really do like psychology a lot too.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, and the dance therapy thing is that major was so tiny back when I was starting college because I looked at that as well.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: And there were only a couple of schools that even offered it as either an undergrad or graduate degree.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, like the research has really shown that it's super beneficial, just like music therapy and art therapy, and a lot of schools are offering it.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, that can be such an excellent way to combine those two things that you love, the psychology and the dance, and make a good living too.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's great.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I think that it's really awesome.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_05: Even if you, you know, you know what you love, you're going to college for psych and keeping dance involved.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_05: You have four years to figure out what you want to do after that.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_05: And having a degree is so important and so fabulous to have something to, it's always gonna be there for you.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_05: You can have it to fall back on, even if you decide to go into the professional world and try that out for a little bit after you graduate, then you can say, Okay, done.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_05: I'm done with that.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna go, you know, use my psych degree.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_05: It's like there's a lot of options, so it's really great.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_05: And it sounds like that you've it was a hard decision, obviously.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_05: College is a very hard decision for everyone to make, especially at 17 or 18 years old, you know, predicting the rest of your life is hard.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_05: But it sounds like this school is going to be a great fit for you, and I'm really excited to see where your future takes you.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I actually danced um this summer I was at, I went to Berkeley for dance for three weeks, and I went straight from nationals, so I was oh my body was just dead, but it was good.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: It was great.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I was really surprised when I got into that, and I was I got to see what like a full-blown dance school is like and what the conservatory world is like because I'd only seen the commercial industry and can the competition world.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: So going to Berkeley, I saw the modern, like I had never really trained in like straight modern.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: So I was so out of my like nobody there does flips or like kicks or any of that.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's not a thing.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I was so out of my comfort zone, but it was really good because I got to do like classical ballet every morning.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: I got to really study dance, which I think is so important because you can learn how to present yourself as a dancer and you can learn how to be in the commercial world, but I really like we would like take notes and we would study like okay, we just did an eight count of this, like just crawling or like across the process, and I was like, Oh, this is kind of tedious.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: But then I was like, No, but this is so important because it really taught me to appreciate the artistic side of dance, but I knew that it wasn't where I wanted to go for college because I definitely want to do the commercial route and I do want to have another degree, but I was it definitely made me appreciate both sides of the dance world, and I think it's really important to see both.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm glad that I'm going to a college that's where I'll get to train for commercial dance and do modern there too and everything.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad I saw both sides.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_05: I love that.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_05: It's been so lovely to get to know you even more, Emma, and chatting with you today.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_05: So thank you so much for joining us on this episode and this feature.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for having me.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_05: Last but not least, let's meet Francesca Savoni, and she is coming to us from Michigan.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_05: Hi Francesca, how are you?
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_05: Hi, I'm good.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_05: We're so happy to have you here, and thank you so much for sending in your submission to our senior feature contest on Instagram.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_05: We loved reading your story.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_05: And if you would love to share with all of our listeners a little bit about you, where you're from, what you're up to now, your s the studio that you dance at, and anything else you'd like to share.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_03: All right, I'm from Michigan, suburb near Detroit, and I go to Power Dance Company, and this year I switched studios last summer, so this is my first year at a competition studio.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: But I've learned so much and I've really loved being at the studio and the opportunities that I've gotten and the support from my teachers.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_05: That's perfect.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, you saying that you are now at a new competition studio.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_05: This is your first season doing competitions, is that true?
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_05: I'm just so curious.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I feel so bad that this was your first season doing competitions because it was probably did you get to go to any competitions this season?
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_03: We did.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_03: We went to Nouveau for the convention in Detroit, and I got to do my solo there.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_03: And then we only did one studio-wide competition near our area.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: So, and then after that, it was quarantine happened and the rest of our competitions got canceled.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_05: And how many other competitions were you supposed to be attending in the season?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_03: I believe there was like three or four more that we were supposed to do.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_05: Oh man.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_05: I'm really happy to hear that you were able to do your solo at Nouveau and get that experience and also have the you had a whole studio-wide competition, so that means that you were able to do all of your group routines and everything.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah, most of them.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_03: There were some that we haven't been able to perform, but we did most of them.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Are there any, um, do you guys have any any that have been like rescheduled possibly, or has it just been like straight out canceled?
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: We have one that we're trying to reschedule that's for like the end of May, I believe, or the middle of May, but it's still it's like not looking too good, so we're not sure about it, but yeah.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I totally feel for you, and I wish that this season could have been different for everybody, especially for you, because this was your first kind of introduction into the the competitive dance world, and you know, you obviously worked so hard, and I'm sure you were so excited.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_05: I'm kind of curious to hear what made you kind of want to start going in the competition world and switching from a non-competitive studio to a competitive studio.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_03: I just needed a new place to grow the rest of my senior year in a place that would really support the other things that I wanted to do outside of the studio as well.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_03: And so that was just the other closest studio that I had other friends going there and I was hearing great things about, and it just happened to be a competition studio, so it was just a new environment.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, that totally makes sense because I feel like that there's not a lot of studios that aren't competition studios these days, and especially if you are dancing as a senior, you know, 17 or 18 years old, most likely you would be at the highest level of that studio.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_05: And yes, there's the option to, you know, just take class, but if a studio is offering competition, you're kind of like, hey, why not?
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_05: I want to try it out.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_05: Let's get on stage.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_05: So totally awesome.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: And speaking of the other things that you do outside the studio, I loved in your submission you talked about choreographing musicals for your high school and for even other high schools and middle schools around.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little bit about that.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was like one of the biggest highlights of my senior year this year because I first it started out in November, well, September.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_03: I got asked to help assist the choreographer for another high school in my district for their auditions for the musical.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, they asked me to just come to some of the rehearsals and kind of act as the dance captain because I didn't have many dancers in the cast.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_03: But then some people dropped out of the ensemble, so they asked me to perform with them, and that was really great because it was the first musical I was able to do since freshman year, so it was really special to me.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_03: It was Rogers and Hammer Science Gorilla.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_03: So it was really cool, yeah.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_03: And then and then after that, it was like we were still finishing up performances like the second weekend, and I auditioned for the musical at my own school, and it was once upon a mattress, and we performed that in the end of January, beginning of February, and it was during that the directors at the other school asked me to choreograph their winter February musical, their second musical of the year, because the director was retiring, so she wanted to do another musical, and they wanted to do a little shop of fours because that was her favorite, and she she knew that like I danced and I had a lot of experience with dance, but she hadn't actually seen me choreograph anything yet, so she just kind of distrusted me because the other choreographer in the district was busy with my own school's musical and other jobs, so it was a lot because like I had to like rehearse for this being in the ensemble at my own school, and then also choreograph for the other musical, and it was like a long process to try to like figure out because it's my first time doing something that big, but it was really fun, and like I really fell in love with the choreography like process and like starting to get a flow of like learning how to teach other kids too that were like my peers, essentially.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_03: So it was really cool, and then after that, there's a middle school director that heard about that and wanted me to do the middle school show, and that was in junior, and so that was really cool again.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_03: Like to be able to do that, and I had to like learn how to teach the middle schoolers like versus the high schoolers, and doing like a junior version of a show versus the high school version, and but it was really fun.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: I only got to do like three scenes of that before quarantine happened, and the show was supposed to happen in May, so it got canceled.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: But it was still really fun to do that and have another opportunity to to choreograph again.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_03: It was really cool.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: You are booked, you're more booked than we are.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it was super booked and blessed.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_05: I'm so inspired by this.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, I feel like you were okay.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_05: I have so many things to say.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_05: First of all, what you just described about how, you know, oh, someone heard about you.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, and then they want to hire you for this.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, and then they want to hire you for this.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_05: That is exactly how the real world works.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_05: So you have already got a taste of what that's like.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_05: And not even that, obviously, you did a really good job.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_05: You were, you know, you have the experience, people know people can rely on you, and they know you're gonna do, you know, put on a great show.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_05: And that's why you got hired.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_05: And then, oh, I saw her performance and that was awesome.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_05: I want to bring her on for this.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_05: That's exactly how the real world works.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_05: So you already know how that goes now.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_05: So that's really awesome.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_05: The other thing is is juggling everything, which sounds like a lot.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_05: And again, that's exactly how the real world is as well.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_05: But I'm truly sitting here, like mind blown, hearing all of these things that you were doing.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_05: You were in your school's musical, you were choreographing another school's musical, you were training at your dance studio, learning competition dances, homework, regular school, you know, like looking for college, auditioning for college, like, oh my gosh, all the things.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was a lot.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_03: Cause like I also do a lot at school, just like with my academics.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: I I did five AP classes this year, but it was it was a good, yeah.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_03: And but I really I've always been pretty good at scheduling myself, and like I've been a really I'm a very organized, like scheduled person.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_03: I like setting those kind of schedules for myself, and like I'm kind of like I like the busy, like having a lot of things to do, but like so I would I didn't want to sell myself short and like the other things I had to do.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_03: So like with my studio, I didn't want to like take a ton of time out of class.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like I had to make sure I was still going to my classes and stuff, and I like held myself accountable for that.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_03: So I was always like driving, you know, from my school to do to do rehearsal and then to the other school to the choreograph and then go to dance after.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_03: And like I had it schedule it all around that to make sure I had enough time for everything and I wasn't cutting anything short.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I didn't want to cut anything short and do that.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sounds like you you figured out how to manage your time, and that will be it'll come in handy when you go to school at my alma mater, Oklahoma City University.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yay! Um, I wanted to ask about your experience at their auditions and what your plans are when you get to school and like what your major is gonna be and everything.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I found out about OCU when I was looking for college intensives to do in the summer, and that was one that really stood out to me because most of the other colleges that I was looking at mainly had like ballet and contemporary, and that wasn't entirely where I wanted to go.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_03: I knew I wanted to still do a ton of different styles, and as I started getting more interested in theater, I really knew I wanted to do something going towards the theater world, and so I found OCU's Broadway-bound intensive, and I ended up going to that in July, and it was just like a really great experience.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_03: I was able to take classes and like see kind of what it's like to be a dance major there for 10 days and learn from the teachers and and make a lot of new friends who ended up also auditioning and getting into OCU.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I have like some people that I already know going into it, which is really great.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_03: And it kind of helped me with the audition too, because having been there before, it was like comforting.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_03: I kind of knew how they run classes, and I knew some of my friends there already, so it was like a fun audition process.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's so great.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, when you were describing all of your choreography and your juggling of everything, something you'll learn at OCU that is one of our mottos, and something that Joe Rowan talks about, you'll hear it every single day.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: But you're already doing it is luck equals preparation meeting opportunity.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: So you are prepared because you know how to schedule yourself.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: All these opportunities for choreography came up for you.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: Boom, there's your good luck.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna fit right in.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_05: I love that.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, I think what's so great about OCU and what they've done a really good job at doing is really marketing and branding towards the musical theater New York City dance scene, which not a lot of colleges do, like you said.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_05: Francesca, a lot of the schools when you're applying, and you know, if parents are listening to our podcast and if dancers are listening, you know, everyone's gonna have to make that college choice sooner than later, uh, regardless if it's for dance.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_05: But if it is for dance, it is hard to find that perfect fit college for dance.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_05: There's not a lot of programs that really focus on the musical theater aspect of the industry, and like that's a huge booming part of the industry that we forget about sometimes.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_05: It's sometimes very uh concert dance focused or sometimes commercial dance focused.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_05: So I could tell, you know, even just talking to you that you have a love for theater and you can go in so many directions after this.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_05: And I'm curious to hear like what are your thoughts and plans?
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_05: I know this feels like so long away, you know, four years later after you graduate, but what are your goals?
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_05: You know, are you hoping to pursue dance professionally, or do you want to continue in that direction of maybe doing choreography for musicals or maybe doing dance captaining or things like that?
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_05: Do you have any ideas of where your career is going to take you?
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I definitely like big goals Broadway for sure.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I definitely want to perform a lot, but I eventually want to go into choreographing and even like the like directing side of things for musicals and because I like like that was something that I learned being on like the creative team kind of aspect of things.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_03: It was really fun for me.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like I've always liked that business aspect, and so I eventually I definitely want to perform, but eventually I want to go into that side of things, and I even have an interest in like possibly opening a studio or some sort of performing arts related business because I I like that type of business aspect.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_05: I love that.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_05: Amazing.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_05: I think you're gonna be so successful.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_05: I think that you you've got it, girl.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_05: It's gonna be great.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_05: And I wish you all the luck at college, which sounds like you're going to have a blast.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_05: It sounds like it's a perfect fit for you.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_05: So I think you did a great job.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_05: And I love that you're our last interviewee, Emma, she also mentioned how she went to a summer intensive and kind of got the same kind of vibe and experience to get introduced to college and what it would be like.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_05: And same applies to you with OCU.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_05: So I really love that the colleges are offering that.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_05: I think it's a great way for dancers to kind of like get their feet wet before you know jump into that huge college decision.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_05: You know, it's just a really hard one to make.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_05: So yeah.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_05: Really excited for you.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you, Francesca.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_05: Do you have any final thoughts that you'd like to share with our listeners or any advice that you want to send out to the world just to kind of wrap up our interview?
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_03: Talking about the quarantine aspect, I think there's a lot to learn from it that I've like been figuring out.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_03: And at first it was really difficult to kind of get into the new pace of things because I am a very like go, go, go type person.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_03: But I just want to thank my studio teachers and Miss Ryan, she's this powered end company studio owner and our main teacher, and she's really kept us on a great schedule, staying with our classes, and I've just been really inspired by the other class opportunities out there, like being able to take classes from people that I've never gotten to before, kind of like a once-in-a-long time opportunity, and uh and new styles and stuff.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_03: So I think it's just really important to stay positive and look at those things that are coming out.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_03: And Ryan, my studio teacher, even shared this opportunity on Instagram.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_03: That's how I found out about this and a lot of other things.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think there's a lot of good to come from it, and also pacing ourselves and not taking everything too seriously, I guess.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_05: That's a perfect wrap-up.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_05: And I am so happy that your uh teacher shared this with you because you are here now with us on the pod.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_05: How exciting! All right, ladies.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_05: Well, thanks so much for joining us on this interview episode.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_05: It's been lovely meeting all of you and getting to know you all more and hearing your story.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_05: So it's been a blast chatting with you all.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_05: But before we finish this episode, we actually have a little surprise for all of you from our sponsors and friends in the dance industry.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_05: We're so excited.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_05: Awesome.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_05: First up, your first gift is coming from IDA Judge Christina Balensky and her brand new clothing line called Artist in Motion Apparel.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_05: Artist in Motion Apparel is proud to present hand screen printed clothing meant to inspire creativity and community while promoting sustainability.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_05: All artists Artist and motion apparel pieces are one of a kind made with upscycled clothing and silk screen printed dance graphics to take you from the studio to the street in style.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_05: Christina is going to be sending you a custom hand screen printed tank top, and you can wear that at school and at the class and in the studio, and we're so excited for her to give this to you guys.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_05: So we hope you enjoy that.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love her.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_02: I love her so much.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_05: Our next gift is coming from an IDA affiliated competition, Star Talent Productions.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_05: Star Talent was created to provide you with an atmosphere that is fun, organized, and fair to dancers, teachers, and parents.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_05: Their East Coast events span from Ohio to Florida with nationals, and their fall convention is in sunny Myrtle Beach.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_05: At StarTalent, they believe that competition is about becoming the best dancer you can be in performance and attitude.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_05: StarTalent will be gifting you with a gift bag full of stickers, pins, t-shirts, water bottles, and offering you a full scholarship to their one-day Star Experience Intensive in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on October 10th, 2020.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_05: That sounds fantastic! And finally, we are very excited to offer you a gift from our episode sponsor, Commercial Dance Intensive.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_05: They would love to award you with a half scholarship to attend the CDI Winter Intensive this December in Raleigh, North Carolina.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_05: Commercial Dance Intensive is a three-day crash course on what it takes to become a professional dancer, including seminars, technique classes, audition prep, and performance.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_03: This is great.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_02: That sounds so great.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you all so much for joining us on this podcast episode.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations on winning our Instagram contest and being featured.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: And we've loved getting to know you all and wish you the best of luck in the future.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_05: We hope you enjoyed this week's senior feature episode.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_05: Please head over to our Instagram to follow all of our gift sponsors.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_05: You can find IDA affiliated competition Star Talent at Star Talent Dance, the new Artists in Motion Apparel line at Artist in Motion Apparel, and CDI at Commercial Dance Intensive.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_05: Don't forget to head over to Apple Podcasts now to rate us and leave us a fabulous review.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_05: We love hearing from all of you listeners, and we may even share your review live on the air in an upcoming episode.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_01: We're almost to the end of season one of Making the Impact.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: This first season has been a blast to create, and we can't wait for season two.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a question you've been dying to ask a judge?
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_01: We're really excited to offer a live QA event on social media for our final QA with Courtney and Leslie of season one.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_01: Participate in real time to have the hosts of IDA answer any and all questions you have related to the dance competition world.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned on our social media for more details about how to participate in this free upcoming event.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_05: Hey dancers! Have you heard about IDA's new virtual dance competition?
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_05: Open a soloist through groups.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_05: Our online only event takes place right from the comfort of your home.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_05: Submit your video now to receive personalized feedback from the best judges in the business.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_05: We offer customized judging panels, additional feedback, and even teacher-only critiques to help take your performance to the next level.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_05: Dancers can win sponsored prizes, judges' choice awards, and our high score overalls will win cash.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_05: Interested in competing?
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_05: Head to our website now and register your dance to compete alongside others from around the world.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_05: We can't wait to see you on the virtual stage.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks so much for tuning into this week's episode of Making the Impact.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_05: We hope you and your dance families are staying safe and healthy.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_05: Until next time, keep dancing.