Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Studio Spotlight - Expressenz Dance Center

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Studio Spotlight - Expressenz Dance Center · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:10
SPEAKER_01: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_01: This is Making the Impact, a Dance Competition podcast.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: When you think of well-rounded, high-level dance training, creative choreography, and seriously support social media, what studio comes to mind?
0:32
SPEAKER_01: None other than Expressions Dance Center from Indianapolis, Indiana, owned and operated by Carla Kiratoto.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: Joining us for our first studio spotlight of season four, Carla gives us all the details on what makes Expressions the unique studio that we all love to follow.
0:48
SPEAKER_02: Hey everyone, welcome to today's episode of Making the Impact.
0:52
SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
0:57
SPEAKER_02: Courtney, I'm right next to you.
0:59
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god! It's so great.
1:01
SPEAKER_02: All season.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: If you've been listening all season, we're already in October, you guys.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: So we've done a lot of episodes since the start on September 1st.
1:09
SPEAKER_02: But Leslie and I haven't had a chance with our schedules to actually sit next to each other.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: It's been very sad.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: We've been we've been like a mile and a half away in Queens on different computers and different apartments.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: But now we are here together.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be great.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: I know.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm so happy we get to record this one together in person.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: And what a what a great episode that we have today because we are bringing back our studio spotlight features, which we introduced in season three, and they were such a hit that I think so many listeners across the world want to hear from these successful studios that we're featuring on our episodes.
1:47
SPEAKER_02: And uh we've had some really great ones if you have if you want to catch up from last season.
1:51
SPEAKER_02: We had Project 21, we had Club Dance, Larkin, Dance Makers of Atlanta, and Studio Blue.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: And today we have another very, very special studio who's joining us that we knew we had to bring on to the pod when we did this.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: And you might remember this guest from a previous episode, but we'll chat about that later.
2:11
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: In the meantime, I just want to invite everybody, if you haven't already, to join our Facebook group.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: We have a really great community over there.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: It is supportive and engaging and full of people who love dance and who support the podcast.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: It is called Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast community.
2:30
SPEAKER_01: All you have to do is answer a couple questions to make sure to verify that you are indeed part of the dance community.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: We don't want any creepers out there, to be honest.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, we want anybody and everybody who loves dance and wants to be a part of a really supportive community.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: So come on over and join us.
2:44
SPEAKER_02: Yay.
2:45
SPEAKER_02: All right, and like always, we have some fabulous sponsors that help make this podcast possible.
2:50
SPEAKER_02: And we are excited to share our sponsor of this week's episode, and they've been with us since season one.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: That's Level Up Dance Supplies.
2:58
SPEAKER_02: Level Up Dance Supplies is a family-owned and operated company that has been the leading retailer of top name brand dance gear since 2010.
3:05
SPEAKER_02: Level Up Proudly offers the largest selection of dance gear such as Glamour Gear, Rack and Roll, Grit, KK Miami, and many more.
3:12
SPEAKER_02: They also have their own line of dance bags, duffels, and many other accessories to ensure that you get to every competition in an organized fashion.
3:20
SPEAKER_02: Quality and affordability are a top priority for Level Up.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: They have the lowest prices and even offer group discounts.
3:27
SPEAKER_02: Be sure to follow Level Up Dance Supplies on Facebook to see the latest and greatest new products, sales, and coupon codes.
3:32
SPEAKER_02: And speaking of coupon codes, we have an exclusive season four promo code to offer all of our listeners.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: Use the code Impact10 in all caps.
3:40
SPEAKER_02: That's Impact 10 in all caps at checkout now to receive$10 off a level up branded product at LevelUpdanceupplies.com.
3:48
SPEAKER_02: Gear up for the competition season at Level Up Dance Supplies.
3:51
SPEAKER_02: And I have one other sponsor I can't wait to share with the dance world, and that is Young Arts.
3:57
SPEAKER_02: Young Arts is an arts organization that supports young artists across 10 different disciplines, including dance.
4:02
SPEAKER_02: Their national arts competition is open to artists aged 15 to 18 who are currently in grades 10 through 12, where selected winners can receive cash scholarships, mentorships from leaders in the industry, a lifetime of professional support, and the prestigious honor of being a young arts winner.
4:17
SPEAKER_02: Competition finalists in their senior year are further eligible for a nomination as a U.S.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of the nation's highest honors for high school students.
4:26
SPEAKER_02: As a previous young arts winner myself, I highly recommend for you to check out this fantastic program and opportunity for your dancers.
4:33
SPEAKER_02: It truly is life-changing.
4:35
SPEAKER_02: The deadline to apply for their 2023 National Arts Competition is October 14th, 2022.
4:41
SPEAKER_02: Learn more about Young Arts and start your application today by clicking the link in our show notes and visiting youngarts.org slash apply.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much to Young Arts for supporting our podcast.
4:51
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5:01
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5:07
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5:26
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5:27
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5:31
SPEAKER_01: So we would love to say thank you to some of our recent members.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much to Michaela Oakley.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: She is a dancer from Classique Dance Center in Tasmania, Australia.
5:40
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5:45
SPEAKER_01: And one of our diehards, 100% Mary Hondel, previous podcast guest on our guest choreography episode in season three.
5:52
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5:59
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6:01
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6:16
SPEAKER_02: Alright, everybody, it's time to jump into this week's episode and our very first studio spotlight of season four.
6:22
SPEAKER_02: Now, like I said, when we introduced our studio spotlights last season, when we were thinking about which studios to feature, I was like, okay, I think we definitely need to get Expressions on the podcast.
6:34
SPEAKER_02: But we had Carla, the owner of Expressions, on one of our episodes in season two, which was one of our most popular episodes.
6:42
SPEAKER_02: It was called Tricks versus Technique, episode 53.
6:45
SPEAKER_02: So if you haven't listened, go back and check that out now.
6:48
SPEAKER_02: And now I was like, well, let's bring her on to kick off our first Studio Spotlight of season four and bring her back to the pod.
6:55
SPEAKER_02: So I am so excited to welcome the owner of Expressions Dance Center in Indiana, Miss Carla Curatolo to the pod.
7:03
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back.
7:04
SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me.
7:05
SPEAKER_03: I'm excited to be back.
7:06
SPEAKER_03: So thanks.
7:07
SPEAKER_02: Yay! I know like last time we brought you in for our Tricks versus Technique episode, which was a hit, like I said.
7:14
SPEAKER_02: And we really wanted to find a studio that we knew had tricks and technique and bridge that gap and hear, you know, from the studio owner perspective.
7:24
SPEAKER_02: So this time around, since we're not focused on just a specific topic, now we can really learn more about your studio and how you've built it to what it is today and how you've gained the success and and you know gone on to things like World of Dance Season Two and America's Got Talent and things like that.
7:42
SPEAKER_02: So I think a lot of people follow your studio and look up to your dancers and what you're doing over there.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: So I can't wait to jump into this episode with you.
7:50
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
7:51
SPEAKER_02: I'm excited.
7:52
SPEAKER_02: So before we jump in, or I guess we can jump in, I just want to tell everybody a little bit more.
7:56
SPEAKER_02: Like I said, World of Dance Season Two, America's Got Talent, Top Five Studio of the Year at the Dance Awards in 2022.
8:03
SPEAKER_02: So this past summer, congrats on that.
8:06
SPEAKER_02: How exciting.
8:07
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
8:07
SPEAKER_02: Top Lyrical Studio at the Dance Awards 2022, top lyrical performance at the Dance Awards this year.
8:14
SPEAKER_02: And also Best Junior Choreography at the Dance Awards.
8:17
SPEAKER_02: So so many achievements this past summer and just this year and you know, previously as well.
8:22
SPEAKER_02: So I'm really, I'm really pumped.
8:24
SPEAKER_02: Feel free, let's jump on in.
8:26
SPEAKER_02: Give us a little bit of a rundown about you and your background to kick things off.
8:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so growing up, I danced like starting at age two.
8:36
SPEAKER_03: Like I loved dance.
8:37
SPEAKER_03: It was my life.
8:38
SPEAKER_03: I really wanted to start owning a studio at a really young age.
8:42
SPEAKER_03: I would say probably as like an elementary school kid.
8:45
SPEAKER_03: I used to my mom and dad made a dance room in our basement, and I have the oldest of two sisters that also danced.
8:51
SPEAKER_03: And I used a TV dinner tray as my front desk.
8:54
SPEAKER_03: And I literally had a dance studio.
8:55
SPEAKER_03: I think it was called Dance Explosions.
8:57
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
8:57
SPEAKER_03: Nice.
8:58
SPEAKER_03: I had like, yeah.
8:59
SPEAKER_03: That's a great name.
9:00
SPEAKER_03: I said it was Microsoft.
9:02
SPEAKER_03: And then I used um, like I had my mom go to like how it was like Kmart and get like a binder, and I used, I think it was Microsoft Works back then.
9:11
SPEAKER_03: And I traded like an attendance sheet.
9:13
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
9:14
SPEAKER_03: And an attendance sheet with fake people.
9:16
SPEAKER_03: And then actually we joke because Lisa is like my right-hand man.
9:20
SPEAKER_03: She couldn't be here because she's uh pregnant.
9:22
SPEAKER_03: She lives like 45 minutes away, and she's due in like honestly, like a month and a half.
9:26
SPEAKER_03: So um and she used to come and teach later.
9:28
SPEAKER_03: And so what didn't work out with our schedules, but she, even though I own the studio, she's literally my right-hand man, and she is seven years younger than me.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: And so she would always be my student.
9:39
SPEAKER_03: I'd boss around, and she would joke.
9:41
SPEAKER_03: We still joke about this because I'd set like choreography, right?
9:44
SPEAKER_03: I'm teaching and I demote someone to the back line.
9:47
SPEAKER_03: I'd be like, you know, Sally, you know, you're you're not on the right count.
9:50
SPEAKER_03: I've given you three chances.
9:51
SPEAKER_03: I didn't you need to move to this spot.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: Harsh.
9:54
SPEAKER_03: And Lisa would joke that I would do it to her, and then she would be like, have to like walk back, and no one else was in the room.
10:00
SPEAKER_03: Right.
10:03
SPEAKER_03: In my head, there's like a big large group of 20 kids, and then Lisa's the only one standing there, and she'd like waddle back because she got demoted to you know a different spot or she got put in the second line or whatever.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: I wish there was video footage of this, like if we could somehow get like a VHS tape of this.
10:22
SPEAKER_03: There's definitely video footage of our performances that I used to put up, but I don't think there's anything of the downstairs.
10:29
SPEAKER_03: I even use the cup with like pencils in it, you know, for my like and I had a stapler on the table.
10:34
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's your death.
10:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I would play studio I love.
10:37
SPEAKER_03: I had that like I wanted to own this forever.
10:40
SPEAKER_03: So it was definitely like my ultimate goal my whole life.
10:44
SPEAKER_03: I feel like it was definitely my destiny.
10:46
SPEAKER_03: Even everything leading up to starting a studio, it's almost like the doors just kind of opened for me.
10:52
SPEAKER_03: So growing up, I danced at a competitive studio in Michigan.
10:56
SPEAKER_03: And um, back then a lot of the competition studios and ballet studios were very, and they still kind of are, but I think there's more blend happening, but they were very like segregated.
11:04
SPEAKER_03: Either you were ballet focused or you're competition focused, and there was really no blend.
11:08
SPEAKER_03: And I loved ballet, but you know, growing up it was like you did ballet and like your sports bra on booty shorts.
11:15
SPEAKER_03: And then I wanted to I wanted to do ballet for real.
11:18
SPEAKER_03: Like I want I remember telling my mom, I want to wear a ballet skirt and I want to wear pink tights, and I wanted to just like take it a little bit more seriously because I loved it and I felt like none of my friends loved it like I did.
11:29
SPEAKER_03: And so she found a like a like a Russian ballet school kind of near our house, but I didn't want to stop competing because I did love like lyrical and jazz and tap and all these other styles, but I loved ballet.
11:41
SPEAKER_03: So I kind of did the whole and you know, sneaking around a little bit where I would go get my ballet at this ballet studio, and then I was competing at this competition studio, and I did that all the way through.
11:51
SPEAKER_03: I would do every ballet private I could, I would do every like master class series that would I'd find like in the Michigan area near my radius and just do as much as I could.
12:01
SPEAKER_03: I did summer ballet programs, whatever.
12:03
SPEAKER_03: But then when it came time time to choose college, I was like, I really want to focus on ballet.
12:09
SPEAKER_03: I think that's the route I want to go.
12:10
SPEAKER_03: So when I was kind of choosing my universities, I was looking at things like Utah, North Carolina School of the Arts, Butler University, things that had a more ballet-based focus.
12:20
SPEAKER_03: But when I went to Butler and Stepfoot, it was magic for me, and I knew that was where I wanted to go.
12:24
SPEAKER_03: And that was like my freshman year that we did me and my dad toured Butler, and I was like, this is it, this is where I want to go.
12:30
SPEAKER_03: Where is Butler located?
12:31
SPEAKER_03: So that's in Indianapolis, which is how I ended up here in Indiana from Michigan.
12:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
12:36
SPEAKER_03: So anyway, so I came to Butler, and you know, I was with all these bunheads, people would never compete it really at all.
12:44
SPEAKER_03: And I kind of felt like a fish out of water because I loved it, but then there was part of me that I felt like was missing like other sorts of styles of dance because it's like a ballet conservatory.
12:53
SPEAKER_03: You do take modern and jazz, but it was very heavy ballet, and I loved it.
12:57
SPEAKER_03: I was like living my dream, but it was like there was still part of me that was like missing doing other stuff.
13:01
SPEAKER_03: So I started like ballroom dance and dabbled and competing in that for a little bit, but it was so expensive that I like really as a college kid was like, I need to be able to afford to be able to do this.
13:12
SPEAKER_03: And so I started teaching at like some local studios in Indianapolis area.
13:18
SPEAKER_03: I just put my resume out there and I was like, I want to teach anything but ballet.
13:22
SPEAKER_03: I did teach a couple ballet classes, but I'm like, I know I'm a ballet major essentially.
13:26
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm a dance major, but it's really a ballet type conservatory.
13:29
SPEAKER_03: So I was like, but I have this great competition background.
13:32
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, I really want to teach, like in your competition team and in choreograph.
13:37
SPEAKER_03: And for whatever reason, these people allowed me to do it.
13:39
SPEAKER_03: So I did it and I started choreographing and seen like, you know, I mean, granted, like I look at the videos, they weren't good and they, you know, they were bad, but it was a great learning opportunity for me.
13:49
SPEAKER_03: It made me really realize this is really what I love.
13:52
SPEAKER_03: I love teaching.
13:53
SPEAKER_03: And at first, I think I thought maybe I'd go on and want to dance professionally after college for a couple of years and then go back and start a studio.
14:01
SPEAKER_03: But when it came down to like my junior, senior year and I was making those decisions and talking to my advisors, the thoughts, like saying goodbye to my students and not teaching, like left like this like hole in me.
14:12
SPEAKER_03: Like I was like, that like made me like want to like die inside.
14:15
SPEAKER_03: The thought of that just like killed me.
14:17
SPEAKER_03: But the thought of not performing didn't kill me, which is weird because I always loved performing, but I realized everything shifted for me in those four years of college while I was teaching and choreographing.
14:27
SPEAKER_03: So that's when I kind of made the decision.
14:30
SPEAKER_03: I was like, maybe you know, this is my route that I need to just like jump with this.
14:34
SPEAKER_03: So I started, you know, I just decided I started driving around this 22-year-old that's graduated college, and I just looked for four lease signs and like strip mall plazas essentially.
14:45
SPEAKER_03: And well, I also was like dancing business, and I knew that like demographics and like finding an area that people could afford dance was important too, and all that stuff.
14:53
SPEAKER_03: So just kind of driving around like more the like the nicer suburbs of Indianapolis and kind of trying to see if I could find anything, and that's kind of where I'd been teaching too, like throughout.
15:02
SPEAKER_03: And I just literally like found a building.
15:05
SPEAKER_03: Um, my dad had to co-sign because I had no credit.
15:07
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I was a college kid, so I had a checking account debit card, but I didn't have a I just got my first credit card.
15:14
SPEAKER_03: I never owned a house, never owned a car.
15:16
SPEAKER_03: So he had to co-sign for my lease, but he believed in me.
15:19
SPEAKER_03: My parents were really cool about that.
15:21
SPEAKER_03: Like they always believed in us.
15:23
SPEAKER_03: They let us do the crazy dance major thing, which when family members were like, What kind of major is that?
15:29
SPEAKER_03: My dad's like, you know, she's gonna be successful, like let her do her thing.
15:33
SPEAKER_03: So he felt that way even at 22 when I was starting that studio.
15:36
SPEAKER_03: So, anyway, yeah, I started it with 11 kids in company in September.
15:41
SPEAKER_03: Actually, my anniversary is probably September 9th, would have been my very first class that I did with the new studio.
15:48
SPEAKER_03: And it was right after Labor Day, and we kind of just I hadn't even had the build out finish, and we were just kind of on the tile and it was really kind of poopy looking building.
15:57
SPEAKER_03: So you hadn't finished it, but I wanted to start classes 2008.
16:01
SPEAKER_03: Oh, okay.
16:02
SPEAKER_03: 2008.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: And this was expressions, like this this is the studio you started, the one you're with now.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
16:07
SPEAKER_03: I like had oh yeah, like I had a a handful of parents that because I'd been teaching them at studios that were like, I really want to follow you along.
16:13
SPEAKER_03: And I didn't advertise that, I didn't reach out to them.
16:16
SPEAKER_03: I don't play those games, but they reached out to me and they um when I wasn't coming back to teach and wanted to know what was happening.
16:22
SPEAKER_03: And actually I had like a meeting for the people that were interested in the basement of one of the parents' houses who now their oldest daughter is now dancing in baby ballet in my studio.
16:32
SPEAKER_03: So it's just funny how the evolution works.
16:34
SPEAKER_03: But but yeah, so it just started with those 11 people and then I kind of opened up my rec program in January of that year.
16:42
SPEAKER_03: So I kind of started just with my 11 competition team and then kind of grew into that.
16:46
SPEAKER_03: But I was like a one-man show.
16:48
SPEAKER_03: I remember bringing the phone into the room while teaching so that I could like step out real quick and take, you know, the phone call until I got a receptionist and get more teachers.
16:59
SPEAKER_03: I kind of used the university's dance majors because I was only 20 minutes away to get some teachers and it kind of just evolved from there.
17:06
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, I started at 22.
17:08
SPEAKER_03: It's a really crazy looking act.
17:10
SPEAKER_03: In retrospect, I look at my students are like when they're 22 and they're leaving college and they come back to visit or ask me for advice, and they're like, I can't believe you started a studio at 22.
17:19
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, neither can I.
17:21
SPEAKER_03: But sometimes I think you have to be crazy and young to to make those kind of big jumps.
17:25
SPEAKER_03: I think if it was my decision now, I probably would have talked myself out of it, you know.
17:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
17:30
SPEAKER_02: Like back when you're that young, I feel like your our approach at so many things is so different.
17:36
SPEAKER_02: I feel I look back at myself at 21, 22, and I'm like, wow, I was fearless.
17:41
SPEAKER_02: I would say yes to anything.
17:43
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to try every opportunity.
17:46
SPEAKER_02: I didn't care what anyone said.
17:47
SPEAKER_02: Like now I'm thinking about like the bigger picture as to like, can I afford that?
17:52
SPEAKER_02: What's this gonna do with my life?
17:53
SPEAKER_02: Like, oh, you know, so many other things.
17:56
SPEAKER_02: But you're just like gung ho that I'm gonna make this happen.
17:58
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna do this.
17:59
SPEAKER_02: And I it sounds like I was confident, yeah, like cocky almost.
18:03
SPEAKER_03: Like I was like, oh, it's gonna be successful, it's gonna be this, it's gonna be that.
18:07
SPEAKER_03: I was just like, I had the world like by the tail and I was going for it.
18:10
SPEAKER_03: And I mean, if I yeah, I feel like I needed that mentality to do what I did, but in retrospect, I'm like, oh my gosh, Carly, you're crazy.
18:18
SPEAKER_03: Milking back, I think I'm crazy.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: Well, and like just what you said about you know, leaving your students and not teaching, like left a pit in your in your soul, like that's that's how you know, you know, if you're making that decision and you find that find that hole, you know, if you if you're leaving something behind, you know, I think that's really telling and probably was a huge fuel for like, you know what, I am gonna do this because if not, there's gonna be this missing piece of me.
18:42
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
18:44
SPEAKER_02: I'm curious to know if when you went to your dad and said, Dad, I'm opening a studio, but you said you were opening you wanted to open it in Indiana and not in Michigan.
18:54
SPEAKER_02: And I'm assuming your family still lived in Michigan at the time.
18:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
18:58
SPEAKER_02: So like we're they still do, actually.
18:59
SPEAKER_03: Is how far away is that?
19:02
SPEAKER_03: It's like five and a half hours from my house in Michigan.
19:05
SPEAKER_03: It's a nice amount.
19:06
SPEAKER_03: It's not terrible.
19:06
SPEAKER_03: They come and help a lot.
19:08
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
19:08
SPEAKER_03: But honestly, there was a handful of reasons for that.
19:11
SPEAKER_03: One, I didn't want to do that.
19:13
SPEAKER_03: There was a lot of people that, in my opinion, started studios near my teacher.
19:18
SPEAKER_03: And like that's great, like, if that's what they felt they needed to do or whatever, but I would never do that.
19:24
SPEAKER_03: I wanted to create my own destiny, my own thing.
19:26
SPEAKER_03: And I felt there was a need in Indiana while I was teaching, it was like not as developed as Michigan.
19:32
SPEAKER_03: Michigan had a lot of good studios, yeah.
19:35
SPEAKER_03: A lot of studios that have been around for a long time.
19:37
SPEAKER_03: It's like in Michigan, dance is like on every street corner, like McDonald's.
19:41
SPEAKER_03: It's just very developed.
19:43
SPEAKER_03: And to me, that was gonna be like, why would I want to go back to that when I could start something where there's like not a lot of dance studios and not a lot of good dance studios, a lot of very mom and pop small, and at this time, obviously, I was a mom and pop very small studio, but I had this vision for myself to be able to create something that none of these other studios even understood or had ever seen before because they weren't from what I came from in Michigan.
20:05
SPEAKER_03: They didn't see the things I had seen at nationals and different stuff.
20:08
SPEAKER_03: So I wanted to bring that to Indianapolis and I knew that they, you know, I had this good demographic and that there were people that were very in like the typical Midwest, invested in your kids and very involved and competitive and into all that stuff.
20:22
SPEAKER_03: So I knew that I put had the potential there financially to be able to really go for it.
20:27
SPEAKER_03: So honestly, it was kind of a financial decision and also not wanting to step on anyone's toes in Michigan, the people that I respected that helped get me to where I was, I would never do that to them.
20:38
SPEAKER_02: So I think that's smart.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: I mean, totally obviously you have in a way probably know more people in Michigan and have more connections because you grew up dancing there.
20:49
SPEAKER_02: I think that's how like why so many people just like if you know if they never left home, then that's a different story because they didn't go anywhere else.
20:57
SPEAKER_02: So they're like, if I want to start a studio, I guess I'm gonna start it here.
21:00
SPEAKER_02: But like for the dancers, even that do leave, and then they kind of oftentimes come back to home to start their studio, maybe that is where they want to settle down.
21:08
SPEAKER_02: But at the same time, I think it's because, oh, well, my my I have my network here.
21:13
SPEAKER_02: I know teachers who will teach for me.
21:15
SPEAKER_02: I have, you know, people know my name in this area, and you're like, I'm gonna just start clean, fresh, somewhere else.
21:21
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's challenging in itself, where re really you only had your school to connect you to Indiana at all.
21:29
SPEAKER_02: So I think that's really great.
21:31
SPEAKER_02: I kind of wish more people would do this to like, you know, go to a whole nother state so there's no conflict, there's no like bad blood, yeah, you know, because there's so much of that in our in our world.
21:40
SPEAKER_03: Well, and there is, and there was drama in Indy, and I didn't know any of it.
21:44
SPEAKER_03: Like there had been like, you know, studios that were brought up by parents and like you know, like all the classic drama.
21:49
SPEAKER_03: And I was like total deer and had like no idea.
21:52
SPEAKER_03: No one, I was just the new fish in the pond.
21:54
SPEAKER_03: Like no one knew, like knew me.
21:56
SPEAKER_03: So it was like you said, there was no, honestly, it was kind of great because I was kind of just The new kid on the block.
22:01
SPEAKER_03: With that said, though, I another reason I did pick Indy though is I had been teaching there for four years.
22:05
SPEAKER_03: So I had developed a reputation for myself a little bit.
22:09
SPEAKER_03: And so I did have something to start with.
22:11
SPEAKER_03: Where if I went back to Michigan, I didn't have I hadn't worked with any of those kids.
22:15
SPEAKER_03: They knew me, they knew of me from the card.
22:18
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: That makes sense.
22:19
SPEAKER_03: Which is why I didn't go, because I almost moved to Chicago.
22:22
SPEAKER_03: Oh.
22:23
SPEAKER_03: Like I had an apartment and a roommate.
22:25
SPEAKER_03: That's where my dream place to live was.
22:28
SPEAKER_03: And then last minute, I guess that kind of goes with the whole open door doors thing.
22:32
SPEAKER_03: I decided to stay, and that's when I started looking for the places in Indiana to live.
22:37
SPEAKER_03: But I was determined to start a studio in the suburbs of Chicago, which I'm happy I didn't, because similar to Michigan, it's the same thing.
22:45
SPEAKER_03: Yes, exactly.
22:46
SPEAKER_03: So it was a good business move not to, but Indiana was not my dream state.
22:50
SPEAKER_03: I'll just put it that way.
22:51
SPEAKER_03: I like it.
22:52
SPEAKER_03: It's a great place to raise a family.
22:53
SPEAKER_03: I love being here now.
22:54
SPEAKER_03: I met my husband and have two great kids, but this was not where I envisioned myself setting roots, if that makes sense.
23:01
SPEAKER_03: But sometimes life just decides for you.
23:03
SPEAKER_03: And so you kind of just have to go with it.
23:05
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
23:06
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
23:07
SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: I I've I just love everybody's origin stories.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: They're always so different and unique.
23:12
SPEAKER_01: And yeah.
23:12
SPEAKER_01: So I want to learn a little bit more.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: So you started with 11 comp kids.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: Rec program started in January of 2009, I guess.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: And like how how quickly did you blow up?
23:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, did you did you start the next year with 35 kids or a hundred kids, you know?
23:29
SPEAKER_01: Actually 35.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: That's a really good guess.
23:32
SPEAKER_03: Um, so the next year I went from 11, well, in company.
23:35
SPEAKER_03: You know what's weird?
23:36
SPEAKER_03: I don't really remember my rec numbers as much.
23:38
SPEAKER_03: Rec kind of grew very slow and steady.
23:40
SPEAKER_03: And then I blew up a couple years ago.
23:43
SPEAKER_03: I think it was a year, I don't know if it was a year of COVID or the year right after COVID, which is kind of weird, but that's when I really blew up.
23:50
SPEAKER_03: And I I can explain that story later.
23:52
SPEAKER_03: That's a whole nother thing about deciding to make it some decisions to help build my rec program.
23:56
SPEAKER_03: But in regards to competition, it went from 11 to 35 to 69.
24:01
SPEAKER_03: That that third year was my really huge jump year.
24:04
SPEAKER_03: And I believe that was just people seeing us in Indiana because I was just doing a lot of local comps and I don't recruit, I don't do any of that stuff.
24:12
SPEAKER_03: I'm like a lot of times people don't even know I own the studio.
24:14
SPEAKER_03: I would think more people do now, unfortunately, which really because we bring you on the podcast.
24:19
SPEAKER_02: Right.
24:19
SPEAKER_02: You're like, I was trying to hide over here.
24:21
SPEAKER_02: And because you're like on TV.
24:24
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
24:25
SPEAKER_03: But I do try to be like the like I'm usually the teacher that like stands in the back.
24:30
SPEAKER_03: I don't cheer, I don't clap.
24:32
SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm very subtle, low-key.
24:35
SPEAKER_03: I like to be low-key.
24:36
SPEAKER_03: It's about the kids.
24:36
SPEAKER_03: I don't like to go on stage, I don't like to do all that stuff.
24:39
SPEAKER_03: I prefer to kind of not be, I'm not just not my personality.
24:44
SPEAKER_03: So I like have a big personality, but not in that sense.
24:47
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I don't know.
24:49
SPEAKER_03: I I think just being at competitions, people just saw us and we were being getting successful like really quickly.
24:55
SPEAKER_03: And it's just because I was able to do what I wanted to do, which was have a serious ballet program and a serious competition program together, and nobody was really doing that.
25:04
SPEAKER_03: And so these kids were having good training and good technique, but also they could do crazy turns and do all this stuff, and it was just they weren't good at the start, don't get me wrong, but like we were doing well in Indiana because Indiana didn't have a whole lot.
25:16
SPEAKER_03: So it was just people were seeing it, they were seeing a difference in how like my kids act and how they were costumed and everything.
25:23
SPEAKER_03: And I just think that you know, people talk and they just wanted to like know more about it, and then they come do trial classes, and I love the feel and the atmosphere and how I ran my business, and it just it evolved very quickly to now.
25:35
SPEAKER_03: I think I have this year, I think we have 135 regular company kids and we have 22 tots, which is considered our company, but they're ages like four to six, and they're like our pre-K kindergarten.
25:47
SPEAKER_03: So, yeah.
25:48
SPEAKER_03: So with them, it's like 154 because we have 22 of them.
25:52
SPEAKER_03: So cute.
25:52
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
25:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
25:54
SPEAKER_02: I mean, based on the videos, it looks like there's a lot of dancers on the on the stage at the same time.
25:58
SPEAKER_02: So I knew you had a big competition team, and yes, that's great.
26:03
SPEAKER_02: I mean, how how exciting to have to have grown so quick.
26:06
SPEAKER_02: And I think it really is.
26:07
SPEAKER_02: I think that's really what happens, especially I guess around that time there was social media, but it was just kind of like starting out like Instagram was like barely a thing yet.
26:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, YouTube was big.
26:18
SPEAKER_02: So if you were winning at the comp, then you'd get put on the YouTube, and then people would be like, Oh, who's that?
26:23
SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, and the word of mouth.
26:25
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's really how it works.
26:26
SPEAKER_02: But but like we talk about all the time when we like reminisce on the podcast, like pre-social media, the way you found out about other studios was going to competition and watching the other studios.
26:37
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, that time frames like that in between before social media, and I think that was like great marketing for you to just show everyone locally, like, yo, look at what we're doing.
26:49
SPEAKER_02: Like, we have the training, we have the pizzazz, we have, you know, the costuming, all of the things that everyone's like, what's what is this?
26:57
SPEAKER_01: Right?
26:58
SPEAKER_01: And how.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: Well, so let's get into the how, because you mentioned, and I remember you talking about this in the tricks versus technique episode about how your program is structured.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: You have you have a serious ballet program and you have everything else, just as just as equally important.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: So tell us a little bit about how you decided to structure the program and what that means, sort of on a weekly basis, I guess, for your kids.
27:19
SPEAKER_03: It's evolved over time based on needs.
27:22
SPEAKER_03: So I'm a very big, like, I'm constantly evolving and evaluating.
27:27
SPEAKER_03: I'm never like satisfied.
27:28
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's just my personality.
27:30
SPEAKER_03: I'm very triple A, I'm very driven.
27:33
SPEAKER_03: I'm always like, what can we do to be doing better?
27:35
SPEAKER_03: Or like if we lack in a certain area and I'm seeing the kids not doing well at convention or competition, and I'm I'm constantly like observing, it's like, okay, well, they're lacking in X, Y, and Z, so we need to do a better job at X, Y, and Z to fix that.
27:48
SPEAKER_03: And I've never played the whole like, we're not a convention studio, we're not a comp studio, we're not this, or we're not that, or we don't do hip hop, we're not tap.
27:55
SPEAKER_03: That I don't do that.
27:56
SPEAKER_03: I'm that's making excuses for you.
27:58
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, okay, well, we're not a tap studio right now, but what do we got to do to become one?
28:02
SPEAKER_03: What do we gotta do so that when we're against these tap studios per se, that we can keep up with them and and be competitive with them.
28:10
SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of my mentality with everything across the board with dance.
28:14
SPEAKER_03: And I also am very smart to know that I'm not smart, but I'm smart enough to know that not every kid is, not everyone's going to be, you know, everything's based on like, you know, certain looks that unfortunately it's just the way it is.
28:27
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
28:27
SPEAKER_03: Like where you have to like, I mean, I'm not tall, so I could never be a raquette, you know.
28:32
SPEAKER_03: I love the raquettes, but that was never in my my cards for me.
28:35
SPEAKER_03: So it's just like letting kids have all as many really great opportunities allows a lot of kids to be successful, which is kind of my goal because I might have a kid that is an amazing dancer, hard worker, so great.
28:47
SPEAKER_03: She has to work hard in all her stuff, take all the classes, but you know, she's really a contemporary modern kid, and that's the route that she's gonna go.
28:54
SPEAKER_03: But it doesn't mean that she's not gonna take her ballet, her tap, her hip-hop seriously.
28:58
SPEAKER_03: If anything, it's just gonna make her more well-rounded and um more versatile and more marketable in the dance world.
29:05
SPEAKER_03: And I feel that way about all the genres.
29:07
SPEAKER_03: So I just was real so it started with just honestly competition and ballet.
29:11
SPEAKER_03: That's really because that's I had to go around going to two studios.
29:13
SPEAKER_03: So it was important to me to be able to try to create a studio that could do both equally because I was constantly told there's a reason for it.
29:21
SPEAKER_03: I remember the conversation in college from my, I'm not gonna name names again, but from someone in my in the university that told me that, well, Carla, maybe there's a reason they've been separate for all these years.
29:32
SPEAKER_03: And I said, Well, that's not a good enough answer.
29:34
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, obviously, I got to Butler dancy at a competition studio and going to a ballet studio.
29:39
SPEAKER_03: So somehow that works for me.
29:41
SPEAKER_03: So I don't understand why that wouldn't work for others.
29:44
SPEAKER_03: And I believe that that could be possible because I was explaining how I want to own a studio and I didn't want to go on professionally anymore.
29:50
SPEAKER_03: And these are my this was my vision for my business.
29:53
SPEAKER_03: I was creating my business plan essentially, and I was presenting it to this person, um, this professor, and that those were the they weren't feeling my my answer for lack of a better word.
30:03
SPEAKER_03: Um, most of my professors were super supportive and amazing, and some of them teach at my studio, and I'm so cool, super thankful for my connections I made at Butler, but this specific one was not one of them.
30:14
SPEAKER_03: Um she was a hater, so she didn't really support that idea, but I was gonna go with it because I knew what it did for me.
30:22
SPEAKER_03: So that's how it started.
30:23
SPEAKER_03: I just made my kids do ballet, do competition, and then we brought in doing nutcracker around year three, and it was just sweets of the nutcracker because I couldn't afford to do a full-length ballet at this time.
30:33
SPEAKER_03: So we just did kind of the second act, and it was just, you know, doing all the little dances, and I rented like a cheaper, smaller school theater, and we just kind of like evolved as we grew.
30:43
SPEAKER_03: We were able to do more and had more money to be able to do bigger productions.
30:47
SPEAKER_03: But then it, you know, a couple years later, things happened, and I'm like, you know what, we need to um up our technique and our stretching because this is when things were like everyone was like to do side tilts.
30:58
SPEAKER_03: Like that wasn't even a thing when I was an age.
30:59
SPEAKER_03: Right, nobody was standing there to your head.
31:02
SPEAKER_02: I never learned how to do that.
31:03
SPEAKER_02: I did like proper, like you know, modern dance, like, you know, tilts, but like not like I I can my hips don't do that.
31:11
SPEAKER_02: I think you have to like train at a young age like to move your hips in that because I can't do it either.
31:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so like our generation is like, what is this tilt thing?
31:20
SPEAKER_02: Because we all physically can't do it unless you have that crazy hypermobility in your hips.
31:25
SPEAKER_03: No, I was watching YouTube videos, these kids can like do this, like it almost felt like rhythmic gymnastic type stuff.
31:30
SPEAKER_03: But I was like, so I was like, Well, how do I get my kids like, well, they're gonna have to take more stretching, they're gonna have to do more techniques.
31:36
SPEAKER_03: So then, like, that next year, I was like, in order to be in competition, they're now gonna take instead of three days a week of LA, by this level, it's actually gonna be four days a week of LA, and now you're gonna have to take a 30-minute stretch class.
31:48
SPEAKER_03: And so parents just kind of because I evolved slowly as I saw different needs, it kind of wasn't like that deep because they just kind of like got thrown in them slowly, kind of as I saw things that we needed.
32:00
SPEAKER_03: Same thing with hip-hop.
32:01
SPEAKER_03: There was a year that we lost big to a hip-hop studio at Nationals, and I was furious.
32:07
SPEAKER_03: To be perfectly honest, I was mad because these kids train so hard and nothing against hip-hop.
32:12
SPEAKER_03: I love hip-hop, and I think it is so good for the dancers.
32:14
SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm a huge hip-hop fan, but basically at the time I was mad because I'm like, these kids train so many hours of ballet, so many hours to be able to do the things that they do, and they're just getting beaten to hip-hop.
32:25
SPEAKER_03: And I bet you that I could get these kids to do hip-hop just like that if I wanted to.
32:30
SPEAKER_03: So I was like, you know what I'm going to do.
32:32
SPEAKER_03: Used it as fuel and like motivation.
32:34
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's great.
32:35
SPEAKER_03: So we started bringing in hip-hop people and doing a hip-hop dance, and the kids like fell in love with it, and they started getting really good at hip-hop and like getting called out for hip-hop at conventions and getting, you know, it just like kind of evolved, and now it's like honestly, they're super strong at hip-hop, and we always score really well with our hip-hop dances.
32:55
SPEAKER_03: Um, and we have some great people at work with our kids for hip-hop.
32:59
SPEAKER_03: Um, Maddie, one of my teachers, is a big uh reason that hip-hop grew, and then also all the guest teachers we brought in, but that was like an area.
33:06
SPEAKER_03: Another area was tap.
33:07
SPEAKER_03: For a long time, kids hated going to tap.
33:10
SPEAKER_03: They were dropping like flies, and I wanted to stay with tap.
33:13
SPEAKER_03: And then I got a really great teacher named Shannon, and she came with like a vision for tap.
33:18
SPEAKER_03: And I had other teachers too that came in um that helped build the tap program.
33:22
SPEAKER_03: Chelsea was really great at that.
33:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, I had Michelle come in a few times, but the person that like really kind of took it and like brought it to the next level because that that was the reason I brought her.
33:32
SPEAKER_03: I hired her to build my tap program, and that was Shannon.
33:36
SPEAKER_03: And I mean, she only teaches tap, and that's all she does.
33:38
SPEAKER_03: She started our tap pre-professional tap company that's like kind of a tap like club type, like they do their own tap show, they go to they do local performances, and um, it's just like it's been awesome to see tap just like get so strong at the studio um and do so well and be like like at the dance awards, teen small groups our highest score that was like third overall with our tap small groups.
34:03
SPEAKER_03: So it just goes to show you that, like, you know, and then it's like our hip-hop dance scored second highest for hip hop, you know, out of all the hip-hop routines for you know, the teen division.
34:12
SPEAKER_03: So it was like I feel like they do like a top hip hop, top whatever for each thing.
34:17
SPEAKER_03: So it's kind of cool to see when you're against so many amazing studios, like how it lines up.
34:21
SPEAKER_03: But it's great that we're seeing ourselves score so high in tap now, and we're, you know, uh it's some and oftentimes our winning dance or one of our highest scoring dances in some divisions.
34:32
SPEAKER_03: So it's been awesome to see that.
34:34
SPEAKER_03: And then most recently, I think in a couple past couple years, I just have so many kids going on and dancing in college.
34:40
SPEAKER_03: I just felt they needed more classical modern training.
34:43
SPEAKER_03: So we brought in someone, they get like Martha Graham every Saturday, you know, like yeah.
34:49
SPEAKER_03: So they're getting like real conservatory style so that when they go to those auditions, they have a heads up on that.
34:55
SPEAKER_03: A lot of kids don't have that, but they have to audition with it.
34:58
SPEAKER_03: And then the other thing is we brought in a really amazing contemporary teacher.
35:01
SPEAKER_03: We have a lot of contemporary teachers, but Brooke has come in and started teaching like regular contemporary classes to levels three and above, or actually levels two and above, does contemporary class, and that was to also help the kids.
35:12
SPEAKER_03: We noticed at conventions they weren't good at picking up choreo as quickly.
35:17
SPEAKER_03: So we really started amping up, taking like contemporary class and doing combos regularly and having them learning to pick up choreography and movement and stylization.
35:26
SPEAKER_03: So that was added, I think, last year and the year before.
35:29
SPEAKER_03: And then this year I added what's called open class.
35:33
SPEAKER_03: And it's literally just that it's open.
35:35
SPEAKER_03: So like once a month they get ballroom, and we have these ballroom people come in and teach ballroom.
35:40
SPEAKER_03: They get musical theater during that time.
35:42
SPEAKER_03: Jen Lander comes in and she teaches like musical theater rep.
35:47
SPEAKER_03: And then we will do like we did, we're doing a a class on um mental health for dancers, like how to like just talking about like performance anxiety.
35:56
SPEAKER_03: We have um a teacher that was a professional ballet dancer that went to end up going back to school, becoming a certified therapist, and he specializes in athletes and dancers and how to overcome like anxiety with dance dance and performance and all that stuff.
36:12
SPEAKER_03: So he's coming in to do a seminar.
36:13
SPEAKER_03: We've done nutrition classes during that time for like as in like how to like fuel your body and not just fill it with tons of caffeine at competitions and candy, but to like do stuff that's gonna make you not crash, you know what I mean?
36:24
SPEAKER_03: And that's gonna like you know, like help you.
36:26
SPEAKER_03: So we have a nutritionist that came in that it wasn't about dieting, it was about how to you need to eat more calories and these kind of calories so that you can like stay healthy when you're dancing these kind of hours, you need to fuel your body in a way that's going to sustain that.
36:40
SPEAKER_03: So just doing those kind of things in that open class to kind of help the full dancer, um, mind, body, everything, and also fill in the gaps and things we don't really have time to take class with ballroom every day of the week.
36:52
SPEAKER_03: Our kids have such a packed schedule, so this gives them a chance to work on it monthly and work on things that we don't get to always have all the time, but they can do regularly.
37:00
SPEAKER_03: So that was our latest add-in.
37:02
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
37:06
SPEAKER_02: Hey Dance World, it's Courtney, and I want to tell you about a program that is near and dear to my heart, and that is Young Arts.
37:13
SPEAKER_02: Young Arts is one of the only organizations in the United States that supports young, aspiring artists across 10 different disciplines, including dance.
37:21
SPEAKER_02: Young Arts offers a national arts competition open to visual, literary, and performing artists between the ages of 15 to 18, or in grades 10 through 12.
37:30
SPEAKER_02: And guess what?
37:31
SPEAKER_02: Applications are now open.
37:33
SPEAKER_02: By applying to Young Arts, your dancer will have the chance to receive mentorship and scholarship awards, gain access to a lifetime of creative and professional development, and become part of an uplifting intergenerational community that helps artists connect, create, and collaborate throughout their careers.
37:49
SPEAKER_02: As a Young Arts alum and dance winner in 2007, I can't tell you how eye-opening and impractical my experience was as a high school senior headed to Young Arts Week in Miami.
37:59
SPEAKER_02: I met lifelong friends, worked with legendary iCons in the Death Court, and grew as an artist.
38:05
SPEAKER_02: This program is so much more than adjusted scholarship opportunities.
38:09
SPEAKER_02: It truly changed my life and helped me start my career in the death world.
38:13
SPEAKER_02: I highly encourage and recommend all dancers who are aged 15 to 18 to apply to young artists and enter into their national arts competition analysis.
38:22
SPEAKER_02: The deadline to apply is by October 14th, 2022.
38:26
SPEAKER_02: Learn more and start your application today by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting their website at youngarts.org slash apply.
38:41
SPEAKER_01: That seems to be a thing that's happening now.
38:43
SPEAKER_01: We just one of our recent episodes, listeners, if you listened, featured two studios who have something similar.
38:48
SPEAKER_01: And I love I just love that idea because, like you said, there's there's so many holes.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: You know, we can't we can't do everything all the time, but like at least once a month they get some experience in this to say that it's you know, I I at least know what that is when you go to an audition or you have to do that.
39:03
SPEAKER_01: And that's a good jumping off point for interest that some of these kids might have other than dance.
39:08
SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, oh, this person is a dancer, but also is a therapist.
39:11
SPEAKER_01: That's a thing I could do.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, I love that.
39:14
SPEAKER_02: I have a question that I feel like a lot of people are sitting here thinking about, possibly.
39:20
SPEAKER_02: And I was, as you were telling me, the like evolution of hip hop with the studio and how they just started loving it and how great they were like right away when they started taking it.
39:31
SPEAKER_02: But then I'm I'm reeling back and thinking, but they're kind of bunheads, like they're taking ballet three to four times a week.
39:38
SPEAKER_02: And I think there's a lot of I think it's sometimes clear when you see like classically trained like ballet dancers attempting to do hip hop and it's just a little awkward sometimes, and they don't really have the groove and the flavor that needs to happen.
39:55
SPEAKER_02: So how did you not saying that that was how your dancers were, but I'm saying that there's probably a No, they were I'm sure there's a lot of people that are thinking like, well, I, you know, I'm doing all of these things.
40:07
SPEAKER_02: My dancers take a lot of ballet, my dancers are taking lyrical contemporary jazz, and I'm trying to get them to just find that groove more in hip-hop, but it's hard.
40:17
SPEAKER_02: So uh do you feel like there's any advice as to how your dancers had that fire and fuel and like passion right away?
40:26
SPEAKER_02: Like what made them love it right off the bat?
40:28
SPEAKER_02: And do you feel like it was just like how they approach dance in general and they just have like fire under them when it comes to lyrical and jazz?
40:35
SPEAKER_02: So it was like an easy transition into hip-hop because it's been like when you really think about like ballet compared to hip-hop, they are very, very different as far as like the approach and how you, you know, do it.
40:47
SPEAKER_02: So any advice?
40:48
SPEAKER_03: I think it's a handful of things.
40:50
SPEAKER_03: I think one, we really stress dress codes.
40:52
SPEAKER_03: So if you're gonna stress a dress code in ballet, you can't you can't feel like a hip-hop dancer if you're dressed like you still have your hair in a bun from ballet class earlier.
41:00
SPEAKER_03: Like we make them take the bun out.
41:01
SPEAKER_03: They have to wear bad, like our teacher, like she like would make them do push-ups if they didn't come dressed, like dress like hip-hop dance.
41:07
SPEAKER_03: Like she's like, and Lululemon pants do not count as hip-hop.
41:10
SPEAKER_03: Like you need to wear baggy sweats, big t-shirts, like look like a hip-hop dancer.
41:15
SPEAKER_03: Like, if you do not look like a hip-hop dancer, like and like because they would wear that, you know, the Lululemon at the start, the um, they're kind of like joggers, they're like the jogger type pants, and they won't call them sweatpants, but they would like come in like that, and she's like, doesn't count.
41:28
SPEAKER_03: Like, go.
41:28
SPEAKER_03: Like you don't, yeah, you don't get to wear that.
41:30
SPEAKER_03: So I think that was the first start is we took it seriously in the sense that they had to look the part.
41:35
SPEAKER_03: If you're gonna we're gonna ask you to look the part in these other genres, then you're gonna look the part when you do hip-hop.
41:41
SPEAKER_03: Because I don't believe you can you wouldn't go into a hip-hop audition wearing a bun.
41:44
SPEAKER_03: Like that'd be silly, right?
41:45
SPEAKER_03: So it's like it's it's a good lesson too, like in an interview, like dressing the part for your interview, doing research, knowing even if you don't go on with dance, what you should be looking, you know, how you should present yourself.
41:56
SPEAKER_03: So I think that looking like a hip-hop dancer started.
41:59
SPEAKER_03: I think that when you feel like a hip hop or you come out, you might not look like be able to dance like one yet, but at least you feel like you look like one.
42:05
SPEAKER_03: That's a good start.
42:06
SPEAKER_03: The other thing that we did is um, I think that it's really important to have staff that are super great at like pulling that out of kids.
42:15
SPEAKER_03: And I think that, you know, like we had some great teachers that really brought out the passion and love for hip hop.
42:21
SPEAKER_03: And if you take it seriously and you're a diehard and you're not treating it like it's some rut class that they just have to take, but no, we're gonna do this and we're gonna do it well.
42:28
SPEAKER_03: And you know, we made it, we forced them to compete it.
42:31
SPEAKER_03: So we were like, you don't want to go out there and look ridiculous.
42:33
SPEAKER_03: So that's step up our game.
42:35
SPEAKER_03: And she like brought it out of them, which is how a good coach should be.
42:39
SPEAKER_03: It's pull it's like you see the potential in them, and it's your job to bring it out.
42:43
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
42:44
SPEAKER_03: Like, so she really, I think, brought it, Maddie really brought it out of them.
42:48
SPEAKER_03: And I think as they did that full year of doing like hip-hop and like cleaning a dance, it kind of helped their hip-hop technique while cleaning the dance that um we had got choreographed for us.
43:00
SPEAKER_03: And I think that then they started seeing themselves do better at conventions.
43:03
SPEAKER_03: So they were taking hip-hop class, they were getting called out.
43:06
SPEAKER_03: So then the confidence started to build.
43:07
SPEAKER_03: They're like, oh, we really are good at this.
43:09
SPEAKER_03: Because for a while, it was like a good year or two that they were like, we're not good at hip-hop, but we do it, we're getting better, but we're not hip hopers.
43:15
SPEAKER_03: It took a few years for them to see the them like start to score well and their hip-hop dance start to win, and then all of a sudden it just like was kind of evolution like everything else.
43:24
SPEAKER_03: But now they they they know they're good at hip-hop most of the most of them.
43:28
SPEAKER_03: There's still some that like there's some bunheads that take it that it's a struggle, but they all give it their best shot.
43:34
SPEAKER_03: And but there are definitely some in there that I feel like that's their passion is the hip-hop side of things, even though they take all the other genres.
43:41
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
43:41
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think confidence is huge.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you have to have confidence.
43:45
SPEAKER_01: Man, and dressing the part, I mean, yeah, anybody who thinks that doesn't help is lying to themselves because there's just no way you can't you can't step into that world and look like you're from another world.
43:55
SPEAKER_01: Like you have got to just, you know, dive right in.
43:58
SPEAKER_02: So immerse yourself.
44:00
SPEAKER_02: I even say that at convention too.
44:02
SPEAKER_02: I think that so many people get caught up in like the convention outfit.
44:06
SPEAKER_02: And I have to wear the one outfit on, and they won't remember who I am if I sweat if I put a sweatshirt on over top for hip hop.
44:14
SPEAKER_02: Yes, we will.
44:15
SPEAKER_02: Because you will be dancing better if you're if you look the part, feel the part.
44:19
SPEAKER_02: Like I see dancers like in leotards for hip hop and their little cute little two-piece leotard.
44:24
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like with like with sneakers on and no socks.
44:28
SPEAKER_02: And it's just the weirdest look ever.
44:29
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, bless them.
44:31
SPEAKER_02: Like I just don't know if they know.
44:33
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, please just put a pan on and and get a cover up or something.
44:37
SPEAKER_02: Like you have to feel a little bit different for that, less, less revealed and more, you know, I don't know.
44:45
SPEAKER_02: So I I I totally get that.
44:47
SPEAKER_02: And that's ex that's refreshing to hear.
44:49
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I hope that that's helpful advice for anybody out there because I think a lot of a lot of studios are trying to give that versatility.
44:57
SPEAKER_02: And it, you know, then they find the struggle of the the dancers is probably lack of confidence or we're not good at this, or even lack of confidence from the studio as well.
45:06
SPEAKER_02: Like not feeling like they have the right teachers to really make drive this genre home.
45:11
SPEAKER_02: And because they can't find the teacher, then the the students are lacking in the execution and the technique and the confidence as well.
45:17
SPEAKER_02: So it's just kind of pushed to the side.
45:18
SPEAKER_02: But it's like, we're doing it, we're still offering it.
45:21
SPEAKER_02: But you know, there's more, there could be more happening with it.
45:25
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
45:25
SPEAKER_03: I always tell the kids it's no different than taking class.
45:28
SPEAKER_03: Like just taking more ballet doesn't mean anything if you're not taking it 120%.
45:33
SPEAKER_03: Like you can take ballet and get nothing out of it.
45:35
SPEAKER_03: You not even have a sweat on you.
45:37
SPEAKER_03: But like when I take ballet, I'm like drenched, my legs are shaking.
45:40
SPEAKER_03: Like it's like it can be so hard.
45:42
SPEAKER_03: And I've been I've been actually telling that to I I'm teaching ballet again.
45:46
SPEAKER_03: Nice.
45:52
SPEAKER_03: And I think that it, you know, as studio owners, you just kind of accept that that's not you and you're offering it.
45:57
SPEAKER_03: But are you really offering it?
45:59
SPEAKER_03: Are you giving them the full immersive experience of really giving them a real hip-hop class and demanding the same thing that you demand out of your ballet classes or your lyrical classes?
46:08
SPEAKER_03: Like we have the same expectation in hip-hop and tap and all the other styles as we do in ballet.
46:15
SPEAKER_03: So if we're gonna have that same expectation, the kids are gonna bring it.
46:18
SPEAKER_03: But if you just treat it like, oh, we're just taking hip-hop, well, no, you're not gonna get to that same level of training as a hip-hop studio that's taking it like we do our ballet.
46:26
SPEAKER_03: So you gotta do it the same way.
46:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, great point.
46:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
46:29
SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little bit about your competition season.
46:32
SPEAKER_01: How often do you go?
46:34
SPEAKER_01: Does everybody go to everything?
46:35
SPEAKER_01: Your tots to your teens.
46:37
SPEAKER_01: Give us a rundown.
46:38
SPEAKER_03: Um, tots, the teens go to everything.
46:40
SPEAKER_03: Tots are the only ones that have an option to go to nationals, though.
46:44
SPEAKER_03: So that's the pre-K kindergarten.
46:46
SPEAKER_03: Everyone else, from little bits, which would be like your first graders up, have to do c like if you're in company, have to do everything we go to.
46:55
SPEAKER_03: Every year it kind of varies.
46:56
SPEAKER_03: Um, we do a lot of out of state because we tend to get a little bit more competition out of state.
47:02
SPEAKER_03: Now, with that said, there are some stuff that comes here that's really good, which is exciting, but there's just not a lot.
47:08
SPEAKER_03: And we end up feeling like we're at kind of like um a recital where we have so many entries that it's just us right after each other, and that gets kind of hard on the kids and for us.
47:18
SPEAKER_03: So we do try to go to other states.
47:20
SPEAKER_03: It doesn't always work out that you know we can find um, you know, other people that have larger or a lot of entries to be able to kind of break up the day for us and make it so it doesn't feel like that.
47:31
SPEAKER_03: But we do do a handful out of state.
47:34
SPEAKER_03: We uh still do c regular competitions, we do a lot of conventions.
47:38
SPEAKER_03: I really, really love both for different reasons, but I do have to say that I like a lot of aspects about the conventions, so I've been kind of leaning more towards that for certain certain things that I think we've kind of evolved into, which is I've been kind of like thinking about for a while, but last year I took the first big jump for that, and that was definitely the right decision for us.
48:01
SPEAKER_03: And some of those things are I think I I like not having the levels.
48:06
SPEAKER_03: I know a lot of studios love the levels and I understand it, but when you are an advanced studio and you're the only advanced people competing at your regional competition, that is really hard.
48:15
SPEAKER_03: So I like when you're there and there is so many entries and it feels like the good old days when I was dancing and everyone's just under the same umbrella.
48:22
SPEAKER_03: We don't categorize uh categorize our kids.
48:25
SPEAKER_03: So in our studio, all people that are like, well, what do you do with like the intermediate level kids?
48:29
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, they all have to take the same classes, they're all trained by the same teachers.
48:34
SPEAKER_03: And whether they're in six dances or 18 dances or whatever, it doesn't matter.
48:38
SPEAKER_03: They're all our kids, they're all trained under the same umbrella.
48:41
SPEAKER_03: They're all, even if they're not an advanced dancer yet, per se, by like standards of like what you should be doing by, I guess, an advanced dancer, they still are all being trained the same.
48:51
SPEAKER_03: So they should all be in the advanced category.
48:53
SPEAKER_03: And I'm not gonna do that because I also feel like that categorizes kids and it puts them in a box, and they feel like they're the intermediate dancer at the studio.
49:00
SPEAKER_03: No, we're all an advanced studio, we're all a team, we're all in this together, and you're gonna that's how you're gonna work your way up.
49:05
SPEAKER_03: And it's also like the truth of where you stand if you're in the advanced category.
49:10
SPEAKER_03: So I so I I don't like the categories, and the more that those competitions add, the more frustrated I would get.
49:17
SPEAKER_03: And so we would have less and less to compete against.
49:19
SPEAKER_03: So what happens is the actual advanced dancers end up competing against no one, and the intermediate category is the hardest category.
49:25
SPEAKER_03: And I'll look at kids and I'm like, that would have been such good competition for our minis.
49:28
SPEAKER_03: Right.
49:29
SPEAKER_03: We can't have like our minis, especially, would get no one.
49:31
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
49:31
SPEAKER_03: No officer meetings.
49:32
SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely, no one does.
49:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
49:34
SPEAKER_03: So it would frustrate me.
49:36
SPEAKER_03: So I was like, I was loving at conventions, we were just everybody was in the same pot.
49:41
SPEAKER_03: Didn't matter what you were, and it was so refreshing.
49:43
SPEAKER_03: That was one thing.
49:44
SPEAKER_03: The other thing is I'd get really upset about judges' critiques.
49:48
SPEAKER_03: You know, at the end of the day, I may not agree with like what I'm just gonna throw this person because I'm good friends with her.
49:55
SPEAKER_03: But like, let's say Brooke Parati was judging my kids.
49:57
SPEAKER_03: Okay, I love Brooke Parate.
49:58
SPEAKER_03: She might not like one of my dances or like say some critiques that I don't agree with, but she there is no doubt that that woman knows dance and she is an expert in her field.
50:08
SPEAKER_03: When I was getting some of these critiques, there were people that, in my opinion, were not to the caliber being able to judge my level kids.
50:16
SPEAKER_03: And that sounds really, really like cocky full of myself, and I don't mean it to be that way.
50:21
SPEAKER_03: It's coming from a good place.
50:22
SPEAKER_03: But if you just did palm squad in high school and that and you're a palm squad coach, and you've never done got a degree in dance, have ballet training, all these things that my kids are doing, you'd really don't have the ability to judge my my kids at a proper level, in my opinion.
50:38
SPEAKER_03: And we're spending a lot of money for you to give critiques and all you're saying is good job the entire time.
50:43
SPEAKER_03: So I struggled with that, and I felt like we got a lot of not really at nationals per se, but for sure at regional competitions, because a lot of these competitions, and I love them, and I'm good friends with a lot of them, they spread themselves so thin, they do so many weekends in a in a row that they they don't have enough judges to do all of it.
51:01
SPEAKER_03: So they end up settling for very mediocre to low-level judges, in my opinion, and you get those sometimes.
51:08
SPEAKER_03: And so that got frustrating, and you never get that on a convention.
51:11
SPEAKER_03: It's always the teachers.
51:13
SPEAKER_03: So I might not always like their critiques all the time, and they're not perfect either, but you can't, they do know how to score those dances.
51:20
SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
51:20
SPEAKER_03: Even if you don't agree, you can't you can't say that they don't deserve that.
51:24
SPEAKER_03: I mean, at that point, it's like dances and art, everyone has an opinion, but it's a lot easier to accept that opinion from an expert in the area than from someone that really isn't an expert, I guess is kind of where I'm going with that.
51:35
SPEAKER_03: I 100% agree.
51:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
51:36
SPEAKER_03: And then I also really liked them taking class.
51:39
SPEAKER_03: I think that's so good.
51:40
SPEAKER_03: I think learning to pick up combinations and do class, like we have been getting better at auditioning on those weekends and the long hours, it's just good.
51:48
SPEAKER_03: I think that that's really is how the professional world is, being on World of Dance and all the how long that was and different things.
51:54
SPEAKER_03: It really is how it is.
51:56
SPEAKER_03: And so it's not, it's it is not completely how it is.
51:59
SPEAKER_03: I mean, conventions are still, you know, artificial too, but it's I think a little closer to the real world advance than even a competition is.
52:08
SPEAKER_03: So, and it also just it kind of is a full picture.
52:10
SPEAKER_03: They're getting class, they're getting audition, and they're getting to compete, which I think are great things.
52:15
SPEAKER_03: So, with that said though, I think there's also a lot to of great things about competition and the kids love them and they're fun, and we get to take everything to those.
52:23
SPEAKER_03: We always have limits when we go to convention.
52:25
SPEAKER_03: So there's definitely a reason why I do both, but I for us personally I'm seeing as kind of veer more that direction.
52:32
SPEAKER_03: With that said, I will always do regular competitions too, mixed in with that.
52:36
SPEAKER_02: I think all your points are super valid, honestly.
52:38
SPEAKER_02: And I think that especially after talking to so many of our other people for the spotlights, all of the other studio owners for the spotlights, they have the kind of same view when it comes to like transitioning more to that convention world.
52:52
SPEAKER_02: And it's primarily due to the levels.
52:54
SPEAKER_02: It's primarily due to that exact complaint.
52:56
SPEAKER_02: And I know there's so many other studios in this in the country that are feeling the same thing where they especially because conventions are more expensive for the family, so they might not be able to financially afford to go to conventions all the time.
53:09
SPEAKER_02: So they're like, well, we gotta throw a few competitions into the mix, and then you get there and you're the only advanced studio.
53:16
SPEAKER_02: That is a problem in our industry.
53:18
SPEAKER_02: And I really hope that competitions are listening and hearing from studios like yourself who are an advanced studio that are successful.
53:24
SPEAKER_02: They there are advanced studios out there.
53:27
SPEAKER_02: The advanced level exists because of the advanced studios, but now that because the competitions have added all these levels, it's like pushed away the advanced dancers.
53:36
SPEAKER_03: Well, what's happened is all the advanced studios are now going into places like the Dance Awards, which sounds bad.
53:41
SPEAKER_03: And I think these competitions are getting frustrated because they're like, why are you leaving?
53:45
SPEAKER_03: Because we want competition.
53:46
SPEAKER_03: The only reason we got to where we are is because we push ourselves.
53:49
SPEAKER_03: We like to be in situations where we don't always win.
53:52
SPEAKER_03: We like to be in positions where we are gonna grow and be inspired.
53:56
SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna be grow and be inspired in some of these other situations if I keep putting myself in them.
54:01
SPEAKER_03: Does that make sense?
54:02
SPEAKER_03: So I feel like that's why all those people kind of congregate.
54:05
SPEAKER_03: They're not, I think that there's this like image that I think I even maybe even thought of it back years ago, where they're kind of like almost like a click or like we're better than you, a cult type thing, where it's like, yeah, and they want, but no, I think it's that they actually feel like they like to get their butts kicked a little bit, even if it frustrates them.
54:22
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
54:22
SPEAKER_03: They're we're ultra competitive people, that's why everyone has gotten to the level they're at, but they also love that deep down.
54:30
SPEAKER_03: And they also know that's the only way their kids are gonna get better and that they're gonna better themselves as teachers.
54:34
SPEAKER_03: So I think that there's a reason why we've kind of gotten pushed out almost of the regular competitions, and the regular competitions have become more intermediate novice level, because the advanced studios really don't have a place there anymore, which we used to have, but we don't have it anymore.
54:49
SPEAKER_01: Well, and it almost feels like you know, like you said, the intermediate level is now the hard level.
54:53
SPEAKER_01: And because there is competition, but it's like, how much further is it gonna go?
54:57
SPEAKER_01: Like once that kind of hits another couple of years of that, it's like, are then those the inter the higher level intermediate kids gonna shift too, and then you're just left with a novice competition.
55:07
SPEAKER_02: I just hope the competitions just finally like I know they see that.
55:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they know their numbers, they see that the intermediate is the most well-stacked level out of all three levels.
55:17
SPEAKER_02: So I hope they just finally catch on and be like, let's eliminate advanced, or let's eliminate an intermediate and just bring it down to two levels, rec and competitive and call it a day.
55:29
SPEAKER_02: And I think that'll just really solve the problem for our industry.
55:32
SPEAKER_02: But I think every I think the comps, I mean, I don't know.
55:35
SPEAKER_02: I maybe I need to get the competition owners on here and talk to talk to them a little bit more about why you are keeping levels, what is your reasoning?
55:42
SPEAKER_02: Because to me, it looks like they're afraid to lose business.
55:44
SPEAKER_02: I think that people are still unsure to it, that they're gonna be afraid that if we eliminate this, then but like really you might gain business because people will respect you because the people aren't cheating and abusing the levels.
55:56
SPEAKER_03: Yes, exactly.
55:57
SPEAKER_03: I do think that they there's a lot of studios out there that just want to win.
56:02
SPEAKER_03: That's their ultimate goal and not necessarily better themselves.
56:05
SPEAKER_03: And you really are never gonna be the top studio if your ultimate goal is just to win everywhere you go and try to find the easiest nationals to go to or to put yourself in a category that's gonna make you win.
56:15
SPEAKER_03: They all want to be one of the best, but you're never actually be recognized as the best until you actually show that you can compete against the best.
56:22
SPEAKER_03: So that's true.
56:23
SPEAKER_03: I feel like that's part of the issue is those competitions want to make everyone happy.
56:29
SPEAKER_03: And I understand that they're a business, and I feel like even as a studio owner, you feel that sometimes that pressure.
56:34
SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, like you're losing the competition aspect of it.
56:38
SPEAKER_03: If everyone's gonna come out of it feeling like the winner, it's kind of almost becomes a joke.
56:42
SPEAKER_03: Like a lot of parents would joke about like we could predict certain things, or you could like everybody got you know their high five, everyone got it, they made sure they spread out the wealth evenly.
56:52
SPEAKER_03: And I mean, you're gonna get a little bit of that no matter what.
56:54
SPEAKER_03: I get that, but like I think it's even more so in the regular competition world, and that makes it harder to even appreciate the wins because it doesn't really feel much like a win when everybody is a winner.
57:05
SPEAKER_02: I'm so with you.
57:06
SPEAKER_02: I am so with you on that.
57:08
SPEAKER_02: Well, before we wrap up, I want to hear about your journey with World of Dance and America's Got Talent and this getting on getting your studio on television.
57:17
SPEAKER_02: I mean, how did this happen?
57:18
SPEAKER_02: Were you approached by somebody?
57:20
SPEAKER_02: Did so did like a producer discover you from the like YouTube videos or Instagram or just when do you feel like were you guys already big before you made it to TV?
57:31
SPEAKER_02: Like, tell us about that transition and all that journey.
57:35
SPEAKER_02: It's so random.
57:36
SPEAKER_02: Like, you guys are gonna die.
57:37
SPEAKER_03: I actually looking back, I feel like it was all just like that same idea with just sometimes the star is aligned and just destiny happens because it is a crazy industry and it's so finicky and it's really hard to get in.
57:50
SPEAKER_03: Because even being in season two, we did get asked to audition for season three and four, and we like for season three we didn't get very far, but season four made it all the way to like casting around, and then I got the call saying we decided not to go here, you know, with you.
58:03
SPEAKER_03: We went with a different Midwest studio.
58:05
SPEAKER_03: So it just shows you that like it's it is so finicky, and it's it really is kind of like a gamble or like a lottery to some extent.
58:12
SPEAKER_03: But it's funny.
58:13
SPEAKER_03: So I got an email right after Nationals, the year that we were on the show, and it was from a producer, and I thought it was trash mail because I get a lot of stupid email.
58:22
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
58:22
SPEAKER_03: And emails that like for things, and you're like, I don't know what this is, but I actually forwarded it to my sister, and I was like, What is this?
58:28
SPEAKER_03: And it was said it was from a producer, and they had seen our videos on YouTube.
58:32
SPEAKER_03: It was so I guess it was YouTube, and we were already pretty big on Instagram by that point for a dance studio.
58:38
SPEAKER_03: We were one of the top ones already.
58:40
SPEAKER_03: Um, not to where we are now, but still pretty high.
58:43
SPEAKER_03: And um, they'd seen us on YouTube and I think Instagram, and a producer reached out via email, and so I sent it to my sister, and she's much more like, I don't watch America's at 10, I don't watch dance on TV.
58:54
SPEAKER_03: I think when you are a dancer and you teach dance, like I want to do anything but dance when I'm at home.
58:59
SPEAKER_03: So I need to separate that a little bit.
59:01
SPEAKER_03: So I actually had never even like I hadn't watched Soything Can Dance like season since like season three.
59:05
SPEAKER_03: I was not into it.
59:06
SPEAKER_03: So I didn't even know about this show.
59:08
SPEAKER_03: I didn't even know it existed.
59:09
SPEAKER_03: So I sent it to my sister and she's like, Oh yeah, no, this is show.
59:12
SPEAKER_03: That's the one like Kylie Mendoza was talking about, and the girls were talking about.
59:16
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, okay, well, I'm like, should we should I reach out?
59:18
SPEAKER_03: And she's like, Yeah, why not?
59:19
SPEAKER_03: So I reached back out to the producer saying, you know, sure, we're interested, whatever.
59:24
SPEAKER_03: So she asked us to set submit a couple videos.
59:26
SPEAKER_03: So I just submitted the comp videos that we had just gotten back from Nationals, and I just picked my small group of kids because it was summer break and I knew a lot of people weren't home.
59:35
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, Well, this is like my top teen senior type small group.
59:39
SPEAKER_03: I'll just submit this group, and I know I could probably get these kids together to like go to an audition potentially or whatever.
59:44
SPEAKER_03: So I submit that, and he, the producer, invited us to a live audition in Chicago.
59:49
SPEAKER_03: So I reach out to the parents, they're all on board.
59:52
SPEAKER_03: You have to pay like the hotel and moving quickly.
59:54
SPEAKER_03: Oh, very fast.
59:55
SPEAKER_03: We had like a week to like do a dance and do a song and everything, and I did two dances.
1:00:01
SPEAKER_03: One was our lyrical large group, I just made small, and then one was their actual small group.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was very fast.
1:00:06
SPEAKER_03: You but we had like two weeks to like figure it out, and so we and I had to change the music, can only be like 90 seconds for each one for the audition.
1:00:14
SPEAKER_03: So I had to cut it down, we kind of re-edited it, and so we go to Chicago, had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_03: We just wore our like sparkly lyrical costume, everyone else is like wearing like Leo's and like much more sophisticated looking.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_03: We were not, but we were we went in and you go in, it's like it was so crazy.
1:00:32
SPEAKER_03: Like, I remember my heart just like I had no idea, like any idea what was going on.
1:00:36
SPEAKER_03: And we get in and it's like this table of all these producers and this videographer and lights, and it's just a wood floor, like old school wood floor, no Marley laid out.
1:00:48
SPEAKER_03: It's taped up, and they said, Do your dance.
1:00:51
SPEAKER_03: You give them your music, and I'm sitting on the side with my sister Lisa, and they just tell them to do their dance, and they have to stay within the squares, and that this guy videoing is going to be walking around them.
1:01:01
SPEAKER_03: So they do their first dance and they watch it, and immediately you could see like they were kind of excited about what they had seen, and they were like, Can you watch it again?
1:01:11
SPEAKER_03: And the main producer, which I find out later, is one of the executive producers.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_03: I did not know this at the time, obviously, but she gets out her phone and she's f filming them, and then they asked them to do the next dance, and the poor girls were so tired because you know their journal was rushing, they had to do it, do it again.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_03: Then they wanted to see their next dance, then they asked to see their term sex.
1:01:30
SPEAKER_03: So, like, six, seven, eight.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_03: And they're like beat red.
1:01:33
SPEAKER_03: I thought someone was gonna do that.
1:01:36
SPEAKER_03: And they were like freaking out, but like in a not a good way, like freaking out, like, oh my gosh, what's happening?
1:01:42
SPEAKER_03: And then they had them sit down and I asked him some questions like what competitions do you guys go to?
1:01:46
SPEAKER_03: Do you guys win all the time?
1:01:47
SPEAKER_03: Like, like, where are you guys from?
1:01:49
SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't know, random things.
1:01:50
SPEAKER_03: And they're like, Well, congratulations, you made it to the next round.
1:01:53
SPEAKER_03: Wow, they said that right there for interview.
1:01:55
SPEAKER_03: They tell you right there.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_03: So I was like, Okay, so then that moment they actually take you to another area in this, it's in like a warehouse in the middle of nowhere in Chicago.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_03: Seems safe.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_03: And so we go to this, like, yeah.
1:02:06
SPEAKER_03: So you walk, they this like one of the yeah, low-level type producers walk you to this other area, and they had another film crew there and they had seats and they got interviewed for like an hour.
1:02:18
SPEAKER_03: I mean, they ask all kinds of questions, they really pry too, you know, to find a story.
1:02:21
SPEAKER_03: And those kids were not pressed on interviewing, which you have to like restate the question.
1:02:27
SPEAKER_03: So, like, if they say like, what color is the sky?
1:02:29
SPEAKER_03: You can't just say blue, you have to say the sky is blue.
1:02:32
SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
1:02:33
SPEAKER_03: Because when they edit it, their voice, yeah, and their voice isn't in it when they make the clips for it.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_03: So that was hard because I kept having to repeat what they said.
1:02:42
SPEAKER_03: He's like, say it exactly like you did, but make sure you restate the question.
1:02:45
SPEAKER_03: The kids are like, What?
1:02:47
SPEAKER_03: So they learned very unrefined.
1:02:49
SPEAKER_03: They really had it was such a good alert learning experience, but they had no idea what's going on.
1:02:53
SPEAKER_03: So then we get done with that, and we have no expectations that anything's gonna happen.
1:02:58
SPEAKER_03: We were just so excited that all like we got that far.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_03: And then we started getting calls from producers from additional interviews, and then I had to fill out all these forms about each kid and fun facts about them, and it just kind of kept evolving, and I kept getting like having different phone stuff, and then all of a sudden, one day we got a call.
1:03:14
SPEAKER_03: I still have the voicemail safe on my phone from one of the producers because I just love it, where he you know said that congratulations, you've been selected to be on the show, and then the kids had to fill out work comp stuff and all these contracts, and it was kind of insane.
1:03:30
SPEAKER_03: But then that's when the real craziness happens.
1:03:32
SPEAKER_03: Like they're really particular on TV about like they essentially pick your music.
1:03:36
SPEAKER_03: You can like come up with a list and they don't like any of the 20 songs, and they'll like be like, Well, how about this song?
1:03:42
SPEAKER_03: And then they want costume ideas, and then you give them costume ideas, but they don't like any of them.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_03: It's just like it's a lot, it's a lot of time, it's a lot of energy, but it was a truly life-changing, very exciting experience.
1:03:55
SPEAKER_03: And we met a lot of really great people.
1:03:57
SPEAKER_03: The lab who's been actually they're coming in.
1:04:00
SPEAKER_03: Today we met them on set, and they've been choreography cup dances for five.
1:04:04
SPEAKER_03: This is their fifth year coming in, and we never would have had that friendship without them.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_03: Uh, center stage from Utah, that was the pulse while we were there.
1:04:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, we've, you know, gotten to like know them and and they've been really great friends.
1:04:18
SPEAKER_03: So I just feel like it really did it was a cool experience.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_03: You could take a whole podcast just talk about your experience on World of Dance, but it was magical, it was very exciting.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_03: That was a great learning experience.
1:04:28
SPEAKER_03: It was extremely stressful.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_03: I'm sure it's a whole nother world.
1:04:32
SPEAKER_03: But I feel like I'm happy I got to experience that.
1:04:34
SPEAKER_03: I also feel like some of those kids from being in that world had discovered that maybe like after dance they'd want to go into being a producer or being a talent, you know, agent type thing where they seek out talent or whatever.
1:04:45
SPEAKER_03: So I feel like it was kind of cool for them to see another aspect of the industry as well, which is kind of cool.
1:04:50
SPEAKER_03: So that's so awesome.
1:04:52
SPEAKER_04: That was our experience on that.
1:04:54
SPEAKER_03: But it was honestly, it's crazy we got that far because, like I said, we've done it other times and it did not.
1:04:59
SPEAKER_03: I mean, even if America's got talent.
1:05:01
SPEAKER_03: So the story with that, kind of similar.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_03: We make it all the way through.
1:05:04
SPEAKER_03: They pay for your flight to go to um we made it all the way to going to perform for the actual judges, and we get on the stage, a stunning stage, and they get us.
1:05:13
SPEAKER_03: I kid you not, I have the only thing I have is record, and this is I think illegal, but one of the parents actually recorded voice recorded because you can't video record, but they turned on voice recording on their phone so that they could have the memory, you know, because you never know if you're gonna get filmed.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_03: So I had the entire thing.
1:05:30
SPEAKER_03: You can hear Simon, you can hear everything, you can hear the clapping.
1:05:33
SPEAKER_03: But after they danced, they got a standing ovation from every judge, the entire audience.
1:05:37
SPEAKER_03: It was literally magical.
1:05:39
SPEAKER_03: And then Simon made a comment that it was one of the best dance things they'd ever seen on the show and all this stuff.
1:05:44
SPEAKER_03: It was awesome.
1:05:45
SPEAKER_03: So we made it, and then we ended up getting cut from casting.
1:05:48
SPEAKER_03: So even though we made it and we made it that far to be seen on TV with the judges, with the big exes and all, you know, all that, and got through, they actually don't have what you don't see on TV is.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_03: That's been selected to like a small amount of people that actually get seen for that.
1:06:05
SPEAKER_03: So it's kind of crazy.
1:06:06
SPEAKER_03: So that was another example of like sometimes you just don't and we saw that on World of Dance.
1:06:10
SPEAKER_03: There was people that were filmed that were on it and got and did it and were never seen on TV, never got airtime.
1:06:20
SPEAKER_02: Right, but you don't make the final cut and then you don't get the residuals.
1:06:24
SPEAKER_02: Like you still got the job, you did the job.
1:06:27
SPEAKER_02: You worked on it.
1:06:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's on your resume.
1:06:28
SPEAKER_02: It's on your resume, but you didn't get the extra bonus.
1:06:31
SPEAKER_02: So, like in that scenario, you guys did it.
1:06:34
SPEAKER_02: You can say you've done it, but you didn't get the airtime, which is really sad.
1:06:37
SPEAKER_03: It's really sad.
1:06:38
SPEAKER_03: Man, I know.
1:06:39
SPEAKER_03: And you know what?
1:06:40
SPEAKER_03: We were in all the advertisements, which really drew me crazy.
1:06:43
SPEAKER_03: Oh, that would drive me crazy too.
1:06:44
SPEAKER_03: So when but one of the parents saw it randomly and then they screen recorded it.
1:06:48
SPEAKER_03: But you know, like the ad like for commercials about the next may Yeah, it was us and the girls like going like this when they got the standing ovation and their turn section.
1:06:56
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, you didn't even we didn't even pick get picked to air.
1:06:59
SPEAKER_03: So we weren't even allowed to come back to do the next round because we were even though we made it.
1:07:05
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so we made it, signed all the forms, and then they never brought us back to California.
1:07:10
SPEAKER_03: And I think a lot of it was money.
1:07:12
SPEAKER_03: You know, we had a group of like 22 people, they're also minors, so the rules of minors for every two minors you need to have a over 18-year-old there like chaperone, and that all cost more money for flights and yada yada yada.
1:07:24
SPEAKER_03: So I think we got cut for financial, whatever, probably budget stuff.
1:07:28
SPEAKER_03: But did they tell you that or did you just like sit there watching and never saw yourself?
1:07:33
SPEAKER_03: Well, no, I knew we didn't because we made it.
1:07:35
SPEAKER_03: Remember, we got to stay in the ovation, so we should have got to the next round, and then when they were gonna call they said that they'd call us that week about making arrangements for the next round and flights.
1:07:44
SPEAKER_03: Our producer called and said you guys got cut from casting, so you guys won't be we won't need you to fly out anymore.
1:07:50
SPEAKER_03: And it was due to budget.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_03: I think she even said budget reasons or something.
1:07:53
SPEAKER_03: So I just assumed it was based on how many minors and how many kids.
1:07:55
SPEAKER_03: And I know they've done groups of really big kids, but you have to understand that like maybe they picked a palm squad that round or something else that because when they're figuring out their casting, they can't have too many dancers, they can't have too many magicians, and so they they try to like you know, like shuffle it all around.
1:08:10
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, and also they do a budget, so maybe they picked a different bigger group to do it, and ours got the you know, kicked out of it for that.
1:08:18
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it was weird, but but still another experience, and you guys did it, and you can say you've done it.
1:08:24
SPEAKER_02: So cool, yeah.
1:08:25
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, and we're on average.
1:08:28
SPEAKER_02: So here you go.
1:08:29
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
1:08:30
SPEAKER_02: What awesome opportunities that have just fallen into your lap, it sounds like.
1:08:34
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, it's because you're doing great things at your studio and people recognize that.
1:08:39
SPEAKER_02: Even just something as simple as posting videos on Instagram and growing a following can lead you to being on television one day.
1:08:46
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you'd never think it, but it it can.
1:08:49
SPEAKER_02: That's where our world is going in this digital world.
1:08:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, it's like mini TV in your hand at all times and entertainment at all times.
1:08:56
SPEAKER_02: So really, really awesome.
1:08:58
SPEAKER_02: I love hearing your story and congrats on all the success of your of the journey of your dance studio.
1:09:04
SPEAKER_02: And like I said from the beginning, so many studios admire what your work, your work, and all of your teachers and your students, they look up to them and follow their journey as well.
1:09:14
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, what what do you if you want to lead us out with one final thought on like or tell us what's the future hold for expressions?
1:09:23
SPEAKER_02: Do you have anything in the works?
1:09:25
SPEAKER_02: Do you have you know goals and dreams of things in the next 10 years?
1:09:30
SPEAKER_02: Or tell us more about what's coming.
1:09:32
SPEAKER_03: It's funny you say that.
1:09:34
SPEAKER_03: So I definitely have so dreams and goals like adding the open class.
1:09:37
SPEAKER_03: I want to make the kids more well-rounded, and I'm trying to like grow things like you know, how they perform in musical theater and ballroom and other aspects of dance.
1:09:45
SPEAKER_03: I want to continue to see them continue to succeed and grow in the conventions and at the dance awards.
1:09:52
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, I'd love to, you know, see them do better with their solos and to continue to do better, you know, potentially weigh in Studio of the Year someday.
1:09:59
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
1:10:00
SPEAKER_03: Like those are like long-term goals that we're all striving for to try to reach.
1:10:03
SPEAKER_03: But I also am trying to just like live and enjoy in the moment too.
1:10:07
SPEAKER_03: I've always been such a like, what's the next thing?
1:10:09
SPEAKER_03: That I'm also kind of reevaluating my life to just also like live in the moment too and enjoy it because it was so fast-paced there.
1:10:17
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's a lot of negatives came out of COVID, but one of the positives is kind of just to like it's okay to take a step back and just like relax a little bit.
1:10:25
SPEAKER_03: And I think, you know, we did World of Dance, America's about talent, all that stuff leading up to the COVID kind of crash situation.
1:10:32
SPEAKER_03: And so I feel like we were so like hyped up and doing all this stuff, and it's kind of nice not to have all that right now and to just focus on the studio and the community and my family and the kids and just making these dancers the best that they can be, and and going on to dance in college and professionally after, and kind of focusing on those things, and it doesn't have to always be these big things all the time.
1:10:55
SPEAKER_02: We hope you enjoyed our very first studio spotlight feature of season four, featuring Expressions.
1:11:01
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much to studio owner Carlos Giratolo for joining us on this episode and back on the pod.
1:11:07
SPEAKER_02: Be sure to follow Expressions on social media.
1:11:10
SPEAKER_02: You can find them on Instagram at Expressions with a Z.
1:11:14
SPEAKER_02: And learn more about their studio on their website at expressions.com.
1:11:19
SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcast, Google Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
1:11:27
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1:11:34
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1:11:42
SPEAKER_01: Join now at Impact Dance Adjudicators.com/slash Platinum Premium or click the link in our show notes.
1:11:50
SPEAKER_02: Be sure to check out IDA affiliated competition spirit of dance awards.
1:11:54
SPEAKER_02: They are committed to providing a fun, fair, and exciting venue for dancers of all levels to showcase their talent and passion in a positive environment.
1:12:02
SPEAKER_02: FDA is thrilled to offer their Spirit Class for dancers with special considerations and are especially proud of their Trophies for a Cause program, in which studios have the opportunity to donate the funds that they would have spent on trophies to a charity of their choice.
1:12:16
SPEAKER_02: At each event, they offer designated studio dressing areas, director, teacher, VIP perks, scholarships, choreography awards, cash prizes, and so much more.
1:12:25
SPEAKER_02: Also be sure to check out the SDA Class Experience Convention, held during the fall each season.
1:12:31
SPEAKER_02: This fall, they have three exciting convention dates set for November 6th, November 13th, and December 4th, with a fantastic guest faculty comprised of some of today's top professional dancers and choreographers, from television, stage, screen, Broadway, and So You Think You Can Dance.
1:12:46
SPEAKER_02: For more information about Spirit of Dance Awards 2023 40 and the STA's class experience, head to their website now at spiritofdance awards.com.
1:12:54
SPEAKER_02: We hope to see you at one of their upcoming events.
1:12:58
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for being with us for season four of Making the Impact.
1:13:01
SPEAKER_01: Coming up in the next few weeks, we're excited to release episodes on moving up an age division at competition, a look at competitive dance in other countries, and a breakdown of top dance styles.
1:13:12
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for tuning in.
1:13:14
SPEAKER_02: We'll see you next week.
1:13:15
SPEAKER_02: Until then, keep dancing.