Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Summer Bonus Episode! LIVE from Streetz Dance Convention's Nationals 2025!

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Summer Bonus Episode! LIVE from Streetz Dance Convention's Nationals 2025! · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_07: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_07: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:12
SPEAKER_07: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_07: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:26
SPEAKER_08: A summer bonus episode is here as we wait for the launch of season seven.
0:31
SPEAKER_08: In July, we hosted a live podcast recording at Streets Dance Conventions National in the Woodlands, Texas.
0:38
SPEAKER_08: We had so many Making the Impact fans show up, including parents, teachers, and even dancers who asked questions at our QA event.
0:47
SPEAKER_08: I was your host alongside two fabulous guests, IDA Judge Maddie Marcatis and Streets faculty and dancing with the Stars pro Stephanie Sosa.
0:57
SPEAKER_08: Thank you to Streets for sponsoring this event at Your Nationals, and we hope you enjoy our live QA from Streets.
1:06
SPEAKER_08: Hello everyone.
1:09
SPEAKER_08: Hi, welcome to Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast live recording.
1:16
SPEAKER_08: We're so excited to make this possible thanks to Streets.
1:19
SPEAKER_08: And um, I'm not sure if anyone's listened or heard of the podcast, any podcast listeners in the house.
1:25
SPEAKER_08: Okay, let's go, let's go.
1:28
SPEAKER_08: We love that.
1:29
SPEAKER_08: And uh I'm sure that you know by now that my name is Courtney Ortiz, and I'm on Streets Faculty, and I'm joined by a lovely panel of fabulous individuals here to answer questions in the audience and pre-submitted questions for the next hour for a podcast.
1:44
SPEAKER_08: And fun fact, this is getting recorded into a podcast.
1:48
SPEAKER_08: So if you ask a question, you might hear yourself on a podcast episode launching probably next month.
1:54
SPEAKER_08: And so get some good questions ready because that's it's pretty cool.
1:58
SPEAKER_08: And pick our brains because all of us are actually all of us judged this weekend.
2:03
SPEAKER_08: So um I would love to just introduce my fabulous guests that are here joining.
2:08
SPEAKER_08: We have the wonderful Maddie Marcatis in the house.
2:13
SPEAKER_08: She is an IDA judge, and she came out here just to judge the whole competition.
2:17
SPEAKER_08: And she comes out to many streets events as well.
2:20
SPEAKER_08: And we have the one and only Stephanie Sosa in the house, ballroom faculty.
2:26
SPEAKER_08: And before we jump into questions and things, I would love to just share a little tiny bit about the podcast if you don't know about it.
2:32
SPEAKER_08: We've been around for six seasons.
2:34
SPEAKER_08: We have over 200 episodes.
2:35
SPEAKER_08: We started it before the pandemic.
2:37
SPEAKER_08: A lot of people are always like, When did you start the podcast?
2:39
SPEAKER_08: And I was like, a lot of people started podcasts during the pandemic because people were bored.
2:43
SPEAKER_08: And I was like, we had the idea before the pandemic.
2:45
SPEAKER_08: So I felt like, hello, we figured it out before.
2:48
SPEAKER_08: But we actually had a whole season lined up in the pandemic and had to pivot because obviously, like, we were like, getting ready for nationals.
2:56
SPEAKER_08: It's like, we're not getting ready for nationals.
2:58
SPEAKER_08: Now what are we gonna talk about?
2:59
SPEAKER_08: So we had to do a quick pivot and quarantine.
3:03
SPEAKER_08: But it's been super fun.
3:04
SPEAKER_08: My co-host Leslie, she's based out of New Jersey.
3:07
SPEAKER_08: Her and I met on Royal Caribbean cruise lines, our very first professional job together, and we've stayed friends ever since.
3:12
SPEAKER_08: And then we just were like, let's do a podcast where we talk dance from the judge's side of the table.
3:18
SPEAKER_08: So if you want to get inside the mind of a judge, that's kind of what we wanted.
3:22
SPEAKER_08: Because sometimes the dance critiques that you get at competition, it's a three-minute quick little bit of feedback, and then you never you want to know more.
3:29
SPEAKER_08: So we are like, let's dive deeper into topics.
3:31
SPEAKER_08: And we've branched out into many different types of topics.
3:34
SPEAKER_08: Maddie's been a guest many times.
3:35
SPEAKER_08: Now you're officially a guest, Steph.
3:39
SPEAKER_08: I know we'll have you on more.
3:41
SPEAKER_08: But we do all different types of topics, and we're always looking for new ideas.
3:44
SPEAKER_08: So if you ever have a topic that we haven't covered, or let me know.
3:47
SPEAKER_08: We've probably covered it, but we'll talk about it again.
3:49
SPEAKER_08: Like one of our hottest ones, lyrical versus contemporary, and Maddie was a guest on it.
3:54
SPEAKER_08: Like Maddie straight up defined the difference between lyrical and contemporary.
3:58
SPEAKER_08: And a lot of people don't know what the difference is.
4:00
SPEAKER_08: So go give the podcast a listen and maybe you'll be like, oh, that makes sense.
4:04
SPEAKER_08: That makes a lot of sense.
4:05
SPEAKER_08: Enough about the pod.
4:06
SPEAKER_08: Let me introduce these guests, and they're gonna share a little bit more about them.
4:09
SPEAKER_08: So, Maddie, if you wouldn't mind, tell the world a little bit more about you.
4:12
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
4:13
SPEAKER_03: Hi everyone.
4:14
SPEAKER_03: Like Courtney said, my name is Maddie Marcatis.
4:16
SPEAKER_03: I'm based in Tampa.
4:17
SPEAKER_03: First of all, thank you for sharing your amazing talent all week.
4:20
SPEAKER_03: It's been such a joy.
4:21
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes when they introduce me, I think you all are like, who is that person sitting there?
4:25
SPEAKER_03: But like Courtney said, I'm an IDA judge.
4:27
SPEAKER_03: I've been judging dance competitions.
4:29
SPEAKER_03: I just yesterday wrapped up my 10th season.
4:31
SPEAKER_03: I always joke that I started when I was 12, but that's a joke.
4:34
SPEAKER_03: But I've been at it a long time.
4:35
SPEAKER_03: And Courtney and IDA partnered with Streets back in 2023.
4:39
SPEAKER_03: So I've been around now for three seasons with Streets, and I absolutely love being with this organization.
4:44
SPEAKER_03: I think the talent is incredible.
4:47
SPEAKER_03: The faculty are amazing, everyone's really inspiring, so it's been a joy.
4:51
SPEAKER_03: And I am based in Tampa, Florida.
4:53
SPEAKER_03: I teach at the University of Tampa in the dance program.
4:55
SPEAKER_03: I have my MFA in dance, so I'm on the like concert contemporary side of things, but I grew up training across all styles.
5:03
SPEAKER_03: And I make my own contemporary choreography.
5:06
SPEAKER_03: I teach at studios still, so I keep my feet in kind of all different worlds.
5:11
SPEAKER_03: But the college side of things is where I live most of the time.
5:14
SPEAKER_03: And I'm so happy to be here.
5:15
SPEAKER_03: So hopefully now you can put a face to the name when you're listening to the critiques, and it's like, hi, this is Judge Juan Maddie, and you have no idea who that is because I'm not teaching you all week.
5:24
SPEAKER_08: And I think that's what's so cool about our affiliation with streets at Impact Dance Adjudicators, which is my business that staffs judges to dance competitions.
5:31
SPEAKER_08: We pre-screen all the judges that are on our roster and background check them.
5:35
SPEAKER_08: So we make sure that there are qualified individuals like Maddie that are going out to different competitions that work with us.
5:40
SPEAKER_08: And I think it's really great to also have an outside perspective come in that's not on faculty, that's not teaching the dancers, that maybe doesn't have relationships with anybody, and just coming in strictly to judge and knowing that you're gonna get like a really solid critique, really like clear score that makes sense and backs up the critique.
5:54
SPEAKER_08: So that's why we love having Maddie here and all of our judges.
5:57
SPEAKER_08: So yay for streets for burning.
6:00
SPEAKER_08: Yay! All right, and Steph, can you share a little bit more?
6:04
SPEAKER_08: Because everyone knows you as this fantastic ballroom dancer, but we tell us more about like you.
6:09
SPEAKER_08: Okay, yeah.
6:10
SPEAKER_02: You guys know me as the ballroom teacher.
6:12
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
6:12
SPEAKER_02: What do you guys want to know?
6:13
SPEAKER_02: I'm from Orim, Utah.
6:14
SPEAKER_02: I've been dancing since I was seven years old.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: I'm based in LA right now.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: I was on this past season of dancing with the stars on their troupe, my first season, so I was really excited.
6:23
SPEAKER_02: And I've been working in the industry since I turned 19 nonstop, just doing honestly like everything across the board from TV film to live television.
6:32
SPEAKER_02: I've danced for artists as well.
6:33
SPEAKER_02: I've worked this past year on in New York on an off-Broadway show, so dip my feet into like different aspects of the industry.
6:40
SPEAKER_02: So I'm really lucky and I'm like so grateful because I've been able to see like everything.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: I have an amazing brother, Ezra, he's also on Dancing with Stars, and I'm trained in all styles of dance.
6:49
SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
6:50
SPEAKER_08: And I think that's like what is so important about versatility that we talk about so much in our industry because you might see Stephanie as strictly in your eyes at streets a ballroom dancer, but I have seen this girl tear it up.
7:02
SPEAKER_08: She liked took my jazz class last year in New Orleans at eight in the morning and was just smashing it.
7:08
SPEAKER_08: Like I couldn't I couldn't believe it.
7:10
SPEAKER_08: And you're always like, I'm not technical.
7:11
SPEAKER_08: I'm like, Yeah, you are.
7:13
SPEAKER_08: Like you can do triple pirouettes and bop maz and kill it.
7:16
SPEAKER_08: Like you do everything and you sing because you were just in a musical.
7:20
SPEAKER_08: Like, truly, she really does it all.
7:21
SPEAKER_08: So I think versatility is so important to have a really successful career in this industry.
7:26
SPEAKER_08: And I'm just excited to keep following your journey.
7:28
SPEAKER_08: You're killing it.
7:29
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, you're welcome.
7:32
SPEAKER_08: And if you don't know about me, I live in New York City.
7:35
SPEAKER_08: I'm originally from Baltimore, Maryland.
7:37
SPEAKER_08: I grew up in the dance competition scene my whole life.
7:41
SPEAKER_08: And I moved straight to New York for college, hated college, dropped out of college, went and worked on Royal Caribbean cruise lines, saved all my money, moved back to New York City because my parents were like, We're not paying you to live in New York City if you're not in school.
7:54
SPEAKER_08: And I said, Okay, well, I'll go save my own money and move by myself.
7:58
SPEAKER_08: Like, I wasn't gonna let that stop me.
8:00
SPEAKER_08: And I wanted to jump right into the industry.
8:02
SPEAKER_08: I just didn't really want to wait four years.
8:04
SPEAKER_08: I was so eager to start.
8:05
SPEAKER_08: Like I was at in New York City for school, but like the wicked audition was at 10 a.m.
8:10
SPEAKER_08: that I wish I was at.
8:11
SPEAKER_08: You know, so that was really hard for me.
8:13
SPEAKER_08: And I made that choice, but it was the best decision, I think.
8:15
SPEAKER_08: And then I just kind of hit the ground running in the New York City dance scene and doing lots of different musicals and TV and traveling, international tours, and always teaching on dance conventions at the same time as I pursued my professional dance career, which I still do.
8:30
SPEAKER_08: You know, if the right person calls, maybe I'll get back on stage.
8:33
SPEAKER_08: But I'm loving my time at streets.
8:35
SPEAKER_08: It's my second season here as the jazz faculty, and it's just such a beautiful convention that I'm honored to be a part of.
8:41
SPEAKER_08: So yeah, that's a little about me.
8:44
SPEAKER_08: You can look at my bio if you really want to.
8:47
SPEAKER_08: And I think it's time to get into some questions.
8:49
SPEAKER_08: So, how this will work is if you have a question that you want to ask us, you can raise your hand and you might have to stand up and I'll pass the mic to you, and you can ask it on the microphone so everyone can hear the question.
9:01
SPEAKER_08: We do have a few pre-submitted questions.
9:03
SPEAKER_08: So if no one wants to kick it off, we can kick it off over here and we'll answer them.
9:09
SPEAKER_08: But get a few prepared.
9:11
SPEAKER_08: Here's a first pre-submitted question that was sent in from a dancer.
9:16
SPEAKER_08: And I know.
9:18
SPEAKER_08: And their question is what changes would you like to see in the dance industry in the next five years?
9:26
SPEAKER_08: Ooh, I know.
9:29
SPEAKER_08: It's a very tough, big, broad question.
9:32
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
9:32
SPEAKER_03: What do you think, Maddie?
9:34
SPEAKER_03: You want to kick it off?
9:35
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
9:36
SPEAKER_03: I have a couple thoughts.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: I think it depends.
9:38
SPEAKER_03: Are we talking like the industry as a whole or the competitive dance industry?
9:41
SPEAKER_03: I guess I could answer both.
9:42
SPEAKER_03: That's true.
9:43
SPEAKER_03: Um, industry as a whole, I would like to see dancers just get more respect.
9:47
SPEAKER_03: I think that what we do is amazing.
9:50
SPEAKER_03: We all obviously value this art, but a lot of people don't.
9:53
SPEAKER_03: I think dancers and choreographers are often the bottom of the totem pole when we're talking about payment and we're talking about recognition in like wider the entertainment field, especially.
10:03
SPEAKER_03: And then in the realm that I work in, like contemporary concert dance, often there's no funding available.
10:08
SPEAKER_03: I just performed in a show that literally took place in a hair salon because that's what was donated to the choreographer.
10:14
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it was like a cool boutique setting, but these experimental choreographers have to work in other spaces because there's nowhere available that we can afford.
10:22
SPEAKER_03: And so I would like to see that happen.
10:24
SPEAKER_03: I think in competitive dance, there's a lot of great stuff happening.
10:27
SPEAKER_03: The talent is insane.
10:29
SPEAKER_03: I'm still thinking about the past few days.
10:31
SPEAKER_03: Like every night I go to sleep, and I'm like, oh my gosh, that dance I watched.
10:35
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
10:35
SPEAKER_03: There are a few that are literally like in my mind right now, and I can't get them to go away, which is a good thing.
10:40
SPEAKER_03: Um, but I think in competitive dance, I would like to see us go back to um an emphasis on movement, like moving through space.
10:48
SPEAKER_03: I think there's so much emphasis on tricks right now.
10:51
SPEAKER_03: And I get it because we see those amazing dancers like at UDA, things that are broadcast on television, and it's like, wow, how can you not want to do that?
10:59
SPEAKER_03: I mean, like I want to be able to turn like those people, but they're I mean, they're machines, they're incredible.
11:04
SPEAKER_03: But what about the art and the the movement and like what connects those tricks?
11:09
SPEAKER_03: I want to see more of that.
11:11
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, I feel like I saw some art last night at competition.
11:15
SPEAKER_08: I don't know if anybody else watched competition, but wow, I was like, I would pay money to watch some of these dances.
11:20
SPEAKER_08: I said that on the weeks paid to watch these dances.
11:24
SPEAKER_08: So, you know, it was it was really special.
11:26
SPEAKER_08: I mean, it felt like company level dancing happening for a lot of the performances last night.
11:31
SPEAKER_08: So if you got to watch, you're so lucky to witness.
11:34
SPEAKER_08: And um, and at half the time I'm like, these are kids, like this is crazy.
11:38
SPEAKER_08: There was like partnering that I never learned in my life how to do that I was like, can you teach me how to do this partnering?
11:44
SPEAKER_08: Like someone, and there were times where I was like, I want to be in this dance.
11:47
SPEAKER_08: Like I was sitting in my chair, you know, that's what you always want to do with an audience.
11:51
SPEAKER_08: You want to like move them in a way that you want to like just jump up on stage and be a part of it.
11:56
SPEAKER_08: Um, so I do think that there is such an emphasis on tricks, but I I at least here, and especially last night in particular, I would say like the teen seniors here at Nationals has been touching, tapping into that artistic style and like more concert and company and contemporary movement, um, which was really refreshing to see because I do feel like no offense, but juniors and younger, we love a trick.
12:19
SPEAKER_08: We love a trick.
12:20
SPEAKER_08: I love a trick too.
12:21
SPEAKER_08: You know, I loved a trick when I was 11.
12:23
SPEAKER_08: I loved a trick, but you know, then it eventually it turns into okay, how do we move through as a dancer and become an artist?
12:31
SPEAKER_08: What do you think, Steph?
12:33
SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's a good question.
12:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh immediately when I thought about it, just because I feel like because I've been working in LA since I was 19, being on doing different things across the board, just respect and payment for dancers.
12:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, to live in LA as a working dancer or even in New York is extremely difficult because we do not get paid at the bottom of the food chain, like you said, like actor, singer, dancer.
12:53
SPEAKER_02: And I've also been kind of in the acting world too recently, and just seeing the difference of respect is immense and huge.
13:01
SPEAKER_02: And I just don't sometimes I feel like the people that cast, the people that fund projects, don't really understand the value of a dancer unless you are a dancer yourself and you've been in our shoes, you don't understand.
13:12
SPEAKER_02: It's like a sport, like it's not just something that we're doing because it's fun, you know.
13:16
SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, across the board, I would just love that.
13:19
SPEAKER_02: Like, if there's a way that you know, I don't know, SAC could get involved, and but it's just hard if like until the people at the top that fund these things see us with respect, it's gonna be kind of a difficult road.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so hopefully in five years that gets better.
13:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm also a love and really big into diversity, seeing more people of color on television in different spaces.
13:37
SPEAKER_02: I grew up around a bunch of white people growing up in Utah, and it was very difficult for me from a mental health, but I would just love to continue that because I think it really does matter, it's very important.
13:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then what else for the competition?
13:53
SPEAKER_02: I would say because I'm a ballroom dancer, I would just like to see a little bit more technique for the ball room, but I also like I'm like living live your best life when I'm watching, and then also yeah, the tricks.
14:03
SPEAKER_02: I love, I think you know, dance is a sport, and doing being able to do all these amazing tricks is like such an asset.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: But I will say, as a working dancer, there's never in my life where I've had to do a trick on a job, like ever, unless you get hired specifically.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: Oh, she's gonna be the girl that does the tricks.
14:20
SPEAKER_02: Never in an audition have I been asked to do tricks.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: And the only time I've ever been asked to do tricks is partnering, which is very different.
14:26
SPEAKER_02: So I would, yeah, I kind of wish studio owners and people that choreograph, it's literally all about your artistry and like how you move through space, like you guys were saying.
14:35
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, don't get me wrong, doing tricks is such a great thing to have.
14:39
SPEAKER_02: But if you want to be a working dancer, don't be discouraged if you can't do tricks because I can't even do a handstand or a cartwheel.
14:45
SPEAKER_08: Well, we can do a cartwheel, but I can't do a handstand, so so yeah, I know I remember like back in the day, because I'm old, aerials were like the trick.
14:54
SPEAKER_08: Now they're the double pirouette.
14:56
SPEAKER_08: So I remember when I got my aerial when I was 12, and then I just like stopped practicing it.
15:01
SPEAKER_08: But when I turned 18, I thought I still had it, but I hadn't practiced it in a long time.
15:05
SPEAKER_08: So of course I go to an audition and I think I can do it because they asked if I could, and it said on my resume that I could do it.
15:11
SPEAKER_08: So I tried to do it, landed on my head, blacked out, probably got a concussion.
15:15
SPEAKER_08: Oh my god.
15:16
SPEAKER_08: I think I like broke, like I think I like messed up one of my fingers, and they were like, Are you okay?
15:20
SPEAKER_08: And I crashed the audition, which is usually frowned upon, but I still wanted to go.
15:24
SPEAKER_08: So for like Adidas, I was like, I'm not missing this audition, and I'm gonna book it.
15:27
SPEAKER_08: And then I thought I was gonna book it, and I did an aerial and landed on my head.
15:31
SPEAKER_08: So, but like, but at the same time, I could have booked it if I didn't land on my head and I didn't do, I didn't need to do the aerial.
15:37
SPEAKER_08: They were just like, It says you can do it on your resume, so can you?
15:40
SPEAKER_08: And I was like, sure, yeah, you know.
15:42
SPEAKER_08: So I feel like the tricks are important to have like a little up your sleeve, but no one's ever gonna be like, I need eight dancers that can do an aerial and a front step step out.
15:51
SPEAKER_08: No one's gonna ask that unless you're in like a gymnastics meet or cirque de sole or something, which is a legitimate job too.
15:58
SPEAKER_08: But yeah, depends on what you want to do in your career trajectory.
16:03
SPEAKER_08: Great first question.
16:05
SPEAKER_08: And thanks to whoever submitted that.
16:07
SPEAKER_08: Maybe you're here and we answered it.
16:09
SPEAKER_08: Any questions out on the floor yet?
16:12
SPEAKER_08: Yay! Okay, I'm gonna bring the sparkly mic to you.
16:15
SPEAKER_08: Sparkly mic.
16:17
SPEAKER_08: Tell us your name, tell us where you're from, tell us who you like your role in the dance world and your question.
16:23
SPEAKER_06: Julie Toth, Waller, Texas.
16:26
SPEAKER_06: I'm a dance mom.
16:28
SPEAKER_06: 13 years as a dance mom.
16:30
SPEAKER_06: And my daughter is a senior, going to be a senior.
16:33
SPEAKER_06: So here's my question The journey of dance.
16:37
SPEAKER_06: How do you feel like that relates into the world outside of dance and in dance and how you grow these individuals from three years old to 18?
16:49
SPEAKER_08: Great question.
16:50
SPEAKER_08: Our first audience question, let's give it upper.
16:55
SPEAKER_08: Great question.
16:57
SPEAKER_08: Transitioning from dancer to human life skills, human adult human.
17:04
SPEAKER_08: They're audio human.
17:04
SPEAKER_08: Adult human?
17:05
SPEAKER_08: Go, Maddie.
17:06
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
17:07
SPEAKER_03: I think that I don't just think this.
17:10
SPEAKER_03: I know this and we see it all the time and we hear it all the time.
17:13
SPEAKER_03: Dancers make the best employees in any field.
17:16
SPEAKER_03: We are disciplined, we're hardworking, we're perfectionists, we know how to manage our time, we take feedback.
17:23
SPEAKER_03: Like these are such transferable skills.
17:25
SPEAKER_03: If you want to pursue dance, great, you have all those skills.
17:28
SPEAKER_03: If you want to be a lawyer, if you want to be a doctor, if you want to be a teacher in a school classroom, whatever you want to do, these are amazing skills.
17:37
SPEAKER_03: I think even being a parent, like a lot of this prepares you for that, like understanding how the world works because you have to be responsible.
17:46
SPEAKER_03: You can't just show up to school not having done your homework because you had dance.
17:51
SPEAKER_03: Like you get used to doing it, you figure out how to manage your time.
17:54
SPEAKER_03: And so I think that dance is training for life in the best way.
18:00
SPEAKER_03: So even if you're choosing not to pursue a career, you still you're not wasting your time at all.
18:05
SPEAKER_03: I don't think you're wasting your money.
18:07
SPEAKER_03: Parents, I think you're setting up your children for a really great, successful life.
18:12
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, I completely agree.
18:13
SPEAKER_08: I feel like we're the most disciplined people out there.
18:16
SPEAKER_08: And like you said, the feedback aspect.
18:19
SPEAKER_08: I mean, we we literally our job as students is to receive feedback and apply it.
18:24
SPEAKER_08: So, like, we can be ready for that into any job that we're in when we have a boss over us.
18:30
SPEAKER_08: And it's that's a tough skill.
18:32
SPEAKER_08: Also, rejection, too, facing rejection, which many of you might have already experienced this weekend, right?
18:37
SPEAKER_08: I mean, it's a real thing, it's competition.
18:39
SPEAKER_08: Like at the end of the day, like we have the thickest skin ever as dancers.
18:44
SPEAKER_08: And when you become a pro too, even if you even if you don't become a pro, even if you become an adult, you go to a job interview, you might not ever hear back from that job interview that you go to.
18:54
SPEAKER_08: You might get down to the final round and they pick somebody else, just like competition.
18:58
SPEAKER_08: Oh, I got fifth place instead of first place.
19:00
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, well, there's only one spot opening, and that's the same thing, even in the pro world, too.
19:04
SPEAKER_08: Like, I know as a professional dancer, it it comes down to so many aspects in casting that is at completely out of your control.
19:11
SPEAKER_08: Everyone is so talented, everyone becomes almost at the same level at a point where it's like, oh, we wanted the blonde and not the brunette.
19:18
SPEAKER_08: Oh, we needed the six-foot-tall dancer and not the 4'11 dancer.
19:22
SPEAKER_08: Like, it's literally things that you cannot control about who you are as a human.
19:26
SPEAKER_08: But that's what casting needs to get this job casted.
19:30
SPEAKER_08: You just grow like such thick skin as dancers, and I think that that can transfer into so many assets of your adult life.
19:36
SPEAKER_08: And we're really special people, dancers.
19:38
SPEAKER_08: We're really, really special.
19:40
SPEAKER_08: And we do deserve more credit in the industry because we do bring such value.
19:45
SPEAKER_08: But I think that because we're getting louder and because that dance is so recognized now with television shows and even just UDA and tick, exactly, TikTok.
19:54
SPEAKER_08: It's like, I think people are noticing dancers more, and maybe there will be some progress for for change to like really respect us and treat us fairly and pay us what we deserve and all the things that we want, you know.
20:05
SPEAKER_08: But yeah, it's it's I think we're just we're beasts dancers.
20:09
SPEAKER_08: We're beasts.
20:11
SPEAKER_08: Anything to add, Steph?
20:13
SPEAKER_08: Anything come to mind?
20:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think just being a dancer, you learn teamwork, you learn being on time, you learn respect, you learn to pick up choreography really different like fast, which is also like a muscle like brain thing.
20:25
SPEAKER_02: And you also learn how to be professional in a job.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: You also learn how to manage, like for me as a professional working, like I also have to like manage my relationships with people because it's very important in the industry.
20:37
SPEAKER_02: I have to manage how I promote myself.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: So it's like being a dancer, you're not just a dancer, but you're also like an entrepreneur.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: You're you're there's so many things you have to bring in to like continue doing what you do.
20:48
SPEAKER_02: And so I think it's like honestly amazing.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: And we're amazing athletes, like so.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: I just think it's just so many aspects, and I think the world we need dancers.
20:56
SPEAKER_02: I think it's up to language.
20:58
SPEAKER_02: Some people can't speak it, and you know, we dance it.
21:00
SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
21:01
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
21:02
SPEAKER_02: Great answer.
21:03
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for the great first question.
21:05
SPEAKER_08: Yes, uh, the questions on the floor.
21:09
SPEAKER_08: Ooh, I'm coming down the stairs.
21:11
SPEAKER_08: Sparkly mic.
21:13
SPEAKER_08: Tell us name, where you're from.
21:15
SPEAKER_08: If you want to give your studio a shout-out, too.
21:17
SPEAKER_08: I forgot to say that.
21:17
SPEAKER_08: You can give studio shout outs too.
21:19
SPEAKER_08: Studio shout-out, roll in the world, and your question.
21:21
SPEAKER_08: Okay, okay.
21:23
SPEAKER_04: Hi, my name is Nelia Johnson, and I'm from Carbondale, Illinois.
21:27
SPEAKER_04: Our studio is Sloan's Dance Studio.
21:30
SPEAKER_04: I have two dancers.
21:32
SPEAKER_04: One is 16 and the other is 12.
21:36
SPEAKER_04: My question is I'm a broke dance mom.
21:39
SPEAKER_04: That's the first thing.
21:41
SPEAKER_04: And my my question is how do you get the resources and the training for your dancer on a budget without breaking the bank?
21:51
SPEAKER_04: What resources or things that you guys can recommend?
21:54
SPEAKER_04: Because dance is expensive, and so I just wanted to know.
21:58
SPEAKER_08: Let's give it up for our second.
22:00
SPEAKER_08: Question.
22:02
SPEAKER_08: Oh, yeah.
22:03
SPEAKER_08: Dance on a budget.
22:05
SPEAKER_08: Dance is a privilege, number one.
22:07
SPEAKER_08: Okay.
22:07
SPEAKER_08: So all the kids that are here, make sure you understand and know because I feel like that when I was a kid, I didn't know it was a privilege.
22:14
SPEAKER_08: You know, you're just showing up because you love it and you're like, yeah, I can't wait to go to dance, but you have no idea how much investment, how much sacrifice they're going through.
22:24
SPEAKER_08: I mean, as you probably know, like nationals turns into the family vacation because mom and dad can't take other time off.
22:30
SPEAKER_08: This is the family vacation, you know?
22:32
SPEAKER_08: It was like, where are we going for nationals?
22:34
SPEAKER_08: Oh, that's our one and only vacation that we get to do because it's so expensive for the families.
22:38
SPEAKER_08: But that was something that I kind of looked forward to every year was Nationals.
22:43
SPEAKER_08: But always knowing that, oh, I get to go to Orlando or oh, I get to go to here.
22:47
SPEAKER_08: And it was an exciting thing.
22:48
SPEAKER_08: But I didn't, I didn't know until I became a little bit older and wiser how much sacrifice my family made for me and the investment into this.
22:58
SPEAKER_08: And I feel very grateful that I actually went to pursue it and was successful and was able to feel successful.
23:04
SPEAKER_08: And I feel like the whole time I was just trying to give back to my parents as a thank you.
23:09
SPEAKER_08: You know, like, oh, thank you for introducing me to this.
23:12
SPEAKER_08: Thank you for supporting me in this.
23:13
SPEAKER_08: Thank you for taking me to a studio that trained me properly.
23:16
SPEAKER_08: Granted, I like I mentioned, they were really mad when I dropped out of school, like really mad, you know.
23:21
SPEAKER_08: But at the same time, they still are like, to this day, I'm still paying that one semester of college.
23:26
SPEAKER_08: Like they always let me know that, like every time I go home.
23:30
SPEAKER_08: And it's been like 15 years since that's happened.
23:32
SPEAKER_08: So I'm kind of like, well, aren't you glad I quit?
23:34
SPEAKER_08: Like, aren't you glad I didn't I didn't finish it?
23:36
SPEAKER_08: Cause you'd still be paying that uh for you know, however much it was, because college is super expensive too.
23:42
SPEAKER_08: So it's like, how do we get the education and the resource and the and access to the training without going broke?
23:50
SPEAKER_08: There's multiple siblings.
23:51
SPEAKER_08: Like I was lucky I was the only child, so my parents only had me, but like I think about multi-sibling households.
23:56
SPEAKER_08: I think about families that have one dancer and another kid doing another sport, and both parents are just running back and forth and then coordinating the schedule.
24:04
SPEAKER_08: I don't know how parents do it.
24:06
SPEAKER_08: I really don't.
24:06
SPEAKER_08: And so that's why I really think it's such a privilege, it's such a sacrifice.
24:11
SPEAKER_08: As far as resources, I mean, I would say there's so much access to stuff online now.
24:16
SPEAKER_08: There's so much access, there's a lot of free stuff on the internet.
24:19
SPEAKER_08: I mean, I could get into that whole thing of don't steal stuff.
24:23
SPEAKER_08: And if you know my history, you probably know about my stolen choreography journey.
24:27
SPEAKER_08: So don't steal things.
24:29
SPEAKER_08: But there are resources out there that are free, that are maybe a more affordable monthly subscription or things like that.
24:35
SPEAKER_08: And I think also I personally feel like where the industry has gone, I think it's important to make sure that training is still a part of your dance journey and not just competitions.
24:44
SPEAKER_08: And we're out of competition and I'm not knocking competitions.
24:48
SPEAKER_08: But I think you have to be really smart with which ones you choose to go to.
24:51
SPEAKER_08: Like I'm all for a convention competition because you're getting training in the process.
24:56
SPEAKER_08: And yes, is it expensive?
24:57
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
24:58
SPEAKER_08: And do you have to travel?
24:59
SPEAKER_08: Probably.
25:00
SPEAKER_08: But you're not just putting dance routines out and winning first place.
25:04
SPEAKER_08: You're getting to interact with different people, you're meeting other individuals in class, you're being inspired.
25:09
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
25:09
SPEAKER_08: So, like, I think that if you are going to be in the competitive circuit, the convention route is the way to go to be able like in the investment of your training because it's part of your training.
25:19
SPEAKER_08: And yeah, you can dabble in competition too at the convention, but I would say be selective.
25:24
SPEAKER_08: I don't think that kids need to be in 20 numbers.
25:27
SPEAKER_08: Like it's too entry fees are a lot, you know, like quality over quantity is really important in this industry.
25:33
SPEAKER_08: So really being strategic and smart with which classes you're taking, which events you're attending, and then how many dances that you're in, because that money that you could be putting in that you're putting into an entry fee and additional costume could have been an extra ballet class instead.
25:49
SPEAKER_08: And that probably is going to enhance your training more than doing that one dance for two minutes on stage three times a year.
25:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and also what you were saying about availability of things online.
26:01
SPEAKER_03: Like you can take class with Courtney at Sets on Broadway online.
26:05
SPEAKER_03: So one of the blessings to come out of the pandemic is that you can take virtual classes.
26:09
SPEAKER_03: And I don't know, I think the drop-in fee is probably a little less cheaper.
26:13
SPEAKER_03: It's like 15 bucks or 14 hectares or something.
26:16
SPEAKER_03: So if you live in Texas, you don't have to travel, you don't have to pay for a hotel, an airplane, all the food.
26:20
SPEAKER_03: You can do it in your living room because I know that we all know how to pivot and figure out how to.
26:25
SPEAKER_03: I don't know, I bought like a portable Marley floor for my apartment back in the day.
26:29
SPEAKER_03: Um everybody has home studios next time.
26:31
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
26:32
SPEAKER_03: We all know how to do it.
26:33
SPEAKER_03: So um access to great training from resources around the country is something that's actually really available.
26:40
SPEAKER_03: Um, so that's awesome.
26:41
SPEAKER_03: And then there are also, like Courtney mentioned, there are monthly subscriptions.
26:45
SPEAKER_03: I think also not underestimating the power of watching dance and reading about dance.
26:51
SPEAKER_03: Like I think reading books about the history and the context of what we're doing is important.
26:55
SPEAKER_03: Even if you're young, like find a kid's book on the history of ballet and read about it.
26:59
SPEAKER_03: It will make you a better dancer, even if you're not physically doing it.
27:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then also like finding videos that inspire you, maybe of things that you don't normally watch.
27:09
SPEAKER_03: Like if you're really, really into hip-hop and you watch a lot of music videos, maybe you find some concert dance, and vice versa, finding things that can inspire you because you can go down a rabbit hole like on YouTube for seven hours watching dance.
27:20
SPEAKER_03: And I highly recommend doing that because you can learn a lot from watching.
27:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'll get um I would say I have a lot to say about this because I grew up um in a Latin household though.
27:31
SPEAKER_02: We had three dancers in the studio, two boys, me.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: Um, and my mom, ballroom is also very expensive.
27:38
SPEAKER_02: So I trained in every style, but I also did competitive ballroom, which is like super expensive, kind of like high class, like it was like only the rich people in my studio could afford it.
27:48
SPEAKER_02: But um, my family, like, I wanted it so bad, so we kind of we did, which is crazy.
27:53
SPEAKER_02: But my older brother took the lessons and then he would remember the information, write it down, and then me and Ezra would go into a studio and tris and would like tell us the information because we couldn't afford it.
28:04
SPEAKER_02: But me and as a family, we just wanted it so bad.
28:07
SPEAKER_02: And I remember I would watch YouTube videos on my weekends instead of hanging out with friends and like take class online on YouTube, watch all my favorite music videos.
28:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I yeah, I did everything I could to like get information, and then once I got more more financially stable and things started getting better for my family, then like things got better.
28:26
SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, I think it's also it's sad as it's sad as it sounds, it requires more discipline than somebody who just can afford everything.
28:35
SPEAKER_02: And like you said, quality over quantity, you don't need to do every convention, just be smart about which class you're taking.
28:41
SPEAKER_02: Make sure that you're you know you're not taking their class because they're Instagram famous, take their class because they will provide your child with information that's gonna help you get better.
28:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, I know in LA there's a lot of people teaching that not that they shouldn't be teaching, but they were they charge way too much money and it's not for the right reasons.
29:00
SPEAKER_02: And so just make sure that the environments you put your kids in, like know, just know you'd like do your research and make sure that they're actually getting quality information and they're inspired when they leave.
29:10
SPEAKER_02: They leave feeling bad about themselves, not the right environment, to be honest.
29:13
SPEAKER_02: And then also if you are younger, this is my opinion.
29:16
SPEAKER_02: I just don't think you need to be doing everything, like every convention, everything.
29:21
SPEAKER_02: I didn't peek till and I didn't start doing all of these until like two years, three years before I graduated, because that's when when I'm fresh out of and then I go into the industry.
29:31
SPEAKER_02: Um, so like I didn't do all the bigger, bigger competitions until then because as young, like as young as you are, there's you can't really work, you can get as good as you can, but you know, just keep your training.
29:40
SPEAKER_02: I think ballet is so important.
29:42
SPEAKER_02: I wish I could go back and pay more attention to ballet class.
29:45
SPEAKER_02: I would like there's so many things.
29:46
SPEAKER_02: Wish I would have taken top.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: Now that I've been in the industry, just a little bit smarter with your kid and where you put them.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: But yeah.
29:55
SPEAKER_08: That's great advice.
29:56
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
29:57
SPEAKER_08: I will say the industry is very saturated right now.
29:59
SPEAKER_08: There's dance everywhere, there's a studio in every corner, there's a new competition open up every other day.
30:04
SPEAKER_08: Someone else is starting an intensive mentorship thing.
30:06
SPEAKER_08: Like, there's just so many things that are going on.
30:09
SPEAKER_08: I love the do your research.
30:11
SPEAKER_08: That is so important.
30:12
SPEAKER_08: That is so important to do your research because you might feel like, am I supposed to do this?
30:16
SPEAKER_08: Is this part of like what I'm supposed to do?
30:17
SPEAKER_08: No, I look back, I mean, it was very different.
30:20
SPEAKER_08: Again, I reflect back in the 90s and the early 2000s of my competition years.
30:24
SPEAKER_08: It wasn't this saturated.
30:26
SPEAKER_08: There wasn't as many things that you could go to.
30:28
SPEAKER_08: The internet barely existed.
30:30
SPEAKER_08: But I look back and I'm like, but I was just trained really well.
30:34
SPEAKER_08: I put in the work when I showed up to class.
30:36
SPEAKER_08: If I had to take ballet three days a week and they wanted me to take five, I came to those three days a week and I put the effort in because I didn't want to go five days a week, but I was gonna make the most of those three days a week.
30:47
SPEAKER_08: And if dancers want to progress, I think that if they're just really focused in the training and what they have accessible to them, then they have to know, okay, these are the amount of classes that I'm able to take.
30:57
SPEAKER_08: I'm gonna put in a million percent.
31:00
SPEAKER_08: Because, like you said, if it's just handed out like candy, like, oh, we can afford all of these classes, then sometimes there's dancers that are like, Well, I take ballet five days a week.
31:09
SPEAKER_08: Why am I not better?
31:10
SPEAKER_08: It's like, well, are you trying?
31:11
SPEAKER_08: What are you paying attention?
31:12
SPEAKER_08: Are you actually putting in the effort?
31:14
SPEAKER_08: Then there's dancers that are like, I can only take it two days a week, so I'm gonna make the most of it.
31:17
SPEAKER_08: And you might see those dancers progress quicker than others who are just kind of often-handed things because of privilege.
31:25
SPEAKER_08: So I think uh knowing how lucky dancers are to be able to be at these events and to experience and watch other dancers and be inspired by one another, learn from one another, network, which is a huge part of the industry.
31:39
SPEAKER_08: And you kind of hinted at it like there's people that are charging way too much money for a class, but like you're kind of paying to go network with them, essentially.
31:47
SPEAKER_08: It's like, oh gosh, this is just it's just a lot to wrap your head around, and you might just be a person in a sea full of people hoping to network, but you spent all this money to try to get in front of this particular person because you want to work for them or whatever the case may be.
32:02
SPEAKER_08: That's a whole nother side of the industry that's really tricky, is networking, but it's a part of it, unfortunately, whether we want it to be or not.
32:09
unknown: Yeah.
32:10
SPEAKER_08: And we you start seeing that very like quickly when you become a pro because it's really about connections and then oh, I recommend you, and then this person gets this job and recommends that person.
32:20
SPEAKER_08: Oh, yeah, you're really great.
32:21
SPEAKER_08: The more people that you know in your circle, the more opportunities might come your way because of the networking that you've done.
32:28
SPEAKER_08: So, with that, any other questions in the house?
32:32
SPEAKER_08: Yes, a dancer question in the house.
32:36
SPEAKER_08: And you get the sparkly mic.
32:38
SPEAKER_08: Okay, say your name, say where you're from, your dance studio, and you're obviously a dancer and your question.
32:45
SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Evie LaCoste.
32:47
SPEAKER_01: I'm nine years old, and I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana, and I'm from modern conceptions of dance, and my question is how do you stay so engaged for hours and hours on so many dance routines?
33:01
SPEAKER_08: While judging?
33:02
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
33:03
SPEAKER_01: Oh, good question.
33:05
SPEAKER_08: Let's give it up.
33:08
SPEAKER_08: So well spoken.
33:09
SPEAKER_08: I know.
33:09
SPEAKER_08: Oh my goodness.
33:10
SPEAKER_08: That's a great question.
33:12
SPEAKER_08: Wow.
33:12
SPEAKER_08: And how old are you?
33:14
SPEAKER_08: Nine.
33:14
SPEAKER_08: So well spoken.
33:16
SPEAKER_08: How do you stay engaged?
33:18
SPEAKER_08: That's a question for Maddie since you watched the whole competition.
33:22
SPEAKER_03: Okay, well, it's easy when you're in a place where the talent is amazing.
33:25
SPEAKER_03: I watched it.
33:26
SPEAKER_03: That's true.
33:26
SPEAKER_03: Somewhere like here where the caliber is so high, I'm just I was watching a show.
33:31
SPEAKER_03: I mean, last night, like, how could I not be engaged?
33:34
SPEAKER_03: But when I work outside of the convention world where the days, I don't know how many of you go to regular competitions as well as conventions, you all know the days start at 7 a.m.
33:42
SPEAKER_03: and they end at I don't know when, maybe 11 p.m.
33:46
SPEAKER_03: Some of you, I mean you're nine years old and you've probably had to go to an award ceremony way past your bedtime.
33:52
SPEAKER_03: It's past my bedtime too.
33:53
SPEAKER_03: So I think I think I have to give myself a little pep talk beforehand.
33:57
SPEAKER_03: Like, okay, every dancer deserves the same amount of feedback.
34:02
SPEAKER_03: Every dancer is paying the same amount, and everyone is important, and everyone deserves that.
34:07
SPEAKER_03: So that's usually how I hype myself up because it's not just about like, oh, I just had a break, I'm nice and fresh now, and you get a better critique than the person who's going at 11 p.m.
34:17
SPEAKER_03: So I always try to keep that in the back of my mind.
34:20
SPEAKER_03: I also, when I'm judging, I wear earplugs so that I can still hear the music, but I can't hear the other judges.
34:25
SPEAKER_03: That helps me.
34:26
SPEAKER_03: It also helps me to not lose my voice.
34:27
SPEAKER_03: So I'm a loud person, and so I will scream over the music so that I can hear myself.
34:31
SPEAKER_03: So nine years in, I was like, oh, I'm gonna wear some earplugs.
34:35
SPEAKER_03: And then finding a balance with caffeine, of course, is useful.
34:39
SPEAKER_03: And you know, sometimes like your sugar drops, just like when you're dancing.
34:42
SPEAKER_03: So I'm like, okay, I need a piece of chocolate.
34:44
SPEAKER_03: Things like that that are just like human things.
34:46
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, I think remembering that everyone, every dancer deserves the same amount of love and attention and the same quality of a critique is what keeps me going.
34:56
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, that's that's real.
34:58
SPEAKER_08: I actually I've been judging since I was 21 years old.
35:02
SPEAKER_08: I broke into judging really young, and it was again networking.
35:05
SPEAKER_08: Someone said, Hey, you're a really good dancer, and I um I was working with them at on a gig and they're like, I can't do my judging gig this weekend.
35:14
SPEAKER_08: You want to do it?
35:15
SPEAKER_08: And I was like, I've never judged before.
35:16
SPEAKER_08: I mean, I grew up competing, but okay, and then I jumped into judging at 21, didn't know what I was doing.
35:21
SPEAKER_08: I mean, I was not good at it, and got better at it.
35:25
SPEAKER_08: But the hours, they're long.
35:28
SPEAKER_08: The hours are long, and your brain is moving a mile a minute because we all know that everyone wants a really full critique.
35:35
SPEAKER_08: Like Maddie said, you all everyone paid the same, everyone deserves the same.
35:39
SPEAKER_08: But oh my gosh, it who talks for 15 hours straight?
35:43
SPEAKER_08: I mean, truly, like that's crazy to think about when you really when you wrap your head around that.
35:48
SPEAKER_08: That's why my voice sounds like this.
35:50
SPEAKER_08: It's because I'm screaming in class and then I'm on the mic for six, seven hours immediately following.
35:55
SPEAKER_08: But the regular competition days are even longer.
35:58
SPEAKER_08: I'm grateful now that I'm here at streets and I'm doing shorter sessions of competition.
36:04
SPEAKER_08: But last season I actually did all comp.
36:06
SPEAKER_08: I did every single session of every single competition except for one city that I missed, Mobile, Alabama.
36:12
SPEAKER_08: But this year I take, I take shifts as you've probably seen.
36:15
SPEAKER_08: A lot of the judges rotate and we kind of just spread it out a little bit to also just give a different perspective, but also mentally like turn off the brain because it is hard sometimes to like, okay, we're in the teen contemporary category, and it's uh we got I'm looking at the thing and it's like 40 dances.
36:37
SPEAKER_08: I'm like, here we go.
36:38
SPEAKER_08: You know, you're like mentally prepared because it's gonna be at least two to three hours of the same style.
36:44
SPEAKER_08: And that's really hard.
36:46
SPEAKER_08: That's why, you know, another thing, it's like, no offense to contemporary, I'm a contemporary dancer too, but sometimes it's nice when a little musical theater comes up.
36:54
SPEAKER_08: It's nice when a little pop dance, a jazz dance comes out.
36:57
SPEAKER_08: We like wake up in our seat.
36:59
SPEAKER_08: We're like, we're awake, you know?
37:00
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
37:00
SPEAKER_08: No offense.
37:01
SPEAKER_08: I mean, I'm awake for all of them, but it is exciting, it just shifts your how music changes, like how your energy feels and who you are.
37:08
SPEAKER_08: Like the same thing if you're trying to convince judges and engage judges behind the table.
37:15
SPEAKER_08: So that's always something that I mention when I talk to teachers or if they ask about like what style of music or what do you guys like the most?
37:22
SPEAKER_08: I want something that feels like I can connect to it.
37:24
SPEAKER_08: It's something that maybe like gets me a little moving in my seat or just whatever I'm watching, like the dancers are fully invested in it.
37:31
SPEAKER_08: But you know, it's a variety of levels of ages, talent, all the things that are going to come to the to any competition event.
37:38
SPEAKER_08: So we do, as judges, really make sure that we are trying to give the dancers something that they can take home and improve.
37:45
SPEAKER_08: But I will say that the hours are really long and it isn't an easy job being a judge.
37:49
SPEAKER_08: It's a hard job, and we have to know so many styles of dance and be able to articulate it in a proper way that isn't mean and is trying to encourage the dancers and encourage the teachers.
38:01
SPEAKER_08: But sometimes on hour 10, you might hear a sassy tone get out, come out on the critique a little bit.
38:06
SPEAKER_08: And I always tell people, I'm like, are you listening to the critiques in the order that they perform at competition?
38:13
SPEAKER_08: You're probably not because you just go to you go to class, you press play because whenever your schedule is, okay, we have junior jazz at three o'clock on Monday.
38:21
SPEAKER_08: We're gonna listen to the critiques.
38:22
SPEAKER_08: But like that was on day three of our 40 competition.
38:26
SPEAKER_08: And the judge might be like, I've been telling you to point your feet all weekend.
38:30
SPEAKER_08: You know, they're like more sassy than they were.
38:32
SPEAKER_08: You're make sure you point your feet, you know, on day one when they're like fresh and yeah, you know, like you're not, I don't want my tone to shift, but it also becomes a little difficult as a judge when you're saying the same corrections all weekend because it's usually the same thing that you want to correct in each dance, but you can't hear me yet.
38:52
SPEAKER_08: You know, you haven't heard me tell you that yet.
38:54
SPEAKER_08: But I'm here, I'm like, okay, I gotta tell you point your feet again.
38:57
SPEAKER_08: Make sure you point your feet again.
38:58
SPEAKER_08: Stretch your legs.
38:59
SPEAKER_08: I mentioned that in your jazz solo, but you gotta make sure you do it in your lyrical.
39:03
SPEAKER_08: Like, I'm just re-saying the same thing.
39:05
SPEAKER_08: So that kind of gets exhausting too, if you think about it.
39:07
SPEAKER_08: And it gets a little bit frustrating for us.
39:10
SPEAKER_08: And there's nothing we can do, it's nothing you did.
39:12
SPEAKER_08: But I always say, like, listen to the critiques in order of the competition.
39:16
SPEAKER_08: Sometimes I'll like reference back to something that I said, like from another dance.
39:20
SPEAKER_08: I'm like, I mentioned this in your jazz dance, but you know, for this one, make sure that you do this.
39:24
SPEAKER_08: But I don't know which order you're listening.
39:26
SPEAKER_08: So anyway, how do you say engaged throughout judging?
39:31
SPEAKER_03: A lot of coffee.
39:34
SPEAKER_02: I agree with everything you guys said, but judging is its own.
39:37
SPEAKER_02: I it's my first year judging ever, and I've learned a lot.
39:40
SPEAKER_02: Even just kind of like sitting next to them while judging, I've been hearing, and I'll literally be like talking, and then they'll say something.
39:45
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh yeah, what they said, but then I know that you they can't, so then I have to say it again.
39:49
SPEAKER_02: So if you hear your critiques and you all of a sudden hear me stop talking, I'm learning.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: But no, I mean well, and yeah, your guys' dancers did beautiful this weekend.
39:58
SPEAKER_02: Uh left really inspired.
40:00
SPEAKER_08: So yeah, you did a lot of judging this weekend too.
40:02
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, from 7 a.m.
40:03
SPEAKER_08: to 4 p.m.
40:04
SPEAKER_08: one day.
40:04
SPEAKER_08: Oh, yeah, that was a long day.
40:05
SPEAKER_08: That was the Street Stars Mini Junior Solo Day, yeah, is what you did.
40:09
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, that was a long one.
40:10
SPEAKER_02: But the babies are so cute, like they come on there and they're just so sad for the enemies we have.
40:14
SPEAKER_08: I know, I know.
40:15
SPEAKER_08: Can I add something?
40:16
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
40:16
SPEAKER_03: Um, I was thinking about this while you were talking.
40:18
SPEAKER_03: Something else that I do, because yes, we're saying the same thing over and over, and I think that it's just like the nature of the thing that we're involved in, is like you're doing 26 dances and then you hear the same thing over and over.
40:29
SPEAKER_03: So I try, and this is why you should listen in order.
40:32
SPEAKER_03: I try if I'm saying the same thing over and over, you might find me going on a tangent about like what to actually do to fix it.
40:39
SPEAKER_03: So instead of telling you to point your feet, I'm gonna talk about some exercises you can incorporate into your cross-training.
40:44
SPEAKER_03: And so that's something that I do to stay engaged, also is picking into that part of my brain that isn't just like fire, fire, correction, correction, compliment, correction, but rather finding more useful and practical ways to make the improvements.
40:57
SPEAKER_03: So if you listen to a critique and you start hearing that and you're like, oh, but you didn't tell me to point my feet, you didn't tell me to straighten my knees, does that mean I did it?
41:04
SPEAKER_03: Go listen to the other critiques.
41:05
SPEAKER_03: Maybe you'll hear it there, and then you'll have some practical information to fix it.
41:10
SPEAKER_08: Love.
41:10
SPEAKER_08: That's why you're an IDA judge, Maddie.
41:13
SPEAKER_08: That's why you're on my roster because of that.
41:17
SPEAKER_08: Not every judge is like that, by the way.
41:19
SPEAKER_08: And I'm sure you know that.
41:21
SPEAKER_08: And I'm sure you've heard critiques that aren't like that.
41:23
SPEAKER_08: But there's some really great judges out there, and there's some judges that are just okay.
41:28
SPEAKER_08: They're okay.
41:29
SPEAKER_08: Or they knew the right person and they got put in that seat, you know.
41:32
SPEAKER_08: You just never know how they got into that chair.
41:35
SPEAKER_08: And and we as judges, we always want to try to make sure that we're giving a full critique.
41:41
SPEAKER_08: But I'm a big advocate for hoping that the score backs it up too, because sometimes that number doesn't make sense, and then I'm always like, well, or if you're upset with your placement or where you scored or your adjudication, I'm always like, Well, did you listen to the critique yet?
41:53
SPEAKER_08: Because hopefully that should explain why we got where we got with the number.
41:58
SPEAKER_08: Sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it doesn't.
42:00
SPEAKER_08: That is true.
42:01
SPEAKER_08: But you know, hopefully that's the goal.
42:04
SPEAKER_08: All right, do we have any other audience questions?
42:06
SPEAKER_08: Okay, dancer question name, studio, location, question.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: My name is Grace.
42:13
SPEAKER_00: I live in Houston, Texas, and I dance at Tribe 7.
42:17
SPEAKER_00: My question is what is your favorite professional job you've ever done?
42:22
SPEAKER_08: Ooh, good question.
42:24
SPEAKER_08: Let's give it up.
42:26
SPEAKER_08: Favorite professional job.
42:28
SPEAKER_08: I don't know.
42:29
SPEAKER_08: I've had a lot of good ones.
42:31
SPEAKER_08: I'm very lucky I can say that.
42:34
SPEAKER_08: One of my favorites I would say was when I was on tour with West Side's Story, which is a musical.
42:39
SPEAKER_08: And uh it was a show I auditioned for for four years before I got the job.
42:44
SPEAKER_08: And I thought I was gonna be cast as a shark girl, which is the Puerto Ricans in the show, because my last name is Ortiz, but I'm like only a quarter Hispanic.
42:54
SPEAKER_08: So so I was like, I can totally put my red lipstick on, I'm like, yes, I'm like I'm gonna be a shark.
42:59
SPEAKER_08: But then the choreographer thought I could also be a jet, which is all of the white Americans, the New Yorkers.
43:05
SPEAKER_08: So I auditioned for four years, and then I went to the audition for the Jets and the Sharks.
43:11
SPEAKER_08: The choreographer came up to me and said for the shark audition.
43:14
SPEAKER_08: He's like, Why are you here?
43:15
SPEAKER_08: And I was like, Because I'm auditioning for all of I want to be everything, I'll be whoever you needed me to be.
43:20
SPEAKER_08: Like, put me where you think I belong.
43:22
SPEAKER_08: I know, right?
43:23
SPEAKER_08: And he's like, You're not a shark, you're a jet, but you haven't booked it yet.
43:27
SPEAKER_08: And I was like, Okay.
43:28
SPEAKER_08: So then I went to Final Callbacks and eventually booked it after four years of auditioning.
43:33
SPEAKER_08: It was a dream job of mine because I got to do original Jerome Robbins choreography, which is an iconic choreographer, and travel through Europe.
43:40
SPEAKER_08: So I was on tour for six months all over.
43:42
SPEAKER_08: I lived in Paris for 10 weeks, like over Christmas.
43:45
SPEAKER_08: I mean, it was a dream, like it's just a dream come true.
43:48
SPEAKER_08: Dance takes you to so many places.
43:50
SPEAKER_08: It's like you're so lucky that you can do that.
43:53
SPEAKER_08: And fun fact, they dyed my hair blonde, so I looked like a jet girl and not a shark girl, and that was part of the Gig that it literally said in the contract they're allowed to change your hair color and cut your hair, change your hair color.
44:04
SPEAKER_08: They didn't wig you.
44:05
SPEAKER_08: Normally in musicals, they'll put a wig on you and you can transform into a new person.
44:10
SPEAKER_08: But I had to be a blondie for like you're you're blonde for six months traveling through Europe.
44:16
SPEAKER_08: But it that was a dream job because if it was my first big job, and it was and it was an amazing experience, but it was a show I wanted and I fought for it, and it finally happened.
44:26
SPEAKER_08: So it's like never give up type of thing.
44:28
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
44:30
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
44:30
SPEAKER_02: I would say my favorite job I've ever done was when I freshly turned 19 and I booked a TV show for two seasons.
44:37
SPEAKER_02: It was called High School Musical, The Musical, the Series.
44:40
SPEAKER_02: I was, yes, it was so go watch on Disney Plus.
44:43
SPEAKER_02: I was a principal dancer, and then they really just liked me and my look, and they ended up being a co-star season two, and that's what got me into acting.
44:52
SPEAKER_02: So so thankful that God put me in that position.
44:55
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I was like I filmed three seasons.
44:57
SPEAKER_02: I filmed through COVID, so we had to do the masks, which is crazy on set.
45:02
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I got to learn how to work on set.
45:04
SPEAKER_02: I got to work with Zach Woodley, who is also the choreographer of Glee.
45:08
SPEAKER_02: If you guys don't know Glee, probably not your generation.
45:10
SPEAKER_02: Your parents probably do.
45:11
SPEAKER_02: And it was just so fun.
45:12
SPEAKER_02: I got to work with Olivia Rodrigo before she became a pop star and all that.
45:16
SPEAKER_02: So freshly 19, living in Utah, being like, what is life?
45:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm on Disney.
45:21
SPEAKER_02: Like, what?
45:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, that's my first, my first job.
45:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:24
SPEAKER_08: I feel like you always remember your first job.
45:26
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
45:26
SPEAKER_08: You know, it's like you like, I made it, you know, like I finally did it.
45:30
SPEAKER_08: And it's exciting to hear like that was one of your first jobs.
45:33
SPEAKER_08: Like, amazing.
45:34
SPEAKER_02: And like TV film, I would I like to say is like the princess jobs of dancing.
45:38
SPEAKER_02: That is true.
45:39
SPEAKER_02: Because it is the most highest paying, you get risk respected.
45:42
SPEAKER_02: That show that I did though, they respected the dancers.
45:45
SPEAKER_02: Uh Tim Fetterly, he was the director, and he used to be a dancer, so he valued dance and made sure that we got paid and that we were featured, and it was it was a beautiful experience.
45:55
SPEAKER_08: Like from my experience on tour, we did not get paid what we deserved, and we sacrificed a lot of things because we're like, but I'm in Europe.
46:03
SPEAKER_08: You sacrificed it because I'm like, well, I'm gonna have an all-expense paid trip to live in Europe and do this iconic show, and then you're like, but I'm not getting paid what I deserve, and I have to share my room with a cast member, and I have to live in close quarters with them and have a roommate.
46:16
SPEAKER_08: You like sacrifice things sometimes to do the job that you want.
46:19
SPEAKER_08: It's not always gonna be like this glamorous life that it might look like we all live.
46:24
SPEAKER_08: And and so it might you might eventually get there, but TV film for sure, movies, TV film, even touring with pop stars.
46:31
SPEAKER_08: I think that's a little bit more glamorous.
46:33
SPEAKER_08: There's many jobs in the industry that aren't as glamorous, but we do them because we love them and we want the experience and the opportunity.
46:40
SPEAKER_08: There's like pros and cons to every job you take.
46:43
SPEAKER_08: And the pro for me was West Side Story, original choreography, touring through Europe.
46:49
SPEAKER_08: That was all the pros for me.
46:51
SPEAKER_02: Like you don't know who you're gonna meet, and you opens a door.
46:54
SPEAKER_02: So a lot of the jobs that aren't TV film are like I could be doing like a little gig for, I don't know, a small performance, but that choreographer works on big projects, so yeah, like you never know what job will open a door for multiple jobs.
47:08
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
47:09
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, say yes to things.
47:10
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
47:11
SPEAKER_03: These two obviously have had incredible performance careers, and everything I've done, like I said, I work in the contemporary concert, like downtown New York City realm.
47:19
SPEAKER_03: So a lot of like project-based dancing, like I said, and hair salons, museums, things like that.
47:24
SPEAKER_03: But I think I would love to just offer that performance careers are awesome, but there's so many other avenues that you can take.
47:32
SPEAKER_03: So some of my favorite jobs that I've had that have been really well paying have been choreographing and teaching.
47:39
SPEAKER_03: And so my favorite thing I've ever done was that I produced my own show when I was living up in Rochester, New York.
47:45
SPEAKER_03: And so I fundraised and I got grants.
47:47
SPEAKER_03: So there was money involved, which was awesome.
47:50
SPEAKER_03: And it took place in a real theater, not like a huge one, but a real theater, not a hair salon.
47:55
SPEAKER_03: And so, yeah, that was like a really huge source of pride.
47:58
SPEAKER_03: And what Stephanie was saying about like networking through these smaller gigs, that helped me get some teaching jobs where people came to my show, and maybe uh the dance chair from another university came up to me and was like, Hey, do you want to come teach a master class?
48:12
SPEAKER_03: Do you want to come guest teach?
48:13
SPEAKER_03: And then that's how you get yourself roped in.
48:16
SPEAKER_03: So obviously, we all want performance careers.
48:19
SPEAKER_03: I think when we're young, especially, but as you get older, you might find that there are other things that excite you, like teaching, like choreographing, like maybe working behind the scenes, or maybe you want to run social media for a dance competition, things like that are all available to you.
48:31
SPEAKER_03: So there's so much out there, and there's so many ways to be a professional dancer.
48:35
unknown: Yeah.
48:36
SPEAKER_08: Love that advice.
48:37
SPEAKER_08: Yay.
48:39
SPEAKER_08: Okay, sad news about it.
48:40
SPEAKER_08: We only have one time for one more question.
48:44
SPEAKER_08: You are the first one here.
48:47
SPEAKER_08: She's been waiting.
48:48
SPEAKER_08: You've been waiting this whole time, and you're gonna you're gonna finish it out for us.
48:52
SPEAKER_08: So yes, I know you're a diehard.
48:56
SPEAKER_05: Thank you, diehard fan.
48:58
SPEAKER_05: I'm Carrie Beth Harris, I'm from Fort Worth.
49:00
SPEAKER_05: Dance concept.
49:01
SPEAKER_05: I'm a teacher, primarily tap, also the babies, and a dance mom of an 11 and 13-year-old girl and boy, and uh now do admin for the studio.
49:11
SPEAKER_05: I wear many hats.
49:12
SPEAKER_05: My question is and we can you can I feel like you kind of touched upon this when we were talking about dance on a budget, but what would your biggest advice be for some for a dancer in like the middle school, maybe early high school years whose goal is to be a professional?
49:27
SPEAKER_05: Not there are some dancers who their goal is to win the plastic trophy, and that's legitimate too.
49:33
SPEAKER_05: But if they're looking at long term, what would your advice be as far as injury prevention, breaking into that relationships?
49:40
SPEAKER_05: How would you what's your advice about that?
49:43
SPEAKER_08: Great question.
49:43
SPEAKER_08: Let's give it up for our final question.
49:48
SPEAKER_08: That's like crucial time, like 12 to 13 is like yeah, that is when you're making the choice to am I gonna do this or not?
49:56
SPEAKER_08: And then like you're about to go into high school, and then you're gonna have all the high school influence of football games, improm and significant others and all the things.
50:08
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, you can definitely get distracted.
50:10
SPEAKER_08: I feel like when I and especially when I got to high school and I was the only competitive dancer at my public high school.
50:16
SPEAKER_08: And yeah, yeah, okay.
50:18
SPEAKER_08: So if there are some friends that can relate, and I felt like very peer pressured to fit in with the high school crowd.
50:24
SPEAKER_08: But they're like, Why do you have to go to dance?
50:25
SPEAKER_08: Why do you go to dance all the time?
50:27
SPEAKER_08: I and like no offense to dance team, but like my dance team at my high school wasn't good.
50:31
SPEAKER_08: So they were like, Well, why aren't you on the dance team if you're a dancer?
50:34
SPEAKER_08: And I was like, Because they're not good, because I'm better than that.
50:37
SPEAKER_08: Like, I was just like so stressed.
50:40
SPEAKER_08: But I don't know.
50:40
SPEAKER_08: I I I also feel like that's such a pivotal time in training because you can really like launch in your training when you're like going through puberty transition, like your body's different, your flexibility changes, like all the things.
50:54
SPEAKER_08: And that was a really tough time for me because my studio made this rule where there was this great arts high school, Baltimore School for the Arts, where I grew up.
51:03
SPEAKER_08: Really great.
51:04
SPEAKER_08: Everyone went there, like five days a week ballet, you go to Juilliard, you go to the top-tier schools.
51:08
SPEAKER_08: I was gonna go, everyone was kind of gonna go.
51:10
SPEAKER_08: But then my studio was like, Well, you can't go there and come to the studio and be on the competition team anymore.
51:16
SPEAKER_08: They're like, You don't like ballet, Courtney, you're a jazz dancer.
51:18
SPEAKER_08: Why would you go there?
51:19
SPEAKER_08: And I was like, Oh no.
51:21
SPEAKER_08: So that was hard for me because I felt like I didn't want to go to the ballet school, but I also wanted to be normal and go to regular high school.
51:30
SPEAKER_08: So arts high school didn't sound fun to me, no offense.
51:33
SPEAKER_08: But I was like, I want to go to the football games, I want to go to the bonfires, I wanna go to prom, like all these things that you want to experience as a high schooler.
51:41
SPEAKER_08: So I I look back and sometimes I'm like, darn, I wonder where my life would have taken me if I went to that arts high school, how my career would have been different, how my technique would have been different, what opportunities, what pathway I would have gone to.
51:52
SPEAKER_08: So I think it's a tough time for dancers to try to navigate, but I think training is super crucial, like being in ballet.
51:59
SPEAKER_08: I keep talking about ballet, it is so important at that age because you're you're really gonna transform your training in a different way than if you're only in jazz class or you're only in tricks and turns class or whatever, only in acro class.
52:11
SPEAKER_08: You kind of got to dabble in a little bit of everything.
52:13
SPEAKER_08: But like I'd say if you want to make it as a pro, minimum three days a week, ballet starting at age 12.
52:19
SPEAKER_08: Boom, minimum.
52:20
SPEAKER_08: That would that was what I did.
52:21
SPEAKER_08: And I look back and I'm like, I'm so grateful my teachers made me do that.
52:24
SPEAKER_08: And like not an hour, an hour and a half in a pink tight bun, understanding how to do a real ballet class because you're gonna need to do that when you go to college auditions, you're gonna need to do that when you go to company auditions or pro life.
52:36
SPEAKER_08: So learning that then I think is gonna just completely transform a dancer.
52:41
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I totally agree.
52:42
SPEAKER_03: I think also being exposed to as many people and styles as possible.
52:47
SPEAKER_03: So we were talking before about online resources and being really strategic about going to conventions.
52:52
SPEAKER_03: I think if your studio will allow it, if there's a masterclass happening up the road with someone that you're really excited about training with, go.
52:59
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, get permission and you shouldn't be missing rehearsals for your team or anything that you've agreed to, but take advantage of when people come to your neighborhood to train with them.
53:09
SPEAKER_03: I think also this is another expense, but cross-training is super undervalued.
53:14
SPEAKER_03: Like if you can get access to Pilates, yoga, things that strengthen your body in ways that are really complementary to dance but aren't dancing per se.
53:25
SPEAKER_03: You learn a lot about your body, you learn a lot about how to take care of yourself.
53:28
SPEAKER_03: And then when you're out in the world, sometimes those things are more accessible than a dance class, especially when you are maybe working three survival jobs and you can't make it to dance class or you can't afford to take dance class, but you can YouTube a Pilates class from your living room or your hotel room or wherever you are.
53:45
SPEAKER_03: Super, super useful.
53:46
SPEAKER_03: I wish I had been exposed to that earlier.
53:48
SPEAKER_03: I think I started doing that when I was like 14, 15 because my mom took me with her.
53:53
SPEAKER_03: And I'm so, so grateful because that totally transformed my understanding of my body.
53:57
SPEAKER_03: And now in my 30s, I am able to take care of myself.
54:01
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, cross-training is super important at any age.
54:05
SPEAKER_03: I think I don't think it's ever too young to start.
54:07
SPEAKER_03: I don't think you need to be taking ballet class with ankle weights on.
54:10
SPEAKER_03: I think that's super dangerous and becoming a trend.
54:13
SPEAKER_03: Don't do that.
54:13
SPEAKER_03: But cross-training outside of your dance classes, if you can get access to it, in addition to lots of ballet, and please stay in top class.
54:21
SPEAKER_03: It will only make you better.
54:22
SPEAKER_03: I wish I did top.
54:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it will change the way that you hear music, it will change the way that you ground yourself into the floor.
54:27
SPEAKER_03: I think hip-hop is also super useful for that.
54:29
SPEAKER_03: Understanding isolations.
54:31
SPEAKER_03: So being versatile is what I'm getting at here.
54:34
SPEAKER_03: Even if you know, like I want to be a fill-in-the-blank dancer when I am older, do everything because you never know what someone's gonna ask you for in an audition.
54:43
SPEAKER_03: And all the styles complement each other.
54:45
SPEAKER_03: So I don't feel very confident doing hip-hop, but I know that understanding isolations and how to ground into the floor makes me a better contemporary dancer and a better contemporary dance teacher.
54:53
SPEAKER_03: Yes, yes.
54:54
SPEAKER_03: Anything to add?
54:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would say yeah, big on cross-training, but like with the styles as well.
54:59
SPEAKER_02: The amount of times in audition that I've been asked, so thank God I grew up doing ballroom, but then asked to do partnering, especially in a professional job, super important.
55:07
SPEAKER_02: And then, like for networking, I would say just the if you're a dancer and you know, okay, I like for me, I wanted to be on dancing with the stars, that was my dream job.
55:15
SPEAKER_02: I made sure that I knew my ballroom technique, I knew that I was competing ballroom, I knew that I was making the right connection that I needed to.
55:22
SPEAKER_02: I also came from a studio that all the dancing with the stars world kind of comes from, all the pros.
55:26
SPEAKER_02: So I was really fortunate.
55:28
SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm so lucky, but I knew okay, they have this summer intensive.
55:32
SPEAKER_02: I know some of the ballroom people are gonna be there, I'm gonna get in front of them.
55:34
SPEAKER_02: Exposure is very important, especially if you're like 16, 17, about to go into the professional world.
55:40
SPEAKER_02: If you want to be a commercial dancer, having people see you is so important.
55:43
SPEAKER_02: So many times that I booked a job just from being seen at it, they're like, Oh, we need a Latina.
55:47
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I saw her at a class, and so just taking as much saying yes to everything, even if the pay isn't good, when you're young, just do everything because you do not know who you're gonna meet, you don't know not know who you're gonna work with.
55:59
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, if you're 11 to 16, technique is everything.
56:03
SPEAKER_02: Because also, if you want to stand out in LA, not everybody in LA has technique.
56:07
SPEAKER_02: So, from what I've seen at auditions, everybody's a hip hopper, mover.
56:10
SPEAKER_02: The people that have technique really stand out, and then you you put them in a hip-hop thing and they like book it because oh, like, oh, she can hip hop too.
56:17
SPEAKER_02: Period, we're having her on.
56:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, that's my advice.
56:20
SPEAKER_08: Great answers, y'all.
56:22
SPEAKER_08: Yay for our final question.
56:25
SPEAKER_08: Oh my goodness, this was so great.
56:27
SPEAKER_08: We could just do this all day, couldn't we?
56:29
SPEAKER_08: Everybody, this was so awesome.
56:31
SPEAKER_08: Thank you so much for showing up when you could have been at the poll and coming and asking great questions and educating and spreading the love.
56:37
SPEAKER_08: And thank you to Maddie and Stephanie for joining me.
56:40
SPEAKER_08: Give them a round of applause, and thank you to streets for making this possible.
56:44
SPEAKER_08: And uh hopefully we do this every national.
56:47
SPEAKER_08: If you liked it, let them know.
56:48
SPEAKER_08: And don't forget to listen to the podcast.
56:50
SPEAKER_08: September 4th is when season seven starts back up.
56:54
SPEAKER_08: So thanks everybody.
56:56
SPEAKER_08: This is awesome.
56:57
SPEAKER_08: So great to have you all.
56:58
SPEAKER_08: Thanks for joining us.