Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Recreational vs. Competitive Dance - Understanding the Differences

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Recreational vs. Competitive Dance - Understanding the Differences · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: 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_02: In today's dance world, there's room for all kinds of dancers, from those wanting to immerse themselves fully into the art form to those who just want to dip their toes in for fun.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Today on Making the Impact, we hone in on two seemingly opposite sides of the spectrum of dance, recreational and competitive, and break down what each of these terms means in the dance world today.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_06: Happy holidays, dance world! Welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_06: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: Hey Courtney, I am right here, literally, finally.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: After like two months of podcasting from my home with my sad foot.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: Now I walked up the stairs to your place and we're podcasting.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_06: You drove here, you walked on the streets of New York, you walked up my stairs, and you're sitting next to me, finally, for the first time in a long time.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_06: The magic of NYU Hospital Center.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh, yay! I am so happy you're doing better and you're walking and so happy that you're here sitting next to me.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_06: I'm pumped about this episode this week.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_06: We're talking about recreational dance versus competitive dance.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_06: And we're gonna dive deep into what that means, what the difference is, and talk about, you know, different perspectives on both from our fabulous guests that are joining us today that we'll introduce to you soon.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_06: They're so they're so great.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_06: I'm so pumped for this one.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_06: But yeah, it's it's a great little holiday season over here in IDA world.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_06: We're very grateful and thankful for all of you listeners who keep tuning in week after week, because like I mentioned in the past two episodes, we have officially hit a hundred thousand listens on Making the Impact, which is so exciting.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh, can't believe it.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_06: Truly can't believe it.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_06: And we couldn't do it without all of y'all for everyone's support, for everyone who has subscribed, for everyone who has left a review, for everyone who has joined our Facebook group, which don't forget to do that.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_06: Making the impact a dance competition podcast community.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_06: It's free to join.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_06: Come hang out, chat, dance with us over there.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_06: We do some giveaways, we do live episodes, it's a lot of fun.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_06: And uh we are excited to see where the podcast continues to go throughout the rest of the season and seasons beyond.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_06: Seasons beyond.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_06: To infinity and beyond.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_06: So thanks everybody.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_06: We we love you all.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_06: Shout out to all the fans out there.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: And as usual, we would love to tell you about one of our sponsors, because we couldn't literally couldn't do this without them.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: Dance Costumes by Erzua is one of our season sponsors, and they offer high-end custom one-of-a-kind costumes for all genres.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: From your edgy contemporary to professional tutus for ballet, from subtle Leos to sparkly unitards, sweet lyrical to fun me school theater.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: Choose from a wide selection of fabrics, including hand painted and custom printed fabric.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Add feathers, rhinestones, and any other materials to bring your vision to life.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: Receive 15% off in all costumes using the code IMPAT15 at checkout.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks so much, Dance Costumes by Urzua, for sponsoring this week's episode.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_06: Check them out at DanceCostumesByUrzua.com.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_06: All right, and you've heard us talk about our Buy MeACoffee platform on Kofi.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_06: And that is where you can donate to our podcast, and all donations will go directly back into producing future episodes for you.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_06: And we have been getting a ton of donations lately.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_06: So thank you so much to everyone that has donated as little as$3.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_06: Some of our fans have donated as much as$30.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_06: It's wonderful and so exciting.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_06: We're so, so, so grateful.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_06: And if you would like to donate to our podcast and help us produce those future episodes, you can click the link in our show notes or visit kofi.com/slash making the impact to donate now and buy us a coffee.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: One of our most recent donations comes from Sarah T, and she says, Feeling grateful for Courtney and Leslie on this Thanksgiving Eve, your podcast provides endless education and entertainment as I sit in the dance studio parking lot while my daughter is in class.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: I look forward to your new episodes each week.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: Keep up with the excellent work.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yay! Aw, thanks, Sarah T.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm so glad are your companions in the dance studio parking lot.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: Probably every night of the week.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I hope you enjoy our voices.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you do.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: So we really appreciate your support.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, we love you, Sarah T.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you so much.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_06: All right, listeners.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_06: It's time to meet our very special guests that are joining us this week on the pod.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_06: And we have two brand new guests to the podcast.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_06: Cannot wait for you to learn more about them.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_06: The very first guest that I'm excited to welcome is a brand new IDA judge on the roster this season.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_06: And she is a competitive director at a studio as well as a dance mom.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_06: I'm so excited to welcome Katie Cruz to the podcast.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome, Katie.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_04: Yay, thank you.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_04: I'm so excited to be here.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_04: I do have to say, you two ladies kept me awake on a 19-hour drive from Connecticut.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_04: That's when I really got into the podcast.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I'm like out loud and my daughter's trying to sleep in the back seat.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_04: Like, what are you yelling about?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_04: So um, yeah, like I've had many where you were like, I agree with you, you just didn't know it.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to be here.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that makes my heart so happy.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_06: I love doing that.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_04: And that's a long drive from Connecticut.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_04: It's a very long drive, but I get to do it again in February, weather permitting.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_06: So you have a kid in college.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_06: Is that what's going on?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_04: Well, no, she is assisting on a convention.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_04: So I drive everywhere.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_04: So my gosh.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_04: So you have we have seen the whole east coast of the country, so it's nice.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_04: And I take you guys with me.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_04: You just didn't know it.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: We're on a little tour.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_06: I love it.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_06: Well, thanks for being a Die Hard podcast fan.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_06: And then also joining us on the IBA judging roster for this season.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_06: We're so excited to have you.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_06: And if you wouldn't mind sharing with the dance world out there a little bit more about who you are, where you're based, any credits you'd like to share, and if you want to give a shout out to your studio as well.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_04: So I have been teaching for 20 plus years.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_04: I have taught in the St.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_04: Louis area for most of my time.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_04: But while my husband was active military for nine years, I've also had the opportunity to teach in Seattle and in upstate New York at a couple studios.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_04: So that's been really interesting and fun.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_04: But we've been back here in St.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_04: Louis, I would say, since 2009.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_04: So a little over 10 years.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_04: This is where we were born, raised, grew up.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_04: This is where I got my base for dance.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_04: I actually started out at Dance Productions Unlimited, which is where I currently work.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_04: So it was kind of fun to have my kids come back home.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_04: And now I teach at the studio that I grew up at.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_04: So that's really cool.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_04: I have four kids, three girls and one boy.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_04: My oldest graduated during COVID.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_04: We could do a whole podcast about that because that was fun to do as well.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_04: Um, yeah.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_04: And then um my middle child is 17, and my youngest, I have 13-year-old boy girl twins.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_04: All three of my girls dance.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yeah.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_04: So uh my last girl was a bonus girl.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_04: Not that she wasn't wanted, but we were really trying for that boy, and out came Andrea.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, uh, all three of them have danced since they were like three years old.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_04: They grew up in a studio.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_04: They probably know more about it than I do.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_04: But uh it's it's been a ride, and now we're starting to near the end of it, which is kind of scary a little bit because I've never done this job without a kid next to me.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_04: So I'll know how that feels in the next five years.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_04: Judging is super new, super excited to be on the IDA roster for this season.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_04: I feel like now that my kids are grown and a little bit more self-sufficient, I can start to break out of just that teaching role and do some other things.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm super grateful for that opportunity.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_04: I'm really looking forward to it.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_04: And let's see.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_04: Uh yeah, I teach at Dance Productions Unlimited in Arnold, Missouri.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_04: You can find us on the Instagram at Dance Productions Unlimited.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_04: I've been there now for almost four years.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_04: I've been their competitive director for the last two, still doing the same job I've always done.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_04: My boss was just super awesome and decided that I needed a title.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm a little bit more involved with.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it it the rec, I was like, I don't really need that.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_04: And she's like, no, you deserve it.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_04: And I was like, kind of cried a little bit because that meant a lot after 20 years of teaching and doing what I do to just have a title.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_04: So here I am.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, I do I teach in our studio, I teach the baby babies all the way up to adult classes.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_04: I don't do the hip hop so much, but everything else I I love to do.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_04: And yeah, so that's pretty much me in a nutshell.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_04: Dance mom extraordinaire, comp director.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_04: I also make dance costumes.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_04: You can check me out on the Instagram at Cruise Creations with 2K's, not C's.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, that's that's me.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_04: Very excited to be here.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_06: Yay! So excited to have you.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you so much for joining us.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_06: All right, and our next very special guest that I am so excited to have on this episode.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_06: She is very well known in the dance world.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_06: So I hope y'all know who I'm about to say.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_06: She is an educator, she is a mentor, and she is just a fabulous person.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_06: I admire from a distance on the internet.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_06: And I'm so happy to have her joining us on the podcast officially.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_06: I'm excited to welcome Julie Kay Stock up to the podcast.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome, Julie.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_05: Hi guys, I'm so happy to be here and very grateful that and honored that you asked me.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're super pumped to have you here.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_05: So a little bit about myself.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_05: I was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_05: My senior year in high school, my dad died of a brain aneurysm suddenly.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_05: And I have three older brothers that are 18 years older than me.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_05: So surprise in New Orleans on Bourbon Street.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_05: I've always wanted to be a dancer my whole life.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_05: I was born and raised in a like literally born inside the dance studio.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_05: I kind of say that because I feel like I've lived there my whole life.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_05: But I was raised in a Christian dance studio, which is a little bit different.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_05: And I know, right?
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_05: So my dance teacher's still my best friend.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_05: And during when my mother was passing, my dance teacher was the one that was there for me, helping me with my three young children.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_05: So it's like I just love it.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_05: It's all of the worlds that connected me to my love of dance, to my dance teacher.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_05: So after my dad died, I went to Branson, Missouri, close to UK, and was a magician's assistant, and then met this really hot guy named Daryl.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_05: And he was also in a magic show.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_05: And so we made magic.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_05: Um he was actually moving to Las Vegas, and I said, Let's go.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_05: So uh we moved to Las Vegas.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_05: He continued working with Magician, and then I became a Vegas show girl.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_05: And then we moved to Los Angeles, where I opened up a studio, but I also worked for American Basketball Association, did stuff like that, and really found my love of teaching and built a studio from 25 to 500.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_05: And the lady was like, it's too much, I can't handle that, I'm out.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_05: And so that's when I took over the studio.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_05: And after 15 years through COVID and my mother passing and all of that, I was like, you know, it's time for me to move home and build my life in Little Rock and not have to worry about all of that.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_05: In Los Angeles during the pandemic, it was a lot.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_05: So I have three kids and my beautiful husband of 24 years.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_05: We have an my oldest son, Jet, he is 15.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_05: He is a wrestler and loves Boy Scouts and will become an Eagle Scout soon.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_05: Very proud of that.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_05: My middle son, he is 14 next Friday, and he is a diehard football.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_05: Like he's ready to be a Dallas Cowboy right this week.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_05: He actually sleeps with his football.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_05: And then my daughter is she just turned 11 and no, 12.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_05: She just turned 12.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_05: And he's a diehard dancer, absolutely loves it.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_05: Inside the dance studio 12 hours a week.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely, you know, just a diehard.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_05: But my husband was also a Power Ranger for a long time and did lots of um, you know, fight scenes and you know, just different things like that.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_05: So my kids now are both now wrestlers.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_05: Gage went into wrestling after football, so we're hoping that all of his amazing coordination with the fighting world came together and hopefully he's gonna knock them dead, right?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's bad.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_05: We have a competition on the other side now.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_05: I work for an amazing company called LA Dance Magic with the amazing Jackie Slight, and I've been on faculty for about five years.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_05: I create their mini program for them and their teacher program, and I'm a mentor to the junior junior company.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_05: I'm a certified life coach, and I'm also certified in helping special needs dancers, which is a huge passion of mine.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_05: I help an orphanage over in Haiti that I love.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_05: And I have a company called Team Julie K.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_05: After selling my studio, we have 150 clients.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_05: It's a monthly membership, and it's not for studio owners, it's for dance teachers that you know need a little bit of extra help.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_05: And so I create every every day of the week I have something for them, and it's a very inexpensive um route for teachers who are having a hard time affording things during this hard time.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_05: And I will keep it at that low rate because I know how hard it is as a teacher to find, you know, plug-and-play things for the day, you know, inside the classroom.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm teaching four hours a week, but I'm a full-time mom and I hit the road every weekend judging and dancing with Ellie Dance Magic.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_05: And that was too much.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna shut my mouth.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_06: No, it's wonderful.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_06: I love hearing both of both of y'all's like everything that you've done and everything in your career and what you're currently doing now.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_06: It's amazing.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_06: Y'all are busy ladies, and I am so grateful that you were able to squeeze us into joining us for this episode.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_06: So thank you so much for joining us.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_06: Let's jump in and chat.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_06: Recreational versus competitive.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: So this is, you know, we've we've had a lot of success with our versus episodes.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like it always feels very dramatic, I feel like.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: And this one is probably no different really.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, I think it always helps to define what we're talking about.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we did that with Lyrical versus Contemporary.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: That made that, you know, was helpful for people to understand truly, like which one is which.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: So let's do that with recreational versus competitive.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: I would love to hear, Katie, your death sort of definition of a recreational dancer.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, in our studio, recreational dancer doesn't compete.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_04: They're those kids that show up, could be one, could be four classes, a little bit what we kind of like to call our bread and butter students.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_04: You know, they're the kids that honestly are going to be anybody under the age of 10, that's the future of our studio.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_04: Those are the kids that we're looking at to keep on our competition team.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_04: So that's kind of where we're at with recreational.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_04: It's those kids that show up.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_04: They're there to have fun, they're there to learn.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_04: Some of them will just take classes maybe until they're seniors, you know what I mean, in high school and never compete competitively.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe some of them are taking classes because they want to join, like, you know, their cheer team or their high school dance team, but they just maybe don't have like the drive necessarily.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_04: Or a lot of them once they they'll be interested in comp and then once they see what actually goes into comp, like the schedule, they decide that it's not really for us.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_04: We're just gonna stick where we're at, and that's great.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_04: There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_04: So that's what I kind of view a recreational dancer as.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_04: Julie, anything to add?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I mean, what you said was amazing.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_05: And um, you know, it's I'm gonna kind of go off for a second and and say that it's so important if you're a studio owner listening to this podcast or a dance teacher, is that you need to make sure that your guidelines are very self-explanatory for dancers that are entering this world.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_05: And so, you know, for me as a studio owner, I wish that I would have been smarter of saying, okay, so here's what we need to do.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_05: This is what recreational dance is on paper, and this is what it is for an advanced dancer, competitive dancer.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_05: Because I I think that what they think is dance moms immediately cutthroat, yeah, you know, pyramid or whatever, they don't understand what it is that it can be a very healthy environment, but you have to make sure that you you've delivered the uh description and the expectations.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_05: So I think that recreational, you know, we had around 1,300 kids in our studio, and I'm gonna say 1200, 1,200 of them were rec kids.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_05: Wow.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_05: And a hundred of them were competitive dancers.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_05: But I will say, if I were to go back and own a studio again for all the listeners out there, make sure that it's not a divide.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_05: That your recreational kids are just as much loved and put on social media as much as the leg grabbing$400 costume, you know, dancer.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_05: So, and I think that that's my advice right now for them to understand because if you don't do that, you will lose recreational kids for them not feeling the value and the worth that they need to feel.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_03: Right, absolutely recreational.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly what Katie said.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_05: I agree a thousand percent.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_05: I just wanted to kind of touch up on that because sometimes I think listeners need to understand like you don't have to win double titanium, platinum, you know, 14 medals and you know, have it all over your neck.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_05: And it's not about that.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's about the experience and what you take away and more than anything, building the confidence in that child to maybe try out for the college dance team or the dance, the dance team in college, you know, and become a major or a minor.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_05: It's okay.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_05: Sorry, I had to go off a little bit.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, that's this.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_06: We love this.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_06: So helpful.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_06: It's so helpful.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_05: What you said was perfect.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_04: I couldn't say it better.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_04: And we also have like it's a new program.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_04: We kind of keep like tweaking it each season.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_04: We started it a few seasons ago.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_04: It's actually called our apprentice program.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_04: And it's for kids that are interested in comp and maybe the parents, because like we have a parent meeting at the beginning of the year, and I mean we give the breakdown of everything from earrings to like what your comp fees are, costume fees, so they know what they're getting into, as including schedule, the amount of hours that they're the minimum amount of hours they're required to be there.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_04: And if parents think it's a little bit much, if kids aren't quite sure, or they come to audition for our competition team and we're like, they're just not quite there yet.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_04: So we have this new program, it's called the Apprentice Program.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_04: They come in, they train with our comp kids.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_04: They take all their mandatory classes.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_04: Some of them, if they've been doing it for a couple of years, they're now under studies to the competition dances so that they can see how fast of a pace they're actually learning.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_04: And it seems to be working so well.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_04: Like last, I think the very first year we did it, we had one little girl because we didn't really know what to call it, what to name it.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_04: We weren't sure.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_04: And it was also during COVID, so everybody was learning virtually, but it really worked.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_04: She came back, she auditioned the next year.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_04: We were like, holy cow, like this is a thing.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_04: Like, we actually have like kids that could do this.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_04: And we actually have four apprentices on our team of 66 this year.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm already looking at them, and some of them are like two of them are minis, so they're under the age of eight.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_04: They come, they train, they're having a blast.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm already looking at the parents, going, yeah.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_04: So next year when she comes and she auditions, she's gonna be gold.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_04: Like, so good.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, that really seems to be kind of bridging the gap also between our recreational students and our competitive students in our studio.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: I love I love that idea.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I think there's a lot of studios that do have that sort of structure because there is, there's usually that little sort of middle ground of kids and parents.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we have to really, as dance educators over here and judges and people who like see kids first on a daily basis, you know, parents are picking people up in cars like now, nobody's seeing a parent anymore.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: But like the parents are really factoring into whether their kids are recreational or competitive or not.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: That's not just a kid's decision because of the schedule and the money and the time.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, commitment.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and the other kids, y'all all have like four kids, you know.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: There's there's other children.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: And their their interests and their interests are just as important.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, and so I think the the level that, and I we're gonna jump to this apparently now because this is where we're going, but that intermediate level is almost what the apprenticeship-esque programs serve, yeah.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's sort of just that in-between.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like we we want to do more than this, but we don't know if we want to do all of this.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: Where do we belong?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: And you belong in that middle ground, which let's talk about that middle ground.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_06: Well, I I have a question before I actually am curious before we go to that middle ground, because uh can we define what we think what we believe is a competitive dancer?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_06: Good point.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_06: Can we clarify what all of us as educators believe that is?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_06: Because I think that's getting a little wishy-washy in the industry as far as the difference between all of these different levels that competitions have created for us.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_06: So, what do y'all think is a competitive dancer?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_05: There's some competitions that have level one, level two, and level three.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_05: And I find sometimes when those competitions come out, higher level dancers go into a lower level to win.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_05: Correct.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_05: And then teachers on the other side, teachers feel that like that their kids feel like they're failing.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_05: And so, you know, it's there's always going to be cheaters.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_05: And I hate saying that, but it's so true.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_05: I say things that that's the right word.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_05: That's what I say anyway, because it's just who I am.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_05: Um, a beginner dancer to me, now they're gonna be a dancer that's been dancing for 15 years, but still at a beginning level, and that's okay.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_05: It's not it doesn't mean that you're training them incorrectly, it's just they're they're a different kind of learner.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_05: So that's where we it gets a little wishy-washy, right?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_05: Ultimately, what I think needs to happen is how many hours a week that you're putting in at the dance studio and how many hours a week you're putting in at home.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_05: Because I think that dancers go to the studio and they go, perfect, I'm done, I'm gonna go home.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_05: Well, my daughter, being a dance studio, like an owner's daughter, she knows that she needs to come home and at least stretch a half an hour a day.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_05: And so when she's doing her homework, she is still stretching.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_05: And instead of playing on TikTok, you know, she's sitting there going, okay, I need to stretch, and but I'm gonna do it while I'm I'm doing my homework, right?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_05: And so I think that where we need to start as dance teachers and owners is what a beginner level does, right?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_05: Like a beginner level for me is like a single pirouette, the learning of how to close a chasse, the transitions, the getting up off the floor instead of heel ball toe, how to get up gracefully.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, basically the and I have some notes behind me that I know that you probably can't see, but it's helping me remember is different staging and and how like if you're a beginner dancer and let's say you're a beginning group, I think that two or three positions is enough, not 18, because the traffic patterns get a little ugly.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_05: But they also need to learn the basic of stage direction.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_05: Corner one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, either balancing or chaquetti.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_05: I don't care.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_05: I love the chaquetti, don't get mad at me.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_05: But they need to learn the basic of stage direction.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_05: And so then the intermediate level is you know, more position changes, better transitions, maybe a double pirouette, a different, you know, a double stag, a barrel jump, not a switch lead, not and a beginner dancer should not have all the secones in their in their dance.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_05: We're not Barishnakoff or Rudolph Nuria.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_05: So for the intermediate dancer needs to up it, but also musically stylized, yeah, and they need to learn what the definition is of their dance.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_05: And then the advanced dancer is more rotations, harder level leaps, better musicality, better stage directions, more difficult maybe lifts, partnering groundwork and performance level.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_05: So I kind of wanted to go through that whole thing, and I'm sure I'm leaving some things out, but I hope I helped you.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_06: Katie, anything to add for competitive?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_04: I agree 100%.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_04: I think a lot of like what I see like in our studio is from our intermediate to our advanced dancers, it's it's the drive.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_04: It's that they're not putting in just the minimum amount of work.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_04: Those are the kids that are going to extra conventions, they're taking extra online classes, they're stretching at home.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_04: If they come in the studio and a room's open, they're like, hey, can I go back in there and work on this?
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_04: And I think that's what a little bit of the separation is.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_04: What I see a lot of though is how these, then the intermediate dancer, and I say that with air quotes, they want to be advanced, but they don't necessarily want to put in the work that it takes to get there because all they see, they don't see that kid walk in at three o'clock and say, I'm gonna go in the back room and work on, you know, my choreography, or I'm gonna stretch, or I'm gonna work on my acro tricks.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_04: They see what they put up on stage and that, oh, they won first, second, tenth, or you know, they got this special award.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_04: They want that, but they don't maybe necessarily want to put in the hours that go along with that.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_04: They just want to do the bare minimum.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: Or they want to do 15 other things.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you know what I mean.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's it's I think that's that's always such a big thing.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, you know, I was I really, really wanted to dance, but I also really wanted to sing and I really wanted to be a musical theater.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so like I chose to do all those things in service of a greater goal later, but like I probably would have been a much better dancer had I just period danced, period, the end, period.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so like I think it's it's a lot of decision making on the part of the kids too.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_06: And I know like there's I've I've and I'm glad you said that.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_06: I feel like that there are advanced dancers who have that same feeling as, well, am I should I should I be devoting this much time to dance because I do want to be on Broadway one day and I don't have time for my voice lessons, and I don't have time to be in the musical at school or whatever it is, you know?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_06: So I think there is a it is a tough balance, but at the end of the day, like I all of these, all of these descriptions of each are so valid and so important.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_06: I love what you said, Katie, about just the difference in drive.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_06: And yeah, I don't mean to sound negative when it comes to the intermediate level, but if you've listened to the podcast before, you you know my thoughts on it.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_06: So there's that.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_06: Go listen to our levels episode from season one, where we talk about yell that very much.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, preach.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_06: Please, preach.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_06: I just I don't know.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_06: I I feel like that intermediate level, I like the fact that, you know, that they can have the flexibility to do a little bit more.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_06: But at this, at the end of the day, it's like they want they want to win, but the like I I don't know.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_06: It's like they want everything.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_06: And they're not putting the time in, they're not putting the technique in, they're not putting like almost like they're just like drilling routines over and over again.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_06: Which another thing that's I'm gonna say about that, and I've said it many times, is the hours of training that you were talking about, Julie, and the way that you defined that was hours in the studio, I think is what you said, not hours in technique class.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_06: There's a difference, and I think everyone is abusing that when it comes to defining where their dancer fits in a level.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_06: Because everyone's like, well, my kid only dances three hours a week in ballet and jazz class, but they're at rehearsal for 10 hours a week.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_06: So at in my head, you are an advanced dancer at that point.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_06: And that's where usually what what I just described, that dancer would fall in the intermediate category in it as far as definitions of competitions and how they word the definitions of each level, but also then the parents will defend it, then the studios will defend it.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_06: And I'm like, but take a step back and realize how how many days a week is your kid going to the studio?
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_06: That is training time.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_06: The moment they step foot into the studio is training, regardless if you're choosing to run competition between 24-7 or apply that into more valuable ballet tap, jazz, hip-hop, all of your, you know, essential training styles.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_06: So that's where the frustration lies for me because we're really trusting teachers and parents that they're putting their kids in the proper levels because I don't know what goes on at your studio.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know what your weekly schedule is, every kid's different.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_06: But like you said, Julie, people are cheating.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_06: People are abusing it.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_06: Let's be real.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_05: And you know what?
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, and and I was gonna add something, Cordy.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_05: Like when whenever if all studio owners out there listening, all teachers out there listening, I am a very basic teacher and I believe in the power of the basics.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_05: I do because simple is where we need to go back to it.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, please.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_05: So here's the thing.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_05: If let's say Katie has her daughter and her daughter's name, I what tell me your daughter's name?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_05: Andrea.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_05: Andrea.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, so it is my job as a studio owner to print up every competitive dancer's schedule.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_05: And you can spend 10 minutes with each family member, right?
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_05: And so I'm gonna go through and say, okay, Andrea has three hours of ballet, two hours of jazz, one hour of musical theater, one hour of tap, and then five hours of rehearsal.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_05: Let's look at her her schedule overall and let's talk about the balance of her life.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_05: Because we're coming out of COVID.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_05: We've got kids that mentally are not strong enough to handle the things that they were pre before this.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_05: And so I think it is a very important thing.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_05: And I used to do this with my students.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_05: I would spend 15 minutes with all of my dance companies, and then we would have family meetings about this.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_05: And it prevented lots of arguments, lots of, you know, alternate endings to these dramatic moments of like ultimately, what is your Katie?
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_05: Do you want your kid to be in the top 10 every time?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, you do.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, great.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_05: Or no, you don't.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_05: Got that.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_05: Because if we don't talk to these parents and we're not on the same page, that's when things derail.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_05: That's when people fall off the bandwagon.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_05: Hey, the Katie did not do a good job coaching my kids.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_05: She didn't tell you.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_05: Right, but here's the thing we don't lay that groundwork and write it out and make it very simple.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_05: I have um a little wheel behind me.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_05: Um, and what I do is I put the dancer's name in there and I'll say, what are all of the things that we're involved in?
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_05: And let's figure out how to balance our time with, you know, maybe 10 minutes at home on my musical theater expressions, 10 minutes at home on my my relevaes while I'm brushing my teeth to get my ankles stronger.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_05: There's ways to put these in here, but if we don't lay that groundwork right for the parents, then they're gonna start to look at other dance studios.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_05: They're winning better than we are.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_05: They, they're this, this, this, this.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_05: We have to lay the groundwork first.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_05: The foundation is the most important thing.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_05: So then they know they're on the right track.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_05: And if they don't know, then they're gonna assume and then that's when the cancer starts evolving.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_06: Totally.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_06: Oh preach, Julie Kay, preach.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_06: Sorry, I went off.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_06: I love it.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_06: Go off every time all the time.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_06: Please go off all the time.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it's just it's sad that we don't put we we're not thinking, we're thinking about the competition numbers and entering them, but we're not thinking about the vision board of what this solo is that you just spent$400 on.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_05: They don't even know the title of their song.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_05: And if the song, like I had a little girl get up on stage, right?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_05: And it's called Smile.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_05: Not one time did she smile.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_06: Come on.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_05: So you you talk about it.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_05: What makes you smile?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_05: Katie, I'm sure butterflies make you smile, rainbows make you smile.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_05: Think about the things that make you smile.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_05: Vision those in your head of what your story is, so then you can smile if your title smells.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_06: Right, but you know she nailed her her aerial in her double-A catch turn.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_05: Oh my god.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_05: The crotch mom was ever.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: But she didn't smile while she did it, so I took a point off.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_05: No, because it was like.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_06: So we kind of talked about intermediate just a little bit, but and I feel like our definitions of recreational are so valid and strong.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_06: I'm curious.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_06: We've talked about this many times on different episodes of the podcast, but like how the evolution of competitive dance has evolved over the past 15 years.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_06: Because when I was growing up as a competitive dancer in the 90s and early 2000s, we didn't really have levels yet.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_06: And it was either you were competitive or you're recreational.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_06: Or you're at a dance studio, period.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they didn't show up.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_04: It was first, second, third, and you had to win that in order to move up to the intermediate level.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_04: And then past third place, it was like, here's your green ribbon.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for playing.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, right.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_04: And then now you walk in, and I tell parents when they come in, I'm like, we will have a meeting before that first comp because it's worse than T-ball.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_04: You have no idea what's going on because you're like, well, wait, what's this score?
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_04: And what's a platinum?
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_04: But wait, they got fifth overall, but wait, they got an award, but wait, what's the?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, you know, you need like a diagram.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's amazing.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't know, like personally, like there have been very few times like my kids have gone to a competition and have been placed in the intermediate category.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_04: There's only a couple that they've gone to, and when they were placed intermediate, it was because the competition looked at their age and the amount of hours that they danced and said they're intermediate.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_04: To which we called and said, She's 16 years old.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_04: She has never competed intermediate since she was nine.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_04: Can you bump her up?
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_04: They said yes.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_04: But now my nine-year-old, they made her stay in the intermediate.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_04: I keep saying it with bunny ears, sorry.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_04: The intermediate category, to which then another teacher approached my teacher and said, with my kid backstage, goes, Why is she in the intermediate category?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_04: She is not intermediate.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_04: And this my teacher said, Well, A, I didn't register her, another teacher did, but B, the competition wouldn't let us put her advanced.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_04: Now my daughter only one second overall, but you know what I mean?
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_04: I think there's certain times, certain competitions don't give you the option to put your kids where they're supposed to be because of the amount of hours that they dance or their age, because it says they have to have had to have competed for seven years and she's only nine years old.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_04: Well, clearly she's only been competing since she was five, you know?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_04: So I think that's where the intermediate category also can get wishy-washy at certain competitions because we as studio owners or competition directors, we don't have the power to actually put our kids where we think they should be.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_04: Sorry, rant there for a second.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_04: Because, you know, it really it was an issue.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_04: I was like, I don't understand.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_04: If I'm asking to bump her up, then why can't you?
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not asking you to bump her down.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_04: Down, right?
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, there's I see that a lot.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_04: We went to a comp.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_04: It was our, we went, I'll just say we went to a comp over the summer.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_04: And there is, we're looking at some of these kids in the intermediate level, and I'm like, they're advanced, but then trying to play devil's advocate and they won everything, mind you.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yay, you won in the intermediate category.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_04: Who really cares?
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_04: Let's be honest.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I don't even think it should be a top 10.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_04: Cut and dry.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_04: No top 10, no title.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_04: You get that if you are in the advanced category.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_04: I wish every competition was like that.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_04: Anyways, but I sit there and try to play devil's advocate and go, okay, but what if at this studio those are their intermediate dancers?
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_04: Because their advanced dancers are so much better.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_04: So then how does that work?
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_04: If you're going off of the hours, I mean, are other studio owners supposed to put themselves in like our shoes?
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_04: Because our intermediate dancers are truly intermediate dancers.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 36:25
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• 37:12
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• 37:26
  SPEAKER_06: Something that stemmed from what you were just saying is I think that it a lot of people can't distinguish the intermediate, like in that example that you just said, Katie, when the studio overall is just trained very well.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_06: Even their intermediate dancers are trained very well.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_06: So they look better than the rest of the intermediate dancers who don't have the same quality training as that studio.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_06: But here's the thing where kind of gets a little sticky for me.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_06: Let's say that intermediate, that is the intermediate group at this studio, whatever studio we're talking about, and they're trained extremely well.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_06: But they rehearse and train the more, you know, they fall technically into the advanced level because that's how much they train.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_06: But the studio owner is gonna make the call and say, but they're not as good as our advanced, so we're gonna put them in intermediate.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_06: And this happens all the time.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_06: I can't tell you how many people try to ask me questions all the time.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_06: They're like, but but there's always a but.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_06: But but they don't they don't do this and they don't do that.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_06: And I don't care.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_06: Like, look at the rules.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_06: If the rules say that they belong in advanced, then let your advanced team cream your intermediate team.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_06: That's what competition is about.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_06: Like, I don't, it's not about the first place win.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_06: And I'm so with you, Katie.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_06: Like, I work for so many different competitions and I respect and I understand that they had to evolve with the industry and adding the different levels to stay afloat because that's what everyone wanted.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_06: And it has opened up competition to so many different dancers, which I love.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_06: But I think there should be some sort of incentive to be in the higher levels.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_06: I I think when we're just kind of giving everybody the you won title and you were against yourself.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_06: Congratulations.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_04: There should be no title then.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's just for the post.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_04: That's my thing is I mean, and too in the grand scheme of things, at the end of the day, five years from now, nobody cares what you placed in the intermediate or advanced category.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_04: You are not gonna walk into a job.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_04: And we tell our kids this all the time because I'm not gonna lie, I love a crown.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_04: I love a jacket, it's so pretty.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, I I dangle that, not I, but the competition dangles that in front of a dancer's face, they tend to dance a little bit harder, speaking from parental experience.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_04: I've seen my kid go out on stage and do something she's never done before because there's a crown and a big trophy and a sparkly jacket involved.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_04: And she won it.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_04: But at the end of the day, if she goes to college or, you know, to a job interview on Broadway, they're not gonna say, hey, in um 2010, did you win a title?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_04: They don't care.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_05: Who cares?
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_05: To throw something out there, the let's talk about the the owners of everybody of these conventions or competitions, right?
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_05: It would be very smart if it says beginner dancers, two to four years experience.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_05: Let's just say that's what they say, or one rotation or whatever.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_05: It would be very smart right there to have a little click button for parents to view and teachers and owners to say, this is our beginning level.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_05: Watch this two-minute release.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know what I mean?
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_05: Because then you have a better idea.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_05: I've never seen it on a on a website yet.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_05: No, and I've seen all these websites.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_05: An intermediate dancer to put what an intermediate dancer is because you know why?
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_05: They think they can break these rules because there's no vision to see of what is actually happening.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_05: So then an advanced dancer, and you go, Oh, there's there's no way my kids can compete with that.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_05: Let's go, let's I let's try this intermediate level.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_05: But then it shows the parents what to expect at this competition.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_06: That would be me.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_06: What the competition expects, which I think is helpful because every competition might have different expectations to what they feel is beginner intermediate advanced.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_06: And if there was that, you know, here's an example.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe for each genre would be even more.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_06: We can go even deeper.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_06: Absolutely, you know, because like what a beginner tap is versus what an advanced tap is are two different things.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_06: And like, and that's the other, then you know, and this is why I just feel like levels are just so tricky because then there's like, well, they're intermediate in jazz, but they're advanced in tap, but they're beginner in ballet.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_06: And it's like, no, we can't and see LA dance magic, there is no level.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_06: The convention comps don't have levels.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_04: And I do kind of like that.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_04: It's like a crock pot, and you know when you're going there that this is the way it is, which is why you know, we have like a new thing we started this year was like our travel team, and like those kids know like when you go, you're against everybody.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_04: There is no like intermediate this, that.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_04: And that's why it's not that we deter other kids from doing travel team, but it's like, you know, you compete in the intermediate level, you know, you're not ready to go to this major event where like all these big studios are coming.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_04: Now, there are some conventions though that I do like where it's more of like a showcase for instead of a competition, which then that's great because the dancers get feedback.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_04: It's they don't feel defeated if you know they didn't like get a platinum.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_04: Because I mean, I've had that happen where, you know, speaking as a dance mom, because I can always, because I have three girls, where it's like they go and it's like, dang, you know, I place in the top 10 every single time we go to comp, but I went to this convention and like I didn't place at all, you know.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_04: And I think sometimes my kids may get they have gotten a little bit defeated by that, but at the same time, they're gonna look back and also go, this is the caliber of talent though, that I was offering.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_04: Because on the flip side of, you know, saying, well, what if this going back to like, you know, intermediate level, but like how I was saying, what if their intermediate dancers are like advanced, but that's their intermediate.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_04: It also goes the flip side where I've yeah, I've gone to competitions and I've watched studios put their kids in the advanced level, and I'm like, that's not advanced, but that's their advanced.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_04: So I just I think it comes like I just think studio owners, competition directors, teachers, like, yes, it's a lot of hours, but I mean, okay, I'm gonna go back to third grade.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_04: We all learned our timetables at the same time.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_04: My rocket ship was stuck on the threes for weeks while all my friends watched me because I couldn't memorize them.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_04: So just because we're teaching everybody the same steps, everybody learns it at a different pace.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_04: And I just think studio owners, we all need to keep that in mind.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_04: When we are putting kids in these levels, because I feel like those beginner and intermediate levels are for those newly recreational, newly competitive dancers that are just starting to get their feet wet.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I wouldn't take you know an 11-year-old, it's her second year on the team, and we gave her a solo and said, Okay, now go up against this kid that places in the top 10 or the top five every single time.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_04: That's just not fair.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_04: That's an unfair advantage, and it's not gonna build their confidence, you know what I mean?
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_05: So what we do at LA Dance Magic, I love we start at age four, four to like four to seven for the Magic Mini room.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_05: And when we created this room, um, what was really smart about it is that all my magic minis get to perform with me and the faculty show on Sunday.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_05: They don't they can wear whatever they want to wear.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_05: We don't have to look perfect, but I dance with them on stage.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_05: And it's an opportunity if you have your apprentice program, Katie, that they come and just take class, that they get to see it, they get to go see what the competitive dancers look like.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_05: It's important to do that for one or two years before throwing them in that in that world, right?
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, we get to perform at mag as a magic mini.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_05: That's the introduction to that world.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_05: They get together, and that was like, I get to dance with a faculty member.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_05: That is so cool.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_05: And you know what?
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_05: I dance with them, I do an ending pose with them, they learn how to get on stage, they see the lights, they dance in front of thousands of people like we did last weekend in Denver, you know, or two weeks ago in Denver.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_05: Like, it's important to introduce it to them, not throw it at them.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_05: So always make sure that if you're gonna do a convention, do the convention without competing, or just take your advanced dancers and say, hey, watch and come support these advanced dancers and let's see if you want to do it.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_05: But ask your families afterwards, is this something that you're interested in?
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_05: I don't want to throw you in something that you're not gonna like or possibly start a huge dramatic uh soap dish on, or just let me know, right?
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_05: Because you want to introduce it to them.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_05: They need to see it.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_05: It's like a trailer for a movie.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_05: Do I want to see this movie or do I not?
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: We had a really interesting, our first honestly non-five-star review recently on uh on our podcast, which I don't remember who the user was, but I did want to bring it up because she she spoke about feeling like our guests on one episode, we were talking about conventions that that are just conventions with competition attached, in which most of those don't have levels, right?
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: And she was saying something about how it felt kind of elitist that we were sort of poop or like the guest was poo-pooing like competitions with levels.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_02: And Katie, you were talking about, you know, conventions with competitions attached that don't have levels, and that's who you're br that's where you're bringing your advanced dancers.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think neither one is better or worse.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_02: It just depends on who you are and what you want.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to get creamed, listen, advanced dancers want to go somewhere and get told, not yet, do better.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_02: Here's these things you can do better, then you're gonna get that prize.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_02: Intermediate dancers want to be told, good job, here's your prize.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just that's just what it is.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't think a be a recreational dancer wants to go somewhere and get creamed.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_02: An advanced dancer has gotten to the point in their life where they are begging for a critique, they are begging for ways to get better.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: And that is why those convention competitions exist.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_06: Yep.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_02: They don't exist for recreational or intermediate dancers, they just don't.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_02: And there's nothing wrong with either one of those ways of being or dancing.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so I did want, I don't think we were planning on bringing that review up, but it did sort of just slide right in here because nobody's poo-pooing anything.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a matter of what you want as a dancer, as a studio, as a parent, like you said, Julie, get on the same page.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_02: Because if you are a dance parent of a child who wants to get creamed, let your studio owner know that.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_02: Let them know, listen, we want to go into the advanced category.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna pout when I get a silver or whatever.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_05: You don't know.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_02: You don't know, exactly.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_05: You don't know what the parents think.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, exactly.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_04: So going back to the intermediate category, because we do have this rule at our studio that if you compete more than one solo, you are competing at the advanced level.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_04: Do we need to see an intermediate dancer do two or three solos?
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_04: Should is that really an intermediate dancer?
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_06: Why isn't that a rule?
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_06: I don't think so.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_06: Like that should be in the competition's rules.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_06: We have to do that.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_06: Especially to get people to stop doing solos because oh, I feel like a lot of the a lot of people are like, oh my gosh, there's like a whole day where it's of solos and the solos don't make us any money.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_06: Competitions are are you know appre approaching it like that?
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_06: It's like, then create rules.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_06: So there's not as many solos.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_06: Or you have if you want to do your solo in the if you have three solos, you have to be advanced.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_06: Sorry about it.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_06: Like there needs to be incentives created for these levels to get everybody, you know, or you know, but I think competitions might be afraid to create those rules because it might scare people away and it comes back to the full business, you know, vicious circle.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it's it's it's all a machine, it, you know, it's a business at the end of the day.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_04: But I do feel there are a lot of competitions out there though that like will only let you do two solos.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_04: If you want a third one, you have to actually call and ask.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_04: And I think then going back also to like, you know, what Leslie was saying about, you know, the comment from the person, but the thing is too, there's so much out there right now.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I feel like conventions are kind of like old school competitions where everybody's lumped into the crock pot and it's like see what happens.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_04: But if that's not what you want, then go find a competition that has four levels and your dancer can place first overall because they give a first overall, even if you're the only person there.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I mean, that's okay.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_06: Like every every studio is different.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_06: And because of the addition to levels, it really has allowed different studios.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, there's so many times that I even see on the forums that people are like, I'm brand my studio is brand new to competitions.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_06: And I'm thinking to myself, like, competitions have been around for for a long time.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_06: Like it's shocking to me that there are studios that are just now being introduced to competitive dance, and I think that they finally feel like they can because there are these levels, that they're not as intimidated that I'm gonna get creamed by the most advanced dancer that's training however many hours a week, and my kids aren't as advanced.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_06: But I love what you mentioned earlier, Katie, about how some conventions are doing just like a showcase for the, you know, the performance opportunity.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_06: I think that is a perfect example of what the recreational division at competition should be.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_06: It should be an opportunity to get on a big stage, a brand new stage with big lights.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_06: It's an opportunity to gain feedback from three judges, but there doesn't have to be a first place.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_06: There doesn't always have to be a ranking, especially for recreational.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_06: Like they're those dancers are there because they love to dance and they want to show the audience what they're working on and smile for grandma in the audience.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_06: And it, but then it's like an extra step above recital because you still have the judges.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_06: And I don't think that there needs to be a score, and I don't think that there need you can everybody can get a participation medal or something, like great job on stage today.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_06: But when we I it's so like competition heavy as far as like everyone wants to know how I place and and that type of thing.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_06: But recreational dance, yes, you're you're going to want to progress as a dancer.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_06: That's the goal.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_06: But do we need to know if you're the first place recreational?
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_06: I don't, I don't, I don't know.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_06: I think like we said before, it's more it's become about the post.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_06: It's become uh a way of marketing a studio to say we were first place overall.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_02: And nobody knows what that means.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_02: Your your Uncle Joe doesn't know what that means.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_02: He thinks that's the best thing in the world.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_02: And you're like, but no, but okay, if you want to believe that, fine.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_06: Because no one's saying first place overall in the recreational division, 9 to 11 division at our small regional competition.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_06: Like no one's three other instruments.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_06: Where we were the only studio there, right?
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_06: So it it makes it, I it's gone in that direction, which I don't really love.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_06: And I do love the conventions and that they have the, you know, no levels, but I just find it so interesting that people don't complain about that.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, maybe they do, and I've just never seen them come knock, you know.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_06: I think that that's just like the expectation of what the convention world has set up for, well, there's no levels here.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_06: Sorry about it, take it or leave it.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_06: And then all the other conventions got on board with that and didn't feel that they had to like add the the levels.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_06: And I I respect it.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_06: I think the competitions went in a different direction where they started without levels, and then there was the pressure of, oh, we need to add more, add more, add more.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_06: And there's some competitions that have like six levels now, plus age divisions.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_06: How do you even judge that?
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_05: How do you judge that?
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's exhausting.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_05: What I do is when I get up on stage to introduce the Magic Minis, I'm like, hi everybody, I'm Julie K.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_05: Sawcup, and I am it's an honor to be here on stage.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_05: And I just want to say thank you to the parents for supporting this dance industry.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_05: And we should be grateful that we have two arms and two legs that we can actually get on stage.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_05: I throw life lessons in there because LA Dance Magic is a family-based convention.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_05: And I think that you as an owner or studio teacher has to understand what you're going into.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_05: If you're going into a and we know who they are, these high-level conventions or competitions, you know what it's gonna be like.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_05: So call, do your homework and say, hey, look, we're really new.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_05: Is this for us?
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_05: We don't want to be ashamed or feel embarrassed, right?
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_05: So it all comes back to where I said, let's start with the simplicity of it and say, look, we're a brand new studio, you know, it's Revolution Dance Center, and we've only been dancing for a year.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_05: Is this the right is this the right competition for us?
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_05: That's all you gotta do.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_05: It's all about communication and knowing where your lane is and not trying to jump into the lane of like, well, we saw them on dance moms, or we saw them on cheer task or whatever this the thing is.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_05: Like because what happens is this kids see millions of followers on this phone and they go, Okay, so I need to hire Mark so-and-so to do my solo or Becca So and so to do it because you know what, they're better than my dance teacher at my studio.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_05: So they pay these thousands of dollars to have these lavish solos where I'm like quality versus quantity making sure that you need to put your money in like if you're doing a ballet solo, let's say you're doing a ballet solo, nobody really does them, but when they do them, I guess you need to have a half an hour at the bar and working on technique and then a half an hour working on that solo, or for the groups, an hour of conditioning of like, okay, let's work on that turn section that's in here, or let's work on those leaps, and then run the dance.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_05: I see dance teachers running those routines for an hour, and the kids are burnout and exhausted.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_05: They still don't know how to get off the floor, they still don't know how to enter or exit or emote or even smile, right?
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_02: But they they've been doing that dance for six months, same one over and over again.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_05: And you're like this.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_05: I always tell everybody when they when I say, Hi, welcome to the states.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_05: This is Judge No.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_05: Julie Kay.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_05: I hope that you invite me to your party.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like bring me in.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_05: Because I, if you didn't get, I'm like, okay, you know what?
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_05: I felt like I was invited to the party, but I was shoved in the corner and I didn't get to.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_05: But then the kid gets it because they've been to a party or a birthday party where they weren't really included and it wasn't fun.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_05: That's how I related.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_05: I go right to the level and say, you know what?
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_05: I was invited and I got to meet a lot of people, but I didn't feel like it was completed at the very end, and like I didn't get to see the gifts, I didn't get to see your joy on your face.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_05: And so it's like the last page was left unwritten, or you took the brownies out five more minutes before they were supposed to be cooking.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_05: It just you know what I mean.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_05: Like you have to judges need to add these things there because when I'm listening to the critiques of my own child, I'm like, point your toe.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_05: Shock, it's really breaking news.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_05: Fox News and CNN.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_05: You gotta be kidding me, right?
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_05: Explain to these kids, make a vision board.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_05: What where are you in this dance?
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_05: Tell me, tell me a little bit about yourself because we're not the voice.
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_05: We're not so you think you can dance where I can know all about Katie's life and about Andrea and her struggles, and then let me feel good about Andrea on stage.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_05: I like her story better than I like Courtney's story.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_05: You don't know.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_05: Your job is to get the kid to explain their story.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_05: Do they like the dance?
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_05: Are they forced to dance?
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_05: Are they living their mother's dream?
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's so good.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's judges, any judges listening out there, y'all, Julie Kay.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_02: Because yeah, all of those things.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, and Katie, you know, we we listened to your critiques to bring you onto the roster, and you did all those things, you know what I mean?
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's the kind of IDA judges we're looking for, are people who do more than just say point your foot, nice smile, great costume, thank you.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_05: Well, you can tell Katie has passion about those kids.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_06: And and the critiques for the recreational dancers and the intermediate dancers, like you said, Leslie before, you're like, there's those advanced dancers, the competitive level, high advanced dancers that want the feedback.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_06: Like they don't want the sugar, they don't want the sprinkles and the sugar-coated critique.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_06: They want to know how can I improve?
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_06: What can I do to make myself better the next time?
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_06: And then there's, I feel like that's where it gets a little wishy-washy in the intermediate, because it's like you are acting like you want to be a competitive dancer in the intermediate category, but you can't handle some of the feedback.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_06: And that's an issue in the industry, again, with the intermediate level, is teachers get upset.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, well, they're intermediate.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_06: How can you score them like that?
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_06: How can you give them critiques like that?
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_06: Just because you're you're still competing.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_06: I think that's the frustration for me at the end of the day is when we're talking about recreational versus competitive.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_06: I really look at competitive dance as if you're stepping foot on a competition, you are accepting that you want to be judged, that you want to be scored.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_06: To get better, yeah.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_06: That you want feedback, that you want to get better.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_06: And again, maybe there should be, I've said it many times, there should be a competition that's strictly for recreational dancers only.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_06: That's just let's have a feel-good time, let's get them on stage, let's give them some sugar feedback, and it's gonna, they're gonna feel good.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_06: No overall, right?
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_06: No overalls, maybe some specials, like, and that's it.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_06: And like I'll award.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, right.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_06: And like, and that's fine.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_02: And that is a few maker for somebody out there.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_02: Someone take it, do it, take it.
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I was telling Courtney earlier, like, I just started this new hobby of um faux calligraphy, and it is very fun, and I like to do it, and it's a hobby.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to show this to the very best hand calligrapher in the world and say, please critique my hobby.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, absolutely not.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_02: I want to take it away from that person and just enjoy my little calligraphy fun.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_02: And like, that's that's kind of how I see it is that like if I'm a recreational anything, I really do just want to have fun.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe tell me, like, oh, you know what you could do to make that little loop better at the end of your E.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_02: If you did it like this, man, that would be so good.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_02: Ding dong, the end.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_02: That is that is all a recreational dancer needs is really great job that looks like you're having a great time.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_02: Here's one quick thing to tell you to do better, because that's all you can handle.
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_02: I would cry if somebody like ripped apart my calligraphy.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_05: Because it's not like it's not for that, you know.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_05: Katie, I want to ask you something.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_05: So when you're judging a recreational kid, do you find nine times out of ten, sometimes ten times out of ten, that they don't, they can't count the music?
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, that's something we're working on right now, like in my tap level one is trying to figure out how to just count music because I'm like, who's teaching you this?
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_04: Like, if I don't teach you how to physically count music with and uh, how are you supposed to know how to do it?
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_04: Because the teacher's not doing it.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_04: We need some really ver big like on our keywords, you know what I mean?
• 1:00:09
  SPEAKER_04: But like you can only do key words for so long.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_04: Like my my seven-year-old's duet this year, it's instrumental, James Bond.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_04: And I was like, oh my God, we have no keywords.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_04: And my seven-year-old goes, you're right, we don't, but we have key music changes.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_04: And she starts going, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, and we're stinging the key changes so that they know, you know what I mean?
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_04: Because we can't necessarily count to eight over and over, but they can hear that music.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_04: But tap tap one, we are working on counting music, staying in the pocket.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_04: And I do feel like that is a critique that I tend to give a lot on that.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_04: I would say maybe nine and under, like, you know, intermediate beginner range level is you have to make sure that you hear that beat, you know that beat.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_04: And I think as teachers too, my middle child, she hears music different than every single teacher at our studio.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_04: And her timing is always off.
• 1:01:02
  SPEAKER_04: And it's taken like her teachers, because I don't really teach her that much, only in lyrical, but it's taken them a second to figure out how is she hearing this?
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_04: And that is some of our job as dance educators is to make sure our kids can count music and hear the pocket and know how to go in and out, I think, of words and counts.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, my gosh, please.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_05: The last thing I want to say, Katie, I I figured it out and I put it on my notes so I would remember.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_05: When I'm judging on my iPhone, and now I'm sure there's something for Androids, but I've not I don't have an Android, so I don't know.
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_05: There is a thing called voice myths, okay?
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_05: And what I tell everybody to do, all right.
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_05: So let's say I'm gonna choreograph something for Andrea, okay?
• 1:01:43
  SPEAKER_05: And Andrea's having a hard time hearing these counts.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna stand behind the speaker and I'm gonna count the music for her and then send that to her in a Google Drive.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_05: So then she understands.
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_05: This is why I'm I'm so excited, right?
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_05: This is why I wanted to tell you.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_05: So what I what I think is so important is that they that they hear what's going on, right?
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_05: And that they that they understand what count you're really wanting.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_05: Got it?
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you know what I mean?
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_05: So one, two, three, and four and five, six, seven, eight, one, two, three, four, and five.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_05: And so then they understand, but you've also got to match the energy as well, or they don't know what's happening.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you can't just monotonously.
• 1:02:25
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 1:02:25
  SPEAKER_04: Uh we usually do it like I'll videotape them so can you can see the movement and the music and my counts.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_04: Last year, I forget we were in a group rehearsal in my minis.
• 1:02:35
  SPEAKER_04: I had 16 minis under the age of eight.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_04: Hi.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_04: Oh lord, they could not get where they needed to be on count five.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_04: And everybody in the studio was like, I don't know what they're doing, but for the love of God, just get their own counts.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_04: And even this year, we joke about it with the literally, I think I was turning purple.
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_04: But like, you know, they still even this year, they go, yeah, remember, it was always count five.
• 1:02:58
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, remember.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_04: And I let them always tell them, I'm like, I'm not yelling at you.
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I'm not telling you you're horrible.
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not telling you you stink or you can't do this.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_04: I'm yelling counts.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe a little but no, for real.
• 1:03:12
  SPEAKER_04: But like I'm always yelling counts or the steps because my hope is that they will hear my screechy voice over the music and then go, oh, that's where count five is.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_04: Now I can figure that out.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_06: I'm the same way.
• 1:03:25
  SPEAKER_05: And that's why I do that because I'm like, do or like I can't stand my kids.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_05: We get always like, okay, like a horse has blinders when they're in a horse race.
• 1:03:33
  SPEAKER_05: Sometimes they finish the race, right?
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_05: Solos dance with their heads down.
• 1:03:37
  SPEAKER_05: I'm like, okay, tell me three people, Katie, that you admire.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_05: Like maybe your dance teacher, your mom, and your dad.
• 1:03:43
  SPEAKER_05: Perfect.
• 1:03:43
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you for telling me.
• 1:03:44
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna pick put a picture of your dance teacher, your mom, and your dad.
• 1:03:48
  SPEAKER_05: So when we're dancing, you're gonna perform to your dance teacher, your mom, and your dad, not the four.
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_06: I love that.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_05: So then that way a beginner dancer knows that they don't go head down.
• 1:03:59
  SPEAKER_05: I'm like, man, I saw your scout.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_05: It's amazing.
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I would say.
• 1:04:05
  SPEAKER_05: I'm like, the top of your head is really pretty, but I'd rather see your face.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_05: Honey, that part, your mama won.
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_05: That is a double plateau.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_05: But no, I don't want to see that.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_05: So that's when you're like, you think about the different things of like with their shoulders back, right?
• 1:04:21
  SPEAKER_05: Or their ears, like giraffe.
• 1:04:22
  SPEAKER_05: If you were any any animal in the zoo with a long neck, who could you be?
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_05: A giraffe, perfect.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_05: Pull that neck up and really start to perform, not to the front row, to the back person in the balcony.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_05: But then half of them don't know where the balcony is.
• 1:04:35
  SPEAKER_05: No, I know.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_06: We're all we're all still trying.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_06: And those are all the basic, like those types of things, like learning how to count, learning how to keep your eyes off of the ground, stepping off the floor to a ball heel, finding the pocket of the music, and then all the technical elements of like those are the things we're looking for in that recreational beginner level.
• 1:04:53
  SPEAKER_06: And once you feel like that the dancers have m have mastered those things and you can bring it to the stage, bring it.
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_06: But don't feel like that there needs because the and that's the other thing I was kind of getting at when it comes to like the expectation for competition is well, it's a competition.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_06: So if we don't have all of these things in the dance, then we're not, we're never gonna win.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_06: And it's like, maybe if we eliminated the competition element too recreational, then the dancers will just come out and dance and not feel that pressure of, oh my gosh, are we gonna win?
• 1:05:24
  SPEAKER_06: Like it shouldn't, it's not always about the win.
• 1:05:26
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, it's it's interesting because yes, like everyone that has a competitive, you know, like part inside of them, like everyone loves to be competitive at a point in time in their life in any aspect.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_06: But I feel like there's a lot of dancers that are advanced that have like, they're done with the competitive aspect.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_06: They've they don't even care about where they place.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_06: They just want to keep improving and and leaving it on the floor and get that feedback and they're hungry for other things.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_06: Whereas some of the recreation the recreational dancers, I don't think they it's exciting to win, but at the same time, it's like I think they would be happy either way.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_05: Some of it's therapy.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_05: Some of it's therapy.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_05: They need to do that to fill around.
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_05: And good.
• 1:06:07
  SPEAKER_06: So there's so many.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_06: There's so many things.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_04: But I feel like too, like, as far as this like intermediate level goes, like if you're a dancer, and you know, we've had this conversation with a couple of kids at our studio that, you know, they were constantly placing in the top five and the intermediate category.
• 1:06:23
  SPEAKER_04: And we had, you know, a meeting with the kid and the parent, and we were like, this is the deal.
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_04: We need to bump them up to advanced.
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_04: And it's like, oh, but they're nine and the nine to twelve.
• 1:06:31
  SPEAKER_04: And you're like, you're right, they're nine and nine to twelve.
• 1:06:34
  SPEAKER_04: And everybody has to be nine and nine to twelve.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_04: But they've placed in the top five and the intermediate category all last season.
• 1:06:41
  SPEAKER_04: So if we keep her there, she's not growing.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_04: She's just winning to win.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe, maybe not.
• 1:06:48
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe.
• 1:06:48
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas if we bump her up into that nine to twelve category, sure she's going to be the little fish or you know, the low end of the totem pole.
• 1:06:55
  SPEAKER_04: But by the time she's 12, imagine where she's going to be.
• 1:06:58
  SPEAKER_04: Like, why do you want to like stagnate your dancer?
• 1:07:01
  SPEAKER_04: You know, if you don't keep putting goals in front of them, how are they supposed to keep growing?
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_04: They're just going to stagnate.
• 1:07:06
  SPEAKER_04: And then what happens is everybody either catches up or they surpass.
• 1:07:11
  SPEAKER_04: So you know, there has to be, I think, that push.
• 1:07:14
  SPEAKER_04: So I don't understand too why competitions kind of going back to Regency.
• 1:07:17
  SPEAKER_04: Like after you place first in the intermediate category at, you know, whatever competition, then you should be in the advanced category next year when you come back.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:07:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I think some competitions require that.
• 1:07:30
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, really?
• 1:07:30
  SPEAKER_02: Actually.
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_02: Because like, listen, if you won first place, boom, they there's nowhere higher to go except for the next level.
• 1:07:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:07:36
  SPEAKER_06: I think that the competitions need to set the standard a little bit stronger across the board and just really lay those rules out.
• 1:07:43
  SPEAKER_06: And I I really wish that like more competitions could kind of come together on this, like as a collective, and label their levels with the same rules across the board, like you said, Katie, earlier.
• 1:07:55
  SPEAKER_06: Those award ceremonies are so darn confusing.
• 1:07:59
  SPEAKER_06: And also they're never explained either.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_06: Like nobody explains that.
• 1:08:02
  SPEAKER_06: There should be like an explanation from the MC or the host at the very beginning of every award ceremony that just lays the the all of the specs out.
• 1:08:10
  SPEAKER_06: Like, this is what this sequels, and this is what this means, and this, this, this, and we have this many dancers in this level and this many.
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_05: Like, I just had to record it.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_06: I was like, I I like it's in the program, but no one reads the program.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 1:08:24
  SPEAKER_06: So like no one knows what's happening.
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_06: Everyone just like jumps right into the award ceremony because they're already long, but no one knows what's happening.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_06: It's like if all of the competitions had a little bit more of like a structured across the board, like we all, this is what our ruling is, and this is what our scoring is.
• 1:08:38
  SPEAKER_06: It would just be so helpful and just easier to follow.
• 1:08:41
  SPEAKER_06: And I think maybe there would be less abusing of the levels and and aid whatever, you know, across the board if there was just a little bit more consistency.
• 1:08:49
  SPEAKER_06: But everybody's their own entity, so I understand they want to make them make it different.
• 1:08:53
  SPEAKER_06: And I have these special awards, and this is what my awards are called double titanium framebows and sprinkles, whatever.
• 1:08:59
  SPEAKER_06: Like right.
• 1:09:00
  SPEAKER_06: So I get that.
• 1:09:01
  SPEAKER_06: I I think that would be helpful.
• 1:09:03
  SPEAKER_06: And I think that the competition's just I mean, maybe they're listening to this and this is helpful.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_06: I'm sure people, the competition owners are listening, but just kind of like laying that out.
• 1:09:12
  SPEAKER_06: Like, you can't have more than two solos if you're in intermediate.
• 1:09:14
  SPEAKER_06: You can't do this if you're in intermediate or recreational.
• 1:09:17
  SPEAKER_06: Recreational is for adjudication only or something, you know.
• 1:09:20
  SPEAKER_06: Like if we kind of create those standards and make them a little stronger, I think that there we might see change in the industry.
• 1:09:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 1:09:26
  SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
• 1:09:27
  SPEAKER_04: I know there's some comps out there because we've gone to a couple where like we have our intermediate dancers, but they're in seven routines because we have a fairly large team.
• 1:09:36
  SPEAKER_04: They automatically make them compete advanced.
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 1:09:39
  SPEAKER_04: Because of the number of routines that they're in.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, I can totally respect that.
• 1:09:42
  SPEAKER_04: And that's when we go, you know, we look at this even before we start the season to say, here's the deal.
• 1:09:47
  SPEAKER_04: Susie Q is in, you know, 10 grip dances.
• 1:09:50
  SPEAKER_04: Even though she doesn't do a solo, they're gonna bump her, like, you know, they're gonna bump us advanced.
• 1:09:55
  SPEAKER_04: Is that okay?
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_04: We ran into that situation this year, and we were like, you know what?
• 1:09:59
  SPEAKER_04: Then our intermediates are gonna go head to head with our advanced teens and let's see what happens.
• 1:10:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like sink or swim, fight or flight.
• 1:10:05
  SPEAKER_04: What are you gonna do?
• 1:10:05
  SPEAKER_04: You're gonna throw up your hand at kids and go, oh, we're against them, we're gonna lose.
• 1:10:09
  SPEAKER_04: Or are you gonna push harder and work a little bit harder?
• 1:10:12
  SPEAKER_04: And I think that's where like the work ethic comes in.
• 1:10:14
  SPEAKER_04: I'll tell you what, those advanced kids are like, we are not getting beat by that group of kids.
• 1:10:18
  SPEAKER_04: So it then it becomes healthy competition.
• 1:10:21
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 1:10:22
  SPEAKER_04: I think which is also super important to have inside your studio.
• 1:10:25
  SPEAKER_04: So I don't know.
• 1:10:26
  SPEAKER_04: I just think there has to be a really good balance.
• 1:10:28
  SPEAKER_06: I agree totally.
• 1:10:30
  SPEAKER_06: Well, ladies, this was such a great chat.
• 1:10:33
  SPEAKER_06: We definitely dove deep, dove deep into this one.
• 1:10:37
  SPEAKER_06: Whoa! So much insight, so many valuable opinions from both of you.
• 1:10:42
  SPEAKER_06: So thank you for sharing them with all of your experience in the industry.
• 1:10:45
  SPEAKER_06: And I think this will definitely be a hot episode.
• 1:10:49
  SPEAKER_06: So, all you listeners, hope you've enjoyed it.
• 1:10:52
  SPEAKER_06: And how our guests always lead us out is by sharing one final tidbit of advice or feedback or insight that you'd like to share in regards to recreational and competitive dancers.
• 1:11:08
  SPEAKER_04: I will just say competition directors, studio owners, um, parents, I just think that it is really important just to have the lines of communication open.
• 1:11:16
  SPEAKER_04: You know, come up with a plan for your dancer.
• 1:11:19
  SPEAKER_04: You know, where do they see themselves in a year or two years or five years?
• 1:11:22
  SPEAKER_04: And that plan could change in six months.
• 1:11:25
  SPEAKER_04: But if everybody is going towards the same goal, whether that's as an intermediate base or an advanced base, it just makes life so much easier.
• 1:11:34
  SPEAKER_04: So keep those lines of communication open.
• 1:11:36
  SPEAKER_04: You know, don't have the blinders on as far as like, you know, your students' ability, because at nine years old, if she's not in the advanced category yet, that's okay.
• 1:11:46
  SPEAKER_04: And if she's getting beat in the advanced category at nine years old, that's also okay.
• 1:11:50
  SPEAKER_04: It's all about their journey because each dancer's journey is different and each plan looks different.
• 1:11:56
  SPEAKER_04: So just keep that in mind when you're moving forward with Susie Q.
• 1:12:01
  SPEAKER_05: So, as the powerful words from George Straight, my favorite country singer, I'm not here for a long time.
• 1:12:07
  SPEAKER_05: I'm here for a good time.
• 1:12:09
  SPEAKER_05: And I think that that is something we should live by.
• 1:12:12
  SPEAKER_05: We're not here for a long time.
• 1:12:14
  SPEAKER_05: We're here for a good time.
• 1:12:16
  SPEAKER_05: And you know what?
• 1:12:16
  SPEAKER_05: If it's not a good time, what are we doing it for?
• 1:12:19
  SPEAKER_05: And then my second thing that I always tell all of my parents, I tell everybody, even my my judges table, I'm like, slow and steady, we will get you ready.
• 1:12:28
  SPEAKER_05: Slow and steady, we will get you ready.
• 1:12:30
  SPEAKER_05: Hold the vision, trust that process.
• 1:12:33
  SPEAKER_05: Hold that vision, trust the process.
• 1:12:35
  SPEAKER_05: We're not in it for this rat race, we're in it for a good race.
• 1:12:38
  SPEAKER_05: Got it?
• 1:12:39
  SPEAKER_05: Get out there and teach these kids what life is all about.
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_05: It's worth living, beautiful experiences, great memories, and more than anything, a great team.
• 1:12:50
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks so much for tuning in to this week's episode, all about recreational versus competitive.
• 1:12:55
  SPEAKER_06: Be sure to follow our very special guests on social media.
• 1:12:58
  SPEAKER_06: You can find Katie at Cruz Creation and Julie K at Julie K's Dock Up.
• 1:13:05
  SPEAKER_06: Also, if you're interested in learning more about Julie K's Team Julie K Dance Teacher program, you can visit her website now at Julie K Stock Up.com.
• 1:13:15
  SPEAKER_03: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 1:13:24
  SPEAKER_06: Be sure to check out IDA affiliated competition, Decca Dance Competition.
• 1:13:29
  SPEAKER_06: DECA Dance drives for excellence in the world of dance competitions.
• 1:13:33
  SPEAKER_06: They're committed to providing the most professional experience for a wide range of competitors in a safe and fair environment.
• 1:13:39
  SPEAKER_06: Ensuring that each DECA event provides high levels of education and the opportunity for growth in every dancer.
• 1:13:46
  SPEAKER_06: With four specialized judges, a unique custom-built scoring system, live critiques for soloists, amazing awards, and so much more, you do not want to miss their awesome events.
• 1:13:56
  SPEAKER_06: Contact Decca Dance Competition now to learn more about group discounts for their upcoming convention dates, or to get more information on their 100% customizable in studio experience.
• 1:14:07
  SPEAKER_06: With tour dates up and down the East Coast in their 2022 season, I hope you will come experience the DECA difference.
• 1:14:14
  SPEAKER_06: Visit their website now at DeccaDancecompetition.com to learn more.
• 1:14:19
  SPEAKER_02: We are right in the middle of season three and we've got some great episodes coming your way.
• 1:14:23
  SPEAKER_02: Stay tuned for Latin Ballroom in the competitive dance world, our next studio spotlight episode, and even more.
• 1:14:29
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you so much for tuning in and listening to Making the Impact week after week.
• 1:14:34
  SPEAKER_06: We'll see you next time.
• 1:14:35
  SPEAKER_06: Keep dancing.