Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Spotlight Feature - Cost n' Mayor

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Spotlight Feature - Cost n' Mayor · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: You probably know them as Cost and Mayer, the TikTok duo that took the world by storm over the past few years with their synchronized dances to unexpected songs.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: But did you know that Austin and Meredith Talenco never even set out to be TikTok famous?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: For our final spotlight episode of season four, the delightful Austin and Meredith join us to talk about their unexpected journey to influence or fame and how to create your own good luck.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Hello everyone, welcome to our final episode of season four.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: This is Courtney.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm the host of Making the Impact, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Courtney, I just every year I'm like, is it really over?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's over.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: I guess it's over.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: It feels like it's, you know, we do this every week, mostly from September, you know, now to May, and we've had some amazing guests, some amazing topics, and some really amazing feedback from our fans.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, to all of our fans, we love you all so much.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for all of the support throughout the entire season.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: We have grown so much this season.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: And if you want to hear all of our stats and updates and things that are coming soon for season five and over the summer, then be sure to hit next after you listen to this final episode of season four, because we have our season four wrap-up episode that is launching today as well.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that's our final little send-off before we disappear for the summer.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Disappear into vacation land.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it'll be it'll be a really neat neat thing to see season five kind of take shape over the summer, and we have some cool stuff that we're gonna talk about in uh our wrap-up.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you just keep on playing after this episode uh finishes so you can hear about all the stuff we're doing in season five.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, and I cannot wait for you all to hear this week's episode.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: Our final episode of season four couldn't be better because we have a fantastic set of people joining us on this episode for our last and final spotlight feature of season four.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm a little obsessed with them.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I think y'all will be too if you're not already.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, let's get into it.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: But before we do, we have a word from our sponsor.
• 2:36
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• 2:38
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• 2:46
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• 2:52
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• 3:00
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• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: I love the arch support and compression that they provide me while I'm teaching.
• 3:07
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• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: Grab a pair of your Apollo Shock Compression socks now by using our exclusive podcast promo code.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: Use the code IMPACT10 in all caps at checkout to receive 10% off your order at ApolloPerformance.com.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: Dance longer, dance stronger with Apollo Performance.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And one more piece of business before we head into the episode, we would love to announce some of our Making the Impact Award winners from the 2023 season.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: If you are unfamiliar, the IDA affiliated competitions that we uh provide judges for, those judges give Making the Impact Awards at every event.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: That award is given out to a routine or a dancer or a dancer within a routine or a studio sometimes that made the impact on these judges over the weekend.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's the routine that they can't stop talking about, that they think about the next week, they think about the next month.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that really made an impact, whether that was through choreography, execution, performance, or just that light that you see in a person sometimes.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: So we'd love to shout out some of these winners.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: They received a physical award at the competition, and the other perk is we get to talk about you right here.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yay! All right, let's kick things off with our Pinnacle Dance Competitions event in Dallas, Texas.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: Congrats to Destiny Devoted Dance from Plano, Texas for their small group, Heartburn.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: From Spirit of Dance Awards event in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations to Estelle Porter from Turning Point Dance Center in Latham, New York for their solo Small World.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: From Diva Dance Competitions event in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, congrats to Greendale Dance Academy from Worcester, Massachusetts for their production Hairspray.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: And from Spirit of Dance Awards event in Nashua, New Hampshire, congratulations to Bedford Dance Center from Bedford, New Hampshire for their small group contact.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: That's a wrap on our Making the Impact announcements for season four.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: And if you are a recent recipient of the Making the Impact Award towards the end of the competition season, don't worry, you'll get your shout out in season five.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: Alright, listeners, our season finale has arrived.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: So sad about it, but we are going out with a bang with one of the best guests ever to lead us out on our spotlight feature episodes of season four.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: I have been admiring this duo and pair on social media, and I'm sure you know exactly who I'm talking about.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: You may have seen them on performances on TV in Good Morning America and the Kelly Clarkson Show.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: They just wrapped tour with the Pentatonics, and they've worked with brands like Apple, Lexus, MasterCard, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Disney, and so many more.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: They have over six million followers, y'all.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like, get into it.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: If you haven't watched their videos, you are missing out.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm sure you have because all dancers look up to these amazing pair.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to welcome Cost and Mare, Austin and Meredith Talenka to the podcast.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome, y'all.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_05: Wow, that was like an emotional thing to hear.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_05: Like I never hear people interesting like, wow, that's so cool.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: I did get chills.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: That was so good.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: That was really, really good.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_06: We're so happy to be here.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks for having us.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so thrilled that we could make this work.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out to your agent at GoToTalent for connecting us and getting our schedules aligned so we could have you on our podcast today.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: It is such a pleasure to have y'all.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're so excited.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yay! Well, like I said, this is our season finale of Making the Impact.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: And we've had some fantastic episodes throughout the season and we've interviewed some really great spotlight future guests.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm excited to have y'all round it out for us because I think that everyone knows you from social media, but we've never really like gotten to know like how y'all met and how your dance career started and what your hopes and dreams are for the future.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that all of our guests will love getting to know you even more for the next hour on this pod.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I can't wait to as well.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: So because it's my first time meeting y'all.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: So, Leslie, what do you like to kick things off?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Kick it off.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do it.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm super stoked to meet y'all too.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, mainly because I mean I've I've enjoyed your work for a while, but it really hit home with me when you did the Law and Order SVU theme song.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's my favorite, and it was really a nice interpretation of that song.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: I sent that to you and I was like, Leslie, we have to have them on the podcast.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: I was obsessed.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Also, the Great's Anatomy one recently just hit home as well.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, like Courtney said, we know you guys from recent, you know, social media uproar of TikTok during the pandemic, but I want to know just individually, what was your early dance training like?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because you didn't you didn't get good at what you do just randomly.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: There was something before TikTok.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to know, and I think our listeners would love to know what that is.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I bit of a roller coaster of a of a startup for me.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_06: I just both have very non-traditional upbrings.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: You'll hear about it, but it's it's kind of funny, it's different.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I started um actually performing like as a whole when I was about nine years old in musical theater, believe it or not.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't even start like dancing right away.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: My mom kind of threw me in and made me audition for this community show.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: It was uh Annie Get Your Gun.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I hadn't like never sang before, I had never danced before, but I went to the audition.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: I actually, because I I don't even know if you know this, but because I didn't know how to prepare for an audition, I just sang Happy Birthday because I didn't come with anything prepared.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And they were just like, That's like a really hard song to sing.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's it's a rare song.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's not right.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_06: Did you maybe have a piece of that original happy birthday right now?
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't think the listeners want that.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think who did you sing happy birthday to?
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it was the so the the director of the show was actually also a very close family friend, so I think that's also why he was cool with me singing happy birthday, was because he loved me.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it was, I mean, it was him and then like probably like two or three other people that were, you know, there.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: But um, all that to say.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: What did you did you sing happy birthday, Mr.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Johnson?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like I just like the actual line.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm not sure.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've I think I said like either my name or like uh his name is Kevin Biddle.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think I just said Biddle like the last name, that's what we called him.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I think we just sang it to him.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_05: That is so yeah, that's a great question.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_05: Makes my picture of the scenario funnier.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so yes.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was to the director.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was really playing the role so that I could get the role.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: So it worked.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: I I got the par, thankfully.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: But um, all that to say that I started out in musical theater and then I absolutely loved it.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then that's when I was like, I want to, you know, get a little bit more serious about doing more shows.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And my mom was like, Well, maybe you should start taking some dance classes.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, whoa, not that serious.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I just want to like do more shows.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And she was like, No, if you're gonna get serious, you need to take some dance classes.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so my very first dance class ever was a triple threats class, and I wanted no part of it.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And my mom threw me into it, and I came out of class and I said, How many more classes can I sign up for?
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely loved it.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So from there, I know a theater king for sure.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: So then I mean I signed up for everything hip hop, tap, jazz, you name it.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: I was I was in it, and then I just kept training.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: I just kept taking all the classes.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: At 16, I started teaching for the very first time.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just the little like six to eight-year-old boobs, they were super cute.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_03: We love boob class.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then a couple years after that, I had an amazing mentor in my life that really, you know, kind of took me under his wing, and I was assisting him.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: I was, you know, part of the coaching team that he had for his competition team.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, he he led me on a good path.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then I I moved to New York City in 2017.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, nice.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's yeah.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty much that.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Just kept on dancing.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't really stop at all.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, we're babies.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_06: You said that's recent.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_06: Everyone doesn't think that we're infants, but we really are.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: Wait, what do you mean by infants?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: How old do you think we are?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: I love this game.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um you're like 23.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: No, I thought they I I feel like they look like 20, like late 20s, like 27.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, you're pretty small.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'm 25.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm 28.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, okay.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_06: He's 28 next month.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh, you didn't know that yesterday either.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_06: Somebody asked me yesterday.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_06: You didn't even know how to do froze.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_06: I was like, Are you good?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_06: All right, 25, 28.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_06: 25.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_06: I turned 25 on the last day of touring with pentatonics, which was an iconic moment in my life.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_06: But um pretty crazy.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_06: Wow, I can't wait to hear about that.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, wow.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, that's yeah, I that's how well how what I predicted y'all to be.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: I was, I don't think you're infants, don't worry.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: But 2017 is feels like recent in my brain of like when I moved to New York, it was 2007.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, oh my god, 10 years later.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: But where did you grow up?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: Where did this all take place?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I my home hometown is Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_06: The whole town smells like chocolate.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_06: It's awesome.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it does.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's a quite lovely place.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up um not far from Lancaster, about 45 minutes south of it, like on the border of Maryland, Pennsylvania border.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: So we would go to dance comps a lot in Lancaster.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe you competed against each other.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, maybe sorry, I I wasn't I couldn't decide whether I wanted to save this for like the competition talk.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: But Courtney, your last name is Ortiz, right?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: You did you used to teach for or teach at Turn It Up Dance Challenge conventions?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I did, yeah.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: I am 99% sure that you actually gave me a musical theater award at one of your convention classes.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_05: Wait, what?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_05: Probably.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Your name came up, it said Courtney Ortiz, and I was like, I am I am 99% sure that I got a musical theater award from your class.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so funny because that was like in the heat of me wanting to be like a hip hop street dancer.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so like I was like really trying to get the hip hop award.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_03: And Courtney said theater king, you are.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'd be the theater king, and I was like, all right, fine.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: I guess this is what I'm doing.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: We I called you the theater king.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no, no, no, no.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, that's what I thought the award was called.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, hmm, it's so creative, Courtney.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_05: Me and Courtney really tried to drag you back to your theater rooms.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, you did.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm yeah, I support it.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love it.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, oh my god, we have to find that.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: I need to go back into my link.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: Surely you have it somewhere.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Somewhere in like Pennsylvania.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's in a box.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, it's in a box.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: The moment we sign off of this, I'm going into my calendar and I'm scrolling back in the years to find out when I taught at that event because I'm pretty sure that I did teach at like a Lancaster.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: 99% sure.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: That is so cool.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: Now I feel really old.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Although we're not too far apart, but this must have been when you were like about to graduate or something.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: It was probably right around there.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: I'm 34, but like, you know, you're 27.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: You started teaching when you were like 21 or 22 at those conventions.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: So oh my gosh.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: I love this connection.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so like that's just so cool that you recognize my name and remember that from your youth.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, wild.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody listening, smallest dance world ever.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm telling you, we say it all the time.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: We do say it all the time.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: I was just, I think it was because like I remember the name because I was not expecting an award from that class.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was musical theater after trying so hard for the hip hop and street.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: And alas, alas, not for you.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that's just like foreshadowing your future of yes, you're this huge like icon in the dance world now for what y'all do in like street and hip-hop styles.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: But I think that you can bring this style to Broadway.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like maybe that's next for you, whether you're dancing on Broadway or choreographing on Broadway.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: I see it, I'm here for it, I'm gonna make it happen.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Put it out in the universe, y'all.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's Courtney.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_05: We're we will get into that.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: We will get into that.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: All right, before we get into that, we have to hear about Meredith's background because I feel like I'm excited to hear about your like roller coaster.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, thank you for that.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_06: So sorry.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_06: That's fine.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_06: Take up all the time.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_06: I started dancing when I was 14, and I started it, yeah, so random.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_06: I played soccer.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_06: That's it.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: 14.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: So you've only been dancing for 10 years.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 16:12
  unknown: Wow.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_06: I've actually just now reached the point in my life where I've danced the same amount of time that I played soccer.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_06: I played soccer for a really long time and I really liked it.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_06: But um I don't know.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_06: I was so weird.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_06: I've always just been like enthralled by performance and dance and musical theater and singing.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_06: And I just have been a connoisseur of the arts from a young age.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_06: I just always loved watching, and I was just always very inspired by it.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_06: And I would watch these performances and be like, oh my gosh, like I want to do that.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_06: But I never did.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know why.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_06: Soccer was just like what I played.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_06: And I just I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and my friends played soccer, and so I played soccer and I liked it, so I didn't change it.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_06: But people would be like, Oh, like, what do you want to be when you grow up?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_06: And I would be like, I want to be a dancer, and they'd be like, Oh, take dance class, and I'd be like, No, I don't.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_06: I don't.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_06: My mom tried to put me in dance when I was really young, and I just didn't love it.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_06: And so then I um I was also in like ballet tap jazz, and I don't think that was really my jam.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_06: I was kind of a wild child, and so when I was 14, I was like, you know, if I'm gonna be a professional dancer, I should maybe get around to training a little because that's not my career path.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_06: Might might as well get into it.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_06: So I auditioned for a hip hop team.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_06: We only competed hip hop.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_06: It was it wasn't in like a traditional studio.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it wasn't in like a traditional studio setting.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_06: We would compete the all-star circuit, which was like you know, like it like in EAT type.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah, stuff like that.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_06: Very, very hip-hop-based.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_06: We trained all foundation popping, locking, braking, house, whacking, like very, very, very foundational street styles.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_06: That's awesome.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_06: Which was super, super unique training that I I don't think that I realized how rare it is to have that good foundational training when you're young.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_06: But now in my my normal, you know, my everyday life, I'm like, wow, crazy that we had that kind of training.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_06: But yeah, that's what I did for a long time.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_06: Realized that I was in fact very passionate about it uh later in my life.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_06: And uh I was like, if I'm gonna, you know, do this as my career, I should start broadening my horizons out of just street styles.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_06: So I started training, you know, ballet, jazz, all of the more classical styles, and that's when I really found musical theater and fell in love with it.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_06: I love musical theater so much.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_06: I probably would still be doing musical theater if I hadn't met you.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_06: Because I really derailed my dreams, but uh nothing worked out for me.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_06: So um I loved I loved theater.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_06: I uh I started doing performances with my school and I just really fell in love with that.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_06: I went to my parents said that I had to get at least a bachelor's degree.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_06: And so I said, fine, I will go to college.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_06: But they made this deal with me and they said, My parents are amazing, they support me so much, and they saved for my college, and I had a college fund ready to go, which is an insane blessing in my life.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_06: And they said, You have to get at least a bachelor's, but we'll make you a deal if you graduate.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_06: You can graduate however fast you want, and then you can take if you graduate early, you can take the rest of the money and you can move, you can do whatever you want.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_06: Nice.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_06: And so I went to UNC Charlotte for dance performance.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_06: I graduated in two years.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_06: I auditioned for BDC's Pro SEM, Broadway Dance Center's professional semester, got a scholarship and moved the week after I graduated.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: How in the world did you graduate in two years?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Did you have credits like up the wazoo?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_06: Up the wazoo.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_06: I had to meam.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_06: I had an academic petition every semester, which meant that I had to write like a letter to like the chair of the department being like, hello there.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_06: I realized that I'm trying to sign up for like 25 credit hours, but here's why I can handle it.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_06: I had to write letters every semester so that I could over-sign up for class.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_05: What a nerd.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_05: But um But you did it.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: But you did it, yeah.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_06: And I I wouldn't have it any other way.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_06: I had really, really supportive friends in my life that also were dancers and helped me so much and encouraged me so much.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_06: And um, I couldn't have done it without them.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_06: And uh yeah, I auditioned for I actually auditioned for Prosim three times before I got it.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_06: I was absolutely stalking them, but um I auditioned in person twice and I didn't make it either time.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_06: And I said, Do you I'm mad?
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_06: And I remember going up to Jim Cooney, who was like the the head of the the program, and I was like, What do you need from me, Jim?
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_06: What do you need?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_06: Because I feel like I'm crushing it and you're just not letting me in.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_06: And he said, You know what?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_06: And there wasn't any the thing was that I was so strong in street styles, and that was something that I was bringing to the table that was that a lot of traditional musical theater and technical, you know, I I don't like saying technical as a I think jazz dancers or classically trained dances.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_06: Classically trained dancers didn't have the arsenal of street styles that I was bringing to the table, and they weren't auditioning that in the auditions.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_06: And Jim said, you know what, make a killer audition video, show what you can do in the other styles, and maybe we'll consider it.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_06: So I did, and then they let me in and gave me a scholarship, and I said, Thank you so much.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, good for you for like having the the balls to actually ask the question because you knew you were good, you knew you belonged there, and all it took was you advocating for yourself and saying, Listen, what do I need to show you?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because I'm clearly not showing you right now, but like if you let me know, I'll tell you.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_06: And he did tell me, and it totally worked, which is a great like experience.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: And Jim's good people, yeah.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not surprised.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_06: Amazing people.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_06: He I also ended up swinging.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_06: For one of his performances later in the program, and it was on musical theater and it was like a very full circle moment.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_06: And I love Jim Cooney.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_06: He's wonderful.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: Aw.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so what year was that when you moved to New York for BDC's program?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_06: I graduated in 2019.
• 22:17
  unknown: Oh wow.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_06: 2018, 2018.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_06: So I would have moved right away.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_06: Either December 2018 or January 2019, like right at the turn of the new year.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: So you got a year.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: You got a year of New York City pre-pandemic to shut down.
• 22:33
  unknown: Yeah.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: A year and a half.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_06: A year.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_06: What's it?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm terrible at math, so I could have been very wrong about that, but that sounds like a year to me.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like you had closer to two.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_06: Well, it was it feels like two to me because I did I had also not me bragging about my scholarships.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_06: I also oh my gosh, Johnny Herman.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_06: I also got a full scholarship to do Joffrey's musical theater and hip hop.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_06: So I was there for a full summer.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_06: And then I went back to school and didn't.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it feels like two years for sure.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_06: And then yes, and did in January.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_06: So it would have been like two-ish years.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_06: It felt like two years.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_06: It was probably a little less than that.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_06: Got it.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: So Austin, did you go to college or did you just go straight to New York?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: I did not.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of decided that route was not for me.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: I visited and I auditioned for um like a dance program at one of the colleges, and I got in, but there I just there was just something about it that wasn't sitting right.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: And my parents were like, that's fine.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Totally supports you, but you still have to have a plan.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's your plan?
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so I said, I want to like I want to train and teach full-time with my mentor at his like at his studio.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to work and save up.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then in I said, and you know, around 2017, I I want to move to New York.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: And they were like, that's fine.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, commit to that.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we we support you on that.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what I did.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: So 2017 is when I moved and I I didn't go to college, no.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: I love to hear that your parents were so supportive and also like kind of like setting you in your place, but giving you like a realistic, you know, goal of what do you want to do?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: You like this is how you can help make it happen.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: You need to save money, and like you had the right headspace of okay, yeah, if this is what I want to do, like I can't move to New York with no money.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna take advantage of this teaching opportunity at home and like learn even more from my mentor.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: And and a lot of dancers do that.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of dancers might not feel ready just yet to move to New York and might not feel like they have enough money saved or whatever, or maybe a teaching opportunity does fall into their lap where they can use that as like training opportunities and growth for them as an educator as well.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that was sounds like a really smart decision on your end.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was cool.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's cool because like our our parents were kind of the you know, the same almost.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like they were super supportive, but they also said, you know, here's the one, you know, stipulation.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't know if I want to use that word, but my parents were like, you need to have a plan, and hers were like, You need to have a degree.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: You need to have a degree, but you, you know, if you do it like this, then you can have you know the rest of the money.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_06: Like it's a very because our parents are both really, really supportive, and we like talking to young dancers about yeah, because so many people ask us, you know, should I go to college?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_06: Should I do a conservatory program?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_06: Should I do some sort of you know, professional training thing?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_06: And we're always like, You have everybody's different.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_06: You gotta do what's best for you, and it's always it's always really interesting for us to talk to people about it because we're so different.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're so different.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_06: Austin did not go to college, I did go to college.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_06: I did a professional program, he didn't do a professional program, and we both ended up in the exact same place on the exact same job when we met, you know what I mean?
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_06: And it's it does not determine your future how the path you decide to take, really.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you determine your future and the the things you you have control over sometimes, you know, and right place, right time with a lot of things too.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_06: And so much of who you know, but like we don't have to go in.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about that all the time.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about us a lot.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it is it is exciting to just like reiterate again on the podcast that it like that's why we're here doing this and and listening to other people's stories, because this is a resource for that next generation of dancers to be able to say, Oh, well, look at Kostin Mare, look at what they did, and that could be me, like as inspiration.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: And we hear everybody's journey is different, and what works for someone might not work for another, and that's okay.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: But being able to have someone to look up to and you know, learn from and inspire to be, I think is why we all do this and why we're all in this biz.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for sharing that.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: I love I love hearing your journey.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: So we're in New York.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: You kind of hinted at it, and you said you you both met on a job.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Is that how you met?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us more.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_06: I guess technically it wasn't in New York because the job was on site at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_06: And so we met doing that job together.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_06: Are you familiar with Teresa Stone?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_06: So you might be.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, she is a very, very close mentor and friend to us.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_06: And we met doing a job for her at that theme park.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_06: Nice.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so this is crazy.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_06: So are you at the same audition or you know, no?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_06: Actually, also another funny story.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_06: You tell it, you tell it better than me.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so I she had she did the show, like the same show two years in a row, and I did it the first year she did it, so the year before that we met.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so next year comes by and she's doing it again, and she's you know, some people decided to do it again, others didn't.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: And she had called me and she said, Hey, are you planning on doing this?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, I'm currently on a job in New Hampshire, like I was living in New Hampshire for three months, doing another theme park, you know, a couple of shows.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, I'm happy to, you know, submit, audition, whatever you need me to do.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: I just can't make the in-person audition.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: And she was like, That's fine.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Just here's you know, the choreo, learn it, record it, send it back.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what I did.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so I auditioned in person.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she auditioned in person, so we hadn't still hadn't even met yet.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so you know, I I I got the role, I I made it in, and so did she.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they had actually started rehearsals, what, the very end of August going into September?
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, something like that.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so they had started, I think it was the very, very end of August, like 30th or whatever it was.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_06: And the whole cast was living in a house together in New Jersey.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_06: It was like, yeah, there was 11 people in the cast, and I think like just for the just for the time we were in rehearsals, and the still ran for like two or three months, and anyway.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so they had already been in rehearsals for like two or three days, and I was still finishing my contract in New Hampshire, and so it was like they were totally fine with me coming a few days late.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: They were like, you know, we'll spend the first three days doing you know, numbers you did last year that are the same that are gonna stay the same.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so I show up late to the rehearsal process.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_03: Late professional.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I show up to this house where everyone's staying, and I'm like, I have all three months of you know my life packed away in my car, and I walk up with my suitcase and I knock on the door, you know, trying to be let in.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: And who answers the the door Meredith in her oversized PJ shirt and pink Wiener Dog pajama shorts.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: You'll never forget, you'll never forget the first time you saw them.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, they're I they're my favorite jammy shorts ever.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_06: I wear them constantly.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_06: Wiener dog shorts, but I was like, hey, my name's Meredith.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Must be Austin.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then yeah.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_06: And the rest is history, but we actually we didn't date during the job at all because oh my gosh, we're professional.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: We didn't have a showmance.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_06: We did not have a show.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_06: Well, I mean, we were kind of obsessed with each other.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_06: We were just super close friends, like we thought we were so funny, and we just like people were probably so annoyed with us.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: We were disgusted with us.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_06: But everybody that did the show, we were super close friends with, and so I mean, like everybody, it wasn't like they would have been annoyed.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_06: They both loved us both so much that we were all just uh we had the best time doing the show.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_06: Um most of the people that were in that show actually were in our wedding, also, which was cool.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_06: It was cool, and uh yeah, it was an amazing time.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, and I that's really neat.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just think that's you know, and I don't know if you guys ever experienced this, but um one of my first jobs was at Six Flags Over Georgia.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: The theme park dance world feels sometimes there's like a stigma.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like the cruise ship world where people are like, oh, it's just a theme park show.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's just a cruise ship show.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: But hello, like you guys, a number one, now are famous and started at uh a theme park.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: And two, found the loves of your lives.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like theme park shows are legit jobs.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: You get paid to dance the end.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_06: And everybody in that cast is so like the the things that that cast went on to do would blow your mind.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_06: Theme park shows are an amazing starter job for dancers.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh, an amazing job.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_06: There ain't no shame in a theme park show or a cruise ship show.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh, amazing job for dancers.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you for saying that.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: I really am happy to because I think that's especially now, such and like no offense to all the young dancers listening, but as with how things have blown up, social media and TV and film and dance back on camera and things like that.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think every dancer just thinks that the end the end all be all is I have to move to LA and I'm gonna be a star on television.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like yeah, like there's so many other options out there.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, Leslie, the stigma around like cruise ship and theme park, it's such a great job, everybody.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like we, every single person that is on this podcast right now, and we've all had very successful careers in in our own ways, have started at those jobs or have done them at any point in our career.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_06: So And do you know what?
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_06: When we went on tour, we got like a weekend of tour, and I was like, this is exactly like our theme park show.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, nonstop.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_06: It's just you're doing the same choreo every night.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_06: Like honestly, the theme park show is probably harder than tour.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, but it is that I had the best time on that job.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, people still ask us what are like one of our favorite jobs.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I always say that.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was so much fun.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_06: It was so fun, and we made the best friends and the best memories, and it prepared us for life for sure.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's so cool.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_06: That's so cool to hear.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_06: I love that.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you didn't have a showmance on the job, but you obviously stayed connected once you got back because you both probably went back to New York afterwards, I'm assuming.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, timeline-wise, is this living in like 2019?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: 2019.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_06: So, like, and we um go ahead.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_06: We this is the first time we've been in New York at you know, that's a lie.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_06: I was gonna say it's the first time we've been in New York at the same time.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_06: We would have crossed paths a couple of times, but because I was doing I was in New York while he was in New Hampshire and he was in New York while I was finishing the last semester of college.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_06: And you know what I mean?
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_06: We hadn't really like passed each other a lot, or we would have been in the same place all the time because we had a lot of the same mentors, especially Teresa.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_06: Like we would have been training together, but we were just passing each other coming in and out of the city, which was crazy.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_06: But when we got back, that was the first time we were like both in the city at the same time, and we would see a lot of each other, you know.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_06: We would go to the same auditions and we would go to the same classes, and so we we had a lot of the same friends, and we started crossing paths a lot.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_06: I was actually doing another show with do you know who Bo Park is?
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah, I do.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_06: I love me some bow park.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_06: I was doing I was a part of her company and I was doing an immersive show with them and Austin.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_06: I was actually well, another crazy thing was that I was swinging that immersive show, and so I was trying to learn all of the like main roles, and one of the main roles was Austin's roommate, and then Austin's roommate booked something else, and I had to learn Austin's roommate's role.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_06: Oh so I was always up in their apartment be like trying to pull my life together.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_06: Then we started seeing a lot of each other there, and then you volunteered and helped out with the show, and we just started crossing paths a lot, and I guess like loosely dating.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_06: We didn't really call it anything.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_06: We were just like we just loved hanging out and we just hung out all the time.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then I feel like timeline-wise, pandemic is coming, it's oh, it's lingering.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: So it's coming fast, yeah.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: Do you feel like that you like established like an official relationship pre-pandemic, or were like when you you do?
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, yeah, we've I think that we established an official relationship like a month and a half before the pandemic started.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we started like we called it dating, you know, in like mid-February.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: But it took us a while to call it dating for sure.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, but yeah, we uh I would say that but we were hanging out like a lot.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_06: We had a we had called it the boyfriend-girlfriend thing, yeah.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh and then it was yeah, right in March.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: We actually just figured out the other day that it was three years ago on I think St.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Patrick's Day that we left.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: That we left New York and went into hiding.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: That was the day for a lot of us, yeah.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: Where did you guys go into hiding?
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: So you were in New York during the when when the pandemic hit, and you were one of the the people that escaped.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: You escaped to the city.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: We escaped.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: We stayed, Leslie and I stayed.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we stayed.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: We stuck away.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was very lonely.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_06: It was a really overwhelming decision to make.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, but we uh well that was also when we thought it was gonna be like a cute two weeks.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, a few weeks, yeah.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_06: We'll be back in a month.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_06: And so I was like, right, and so I was like, let's just go stay with my family in North Carolina for two weeks.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_06: It'll be a fun.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_06: After you had been dating for a month and a half, yeah.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: He had already come down, yeah.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_06: He had met my mom before, and um she was in the city, she was in the city for a couple days, and uh, so it wasn't like that much family shock, you know what I mean?
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: But still, like I still remember being like a little like you were nervous, yeah, like nervous.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_06: You didn't act nervous.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I couldn't.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_06: I had to be the man is that that's funny, but yeah, but it went it went well for the most part.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, it was like weird.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_06: I wouldn't recommend moving in with your one-month boyfriend to absolutely anyone.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_06: Please don't know, but um, it did work for us and it was a very unique situation.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_06: And people are like, wasn't it so weird to live with each other?
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_06: But we when we met, we were living together on in that contract.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_06: You know, we everybody was living together, like it wasn't this weird, like, oh my gosh, I'm around you 24-7, and it's like I can't stand you.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_06: Like, you know what I mean?
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_06: We had been introduced to each other in the context of having to live together with a group.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_06: And so we it wasn't that weird, yeah, like we were there was no surprises of like, oh wow, your breath in the morning is rank.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_06: Like, I I already knew that as the movie.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_06: But um, yeah, it was crazy.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_06: I don't recommend it, but luckily it worked for us.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: It worked out.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: Are you gearing up for nationals?
• 37:36
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• 37:46
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• 37:52
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• 38:02
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• 38:08
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• 38:14
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• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: We can't wait to see your dance.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you escaped New York, you're in North Carolina, and let's talk about TikTok because I feel like that as we all know, the pandemic really launched, I feel like launched TikTok.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think everyone was just bored out of their minds, didn't have anything to do.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: Next thing you know, oh, there's this thing called TikTok, and everyone's posting dance videos in their quarantine homes.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: So were we all TikToking before the pandemic, or was that something that you were like, well, we're just like down here in Raleigh?
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, should we pop up our phones and start doing some duos?
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, we honestly didn't we wouldn't even hit like the first wave of pandemic TikTok.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_06: We we held out, you know.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, we held out.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_06: We said, let's see what's going on here for a second.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_06: But yeah, we we uh we started making videos because we had genuinely not one thing better to do.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: Best decision of your life.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, what were you doing?
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: Were you just literally just watching a lot of TV, like all of us?
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, taking an online dance class every now and then.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_06: We would take, well, honestly, at the beginning of the pandemic, there wasn't a lot of online dance class.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_06: That kind of happened like a couple months, like nobody really dove into it super quickly.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_06: We would literally make up combos and teach them to each other.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_06: Like we would separate and we would make up combos and we would just teach them to each other and like train in the garage, like it how like that's all that there was to do dance-wise.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_06: That's what we did for a while, which was really fun.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah, it was really fun.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_06: Uh was like a we it was funny because we didn't choreograph together ever.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_06: It's like we just separated choreograph and then teach it to each other, which is funny because now we have a whole career of choreographing together.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_06: Right, we didn't think to do that, yeah.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_06: But um, yeah, we started making videos.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_06: We were like, What's this?
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_06: Actually, it was my mom.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_06: She was like, you know, the kids are dancing on that app.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe you should do it.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_06: And we were like, Okay, go.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_06: So we started chatting out.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_06: That's fascinating to have an app that was so heavily driven by dance.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_06: And so we sort of started watching, and we were like, This is interesting, you know, like people are dancing, like non-dancers, like everyone's dancing, which is so cool.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and so we kind of started participating, and then we were like, you know, we should just we couldn't make up dances and share them.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_06: People would have fun, like we should contribute to this.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's what we do.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_06: That's what we do, we make up dances, and so we started making up our own choreography, and that's when our account really exploded.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_02: Because people were then doing your work and then crediting you and posting their videos, so then the name just kept getting out of where this originated from.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_02: So, did you go on to TikTok with the name Cost and Mare?
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, we did.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: We did, yep.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: Nice, I love it.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_06: And actually, as we started, you know, becoming a brand and you know, making I mean, now we're a registered corporation in the state of California.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_06: But like before the uh, you know, when we when it started becoming a business for us, people we got so much advice to lose the name Costa Mare.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_06: People were like, so confusing, you should not be called that, you should just go by regular names.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: And we were like, No, no, yeah, I would have said no too.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's different and unique, and it makes people ask questions.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I was just gonna say.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: It it kind of prompted the like, who's cost, who's mayor, where'd it come from, how'd it come about?
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_06: Austin Mayor was a joke from New York, actually.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_06: It wasn't even born because of TikTok.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_06: It um we were playing cards in the park one day and we were trying to keep score.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_06: This was uh before we were officially dating.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_06: And we said it was gray.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_06: Oh yeah, it was gray.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_06: We said, Hey Siri, make a note that says Austin Mayor, Austin and Meredith, Austin Mayer.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_06: And the closest real words she knows to Austin Mayor are cost and mayor.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_06: So she would always write it, cost and mayor.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, Siri, come on, girl.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_06: Siri, our girl, we owe you one for that.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_06: And so we would always make this like cost and mayor inside joke because that's how Siri said it.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_06: I love that.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_06: And um, then we just made it our username.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_06: Cute in the rest of history.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_06: Oh yeah.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_06: I love it.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_06: That is awesome.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's yeah, you tell those people they don't know.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're wrong.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_06: I feel validated.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_06: Validated.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so so y'all are now this duo, and I'm wondering, I mean, I don't know, what were were both of you your goals as dancers individually to it sounds like it was just be in the industry and get paid and dance and and work, you know, but together are you now did have you lost that individual desire for each of you as individuals, or is it now very much we do this together and we are a package deal?
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, we do this together and we're a package deal.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_06: But nice it did take a lot of navigating to be like, how are we going to do this?
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_06: Because it's hard to be represented as a duo.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it is very hard.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_06: A lot, it's it's hard for people unless you've established yourself as a duo already.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_06: People don't take a chance on you as a duo.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_06: It was really hard for us to navigate.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_06: Are we gonna be represented individually?
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_06: How can we get people to represent us as a duo?
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_06: No, but we just started.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, our manager took us on early on, and he we still have him, we love him.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_06: His name's Larry, he's the best thing that has ever happened to us in a business way.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_06: But um, we didn't get Lisa, the ones you guys are like, Whoa, we love Lisa! Yeah, we didn't start working with Lisa, and we've been working with Lisa less than a year.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_06: Year.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: And that is how long it took somebody to in the dance industry to take us seriously as a duo for an agency to represent you as a duo and not individuals.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_02: Were you previously repped individually by any agencies before Kalsten Mare?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: Ost was, I was not.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_02: Got it.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_02: So, like Austin, did you go to your agency and say, like, hey, like, thanks for repping me, but I'd like to now establish myself as a duo.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_02: Can you bring us on?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_02: And were they like receptive of that or were they like, no, bye?
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: It got interesting.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: It said no bye.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was really interesting because I I during the like during the pandemic, I still had my agent.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I went to them and I said, Hey, you know, my girlfriend and I, it's so weird to say that.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_01: My girlfriend and I didn't take us seriously, too.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_01: They were like, oh, oh, oh, the girlfriend.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, hey, my like my girlfriend and I, you know, we have this like brand that's kind of like being built, and we're, you know, we're getting some traction.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think it would, you know, work well for everybody if you know we kind of turned this into like a duo type of thing.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: But also, that was when we had like a lot of management companies reaching out to us, being like, Do you have management?
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was weird.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, you know, which direction do we go?
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: Do we need both?
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: Do we need one or the other?
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so finally I was like, let's just have my agent meet with this management company that we're considering, and it's it was a train wreck.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_00: I've ever been a part of.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_06: And we were like, this is so bad.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_06: We have got to figure something out, and we're not reinventing the wheel here.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_06: This isn't hard.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_06: It's not a new thing.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_06: There are people, there are dancers that have massive platforms on like YouTube and make money off of YouTube.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_06: You know, it's dicey because the contracts don't, you know what I mean?
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: They haven't quite gotten there yet.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_06: They haven't gotten there yet.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_06: So if we're doing like a brand deal that has exclusivity, you know, our agent can't just like send us in for a commercial that would conflict with that.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_06: It's hard to navigate that when you have a media platform, but we're like, you know what?
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_06: This isn't we're not the first people to be famous on social media and the dance industry.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_06: So we call Kyle Hanagami and we say, Hello, can you please you're the master of this?
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_06: You are the king of social media presence and dance industry presence.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_06: What do we do?
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_06: And he was like, Have you ever heard of Larry Shapiro?
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_06: He represents Casey Rice, another person who is great at balancing social media presence and industry presence.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_06: And he said, You should give him a call.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_06: So I googled his phone number and I called him from Cole.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_03: Cole called him.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_03: Nice and just straight up.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_06: He answered immediately.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_06: He said, Hello, this is Larry Shapiro.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_06: And I said, Hello.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, hi.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_06: He said, Hey, my name is Meredith.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_06: Um, my boyfriend Austin and I have this dance thing going on.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_06: No one understands us.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_06: Will you please take a look at our work?
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_06: And he looked at it, he looked at it and it was we knew the second he said this that we were gonna work with him forever.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_06: Was that he uh he looked at our stuff, but then he he called back and he said, You know, I think you guys have a lot of potential.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_06: You know, I'm gonna send you a couple of like references, I'm gonna send you some of my stuff, and you take a look at me and you let me know if bringing me onto your team would be a good fit for you.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_06: I like that still gives me chills to this day.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's not something you hear.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_06: And that's not how the dance industry works.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_06: Unfortunately, that is not how the dance industry works at all.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and like that would be chills too.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_06: It was amazing, and we love him.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_06: He has done amazing things for us, and he's an integral part of the Clostomare team.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: Larry Shapiro, man.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_01: What a guy.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: What a guy again.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_01: I just have to like commend you.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_01: This is the second instance where you've said, I just asked.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_01: And you got what you you asked for.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just I just think that's so important for young dancers to hear because like you there's a fine line between being pushy and and you know, stepping out of place.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_01: But then there is also the other side of it, which is advocating for yourself because you didn't have a manager, you didn't have an agent, you knew what you needed and you were willing, and you you stand behind what you do enough to say, hi, I can we do this thing and we're pretty great.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think we're great?
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like we can work together.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_06: The worst they will say is no, and so what?
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_06: Then you're back exactly where you are right now.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_06: I remember when I Googled his number and I was like, I'm gonna call him.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_06: And Noss was like, You're just gonna call him?
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_06: And I said, Yeah, I'm gonna call him right now.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was like, You're probably just gonna get like an assistant to the assistant.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're not gonna Larry.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_06: And it rang twice and rang twice, and then he said, Larry Shapiro, and I said, Woo! Okay, here we go.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_06: I guess we're talking.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I think one of the cool parts of that story, and sometimes we tell it, sometimes we forget, but he told us on the phone that the only reason that he answered the call was because he was sitting next to someone that was from North Carolina.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like someone that worked for him, someone that worked for him that was from North Carolina, she recognized the area code of the number that was calling.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_06: Well, he recognized it.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: They recognized it.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: And she was like, that's a North Carolina, you know, area code.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_00: And they he picked up.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_06: And he was just like, North Carolina people are good, man.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_06: So I picked up.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_06: True.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I was crazy.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_02: That is crazy.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_02: Crazy.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_02: So crazy stuff.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_02: Was this while you were still like, are we still in the pandemic at this moment?
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like you're blowing up during the pandemic, the world is still like half shut down, who knows what's next.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_02: And like, what was what were your hopes?
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you I'm sure you had no idea that you would blow up to that extreme while just making videos on TikTok.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_02: So now your life is shifting and you're trying to navigate where do we go from here as a duo and brand ourselves in this new way in the dance world, like post-pandemic.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_02: But were you always planning to go to New York and come back and like establish yourself as a pair in New York?
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_02: Or like, how did you decide to move to Los Angeles?
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_06: We didn't know where we were gonna go afterwards.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_06: Larry is based in LA, so taking a chance on Larry pulled us a little bit towards, you know, the West Coast and our the agency that was representing both of us individually.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, maybe I lied about that earlier.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_06: I have been re I wasn't represented individually in the beginning.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_06: Not before Costano.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_06: Not before Costano.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_06: But there was an agency that had then said, you know, we'll represent you individually and then we'll sign you as a duo.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_06: Never signed us as a duo.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_06: But we're with that agency.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_06: They're also, you know, mainly LA-based.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_06: We didn't know whether we were gonna go the New York or LA route, but because all of our representation was LA when the world started opening up after we got married, we moved to LA together to just try it out.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_06: You know, we loved New York.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_06: It was really sad to leave.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_06: We have we uh apartment hunted in both places.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_06: But um wow we uh made the switch to LA and it's been really, really good to us.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_06: We were like, let's just try it for a year.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_06: If we don't like it, we'll leave.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_06: But it has been so good to us.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_06: We have made amazing friends and we love our team, and it has been wonderful here.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: We have a cute little house.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_06: We have a cute little house, we have a cute new dog.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_01: Sleeping right here next to me.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: All of our pets are with us right now.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_01: Courtney is is uh Chico still with you.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, he's running around doing something.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_02: There's they're probably sleeping right now, yeah.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_02: Aw, I love that.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_02: So you never made it back to like officially back to New York, or did you for a little minute?
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_02: No, you just went straight to LA.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_02: Straight to LA.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'm like as you were just saying this entire story, I I just had to think about the fact that like your careers, you might have still been together, but as far as like your dance careers as a pair and a duo might not have existed if the pandemic didn't happen, which is kind of crazy to think.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like you would have supported each other and been dating and like eventually probably gotten married, just like what happened in life.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_02: But you as a brand and as dancers, your career would have been completely different.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_02: Without the pandemic.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_06: And I think that personally I was really ready to die.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_06: Like saying goodbye to my solo career was not hard for me.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_06: I was very frustrated.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_06: You know, I think this is also a cool thing to talk about if if younger dancers listen to this podcast.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_06: And when I was in New York auditioning 24-7, I was getting really frustrated because I I was a commercially trained dancer, so I was going to commercial calls, but none of them were me.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_06: And I just remember being in rooms of like 700 wearing like booty shorts, a bra top and stilettos, and I was like, what am I doing?
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I absolutely do not like this.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_06: This isn't who I am, but why is this the only gateway for me to get ahead?
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_06: Why is this the only thing people will see me do?
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_06: If they would just let me, if they would just see me do something else.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_06: It was the Jim Cooney thing.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_06: I was like, if they could just see me do something else, but every audition would always be stilettos and skin and sex appeal.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_06: And I just I it wasn't who I was.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_06: And so I was at this point in my female dance career where I was like, I've got to do something different because I am so passionate about dancing, but it's not worth sacrificing who I am.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_06: And so when this duo ship happened, and we could do all these, you know, quirky dances and come like comedic dances and all these things that were kind of bridging like our backgrounds in hip-hop and musical theater, you know, I was so passionate about that that I was like, this is what I want to do.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_06: Forget wearing stilettos and booty shorts every day.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_06: I that's not me.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_06: It's a lot of people, and there's no shame in that.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_06: If that is what you love, that's awesome.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_06: So many dancers can do that really well, not me.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_06: So take like saying goodbye to my solo career was not a hard choice.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it's interesting for me because I feel like when I was living in New York and I was living that life, I was dead set on being a straight-up performer the entire time.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't really have any interest in, you know, choreographing my own thing or coming up with my own shows or projects.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was just in the mindset where I just want to go to the job, you teach me the choreo, and I'll perform it, you know, however which way you want me to.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that when this started to happen, there there wasn't a point where I was like, wait, this is not what I want to do.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I kind of allowed it to happen to see where it would go and obsessed with like creating my own stuff and creating projects together.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that again, for the young dancers that are so, you know, maybe they don't know what they want to do.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's important to allow yourself to try multiple things.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like you don't have to be like set on one path just because the people you look up to are set on one path.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure they tried 16,000 different things too.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you just have to allow yourself to, even though it's something a little foreign, just like let yourself try that foreign thing for a second because you might love it.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_06: And the best way to figure out what your thing is is to experience all the things that are not your thing.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_06: I figured out what my thing was by finding every single thing in the books that I absolutely did not excel at.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_06: And it was the best.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love that advice, y'all.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_02: That was so awesome for you to share.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it's so, so, so true.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's really interesting to hear you say that, Austin, about you know, not wanting to choreograph and things.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_02: I can absolutely relate.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'm the same exact type of person when I move to New York.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I want to be a dancer, I don't want to create.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_02: I just want to, I'm, I'm here to do my job.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_02: You give me the authy, I will deliver and I will get paid to do that.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that is it.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to be a part of the creative process.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to be, you know, working with the choreographers, like, none of that.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_02: And now I've not transitioned, I'm still performing a little, but like I am now an educator, which heavily involves choreographing, just like the like, you know, teaching at the conventions back when I potentially taught you.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's like my full-time gig now.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_02: So it's something that I ne it fell into my lap and it was never something I thought that I would want to do.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_02: But I took a risk and I challenged myself in doing it.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_02: And like here I am with a career that I love, and you know, get getting to work with young dancers and the next generation.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's like everything I could have dreamed of.
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_02: So it is really inspiring to hear everyone's journey and how you got to where you got and you know what you learned through the process because everybody's is different, and it's really inspiring to hear that from both of you.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm glad you found each other.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_06: I know.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_06: It is the best thing in my life.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_02: Aww, yay! Yeah.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_02: So, okay, I definitely already hinted at this because I think it needs to happen that like now that you love choreographing and now that you're a package deal, like are and you did just you were on tour and you are like performing as a doer, a duo.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_02: Do y'all feel like that you want to go into like the choreography world as a pair?
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_02: Is that something that you're you're trying to break into, or are you trying to like brand yourself more as specifically like we're a dance duo type of package?
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_06: You know, what's been cool is that when for tour, for example, we choreographed and performed all that choreography.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_06: Nice.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_06: So a lot of the opportunities we get because the things we share are videos of us performing our own choreography widely, a lot of the opportunities we get are both, which is really, really cool and fulfilling.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_06: It's it's really awesome to make something up together and then do it.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it's a really, really well-rounded, fulfilling type of job.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_06: And so I honestly think that we are at the point where we're known as a choreography duo.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_06: That's what we do for most gigs.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_06: If we get to dance it ourselves, that's awesome.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_06: Tour was a great blessing where we got to do both.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_06: And I think that from here forward, we are really interested in going into the creative development side of things.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_06: I think that we from here on out, we will always continue dancing and choreographing and you know, sharing online and doing the things we're passionate about.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_06: But I think that there's a lot on the horizon for us in the way of writing our own shows and executive producing and creative directing and seeing these things that we love, you know, having an idea, building it from the ground up.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_06: That's what we're really passionate about.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_01: So you alluded to creating your own show.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_01: When thinking about like how you would cast that, what do you think you'd be looking for in dancers?
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_01: I kind of already have an idea, but tell us.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_06: That's a great question.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_06: Just a beautiful, beautiful spirit.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_06: I love working with dancers that are fun to work with.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_06: And that is widely, I think, why I have been hired my entire life.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_06: Am I the most talented dancer?
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_06: Absolutely not.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_06: But am I going to smile and make jokes and have a wonderful time?
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_06: Absolutely I am.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_06: And I really think that that is for me personally why I feel like I've gotten a lot of jobs, especially in my younger days.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_06: But just working with dancers with an amazing spirit is always so much fun.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_06: I want people to be passionate about what we're putting together as a group.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_06: If you are passionate as creative directors about something and you're dragging everybody through it to, you know, make a thing happen, it's not as it's not gonna be as amazing.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_06: You know, if the dancers that you're working with are genuinely passionate about stacking hands, understanding a vision, and being like, let's do this as a team.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_06: It's a team effort.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_06: And so I love dancers that are eager and willing to be there, work hard, invest their own story into it.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_06: And that's what we look for in dancers.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_06: I just love to have fun.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_06: I think entertain the here's what we say all the time is that entertainment is all about living vicariously through someone.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_06: You know, if I if I can really portray sadness, you're gonna feel sad.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_06: If I can really portray being excited and being happy, that's what you're gonna feel.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_06: So if we can create something where we are all genuinely having the best time, it's impossible for any audience to watch it and not have the best time.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_02: Aww.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_01: That's so true.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what, you know, in competitive dance, we see that all the time where it's like you might have done all the turns for your life, you might have done all the front aerials and the, you know, headsprings and all these crazy cool things.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_01: But if I feel nothing, you're not gonna get a good score.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you'll get a decent score because your technique's good, but like you're not gonna really get, you know, you're not gonna get that highest adjudication because I when it comes down to it, this is entertainment.
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_01: You're supposed to make me feel something, right?
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_06: You're not gonna remember it.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_06: Because at the end of the day, you get to LA, guess what?
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_06: Everyone's a good dancer.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_06: It's not about it's not when you're a professional dancer, it's not about being a good dancer anymore because everybody's a good dancer.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_06: Everyone's great, and so it's about the spirit, the passion, the work ethic that you bring to the table because everybody's good.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_06: You gotta stand out for ways that are deeper than that and be valuable in ways that are deeper than that for sure.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good point, too.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:01:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love it.
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_02: All of it, all of the advice y'all are sharing and putting out there.
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's so great.
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's definitely exciting because you've been on both coasts now.
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's a lot of dancers who are bi-coastal and things, but you've experienced the New York side of things and now you're living and experiencing the LA side of things, and they're very different coasts.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_02: And we've talked about it many times on the pod for people to figure out like where do you want to go because you need to know what suits you.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's it kind of sounds like that New York was an easy move for both of you.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_02: You got into the BDC program and this was close to like Pennsylvania for you, Austin.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_02: So like New York was like, oh, it's right there, let's go.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's closer to home, it's on the East Coast versus LA, which like LA might have suited your styles more than New York.
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_02: But obviously, there is many opportunities in New York as you found and were able to discover um within the street styles and hip-hop and commercial dance styles as well.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's just not as often as in Los Angeles.
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm glad you guys went out west.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I think you're gonna be hugely successful out there.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_02: You already are.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I can't wait to see what's next for y'all.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have anything coming up in the future that you're you want to share with us or able to share with us, or things that you can tease us that's coming soon?
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_06: I don't think that there's anything that those pesky NDAs aren't keeping us coming.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's fair.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that's fair.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_06: But exciting things.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_06: Just that just that we I think that regardless of the things that we're working on right now, we have such high hopes.
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_06: And here's what's cool we love to tell young dancers that you should be using social media as a tool.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_06: I'm not talking young, young dancers.
• 1:02:35
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_06: Get into social media at the appropriate age.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_06: But I think for young professionals, starting out on social media is so important because it gives you a platform to build your own brand and develop your own career in your own hands.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_06: It used to be that, you know, to share your talent with the world, you had to get into the room.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_06: I've got to submit three times.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_06: I gotta go through 17 casting directors, I gotta go through the producers.
• 1:03:02
  SPEAKER_06: Then I get a yes, and then they say, okay, here's your permission to share your talent with the world.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_06: Now, this is the first time that we have had the opportunity that the only thing that stands between us and sharing our talents with the world is literally hitting post.
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_06: And that has changed our lives drastically.
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_06: We have had all of these opportunities in our lives because of the way that we have fearlessly created and shared on the platforms that we have.
• 1:03:31
  SPEAKER_06: And I just think that everyone should be taking advantage of that because it's an insane opportunity to reach people and to share and to express.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_06: But I think that because of that, we've realized that our careers can go so far beyond this dance industry confinement that we thought existed.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_06: It really happened while we were on tour, where you know, tour is a bucket list item for dancers.
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_06: It was like that used to be the end all be all of my career dreams.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_06: I was like, if I can go on tour once, like I'll be set.
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_06: And so we went on tour and I was like, oh my gosh, like this is the reason we started the brand of Cost and Mare.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_06: Like, this is what it was all about.
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_06: And then halfway through tour, we were like, oh, but what about, but what about Cost and Mayor?
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_06: Like, what about our platform?
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_06: What about our brand?
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_06: Like, what if we could create a tour that was just us?
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_06: Like, what if we could do these things?
• 1:04:24
  SPEAKER_06: Because we've created this brand that is our dance and choreography and who we are as people.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_06: And it's given us the ability to sort of see a wider horizon than the dance industry, I think, lets you see as a dancer who's always going to be behind someone, or doing someone else's musical, or being an ensemble member behind a main role.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_06: Like we can think what are the projects that we want to create and that we want to produce?
• 1:04:53
  SPEAKER_06: And it's about dance and it's about choreography, and it's about us.
• 1:04:57
  SPEAKER_06: And I think that that's an opportunity that has not existed before now.
• 1:05:02
  SPEAKER_06: And I think people should take it really seriously.
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_06: It's really cool.
• 1:05:06
  SPEAKER_00: And when we do share the projects and ideas that we have, we our main, you know, goal is to give back to that, you know, that industry that we are and were once a part of heavily is all those dancers that are, you know, living in New York and living just as we were and going to all the classes and all the auditions just like we did.
• 1:05:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like we want to work and you know, provide opportunity and projects and jobs to those dancers that are really going for it because there are so many out there.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if there's another creative team like us that can, you know, make some jobs and make some shows and give back to the show.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_06: And maybe make a job that's in a variety that hasn't existed yet.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe we do something in dance and comedy and nobody has to wear stilettos or booty shorts.
• 1:05:50
  SPEAKER_06: That would be so cool.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_06: That would be my dream.
• 1:05:53
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to put all my dancers in some high tops for sure.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_06: And not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think the more we can show dancers that they're There's a lot out there.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_06: There's so much variety.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_06: You don't have to be one type of dancer to succeed.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_06: I think the more variety we can provide in opportunities for dancers, the better.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I think the parent we have a lot of parent listeners.
• 1:06:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's our main base is parent dance parents.
• 1:06:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think to hearing all of that from I mean, for me, even having already had my career and I'm old and tired and done now, I'm our I'm inspired.
• 1:06:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:06:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because I didn't, you know, we Courtney and I didn't grow up with social media at our fingertips.
• 1:06:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I had Facebook in college, that was all we had.
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_01: We had my space.
• 1:06:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so just the future of dance is so broad now because of all those reasons you just said.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so for parents out there thinking, oh my gosh, my kid wants to be a dancer, like and they're nervous about it.
• 1:06:41
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, be nervous about it, but listen to all those things that are possible.
• 1:06:45
  SPEAKER_01: See how possible things are if you if you have the right training and if you put yourself in positions to make your own good luck.
• 1:06:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's just amazing.
• 1:06:55
  SPEAKER_06: I agree.
• 1:06:56
  SPEAKER_06: I love it.
• 1:06:57
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, y'all.
• 1:06:58
  SPEAKER_02: This this chat was so inspiring.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_02: And what a way to round out our season four of Making an Impact.
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, yes, y'all did it.
• 1:07:07
  SPEAKER_02: And like I'm just so, so, so grateful and have absolutely loved chatting with you today.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_02: And thank you for everything that you're doing for our industry.
• 1:07:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for inspiring people worldwide.
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for bringing dance into their life.
• 1:07:20
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for choreographing such fun dances.
• 1:07:23
  SPEAKER_02: We can't wait to keep seeing all of your uh theme song dances.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_02: I've I've said maybe we can get them to do a making the impact theme song dance.
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just kidding.
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_02: But in in maybe we'll have we'll have a contest or something in our off season for like dancers to do it to our theme song because they can be inspired by you guys.
• 1:07:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh just creating things at home.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's just like it's just been a joy to to chat with you, but also just watch your careers take off, like you said, from from a post on social media.
• 1:07:55
  SPEAKER_02: That's how it launched, that's how it started, and boom, here you are as this fantastic duo that are that's changing the dance world for the better.
• 1:08:02
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you so much for spending your time chatting with us on the podcast.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_02: We're so grateful for you both.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my gosh, thank you guys for providing a platform for people like us to talk to young dancers and to spread the parents.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and to spread all that inspiration and motivation for the you know the parents and the young dancers.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's everybody always asks us like, what do you like, what's the end goal, what's the reach goal?
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's that's it.
• 1:08:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like this right here is part of doing that end goal is we're we're spreading the awareness, we're we're inspiring and motivating, and that's really all that we could learn.
• 1:08:33
  SPEAKER_05: So thank you for giving us the space to do that.
• 1:08:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:08:38
  SPEAKER_02: We hope you enjoyed our final episode of season four, featuring the one and only Cost and Mare.
• 1:08:44
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out to Meredith and Austin for taking the time to join us on the podcast this season.
• 1:08:49
  SPEAKER_02: We loved chatting with you.
• 1:08:51
  SPEAKER_02: Be sure to stay connected with them on Instagram and TikTok to see what they're working on next.
• 1:08:56
  SPEAKER_02: At cost underscore and underscore mayor.
• 1:09:00
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_01: And if you want more exclusive episodes, support our podcast by joining our Platinum Premium membership for only$5 a month.
• 1:09:14
  SPEAKER_01: Subscribers receive free Making the Impact stickers, shout-outs live on the air, ad-free listening, and exclusive access to our QA episodes for members only.
• 1:09:22
  SPEAKER_01: Join now at Impact Danceadjudicators.com slash Platinum Premium or click the link in our show notes.
• 1:09:29
  SPEAKER_02: Are you looking for even more personalized, in-depth feedback from your standard judges' critiques that you've been receiving at competition this season?
• 1:09:36
  SPEAKER_02: Want to really know how to take the dance to the next level?
• 1:09:39
  SPEAKER_02: Then check out our service, IDA's online judges critiques, where you will receive up to 10 to 15 minutes of post-critique additional feedback.
• 1:09:48
  SPEAKER_02: You can even request a judge that specializes in your submitted dance genre, and they will go back through your routine from beginning to end and pause the video to elaborate even more on those specific corrections.
• 1:09:59
  SPEAKER_02: Send us your video from an in-studio rehearsal or your latest competition stage performance, and let our judges help you prep before your next event.
• 1:10:08
  SPEAKER_02: Critiques start at only$35 on our website.
• 1:10:11
  SPEAKER_02: Submit your dance now at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com slash online critiques.
• 1:10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Keep listening for our season four wrap-up episode, where we chat about what's coming up in season five of Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 1:10:26
  SPEAKER_02: That's a wrap on season four, everyone.
• 1:10:29
  SPEAKER_02: We hope you enjoyed the season and we're wishing you a wonderful summer.
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you in season five, launching on September 7th, 2023.
• 1:10:36
  SPEAKER_02: Until then, keep dancing.