Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Perfecting your Presentation for the Competitive Stage

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Perfecting your Presentation for the Competitive Stage · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table in a dance competition?
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: This is Making the Impact, a Dance Competition Podcast.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: 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_03: You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_03: Will Rogers, a famous American entertainer, had it right so many years ago when he said these words, and they hold true today in many scenarios, including dance competitions.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_03: Presentation for the stage is the topic for this week's episode of Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: We're ready to dive in and explore why a presentation matters, how to have a successful first impression, and so much more.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Hi everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Happy February, everybody, and also a happy belated birthday to Leslie, who just celebrated her birthday yesterday.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: We love you, Leslie.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously, I couldn't make this podcast happen without you.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for all that you do for IDA and for being on the team since the beginning.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I just love you so much.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love you too.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a February birthday baby too.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: So my birthday's coming soon, not yet.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: But what you're not a Pisces.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: What are you?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Aquarius.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Aquarius.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a Pisces.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: We'll wish you a happy birthday in two weeks.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, two weeks.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: So yay for that.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Happy February, y'all.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: We're very excited for this week's episode about presentation for the competitive stage.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: And we have two lovely guests here to join us.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: But before we introduce them, like always, we want to just share a few things that are happening in IDA land.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: And the first thing that we want to mention is our upcoming virtual solo and group competition.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: So if you haven't heard about IDA's virtual competition, we've been running them since the pandemic hit last March.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had so much success.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: We've had entries coming in from all around the world.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's been such a blast to connect with dancers worldwide.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we are very excited to be opening up not only a solo, another solo competition, because we just wrapped our last one in January, but we're doing a group competition as well.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: So registration is opening on February 15th.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you also can now pre-register for either our March or May virtual competition events now on our website if you'd like.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: But you can definitely use our virtual competitions as practice before you head to an in-person competition or in place of an in-person competition if they happen to get canceled this season, which fingers crossed, let's hope that that doesn't happen.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: A registration will be open for the entire month of February into March.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: And we've got some really great sponsors on board.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: We have some amazing surprises that we're going to be giving away.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Cash awards go to our overall winners.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just a really great experience with our top 20 challenge live stream as well.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: So head on over to our website at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com/slash virtual competition to check out those upcoming dates and mark your calendars now.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: And another fun thing that we've have going on with IDA is we are a few weeks into the launch of our new Making the Impact Facebook group for the podcast.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: We have just loved the participation from our listeners.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's so cool to see dancers from across the country and around the world, just like with the competition.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we have listeners from around the world and these people have found their way to the podcast in our Facebook group now.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_03: If you haven't joined yet, head over to Facebook, search for Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast community.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: You'll have to answer a few questions to be accepted into the group because we want to make sure you're part of the family.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: But we've got a lot of fun stuff in there for you.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: So come join us.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, please check out our new Facebook group.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: We love interacting with you all.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And in case you've missed any of our previous episodes, we just released our third spotlight episode with Sophia Lucia, which it was fantastic.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I we loved sitting down and chatting with her and hearing your story.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that you will love it as well.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: So definitely go check out that latest episode and all of our previous episodes from seasons one and two.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure you've heard about some of our sponsors on making the impact dance competition podcast.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we truly couldn't make this possible without their support.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And this sponsor is definitely a sponsor that needs to be on this episode since we're talking about presentation, because this is Dance Costumes by Urzua.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it was founded by dance teacher and costume designer Lily Urzua with a mission to give back to her local dance community.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: By purchasing a beautiful one-of-a-kind costume, you are helping another young dancer continue their training and live their dream.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: And new for 2021, Dance Costumes by Urzua has branched out to create dancewear as well.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: They launched their exclusive Making the Impact line inspired by our podcast, which is so cute and you should definitely check it out now.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: It highlights a Making the Impact signature purple and teal ombre color scheme.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: This line includes leggings, jackets, shorts, and so much more.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: So be sure to use the code IDA15 to receive 15% off all dancewear and custom costumes now at dancecostumes by Erzua.com.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_03: Our other sponsor for this episode and for this season is Level Up Dance Supplies.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: They are more than just the leading retailer of top name brand dance bags.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: Established in 2010 by a dance mom, their goal is to be your one-stop shop for all of your dance gear and accessory needs.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: Flooring, privacy tents, stretching and travel gear, Level Up has got you covered from head to toe.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: And as times change, so does Level Up Dance Supplies.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_03: Rest assured that their staff is always working to ensure that they have what you want, what you need, and at a price that you can afford.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: Quality and affordability is always a top priority.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: And because they care, every purchase of a Level Up product will receive a free mask.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: So be sure to follow Level Up Dance Supplies on Facebook for new products, sales, coupon codes, and product updates.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure to use our exclusive promo code Bravo5678 to receive$10 off your order.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, thank you so much to both of our sponsors, Dance Costumes by Erzua and Level Up Dance Supplies, for all of your support.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: All right, listeners, guess what?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's time to meet our spectacular guests that we have here today joining us for this discussion on presentation.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: And the first guest that I would like to welcome back to the podcast is a very close friend of mine who knows a thing or two about presentation.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you, and he's gonna tell you all about it.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: You may remember this guest from season one, episode 19, our COVID episode.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And also season one, episode six, all about choreography.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'd love to re-welcome back to the pod, Joey Ordelani.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks for having me back.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: I love the IDA podcast.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, Joey.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: We love you, Joey, and we're so excited to chat all about presentation, which I know you know a thing or two about.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: So do I'm very passionate about it.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I know that you've been on the pod, but you're the guest that's been on the pod the most out of all the podcast history.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think you're right.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: What a title.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Do I get a sash?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Do I get a sash and a crayon?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: We'll work on it.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: We'll give you some rhinestones.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: So if you wouldn't mind sharing with our new listeners a little bit about you, where you're based, any career credits, and what you're currently working on now in the season.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I currently live uh in Long Island, New York.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: I lived in the city for about 10 years.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And last year I decided to move back out to Long Island just for a little bit of a slower pace, be closer to the studios.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: I am currently the competition director at a Long Island dance studio called Jan Martin Dance Studio, and I'm on staff at uh one other dance studio, uh Techniques Dance Center, where I'm a teacher as well.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Career highlights, like you guys.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: I started in the cruise ship industry.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: My first job was with Royal Caribbean.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_05: Yay!
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that was in 2008.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's where all these gray hairs came from.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And since then, it uh when I came to New York after working on cruise ships, I did regional theater, the Broadway first national tour of bullets over Broadway, and then recently, recently, as in before COVID, transitioned to doing a little bit more film and television.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Might have seen me on Saturday Live or Good Morning America, or last week tonight with John Oliver.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: And currently I am still the competition director at studio out here and trying to navigate the muddy waters that is, you know, the last two competition seasons.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: We're going strong, we're cleaning, we're wearing our masks, we're mopping in between every class, and it's a new landscape, but we are finding a groove, and we're really thankful after last spring to be able to even be in the studio and hope for competition instead of when we were so isolated from one another.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been it's we're chalking along.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be almost 10 years ago, though, that we were sitting in my living room talking about this idea that Courtney had to make an organization like IDA and to see what it's evolved into.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just so proud of you guys for what you've created.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we're here doing a podcast for the second year.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's incredible.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: You guys are amazing.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Joey.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: I love you.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: You're so sweet.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're so happy to have you back on the pod.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: So can't wait to get jumping into this discussion.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: But before we do, we have one more special guest that I'd love to welcome to the podcast.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is a new guest, and this guest I've known for a long time, and I haven't seen this guest in a long time.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: But this lovely lady used to teach me ballet back in Maryland at my dance studio, and I always have looked up to her in my entire competitive career, her and her sister, and you may know of her and her sister, but I would love to welcome Ashley Canterna Hardy to the podcast.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Ash.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_04: And we have known each other forever.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think like Linnea just sent me videos of one of our Christmas shows.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: She sent them to me.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: She did, yeah.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it seems like a lifetime ago.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh my gosh, like I can't believe that oh, it's just we've known each other for so long in the Maryland dance scene and and everything.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that you were so heavily involved in the competition world and you still are.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just really excited to hear your perspective being in the industry for so long about this topic.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks for joining us.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And if you wouldn't mind, since you're a new guest, sharing a little bit about yourself, where you're based, what you're working on, any career credits that you'd like to share and tell the listeners more about you.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I grew up and am still in Maryland.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_04: I grew up dancing in a competitive dance world forever, yes.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_04: But I transitioned into the ballet world at 13 years old and trained at the Kirov Academy of Ballet for four years.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_04: And so I was literally in and out of the competitive dance world, but also really heavily into the ballet world at that point, which was very unique at the time because you didn't really straddle that line very often.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_04: You either kind of went one way or the other, but I really didn't want to give up the world I had grown up in.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_04: So I trained there for four years.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_04: I did two international ballet competitions while I was there.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_04: And after that, I traveled with my sister Adrienne's uh company performing in Rock the Ballet.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_04: And that was a definite highlight for me.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_04: And when I settled down back here in Maryland, I became the artistic director at the Edinley Dance Studio.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_04: And I take care of their competition team and also teach many of the classes there as well.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_04: And I am about to have my fourth baby in 10 weeks.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_04: Four babies.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_04: Four babies.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_04: And my daughter is 10, and she's in the competitive dance world right now, too.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_04: Cool.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of fun.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of fun.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds like a handful, but also it is.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're a dance mom now.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like you know.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to hear that perspective.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_04: That perspective.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm I'm definitely a very different dance mom than I thought I would be with it.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_04: Low-key, which is good.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much, both Joey and Ashley, for joining us today on the pod.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, welcome guys.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_03: And Ashley, I just was telling Courtney when she brought up bringing you on.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, oh yeah.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, I idolize those girls because we're all redheads.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: And I was I remember seeing you guys in the dance magazines and being like, oh, they're just they're so good and they have these beautiful hair.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um so yeah, this is really redheads gotta stick together.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_03: We do.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: There's not many of us.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_03: So super excited to have you guys on.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: So this episode, we are we're headed towards the end of our blogs that exist that we base episodes on.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_03: But this blog was this episode was based on a blog that Joey actually wrote.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: Joey, I don't know if you remember writing.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_03: It was it was called uh Perfecting Your Presentation in 2017.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: Long time ago.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: I like vaguely remember it it sounds like something that I probably wrote a novel that Courtney had to edit down.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Not me.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was the one editing your novel.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: But I was like, I was looking it up just now as you guys were talking.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, no, I'm pretty sure this was him.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: Was it him?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm scrolling and I'm scrolling and I'm scrolling because I'm like, I don't remember if it was him, but it was you.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_03: So um yeah.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: So if you guys want to hear even more, Joey always has so much to say about this particular topic because he is so passionate about it.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: So if you want more and maybe a 2017 perspective, head over to our blog.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_03: Alrighty, but let's jump right in because this is a fun topic.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: I would love to hear y'all's thoughts on just sort of a general overview of what you consider a part of presentation at competition specifically.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like what are the parts of presentation?
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think a clear concept of uniformity is really important.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not to say every dancer has to look the same.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: If your piece is or your studio is this particular piece is about everybody looking the same, then everybody should look the same.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like Courtney, you and I have sat together a lot of times on panels where we sit, and especially at Diva, where we can like talk to them, the live judging from Diva dance competition, if anybody's not familiar, when we see dancers that are all wearing black shoes, but they're wearing different brands, they're wearing different, like a different boot, or somebody for some reason has laces on their shoes, or you know, one dancer has a side part and one dancer has a center part, or you know what I mean?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's all of those things where cohesion is really the biggest, one of the biggest parts of presentation from my perspective, where I want to see that you guys are a uniform team if that's what you're going for.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: If this is a piece where you're all wearing a different dress, you all have a different hairstyle, you all have a different, you know what I mean?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's then there's a little bit of a difference there where it's like, okay, I see you went for a side part, but your hair is hanging, you know what I mean?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: There's, I'm sure we're gonna dive into a lot of those different things, but for me, it's cohesion and a clear delivery of what you're going for with each individual piece and making sure that that thread is consistent.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_04: Another thing for me, and I think as I've obviously gotten older and choreographed longer and been in the world longer, for me, it's it's the students and team having a clear understanding of what the choreographer and teacher and even studio as a whole is about and what they're trying to go for, because that doesn't always fit, if that makes sense.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_04: So I think a clear understanding from the very beginning that we're not just picking this random piece of music and throwing them on the stage, but understanding what the choreographer is going for, actually talking with the team, like as far as what he was saying as well, with you know, being cohesive and understanding and making that from the very beginning.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_04: I think that then you can start the presentation from day one with the students, and that'll carry through.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_04: And you have to continue to build like a building block, you know, stepping stones there, so that they're all on the same perspective as you go through that, you know, choreography process instead of just here's your music, here are your steps, and there's a go, you know.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_04: So I just think that's really important.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_04: And that's something for me with the team.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_04: I think it brings them closer together and makes them understand what you're going for from the beginning.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_04: And so it's there's just a clear understanding.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_04: And like he said, also just being super cohesive with that.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_04: And then you've got kind of that standard set from the very beginning.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_03: So I love that because it's more those two explanations just brought up the point that it's more than just how you look.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_03: It goes way deeper than that.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that maybe is something that sure people maybe just necessarily don't think about, you know.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: Like we think about presentation as just the physical, here I am, look at me.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: But there, but the rest of it is involved as well.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: There's so much more to it for sure.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's the and that kind of leads into where, you know, when I first started teaching, I sort of I was at a few studios and everybody has a really different way of doing things.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not necessarily that there's a right or that this is right or wrong.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: But for me as a teacher and as a director of an entire competition team now, it's important that I have, for me, it's important that I have a hand in if I'm your teacher and I'm your choreographer and I've picked your music and now I'm choreographing your steps.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: The final piece of that is to make sure that the way I present you to the audience, that the kids have no power over that as your teacher that I guide you in this presentation.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I'm gonna do, that all three of those little threads go together.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: I always feel like it's kind of my responsibility as your teacher or your choreographer.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Let me do everything for you that I possibly can and instill in you the value in the way you look, lining up with how you're dancing to what you're dancing to, and how all three of those pieces connect together to create a complete presentation.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_04: And those students understanding that and hearing that from you is so very important because they, of course, a lot of times, especially young students, are just so worried about their steps, you know, and and how they're executing them and how much better they can get.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_04: And that's fantastic because they care and they work, but there's so much more to it.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_04: So for you to put that, for the teacher to put that, what word am I looking for?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_04: Importance on the presentation for them, I think is is super important.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I feel like that presentation like from the very beginning is like a studio standard.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like the moment you join the competition team, or even if you're just doing recital, I mean, there needs to be a studio expectation across the board of these are our what we expect when it comes to presentation.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then depending on the piece, like you said, Joey, then we can adjust as needed and whatever.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: But regardless if we're all uniform and looking identically the same in the dance, or if it is kind of like a everyone's in their own costume and vibe, there still needs to be that presentation aspect in from the top of that studio.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like I feel like I've sat down as a judge and known, like, ooh, that studio has beauty, like they have it put together.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're they're looking clean, they look sleek, they they know what's expected.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: The dance moms are on the same page, they know what it takes to make sure that their kids are going to look the best they can being presented on stage.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it really starts from the top.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: I think studio directors really need to kind of lay the laws down.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And like kind of like what you were saying, Joey, I really feel like that the all of the teachers need to be on the same page too.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because especially if there are teachers who don't, you know, who do teach around at different studios, and like you said, that was a perfect example because there might be different expectations at each studio that you may teach at.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: And one might be a little bit more relaxed with presentation than the other.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think that if you're a teacher who really like prides themselves in making sure that your kids look the best they possibly can and that means a lot to you, presentation does, which it should to everyone, but like, you know, everyone's different with that view, and that's and that studio isn't used to that, then maybe get them used to it.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe switch it up a little bit and say, well, this is what I expect from my dance for this routine.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're gonna be more relaxed with yours over here, that's fine, but this is what I need from you, like to t if I'm choreographing this dance.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm not gonna let them go out on stage looking a sloppy mess.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's not gonna fly with me because the other thing, which feels similar to our guest choreography conversation, is that you're a representation of like you're being represented through your choreography by these dancers.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: And if they're coming on stage, not at the presentation level that you expect, then your name's attached to that, and you're like, oh, I don't wanna, you know what I mean?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I think all of those things come hand in hand when it comes to presentation, just really making sure we start at the top and the studio expectation is is there from the beginning.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: People know what they're signing up for when it comes to presentation at the very beginning.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the same thing if you leave the dance industry, oh yeah, and you look at whatever my brothers all played football.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you showed up to a game and you had whatever grass stains from the last game on your on your uniform, your coach would probably I mean, I'm pretty sure they would say, you know what I'm saying?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like the Yankees have a presentation, the Yankees can't have beards or whatever.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's their presentation standard for the Yankees.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it it's it's a universal concept that kind of comes with if the kids showed up to competition and saw at awards a judge get on stage and they're in sweatpants and Nikes and a baggy sweatshirt, and it looks like they're like scratching their eye, like they just woke up, they didn't clean the gunk out of their eyes.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be like, Who's this judge?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: They're not very professional, like they're not showing up to work and make a point right now that they're they kind of look a little sloppy and a mess.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: The door swings both ways.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: I was just gonna say, my mom owns a studio, and several years ago she was moving locations and kind of trying to do like a little bit of a rebrand.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: And my sister, who is no longer in the dance industry, but obviously is in it because we grew up doing it, you know, had this saying that she would tell my mom all the time like, you are the mayor of your town.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_03: Your town is the studio.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: So, like how you show up from the top is what the rest of the expectations are.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think that was a good thing that y'all mentioned earlier about it starting from the top is that, you know, if if you as a studio owner, if your expectation isn't of yourself and of your staff isn't as high as you want it to be, it will not trickle down to be as high as you want it to be for the kids.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_03: You can't, you can't have it both ways.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: As Joey said, you know, if we show up as a judge rolling in all sloppy and sleepy, well, then why should anybody else show up looking pristine?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's that's a major thing that I think should be thought about too, you know.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_03: Studio owners, if you're listening, if you've kind of you're like kind of slipped on my my personal presentation, take it up and not you're the mayor of your town.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_04: And I think for me, too, something that's helped greatly with that is also the expectation.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_04: I don't think it's just for competition or stage, but for class.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_04: So to what are you, how are you going to feel like a ballet dancer if you walk into class with your hair like all sloppy and you know, not in like I'm total bun head when it comes to okay, when you come to ballet, you better look like you need to look the part and you need to be, you need to have the respect for this art form and for what you're doing.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_04: And again, I think that's it's where it starts at the top of the studio.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, this is what if you want to be involved here, this is what it's going to be like.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_04: And this is what we expect.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_04: And I think they get used to that from the beginning.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_04: So if you do it like that in class all the time to then give them these, you want X, Y, and Z for competition, it's not even going to be that difficult for them to follow because they're so used to showing up like that, you know, and assistance is the same, like you said with the judges, you know, my assistants will come, you know, to ballet class and they look like they're getting ready to go, you know, on full bun, whatever, or ball black leotard pink tights.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_04: Because again, that's a they're presenting themselves to these younger kids who are looking up to them and the parents who are looking at them, you know, it just all goes hand in hand.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_04: So I think that it's like you said, every studio is different and that's totally fine.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_04: But as far as setting those ground rules from the beginning, I think that then translates into competition so much easier to not go from like you can kind of do whatever you want and then no, we want you to look like this for competition.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's such a there's a functionality, there's a functionality to that too.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just, well, you feel like a ballet dancer when you're wearing a leotard.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a difference when you why do what why when you get home, if you work in an office and you're wearing a suit, do you take your suit off and put on your sweatpants and sit on the couch?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because now you're getting comfortable.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you walk into a dance class and you have your leotard on, you're having something tight hugging your whole body, and you know that everything about your body can be seen.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you're more conscious of the way that you're standing.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Where if you're in ballet class and you're in a sweatshirt, you're gonna stand like you're wearing a sweatshirt.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: I I talk to dancers all the time, even when they're running solos, like right now, like scrunchies are really big.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: Somehow, again.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: And somehow again, they like were in, then they were out, then they were out, and then they were back in and they wear them around their wrists as an extra hair tie or whatever.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't tell you how many times I've told a soloist while we're running their solo, they have a scrunchie around their wrist, and all of a sudden I just see this like little bit of a dead hand creeping into what they're doing.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, imagine walking around with somebody holding your wrist.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's what you're doing when you have a scrunchie around your wrist.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Take it off, and now all of a sudden you're gonna be more aware of where that energy is going.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if they're wearing big jewelry in class or, you know, there one of them had that big like initial on their chest, and they were like not spot, they weren't spotting as sharply as I wanted them to because they were worried the necklace.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, take that off.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then wouldn't you know it?
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: They were right, you know, it's that pre it's when you feel when you feel a certain way because of the way you're presenting yourself, you will act a certain way because of the way that you're presenting yourself.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it fully affects everything.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_04: Everything for sure.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I I think I'm really glad that we are talking about presentation in class because it definitely is is important to hear.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I I a hundred percent agree.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think that the the hard part about how every studio kind of views these rules differently and like what their expectations are in class.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think that the the issue is that the kids are gonna get too comfortable, like both of you have said, in their studio setting, that if they were to go elsewhere, if they were to pursue a professional career, if they were to go to college for dance or audition for a real dance show or anything, they're not gonna understand what that presentation is supposed to look like in the real world.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that we as teachers need to make sure that we're setting them up for that, you know.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: If if you're more relaxed about how you come to ballet class where your dancers don't need their hair in a bum but it just needs to be pulled back, or they don't need to be wearing a a specific ballet leotard with pink tights, but they just need to be in form-fitting clothing.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've seen that.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: I know there are many studios that are like that, but the problem is is do they understand that that isn't the norm, honestly?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that if you go elsewhere, that you are going to be asked to be in a in pink tights and a leotard, and you do have to have your hair slicked back into a bun.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think that we just need to make sure that they understand both.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: And and unless you're really like setting the example at your studio and sh and saying this is what the rules are for ballet class, this this is what this is how you dress for jazz class or whatever, how will they ever really learn?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's the thing that kind of concerns me a little bit about presentation and how kind of relaxed we've got with it in some situations.
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• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: And now let's get back to the show.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: What has changed over the years about the expectations for presentation?
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_03: And and I think it has gotten over the years, maybe it's because of the idea of, and I'm not saying this is bad or good, but like the idea of inclusivity.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, ballet attire is rooted in historical tradition of people are white, people are European.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_03: That's why we wear pink tights.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_03: And I think in an effort to bring us into a more inclusive society, studios have relaxed that and said, okay, well, you know what?
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_03: You can wear leggings, you could wear black tights, you could wear a tank top.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like they've relaxed the expectations.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, like you said, then it relaxes expectations everywhere.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_03: And if they, you know, a student does decide, okay, well, I do want to take this more seriously and go somewhere else, then that has kind of jarred their expectation of themselves.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't know whether it's necessarily bad or good.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's good that we're including more people, but I also think, you know, there are still some places that you are going to be expected to wear what you're expected to wear.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it is what it is.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Just discipline in general, just teaching, you know, discipline as well.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's what it is.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's just rules and following each studio's guidelines.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_04: I don't knock another studio's, you know, what their recommendation is or what their guideline is, but I think for any of the students, just to have that rule in place, for them to understand that it isn't going to be a free-for-all wherever they go.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you're going to have to meet some standards as far as your presentation in order to just enter class and take the class.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: So and I think that and where you were going with that question, Leslie, and like how has your presentation changed throughout the years?
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: I personally feel, and especially as a judge, too, I grew up in the competitive dance world, and our studio was very much like we made sure that our presentation looked good every time we entered that stage.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: We had matching everything, we had changed our hair piece, we had different hairstyles, different lipstick, whatever.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we went above and beyond, and I'm very grateful that my studio taught me those things.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying that I need exactly that from every studio that I watch at competition, but I've I really feel like I've seen the expectation level of presentation completely drop for a lot of studios who have are entering the competitive dance world.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not really sure why.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think that there's just I don't know.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't know if it has anything to do with like budget and like costume expenses and things like that, but I think that Leslie says this so well.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was gonna say, I was gonna interrupt you.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_03: Interrupt me.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_03: And say it because it has nothing to do with budget.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_03: You can have no budget and you can walk in with your hair slicked back with some water and some hairspray that you can get at the dollar store.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: You can walk in with a clean leotard and a clean pair of tights, and you look like you're presenting yourself properly.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_03: But what we see is even if there is a budget, there's just a lack of attention to those details that are just so easy because you can control how you walk on the stage.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: You can't control what the stage feels like, can't control the weather, you can't control the lighting, you can't control whether the music turns off, can't control whether you forgot the choreography entirely, but you can control how you show up and what you put on your face and how you do your hair.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: And is everybody looking the same?
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: Does everybody have a not ripped pair of tights?
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like we can do these things.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_03: And and that's where that's where I don't have a lot of patience as a judge, or it's not even pay it is patience.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_03: I don't have a lot of patience for for the lack of pristine presentation.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_03: I don't need rhinestones and eyelashes and a huge set piece and matching jackets.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't really need all that.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_03: But like when your dance comes on, look like you've put some thought and some care into what you've shown up as because you can control that.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_03: Totally.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: And on the point of budget, though, the the biggest thing, and it's it kind of is the next phase of what Leslie's saying is forethought.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: It just thinking about it beforehand.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: For example, you know, my students, I know some studios are, you know, they're fine with socks for a jazz class or a contemporary class, whatever.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: All of my classes have shoes have they wear shoes.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: They are in their jazz shoes three, four days a week, however many days they're in the studio.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: And a couple of years ago, I had one parent that was like, she's going through five or six pairs of shoes every year by the time she gets to competition.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like by the time it's the second competition of the season, I've gotten her four pairs of shoes.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth is in September, you have your class shoes, and then you have a pair of stage shoes.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you think about it beforehand, you have a pair of shoes that you beat up, you you know, you use for your class time, and then you have a pair of stage shoes that you only wear when it's time to go on stage so that when the time comes, you don't have holes in your shoes when you're going on stage.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about I don't have the budget to have shoes that don't have holes in them.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's we have this set aside that this is just for stage.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: These are my tights for stage, these are my tights for class.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: These are my, you know, it takes the forethought of if budget, it's like you said, dollar store can of hairspray.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: If budget is really a concern, the girl next to you is not gonna go through a whole can of hairspray in one competition.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: Share hairspray, share resources, talk to your friends, talk to, you know, it's the notion of forethought.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you said, you can't control if you're gonna be on your leg that day and you didn't bust out your five pirouett the way you usually did.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can't control that a speck of dust got in your eye while you were on stage and then you were dancing like this.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you can't you can't control that there was a baby screaming in the audience during your super quiet instrumental contemporary solo and it threw off your energy.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: But dang it, but dang it, not a hair was out of place.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: And your tights didn't have stains in them and your costume didn't have holes in it, you know, it's small resources that are don't require significant financial investment beyond the significant financial investment that is entry that is entry fees and classes and costumes in general.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if if you're gonna spend that kind of money and that kind of time and energy literally for$5, can a hairspray and a little bit of forethought to make sure that your shoes are set and ready.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's the forethought.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: There's an expectation for competitive dance presentation that needs to go hand in hand with the cost of the entry fee.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you know you're signing up for this competition, then you know that there's an expectation for how I need to present myself on stage because it's a competition.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: You're going on a stage, like it is different.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that people are just like, oh, well, they're just doing this for fun.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: And like, yes, it does matter.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: This is a competition.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm we're judging you on that.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's a recital right now.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_04: And they they that's the thing that I always say as well is you have taken the time to pay for all those private lessons.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_04: You've taken the time to pay a read, you know, a really large fee to enter.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_04: So why not put that last, you know, not the last piece, I don't mean it like that, but that is, you know, we did the choreography, we had all these privates.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_04: We need to make sure that you look appropriate and right when you go out on stage.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_04: And and there are a lot of resources out there that don't have to be astronomical at all.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_04: 100%.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: And like thinking Yeah, don't cut that last corner.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: Don't cut that last page.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, don't cut that is the last corner.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's the one, it's the one we just said, it's the one and only thing you can control every single time, hands down, no matter what.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_04: Everything into it, everything into it up until that.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_04: You don't want to drop the ball right there.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_03: And like I just had thought of it's you know, we've just come off of the holiday season, you know, about a month ago, and I'm thinking about like how I like to wrap a present.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_03: And I like to have bows and ribbons and everything and like metallic paper, and it's amazing.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_03: But it if I wrapped your present with, you know, newspaper, but I did it nicely, it's still lovely looking.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_03: The present's still the same inside.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_03: Your choreography is still gonna be great, but like if I just handed it to you in a grocery bag, you know, like it's a different thing.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: That is a gorgeous analogy.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: That is an amazing analogy.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_03: So, like, I don't I don't need all your rhinestones and your crazy business.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's lovely, and that's icing on the cake if you're if if that's great.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: Don't you come from my rhinestones, Leslie Millen?
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: Don't you come from my rhinestones.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_03: I'll take your rhinestones if the product underneath the rhinestones is also great.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know what though I have to say about the rhinestones?
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: I love a rhinestone, don't get me started, I love it.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: But I will not take your rhinestones if you have one shoe on.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I will not take your rhinestones if you have a hole in your shoe.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: In your one shoe.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: In your one, how many Courtney, how many years have you and I been sitting together texting each other for and so you're at one end of the table, I'm at the other end.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's a judge's break, and I text you and I say, two shoes, oh no, shoes.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, though, like I I mean, that's that's one of the things that really boils my blood when it comes to presentation because I watch a dancer walk out on stage.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: The first immediately, first thing I see is their gorgeous costume.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I love a rhinestone, like I said, and you can tell that mom and dad spent some some money on this costume.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then I look down, and their one shoe has a hole in the big toe and dirt all over it, and it's just dirty down.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what's going on?
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: How can you think that this gorgeous, stunning costume that you look beautiful in goes with this janky shoe?
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like it doesn't, you know?
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: So like the one janky shoe.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: The one janky shoe.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: So we have I don't think that dancers understand.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: And and the tea and it really again comes from the top because the teacher approved the costume, but the teacher shouldn't allow the child to walk out on stage without both shoes on or with holes in their shoes.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: And like Joey said, a perfect example is to have a stage shoe and have a rehearsal shoe.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't be going on stage in your rehearsal shoes because they are gonna look all beat up because you probably have been working really hard in them.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and sometimes you have to be willing to sacrifice your own work to sort of lay down a law as a competition director.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: One year I did a an intermediate tap production.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was we're in the money.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: It was a lot of time steps, a lot of formation changes, and very clean arms.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: It was a beautiful number.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: They had this gorgeous gold sequin dress and black mitt gloves that came up to the elbow.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: Super polished, super beautiful.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: One of my dancers couldn't find her gloves.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: And sweet kid never gave us a hard, couldn't find her gloves.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: And her mom was like, Well, can she just like she's she just doesn't have the gloves?
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, She's not going on stage.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds like it sounds like a hard, a harsh thing to say.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: And the mom even asked, like, well, can't we just get rid of the gloves for everybody?
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, No, this is the team standard where all for the last month I've been telling you, make sure you have all your costume pieces before you go.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: And as a teacher, you have to draw that line sometimes and say, I'm sorry, this dance is going to go on stage, there's gonna be a hole, and then they're probably gonna get a point deduction because judges are gonna see that there's a random gaping hole somewhere for some reason that's not filled.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: And there it's kind of like you have to stick to your own rules and not sacrifice or compromise something that's as simple as again, here we are, forethought.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure your costumes are ready to go, make sure you have a can of hairspray.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be on your way to competition when your call time is four o'clock and you're supposed to be on stage at five and it's 3:30 and you're in the car and you're like, oh my God, I don't know where my tights are.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: I what what happened?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: And things happen, like I get it, but you know, like you know, you can get a hole in your ties or something, but we need to know how to fix it.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_04: But as far as packing and going through things, and you don't go through it once or twice, even twice.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_04: Like you double, triple, quadruple check those kind of things because it's like I feel like Joey said before about football or whatever, you're not gonna, or you're not gonna show up to a baseball game without your bat.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_04: Like you can't, then you can't play, but no blows, no tattoo.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_04: You don't have your and that does it is a hard lesson, especially for a young child to learn, but it's not just a lesson for that child, it's a lesson for the entire team, a lesson for every parent involved and every faculty member involved because you have set that standard and everyone knows that that's what it is.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm sure they won't forget their gloves again.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: They should they did not.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm curious to hear some just initial like things that you I mean, I already gave an example of the one shoe, but are there any other types of presentational things that you've seen on the competitive stage or any things that you instill in your students as to what they can do, what they can't do, how you know, different things like that.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: Anything that, and on the judging side, like what do you look for?
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: What do you dislike?
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you said, you know, Leslie gave a few examples of like you can control this, and I hate a one shoe.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: Is there an I I'm curious to hear your perspective on bras, Leslie, because I hate a I hate a bra strap or any sort of bra.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_03: Having being a well-endowed dancer my whole life, including in my profession professional career, it it was difficult to figure out how to keep myself comfortable, supported, not flying out of places, but without compromising the integrity of a costume.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_03: I was in it without anything else because the rest of the girls could just wear this bra without anything else.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like horrified because I was like, this is not going to work.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_03: And so I had them sew something into it.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_03: It still wasn't the best in the world, but it was enough that it was going to make it work.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_03: But I think, you know, I don't have the hugest pet peeve about bras and stuff because I've been through it and it's like, listen, I would rather have the integrity of the comp or of the costume compromised a little bit by seeing a bra strap than seeing somebody's bare breast out in my face at competition.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like that nobody can.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: Can I ask a question about that?
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because as a I as a as a male dance teacher, I have struggled with that on what to tell dancers that do have the same issues that you're talking about, where I've gone, I've gone in every direction where sometimes they wear these those things called like it's just like a cup.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, nobody cares that doesn't that doesn't support anything.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what do you what that's for coverage for paying it?
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that it's something that as a male judge, I don't even address on critiques if we're talking about presentation because I don't feel like it's appropriate for me to even have an opinion about that.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: As a teacher, though, I want to know how to guide my parents that are asking me, like, she's my daughter has this issue with this costume, and the other girls don't have that because they're not the same size she is.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: But what do we do?
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: Do we prefer a clear bra strap?
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to, do you want to, do you do a strapless bra?
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do you like what like what is what is your suggestion on how to help, especially in a cost way?
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: It can be expensive to have a support garment, a support mechanism built into a costume.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have 14 costumes, you can't have 14 customized for your, you know, what is your what is the suggestion out there?
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_03: The best option that I've ever encountered is, you know, if if you're if you're buying a book costume and you have somebody like me who needs extra support, I take the costume, I take it upon myself or my mom does to find somebody to sew in a bra.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_03: Unseen, it's sewn in so that it's it's where it needs to be.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_03: I don't like a clear strap just for me because they don't work.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_03: They're too thin, they're too stretchy, it doesn't make any sense.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_03: They fall down.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_03: And the other thing that always worked for me, I hate it, but it works is truly duct tape.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_03: And it's terrible.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_03: And it's I don't ever want to have to tell a w a young woman to put duct tape on her body tape.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_03: But it works, and it's terrible, but it works.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_03: So if you were, you know, if there's something, but I think also the other thought is you know, look at as a teacher, look at your students.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_03: And if you do same thing, same thing if you have, you know, a variety of body types, you know, I I am going to look at that class and say, hmm, maybe not.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: A two-piece costume this year and leave it at maybe not a backlist, or maybe not a backless because I want to look at everybody and make sure everybody feels comfortable.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_03: You know, if your vision just says backless, backless, backless, and you have a girl who has double deep breasts, you know it's not it's not gonna work.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think it's gonna work, and or or you're you're gonna cause her a lot of psychological damage, to be completely honest.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_03: It was it was really rough.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's the thing, is that I think it's more damaging to send them out there with something where they might have what you call a wardrobe malfunction and humiliation in front of an audience, or you know, they get their video and they see themselves, you know, moving all over the place and in a way that's not that makes them all of a sudden it's hard enough being a teenager, and all of a sudden you're gonna have then this added facet.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: Something that I've done with costumes, like companies like Kelly or Rever Reverends, they usually have like a strap that's in the same color as the costume where it's or it's like a crisscross in the back or something you can tighten.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I kind of always try to like repurpose it.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like I know that like a good crisscross across the back usually keeps a costume up at least.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: So then if you have a bra under the costume there where it's not visible, then you're kind of it's just an extra, yeah, it's an extra help.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any recommendations, Ashley?
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because I know your mom has made a handful of costumes.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_04: She does exactly what was said, she does the built-in bras.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_04: Like she will do that inside the costume, which is awesome.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_04: But she doesn't, she rarely makes group costumes.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_04: That's the thing.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_04: She does all the solos costumes, so it's a much easier task to do for one costume.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_04: I know it sounds crazy, but honestly, the second suggestion I was gonna say was Dutching.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_04: So because I think everybody's been there, you know.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_04: But the costume choice for what for what group you have is is pivotal for sure.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_04: That's that's the biggest thing.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_04: And that goes along pretty much with what you had asked, like pet peeve wise.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_04: And for me, 100% it's you know, you know me, Courtney, so you know what I'm gonna say, but it's all about age appropriateness and just appropriateness with song.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_04: That's like my biggest pet peeve, and something that like anybody that comes to our studio knows, okay, this is what we are you know okay with, and this is what we're just not.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_04: So it comes down to costuming with it does with costuming, with with music, with choreography.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's like they all if if you go too far on all ends, then you've got a problem, in my opinion.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_04: But again, and it it is eye-opening now, also having a 10-year-old girl, you know, of my own competing, you know, with all of that as far as what is appropriate, what isn't.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_04: Everybody feels a little differently about where that line is drawn as well, you know.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_04: But I know for me, judging that's a huge thing for me when I judge.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_04: And again, it doesn't even have always have to be that it was inappropriate, but maybe had literally the costume had nothing to do with what the song was about or what the choreography was about.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_04: So you're like, that's it's not that it's inappropriate as far as you shouldn't be wearing it, but it you should be wearing it because it has nothing to do with what you're doing.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_04: So though that aspect of it for me is really big when I'm judging, because I feel like there has to have been that thought put into that.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: And age appropriateness goes in both directions.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm pretty sure, Courtney, you and I were sitting together when we watched a certain number, and this a senior soloist, like we're talking 18, had to be a senior in high school.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, did a routine that was so under her age where it was like it was like a Disney princess or a Disney something or other.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like, oh, this dance is for an 11-year-old.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: You're 18.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: What's happening?
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's like we were talking about in the very beginning that cohesion between song, dancer, steps, you know, and what you are presenting on stage.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, that segues us into the tights versus no tights.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: Here we are.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: Always that we that we that we we stray into.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think we've talked about this.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's been a dance teachers network post every year.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's probably happened on like existence of Facebook.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wait, I just got an alert on my phone.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: Another one was just posted.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's where it's that never-ending conversation where for me as a as a male teacher, I I feel almost protective of my girls.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're my younger sisters, and I've had parents come up to me and say, We were watching what some of the other studios were doing, and thank you for you know, keeping our girls appropriate, keeping our girls young girls.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, I try to follow this rule.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's Beyonce, but someone correct me if I'm wrong, has basically a rule of presentation for her shows.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: If she's wearing a short skirt, she's not showing her midriff.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: If she has sleeves, then she can have short shorts.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if she's wearing a bra top, she usually has like a pant on or a longer dress or something.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds like it wearing a Beyonce.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: It goes back and forth with like you know, modesty versus you don't have to be objectified just because you're showing skin.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very, it's a little bit of a minefield sometimes where it's like, why does it have to be objectifying if they're wearing a two-pacer?
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't, but we also have to remember that for me personally, that these are kids.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_00: That they are, even when they are in the senior division, they're still 16, 17, 18, where it's a it's a family show.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_00: It it is a family show.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: It is it's they're gonna be every single dance combination in the country.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_00: And every single one.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_00: Myself, per my first my myself personally, I had a jazz number.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: I I mounted it twice, once in 2017, once in 2019.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_00: It was just in Timberlakes, I'm bringing sexy back.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_00: And but the choreography was very, I would call it more precise, like it was very precise, like strong, strong jazz.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the girls were in a long sleeve, a high neck, and they had a brief on and it was a crop top or whatever.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_00: But it's just if you have a little bit of the inappropriate movement with a song that's also telling the line with a costume that's kind of putting us a little on edge.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_00: And as a male, again, as a male judge, judging mostly female competitors, if I feel like I have to avert my eyes because I'm gonna get in trouble for looking at what's happening on stage, it's a little bit of a Houston we have a problem moment.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it can't be uncomfortable.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you know, that it very much goes hand in hand with the tights versus no tights.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so glad you brought that up, Joey.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, that's a huge debate, like we said, like in the industry.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, when I was growing up in the competition world, I would say like 2005, maybe tights started trickling away very slowly.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: And by the time I started judging in 2011, 2010, five years later, there were no tights on stage.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, what's going on?
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_03: Where do the tights go?
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_03: Shortage.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_01: And the thing is, is that I think that because everyone is going in the direction of no tights, which I will say, I at first was kind of like, what's happening?
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_01: But I actually very much like it.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that I really love how it shows the definition of the dancer's legs.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_03: If there is definition in the dancer's legs.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_01: Caveat.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that it shows their natural skin tone.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: I do think that it's hard to kind of figure out like what kind of type of shoe to wear with a bare leg because you it feels weird to put a jazz shoes on, but then I don't like those turner things, so then I feel like it's best with bare feet.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_01: But the most important thing about not wearing tights is that you have to be secured in whatever costume you're in to make sure that nothing pops out that we don't want to see.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that's bad.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_04: For for me, it's always on a each dancer by dancer basis.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_04: My older girls, it depends on the costume.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_04: Again, it's it's kind of like the Beyonce thing, right?
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_04: The style.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_04: They don't wear tights for every number for sure.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that they do.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_04: Um, my younger ones do, though, I have to say.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_04: They are they are in tights all the time.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_04: Like my little one is 10.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_04: Every dance she does is in tights because I just she's little, they're little.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_04: I don't, I don't personally feel comfortable with that at this point.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_04: But again, it's like you said, I do like the definition in the leg.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_04: You know, a soloist is wearing, you know, has a maybe not just a Leo, because when they're just in a Leotard and no tights, depending on how secure everything is, maybe not the best idea.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_04: But it's not to say that sometimes that doesn't work.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's it's at a case-to-case basis.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_03: And it also matters with like what you're doing in that costume.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like I don't want to see you just on a leotard with no tights doing a tilt in my face.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_03: I just, I'm sorry, I don't want to see it.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's uncomfortable.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_03: If you turn it upstage to the corner, that's perfectly lovely.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_03: Feel free to do your tilt over there with no tights on.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_03: I know, yeah, it's just a it's forethought.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_03: Again, can we come back to the forethought?
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's that forethought.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if you know, well, like you're bringing up that your daughter is 10 and at a certain age they really should be.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's been a lot, I there's been a lot of times where we go to competition and we see ity bitsy teeny weeny little yellow polka dot bikini, and I see five and six-year-olds wearing a yellow polka dot bikini barefoot, no tights.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_00: You're putting your a child on stage essentially in their underwear.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and so, and I've I've said that I have said on many critiques where I'm like, I think these needs these little dancers who aren't trying to pull double pair wets, they're literally going on stage doing heel stretches and hip shakes.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_00: There's no reason why they can't put tights on with that and shoes.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's no reason whatsoever in 2021.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is there just going off of what you guys said about like if you have nice legs with definition and that's who should not be wearing tights?
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a conversation to be had about a body positivity and maybe not looking at a dancer who doesn't have as defined legs or maybe a little extra that is just a larger dancer, that they are just as entitled to be as long again with the same principles of full coverage, just in a body positivity way.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, we should, I don't feel like we should be looking at a dancer who is a little larger and saying, you need to wear tights.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_00: The girl standing next to you who's thinner can get away with not wearing tights in the exact same costume.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_00: But I I just that's also where I start to get a little bit like in 2021, I feel like we should have arrived at that conversation where when we were younger, you know, there was plenty of times that I heard plenty of dance teachers that would say things about a girl's size or about a girl's weight or about a, you know, the way that they, you know, whatever.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_00: I myself, when I was younger, I did a solo when I was 16 or 17.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_00: And we can even go into this if you really want to about boys' presentation on stage.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I went on stage shirtless and somebody was like, You're too skinny to not have your shirt on on stage if you're not gonna have some muscle.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I just think that that's like, like I was even told, like, you shouldn't even be wearing a tank top, like put a t-shirt on.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you're too skinny for that.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm not anymore.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: But um I think that's you know, I think it's a body positivity thing where it's like, no, this dancer is jumping just as high as the rest of them.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: Her legs are just as straight, her feet are just as pointed.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_00: If her anatomy does not show rippling muscles on her legs and they're wearing shorts and nothing is in there, where she's wearing the exact same costume as the other girls not wearing tights.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that they should be penalized or looked at as, oh, please put some tights on versus somebody who's that muscular legged dancer getting away with not wearing tights.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I think that it's I think oh go Ashley, go.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_04: No, for sure.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_04: Because I mean, when I was at ballet school, the mental um aspect of it was a nightmare.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_04: So hearing what you what people thought you looked like or what you should look like, and the stuff that I went through would be for a whole nother podcast.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_04: But yes, I'm with you on that.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but I think that I guess from a like I guess behind closed doors as a teacher, for us to maybe be almost more protective of the kids and not say we don't want you to wear no tights, but we decide to put the group in it and say, you know, this is or whatever.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_04: But I I think that body positivity is a gigantic issue that needs to be taken care of.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_04: And I and I actually glad that you said that because that's very true.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_04: It's super true.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_04: What you said is completely accurate.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm the dance teacher that it is a very rare occasion that I let any of my dancers over the last 10 years go on stage without tights because I just I like it because if we're talking from a perception perspective, I think when your tights are the exact same color as your shoes and it's stream, it just it's streamlined.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_00: If we're talking if dance is about elongating a line, you're it's the same thing with if you're wearing black shoes, put on black tights.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you have black tap shoes on and jeans on, put the black sock on.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_00: Put the you know, it it it elongates.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_00: Please, for God's sake, please just continue the line.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's just a dance principle of what you want to see exactly from elongated, stretched feet and lines.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a black boot on and tan legs, you know, you're cutting it off at the ankle, and it's like, oh it's all about the finish, which is presentation in and of itself.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's pre that it that is presentation, the finish of it.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_01: Polished, yep.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad that you brought that up, and I think it's important.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that as a teacher, how do we navigate that?
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it just really comes down to if the dancer is comfortable, because you mentioned it earlier too, and it can even go back to the broad discussion.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I feel like it all kind of coincides with one another.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_01: If a dancer is, you know, comfortable in their body and okay with being bare legged on stage, regardless of their shape or size, then great.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_01: And the teacher has a conversation with them and say, are you gonna dance comfortably in this?
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_01: Are you going to feel you're 100% best in this costume that we've selected?
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_01: If the dancer is kind of anxious and nervous and scared and I don't know if I want to wear this costume, then we don't pick that costume.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the same thing goes for a dancer who needs a bra.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_01: If you need a bra, then we don't pick a backless costume.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's there's ways around it to make everybody comfortable and still be presenting ourselves in our best way.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_01: But if a dancer, you know, wants to go on stage with no tights on and they're comfortable doing it, regardless of their shape, size, whoever, then like great.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_01: All right, you go, girl.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_01: Just make sure that we're we have the butt glue, we're butt gluing in wherever we need, you know, we have the double-sided tape, we have we we're secure.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_00: The next level of what you're saying is, you know, plenty of studios or I've heard plenty of teachers over the years say, like, uh, you know, especially what in the realm of soloists and duets and trios and stuff like that, where it's a smaller group of people, a teacher will say, You'll wear what I tell you to wear.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna I pick the costume and you it's your job to wear it.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_00: But as if you know your students and if you know the age demographic, especially as teenagers, a kid feels like a million bucks in what they're wearing.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_00: If they feel super comfortable, they're gonna dance better.
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna perform better on stage because they're gonna feel good in what they're wearing.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you've put them in something that they're like, oh God, I can't believe I have to wear this in front of everybody.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna immediately affect their view of what they're doing on stage and how they execute it.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, for sure.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_04: I've had that, you know, I've seen that before.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we can see it as judges, which is which is kind of like in in my experience, nine times out of ten, you can tell who is not comfortable in their two-piece costume or in their no-tights dance.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what I mean by I would rather just nix that uncomfortability altogether or the potential of that being uncomfortable.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_03: Like you said, Ashley, it comes down to like you as the teacher behind the scenes looking at your group of dancers and saying, this group of dancers needs this for them to put their best foot forward.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_04: Because I do feel like it is our job to protect them.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_04: And we do know what it feels like to go through exactly what they're going through because we've been there.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_04: And so you do want them to feel comfortable, you want them to feel proud, you want them to feel good and confident.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_04: And they're not going to if you know they're in something that just they feel they don't feel good in.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_01: Such great points, y'all.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'd love to wrap this up really quick with just some final presentational tips that we can give and share to all of the listeners so we can jump into the 2021 season looking and feeling our absolute best when we hit the stage.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, any tips off the top of your head that you can share with all of the dance moms, dancers, teachers out there.
• 1:00:04
  SPEAKER_00: In any case, whether you have thousands of rhinestones on your costume or whether you are as a studio, you know, the it is the year 2021, so we are talking about masks, but if masks became something that was in the future or not, matching cohesion, as we said, you know, hairspray plus heat, that keeps that hair glued to your head.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you have thousands of rhinestones on your costume or not, keeping it consistent from one person to the next is super important.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a studio that you know that your families can't afford to pay thousands of dollars to have their every costume rhinestoned, figure out how to do it themselves.
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_00: Bring the kids into it, have the kids invest in their own personal presentation because you instill that value in them.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_00: Teach them how to rhinestone, teach them how to why it's important to do all of those things.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, teach these kids it's their job to check their costumes before they go to competition.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's not mom's job, it's your job to take personal interest in what you're going to put out there in the world, because essentially that's the greatest little lesson that we can teach them is that these principles of presentation, it's going to translate when you go in for a job interview, when you go in for your college interview, when you go in for all of these things that prepare you for life.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is how principles of dance and in competition specifically really do prepare you for a life that has absolutely nothing to do with dance.
• 1:01:30
  SPEAKER_00: All of these principles are completely applicable to going out into the world and being a functioning adult and being successful where those things kind of matter.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for tuning in to this wonderful discussion all about presentation for the competitive state.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_02: Be sure to follow our guests on social media.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_02: You can find Joey at Joey Orto and Ashley at Ashley CH415.
• 1:01:56
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• 1:02:01
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• 1:02:07
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• 1:02:14
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• 1:02:21
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• 1:02:27
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• 1:02:32
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• 1:02:37
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• 1:02:42
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• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_03: We are having a blast with the second half of season two, and you won't want to miss what's coming up.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_03: Stay subscribed for judging preferences, the February edition of QA with Courtney, and Teaching Musicality.
• 1:02:58
  SPEAKER_01: We hope you're having a wonderful dance season, and we can't wait for you to continue to listen to Making an Impact.
• 1:03:03
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, keep dancing.