Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Studio Spotlight - Dance Force Australia

Transcript

Studio Spotlight - Dance Force Australia · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to go on a journey around the world for our next studio spotlight with Dance Sports Australia.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Owner and director Nicole Wells takes time out of her busy schedule to give us the scoop on her incredible studio that offers some unique programming that you can only find in Australia.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Hey Courtney, we are going down under today.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, we are.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: We have our next international studio spotlight and our second studio spotlight of season five.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so pumped about it because it's just so fun to learn about the dance world from all over the world.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that was a terrible Australian accent.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: So sorry, Australia.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, we are super stoked to meet the owner of a wonderful studio down in Australia who's taking some time out of her busy schedule to tell us all about her studio.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I just can't wait.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I've been admiring a lot of studios on Instagram that are from Australia.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I have a lot of friends in the professional dance world that have come from the Australian dance scene.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: And oh my goodness, they are all so wildly talented.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, whatever whatever they're doing over there in Australia, they're doing something right.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we knew we had to have an Australian studio spotlight on our podcast so we can hear exactly what's in the water over there in Australia.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we are excited.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, um, thank you to our wonderful guests who we'll get to meet momentarily.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: But before then, I think Courtney, you have a little something to share.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I want to just remind all of our fabulous listeners out there that over here at Impact Dance Adjudicators, we have a service called IDA's online judges' critiques.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: And guess what?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: The time is now.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: It is online critique season, y'all.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: It is time to send those dances over to our fabulous IDA judges at Impact Dance Adjudicators.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you can send in a rehearsal video, you can send in a competition video if you've happened to compete already.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: You can send a work in progress.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: You can truly send us anything you'd like.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: And one of our judges will be able to provide you with some constructive feedback before you hit the stage or before you hit the stage again this season.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it's such a popular service that we have at IDA.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: So many customers love it.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: We had actually, I think, not including our bulk orders, we had over 500 online critiques from last season.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: So y'all have been keeping our judges super busy.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Leslie is an online critique judge, so you might get her as a judge.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think I probably did like 75 of those.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you probably did.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: You did.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: And our judges absolutely love seeing dancers from around the world in through these online critiques.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a great valuable platform that we've created.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're looking to get some extra feedback before you hit the stage, send your video over to us.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: You can learn more on our website at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com/slash online critiques.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: Critiques start at only$35.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: You can get 24 hour rush delivery.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: You can request for a genre specific judge that specializes in your submitted genre, and you can even add additional feedback where your judge will go back through your dance from beginning to end and pause the video to elaborate in further detail.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Don't miss out on our online critique service, and we hope to see your dances soon.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: And we can't forget our fabulous sponsors that we want to hear from, and let's hear from our season five premiere sponsor, Francisco Gella Danceworks.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Calling on Minis.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a dancer between the ages of seven to ten who loves to dance?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Are you looking for additional training intensives for your mini?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Then you'll definitely want to attend Francisco Gella Dance Works Mini Mania.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: The Mini Mania Dance Intensive will give young dancers a head start by providing the necessary tools to understand the fundamentals of training from a technical and artistic capacity.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Dancers will participate in a variety of classes throughout the intensive, like ballet, jazz, hip hop, musicality courses, dance history, and modern dance foundations.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: And parents also have a chance to jump in on the fun with informative seminars and class observation opportunities to watch your tiny dancers blossom through their love of dance.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Choose your coast and join Francisco Gella and faculty at one of their mini mania intensives this season.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Minimania West is taking place in Los Angeles, California, from March 1st through the 3rd, 2024.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: And Minnie Mania East is taking place in Miami, Florida, from May 31st through June 2nd, 2024.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Class sizes are limited to only 35 dancers for a personalized experience, and all interested dancers must submit an audition to be considered.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Deadlines are coming up quick, so head to their website now to learn more about this exciting intensive for your dancers.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you to Francisco Gala Danceworks for being our season five premiere sponsor.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, listeners, it's time to jump into this week's episode and our next studio spotlight of season five, and we're going international, y'all.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to learn all about the Australian dance studio scene.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: And we have such a fantastic studio that is here.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: I've been following them on Instagram, admiring the work that they're doing all the way over in Australia.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: They also came highly recommended from a friend of mine, Sean, who was on a previous episode.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: He's actually had the opportunity to audition the dancers in person.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: And he immediately came back to me and said, Courtney, you have to have this studio on for a studio spotlight because what they're doing over there in Australia is unbelievable with their dancers.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, great, can't wait to do it.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Let's make it happen.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm so excited to have our very first Australian studio here with us today.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we have the studio owner and director, Nicole Wells, joining us from Dance Force Australia.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Nicole.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_04: I'm so excited to be here.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that it's uh it's morning for you on a Friday.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it is.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's 10.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Evening for us over here in New York City.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: And we somehow made it work without the time differences.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: So go us.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Hooray.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And Nicole, I can't wait to learn all about you.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And uh before we j just dive into learning about your studio, why don't you tell the world out there in Podcast Land a little bit more about you, what your early dance training was like, if you've always if you're born and raised in Australia, I'm assuming you are, and how you kind of broke into studio ownership.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_04: I grew up in a really small town in Australia and just trained at a local dance school.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_04: And then I moved to the Gold Coast in my early teenage years and just kept training in all styles there, started doing corporate work, and then I ended up auditioning for a Vegas show in my early 20s.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_04: So that took me to America and I stayed there in my early 20s, and I thought I was just gonna go home, visit my family, go home for a little bit, see everybody.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_04: And my mom ended up be getting really unwell and had a heart attack.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_04: So I thought I'm just gonna stay at home with her, you know, do things here.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_04: And I started just doing some open classes, and and that just ended up becoming more and more and more.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_04: And it turned into me starting the studio, which was crazy for me because it wasn't like, you know, throughout my growing up, I was always like, I'm gonna own a studio.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_04: I want to be a studio owner.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_04: That's my, you know, big dream.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_04: It was just always about me and my dancing.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, it just ended up happening like that, but I wouldn't, you know, change it for the world.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_04: I think, you know, I've always loved teaching and I think I'm such like a always want to look after everyone.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_04: So I feel like I was probably always gonna end up going down that road, like even though it wasn't a plan.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_04: But as soon as it started to roll into that, I just haven't looked back.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_04: It's just became about the studio, you know, whole life has become about the studio.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you've created such a successful studio.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: What looks to be, especially on social media and on your website and in the industry, such a successful studio out in Australia.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: I know you said you came to the States.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Were you like, were you always thinking you'll eventually end back in Australia or were you hoping to call the States home forever?
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_04: In that moment, I was like, I just, you know, I love it here.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_04: And I just loved that there were so many opportunities.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, when you're in that moment and it's about you, I think, you know, that's what you want to do.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_04: But after being home and starting the studio, like it just became that was just always, I think, gonna be the plan for me.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_04: And now and then once you have a family and I have my kids and you know, and I feel like I'm starting to get like I've just got my US working visa in the last six months, so now I'm sharing my time between both.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_04: And I think I love that.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_04: Like I've had the studio for so long, but it's really important, I think, now to keep something for myself.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_04: Like I feel like I'm always, you know, inspired and I'm bringing that back to the studio as well.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm loving now getting to work with different dancers and you know, be part of both scenes.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_04: And I think I'm bridging the gap too for dance force.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_04: Like I'm, you know, being able to bring so many mentors now from America into Dance Force and you know, taking groups over and having those connections there.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_04: I can give my kids so many more opportunities.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_04: And it doesn't seem so big, like when they're dreaming big that it's actually a possibility, you know, you can make a life outside of Australia and it's it's wonderful, you know, you can do both.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So and how many years have you had the studio?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_04: 17 years.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so I've had the studio for 17 years, and that started like when we first started, it just became like a rec school, and then a few years in we started, you know, really stepping into the competition scene.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_04: And then in 2011 was when I started our full-time pre-professional training program.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_04: And then recently, two years ago, I started a high school academy.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_04: So instead of going to regular high school now, the high school kids come to us instead.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_04: So they do like three hours of school in the morning with a high school teacher and then three hours of dance after lunch, and then they can obviously stay and do the night competition classes as well if they're wanting to do that extra.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_04: But the parents seem to really love that because they're also getting so much time more free time and can have, you know, a lot of the parents are like, I haven't we haven't had a family dinner with our whole family, you know, for years because generally the kids go to school all day and then they go to dance all night, whereas because they're doing so much dance during the day, they can have a night off or you know, have two nights a week where they don't dance, then their families are like, This is insane.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_04: Like, we haven't been able to spend any quality time as a family in such a long time.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know I remember that.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: We never eat dinner together.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: No, what's a family dinner?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: You're each eating in the car.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Fast food in the car.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: So for your for the high school program, I'm really curious.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have to partner with local schools or is this sort of a private school homeschool?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_04: So we partner with like a distance education provider.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: And so they provide all the work and they do all the marking and everything, but we hire an actual high school teacher who comes in and they're in charge of the and so they do all the liaising with the with the schooling, liaising with the parents, you know, they have everything, all their work rate calendars set up, and so nobody misses any assessments.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_04: They're dealing with all of their exams and wow.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: When you started that, did it start with kids that were already at your studio?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And do you have kids who just came from out of wherever and said some school let's do this?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_04: It's the same as our like with our high school and our full time.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_04: So we only take one group of kids for each and they audition to be part of it.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_04: Like with our full time, we probably have about 400 people audition usually throughout the year, and we only take 50.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_04: So it's great because a lot of them too, it's such a learning.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_04: I know we haven't probably dived in, I'm jumping to full-time, but yeah, like I think it's such a learning thing for them.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_04: So do you want me to talk about how full-time runs while we're on this?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I would love to.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to hear about it.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I think in we we hear about it a little bit, uh, at least on the podcast, like we've in five seasons, we've had, you know, a few guests here and there just like say it or you hear it about it.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I have friends that I worked with from Australia who talk about it.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: And but like it doesn't feel like I have we have nothing to compare it to here.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm so excited to hear about what the hell is.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_04: Now I'm working a lot in America.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_04: There people are always like, What do you mean?
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_04: What's full-time?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_04: What's this thing they do after school?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_04: So they come so once they finish school, they will c will audition for for our course.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_04: And they come.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And this comes at what grade level?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_04: So usually we take anyone after 16.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_04: So they can come after year 10 or after year 12.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_04: And so they do train five days a week, 8 30 till 3 30 every single day of the week.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_04: So it's coming like they're coming to school.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_04: And when they're auditioning, we only take like people that we really think are gonna have a chance to make a career out of it, you know.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's a big commitment for families, like a lot of people are moving from interstate to come to us.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, it's a big it is a big thing for it's it costs a lot of money for people to completely move.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_04: So we want to make sure that if we're taking them, that we're gonna hopefully be able to help them take the next step, you know?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_04: But it's just intense training, they have industry professionals coming in in all different genres.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is this something that takes the place of college or is it pre-college or what does that decision look like?
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_04: In Australia, it's very different.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_04: I know in America, like the dance in college is great, whereas in Australia our dance programs in college are not great.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_04: So you can't really go to study dance at college if you want to be a professional dancer as such.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_04: There's no there's not really those kind of programs.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_04: Like you want to be a teacher or a dance teacher in a high school and things, that that's what you go to our universities for.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_04: But there's not really you're wanting to be a professional dancer.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_04: We don't really have the courses in our colleges to make that happen.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_04: Like you'd have to be going to college and then trying to go find a studio to dance up, you know, on the side to make that happen.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_04: So it's kind of a bridging year.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_04: And I think, yes, we want the dancing to be great and we want to push them and make sure they're the best dancer they possibly can be, but they also grow up so much.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's usually a lot of their first time away from home.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_04: So they're learning how to look after themselves, you know.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I've got to cook for myself.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: I can't just drive through and get food every day.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm not gonna be able to dance great if that's the case, you know.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_04: So many things they learn about how to look after themselves and how to grow up.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_04: And I think rather than just them getting thrown out into the big wide world, because two, at that point, they're only 18, like, so they're still young, they're still babies.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_04: So I think being able to guide them, you know, and we really get to spend that time and be like, what do you want to do?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_04: Where do you want to go?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_04: You know, and someone might be like, I want to do a cruise ship first because I really want to save money to then work out where I need to relocate.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_04: But I'm obviously my parents can't afford to give me$30,000 to go and relocate to London or relocate to America.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, and we find out all of what their goals are going to be and help them try and get there.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, like we had Sean and we did a show run for them the other day, like bringing cast actually bringing casting directors in, you know, and trying to help them prepare for that next step is really what it is.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_04: And I think a lot of times when they're in their after school programs, they pick and choose what they want to do.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_04: Like they might be like, Well, I'm not a hip hop dancer, so I'm gonna do contemporary and lyrical.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas when they're in full-time, they don't get a choice.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_04: Like they are becoming versatile no matter whether they like it or not, because they don't get a choice, you know.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_04: They're having to sing, they're having to tap, like they're having to do everything.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_04: So it's it is super intense, like it's super intense, but it's so rewarding.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_04: It's like we see the most ultimate, like crazy transformations from that year of full-time, like when they're training so intensely with so many different mentors, and yeah, that's great.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_04: And then for our full-time students, we put on a grad tour.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_04: So we tour Australia and New Zealand with this with our show for them.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_04: We go to all the capital cities, and it's just been the most incredible experience.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_04: I know I said about I think we've been doing it six years now, and I said to my staff six years ago, I really want to tour this show, and they're like, Oh, crazy.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you want to take 50 kids like on a tour around Australia?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_04: And I was like, Yeah, I want to make it happen.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's so incredible.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_04: Not like an incredible learning experience for them.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_04: You know, they're getting to a theater and we get there.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_04: Oh no, like there's no wings for this side.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna have to readapt the show.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, we get here, there's not enough space on the stage for this.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna have to repattern, you know, and then the next day we travel to the next city, we turn up to the next venue, and it's completely different again.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, we can't do that one here, or that doesn't work here.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_04: And then being able to think on the spot, reach it's just such a learning experience for them, you know.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_04: Travel day showday, travel day showday.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_04: Are you getting enough sleep?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_04: It's real, it's real life.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_04: Totally.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but also it's been able for me to give them so many more opportunities because I can invite all the VIP guests in every state.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_04: They can come and see what new talent's coming through, you know.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_04: Smart.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_04: And so many of them have got so many amazing opportunities just from being able to do this tour and be seen in front as they're trying to make their way into the industry, like they're getting seen doing every genre at their best, you know?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_04: And sometimes because sometimes you might walk into an audition room and just not have a great day that day, you know.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_04: But it's so great for so many casting directors and people to be able to see you in your best light, looking great, you know, feeling the confidence.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_04: So it's been such a yeah, wonderful experience.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_04: We're actually in Hobart right now on our tour.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_04: I got a show in Hobart tonight.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: I I love the touring idea of this.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, I have so many thoughts and things I want to say and uh in complimenting you on this full-time program.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and I know we briefly talked before I hit record, but like for all of our listeners out there, it sounds like there's a I know you're not the only studio that offers a type of full-time, like bridging the gap year type of program to students.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that exists a lot out.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, uh, do you uh you probably know better than me?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how many other studios are doing that?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: How many competitors essentially do you have in that space?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_04: There's a fair few.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_04: Like we have probably three in our kind of state, and then there's more in Sydney down in New South Wales, um, a couple in Melbourne.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_04: So there's a few in each state, but everybody kind of runs their full time a little bit different.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_04: So it all works.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_04: Like there's enough kids to go around for everybody, and everybody, you know, fits somewhere.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_04: You know, like I'm sure we're not gonna be the right fit for everybody, and then other studios are not gonna be the right fit for everybody.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_04: So I feel like the kids audition for everywhere, come and see and they're like, oh, that feels right for me.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_04: You know, that yeah, that's the right family for me because it is for them, it needs to be a family for them.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_04: They've left their own family to come and you know, they spend pretty much every waking minute with you.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_04: So you kind of I think that's what I love about it too.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_04: I kind of am 50 people's mom.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: You know, the rest of them.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_03: Totally.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: The first term you get all the messages like I'm a bit homesick today.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, you're gonna get through it, you're fine.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like I really I think the tour is such a smart idea because as over here in the States and with many uh college programs, usually there's some type of senior showcase, you know, when the dancers are ready to graduate.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: And but usually that takes place wherever the school is located.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: They don't like bring that to you, you know?
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_04: So like it's That's how it always was here too.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_04: Like you just did your end-of-year showcase in your hometown, and yeah, I was just like, hope the casting directors show up.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like everybody's grandparents came.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, totally.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_04: And and that's it's so hard.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are you really getting exposed to the people that you're supposed to for that?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_04: Totally.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_04: And for the kids too, I'm like, you know, of course, in your hometown, your family and friends are gonna come and they're gonna love it no matter what.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_04: But are you gonna be able to put on an amazing show and do an amazing performance that the general public are paying for and are gonna enjoy it?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_04: You know?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_04: So you can't you can't just be all right when it's you know it's like us.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_04: I always say to them, like, when you go and watch a show, you're gonna judge it.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you're gonna sit there and watch it and have an opinion.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_04: So you got to remember that's what's coming to watch you.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's great for them, like puts them in a bit of a high pressure situation and be having a taste of what, like you said, what it's like to be on tour if that ever is a part of their, you know, professional career, which one-nighters, all right, let's get back on the bus, y'all.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Pack up your hotel room.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like sure, you know, the tour life is a whole new world in itself.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Nicole, I have just this is just a question because I like history.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: How long have these full-time programs sort of been around?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Were they around when you were graduating?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is this a new thing?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Is this a historical thing?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_04: When I was graduating, there was only like two in Australia.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like there was only one in Sydney and one in Melbourne.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_04: There's always been like full-time ballet programs more than commercial to start, because I think with ballet, you know, you're doing it so much younger.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_04: So I think there's always been those programs because generally in Australia, by the time kids are 14 and 15, they've left home and going to Europe or something, you know, in the States if they're really wanting to take ballet seriously.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_04: So there was always more full-time ballet programs at the start.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, then everything just taken off and it's just become the norm for most people, you know.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Attention, all dancers.
• 21:43
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• 21:49
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• 21:52
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• 21:58
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• 22:00
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• 22:04
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• 22:11
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• 22:14
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• 22:21
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• 22:24
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• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm not trying to knock all of the universities and college programs over here in the States.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: However, there is a very, very small percentage of schools that are actually going to provide you with the tools that you need to walk into the professional world.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I think this whole gap year con program is gonna start making its way in into the states a little bit more.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think it already is.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_04: I think so too.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_04: Because I always think, like my daughter, she's only 16, but she's just moved to LA now that um I'm working back and forward.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_04: And even, you know, I even look at her and her friends that I know have moved.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_04: Like she's made so many friends now that have moved from different places to LA.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm I always think that would be such a, you know, having a program like that where you are bringing the mentors in, you know, and giving them kind of a bit of purpose where they have to get be at the studio at a certain time and do them a certain amount of classes every day.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_04: Because I feel like it can be overwhelming when you're just 18.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_04: You know, like when you're just not having any kind of guidance in some way, you know, shape or form, and you know, relying on yourself.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: But the college programs aren't setting them up for that either, is like what I'm like, you know, you spend four years of crucial time in your professional dance, like when you become 18, like until you're 21, that's like crucial dance time.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: You could be working for four years, but you're like devoting four years to yes, academics are important and yes, degrees are important, but like are those schools actually giving you what you need?
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Are like are are they doing singing lessons?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Are you working on your resume?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it sounds like that in a one-year program, your kids are ready to walk into the professional world.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: That says a lot.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_04: And I think that's like the aim.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_04: That's what you want, you know, and because they're only just focusing on that, and you're getting them that because it's just that, that's what you're doing.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_04: Like I'm getting people to come in, working on them how to build their own website, getting someone in.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_04: What's get the perfect resume, what size headshots do you take in?
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_04: What photos are you taking?
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_04: Are they appropriate?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_04: What's appropriate for a cruise ship photo?
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_04: What's appropriate for a musical theater photo, you know?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_04: You're really getting to dive into everything and make sure that they leave at the end of the year feeling like they're confident to step out into the world, you know, and also know how to communicate.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I feel like when you go straight from being with your family, you know, and a lot of times parents speak for their kids.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_04: Like when they hit full time, I'm like to the parents, look, I'm gonna tell you I'll always call you if I if we need you, but I need the kids to communicate with me.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_04: That's part of this journey.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_04: Like they need to be able to communicate with adults, they need to be able to have those conversations themselves.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_04: Like you can't be ringing a casting director and being like, Oh, my mom's gonna call you, or you know, you you need they need to learn how to be an adult and they need to learn how to communicate properly.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_04: Because I feel like these days they have so much on their phones and with their social media and stuff that sometimes their communication skills are lacking, and that's something they really need to learn as well before stepping out into the professional world.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: Learning how to write and learning it like in a little safe environment with somebody who is, you know, a pseudo mom.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_04: Totally.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_04: And that's what I say to them all the time.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_04: You'd prefer me to tell you, please don't send an email like that.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_04: Like someone's gonna think that's really unprofessional, you know?
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_04: Or you'd prefer me to be telling you all that through this year rather than that be the reason why you don't book that job, you know, because they think you're not ready for that.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_04: Or, you know, we'd prefer to fix those mistakes in that year before setting you out into the big wide world for you to make them on your own, you know.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, congrats on that because I'm just like I'm just so intrigued and impressed by it because truly it's just it's a new thing out here.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: There's like two pro three maybe max programs that are still kind of working the kinks out too over here.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't really think they have it figured out either.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: I hope maybe they're gonna listen and learn a little bit.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: We've kind of gotten into the professional, like pre-professional side of things.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't we pivot all the way back to your baby ready-set dance program?
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because I noticed that on your website that you guys have a pretty robust um children's program as well at your studio.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's just for toddlers.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_04: The ready set dance program is just for toddlers, um, which is a great stepping stone.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_04: It's like a play-based program.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_04: So the kids really love that before they jump into, you know, we could they kind of move from there when they're six, five or six to start school.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_04: So it's like a pre, like pre-school program, and then they jump into our regular program from five or six, and that's where they kind of pick whether they're going into the recreational stream or do they want to audition for the competition stream?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_04: You know, and obviously throughout the years, they a lot of kids start in the rep program, their parents are like, no, no, no, not the comp scene, you know, that's just we'll stay over here.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_04: We'll stay over here, but then you know, always start to get more interest and end up jumping over.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: So with your so you can audition uh for your competition team or the competition track, I guess?
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yeah, yeah.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_04: And we have that all the way through from six to eighteen.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_04: So amazing.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but I think we run our competition teams.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know how it works in Australia in the US the lot of the time, but with our competition stream, like our each age group only works an hour a week, like on their competition routines.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_04: And then all the rest of their classes are just like training routines.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like training classes.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas like I think a lot of the other things that is not how it is here in most of Australia, like their jazz class is just working on their jazz routine, and like, you know, their lyrical class is working on their lyrical routine.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas with us, our the jazz, if they're doing their jazz class, the competition team, it's a jazz class.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_04: They're learn, they're doing a warm-up, they're doing technique, and they're learning a combo.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_04: And same with the lyricals, same with contemporary.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_04: And we've always run it like that, but I don't think a lot of other people do.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_04: But I don't know if it's because we have full time and I think I'm trying to teach the kids from a young age that it's not just about the competition win.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_04: Like you're never gonna go to an audition and go, I won the 10 years jazz section.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's awesome, but it's not gonna help you along the way, you know.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_04: Like I'm trying to make it because I feel like we get kids that join us so late and they're still struggling, like they're not confident in picking up choreography in a class, or you know, so we're trying to build that, that it's just an easy transition if they decide later on they really want to take this further and do it as a career, that it feels normal for them, you know, they have their own style, they're confident picking up choreography, that they're not all of a sudden getting to 16 and all of a sudden being like, oh my goodness, like I've never done this before.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_04: I've just been getting my routines drilled every week.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_04: Like I don't actually know how to pick up fast and add my own style and put my performance on top of it, which everyone wants from me right now, and I've never done it.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_04: But and I think it's hard in Australia because we don't have conventions as much as in the US.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_04: That's what I think we're missing the most here.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's what when I bring groups of dancers to the US, like being in a convention room is so great.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_04: You know, being so many other dancers, making different friends, like it's not all about the competition.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, like I'm like, you guys could probably share a room and for a job one day.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_04: You're not always in competition, you know, like but we don't really have a lot of that in Australia, which is it's sad for our kids to not get to experience that.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_04: I think if you don't go to a the US a lot a lot as a kid, it's something that they really missed out on.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_04: Like we have the Australian Dance Festival, which is awesome, and you know, a lot of studios go and most people go and it's great, but still, like a lot of the teachers, it's not like, oh my god, I'm gonna get someone I've never had before, or you know, that it's so rare.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of the teachers still teach in their regular studios.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_04: And like it's not like when you're going to, you know, I always used to bring the kids to Pulse when Pulse was around back in the day, and you know, like they'd be so excited so they'd walk into the room and it'll be Brian Friedman and people that they just don't get to have in their regular class.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's what's so exciting when you're going to a convention in the States that you're gonna always have someone different that isn't teaching you on a regular basis.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that I think that's it so interesting because I kind of just assumed that dance conventions existed everywhere at this point because they've gotten so big over here in the States, like they're actually like taking over the competition scene where like all the like highly, highly competitive studios, very advanced studios, the ones that are producing those professional dancers, they're opting to go to the convention competitions versus the traditional competitions.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just how our our US industry has evolved through the past 15 years, because when I was growing up, conventions existed, but there was like a handful of them.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it was like you go go go as an extra bonus.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like the priority.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: And now in the States, it's like, oh, I better go to five different conventions in one year.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: I better fly across the country to go to one.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_04: And I want to be a protege, and I want to, you know, like all of those and be an assistant.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_04: And there's so much more that comes from it over there that yeah, I remember one of my students was an elite protege on Pulse, and like it was just, you know, the craziest experience for her.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_04: Like, even that year of being able to travel around with them was just so epic for her.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_04: It's opened so many doors.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_04: Like she's just got her O1 visa, so she's about to move to the States next year.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, it's just I just wish it would take off here, but I just don't know if we have the population.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_04: And the teachers.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_04: Because I think too, a lot of our teachers, yeah, once they get to a certain point, they all move overseas to work as well.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_04: So we're always we don't have that.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_04: Losing your talent.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_04: We're always losing the amazing talent we have a lot of the time.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's interesting.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Man, it I feel like it just takes like a core group of people who decide, you know, kind of like you did, like, I did this thing over here, but I'm gonna come back here and do something amazing.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like maybe there's that group of people.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_04: And we just need to get the the parents on board, I think.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_04: You know, because they're the ones that are paying.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_04: I think if you can just get the parents on board to be like, this is a great idea and it's great for the kids.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm surprised.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it'd be easy to convince the parents, and I could be wrong, but like I'm sure all the parents watch on social media what's happening uh in the competition scene in the states, I would assume.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_04: Totally.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_04: So I just think it's just like if it was a group of teachers that they don't normally have, they'd be like, oh my, I need to be there, I need to do it, you know?
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_04: It's just crazy.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_04: Like you guys even have genre-specific conventions, like my daughter loves to go into like chaos and monsters.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_04: I'm like, you know, so where can you go and do like a whole convention of hip-hop?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's so awesome.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's true.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we take it for granted.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even like think about it like that, you know.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: So to hear that, you that's how y'all view it.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh my gosh, wow, we should be so all the dancers out there so grateful, all the parents out there, all the students and the studios, like, don't take advantage of the fact that you are going to like you have these opportunities here in the states that a lot of other countries don't have.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: So make the most of every moment.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_04: And to work with mentors who everyone, you know, like the mentors and teachers that are teaching at these conventions in the US.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_04: It's really epic that kids are getting to learn from them and you know, get the knowledge that they get from being in their class all the time.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_04: Like I know kids in Australia would give an arm to be able to, you know, totally to be in the room with some of the people that are just a regular convention teachers, you know.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: So let's go back to your competitive training program at your studio.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I we we know you have your recreational program and they can also audition if they want to become a competitive program.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: And you said that they only rehearse each dance one hour a week, but then they it the primary focus is the training, which is so refreshing to hear.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm really happy you mentioned that because like we were kind of shaking our heads like that that happens at some studios, but not a lot of studios over here in the States because everyone's just prioritizing.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're replacing the training class for rehearsal.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_04: That happens most of the time too.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_04: I think, especially since having full time, that just made it just made the progression easier.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_04: And I think because we're all in the same space, the little ones too are seeing the full timers and what they're doing, and then they're seeing them go off into their jobs and they're going to watch.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_04: And I think too it makes the parents understand too that this is all a stepping stone to that, like which I think maybe it's hard if you're just got your competition kids at the studio, that it's easy for parents also to get wrapped up in that we're dancing for that first place trophy and that's it, you know.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_04: Like if you're not seeing the professionals go off constantly, the kids that you've watched, you know, like because I think they watch them through the years and they're at all the concerts and they're at the competitions together, but then they see them go to that next step and oh, they get a job, oh, they can actually earn a living doing this, like that it makes the parents understand where you're coming from a little bit too.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_04: And I've really never done it any different.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_04: So I've went I've always ran our competition team.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_04: So I think when people come to Dance Plus, they know that that's how it's gonna be.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_04: You know, so they have an expectation.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_04: They that that's what they're just how they're gonna do it.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: So how many like let's talk about I guess maybe like your highest competitive dancers, like the the you know, the most advanced in your studio that are still competing.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: What is like their weekly schedule look like?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: What what type of classes are required for them to be on comp?
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: How many days of ballet are they taking?
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_04: Like, tell us so our opens comp team, which is like our 16 and overs kind of thing, they generally will do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday nights from 3:30 till nine, or every those three nights a week, and they have they don't get a choice, like they have to do every genre, they have to do musical theater, they have to do ballet, they have to do technique, as well as like all their specific genre classes.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_04: And then we also for the kids that aren't in the high school academy yet, like that still go to regular high school, we do a program that's on a Friday, and it's just a part-time program.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_04: So they usually come in and we work in conjunction with their school and they do a certificate three, which for us it can class as a subject for them.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_04: So they go to school Monday to Thursday, come to us on a Friday, and they dance 8:30 till 3.30, which is great because I normally fly in an industry professional on a Friday to work with our full-time high school academy.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_04: So then they get to work with them as well.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_04: They get different teachers that they don't normally have on their regular night classes, so they're always guest teachers, so they're getting they're getting kind of the best of both worlds, they're still getting that extension on top of their regular night classes.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_04: But they're still at school, you know, if they're really academic and really, you know, that's their focus as well.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_04: They can still extend themselves but still be at school.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: So are there dancers who do school Monday through Thursday, do classes at night, and then part-time on Friday.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and a lot of the schools.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_04: Which is great.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_04: And even the, you know, the parents are like, it's good for us because it's a bargaining tool with the kids.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_04: If they're like, I don't want to stay at school, you know, like dancing's my dancing's where I want to be, but they're like, Well, if you stay at school, you know, you can have the day off on Friday, you dance all day, dance boss on Friday.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_04: You know, they have a little bargaining tool to keep them going.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_04: So that's great.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: I was just reminiscing on my senior year in my school.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: I went to a public school in the States, but um, you know, once you get like at least here, once you get a certain amount of credits and you become a senior, you can kind of like do half days or something to just get your final, you know, academic classes.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I would do essentially that.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: I would like take a half day on Friday and go train at a university.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it sounds like a similar program, but it sounds like they're it's being offered younger, obviously, yeah, freshmen and things.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: So cool.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: You have it all.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's really neat.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: We need to we need truly we need to do all of these things over here in the state.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: I hope studios are listening.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so okay, so that being said, how how big is your facility?
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: How many staff members do you have?
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: And how much do you personally teach on the weekly?
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so um, we have five studios in our building.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_04: I have about 30 stars.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_04: And like with guest teachers as well.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_04: I try like every year I'm like, I'm gonna step back on teaching.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_04: Like I always say to the kids, like, don't you want someone new and cool?
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_04: Like, surely like you're over me.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_04: Like some of the kids have had me for so long, but I try to say every year I'm gonna step back, but I still end up like I'm there most days.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_04: I usually teach Monday, Wednesday all the way through in the night.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_04: And I teach full-time and academy and part-time during the week.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_04: But I'm generally at when I'm even not teaching, like if I'm not in America, I'm usually at the studio from 7:30 in the morning till nine at night.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my god.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_04: I'm there with the full-timers during the day.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I was gonna say, like, I always say that being a dance studio owner is a f like is an extra, extra crazy full-time job because like, yeah, like a full-time job, you work 40 hours a week and you, you know, you go to your nine to five and you have your evenings off.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: But dance studio owners work at night, they're actually on their feet teaching most of the time.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then administrative businessing during the day.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_04: So it's like a And there's everything else.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_04: Like you're like, you know, you're actually hats on, you know.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if you're a mom.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_04: You're their like financial advisor, you're there, you know, counselor.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_04: Am I gonna have enough money for food this week?
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, yeah.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_04: Uh you know, and I've always said, I think that's the difference with our studio.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_04: Like it it is, I know it sounds cliche, but we are like just like a big family.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_04: And I've always said the minute I don't feel like I can put that much effort into keep it feeling like a family, that I won't do it anymore.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I feel like that's the special part of it.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's always been, it's always been that for me.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_04: Like I I love the kids and I love to see them succeed.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_04: And not just from when they're there, like I even with us, like I still am in constant contact with our very first year people that do full-time.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_04: You know, in 2011, every job they get, they're still on the first one on the phone being like, oh my god, I just booked this, I just booked this.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_04: And and it becomes a big family, like people that, you know, someone will go, Oh, I just got a royal contract, and then within five minutes, everybody that has done it previously is like, I'll be in rehearsals at the same time.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_04: Let me know when you get there.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_04: I'll show you where the grocery stores are.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_04: And it's a constant, you know, big family.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_04: And yeah, that's what I love about it the most, I think.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: I love that too, because uh I feel like that, like we were kind of talked about with the whole like leaving home and breaking in, maybe a handful, like one, two people like at the same time that you're graduating from your home studio might want to pursue a professional career.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you don't really have that base to go back to and connect with.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas if you go to like a full-time program, you're meeting 50 other dancers who want the exact same thing as you and probably gonna be at auditions with and be your support system.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's that's nice to have.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I know even from my experience, and I know Leslie, I guess in your sense, like you actually had your college friends who were all probably moving to New York, and you were gonna be like, graduation, here we come, see you in New York in, you know, six months.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, in a few months, yeah.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: And like for me, it was like I didn't go to school and I was I graduated from my my studio here and just like moved to New York and just figured it out.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it was really hard because I knew a few people in in in New York, but like I was really relying on them to like help me and it's not their job to help me, like you know, like of course as friends, but I don't know.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: It was just it would have been nice to have something to kind of bridge that gap.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I wish that I had something like that.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it does.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_04: It makes such a difference.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's like they're all connected, even if they're years apart, they're still all connected through each other.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, you went to dance force.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I'm your four, you're you're one, no way.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_04: Like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_04: One of my old students, she's so funny.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_04: She's now a um rehearsal director with celebrity, and she goes, I feel like I'm like the OG of Dance Force.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_04: So people like now they're coming in like fresh on the job, and they're like, You went to Dance Force?
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_04: Because she's like, I'm definitely old now.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_04: They're asking if I actually even went to Dance Force.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_04: But were they around when we were there?
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: Hey parents, do you have a tiny dancer between the ages of seven to ten?
• 42:46
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• 42:50
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• 42:57
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• 43:15
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• 43:25
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• 43:29
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• 43:42
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• 43:48
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• 43:51
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• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you to Francisco Gala Dance Works for being our season five premiere to.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us about competition life out there.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm curious to learn about that.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: I know you've said that there's not really many conventions, so you don't attend those because there's none to attend.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: So what about the competition life?
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: How many scheduled competitions are you going to?
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_01: Do you is there such a thing as nationals out in Australia?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: And like are comps different than what you know about comps in the US?
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_04: I think the competition scene in Australia is we normally do four like not regular competitions, group competitions throughout the year, and then one national finals.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_04: But I think with the groups, like I know some of the the cost of how we pay for our group competitions is so different to the US.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_04: I know some US comps have tried to come out and do group competitions in Australia, which we would love to attend, but getting the parents to pay how it's paid.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, really?
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_04: You know, in the US is different.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_04: Like in Australia, we don't pay per dancer per group.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you just pay for the group?
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: We just pay for the group.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like a one.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: $40 a group.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_04: What?
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_04: Oh.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_04: It's like that's why they don't want to pay.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_04: So the studio owners are like covering that cost.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_04: Do you know what I mean?
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_04: Like the studio owners are generally just entering all the competitions.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_04: So when you're part of a group, the parents in Australia are paying for their training, you know, in the studio.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_04: But outside of that, the studio owners are really taking on that cost of because it's not that much.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_04: So then, you know, I'm thinking if if our kids are in seven routines and an American an American competition's coming out, and I was like, oh, parents, it's$80 per student per routine, the parents are going to be like, you know, absolutely not.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: It would never.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: We might as well take a vacation to the States for a dance coverage.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_04: So it's so it has it is really hard to like, you know, for them to come into this market because even though I would be like, it's gonna be great, like it'll be so great for you because you're gonna have different adjudicators and you're gonna have different judges and it's gonna be a different vibe, and it'll be so awesome, you know, when parents are going, oh, but that's gonna be six hundred dollars, you know, to enter.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my god.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_04: When the parents had to do it before.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: The parents listening right now on this podcast from the States are probably freaking out.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: They're all about to buy tickets to Australia and move there to continue their kids' competitive training.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because the expense, I mean, it's truly astronomical.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: My mind is blown.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I know.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: How much is a solo in Australia to compete?
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_04: To compete, probably about eighty dollars, maybe.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's okay.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's so it's cheaper to do a or it's more expensive to do a solo than it is to do a group.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you should be.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_04: If you were just doing it at a regular competition, if you were just doing it at a regular competition kind of thing, sometimes it can be like$30,$20.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_04: Like what?
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, like I'm talking about if you're going to national finals, it's probably like$80, but so regional, technically, a regional is like a$30 entry fee to do a solo.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's at least like it's at like$120 to$150.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_04: I know.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_04: And I think too that's the difference.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_04: Like in Australia, you'll see kids that'll come out and have like eight solo routines or ten solo routines.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_04: You know, they'll do a solo in every genre because you can't.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_04: It's on twirling fire breathing.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas you're like, you know, you're gonna pick just your best genre because it's so expensive.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, well, people over here spend the money because who knows how pretty much every kid has a solo.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I think it's slowly starting to, you know, I we always end up following suit.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, at some point we always end up following suit.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_04: So it's just the way it's been done here forever, I think, the group side of things.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's so interesting.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's so how many how many entries are you registering when you attend as a studio to an event with your competition team?
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_04: Probably usually about 40 groups, like 35 to 40 groups.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's not a lot.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: How many dancers are on your team?
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_04: So we would have an o our open groups would probably do eight routines each comp.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_04: And then same thing, like each age group would do the same thing.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but because we audition them, yeah, I know like you guys have certain different, like everyone will audition for certain routines.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_04: And sometimes it's a bit different back home.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_04: Like, yeah, I don't know.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's not small groups and large groups as much here.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_04: It's just like you're that age.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I see.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that makes sense.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it depends on like the studio.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and all the solo entries just do the parents do their solo entries themselves.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_04: So it's not part of the studio here.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_04: Like I know at some conventions in the US, like you'll get assigned.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I always think, Oh my goodness, how would I do that if I was assigned?
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_04: You know, uh you can only have 15 solo spots.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_04: I'm like, how would I pick it up?
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, which ones do you think?
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_04: It must be so hard.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I always think that must be so hard for studio owners.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_04: In the US.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_04: We have talked about you know, because like you obviously don't want to pick you don't want to have to pick.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_04: Like, yeah.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_04: So that's the in Australia, like I our our parents just do.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_04: They can do as many or as little solo comps as they want, as long as it doesn't clash with you know any of their team stuff.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_04: I don't find yeah, that's they just do however many or however little comps they want to do.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_01: On the studio and especially after talking to other um studio spotlights and then even just friends in the industry of how how do you select when you there's a limit for the specifically, it's usually with just the convention competitions that limit.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_01: The regular competitions are say they'll take anything, they'll even extend the day to like start on Wednesday if they have to, because they will accept anything.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_01: But the convention comps have to kind of cater to they have less time to compete in the week.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure, and which is totally understandable as well.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I think like I think if I remember correctly, and I well, I don't I don't want to say who because I can't remember which studio spotlight, but someone said that they just kind of divvy it out um at the start of the season.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: So they have like 50 soloists, all right.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_01: You 20 are gonna do it at this one, you're gonna 20 do it at this one.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, because I always used to think that must be so hard to like have to be like, well, you can't do a solo this time, you know, and it's not your choice, you know.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_04: It's like you've been given a number and you've got to just roll with it.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's why a lot of studios still are hanging on.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: Not that you shouldn't be hanging on to regular competitions, regular competitions in the States are great for us, but especially a lot of studios have specifically said, like, due to the restrictions of the amount of entries they can enter into conventions, they still want to keep a handful of regular comps on their schedule so they can make sure the whole studio can compete.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone does their solo, all the groups type of thing.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_01: And like that's a huge perk of the regular competitions.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, totally.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_04: And the kids can get something from everything, you know.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_04: They don't learn different things from both regular competitions and conventions.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_04: Do you all have levels over there?
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_04: Oh.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_04: Not really.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_04: Another layer.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_04: Um, like we'll always have a we'll always have a novice section, which is just like people's first comp of the year.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_04: You know, if they've never done a competition before, there's generally those sections, but most of the time it's just uh, you know, everyone's the same.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'd love to hear it because you know, the states is getting a little crazy with these levels over here.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_04: They've started actually doing it with the group competitions.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_04: So I think some people that don't have full-time schools attached.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_04: So now here in Australia, if we go to a group competition, it's sometimes it'll be if you've got one, even if you have one full-time student in your group, then you can't go in.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_04: They separate the section, so it'll be full-time open age jazz group, non-full-time open age jazz group.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_04: But both like I have lots of friends that have studios that don't have full-time attached as well.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_04: And they don't like it either, because they're like, we want to be with like we all want to go to a competition and be together.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_04: Like no one wants to take their kids and spend the whole weekend of the competition to compete against no one.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_04: You know, and that's sometimes how it ends up.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_04: They split these sections in so many different ways that then everyone's especially if you're traveling, like you don't want to go, pay for accommodation, travel, boot away, and then you get there and you're, you know, you're against one other person, you know.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's lame.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how it that's how it ends up over here a lot.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so like quadruple the price and then you're competing against yourself.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_01: It happens all the time.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_04: And nobody wants that.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_04: Like, nobody wants that.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's our market's just gotten extremely saturated, and then everyone's trying to, you know, create the levels to cater to certain clients instead of just like, you know, I so many people on our in the over here are saying, get rid of levels, we don't want them, whatever.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_01: But then like the moment a competition would, they would probably be like, I'm not going into that competition.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_01: Anarchy.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_04: You know, so it's it's tough.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_04: I feel like you're just never gonna please anyone, you know, correct.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_04: You're always gonna have people that aren't, and you're not gonna be able to please everybody.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_00: And as a business owner, you definitely know that.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this was such a great chat.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm loving learning about uh the international dance scene and the dance studio scene around the world.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds like there's some similarities for sure.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_01: I wanna applaud you for um your emphasis on proper training, it sounds like, because like like you mentioned, it's just so great to know that you are putting a highlight on taking a variety of styles and making and even for the competitive dancers, like they have to take this, they have to take that.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_04: You don't totally.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_04: And I think if they do it, especially like things like singing and you know, like we have when you get into full time and you're all of a sudden have you don't get a choice anymore.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_04: You're you know, when you're 18, you're so much more self-conscious, I think, about doing new things than when you're a kid.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_04: I feel like you have less fear when you're a kid, you're not as worried about being judged, and you know, you can just take on more things.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_04: So I think if it becomes a bit more normal when you're younger and they've tried, given everything a go, then it's not so daunting when they hit 18.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_04: And too, I think when you're young, you want to do what's cool and what your friends are doing, not really you're not really thinking about oh, I might want to do this as a career one day, and you know, I want to have all the tools under my belt, you know.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_04: So I think if you're kind of instilling that without them having to make the choice, oh my goodness, you know, it makes a massive difference.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_01: I know you I know and I didn't mention this in your intro, but do you want to share any um success stories of some of your students as far as where they've gone?
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think what's really interesting as far as like a different perspective coming from Australia is like even your career led you to the States.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_01: So is that the ultimate goal for a lot of professionals, or are they is there enough work in Australia for them to be a professional dancer there?
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think it kind of depends what your goal and your mindset is and how, you know, what kind of opportunities you're talking to the kids about and everything.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_04: Like I think, you know, for many Australians, their dream is to be in LA and book a tour and you know, because we don't have that, you know, that I think that's a lot of kids, especially if they're commercial dancers, that's the big dream, you know, eventually the big dream for everyone.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_04: But of course, you know, there's got so many stepping stones that come from that.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_04: Like in Australia, if you are in musical theatre, that's probably the one job that's secure in Australia.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like you're gonna book a musical, it's a you know, it's a continuous yearly contract, you know, jumping from musical to musical, that's gonna be awesome for you.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_04: But in the commercial world, yes, there's gigs and yes, there's like the voice or you know, different shows, but it's not continuous.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I don't think in Australia you can be a commercial dancer and just solely earn an income from that.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, if people are doing that, they're generally teaching or doing a you know, a regular retail job for the gig that's gonna come, you know, sporadically.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_04: It's not you can't really live here and do it.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_04: Do that side of things permanently.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_04: So most people like especially our kids, like I kind of encourage them to step out into the big world and you know, like and try and at least you're gonna be dancing every day.
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_04: You've been training your whole life, that's what you want to do is dance every day.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_04: So I think that's made a massive difference.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_04: So a lot of our kids will either go when they're first 18, like fresh out of full time, or go on a cruise ship.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_04: We have so many kids on Celebrity, Royal, Step One, RWS, Disney.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_04: We also have kids that are in the Moulin Rouge in Paris, Crazy Horse in Paris.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_04: I love crazy in the I have a few kids that are Yeah with Cirque du Soleil.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_04: Um I have a yeah, one's in the Mad Apple show that's just started in Vegas that's been running for just this last year.
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_04: Blake, one of my boys, is just signed a contract to be Mike in Magic Mike in Vegas today.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_04: Um Diana, another one of my girls, she was in Mystia, but um in Vegas, and now she's the mermaid in Magic Mike.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_04: She was on the tour and she's just joined the London cast of that.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so it's it's all everyone just kind of steps over there, and then a few of our dancers now just are getting their O1s and obviously moving to LA.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_04: That's like the big dream for most.
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_01: But is it hard to obtain your visa?
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's it is hard.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_04: It's definitely hard.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_04: Like I just got mine last year, but it's definitely hard.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_04: Like you have to have experience under your belt, like you have to prove, you know, that you want you know, you have so much experience to then bring to the US.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_04: So it's definitely a process, but I think it's definitely worth it, you know.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_04: And that's why I think it, you know, I think just you can't always jump to that.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_04: Like you're gonna have to have things on your CV.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_04: Before that.
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_01: So just even you know, taking that year to go to the Gap Year program, the pre-pro program, and putting being able to put that on your resume to show, like, I I you know, I care, I I'm committed, I do all this.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_04: And too, if you know, like, especially now we have so many people that have their O1s and things.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, we're able to give them some advice on you know what they're gonna need eventually to do that, you know?
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_04: Like you can't just go, Oh, I want to move to LA and that's gonna happen.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, there's just yeah.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this was awesome.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm so inspired.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you so much.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you for uh squeezing us in during your tour right now with your students.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_01: How exciting.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_01: Who's running the ship back home while you're on tour?
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, it's my staff.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_03: So they were all used to it now.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_03: This time of the year, every year I'm always on tour.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_03: So it's kind of a bit of a pro process now that's all locked in.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_04: And how long is the tour?
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_04: Two weeks.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, nice.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_04: So we just have travel day show day, travel day show day for two full weeks.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, well, yeah, have a great show tonight.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_01: No, well, Nicole, this was fantastic.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_01: We love having international guests from around the world over here at Making the Impact.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_01: And for all of our listeners, I hope that you enjoyed hearing what it's like over in the Australian studio space and competition scene.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_01: And if you wouldn't mind sharing a final thought for everybody out there, you can speak to other studio owners if you have any advice to recommend to them.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_01: You can talk to any dancers out there, any of whoever you would like to speak to, and share just one final thought with the world.
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much for having me.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_04: I just, you know, for me, it's always about the love.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_04: I just think dancers out there, like, you know, it's there's a time for everybody and your time.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_04: Don't always compare yourself to someone else.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_04: Like your time will be your time, and everyone peaks at different times.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_04: So just always keep going.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_04: Like there's always something out there for everyone if you really want it.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_04: You know, if you work hard and you're a great human, there's gonna be something out there for you.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_01: We hope you enjoyed our studio spotlight featuring our very first Australian dance studio, Danceport.
• 59:31
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to follow them on social media.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_01: You can find them on Instagram at Danceports.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_01: And if you'd like to learn more on their website, visit danceforceods.com.au or click the link in our show notes.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want more exclusive episodes, support our podcast by joining our Platinum Premium membership for only$5 a month.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_00: Join now at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com slash Platinum Premium or click the link in our show notes.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_01: Be sure to check out IDA affiliated competition, Diva Dance Competition.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_01: Diva Dance Competition is America's live judging competition.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_01: Their live judging format is extremely unique in the industry.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_01: Dancers are asked to stay on stage following their routine.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_01: Each of the judges provided exclusively by Impact Dance Adjudicators will provide immediate feedback live over the microphone.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_01: This format allows for a very personalized educational experience where the dancers are able to apply their critiques immediately to their next routines with the purpose of improving as the day goes on.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_01: Something else that makes Diva different is that they are a competition with the cause.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_01: Diva was born as a way to raise awareness for the CBLS Foundation, a rare genetic syndrome that the owner's son Jack was born with.
• 1:00:58
  SPEAKER_01: Jack was the inspiration for D.Va, and you may be lucky enough to meet him at one of their upcoming events.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_01: And last but not least, Diva provides all routine photos and videos absolutely free.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_01: For more information on D.Va Dance Competition and to register for an upcoming event, visit their website at Divacon.com.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_00: Season five of Making the Impact is on a roll.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned for upcoming episodes, including pay rates in the professional world, competitions versus convention competitions, and continuing education for dance teachers.
• 1:01:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.