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Q&A with Courtney - April Edition · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:06
SPEAKER_02: Hi everyone and welcome to Making the Impact, a Dance Competition podcast.
0:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and we are here today for this month's episode of QA with Courtney.
0:17
SPEAKER_02: Each month I sit down to answer all of your questions you send in about the dance competition world.
0:22
SPEAKER_02: It's April and it's been over one month since the world has been on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
0:28
SPEAKER_02: Dance studios around the country have shut their doors and have switched over to online classes.
0:32
SPEAKER_02: The same goes for our dance competition season this year.
0:35
SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, due to the current state of our world, all large gatherings have been canceled until further notice, and that includes our favorite dance competitions.
0:42
SPEAKER_02: I know we are all hoping that we can regroup again sooner than later and get those dances onto stage.
0:46
SPEAKER_02: So until then, I hope everyone is staying safe, and I hope we can all unite as a dance community to get through this tough time together.
0:53
SPEAKER_02: Before we jump right into the episode, I want to give a huge shout out to all of our listeners, supporters, and subscribers who have been tuning in for the past few months.
1:01
SPEAKER_02: I am so excited to share that since our launch back in October, we have officially hit over 20,000 downloads.
1:08
SPEAKER_02: We obviously couldn't have done it without you, so thank you to everyone who's tuned in, who has shared, who has subscribed, and who has sent in questions for our episodes.
1:17
SPEAKER_02: We are so grateful for your support, and we have had an absolute blast making this podcast stream come true.
1:22
SPEAKER_02: If you are new to the podcast and haven't subscribed, you can tune in and listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify for weekly episodes launching every Monday.
1:32
SPEAKER_02: We also love hearing from you listeners.
1:33
SPEAKER_02: So if you'd like to hit us up and share your thoughts on episodes, if you have future episode suggestions or requests, or maybe even a question for me on an upcoming Q ⁇ A with Courtney, be sure to head to our website now and send away.
1:45
SPEAKER_02: And if you're not already following us on social media, be sure to stay connected with Impact Dance Adjudicators.
1:52
SPEAKER_02: We post weekly judges tips, we have blog articles coming directly from your judges.
1:56
SPEAKER_02: We even released a new virtual dance competition where dancers can submit solo and group routines to be critiqued by our fabulous IDA judges.
2:04
SPEAKER_02: So head over to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to follow us now.
2:07
SPEAKER_02: Alright, let's jump into your questions this month.
2:09
SPEAKER_02: We have had so many questions flooding in from across the country and we have a lot to catch up on since we missed our QA episode from last month.
2:16
SPEAKER_02: But just a reminder if you have questions you want me to answer on an upcoming QA with Courtney episode, head to our show notes and click the link or head to our website at ImpactDanceadjudicators.com/slash podcast.
2:27
SPEAKER_02: You can choose to remain anonymous or share your name in studio, and we will give you a shout out live on the air.
2:32
SPEAKER_02: We also really love audio questions.
2:34
SPEAKER_02: So if you want to be featured on the pod, send your questions over now.
2:38
SPEAKER_02: I'm very excited to share that I have two very special guests joining me this month for our QA episode.
2:43
SPEAKER_02: Please welcome two amazing IDA judges, Shelly Fig and Sam Quinn.
2:47
SPEAKER_02: Say hi, you guys.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Hey.
2:50
SPEAKER_02: Hi, so happy to be here.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having us.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for doing this, Court.
2:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, of course.
2:55
SPEAKER_02: I'm so happy to have guests.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: It's so nice to have guests for the QA episode sometime.
2:59
SPEAKER_02: So I'm so happy to have you guys joining us remotely during this time.
3:02
SPEAKER_02: So thanks for coming in.
3:04
SPEAKER_02: Let's get to know both of you a little bit because you guys have not been on the podcast at all this season.
3:08
SPEAKER_02: So let's start off with Sam.
3:10
SPEAKER_02: If you want to tell the listeners a little bit about who you are, where you're from, and any career credits you want to share.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: So I grew up in Massachusetts and training outside of Worcester.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: And now I live in New York trying to do that theater hustle.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: I went to the University of Arizona in Tucson.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: I got my BFA there in dance.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: And then I moved to Chicago, worked with River North out there.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: Career credits.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: Radio City is a fan favorite.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: I love that one.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: Bad Boys of Dance.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, I organized the Boys Dance 2 movement that started and happened in August.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: So that was definitely a highlight of my career so far.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, working with IDA, honestly, is also a career highlight because it it just showcases judges in the most positive way.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: And I love it.
3:57
SPEAKER_02: So a little bit about me.
3:59
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
4:00
SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much, Sam.
4:01
SPEAKER_02: And let's get to know Shelly a little bit.
4:04
SPEAKER_02: Please feel free to share with the listeners a little bit about you and where you're based and what you're up to now.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm from a really small town, Little Egg Harbor, in New Jersey.
4:16
SPEAKER_01: I was born and raised there and danced all of my life.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: And I studied behavioral neuroscience and dance performance at Ryder University.
4:23
SPEAKER_01: And we trained with American Repertory Ballet at the Princeton Ballet School.
4:28
SPEAKER_01: And I actually was an MBA dancer for four years.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: I danced for the Sixers.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: For four years, I was captain for two years.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: With the Sixers, I was able to travel on an NBA China tour.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: So I did that several times.
4:43
SPEAKER_01: And I was an NBA All-Star dancer as well.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: And I'm still based out of Philadelphia dancing and choreographing and teaching.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
4:51
SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
4:52
SPEAKER_02: I know.
4:53
SPEAKER_02: Y'all are fabulous.
4:54
SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for joining me on this episode.
4:57
SPEAKER_02: I'm really excited to answer some questions from our listeners.
4:59
SPEAKER_02: So let's jump in and do it.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: Our first question is coming from a dancer in New York who would like to remain anonymous.
5:07
SPEAKER_02: Their question is: I have been working so hard at dance and even have been training at home, but sometimes I don't see as much improvement in some areas.
5:15
SPEAKER_02: Is there any method that you would recommend to be practicing or have a method of learning at the studio?
5:20
SPEAKER_02: So this is a great question to start off with.
5:22
SPEAKER_02: And I I put this in here for this month's episode because everyone is dancing at home right now.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Everyone.
5:30
SPEAKER_02: And I think this question was actually might have been submitted before this pandemic started.
5:35
SPEAKER_02: So this is definitely a topic that is worth discussing.
5:39
SPEAKER_02: If we can give any tips to this dancer on how to help them continue their practicing and training while they're at home.
5:46
SPEAKER_02: And I think this is gonna apply to all dancers around the world right now who are dancing in their living room.
5:52
SPEAKER_02: So any any ideas or recommendations that we can give this dancer as to how they can continue to stay motivated and keep working on improving when they're not able to go into the studio at this time?
6:04
SPEAKER_00: Personally, what I would suggest is not limiting yourself and putting yourself in a box of what your training should look like and what you, if you're staying in your comfort zone, I think the first thing you should do is take yourself out of your comfort zone.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: There's so many incredible people and resources, especially within the past month, month and a half, that have been sharing their passion on their social media, giving free classes.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: I know a bunch of different competitions and conventions have been doing virtual things.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: So picking your favorite artists and dancers and learning from them, I think is a great way to start.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: But also maybe making a list of things that you feel you need to improve upon.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: And that way you have a visual representation of what you're looking to work on and achieve and be able to cross that off the list once you've mastered it.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: So just staying focused, I think staying inspired, but holding yourself accountable and just pushing yourself and not limiting yourself in that box.
6:55
SPEAKER_00: So if you're a ballet dancer, you know, take a hip-hop class, or if you're a hip-hop dancer, take a ballet class.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: I know Tyler Peck is doing like ballet classes every morning.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: CLI Studios has like incredible new video content from incredible people.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: But you know, I think that's one easy and free way at the moment for people that are looking to continue training.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Sam, that's such great advice.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: And I do agree, take a class that you normally wouldn't take, even if you feel so uncomfortable, even if you just don't even like it.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: But it's good uh to develop that skill set to push yourself, like you said, outside of your comfort zone.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: And for myself, I know I'm a creature of habit.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's a dance class or a workout class, I like to stick to certain teachers, but I have to push myself to take class from different teachers.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: So many teachers have so many different things to offer and say things, say the same corrections, but they might say it a different way.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: So taking different teachers in different styles is really, really beneficial to your training and to just mentally, mentally opening up a little more and being more open to different challenges and corrections and things like that.
8:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I completely agree.
8:03
SPEAKER_02: I mean, and especially in this difficult time, like you said, Sam, there's so many opportunities for all types of training, whether it's free or whether it's low cost, whatever it may be, you can find out so much online these days for the past month with all types of dance classes.
8:21
SPEAKER_02: So that is definitely where the dance world is heading right now for the foreseeable future, because we aren't sure when we're going to be able to get back into the dance studio to really continue to train.
8:32
SPEAKER_02: But another thing that I'm thinking about just for, you know, training at home in general, even after this is over, I think that no matter what, all dancers should always be practicing like stretching and working on their flexibility and strength at home if they're cross-training.
8:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, totally.
8:48
SPEAKER_02: Cross-training 100%.
8:50
SPEAKER_02: You know, I remember my ballet teacher growing up always we would always sit in our like frog position on our stomach with our feet behind us and our the soles of our feet together.
8:59
SPEAKER_02: And they would like push our hips down to like work on our turnout.
9:02
SPEAKER_02: And my hips don't do that anymore.
9:04
SPEAKER_02: But I remember that my ballet teacher always said, sit in your frog while you're watching television when you get home tonight.
9:10
SPEAKER_02: And I, for some reason, I always remember that.
9:12
SPEAKER_02: And I think I started doing it and I started seeing an improvement.
9:15
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, there's a lot of dancers who might struggle with flexibility and things like that.
9:18
SPEAKER_02: And it's like, you could be working on your homework and sitting in your straddle.
9:22
SPEAKER_02: You could be watching television and hanging out in your split for a few, you know, few seconds or 30 seconds up to a minute, switch sides, whatever it is.
9:30
SPEAKER_02: So I think flexibility can be something that dancers can continue to work on at home because the other thing that we're all kind of struggling with, and we discussed this last week on our virtual dance class episode that we did, is that not everybody has the space in their home to dance like full out.
9:46
SPEAKER_02: You know, not every dancer has that.
9:48
SPEAKER_02: I don't either.
9:49
SPEAKER_02: Like I was just saying that in my little New York City apartment.
9:52
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I would love to take all these free classes, but where am I gonna dance?
9:55
SPEAKER_02: Like, I have nowhere to do to dance.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: I've been tapping in my garage on a piece of wood.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: So taking tap classes, so challenging myself to get better with my jealous.
10:07
SPEAKER_02: I'm super jealous of that.
10:08
SPEAKER_02: I've wanna I've I'm like, oh well, tap is like pretty, you know, centralized.
10:12
SPEAKER_02: I could do this in one place, but I have neighbors below me and they'll kill me if I start tap dancing.
10:18
SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, I totally get it.
10:20
SPEAKER_02: But you know, another thing, I'm thinking flexibility, I'm thinking strength training because we could always be working on our, yes, always working on our core, doing the cross training, like you said, Sam.
10:30
SPEAKER_02: I think that those are all helpful things that we can do as dancers in our bedroom.
10:34
SPEAKER_02: Do 10 push-ups before you go to sleep, like whatever it is, and that will help you no matter what.
10:40
SPEAKER_02: It's not gonna not help you when you get back into the studio.
10:43
SPEAKER_02: So, our anonymous dancer from New York, I hope that's some helpful tips from your judges.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: And I hope that you are able to still continue and enjoy your training at home, especially during this difficult time.
10:57
SPEAKER_02: But take advantage of all of the amazing resources that are now at your fingertips on the internet from all of the dance community that is sharing through the past month and the future.
11:07
SPEAKER_02: On to the next question.
11:10
SPEAKER_02: This is coming from Jessica, who is a dance parent from Connecticut.
11:15
SPEAKER_02: Her question is: Hello, my daughter has competed at the intermediate level for several years.
11:21
SPEAKER_02: She would like to move up to the advanced elite level competing her solos.
11:24
SPEAKER_02: I'm wondering what the major differences are between what the judges look for in performers in the highest level.
11:30
SPEAKER_02: Also, do you have any suggestions for her to be successful in the advanced or elite division?
11:35
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
11:36
SPEAKER_02: So gotta love a question about levels.
11:42
SPEAKER_02: We definitely just had episode about levels.
11:45
SPEAKER_02: So if you haven't checked it out, please go check that out now.
11:48
SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure this will help answer your question.
11:50
SPEAKER_02: But we are going to answer this question today and help give you a little bit of a perspective.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure maybe, you know, obviously we're not in competition right now.
11:59
SPEAKER_02: We're on hiatus, and maybe this is we can, you know, approach this for next season as far as your daughter moving up to the next level.
12:07
SPEAKER_02: But I guess what do we as judges look for in that that slight shift from intermediate to elite?
12:14
SPEAKER_02: Is there anything that specifically sticks out to you as to what you expect from the dancers?
12:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I personally levels always throw me, especially as a judge working for multiple competitions, because so many competitions define their levels with different guidelines.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: Hours you train guidelines, that's the word I couldn't think of it.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: Is it hours you're training?
12:34
SPEAKER_00: Is it how long you've been dancing, whatever it may be?
12:36
SPEAKER_00: So I always have to switch my thought process to figure out how and what I'm what I'm looking at and what the levels and how they're divided up.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: For me personally, it I think a dancer in the intermediate, I don't judge differently than a dancer in the advanced.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm judging what I'm seeing based off of a face value.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not like, oh, here's the intermediate dancer.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: You're not getting a high score.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: I prefer intermediate dancers that are refined, they're polished, but it's age appropriate, and they're you can tell that their choreography is not above their skill set.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: They're choreographed perfectly, that's gonna be a super high score.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: But also I think that it's a great goal to have to dance at the elite level.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: But what matters more to me personally is not what level you're competing in, but it's what you're doing back in the studio and in rehearsals and with your teachers to better yourself.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: So for me, levels really aren't like detrimental to any scoring that I'm doing.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: I think it's mainly what you're doing to better yourself, but still having that goal, dancing and wanting to dance in that elite level, but it's more about what you're doing as a dancer and what you're bringing to the stage that I care about.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, levels, um, levels are tricky.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: I like Sam said, I look at what's in front of me, um, not comparing an intermediate dancer to a to an advanced dancer or an elite dancer.
13:56
SPEAKER_01: I think that the dancer should really compare, or not even compare, I don't even know if that's the right word.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: I think the dancer should not compare herself against other dancers, but really compare herself against herself.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Because I, for me personally, I think that when I see a dancer that fully understands body placement and alignment and things like this, I feel that those are the dances that typically score higher rather than trying to do Alissa Cone turns or Fuate turns when you when the dancer can't do a complete double, a nice, clean, technically sound double.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: So I think it's more about the dancer just understanding, having a superior understanding of their technique and their placement in addition to performance and artistry as well.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: That's what I look for.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: I also think like what I usually find in the intermediate level, I love judging intermediate level dancers in competition because you typically find more of a fight and more of like a passion in those kids because you can tell that they are working so hard, they're so dedicated, but they have that extra oomph and that in that drive and their performance.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: And that's what I look for.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes in the advanced level, kids are so used to competing year after year after year, and they have 20,000 dances.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: But with those intermediate dances, sometimes they only have two or three.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: And those are like they've been looking forward to this moment forever and they give it everything that they got.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: So I always just going back to her question, what do I look for?
15:20
SPEAKER_00: Like finding that fight and that drive and that like honest love of dance, I usually find it more in the intermediate level.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: And I would prefer, you know, it's not what you do, but it's how you do it.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: And so if you're finding those dancers with that that incredible performance quality and that refined technique in the intermediate, I typically will always say on my critique, like, I think this dancer is ready for that next level.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: But like I said, I just finding that that fight in intermediate dancers is like one of my most favorite special moments of of judging.
15:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I completely agree.
15:50
SPEAKER_02: And I I think that's something that I'm maybe we mentioned it in the we actually might have mentioned that in the levels episode was what you just said, Sam.
15:59
SPEAKER_02: As a judge, I know I've said it, and I'm sure maybe you guys have.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: I've told dancers, you are ready for the next level.
16:06
SPEAKER_02: Why are you hanging out on this level?
16:08
SPEAKER_02: You will do so fine in the next level up.
16:12
SPEAKER_02: Like, don't hold yourself back, give yourself a challenge.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: And that's a compliment.
16:16
SPEAKER_02: That's a huge compliment, you know.
16:18
SPEAKER_02: And I think a lot of people might take that the wrong way and saying, What are you saying?
16:22
SPEAKER_02: I don't belong in this level.
16:23
SPEAKER_02: Like, no, I'm saying that you're ready for the next level.
16:26
SPEAKER_02: And I think that what's exciting about this question is that this mom knows that her dancer is ready for the next level and maybe wants to try it out and see what what it's like.
16:36
SPEAKER_02: And of course, you may or may not, you know, you never know how you're going to like fare against the other dancers and and whatever, but that's just should be like motivation and inspiration to keep you working.
16:48
SPEAKER_02: And like we've all said, I completely agree with all two of you, all three of you.
16:53
SPEAKER_02: All three of us.
16:54
SPEAKER_02: I completely agree with both of you on your answers to this question because it really does come down to that.
17:00
SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of people associate levels with skills instead of actually talking about the quality of dancing.
17:06
SPEAKER_02: And I think it really, that's what it really comes back down to is I don't care if you can't do five-leg catch turns and you're in the advanced level.
17:13
SPEAKER_02: That's not what it's about.
17:14
SPEAKER_02: If you can sustain out of your pirouette and show me a beautiful finish, and if it was a single pirouette, I will take that any day over a sloppy five-leg catch turn that you fell out of because you think that's what advanced is.
17:27
SPEAKER_02: That's not what advanced is.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: You know, an advanced dancer should be able to do all types of skills from and maybe some advanced.
17:34
SPEAKER_02: You have some tricks up your sleeve, great, that's awesome.
17:37
SPEAKER_02: But you should be able to also do all of the basics and fundamentals.
17:40
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's it's like a stepping stone of progression.
17:43
SPEAKER_02: And that's why there are levels because we are working our way up.
17:47
SPEAKER_02: It's like a ladder.
17:48
SPEAKER_02: We're climbing the ladder.
17:49
SPEAKER_02: Now, if you're in the advanced level, you should have your fundamentals and your basics like good to go.
17:54
SPEAKER_02: You know, that's I think that's the thing with the intermediate level is we're looking for the basics in recreational, but the intermediate, it's kind of like you're still working the kinks out.
18:02
SPEAKER_02: You're still kind of figuring out some of the basics and and we understand that.
18:06
SPEAKER_02: But advanced, there's like no excuses for me.
18:09
SPEAKER_02: Like if you don't know how to find like a solid preparation for your pirouette in turned out and in parallel, then I'm like, why are you in the advanced level to me?
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I do feel like some dancers, and again, based off the guidelines of the specific competition, are placed in incorrect levels, then it's our job to like pick it apart and figure out what what they can, what how we can help this dancer.
18:30
SPEAKER_02: I think that a lot of people are placed in the wrong level.
18:32
SPEAKER_02: And and I don't know if, you know, I've seen it a lot of different ways, and I'm sure we've all seen it.
18:36
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's like the main question that everybody has is like, how do you enforce levels and how do you determine levels and why why is no one you know bumping dancers up or down based on you know their skill set?
18:48
SPEAKER_02: And it's like we know if you're what level dancer, like when I see you come on stage, yeah, like I already kind of know, you know, what level you should be in, regardless of what your teacher put you in, I know where I think that you kind of belong.
19:02
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, that's why I I kind of think that levels are just kind of like uh whatever, I don't love them.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: I also feel like people on the outside, like audience members and parents and teachers and and what whatever, think that there's this rubric to what you have to incorporate to be an advanced dancer.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: And for me, like no judge is gonna remember how many pirouettes you did, but if you made us laugh, if you made us smile, it's what you did that like that's what we remember.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: So, like, there's no like of this rubric of like if you can't do your all second turns, you're not gonna be an advanced dancer.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: Like seeing those dancers that like have beautiful transitions and smile the entire time and have great performance quality, like stand up way much, way, way more to me.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think too, with levels and placement, it also comes down to, I think we like briefly touched on this.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: I think it comes down to the studio's placement or their guidelines too.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: You know, it may maybe how the studio directors place their dancers in levels isn't always how the judges see levels.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: So there's always this uh a little bit of a battle, I feel.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: I don't think we had levels when I was competing.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: I don't really remember.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: I you know, we I think it was like recreational.
20:13
SPEAKER_02: It was so long ago.
20:14
SPEAKER_02: I know it's so long ago for our time in the competition world.
20:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I agree, Sam.
20:20
SPEAKER_02: I I don't really remember there being like three levels.
20:23
SPEAKER_02: If anything, there were two.
20:25
SPEAKER_02: And really honestly, like the competitions that I attended, it would usually be called like recreational or competitive.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: And no one was in the recreational category.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: I mean, like no one.
20:36
SPEAKER_02: And I think that and that's okay.
20:38
SPEAKER_02: I think that the industry has completely shifted.
20:41
SPEAKER_02: And I feel personally, why and how it shifted is due to dance moms.
20:45
SPEAKER_02: I think that dance moms gained exposure to what competitive dance is and opened that that up to the eyes of more recreational style studios who haven't, you know, switched over to that competitive world, as well as allowing the dance competition world to now, you know, have recreational studios saying, hey, I'm interested in trying this out.
21:04
SPEAKER_02: What's a dance competition?
21:06
SPEAKER_02: I want to come.
21:06
SPEAKER_02: So that's when we kind of started incorporating levels into the world to allow everyone.
21:11
SPEAKER_02: And it's not that you couldn't come before, you absolutely could, but I think that competitions wanted to create a fair way for all a variety of levels of studios to attend.
21:22
SPEAKER_02: But I think that the competitive world was very different when we were growing up, you know, 15, 20 years ago.
21:27
SPEAKER_02: You know, it's booming now.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's like over 200 dance competitions just in the United States.
21:31
SPEAKER_02: And when we were growing up, there were maybe like 20.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:35
SPEAKER_02: I know that I remember growing up that there weren't levels, but you knew which competitions were the higher caliber of talent competitions, and the ones that were kind of like, oh, you know, maybe like, you know, not as intense studios are gonna not as fierce competitions gonna go to this competition.
21:53
SPEAKER_02: Like I specifically remember Showbiz as being like one of the higher caliber competitions, as well as ADA American.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: American Dance Awards, like you better bring the talent.
22:03
SPEAKER_02: Like, yes, Hall of Fame.
22:05
SPEAKER_02: Like, they're not going to be able to do that.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: I remember I used to like watch the show biz like when YouTube first became a thing, like watching like all of the talent that that went to like those huge competitions because it was like people were in it to win it.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
22:20
SPEAKER_02: It's crazy.
22:21
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's it's so crazy how it's evolved.
22:24
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's that's what's really different.
22:26
SPEAKER_02: And I think what we're gonna do next season, which I'm excited about, is is to have some sort of like reminiscing of how the competition world has evolved from our time to now.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, that's great.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: So good.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: I know.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: When I tell my kids like that, we got bronze, they were like, like we couldn't believe it.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: Their world was like shattered.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, they actually gave bronzes out and actually gave honorable mentions out way back when.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: We're pumped.
22:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: And it's it's so it's very, very much different nowadays.
22:59
SPEAKER_02: I think I, you know how you know the kids do this now still with all the pins and the the the like ribbons on their jackets and stuff.
23:06
SPEAKER_02: I think I went home like years ago back to my my hometown in Maryland and I like looked through my old closet from growing up and I found my like dance jacket and I had all my pins and my special awards on it.
23:17
SPEAKER_02: There was a ribbon that said honorable mention.
23:20
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
23:21
SPEAKER_02: And I proudly wore on my dance jacket.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
23:25
SPEAKER_02: I know.
23:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's amazing.
23:27
SPEAKER_02: I don't think the kids even know what honorable mention is now, but that's okay.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: That was definitely dope.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: And what just popped into my head also was I've I don't think a lot of competitions now, especially with the different levels, I don't think there's much of like a point, like scaling between like competitive and intermediate.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: So like if you're getting a 93 in the intermediate and you're still getting a 93 in the advance, like there's no difference.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: You're getting the same score in my head, unless there I don't think there's much scaling that happens anymore.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: But it, you know, if if a kid is getting a 93 in the intermediate and the advanced is getting 90, those are the same in my head.
24:05
SPEAKER_02: Right.
24:05
SPEAKER_02: I see what you're saying.
24:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, totally.
24:07
SPEAKER_02: I completely agree.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: We could talk about levels all day.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: Levels all day.
24:11
SPEAKER_02: You know, we have to have like a part two, a part three, a part four of the levels discussion, which I'm sure we will.
24:17
SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for the level question.
24:19
SPEAKER_02: Hopefully, Jessica, this helps answer your question.
24:22
SPEAKER_02: On to the next.
24:23
SPEAKER_02: This is coming from Sarah, a dance teacher from Massachusetts.
24:28
SPEAKER_02: And her question is I'm also a dance parent, and I would like a panel to explain how they judge dances for appropriateness.
24:36
SPEAKER_02: I have noticed that at some competitions, there are children who are under 13 and even those under 16 who are dancing older.
24:43
SPEAKER_02: And while they have the ability, it doesn't seem that they are getting marked down for appropriateness.
24:47
SPEAKER_02: And they are continuing to win.
24:49
SPEAKER_02: So I'm just wondering how judges deal with that.
24:51
SPEAKER_02: Because looking from the outside in, even though you don't want to penalize the child for the choreography that is given to them, I'm wondering how you are handling the choreographers who are not giving age-appropriate dances, and that includes costuming.
25:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad this was asked.
25:06
SPEAKER_01: I would love to elaborate on this.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: Do it.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: So I see this appropriateness question a lot, especially in hip hop.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: As a judge, I see so many dances of even younger, even all ages of children on stage.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: It's like twerking and booty popping and things like that.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: And me personally, I try to break that cycle.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: So it depends, you know, every competition has a different score sheet, different categories and things like this.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: So as our viewer mentioned, you can't penalize the child.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: But if there's a section for choreography, I will certainly deduct points because one, the I don't think any child should be, you know, booty popping twerking on stage.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: And while this has become a trend in dancing, especially social dancing on TikTok and whatever else, I think a lot of kids see that because they watch a lot of dance videos on Instagram and TikTok and wherever else on YouTube and and you know, they just see like booty popping and twerking.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: And while this has become a part of the dance world, which which it is what it is, while this has become a part of the dance world, I don't think that's not technique, right?
26:13
SPEAKER_01: And especially for hip-hop, I look for so many other things, different grooves, different styles, different textures.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: There's there's so many other things that need to be considered for hip-hop dancing that do not include booty popping and twerking.
26:26
SPEAKER_01: So I try to break that cycle by one.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: If the if I have a section in my score sheet for choreography, yes, I will deduct points.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: And in my audio critiques, I will say this is not appropriate.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: I'll explain why.
26:37
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell them what I am looking for in a hip-hop dance.
26:39
SPEAKER_01: And I'm pointing out hip-hop because this is this comes into question for me the most in this style, but but it does exist in other styles, like jazz sometimes or open or anything really.
26:49
SPEAKER_01: But I try to break that cycle.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: I try to reward the dances or provide a special award for the hip-hop dances or the jazz dances that are appropriate and are tastefully done.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: I think dances, hip-hop dances especially, can be done successfully without anything grimy or anything questionable.
27:09
SPEAKER_01: And so I try to provide special awards or thank the choreographer or thank the teacher for putting that on stage.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: Because I see it with my students too.
27:17
SPEAKER_01: I mean, maybe I'm biased, but I think their hip-hop dances are done tastefully and with quality choreography that don't include anything questionable.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: And but then at competitions, I see it all the time.
27:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm first hand.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: Just as a teacher, that the dances that score the highest are the dances that are questionable.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: So I me personally as a judge, I do try to break that cycle.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: So it's just a matter of I think getting all judges on board with that.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I totally agree.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: I think in my critique, I will always attempt to address it in a way because you always have to think about your audience of who's listening to your critique, if it's this teacher, student, if it's the parent.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: So I never would want to, like, like she mentioned, deduct points because it's something that's out of the dancer's hands and they can't control that.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: But I totally agree with everything that she also said.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: And I think it also goes to song choice too.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: I feel like a lot of times there are, if there's so many songs that you have to sit there and edit the song for like six hours to get get it sounding appropriate, like maybe we could find a different song.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: And then also with costumes, you know, I think like she like she mentioned, just having it done tastefully.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: But I will always I use the word appropriate so many times in a critique because it's something that I'm passionate about and I would love to see something done that showcases the dancer's technique and their performance quality, and not like Shelly mentioned with the social dancing that we're now be growing accustomed to.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: But it is sad that sometimes there isn't that box that we can check to deduct points on.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: It's tricky because it's something that's out of their hands, and so it's like she said, hopefully, every judge will be on board with this.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: And I know I a hundred percent am.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, I use that word hundreds of times throughout a competition weekend, but I don't know if I can really say this also, I don't know if it's like an appropriate.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: But being a male judge is also it's trickier for male judges to say something like that just because of I for myself would get worried about it coming to bite me in the butt of like, well, this male judge is over sexualizing this younger female dancer's dance.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: So I, if there's like a note to the teacher, I will send it.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: But typically on a on a critique, I will mention if I like the appropriateness, I love it.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know if you want to include that or not.
29:25
SPEAKER_02: But no, I actually wanted to that's a really good point.
29:28
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to ask, you know, from a male's perspective, how does that make you as feel as a judge?
29:33
SPEAKER_02: You know, I think all the time, whenever I see an inappropriate dance, that if I feel uncomfortable, I can only imagine how every male in the audience is feeling.
29:42
SPEAKER_02: Whether they're a judge, whether they are gay or straight, it doesn't matter if it's a grandfather in the audience, if it's a dad in the audience, and me sitting here, I am feeling uncomfortable.
29:52
SPEAKER_02: I can't imagine.
29:53
SPEAKER_02: That's what I always kind of associate it with.
29:55
SPEAKER_02: I'd always think, would my dad be comfortable with me dancing like that on stage?
30:00
SPEAKER_00: A lot of the time, what I do is like if there is something that I'm passionate about in my mind, and I maybe the way I could articulate it wouldn't isn't the best.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: I will sometimes send a like a post-it note down to if there's a female judge next to me.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: I'll like send a post-it note and be like, I don't know how to word this.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: Can you mention this in your critique?
30:18
SPEAKER_00: If there's not like a typing option, just I would rather edge on caution of like not being able to articulate something and having it come off wrong, especially if it's like something about a costume.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: So I I typically will rely on other friends on the panel to help with that.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: But if it's like about song choice and stuff, I have no problem doing it.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: But there have been a bunch of times where like I'm like, I shouldn't be watching this.
30:40
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I feel the same.
30:42
SPEAKER_02: I feel like a lot of male judges I've sat on the panel with have literally they have to turn away sometimes because they are that uncomfortable.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: And then for me, like as the dancers on stage, I don't want that like if something happens, you know, whether it's I don't want to make the dancer uncomfortable in any way, shape, or form while they're performing.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: So like it's just that like I think what teachers and choreographers have to have to remember with keeping appropriateness in mind is that we're choreographing on kids.
31:10
SPEAKER_01: It's not a college dance team or above, it's not a professional hip-hop company.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: And while we want to do, like we have to, we just have to scale down like what we truly want to do sometimes because they're kids.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: We just have to remember they're kids and they're not adults.
31:26
SPEAKER_01: They're not a professional company.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: They're kids.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: And that's the most important thing to remember with song choices.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: And I know with hip-hop it's hard too.
31:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, every song has a curse word in it.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: So you do have to edit that out and things like that.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: But also I think it goes off of kind of what you were saying in your first comment about this, is like how the dance world has also shifted into what is popular now, what's trying like all these heels classes that have been popping up is like that's what I feel like some dancers are looking to is like their inspiration, which is awesome that you're you're doing the research and staying up to date and current.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: You know, some of the the choreography that other people are putting out, like in these provocative ways, we need to scale back and think about like should a 10-year-old be doing this?
32:11
SPEAKER_02: Right.
32:12
SPEAKER_02: Those most likely are professional dancers who are doing those, you know, classes or the videos that you may be watching.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: Well into their 20s and 30s.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
32:21
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to say like dances should be like, you know, Disney dances and Disney hip hop, like that's not what I'm saying.
32:26
SPEAKER_01: Right.
32:27
SPEAKER_01: But we just have to keep in mind that we are choreographing on kids, we are teaching kids, and just, I don't know, just have to keep that in mind with with choreography choices, with costume choices, with with song choices.
32:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I think that we could talk about this discussion for a long time as well.
32:43
SPEAKER_02: So that will be another podcast episode for next season, which I'm very excited about, and I think that it definitely needs to be discussed.
32:50
SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm I'm thinking right right off the bat as to why do sometimes, not always, but sometimes, why do those inappropriate choreographed dances win?
33:01
SPEAKER_02: And when I look back at my years of judging, especially all over the country, I think that everybody has a different view of an opinion as to what is appropriate.
33:11
SPEAKER_02: So that's one issue.
33:13
SPEAKER_02: And with judging in different regions and having judges coming from different regions, this judge might think that there's nothing wrong with it, but this judge might think that this is the most inappropriate thing they've ever seen.
33:22
SPEAKER_02: And everybody in the audience thinks it's totally fine because this is what they watch all the time.
33:25
SPEAKER_02: So I think it just that is a big thing.
33:28
SPEAKER_02: The next thing is, like we already mentioned, is a matter of if we as judges are given the opportunity to deduct points for choreography.
33:35
SPEAKER_02: We as teachers, and I've said this before on the podcast, teachers have complained like crazy for judges deducting points for something that's out of the dancer's hands.
33:44
SPEAKER_02: And that's even what the question said.
33:46
SPEAKER_02: They're like, I know it's not the dancer's fault, but how do we enforce this?
33:49
SPEAKER_02: Well, the only way that we can start enforcing it is if the competitions allow us to.
33:53
SPEAKER_02: We always don't have that choreography broken down score, like we talked about.
33:57
SPEAKER_02: It really depends.
33:58
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we're giving like a one-number score, sometimes we're giving a broken down score, and sometimes that broken down score might not include choreography.
34:05
SPEAKER_02: And I think personally that a lot of competitions may have slowly started taking that choreography like a sub-section out because they've gotten complaints about judges saying, you know, re-choreographing the dances practically and their critiques and saying this and saying that.
34:19
SPEAKER_02: And it's like, that is not our job to re-choreograph a dance, but it is our job to mention, hey, this is a little bit inappropriate.
34:26
SPEAKER_02: From viewing from my eyes, I don't know if this is the most age appropriate for this 10-year-old group.
34:31
SPEAKER_02: And that's my professional personal opinion.
34:33
SPEAKER_02: And I'm going to take points off because of it.
34:36
SPEAKER_02: So we need to be able to have that freedom when we're critiquing and scoring to penalize the choreographer and teacher.
34:43
SPEAKER_02: That's the only way they're gonna learn, honestly, because if not, then we're just going to keep rewarding dances.
34:48
SPEAKER_02: And the thing that is hard for me, honestly, is usually the dances that have inappropriate moves, checking off all the other boxes.
34:57
SPEAKER_02: So, like, they probably have like amazing performance and awesome technique, and they're they're just going in and killing it.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: And like they're usually like really advanced, but then they also have this like a little bit of inappropriateness where you're just like, how do I and the audience is it typically like if I'm just thinking in terms of like group numbers, like a massive production number.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: Everyone's family, grandma, grandpa is there, everyone's screaming, so the energy in the room is crazy.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: And it's like again, that fine line of like, what do we do?
35:25
SPEAKER_02: I know it's a sticky situation.
35:27
SPEAKER_02: And you know, I think that until we can really use our voice a little bit more on as judges to be able to say, hey, listen, we don't feel like this is appropriate.
35:35
SPEAKER_02: We are going to take off a few points.
35:37
SPEAKER_02: I know a handful of competitions in the industry have started doing like a deduction box that the judges can like deduct things that are like rule-breaking, which I love and I wish that more competitions would get on board with that.
35:47
SPEAKER_02: But I really think that's the only way that it's going to get better now.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: And also having an actual teacher feedback critique.
35:55
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: And because you have to think about your audience of, I mean, if is the entire class listening to the critique, and then you're gonna hear this comment.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: And then so another solution, like Courtney was mentioning, is just having a physical critique, feedback, recording just for the teacher, where we could actually be like, this eight count right here is not appropriate.
36:15
SPEAKER_00: I would change it, I whatever.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: If you angle your body, I don't know.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but that easy solution.
36:21
SPEAKER_02: I a hundred percent agree.
36:22
SPEAKER_02: And that's something that like you both have judged for ideas virtual that we just launched, and that's something that I felt was really important to include.
36:30
SPEAKER_02: And it's not a requirement when you submit on our virtual event, but it's an option for teachers.
36:35
SPEAKER_02: If they want a teacher critique, then we will give you a teacher critique.
36:39
SPEAKER_02: We will give you something that is that is based on what you presented on the stage.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: Because I personally feel that dance, you know, whatever is presented on stage is not just the responsibility of the dancers, it's also the responsibility of the studio and the teacher and the choreographer.
36:53
SPEAKER_02: Like that's everybody came together to present this.
36:56
SPEAKER_02: And I shouldn't just be judging the dancers.
36:58
SPEAKER_02: Choreography is a part of the score, costume is a part of the score.
37:01
SPEAKER_02: And those things, if they're they're, you know, rule breaking or, you know, doing something inappropriate, then they should be penalized, is how I kind of look at it.
37:10
SPEAKER_02: So a teacher critique is the perfect way to say, like, hey, um, this costume, we m we might need to make it, you know, a little more covered.
37:17
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm a little bit uncomfortable.
37:18
SPEAKER_02: I think this is a little a little too revealing for this age, you know, whatever it is.
37:22
SPEAKER_02: It could be anything.
37:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, that's just speaking on the appropriateness.
37:25
SPEAKER_02: It could be you have a giant hole in your costume, sew it up before you go on stage.
37:29
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, whatever it is.
37:30
SPEAKER_02: Pin your hair piece.
37:31
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, pin your hairpiece in.
37:33
SPEAKER_02: So professional.
37:34
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
37:35
SPEAKER_02: So I love this topic, and I think that we absolutely have to talk about it.
37:39
SPEAKER_02: But that kind of hopefully clarifies that answer to Sarah, your question.
37:42
SPEAKER_02: And I I hope that's a little bit helpful.
37:44
SPEAKER_02: But definitely be sure to tune in next season because we are gonna, we are definitely gonna talk about age appropriateness at competition on the pod.
37:53
SPEAKER_02: Can't wait.
37:54
SPEAKER_02: Another favorite topic of ours.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: Sign me up.
37:58
SPEAKER_02: All right, so we've finally made it to our last question of the episode, and this is coming from a dance parent named Samantha from Lakanto, Florida.
38:07
SPEAKER_02: Her question is Do you score a routine lower if they have a popular song, theme, or costume?
38:13
SPEAKER_02: For instance, three solos in the same division with the same song.
38:16
SPEAKER_02: How does that play into your score?
38:18
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, no, I'm not going to score the fourth dance that that I've that I've watched to the same song.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to score it differently.
38:28
SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I just take it for what it is.
38:30
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, I I can't tell you how many dances I've seen to Schindler's List or how many dances I've seen to emergency.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, there are always uh your quintessential overdone competition dances.
38:44
SPEAKER_01: Not about angels.
38:45
SPEAKER_01: Yes, body love.
38:46
SPEAKER_02: We could keep going.
38:47
SPEAKER_02: We could go on.
38:48
SPEAKER_02: I could go on for the next hour.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: Is there a whole blog?
38:51
SPEAKER_02: We did we did a blog last year that was like most overused dance.
38:55
SPEAKER_00: We need to update it.
38:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we do.
38:56
SPEAKER_02: We should do an update for sure.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: And like songs that we know are gonna be popular, and like please don't.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: Version 2.0 like that Doja Cat song, say oh yeah, that Dua Lipa.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: Say so.
39:09
SPEAKER_01: One kiss, yeah.
39:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't either.
39:13
SPEAKER_01: No, no.
39:13
SPEAKER_01: I mean, by the time you hear it for the fourth time, you're definitely rolling your eyes, but I'm not going to, you know, take points off because this is the eighth time I've heard this way.
39:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: As a judge, sometimes what I I use it as like, I will tell the dancer, be like, this is a very popular song that we've been hearing.
39:31
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, at this part of the music, there's so many great accents.
39:34
SPEAKER_00: There, you know, I want to see you hit this part harder because if you listen to the track, there's like if you know the song more and you hear it, you can help guide the dancer to their musicality and their dynamics and kind of shape it that way.
39:46
SPEAKER_00: But I would never take points off just for their their song choice or whatever.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: But I think it's it's always so interesting to see different takes on songs, and if someone does a popular song in like a brilliant way, like I j I just saw this critique this solo to a song from Greece, and this dancer came out and it was about pizza and was hopelessly devoted, and she danced to pizza.
40:09
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: Brilliant.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that is absolute gold.
40:13
SPEAKER_00: And for me, that is like if you can take a song that everyone has used or knows and spin it in a way that is like so clever and so brilliant, like I'm here for it.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: And you'll probably get more points from me for doing that.
40:26
SPEAKER_02: No, I I I love that.
40:28
SPEAKER_02: I want to go watch that solo right now.
40:29
SPEAKER_02: It's so that sounds so fun.
40:32
SPEAKER_02: That's the thing.
40:32
SPEAKER_02: I think that you know, it's obviously like you said, Shelly, you're like, yeah, you know, I might, I might roll my eyes a little bit when I hear this song again because I've heard it a million times.
40:43
SPEAKER_02: But it is our job as a dancer to figure out a way to make yourself individual with this song.
40:48
SPEAKER_02: This is what your teacher gave you.
40:49
SPEAKER_02: This is the song that you gave.
40:50
SPEAKER_02: You didn't know that every dancer in America was going to have the song a competition, and that's what it is.
40:55
SPEAKER_02: But how are you going to make it special?
40:57
SPEAKER_02: How are you going to stand out from the person next to you?
40:59
SPEAKER_02: And I think that is a hard job, you know, when you are dealt that card of I have the same song as someone else.
41:05
SPEAKER_02: Oh gosh, how do what do I do?
41:07
SPEAKER_02: You just have to own it.
41:08
SPEAKER_02: You just have to go out there and know that what you're going to do is what you excel at, and you know, put your spin on it, show off what makes you you, and you know, be confident.
41:19
SPEAKER_02: Don't let that make you discouraged if you have the same song.
41:23
SPEAKER_02: And I know that feeling.
41:24
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, you don't you don't want to have the same song as someone else.
41:27
SPEAKER_02: But I also think, and I think that I can't remember which podcast now, but we talked about this at some point.
41:32
SPEAKER_02: It's song choice.
41:33
SPEAKER_02: That's also the job of the teacher is to make sure that we are finding songs that are not overused.
41:39
SPEAKER_02: You have to remember that we want you to be memorable and stand out.
41:43
SPEAKER_02: And if you have the same song as someone else, even if you were like so, so, so good, when we're all deliberating at the end of the event, we're gonna be like, wait, which knot about angels was that?
41:52
SPEAKER_02: Which one was that?
41:53
SPEAKER_02: Was that the one when she was in the yellow, or was that the one when she was in the blue?
41:56
SPEAKER_02: You know, and you just want to be you, you know what I mean?
41:59
SPEAKER_02: So try to find songs that aren't overused.
42:03
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, if you heard a song last year, a competition that you really love, you can be inspired by it and you can use that as like inspiration by finding another song by that artist that maybe is not as overused, and you can still stand out and be individual.
42:17
SPEAKER_02: So that's like that's my best advice.
42:18
SPEAKER_02: But again, like all of us are going to say, no, we're not going to take points off if you have the same song as someone else.
42:24
SPEAKER_02: However, I will say that as far as like certain themes, and again, I'm not going to take points off if I don't love a theme, but there are some themes that I'm kind of like, mm-hmm, seen it, been there, done that.
42:37
SPEAKER_02: This doesn't feel original.
42:38
SPEAKER_02: And again, we want to be original.
42:41
SPEAKER_02: I can't tell you how many times I've seen dances that have been completely ripped off from So You Thinking Dance.
42:45
SPEAKER_02: And I'm just kind of like, well, you just, you're not original at all.
42:48
SPEAKER_02: You I just watched that on television and then you just like recreated it on stage, you know?
42:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think also kind of switch gears like you were to the talking to the teachers, using resources to find new songs and new materials.
43:00
SPEAKER_00: If you like on Spotify, if you, you know, like an artist, there's whole folders and sections of like artists that you may like, or like on iTunes, people also listened and bought this stuff.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: So like doing your research, A will keep it, I think, more exciting for the teacher, but for us too, it like it keeps us like, oh, I've never heard this song.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: Like, what is this?
43:19
SPEAKER_00: And like makes you lean in more to the dancer.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: But then you also do have those popular songs of like the Celine Dion's that like I know I speak for myself, I will never get over Celine.
43:30
SPEAKER_00: And those excite us, and like those throwback songs are always so fun.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: But like as a teacher and choreographer, like my rule of thumb personally is if the song is or is like on the radio within the last five years, I will never use it.
43:41
SPEAKER_00: Right.
43:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's just risky.
43:42
SPEAKER_02: You know that others are probably going to have the same idea and probably use it.
43:47
SPEAKER_02: You know, we can always call out things that we think are gonna come up out of, you know, for the next season.
43:52
SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, this movie musical just came out.
43:54
SPEAKER_02: Guess what's gonna be on the competition stage all year?
43:57
SPEAKER_02: And you know, and like you said, Sam, I love.
44:00
SPEAKER_02: Love a throwback, especially you want to make sure that I mean it's not all about the judges, but at the same time, like judges are probably, you know, a little bit older, like yeah, like we're going to relate to these songs that I was jamming to.
44:14
SPEAKER_02: Like, whenever a song comes back from like 2000s, I'm living my life because that's what I grew up listening to.
44:21
SPEAKER_02: And you know, you want to cater to your audience sometimes.
44:24
SPEAKER_02: So I'm just saying, I love that.
44:26
SPEAKER_02: I'm like always excited no matter what.
44:27
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, all right, this is a fun song.
44:29
SPEAKER_02: I haven't heard this throwback in a while.
44:30
SPEAKER_02: I'm already in a good mood.
44:32
SPEAKER_02: But if you hear the same song, you know, five times at a competition event, you're like, oh man.
44:36
SPEAKER_00: When you're in like like contemporary solo and then you switch to a jazz and it's like cold-hearted snake, and I'm like, I just got refreshed.
44:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
44:46
SPEAKER_02: Totally agree.
44:47
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
44:48
SPEAKER_02: Well, do you guys have any final thoughts or anything that you'd like to share to the world as we wrap up this QA episode?
44:54
SPEAKER_00: I do.
44:56
SPEAKER_00: I always have opinions.
44:57
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say that we have to remember that a dance competition is three people's opinions and it's not the end-all be-all.
45:08
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we want every dancer to do their best, but at the end of the day, this is not like how you do in a competition is not gonna reflect any outcome of your career.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: It may influence it, but it's never gonna be like you're not gonna get a job because you only got seventh overall, you didn't get first overall.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: And so it's you just everyone just has to remember that it's three people's isolated opinions.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of it isn't in terms of competition, like scoring.
45:34
SPEAKER_00: Like we can't it's it's a hard, hard line, like we kind of talked about about how to differentiate and make sure that we're given the routines, the score it deserves, and the ramifications that we're given.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: And just having fun.
45:46
SPEAKER_00: It's all about just having fun, but more importantly, it's about what you're doing in the studio and how you're bettering yourself.
45:51
SPEAKER_00: And that's for me, at the end of the day, that is that's a dancer that I constantly want to watch and give those high like I want them to work for that score.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: And those are the dancers that I feel like do it.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: So just remember why you dance and just do it because you love it.
46:03
SPEAKER_01: Dancers should only compare themselves to themselves.
46:07
SPEAKER_01: If they feel they've grown and did better than their last performance, then that's all that matters.
46:12
SPEAKER_01: I think that students, teachers, and parents need to remember that when you go to a dance competition, you are paying for a subjective experience.
46:20
SPEAKER_01: So you just have to keep that in mind.
46:21
SPEAKER_01: You can take it with a grain of salt.
46:23
SPEAKER_01: Take what you will and apply it.
46:24
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't like other things, then that's okay.
46:27
SPEAKER_01: But you have to remember it's very, very subjective.
46:30
SPEAKER_01: And we're not, we're not, as judges, we're not fighting the dancer.
46:34
SPEAKER_01: We actually want the best for the dancer, and we're gonna do everything that we can to help better the dancer.
46:41
SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for tuning into this month's episode of QA with Courtney, and shout out to our guests Sam and Shelly for jumping in to help answer some of your questions.
46:50
SPEAKER_02: If you'd like to follow our guests on Instagram, you can follow Sam at SamQuin and Shelly at ShellyFig.
46:57
SPEAKER_02: Don't forget to head over to Apple Podcasts now to rate us and leave us a fabulous review.
47:02
SPEAKER_02: We love hearing from all of you listeners, and we may even share your review live on the air in an upcoming episode.
47:09
SPEAKER_02: Hey dancers! Have you heard about IBA's new virtual dance competition?
47:13
SPEAKER_02: Open a solo list through groups.
47:14
SPEAKER_02: Our online-only event takes place right from the comfort of your home.
47:18
SPEAKER_02: Submit your video now to receive personalized feedback from the best judges in the business.
47:22
SPEAKER_02: We offer customized judging panels, additional feedback, and even teacher-only critiques to help take your performance to the next level.
47:29
SPEAKER_02: Dancers can win sponsored prizes, judges choice awards, and our high score overalls will win CAP.
47:35
SPEAKER_02: Interested in competing?
47:37
SPEAKER_02: Head to our website now and register your dance to compete alongside others from around the world.
47:42
SPEAKER_02: We can't wait to see you on the virtual stage.
47:45
SPEAKER_02: Coming up in the next few weeks, we have some great topics, including cross-training during quarantine, a special interview with dance seniors, and so much more.
47:52
SPEAKER_02: Stay subscribed on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, and don't forget to tune in every Monday for new episodes.
47:59
SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for tuning in to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
48:03
SPEAKER_02: We hope you and your dance families are staying safe and healthy.
48:06
SPEAKER_02: Until next time, keep dancing.