Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Spotlight Feature - Marinda Davis

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Spotlight Feature - Marinda Davis · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table of the death competition?
0:11
SPEAKER_00: Exactly what our judge is looking for anyway.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: This is making the impact of the death competition hard.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: The death world desire.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: But every once in a while, someone comes towards the industry with their power, drives, and desire to make a difference.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Today on our final spotlight episode of two, we welcome Miranda David, a four of our first fight team with insurmountable art, has gone on to achieve massive success in some of the major facets of the dance industry, including dancing with the stars, world of dance, and her own company, Mare Inspired.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: Join us as we chat with Mirinda about her life, goals, and dreams for the future.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone, welcome to Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: Hey everybody, how's it going?
1:12
SPEAKER_01: So pumped for this episode, Leslie.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: We have our final spotlight feature episode of season two today.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: And I can't wait for everyone to meet our special guest.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's gonna be a great episode, lots of things to talk about and cover, so keep on listening.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're going to introduce you to our spotlight guest very soon.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: But we always like to give you a little rundown on what's happening over here in IDA World.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: And uh we literally just wrapped our final May virtual competition of the season.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: It's our last event, so if you missed it, sorry.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: But guess what?
1:50
SPEAKER_01: You can watch the live stream this upcoming Sunday, May 23rd.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be an all-day event with solos and groups and duos and small groups and all the things, and it's gonna be the top 20 contestants in the live stream for all of the different uh groups and ages.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: So definitely check it out.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be a lot of fantastic talent from all across the world.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: And if you want to see more virtual competitions from IDA next season in the fall in 2022, let us know.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: And we'll we'll let you know if we decide to to do some more because we're not sure yet.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: But if the demand is there and you all want it, then we will give it to you.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: So definitely reach out.
2:30
SPEAKER_01: Let us know if you enjoyed the experience, if you've participated in any of our virtual comps.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: And thank you to everyone who has participated in our virtual comps since we started them over a year ago when the pandemic hit.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: It's been such so much fun connecting with dancers around the world.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: So thank you to everyone for your support.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: And all of the dancers from around the world, we've gotten to connect with them not only through the virtual competition, but also through the Facebook group.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: So everybody there, thanks for joining us and continuing the conversation.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: And speaking of everybody in the Facebook group, thank you all for voting on our final episode topic poll.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: Yay! And the winner, the votes were really close, Courtney.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: They were really close.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: Good topics, too.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: Great topic.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: So the contenders that we didn't pick or that didn't win will be put into the brainstorming box for next season.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: But the winner was prepping for next season in nationals.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: So that is coming up in the next few weeks, and we have some great guests lined up to talk to you about that and just give give you some fresh ideas for next season.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: So if you also have any ideas about next season, you know, if you're a fan and you think that you want to hear something specific, send us an email.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: We would love to hear your topic ideas, your guest ideas for our spotlight episodes.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: You know, we do this for you.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: We do this for our listeners and fans and people who are interested in competitive dance.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: So we want to make a season that you're gonna listen to and gonna enjoy listening to.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: So email us at podcast at impactdanceedjudicators.com and join the Facebook group.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: It's called Making the Impact, a Dance Competition Podcast Community, and keep involved, keep in touch.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we love connecting with you all there.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much to all of our fans for your support throughout our seasons one and two.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: It's that time to hear a little bit about our sponsors that you've heard all about this season.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: And we, like I always say, we couldn't make this podcast possible without each and every one of them.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: So I know the season is nearing its end for the competition world, but if you're going to nationals, then you may need to grab a few additional things to put into your travel bag.
4:29
SPEAKER_01: And if you need anything like a costume rack or if you need makeup cases or garment bags or stretching tools, then you should check out Level Up Dance Supplies.
4:39
SPEAKER_01: Level Up is more than just the leading retailer of top name brand dance bags.
4:43
SPEAKER_01: Their goal is to be your one-stop shop for all of your dance gear and accessory needs.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: From flooring to privacy tents to stretching and travel gear, Level Up is the perfect place to stock up for next season.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: Use our exclusive podcast promo code Bravo5678 at checkout to receive$10 off your entire order, and head on over to LevelUpDanceupplies.com now to check out all of their awesome gear.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: Our other sponsor for this episode is a new sponsor this season, so we are very happy to talk about work dancewear.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: Work Dancewear is a new activewear brand that offers affordable, high-quality designs for dancers of all ages, including Courtney and myself.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: We both love their joggers, so get on that.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: They've got leggings, joggers, sweatsuit sets, backpacks, which are super cute.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: We love the neutral color palette options.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: They feel very like summery and fresh.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you're gonna love this brand as much as we do.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: And we would love for you to check out their entire line of activewear.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: Head over to workdancewear.com and use our promo workdance20.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: That's W-E-R-K, Work Dance20 to receive 20% off your entire order.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: Yay, thank you so much to our sponsors this season.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: We love you all.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: All right, world, it is time to meet our spotlight guest, our final spotlight guest of season two.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: And throughout this season, we introduced our spotlight feature episodes where we sit down with a variety of different dancers, choreographers, or educators who we feel are making an impact and an influence in the competitive dance world.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: We've previously had JT Church, Maud Arnold, Sophia Lucia, and Alex Wong on the podcast, and I can't wait to sit down and chat with our next guest.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: You may have seen her work on dancing with the stars, world of dance, or with her company Mar Inspired.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: She has been a two-time Capizio Ace Award nominee, an in-demand dance educator teaching on the convention circuit, and was featured on the CW docuseries My Last Days.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: I am honored to welcome the lovely Mirinda Davis to the podcast.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: Welcome.
6:46
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
6:47
SPEAKER_03: I'm so happy to be here.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: Yay! Oh my gosh.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: Super excited to have you.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: And it was so lovely to meet you about two years ago now, officially uh at Wild Dance Intensive, where we were teaching together.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: And it was a nice little, you know, event where I know you've been with Wild and with the Star Power and the Star Dance Alliance for a long time, which I'm excited to hear about that.
7:12
SPEAKER_01: But it was awesome to be able to meet you there and teach alongside you.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: So I'm so happy that you were able to join us today on the pod.
7:18
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
7:18
SPEAKER_03: It feels like eons ago, right?
7:20
SPEAKER_01: I know.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: Like when there were dance conventions and you know, no masks and people in space.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: Like people in space what hundreds of dancers in a room together?
7:31
SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think actually that was that that was right before, like that was the fall before the pandemic, I think is where we met.
7:39
SPEAKER_03: I think so.
7:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
7:41
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: That does seem like I mean it really like it feels like yesterday because that was the last time anything happened.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: Right.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: It was fall 2019.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: Normal.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: But like at the same time, it's like now it's 2021.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: Crazy to think.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: A whole year left us.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Like, where did it go?
7:55
SPEAKER_01: Trapped inside.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: Miranda, we're so excited to welcome you.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for taking your time out of your busy schedule and sharing your story with us.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: We can't wait to to sit down.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to hear more about it.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: And um, we're very honored to have you.
8:11
SPEAKER_03: Oh, thank you.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: I'm honored to be here.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: Yay! Cool.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's jump right into let's start at the very beginning.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: It's a very good place to start.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear about where you grew up and how you got into dancing just as a as a child, if that's the case, or if you started later, I want to hear all of it.
8:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I grew up in Tampa, Florida, and I unexplainably, from the time I could talk, was talking about dance and choreography and that I was gonna move to New York and become a dancer.
8:42
SPEAKER_03: And I still to this day, I have no clue where this kid got these ideas from.
8:47
SPEAKER_03: Nobody in my family was artistic.
8:50
SPEAKER_03: I, you know, was making full-length ballets when I was three.
8:53
SPEAKER_03: There's videos of this.
8:54
SPEAKER_03: I don't know where I came up with the terminology to even say, like I made a ballet.
9:00
SPEAKER_03: It was just, I feel super lucky and I really didn't realize how fortunate it was until really recently that I've just been so one-tracked my whole life from day one and just never wavered from that.
9:12
SPEAKER_03: So I grew up at a big dance studio called Mary Joe's Performing Arts Academy in Tampa, and we trained really hard, seven days a week.
9:22
SPEAKER_03: We did competitions, so I was a competition kid, but we also trained a lot in ballet.
9:27
SPEAKER_03: It was a really well-rounded curriculum.
9:29
SPEAKER_03: We took everything tap, hip-hop, voice, musical theater.
9:32
SPEAKER_03: It was a really intense program, and she, the owner and director really had high expectations, and we definitely saw the studio way more than we ever saw home, you know?
9:43
SPEAKER_03: So it was, you know, a lot for a kid, but I loved every second of it.
9:48
SPEAKER_03: And then around 15, 16, I started assisting choreographers at conventions, which then made me even more a part of that circuit from a really young age.
9:58
SPEAKER_03: And then in high school, I went to a performing arts high school that really kind of dialed the knob up on modern for me.
10:06
SPEAKER_03: And I really started to fall in love with modern and concert work, which eventually led me to apply to colleges that, you know, of course, had strong modern programs.
10:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
10:17
SPEAKER_03: So I I moved to uh New York when I was 18 to go to Marymount Manhattan.
10:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
10:23
SPEAKER_03: So that's that's kind of the childhood uh part of it in a nutshell.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: Is that is your studio from home still around?
10:31
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
10:32
SPEAKER_03: They are still going strong and I I choreograph on them and and teach them.
10:36
SPEAKER_03: So it's been it's been cool to watch all the generations coming through full circle.
10:41
SPEAKER_01: Full circle of it.
10:42
SPEAKER_03: So full circle.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: And I I mean, I love hearing how well how well rounded your studio was.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: I feel we've had a lot of different guests that were like in the comp scene in Florida.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking of like Amber, who was on our what was that?
10:59
SPEAKER_01: The Reminiscing Competitions back in the day episode.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: And she grew up in Florida, in Orlando, and we've had a few other guests, and I mean the Florida studios, I mean, even still to this day, but like it's so awesome to hear that they've always just they've always had it figured out.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: Now from day one.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: From day one, like how you just said how well-rounded your curriculum was and how like ballet influenced it was.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: It's so important for dancers now and studios now to hear that because not that like you know, ballet isn't around anymore.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: It is, but I feel like it's not as people don't take it as often.
11:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not as like there's other genres at the studios that seem like they take the precedence over ballet, like, oh, we'll do ballet one or two days a week.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: It's like we need to be doing ballet all the time.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: This needs to be like a part of your training, y'all.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, so it's so refreshing to hear that other successful people in the industry have grew up with that type of training.
11:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I think it's it's so interesting.
11:57
SPEAKER_03: I was I was telling a group of students this the other day.
12:00
SPEAKER_03: It's like, in order to understand my work, you have to understand all my influences.
12:05
SPEAKER_03: And and this has kind of gone out the window a little bit.
12:08
SPEAKER_03: I remember like being a teenager and loving certain choreographers and reading their bios and seeing who they were influenced by and then going to take those classes to understand their work better.
12:19
SPEAKER_03: And I don't think that happens anymore.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, but my childhood dance user really drilled that stuff into us that everything's important and to understand a choreographer's mind by understanding their influence and super lucky for sure.
12:34
SPEAKER_03: And Florida, Florida studios are like next level.
12:37
SPEAKER_03: Next level, a hundred percent.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, they're so good.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: So I I really love hearing that.
12:42
SPEAKER_01: I love that they're still around.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: I love that you go back to them.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: So pick, you know, your your arts high school, which so I mean, that's awesome that you were you had that as an opportunity.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: And I think that that's a hard decision for a lot of dancers growing up too.
12:56
SPEAKER_01: Is you know, I know for me personally, we I had an arts high school in Baltimore where I grew up, and a lot of the dancers ahead of me went to it, but then our studio kind of just made this like ultimatum role where it was you pick the art school and you can't dance at the studio anymore, you know.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: And me being a little comp kid, I'm like, I don't want to give up competition.
13:14
SPEAKER_01: So I stuck it out at the the studio, and I kind of still to this day regret like not going to that art school.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: And like sure for you, as an influence of how much modern you were exposed to at that young age helped influence your decision on where you chose to go to school.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's that's huge.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like knowing Marymount and if people listening, if anyone knows about the Marymount Manhattan Dance program, like that sounds like a perfect fit for you.
13:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
13:38
SPEAKER_03: Cause it was, you know, just well-rounded enough that it had the other things.
13:43
SPEAKER_03: But also when you're in New York City, you can supplement BDC steps and and whatnot.
13:48
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, I was lucky.
13:50
SPEAKER_03: My studio allowed me to do both, but it was very challenging.
13:53
SPEAKER_03: There was um, yeah, yeah.
13:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
13:57
SPEAKER_03: And it fell on the kids, you know, but I'm I I wouldn't give it up for the world.
14:01
SPEAKER_03: I love that.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: Where else did you um apply or audition for college?
14:05
SPEAKER_03: I auditioned at Point Park, University Arts, Marymount, and Purchase.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: I got kind of the big ones.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: That makes sense for that time period.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: That's about my we're my same age.
14:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there wasn't, there wasn't a lot like there is now.
14:20
SPEAKER_03: And I really struggled between Point Park and Marymount.
14:24
SPEAKER_03: Point Park gave me a full ride, and I was very attracted to Point Park, but something, I think the city pulled me towards Marymount.
14:33
SPEAKER_03: And at the time, and it still kind of is, it was a really tough program.
14:37
SPEAKER_03: And I came from a really tough background.
14:39
SPEAKER_03: So I was kind of attracted to being a small fish and a bigger sea.
14:44
SPEAKER_03: So I eventually went with Marymount, which, you know, you still have those thoughts of like, I feel like I would have been emotionally happier at Point Park.
14:52
SPEAKER_03: But when you look backwards, there were so many amazing connections made at Marymount that I wouldn't have this career I have today.
14:59
SPEAKER_03: So you always wonder, but I think, you know, ultimately it was where I was supposed to be.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: I I that was my same reasoning for Marymount.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: I think Marymount gave me the least amount of money out of the schools that I auditioned for, and I still picked it because it's like it's the only one I got into in New York City.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: I need to be in New York City, you know.
15:18
SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, I I almost went to UARTs.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: I was really that at the time I didn't really like Philly.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: It felt too close to home for from Baltimore.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: And I wanted to like make a bigger leap.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: I really wanted to go to LA, but I couldn't.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: My parents won't let me.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: So anyway.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: That was a very large leap.
15:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Marymount, it it is, it is nice that it's in New York City.
15:37
SPEAKER_01: And like you said, there are there are a lot of options now.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: But if you wanted to go and you were inspired by that kind of concert dance, conservat conservatory style training.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you get the modern at Marymount, that's for sure.
15:50
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
15:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, all the modern.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
15:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
15:55
SPEAKER_01: So what happened after Marymount?
15:58
SPEAKER_03: So at some point during Marymount, I started teaching a lot at a studio in Jersey.
16:05
SPEAKER_03: I was doing so much at the same time.
16:07
SPEAKER_03: I was going to Marymount.
16:09
SPEAKER_03: I was teaching at the studio in New Jersey.
16:11
SPEAKER_03: I was assisting on the weekends at conventions, sometimes judging.
16:15
SPEAKER_03: I started judging at a really, really young age.
16:18
SPEAKER_03: So a lot was happening.
16:20
SPEAKER_03: And I started to find really sort of easy success when it came to choreography.
16:28
SPEAKER_03: Dance was something I always had to work really hard at, where choreography just kind of came natural, teaching came natural, and I started having some real success with it.
16:40
SPEAKER_03: But my dance career was still going strong at this point.
16:43
SPEAKER_03: I danced uh with Anthony Morgiato's company, which was called Am Dance Project.
16:48
SPEAKER_03: It was a fusion of contemporary and tap, which was just at the time so revolutionary.
16:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
16:54
SPEAKER_03: So I was on tour with them, and then I danced some backup stuff for like 98 degrees sting people like the head.
17:03
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
17:03
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
17:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
17:05
SPEAKER_03: It was it was so fun.
17:06
SPEAKER_03: So fun.
17:07
SPEAKER_03: And then eventually I have I have some health problems, which I'm sure we'll get into at some point.
17:12
SPEAKER_03: But I started having a lot of injuries, a lot of surgeries, and I was so lucky in that, like at the same time my body was like crashing, my uh choreography career started taking off.
17:26
SPEAKER_03: And it was almost like I didn't even notice the transition happen.
17:31
SPEAKER_03: It was like mid-20s.
17:33
SPEAKER_03: And all of a sudden I realized like I'm not really dancing much anymore.
17:37
SPEAKER_03: And then this choreography career had taken on a life of its own.
17:41
SPEAKER_03: And of course, I mourned deeply losing dance.
17:45
SPEAKER_03: It just really wasn't possible anymore.
17:47
SPEAKER_03: And they couldn't figure out a diagnosis, but it was just injury after injury, and I wasn't able to be reliable, you know, as a dancer.
17:55
SPEAKER_03: So I did mourn it, but I am I feel so lucky that that transition happened so seamless, seamlessly.
18:02
SPEAKER_03: And I loved choreography in a different way, but on the same level as I love dance.
18:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: And how nice of how nice that it comes so naturally.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: So that transition could happen easily.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: Because if it was the other way around where it was like you loved it, but maybe it was harder for you, like I feel like that might have been more difficult to just sort of get through the transition.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: For the moms and the parents who listen out there, you know, there's as we kind of mention a lot, there are other jobs in dance than just performing.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, Mirinda is kind of case in point, like choreography can be a career.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: It can, and it doesn't have to just be limited to dance studios.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to hear more about, you know, what you did kind of in your early years in terms of that, uh, before everything blew up in the best possible way.
18:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
18:49
SPEAKER_03: Well, kind of what I was telling you, I was an assistant to a lot of working choreographers, and I thrive in that assistant role.
18:57
SPEAKER_03: I had a lot of fun trying to get ahead of the choreographer by one step, anticipate their needs.
19:04
SPEAKER_03: And I had some really great mentors that I was able to work with that really inspired me to want to do that.
19:11
SPEAKER_03: I started teaching at the studio in New Jersey, and at first they gave me ret kids, and this is also something that I think a lot of people need to know.
19:18
SPEAKER_03: You don't necessarily start with the most advanced kids ever.
19:22
SPEAKER_03: And I started with ret kids, and I, you know, of course I wanted more, but I really focused on them and and kind of proved myself.
19:31
SPEAKER_03: And then eventually the the studio owner kind of gave me the competition team, kind of gave me the reins.
19:36
SPEAKER_03: And I was so young, but I was so hungry.
19:40
SPEAKER_03: And those kids were like my lab, like for my career.
19:45
SPEAKER_03: And I think aspiring choreographers should know that.
19:48
SPEAKER_03: Like you can explore and create so much on kids.
19:53
SPEAKER_03: And and these kids at the time had very little finesse or technical training.
19:58
SPEAKER_03: And so at the time, my style developed on these kids that that had this passion and emotion, but I had to hide their lack of technique.
20:09
SPEAKER_03: And it kind of birthed this style.
20:13
SPEAKER_03: There wasn't even a contemporary word that, like, like I remember teaching in New York for the first time, and they were like, What do we call this?
20:21
SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, right.
20:22
SPEAKER_03: They're like, Do we call it jazz?
20:23
SPEAKER_03: And like, it's just so crazy to think there wasn't even the contemporary label yet.
20:28
SPEAKER_03: So, yeah, teaching for them and then finding success in the competition world, and your name gets said over and over again, and and then slowly I was traveling everywhere to studios and finding success there.
20:40
SPEAKER_03: And then eventually around like 2008, I believe, I started realizing that my work on some of these competition kids looked like company work.
20:50
SPEAKER_03: And like, wow, what would this look like on professionals?
20:54
SPEAKER_03: And so that's when I started my company.
20:57
SPEAKER_03: It's called Murr Inspired the Storytellers.
20:59
SPEAKER_03: And at the time it was people like Tommy Scrivens, Michael MacArthur.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: Love Michael.
21:05
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, some really, really great humans who were exceptional dancers.
21:09
SPEAKER_03: And it was small in the beginning.
21:10
SPEAKER_03: It was a lot of festivals and a lot of charity performances and you know, young choreographers festival or um dancing downtown at the Joyce, or, you know, all these all these different things.
21:21
SPEAKER_03: And then around 2011, I decided to produce my own show.
21:26
SPEAKER_03: It was called Breakable.
21:28
SPEAKER_03: And we rented out at the time it was the Perry Dance Capizo Theater.
21:32
SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of when it really, you know, started happening.
21:37
SPEAKER_03: And that was the year that I got my first Capizo Ace Award nomination.
21:41
SPEAKER_03: And it kind of, you know, looking back, I don't see that year as as when it like took off, but now being so far away from it, I can see like that first show was started like a domino effect, even though I couldn't see it, you know, until it all played out.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: And you were still in New York at this time.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was in New York until 2013.
22:03
SPEAKER_03: So it wasn't long after that show that I decided to make the jump.
22:09
SPEAKER_03: And I made the jump because I felt like I had been knocking down doors for a while in New York.
22:16
SPEAKER_03: I built windows, I built doors.
22:20
SPEAKER_03: And I felt very stuck in the sense of contemporary wasn't really happening yet in New York.
22:28
SPEAKER_03: And people were trying to put me in this concert dance box.
22:32
SPEAKER_03: And I'm a blend of concert and commercial.
22:34
SPEAKER_03: And I just felt like I couldn't get any further.
22:38
SPEAKER_03: And I started seeing the LA film and TV industry start blowing up.
22:44
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, okay, you know what?
22:45
SPEAKER_03: Let's try the other door and see if maybe the commercial world lets me in.
22:50
SPEAKER_03: And then I can, you know, get to the other side.
22:53
SPEAKER_03: So it was a really hard decision.
22:55
SPEAKER_03: I love New York.
22:56
SPEAKER_03: It's home.
22:56
SPEAKER_03: It's it's my city.
22:58
SPEAKER_03: It's I love the dancers.
22:59
SPEAKER_03: I love the mentality in New York.
23:02
SPEAKER_03: But LA was where I found success.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Did you know anybody out there?
23:06
SPEAKER_03: I'm sure you did.
23:07
SPEAKER_03: A few.
23:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
23:08
SPEAKER_03: But it was a hard leap.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:10
SPEAKER_03: And I mean, I'm in New York, obviously not for COVID reasons, but I'm usually in New York about half the year because I miss everybody and it so much.
23:20
SPEAKER_03: So I feel like I'm kind of more bi-coastal.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: I'm curious, like, you know, that transition, I'm sure, like you said, was a hard one.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: But like, did you have an agent like repping you for like choreography and education and and things?
23:37
SPEAKER_01: Or did you just kind of like go out there and said, like, I hope I can because you essentially like people might know of you from Capizio Ace Awards and some of the other things, or following your work in New York, but like you're kind of starting fresh out in a whole new city.
23:49
SPEAKER_01: I mean, how how did how did that work for you?
23:52
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was hard.
23:54
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I was somewhat established in New York.
23:57
SPEAKER_03: LA does not care if you're right.
24:00
SPEAKER_03: LA has no regard for establishment elsewhere.
24:05
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
24:06
SPEAKER_03: Like, it's just it's an interesting town like that.
24:08
SPEAKER_03: And if you're gonna go, you just gotta know that.
24:10
SPEAKER_03: Like they don't care what your resume says.
24:13
SPEAKER_03: So it was hard, like ego-wise, you know, even to like swallow like I'm in my late 20s and nobody cares what I did before this.
24:22
SPEAKER_03: I didn't have an agent.
24:24
SPEAKER_03: I couldn't get any agent to email me back.
24:26
SPEAKER_03: At the time, luckily, my choreography and teaching career was was great.
24:31
SPEAKER_03: So I could really have been based out of anywhere.
24:34
SPEAKER_03: I was still traveling tons and on the convention scene.
24:37
SPEAKER_03: But there were several years in LA where I was just like, did I make a mistake?
24:43
SPEAKER_03: It, you know, it really was like starting all over again.
24:46
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's one thing when you're 18, but when you're like pushing almost 30, it was, it was, yeah, it was an uphill battle for sure.
24:54
SPEAKER_03: And again, it was the success kind of started happening.
24:58
SPEAKER_03: Uh 2015, another ace award, and we placed, which gave me the funds to produce a new show.
25:05
SPEAKER_03: And that's from 2015 on, is kind of when it when it took off.
25:09
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
25:10
SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
25:11
SPEAKER_03: Difficult transition for sure, wasn't easy.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I can imagine.
25:19
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26:11
SPEAKER_01: So, company in New York, 2011, first Ace Awards.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: After that, produce the show, move to LA, getting your feet on the ground in LA, hustling, grinding, making it as a choreographer, just trying to get people to know you out there, and then boom, ace awards.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: Do you feel like that?
26:30
SPEAKER_01: Like you said, I mean, you did say that like that did launch you, but like what came after that?
26:35
SPEAKER_01: Were agents calling you after that?
26:37
SPEAKER_01: Or like were people like, who's this girl?
26:39
SPEAKER_01: Like, where'd she come from?
26:40
SPEAKER_01: This New York City girl?
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Like, were they actually like, you know, did that actually get you in with the right people finally?
26:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so it definitely put me on the map.
26:50
SPEAKER_03: Everybody was like, oh, okay, here's this girl.
26:54
SPEAKER_03: Oh, she lives here.
26:55
SPEAKER_03: And the the studio scene started opening up in terms of like Edge started asking me to teach and you know, different different studios like that.
27:03
SPEAKER_03: So that opened up.
27:05
SPEAKER_03: It was like, okay, a door opened.
27:08
SPEAKER_03: And then 2015, towards the end, I got very, very sick.
27:13
SPEAKER_03: I had been sick since I was a child, but no doctor could figure out what was going on.
27:19
SPEAKER_03: And in 2015, it kind of all came to a head, which was heartbreaking because I had had the success with the Ace Word.
27:26
SPEAKER_03: It felt like doors were opening.
27:28
SPEAKER_03: Okay, now you have this money to produce this show.
27:31
SPEAKER_03: And I was very, very sick and ended up in the hospital for several months and ended up with eight different diagnoses.
27:39
SPEAKER_03: So just imagine, like at this point, I think I was 30 maybe, and 30 years of my life in and out of the hospital to the point where people are telling you you're crazy because they can't find what's wrong.
27:51
SPEAKER_03: And then finally, at you know, 30, finally getting the the validation of these diagnoses, but also at the same time kind of realizing what that meant, you know.
28:03
SPEAKER_03: So I got very, very sick and I everybody was telling me, put it off, right?
28:09
SPEAKER_03: Like, don't do this Ace Words show because typically when you when you place at Ace Words the following summer, you present your show.
28:16
SPEAKER_03: And everybody was like, it can wait.
28:17
SPEAKER_03: It can wait.
28:18
SPEAKER_03: Like you're dying, like literally, they thought I was dying.
28:20
SPEAKER_03: I was on chemo.
28:22
SPEAKER_03: I was my I ended up getting diagnosed with some with lupus, and the lupus was attacking my organs and I lost my hair.
28:29
SPEAKER_03: At one point I couldn't even walk.
28:31
SPEAKER_03: It was just, it was a really tough time.
28:34
SPEAKER_03: And something in me had this like story to tell because I was living this story, and I thought it might be the last thing I ever created.
28:43
SPEAKER_03: So I came up with this show called Unbreakable.
28:46
SPEAKER_03: I held an LA audition, like just so sick, and everybody's like, What are you doing?
28:52
SPEAKER_03: You know, and I was just like, I felt this, I felt this clock ticking, and I felt like I had something to say.
28:58
SPEAKER_03: And if if I couldn't travel because I was too sick, I can stay in LA and and sit there and work with dancers.
29:05
SPEAKER_03: So we started work on Unbreakable and it it turned into this, this beautiful, beautiful show.
29:10
SPEAKER_03: And we premiered it at Dancer Palooza in Long Beach, I think that August, and then we took it to the El Portal and did a run there.
29:18
SPEAKER_03: A couple months later, I got an Instagram message, and it was from this guy named Justin Baldoni, who I had no clue who he was.
29:28
SPEAKER_03: If you don't know who he is, he was the lead of Jane the Virgin, and he's a producer and director.
29:35
SPEAKER_03: And he was telling me that he had heard of me and seen my work and that he thought I would be a great candidate for a show called My Last Days that he produces.
29:45
SPEAKER_03: And at the time, I had not come to terms with my diagnosis.
29:50
SPEAKER_03: One of my diagnoses is uh vascular ailer stanos, and it's it's a terminal disease technically.
29:58
SPEAKER_03: Most people die in their 30s.
30:01
SPEAKER_03: It's a genetic disease that causes a defect in collagen.
30:05
SPEAKER_03: And so people think of skin with collagen, but your organs are held together by collagen.
30:10
SPEAKER_03: So usually if somebody succumbs to vascular aulostan loss, it's because their heart ruptured or their uterus.
30:17
SPEAKER_03: So I had really, I knew this, but I had not come to terms with it.
30:21
SPEAKER_03: I hadn't discussed it with anybody in my life.
30:23
SPEAKER_03: I was very in a denial phase.
30:25
SPEAKER_03: So to see this message, and I didn't know who he was at the time, to see a show called My Last Days, I'm like, nothing like block, blackout, did not see this message.
30:36
SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
30:37
SPEAKER_03: Also, this is a point where I'm like trying to get an agent trying to work, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go on a show called My Last Days, like an advertise this.
30:45
SPEAKER_03: Right.
30:46
SPEAKER_03: So he kept bot, like he was messaging me nonstop.
30:49
SPEAKER_03: And I just wasn't answering.
30:51
SPEAKER_03: I didn't even, you know, where you like don't know somebody, you go to their page to see who they are.
30:55
SPEAKER_03: Like, I didn't even do that because I just had this mental block.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:58
SPEAKER_03: And then finally I told my friend at lunch one day, and he's like, Justin Baldoni, like the lead of Jane the Virgin, he's contacting you, like Mirinda, you've gotta write back.
31:08
SPEAKER_03: Like this guy does these great documentaries.
31:11
SPEAKER_03: So I wrote back and and we set up a FaceTime, and and I was so skeptical the whole time.
31:17
SPEAKER_03: I was just like, I don't see how any of this will contribute to my future in dance.
31:24
SPEAKER_03: And like, sure, I might have this terminal diagnosis, but I have goals and I'm still working.
31:29
SPEAKER_03: And kind of at the end of the FaceTime, he said, I watch you on social media every day.
31:35
SPEAKER_03: I'm so inspired by you, and I don't even know you.
31:37
SPEAKER_03: And I can guarantee you, if you trust me, this will launch your entire career.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: That's a big, that's a big uh promise.
31:45
SPEAKER_03: Do you know how he like discovered you?
31:46
SPEAKER_03: Uh, this is a really crazy story.
31:49
SPEAKER_03: I was raised in the religion, it's a the Baha'i faith.
31:54
SPEAKER_03: It's this really beautiful religion, and I kind of lost track of it when I was like 18, as a lot of people that age do, right?
32:01
SPEAKER_03: And there was a kid I went to the equivalent of like a Sunday school with, and Justin went on a vacation to Costa Rica, and this kid that was in my like Sunday school class, who's now an adult and an artist, they met at a Baha'i Function.
32:18
SPEAKER_03: And I have not seen at the time, I had not seen this boy since like fifth, sixth grade, but he was following me on social media, saw that I had this diagnosis.
32:28
SPEAKER_03: Justin was talking about this show and that he needed to find people that were, you know, dying essentially, but also still, in his words, like inspiring the world and still going and how hard it is to cast that.
32:40
SPEAKER_03: And this kid was like, You I don't really know what's going on with her, but she has a lot of health problems.
32:44
SPEAKER_03: You should look this girl up.
32:46
SPEAKER_03: So that's how that happened, which is just like crazy, right?
32:49
SPEAKER_03: That is crazy.
32:51
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it's in it's insane.
32:54
SPEAKER_03: So I still did not like agree to it even after that FaceTime with Justin, but he became my friend and slowly earned my trust.
33:03
SPEAKER_03: And he's truly my big brother.
33:05
SPEAKER_03: Like we're chosen family now.
33:07
SPEAKER_03: But through getting to know him, I realized he was not going to sensationalize it.
33:12
SPEAKER_03: Or I was like, if ever a person to tell my story, it should be him and his company.
33:19
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, I was saying this this week.
33:22
SPEAKER_03: It is so strange.
33:23
SPEAKER_03: That's really what, if we really want to pen it to something, that's where the success skyrocketed from.
33:30
SPEAKER_03: Everything fell into that.
33:31
SPEAKER_03: And and when when I think back of how scared I was and how I'd been banging on all these doors, right?
33:39
SPEAKER_03: And just being myself and telling the truth of my story is what unlocked these doors that I've been trying to get into for years, you know?
33:50
SPEAKER_03: Right.
33:50
SPEAKER_03: It's just, it was such a lesson in vulnerability and and just kind of trust, you know.
33:56
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it was really that documentary because they ended up filming.
34:00
SPEAKER_03: We took Unbreakable to New York to do it at Symphony Space, and they filmed the whole process and the show.
34:06
SPEAKER_03: And it ended up being most of the footage.
34:09
SPEAKER_03: So the company and and my choreography got like, you know, tons of of views.
34:15
SPEAKER_03: That is awesome.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:17
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I I love that you were willing to trust trust him, especially like hearing the timeline and hearing how early that was for you, the show, for him to approach you so early after being diagnosed and dealing with that.
34:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it wasn't like now where it's like you've loved lived with it for a while, you're obsessed.
34:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: Like this was like within a year-ish, it sounds like you know, like I would have been the same way.
34:44
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm not, I'm not even telling that.
34:47
SPEAKER_01: You know?
34:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I don't, I don't do that.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: I do this.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: But he, I mean, if he really said he's like, this is gonna like launch you, and you just said it it did.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he held up to his word.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's just um, I mean, looking back, I'm sure you're very happy that you took the leap and did it.
35:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure it was hard.
35:06
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's still hard.
35:07
SPEAKER_03: It's it's still hard to watch, or you know, somebody will post something and I'm like, oh, that's so hard.
35:12
SPEAKER_03: And again, like I hadn't processed it yet.
35:15
SPEAKER_03: Like now I feel like I'd be in such a different place with it.
35:18
SPEAKER_03: But then it was I was still getting hit with it.
35:22
SPEAKER_03: So it was just, it's interesting to see it so raw.
35:25
SPEAKER_03: And I think because it was so raw, it touched so many people that also are living with chronic or terminal illness.
35:31
SPEAKER_03: And and to me, that was the best thing out of all of it, that it changed a lot of people's lives that were coping with the same thing.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: I watched it the other day in preparation for meeting you, and just speaking to you now, the difference, the difference in just how you talk about it is is completely polar opposite.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think I think you're totally right.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: I mean, as as I was watching it, you know, I one of the things that you said, I wrote this down because I wanted you to expand upon it.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: You said, what's in your way?
35:59
SPEAKER_00: Move it, get it out of your way.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's, you know, that's something that we can say just as humans sometimes, and it just feels a little pithy.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: But like when you say it, it means something.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: And it that that little piece right there just got me.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
36:13
SPEAKER_03: People, people have really resonated with that one.
36:16
SPEAKER_03: I think, especially, but more so like people that are healthy, you know.
36:19
SPEAKER_03: I think just yeah, you know, just a little bit of perspective of like, you know, if I have this huge health issue in my way and I still figure out how to do it, not that healthy people don't have any problems, but you can get through anything too.
36:34
SPEAKER_03: You can find a way.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
36:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, and one of the things that you you talk about in the documentary that I wanted to ask more about because we are talking about your choreography career, is how you know you have gone from, you know, you were dancing, you know, pretty full-time in college and high school and doing all the things, but then the illnesses and the injuries were preventing you from really moving to your fullest extent, but you're still choreographing.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: How does how does that limitation affect your choreography and your work?
37:00
SPEAKER_00: And what has that changed about you as a teacher?
37:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was a big shift.
37:04
SPEAKER_03: Especially like 2015 to 2017 when I was really, really sick and going through chemo.
37:11
SPEAKER_03: I had to completely figure out how to use my words.
37:15
SPEAKER_03: It was very frustrating, you know, like you just want to, you know exactly what something looks like in your head and you just want to jump up.
37:22
SPEAKER_03: So I had to really learn patience.
37:25
SPEAKER_03: I'm very lucky in the sense that I've had dancers that have been with me for a really long time who can really translate my work, but I had to give up some of that hold I have on exactly how something is supposed to look like.
37:38
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes, if you allow an interpretation, it can be just as good or better.
37:44
SPEAKER_03: But I really had to learn how to communicate using words, and my assistants really had to get better at tapping into me.
37:53
SPEAKER_03: I'm able to move more than I was back then, but I still don't move a lot because it can cause a surgery that then sets me back worse.
38:02
SPEAKER_03: But you know, it's it's it's hard.
38:04
SPEAKER_03: I'm not very patient when it comes to like stuff where I just want somebody to see what's in my head.
38:10
SPEAKER_03: So there'll be times where I'll just all of a sudden out of nowhere get on the floor and everybody's like, oh my God, what is she doing?
38:15
SPEAKER_03: Please don't hurt yourself.
38:17
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it's a struggle, but there's ways.
38:20
SPEAKER_03: There's ways to do everything.
38:22
SPEAKER_03: And I I love the work that's come out of me since I haven't been able to dance.
38:27
SPEAKER_03: And I think getting less attached to it has caused a little more creative freedom, if that makes sense.
38:33
SPEAKER_01: Totally.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: I think it's interesting too, even hearing like before your diagnosis with your illnesses and how you were talking about your early teaching days and how you had to learn how to disguise the technical flaws of young dancers and how that influenced your choreography.
38:50
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's a smart teacher.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: Like you were obviously extremely educated and smart and meant to be teaching and and choreographing at that age, but like that was a lesson that you learned in that experience that you know helped evolve your creation and your choreography.
39:05
SPEAKER_01: And then this next limitation of I can't physically do it, and I see this in my head.
39:10
SPEAKER_01: And like, luckily, like you said, like you were working with professionals more in that sense.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you were still at this time, maybe choreographing for studios and and kids, maybe on more an advanced level, but it is so interesting to hear how like these life experiences have, you know, like sculpted your choreography throughout your career.
39:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I got chills when you were saying that.
39:33
SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, it's like even like Bob Fossey, he, you know, he invented turn in and hunched over because that's how he was.
39:39
SPEAKER_03: It's it's so interesting that that some of the most painful things in my life have been what propelled things forward.
39:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
39:47
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
39:48
SPEAKER_01: That is very interesting.
39:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
39:50
SPEAKER_01: So Dancing with the Stars, which I just watched the piece and like I was like, I was blown away.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I could watch it a thousand times more.
40:00
SPEAKER_01: It is unbelievable.
40:02
SPEAKER_01: Everything about it.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: I have so many questions, and I can't wait to hear the answers.
40:07
SPEAKER_01: And to every single listener who hasn't seen this piece, you need to go watch it.
40:12
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have a link in the show notes so you can just click it and watch it on your phone while you're listening to this podcast episode.
40:18
SPEAKER_01: So, how did that come about?
40:19
SPEAKER_01: So this from the documentary?
40:21
SPEAKER_03: It did.
40:22
SPEAKER_03: It came from that documentary.
40:24
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, Justin and I were really close when the documentary was being made, and uh, he was good friends with Derek and Julianne, and he surprised me with it on camera, and uh I had no clue what was happening.
40:40
SPEAKER_03: Julianne walked into my house and I was like, what are you doing here?
40:44
SPEAKER_03: And and basically at first asked if I it's it's unbelievable to me.
40:51
SPEAKER_03: She had been off the show for a couple years.
40:53
SPEAKER_03: They were inviting her back for the finale to be a guest judge, and she wrote it into her contract, had never met me, only seen my stuff from YouTube, wrote it into her contract that she would not come back unless I choreographed a piece on that show.
41:08
SPEAKER_03: And I am still like just in awe and gratitude of her because people don't do that.
41:14
SPEAKER_03: Like, you don't risk your reputation and career on somebody that like you have met, but she never met, yeah.
41:21
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
41:22
SPEAKER_03: She had seen my last days, saw the work, and loved it.
41:25
SPEAKER_03: And so she was like, Not only did I did I get you on dancing with the stars, but can I play you?
41:32
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, Wow, what?
41:34
SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
41:36
SPEAKER_03: Of course you can.
41:37
SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, like can you tell your story and can I be you?
41:40
SPEAKER_03: So it was a dream, and it was crazy because while I had had a lot of success in like concert dance world, to go from in terms of TV film, I had done, you know, some some music videos, but to go to dancing with a stars finale, right, the future and also the imposter syndrome that was going on of like, how did I get here?
42:06
SPEAKER_03: And who said that I can just in my living room.
42:10
SPEAKER_03: Like how did this like, you know, but I always say this, I was 33, I think, when this happened.
42:16
SPEAKER_03: And that's, you know, you know, when you look at people that are successful my age, typically they've had, at least through my eyes, they had success a little earlier.
42:24
SPEAKER_03: That's what it felt like, right?
42:26
SPEAKER_03: And I'm so glad it came to me at 33 years old because even though I had that little bit of imposter syndrome, I was so ready to meet the moment, you know.
42:34
SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if at 28 it would have been as impactful or or even at 30, I think it was it happened when it was supposed to, which, you know, I try to get that message out to a lot of people that have your own timeline and and kind of that trust that's so hard to be like, it's it'll come to me when I'm most ready.
42:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
42:55
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it was it was a wild jump.
42:59
SPEAKER_01: And just like the additional, like you obviously know how to I mean, Del, you obviously know how to choreograph.
43:04
SPEAKER_01: Hello, that's why you're there.
43:06
SPEAKER_01: So, like, you know, you're a choreographer walking onto, like you said, like this jump of the finale of a show that everyone in America sits down and watches and wants to see who wins.
43:15
SPEAKER_01: Dancers and non-dancers.
43:16
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
43:17
SPEAKER_01: Like everyone.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: Everyone.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: And then the added layer of like television and camera angles and like all of that.
43:25
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you like you said, you did a Julianne both.
43:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then a celebrity dancer, like I mean, what was the rehearsal process like?
43:33
SPEAKER_01: Like, did you learn so much from just like being on the the other side of that, like the TV film side?
43:39
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was a major crash course.
43:42
SPEAKER_03: So Julianne was on set filming a movie.
43:45
SPEAKER_03: And the thing is, like, TV and film work so last minute.
43:50
SPEAKER_03: People really don't understand that.
43:52
SPEAKER_03: You might know something 24 hours before.
43:54
SPEAKER_03: Like, you're lucky if you get three days, like everything is just so last minute, and like choreographers are.
44:00
SPEAKER_03: I feel like are the last to know.
44:01
SPEAKER_03: Like it's just so hard.
44:03
SPEAKER_03: So we had been going back and forth.
44:05
SPEAKER_03: I was traveling at the time, and she was on set, and we'd been going back and forth with ideas.
44:09
SPEAKER_03: This is something people also don't understand.
44:11
SPEAKER_03: Like the song we used was like our 30 second option.
44:15
SPEAKER_03: Like I'm I used to be so quick to criticize like dance on TV and film.
44:22
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, you have no idea.
44:24
SPEAKER_03: Like that probably wasn't their idea.
44:26
SPEAKER_03: That probably wasn't their first and tenth song choice.
44:29
SPEAKER_03: Right.
44:30
SPEAKER_03: You know, so I ended up loving the song we went with, but it certainly took thousands of emails to get licensing and approval, you know.
44:40
SPEAKER_03: And so we had decided on kind of the concept and the song.
44:44
SPEAKER_03: And then we didn't know when the movie would release Julianne to come rehearse.
44:50
SPEAKER_03: At the time I was on the road and I got this instinctual feeling that I should go back to LA.
44:56
SPEAKER_03: Like nobody told me to do this, to go back to LA, hire a skeleton crew, and work this out.
45:02
SPEAKER_03: Like nobody told me it was just like this innate like knowing.
45:06
SPEAKER_03: Went back to LA, got a skeleton crew, worked it out.
45:09
SPEAKER_03: She ended up getting free of the movie set three days prior to the premiere.
45:13
SPEAKER_03: And at this point, we still don't even know who's cast as the dancers.
45:17
SPEAKER_03: We have no idea.
45:18
SPEAKER_03: What?
45:19
SPEAKER_03: So like the other dancers in the piece.
45:21
SPEAKER_01: No idea.
45:22
SPEAKER_03: So I know.
45:23
SPEAKER_03: What?
45:24
SPEAKER_03: So Julianne ended up coming to rehearsal with a skeleton crew.
45:27
SPEAKER_03: She is, her work ethic is unbelievable.
45:30
SPEAKER_03: She learns faster than like anybody I know.
45:34
SPEAKER_03: She learned it, she had it with a skeleton crew.
45:37
SPEAKER_03: And then that day we were told we were going to Dancing with the Star studios and would teach the cast.
45:43
SPEAKER_03: Luckily, I fought really hard to have two of my boys, Charles and Wyatt, who were on World of Dance as well.
45:49
SPEAKER_03: I fought for them to be in the cast, but we had a lot of the pros and the troop at the time.
45:54
SPEAKER_03: Some of them had never done contemporary in their life.
45:57
SPEAKER_03: Some of them were just strictly ballroom dancers.
46:00
SPEAKER_03: But the the amount, the sheer amount of material dancing with a stars dancers learn makes them so quick.
46:08
SPEAKER_03: I believe we had a 45-minute rehearsal.
46:10
SPEAKER_03: They learned the whole thing.
46:12
SPEAKER_03: What?
46:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
46:13
SPEAKER_01: That's insane.
46:14
SPEAKER_01: 40 less than an hour.
46:17
SPEAKER_01: Insane.
46:18
SPEAKER_01: That piece was at least two minutes long.
46:20
SPEAKER_01: It takes at least 30 minutes to figure out one lift.
46:22
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
46:23
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it was crazy.
46:26
SPEAKER_03: And thank God, I mean, Julian, I can't say enough.
46:28
SPEAKER_03: Like she is, she can lift herself.
46:31
SPEAKER_03: It's it's like she is the most amazing partner and like can completely school whoever's lifting her on like exactly what they need to do, you know?
46:40
SPEAKER_03: And the dancers were just incredible.
46:43
SPEAKER_03: They just learn so quickly and were so actually hungry for a dance with like, you know, because dancing with the stars is a lot of like, you know, flash, and they were just so hungry for this piece with substance.
46:54
SPEAKER_03: And then from that point forward, we started a lot of camera blocking and stuff like that, which Julianne was so kind and helped me so much without talking down to me by like including me in the conversations.
47:07
SPEAKER_03: And and if I didn't know a term, she'd be like, hang on, let this person finish talking, and then yo, this is what this means, you know, so you can make the decision.
47:16
SPEAKER_03: So she was so helpful with like turning it into a piece that would be received through a camera, you know, and educating me on that.
47:26
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, and even when, you know, when Julianne rises, yeah, that had not yet happened successfully until the show.
47:35
SPEAKER_03: So we was it filmed live?
47:37
SPEAKER_03: It was filmed live, and we also did not know that was happening until the day of holy.
47:43
SPEAKER_03: We thought it was gonna be pre-taped.
47:45
SPEAKER_03: So we said, okay, look, if if we don't get her hooked in, then we can retape it.
47:50
SPEAKER_03: And then when we found out like a couple hours before, like, we're like, oh, we have to get this right.
47:55
SPEAKER_03: Like, if that girl does not get up in the air, this this whole thing is over.
47:59
SPEAKER_03: It's ruined.
48:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
48:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there was a lot of pressure on that night, but it was a whirlwind, and I just had to dive in headfirst and and I faked what I didn't know.
48:09
SPEAKER_03: And luckily, I was far enough along in my career that I could learn what I didn't.
48:15
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
48:16
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, what what a crash course and first experience with with TV.
48:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I still can't get over like listeners 45 minutes to learn a at least two-minute piece.
48:30
SPEAKER_00: It was not any shorter than that.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: With non-contemporary dancers who don't know each other.
48:34
SPEAKER_00: I mean, some of them knew each other, but some of them were new and you've never done your work talking about lifts.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: No, yeah.
48:39
SPEAKER_00: Right.
48:40
SPEAKER_00: And and it's like when when we think about as dancers and competition dancers and even, you know, theater kind of dancers, you know, you learn the choreography, and maybe once or twice they're gonna ask you, can we change the facing?
48:51
SPEAKER_00: Make maybe let's face this way and do that.
48:53
SPEAKER_00: Maybe let's mirror each other.
48:54
SPEAKER_00: Occasionally we'll get asked to do that.
48:56
SPEAKER_00: Nobody is asking us to deal with a camera and multiple angles.
48:59
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure that changed a bazillion times too.
49:02
SPEAKER_00: It's like I just my mind is just like exploding.
49:05
SPEAKER_03: I I they call it video village where all the the control room is.
49:09
SPEAKER_03: And the first time I walked in there and saw that there were like 32 camera angles to pick from.
49:15
SPEAKER_03: Like, not only did my my brain explode with like creativity because I was like, oh my gosh, the options, but it was so overwhelming.
49:22
SPEAKER_03: It's like, wait, I can pick from like 32 angles.
49:25
SPEAKER_03: So did you get to like, do you get to pick?
49:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
49:28
SPEAKER_03: So so there is a director who, you know, I would say makes a large majority of the calls, but even before that, Julianne and I like walked through in rehearsal like what we saw.
49:40
SPEAKER_03: Like, okay, we want this part here, this part here.
49:42
SPEAKER_03: And then during camera blocking, we'd run back and forth between the ballroom and the control room.
49:47
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, she was so helpful with that, making some of those choices.
49:51
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it was kind of it's kind of a it's very collaborative between like the director, the choreographer, and then of course Julianne as well, because I definitely wanted her opinion.
49:59
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
49:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: It was beautiful.
50:01
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
50:01
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
50:02
SPEAKER_01: That means I loved it.
50:03
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to watch it again.
50:04
SPEAKER_00: And now that we know that the the thing didn't happen at the end until that one time, like now I gotta watch it again to be like, how what are they doing down there?
50:11
SPEAKER_01: I was like watching something else, or maybe like the camera changed, and then next thing you know, she's floating away.
50:16
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, how did that happen?
50:18
SPEAKER_01: When did she get hooked in?
50:19
SPEAKER_03: Like, I just couldn't believe I missed that.
50:21
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was the hardest piece of of the of the entire piece was was trying to make sure that didn't, you know, distract on camera.
50:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
50:29
SPEAKER_03: Fail.
50:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
50:30
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, wow.
50:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, that is that is too cool.
50:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, what an opportunity, and it's stunning so seriously.
50:37
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I can't I can't say enough beautiful things about it.
50:39
SPEAKER_01: Go watch it, everybody that's listening.
50:41
SPEAKER_01: Link in the bio.
50:43
SPEAKER_01: So, was there anything in between dancing with the stars and then world of dance?
50:49
SPEAKER_03: It all happens so consecutively.
50:52
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
50:52
SPEAKER_03: Oddly, my last days is what like aired last, but my last days was filmed first.
50:58
SPEAKER_03: Then but it appeared that dancing with the stars was the first thing, and then world of dance.
51:02
SPEAKER_03: We we did dancing with the stars in November, and World of Dance we started filming in January.
51:07
SPEAKER_03: So it was back to back.
51:09
SPEAKER_01: Did you already audition for World of Dance?
51:12
SPEAKER_03: So they the producers started like kind of pursuing me really hardcore.
51:18
SPEAKER_03: I wasn't like looking for it or wanting to do a reality TV competition, but they had seen a lot of like company footage, whether it was through my last days and they had seen Dancing with the Stars, and they were naming, this is this speaks to social media, they were naming specific pieces on my Instagram, asking for those.
51:38
SPEAKER_03: And so we kind of went straight through to like, I don't know what you would call it, kind of like the final cut type thing.
51:46
SPEAKER_03: We didn't have to go through a lot of what people go through, which I know is so much.
51:50
SPEAKER_03: And I was really trying to decide because, you know, whoever you pick for whatever you show them, you're stuck with for the rest of the season.
51:57
SPEAKER_03: It's not like you get like my company can like change out.
52:00
SPEAKER_03: So in thinking about it, they we have a storyline in my show Unbreakable that centers around two men, you know, a same-sex couple, and they had asked, they that was one of the pieces that they had asked for.
52:13
SPEAKER_03: And in thinking of World of Dance, I just kind of I think because of everything I go through health-wise, I just had this perspective of whatever I wanted to do on that show, I wanted it to change people.
52:25
SPEAKER_03: So I thought, of all these things, what could change people?
52:29
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, getting those two boys on this show would would really change things.
52:33
SPEAKER_03: And NBC like fell in love with the boys, and we got on, and they really they really embraced us.
52:42
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, it was the first like same-sex kiss and a dance in uh television history, and and um yeah, we made a lot of real broke a lot of barriers and and you know, it was a it's a tough experience.
52:56
SPEAKER_03: It's a reality show, and at that point, I wasn't in that space mentally of wanting to be in a reality competition.
53:05
SPEAKER_03: So it was it was it was difficult, but the the viewership and the the platform it gave us and the way it changed so many people was was really really cool.
53:16
SPEAKER_00: And those those dancers, can we talk about those dancers?
53:20
SPEAKER_00: Because those those boys.
53:22
SPEAKER_00: Beautiful.
53:23
SPEAKER_00: Again, it's sort of like like you were saying about Julianne, like she lifts herself.
53:26
SPEAKER_00: They both seemed to just it was just so easy.
53:28
SPEAKER_00: Why is it so easy?
53:30
SPEAKER_00: It looks so easy.
53:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Wyatt, uh the the the little one is he's been with me since he was like 13, so there's a there's a huge connection there.
53:40
SPEAKER_03: He's like my son, and then Charles and I were very close, and they just you know, you I think any dancer that's had if you're lucky, there's a partnership that comes around like once in a lifetime.
53:50
SPEAKER_03: For me, it was like Michael MacArthur, right?
53:52
SPEAKER_03: So for them it was really each other, and um, they just had a really special connection, and I had a special connection with them, and it you know, it showed through.
54:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, it did.
54:03
SPEAKER_00: That was it's a beautiful piece.
54:04
SPEAKER_00: Again, listeners, go watch.
54:06
SPEAKER_01: Go watch them all.
54:07
SPEAKER_01: Links are here for you to enjoy this beautiful dancing.
54:10
SPEAKER_01: So when was World of Dance?
54:12
SPEAKER_01: What year was that?
54:13
SPEAKER_03: 2018.
54:14
SPEAKER_03: We filmed January, February, March, and I think it aired that summer.
54:18
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
54:19
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
54:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
54:20
SPEAKER_01: So what's happened since then?
54:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, okay, a lot's happened.
54:24
SPEAKER_03: I ended up choreographing a movie.
54:29
SPEAKER_03: Justin Baldoni directed a movie called Clouds, and which is actually about another person that was featured on My Last Days, so it was very full circle.
54:39
SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's awesome.
54:41
SPEAKER_03: It was originally a Warner Brothers film, but got acquiesced by Disney Plus.
54:45
SPEAKER_03: It had like a lot of amazing actors.
54:48
SPEAKER_03: Sabrina Carpenter was in it, Nev Campbell.
54:51
SPEAKER_03: So that was a really great experience, like my first film for sure.
54:55
SPEAKER_03: I was commissioned to create a piece for the Giordano Dance Company in Chicago.
55:02
SPEAKER_03: It's called Flickers.
55:03
SPEAKER_03: I I was I relocated and kind of had a residency there for a couple months um creating the piece.
55:09
SPEAKER_03: That was amazing.
55:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and we've taken Unbreakable a couple, a couple more places.
55:14
SPEAKER_03: We did a Utah production and we're currently uh trying to get it to film.
55:21
SPEAKER_03: So that's that's kind of our our current goal, whether it's you know on Netflix or or Hulu or whatever, we're we're working on turning it into that.
55:30
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, there's been a lot of exciting little things.
55:33
SPEAKER_03: And I started an intensive called the Storyteller's Intensive.
55:37
SPEAKER_03: I've always had a summer intensive in New York, but I couldn't control who signed up or really have the like amount of time and space I wanted.
55:47
SPEAKER_03: So, so last year, right before the pandemic hit, I came up with this idea of doing this like elite intensive where there was a submission process and and we could really control like the the the level that was in the room so that we could get to a place where we weren't having to hone technique.
56:07
SPEAKER_03: We were able to get to a place where we could really tell stories and break down narratives and and um that's kind of like my my specialty and and happy place.
56:17
SPEAKER_03: So we ended up doing the first one virtual because of the pandemic, but uh we're having our first in-person one in August in New York, and then which will be known as volume two, and then volume three is gonna be in Los Angeles in December.
56:31
SPEAKER_03: So that's awesome.
56:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's really exciting, and and I just I I love it, and it's it's a passion of mine education for sure.
56:39
SPEAKER_03: So how old are the dancers for yeah, we have decided to make it 15 and up, but I would say the majority of our dancers are ending up being in their early 20s.
56:51
SPEAKER_03: It's mostly like college age or just graduated.
56:55
SPEAKER_03: So that was kind of what I wanted.
56:57
SPEAKER_03: And it's just kind of naturally happened that way that that's who gets accepted, you know, it tends to be the older ones, but you know, we have a few special cases, but yeah.
57:07
SPEAKER_01: It makes sense with what your goal is in in the intensive, yeah, that you would gravitate more towards a a little bit more of a seasoned mature dancer, not that like 22 is seasoned compared to a a 15-year-old.
57:22
SPEAKER_01: You know, if they have been through college or have worked professionally and, you know, want to, you know, dip their toes in this style and open up in a new way, I can understand that that makes sense as far as the age ranges.
57:36
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, to all of our listeners, if anyone loves Mirinda Davis's work and you want to uh sign up for these awesome intensives and you're 15 and old and older only, then we will definitely link that in the show notes as well so you can register and submit and uh dance with Mirinda.
57:55
SPEAKER_03: Yes, please.
57:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the the application link will be up for volume three probably in August.
58:00
SPEAKER_03: So perfect.
58:01
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, be on the lookout.
58:03
SPEAKER_01: I would love to kind of hear.
58:05
SPEAKER_01: I know you know you said you grew up as a competitive dancer, you uh were in the New York City scene, you're in the LA scene now.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: Have you kept the competition world in your life?
58:15
SPEAKER_01: I know you say you choreograph occasionally, we've taught on the convention circuit before, you teach elsewhere, but what are your thoughts on the competition dance world in general and how it's evolved throughout, you know, your time as a comp kid and now?
58:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I am very much involved in the competition world.
58:33
SPEAKER_03: Uh, pretty much from usually, you know, pre-post-COVID.
58:38
SPEAKER_03: I am usually gone June through January choreographing for studios.
58:44
SPEAKER_03: So I do a lot of work every year for the competition world, and I don't judge anymore because my stuff started showing up at every city, and it's just it's like no longer safe, and it was just kind of time for me to retire.
58:58
SPEAKER_03: I had done it for a really long time, and and it was just it was time, but and I do a lot of opening numbers during the summer for nationals and like you said, all the conventions, and so I'm very involved.
59:10
SPEAKER_03: And and I, you know, there's a lot of different opinions on competition dance these days, and I remain in pretty high support of it.
59:21
SPEAKER_03: I think there's more also, but I think that there's something about learning to dance with groups and other people.
59:30
SPEAKER_03: I think people don't understand how rare it is that they will ever be on stage by themselves in a professional world.
59:37
SPEAKER_03: And I watch it a lot.
59:39
SPEAKER_03: Some of these kids that go independent or, you know, kind of go on their own thing, they have such a difficult time, not only like socialization, but just working in a group and understanding that, you know, you're just grateful as a professional to be on stage even if you're in the back corner, like you're just happy.
59:57
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
59:58
SPEAKER_03: It's like I think to the competition world, it allows for so much performance, right?
1:00:03
SPEAKER_03: You just you take it for granted, you're on a stage like six times in like four months, you know, and and there's there's this level of stamina, you know, I'm generalizing that competition dance has.
1:00:15
SPEAKER_03: And there's this level of performance that I think it teaches you that you don't get from from other other avenues.
1:00:22
SPEAKER_03: I don't think it's the be all that ends all.
1:00:24
SPEAKER_03: I don't think your goal should be, you know, just kind of honed in on being Miss whoever, you know, like it like title winners and all that.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_03: But I think it also provides you with amazing connections and and again, like I just, I would not have survived if I wouldn't have been at the studio I was at, you know, that was such so many lessons and so many mentors and just that constant accountability and discipline and and having to communicate with other people, you know, like, hey, you're traveling into my lane.
1:00:59
SPEAKER_03: Like, hey, can you lift me up higher on the left side?
1:01:03
SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, like I just I think there are a lot of good things to it.
1:01:07
SPEAKER_03: I think there's also, you know, some some tough stuff, and uh, you have to be careful who who's a good influence and and who's not, but I I remain in pretty strong, strong support of it for sure.
1:01:19
SPEAKER_03: Whether or not my finances were coming from there or not, I just really I feel like there's a lot of benefits to it.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I definitely agree.
1:01:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and I I don't know if it if it has anything to do with just because like I was one of those dancers.
1:01:34
SPEAKER_01: So, like to look back and be on the other side now and or just looking back at my dance career and seeing how the competition world influenced my the jobs that I got because of the training that I received and the teamwork aspect.
1:01:50
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's a really important one, and I'm so glad you brought that up because, like you said, it's not always about who wins miss teen overall, whatever.
1:01:59
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:01:59
SPEAKER_01: I mean, please, FYI people, don't put it on your resume because it's not a credit.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_01: Like nobody cares, nobody, nobody cares.
1:02:06
SPEAKER_01: No one cares what title you won or anything like that.
1:02:09
SPEAKER_01: It's more your trophy's taller than you.
1:02:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like fine, you know, cool, great achievement, awesome.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_01: But like, is that really gonna help you once you're going into the professional world?
1:02:17
SPEAKER_01: Like, no, actually, people want to work with team players, people want to work with people that are easy to work with, that are adaptable, that are versatile, that are eat like you know, great in the room, that are reliable.
1:02:27
SPEAKER_01: Like, those are the skills that we learn in the competition team aspect.
1:02:31
SPEAKER_01: And if you're just convention hopping and, you know, being a soloist, you're not gonna learn those things.
1:02:37
SPEAKER_01: And like, yes, maybe you'll make some more connections than others, maybe that's your path and that's all you care about.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_01: But connections are important, but I think that when it comes down to it, like even if you have a connection that gets you the job, if that choreographer doesn't like working with you because you couldn't work as a team and you're, you know, in the other person's space or whatever the case may be, then like you're not getting hired again.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_01: And you don't ever want to have a reputation like that.
1:03:03
SPEAKER_01: So I think that, you know, I do support competition dance in that aspect, and I really love that you brought that up.
1:03:08
SPEAKER_01: And it's so important to hear it straight from you as a choreographer and educator on the other side now, because I think a lot of dancers don't realize that, you know, it's not always a solo.
1:03:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:03:19
SPEAKER_01: Very rarely.
1:03:20
SPEAKER_00: I think I think that's a really good that's another thing we should put in the brainstorming bin is independence.
1:03:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:03:27
SPEAKER_00: Because I saw this past weekend when I was working, the most independence I have seen in recent weekends.
1:03:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was just like we had a whole session of independence.
1:03:36
SPEAKER_00: And it was interesting because they did seem to know each other and like there was a little bit of camaraderie because I think in the region we were in, they did know each other because they did do the hopping, but they ended up hopping everywhere at the same time.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_01: So like they were kind of a little theme of independence.
1:03:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I I do think the socialization aspect is so key, especially for younger dancers.
1:03:56
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and I and it's just telling though.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_00: It's like you look at the amount of solos in an event versus the amount of groups, and it's like solos are gonna that's that's the whole day, you know.
1:04:06
SPEAKER_00: And okay, I guess I don't know what I don't really know what to say.
1:04:10
SPEAKER_00: Like, thanks for your thanks for your passion, but I'd rather see a group.
1:04:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and you should be able to do both, you know.
1:04:15
SPEAKER_03: You should be able to hold it, yeah, hold it down on your own and also know what it is to to dance with other people.
1:04:21
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_00: Well, to be tree number four, like I I would prefer to be tree number four.
1:04:26
SPEAKER_00: Like put me over there, I'll be the best tree number four you've ever seen.
1:04:29
SPEAKER_00: Tree number four.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_00: It's humbling.
1:04:32
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
1:04:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I really love that.
1:04:35
SPEAKER_01: Love hearing that.
1:04:36
SPEAKER_01: So to kind of wrap us up, this was so great.
1:04:39
SPEAKER_01: I'd love to hear what are your goals?
1:04:41
SPEAKER_01: What are your what do you want to do next?
1:04:43
SPEAKER_01: Is there any bucket list things on your list?
1:04:46
SPEAKER_01: Are there any things that are in the works that you are currently working on?
1:04:50
SPEAKER_01: But like what is your dream to achieve like as a choreographer?
1:04:54
SPEAKER_03: I very much want to choreograph an original Broadway show.
1:04:58
SPEAKER_01: Yes! I was hoping you would say that.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_01: Yes, come back, come back over here.
1:05:02
SPEAKER_03: Um it's definitely up there.
1:05:04
SPEAKER_03: I mean, a revival would be cool, but just you know, something like a Hamilton, like that sort of just where you can just completely, you know, envision it from your own self.
1:05:17
SPEAKER_03: And I want I I'm very focused on on turning Unbreakable into a show that that we can watch on our TV.
1:05:26
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, Broadway would be the biggest goal.
1:05:28
SPEAKER_03: I I really want to work with ballet companies, actually, you know, now that I've done some some other company work.
1:05:35
SPEAKER_03: And I'd love to choreograph a tour too.
1:05:37
SPEAKER_03: So lots of lots of different things I want to do, but you know, they'll come to me when they're supposed to.
1:05:42
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely my own words there.
1:05:45
SPEAKER_03: Patience is key.
1:05:47
SPEAKER_01: I love the Broadway show because actually when I was watching The Dancing with the Stars, I was just like, wow, I just love so much.
1:05:54
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there are so many things to watch in that video, but like just some of the gestural style movement, and I Just see that translating over into like the Broadway world so well, and especially how Broadway is getting very commercial, and you know, the whole vibe of what we think of Broadway is it's not like the cheese and the glitz and glam all the time anymore.
1:06:16
SPEAKER_01: Like there is a need for your type of movement on the Broadway stage.
1:06:21
SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
1:06:22
SPEAKER_00: I would love to see that.
1:06:23
SPEAKER_00: And there's people, and there's people who can do it, and that's you know, and who can also sing and act because everybody's a triple.
1:06:29
SPEAKER_00: Everyone can do it all these days.
1:06:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're gonna have a cast, it'll be fine.
1:06:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've got able-bodied people.
1:06:35
SPEAKER_00: Oh, this was so great.
1:06:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad we had a chance to talk about it.
1:06:38
SPEAKER_03: This was so fun.
1:06:40
SPEAKER_00: Yay!
1:06:40
SPEAKER_01: And it was awesome hearing all your whole journey and congrats on all your success.
1:06:46
SPEAKER_01: It's it's so it's so awesome to hear your story and hear where you started.
1:06:51
SPEAKER_01: And like, I hope that your story can be an inspiration for dancers who, you know, if that is their path to become a choreographer or an or an educator, or, you know, in a similar situation of yours where you started off as I want to be a professional dancer, and you weren't really able to go that route and to, you know, still navigate your way and keep dance a part of your life because you knew you loved it from the time you were three years old, creating ballets in your living room.
1:07:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like you knew this is what you're supposed to do and you made it happen.
1:07:22
SPEAKER_01: And and now look where you're at, like so successful on our TVs, watching your beautiful work, like so awesome.
1:07:29
SPEAKER_01: So it was a pleasure chatting with you and so happy that you joined us on the pod.
1:07:35
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
1:07:35
SPEAKER_03: I I could do this all day.
1:07:37
SPEAKER_03: So you guys were amazing, amazing to talk to.
1:07:40
SPEAKER_03: So thank you.
1:07:41
SPEAKER_03: It was an honor to be here.
1:07:42
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you would love, we usually have our guests lead us out with any final thoughts, any anything you'd like to share with the listeners, any words of encouragement to dancers out there, choreographers, teachers, whoever you'd like to speak to in podcast land to send us out.
1:07:58
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:07:58
SPEAKER_03: You know, I would say a challenge that we're all facing in the entertainment industry right now, whether you're a dancer, choreographer, teacher, studio owner, is uh that we've kind of been at a red light this year.
1:08:11
SPEAKER_03: And I have been at a red light many times in my life.
1:08:15
SPEAKER_03: I was completely because of I'm so immunocompromised, was at a red light this entire year because I couldn't leave my house because of COVID.
1:08:24
SPEAKER_03: But even before that, I've had surgeries, I get sick as a kid.
1:08:28
SPEAKER_03: I was constantly having surgeries get sick, so I was constantly at this red light when everybody else was at a full green.
1:08:33
SPEAKER_03: And that can feel really, really unfair.
1:08:37
SPEAKER_03: But I think what's made me survive so much that people haven't, whether that's career or health-wise, is adaptability and being open to change.
1:08:47
SPEAKER_03: And so as our world continues to go back to a new normal, just stay open.
1:08:54
SPEAKER_03: It might not look like what it used to, but we will find a new normal.
1:08:59
SPEAKER_03: And just trying to remember that we can only really understand the full weight of something if we lose it, right?
1:09:07
SPEAKER_03: We we're humans, we can't really figure out what something means until we lose it.
1:09:11
SPEAKER_03: So having to lose it this year a little bit, I think will hopefully make us all a lot more grateful and have even more of a passion for what we do.
1:09:23
SPEAKER_01: We would like to send a huge thank you to Mirinda Davis for joining us on our final spotlight episode of season two.
1:09:31
SPEAKER_01: Be sure to follow Mirinda at Mar Inspirations and her dance company, Mar Inspired, on Instagram now.
1:09:38
SPEAKER_01: Also, if you would like to learn more about Mirinda's Storytellers Intensive, Volume 3 is taking place in Los Angeles this December, and applications will open August 2021.
1:09:49
SPEAKER_01: Follow the Storytellers Intensive on Instagram to learn more and stay connected.
1:09:54
SPEAKER_00: Head over to Apple Podcasts right now to rate us and leave us a review.
1:09:58
SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to hit subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Podcast for weekly episodes launching every Thursday.
1:10:05
SPEAKER_01: Level Up Dance Applies is here to make sure you are prepped and ready for recital and nationals.
1:10:10
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1:10:21
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1:10:23
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1:10:27
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1:10:35
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1:10:41
SPEAKER_00: We'll be finishing out season two of Making the Impact in a few short weeks.
1:10:45
SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on the most common corrections given by judges at competition, prepping for next season in nationals, and our season two wrap up.
1:10:54
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for joining us for this week's episode.
1:10:57
SPEAKER_01: Until next time, keep dancing.