Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Studio Spotlight - Project 21

Transcript

Studio Spotlight - Project 21 · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a depth competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly what other judges are looking for anyway.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is making me a path at the depth competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Next week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive data from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Join us as we dive deep into what makes Project 21 stand out for all the rest.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Hey everyone, welcome to Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Courtney Horsteeds, and I am so excited to be back for season three.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, I am here, like always, with my fabulous co-host Leslie Mueller.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everybody, and welcome back.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, everybody, welcome.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a minute since you have joined us on the pod because we took a summer hiatus, y'all.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: We needed it.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: We took a little break.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we've been busy.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: I know it wasn't even a break.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was a break from speaking to you every day on the podcast, but it was not a break from brainstorming and planning and just getting ready for season three on top of teaching and choreographing and judging and all the things.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Leslie was at Nationals this summer judging some fantastic talent.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: I've been nonstop all August, primarily in a new state.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is my like we're today, we're recording.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's my one day off in between the madness that continues and just doing what we love and staying busy.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: So this this downtime from the pod was definitely needed, but we certainly missed all of you listeners.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that you missed us too.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we have such a good season three ahead for us.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot wait for it.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: We are just so happy you're here joining us.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you have just stumbled upon us for the first time, welcome.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna fall in love.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're awesome.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um if you are if you're coming back to join us for season three, welcome back.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're so thankful that you're still here.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: If you need to do any catching up, we've got two seasons for you to catch up on.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you follow us on your podcast platform of choice so you can go back to the beginning of making the impact.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we've been working really hard.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: We have an excellent season planned, and we're so excited to kick it off today with our first studio spotlight feature.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, so uh get ready, y'all, because uh a brand new feature that we're introducing for season three is called our studio spotlight.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So last season we introduced our spotlight featured episodes where we would feature a choreographer, an educator, an inspiring dancer, someone who we felt that was making an impact in the competitive dance world in one way or another.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we had so many fantastic guests like JT Church, Sophia Lucia, Alex Wong, Maud Arnold, and Miranda Davis.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we had wonderful spotlight guests last season.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: But this season, not only are we doing spotlight features, but we're also adding studio spotlights to the mix.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So this year we're going to be interviewing studios around the country who you may have heard about or who maybe you haven't heard about, or who we feel are making an impact in the competitive dance world and learning all about the ins and outs of their studio life, what it takes to get to their level, how many years they've been around, what their programs are like, so many things.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't wait to dive deep and hear from all of these studios around the country.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: We have such a fantastic first studio spotlight guest that I cannot wait to introduce you to very shortly.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: But before we do, we want to tell you a little bit about some of our sponsors.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so excited to have Level Up Dance Supplies returning for their third season and becoming a season sponsor once again.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Level Up Dance Supplies was founded in 2010 by a dance mom with the goal of being your one-stop shop for all dance gear and accessory needs.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: They really do have everything from backpacks, flooring, privacy tents, stretching and travel gear, plus all types of bags and rolling racks, carrying top name brands such as Glamour Gear, Rock and Roll, and many more.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And coming soon is their GS series dance bag and the new FlexiPack for daily classes and travel.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because quality and affordability matter, you can rest assured that you are getting what you need at a price you can afford.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to follow Level Up Dance Supplies on Facebook for their new products, updates, and sales.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, we have an exclusive promo code for podcast listeners only.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Use the code Impact21 at checkout to receive$10 off your next purchase at LevelUpDanceupplies.com.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much to Level Up Dance Supplies for sponsoring us again this season.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: We love you so much and support you.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: All right, y'all, let's jump right in.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot wait.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: We are so thrilled to be welcoming our very first studio feature spotlight episode with Project 21.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And to give you a little bit of a history on Project 21, they started in 2015 in Orange County, California.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And they are currently heading into their seventh season.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: They were created to provide a more intense and focused training program that aims to produce dancers who are ready for the professional and commercial dance scene.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: P21 has been featured in Dance Spirit magazine, and their dancers have even graced the cover in June 2020.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: They were also seen on World of Dance season four and were recently named Best Jazz Studio by the Dance Awards 2021.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: They have a huge global following around the world with over 91,000 Instagram followers.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so thrilled to have Molly Long sit down and chat with us today from Project 21.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Molly.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you guys so much.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so happy to be here.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yay! We are so pumped we could make this happen, and thank you for taking time out of your very busy August, uh, just like us to record this episode.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm so excited to be here.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yay! And is this your first podcast?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited about it.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, we are so honored.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: I listen to them all the time, but I've never been on one.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: So amazing.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, girl.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Here you go.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have such a fun chat.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm so excited to learn more about you.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I I've taught alongside Molly previously, and uh her classes are so fantastic.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure all of our listeners, if you know Molly's beautiful choreography, then you know what I'm talking about.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I can't wait to get to know you more through this uh podcast and learn all about Project 21.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: I really love what you're doing with the with the studio.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's get into it.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: Let's do it.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, let's start at the very beginning then.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, this for me, I think this is exciting to start out the studio spotlight feature because Molly is also a professional dancer and you know has had a great career behind her too.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: So we kind of get a double whammy with a spotlight feature and studio spotlight.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to quickly hear a little bit about you and your dance background and where you trained and kind of your early life in dance.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I come from a dance family actually, which I feel like most people don't know.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: My mom and dad actually owned a dance studio.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was around when I was born.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: So I think I was bored into it.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: And my aunt also taught at this dance studio as well.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: It was in Orange County, California.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: It was called California Dance Academy.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: And when my parents divorced when I was five, California Dance Academy merged with another local studio in Orange County called Dance Precisions.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so I went over there, my mom went over there to teach, my aunt went over there to teach, and we just kind of like combined forces.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so I started there when I was five, even though I started dancing when I was three.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Started at Dance Precisions when I was five, my mom became the mini teacher, my aunt became the junior teacher, and from there just kind of took off.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: My cousin also danced as well.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: She's like a phenomenal dancer, she's still dancing, but she's a year older than me.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: And she so we grew up dancing together, and yeah, dance precisions.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: I was I was not like a great dancer at the beginning.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: I definitely between like ages five and eight, and it's weird that I couldn't remember this, but I was just not into it.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted to quit.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: I remember like getting out of the shower when I was like eight, and I was like, I really want to quit dance.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: I just don't like it.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: My cousin was way better than me, and I was like in the bad classes, and I told my mom, like thinking she'd be like, Oh my god, no, you can't.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: She's like, Okay, well then quit.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I wanted you to like beg me to stay, you know.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: And then I just was like, oh my god, if I quit dance, I won't see my family.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like I literally thought I wouldn't see my mom, I wouldn't see my aunt anymore, I wouldn't see my cousin.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I stuck it out.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: And at age eight, I remember that's when I decided I was like, I'm going to like put everything I have into this.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like I started going to dance with like black tights and black leotards so I can show off my lines more.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I know that to me, that was it.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: Black tights, black leotards, professional.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: And then I didn't really like get good until I was like 12.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, my mom was my teacher growing up, my aunt was my teacher when I was like a junior age, like 10 to like 13.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: And then Shannon Mather came to Dance Precisions and she kind of like took over my age from like 13 to when I graduated.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: And then when I was 16, my mom was like, if you want to start driving, you have to get a job.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, she's a single mom.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: She also was like assistant principal at a high school and then coming to Dance Precisions later and doing teaching the minis.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know how she did it.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, I don't know either.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so she kind of was like, I want to phase out of teaching dance.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I kind of took over as kind of where I took over um teaching the minis uh when I was 16 in order to drive.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: And that's when I choreographed my boyfriend's back.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: That like is everyone just like everyone like remembers my boyfriend's back.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: The much in like I was like 16 when I did that, and then yeah, I after I graduated, I continued to teach at Dance Precisions until I was like 21, I think.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then you know, we parted ways, and I took that whole year to just travel and teach.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like I taught in Australia, I taught in Canada, I taught in Mexico, like I did all this stuff, and I I was really missing like the bonds with kids, you know.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like when you were an outside choreographer, you go in, you know, you would set work and you're like, okay, bye.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like, see you next year.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: So I really miss like nurturing and developing relationships with the kids and like seeing them grow.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was when I was in Australia, I was having it was like summer, it must have been summer of 2015.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: I was having my students back home in California text me, like, are you gonna start something?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we want you to.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Oh my god, I don't know.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was in Australia where like twenty project 21 was born.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, what the heck do I name this thing?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of people like think it has some like crazy meaning or like whatever.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, it has no special meaning.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: My birthday's on the 21st, that's like the only reason why it's 21.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um I love studio names that like incorporate someone's last name, but like Long Dance Academy, like, I'm sorry, doesn't go well.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, my last name's out.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: I liked the idea of like Project, and so then Project 21 came about, and I started it basically in Australia.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: And cool, yeah, that's pretty much it.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: So going back to your time, okay.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Hold on, I have so many.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sorry, that was a line I threw out.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't I was curious who trained you.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: So do you feel like Shannon was like a huge inspiration to a lot of your training, or do you kind of give most of the credit to your mom and your aunt?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't have a lot of memories of being taught by my mom, but I know she did teach me.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: I just think I was like super young, and I was she taught the younger kids, and so that's when I w wasn't really interested in dance.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I I don't think I have much memory of it.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm an only child, and I hear stories that like I would get really jealous of her like correcting someone or giving compliments to someone.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's so interesting.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: So embarrassing.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: But I remember my my aunt, I she's a huge influence in me.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of like my music choices and my inspiration comes from her.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think she was, I remember her mostly being like a jazz inspiration to me.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: She did all styles, but jazz is what like I remember.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like she loved like the funkiness of Michael Jackson and like all of that like soul.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then yeah, when I started training under Shannon, it was just like I feel like that's where I like got my passion and love for dance.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, she is so passionate, and yeah, and I think that's where I got my love of teaching also, because like she just like exudes passion.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: It was like thrown onto us, and I was like, Oh my god, I want to share this too.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so definitely, definitely like a huge source for sure of inspiration.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: Is she still with us?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: My aunt, she still teaches dance.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: She was like a really intense gymnast growing up, and so her body's really shot.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so I I think she's going to retire from teaching this year, but yeah, she still loves teaching.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: We like our my grandpa, who is no longer with us, he says dance was always the family business because like whenever we get together, it's we always talk about dance.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it's what brings us together for sure.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's like all dancers.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I feel I always feel bad when I'm like with my dad and he's always like, Oh, you guys talk about is dance.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, like me and my mom, or yeah, even my boyfriend, I always feel bad.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, God, do you ever talk about anything else?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, it's our things.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, and it's it encompasses so much of our lives too.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm a I'm a daughter of a studio owner as well.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like you just you're born into it, you grow up in it, you're never not around it.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's just always there.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I will say, like, I loved, like, I I feel bad whenever I meet a studio owner's daughter.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, poor, poor thing.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just right.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I know, I know your life.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm like, I I just I I have empathy towards you.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's just such a different lifestyle.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we always were the last to get solo costumes.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: We'd always get like the least embellished solo costumes back when you're right.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's gonna be no favoritism.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's like totally starter, you get nothing special because nobody and you don't even get you don't even get anything normal.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's like below normal.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, and you're always like the first one there, the last one to leave.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: But I like will say like I'm so grateful that I grew up in that environment, especially because like I was an only child with divorced parents.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like it was I felt so like I had a family there and I always wanted to go to dance.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like I it was I was accepted there, I wanted to be there all the time.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I think if I was just like at home doing nothing, like I mean, obviously my life would be so different.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so going back to some of these awesome viral dances that you created when you were young, what was that like?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Especially when things weren't really going viral yet?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was like new.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, YouTube was still sort of in its infancy, like social media wasn't huge back when these videos went viral.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, what was how was that for you as a young new choreographer?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: And what was that experience like?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like that really like launched your success and your popularity because of these viral videos?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: I I so agree.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think YouTube started when I was 16, like, and that's like when I started teaching.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I think they just I didn't put them online.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think them winning competitions like back in the day, like if you won, you got posted on the website or something.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: I forgot how it was back in the day.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I remember like searching, you know, you had to really kind of dig deep and search on YouTube if you wanted to see some of these amazing pieces and stuff.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't just everywhere like they are now.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Red.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so yeah, you could definitely find them, but they weren't all over the place like they are these days.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I think that they were they were out there and they were the the pieces were getting noticed and people had a lot to say, good or bad, just like anything creative that anyone does.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: But me being so young, I think it was.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: I remember I had a friend who I was, she was my age and I was venting towards to her.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh my gosh, like people are like, you know, just commenting random things on my stuff.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: And she was like, well, then take it down.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh, I don't want to take it down, you know, like I like that I get to share my stuff.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, well, then that's kind of what you have to deal with if you're gonna put yourself out there.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: And it's so true, like what you put out there, even now on Instagram or anything, you have to be okay with people saying stuff about it, good or bad, you know?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it was like a hard lesson to learn.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's hard to learn at any age but 16.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I I always like go back to that like, don't let your successes go to your head and your failures go to your heart, you know.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: It it kind of is just that.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so I mean, and I feel like I try to teach my kids that here, like, oh, I'm so proud of you for winning that title, but let's get back into the studio and work because we're really here.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, yes, we're here to like, you know, accomplish great things, but we're also here to get better.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: So it's amazing you won that, but all right, let's move on, you know, and also with failures.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like failures doesn't don't define you.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Whether you won or lost, we're gonna get back in that studio and we're going to keep working, you know?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like that's very much my mentality.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: I like, I was so excited about the Dance Spirit cover, and then I'm like, okay, like what's next?
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: We gotta keep going, you know.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if that's because I've, you know, been teaching myself that since 16, that like that's how I am now, not to get like stuck on things, good or bad.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, and I think it's it was just something that I I had to learn at a young age, and I'm glad I did because social media is such a big part of the dance community now.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I definitely think I'm a little bit more, I think this is just age as well, but just aware of what I post a little bit.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a little bit more private than I used to be.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like I like, you know, those Facebook memory memories that pop up.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like I literally would write a status like, oh, going to get my nails done with my bestie.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like, like who would write that anymore?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: I just share everything.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: And now I'm like, it's so embarrassing.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: But um, those Facebook memories get you every time.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's just like go into lunch, go into the mall, see you soon.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: I like reading the ones when it was like Facebook memories before it was like Courtney Ortiz is if it was back then.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like we're reading it now and it like makes no sense because of the way it was like formatted to read.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Those are my favorite two.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's like that's like 2007 Facebook.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: 2007 and like maybe 2009.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was a little bit more than that.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: But you like had to be in college, right?
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't wait to get my.edu.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: I could not wait.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, well, and that was the only reason I didn't make one or something.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because you had that one semester of college in which you had a.edu.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: So if you had not gone to Marymount, I wouldn't have gotten to Facebook message you before our first job.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god!
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: In 2007.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: A kind of world war.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Facebook.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Facebook.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh Lord.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all right, let's move on.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: So now I would I want to hear more, because I know our listeners want to hear more.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: So you started Project 21 in Australia back in the day.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody was like, What are you doing?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Open a studio.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: What was it like the first season?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how did you come up with the concept of what it is?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: Was it is it the same now as it was then?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like how has it evolved?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I will start by saying everyone, so I did a lot of studio work prior to Project 21.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like I did freelance, and every single studio owner told me, don't open a studio.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: It sucks.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: Even my mom told me that.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was like, so I was freaking scared going into it.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, great.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: But like I I I was I I was going into it with the idea, like, this is not gonna be a normal studio, you know?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: So that that kind of gave me like a little glimmer of hope.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: But season one, we had like 20 kids, I think.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: It was very small, and that's how I wanted it, and we rented space from an existing studio in your Belinda called McCoy Rigby.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: And they were, yeah, they were very kind to let us use their space.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, the first year I would just teach classes for them and like set some choreography pieces, and I didn't even have to pay rent.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: So it was very nice.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was a good gig.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: And we were small, and I had the youngest I had on team was age nine.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: My student Dylan Blackbird was the youngest nine-year-old.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: She recently won Teen Best Dancer.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: So she's I know she's getting old, but yeah, so she's a teen now.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: She's been with me from the beginning, and she was the youngest.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: And back then, all of the kids were training together.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: So it was the nine-year-olds training with the like 18, 17-year-olds.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: And part of that was, you know, limited space.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: We only got a few hours at McCoy Rigby.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure I had other reasons for it, but looking back, that's the main reason I can remember.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: But I was recently having a conversation with Dylan about how my minis now are so different from you know, my minis back then.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I I was saying how I thought, you know, Dylan back then was way faster at picking up choreography than my minis now and all that.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: And we were saying, like, I think it's because they were like thrown in with the like 17 year olds.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: They like they either had to yeah, they sink or swim, you know, like they had to figure it out.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so I I really do think that is a a main reason.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like it was a really great benefit to them.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Cause now, season last year, season six was the first year that we had three levels: mini, junior, teen, and senior together.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: And it was really it was really nice to like slow down for the minis and you know go at a pace that was comfortable for them.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I was able to accept more minis because it was just a mini class.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, really investing in like the future of Project 21 was super nice.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that's how it started.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: Season one, they were all training together.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: They were required five to six hours at the ballet school, your Belinda Academia Ballet, which is I'm at Project 21 right now, and it's it's on our strip of sweets.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's yeah, great.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so when we were at McCoy, it was just a street down, and so they just they had to drive, but or they could walk, but I did not recommend it.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I mean your Belinda's very safe, but but now we have our own space, season five.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm I'm here and I we're literally 30 feet from your Belinda Academy in Ballet.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: We call it Y Lab.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: So they just they now they do just walk to ballet, and so it's very nice and very convenient, and yeah, so that's how you started.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: So you have a good working relationship with that ballet studio then, like a nice partnership.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, every year we bring our schedules together and just figure out how we can like block them in and make it work.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I'm so lucky because I mean Y Lab is a they do YEGP, but a lot of they're kind of like a melting pot for Orange County dancers.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: Dancers from all studios go to Y Lab and I love that about them.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, they Ylab could have been like, oh, all of Project 21 goes here, it's a conflict of interest, you know, and kicked us out.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: But no, they're so they're so welcome and they help any way they can and they let me use their studio if it's empty, and so it's they're really awesome.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's really interesting to hear because you don't really hear of a lot of programs or studios that kind of work together with another studio or separate business on good terms, uh, let's be real.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, good terms and have like a good relationship and a good partnership where it's like I bring br business to you, and that's like it sounds like that's a requirement.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it is that a requirement for your dancers to be in Project 21, to be training.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Does it have to be at that ballet studio or or can it be at another ballet school?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's the deal with that?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I um I try to be, you know, I I choose my battles.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: I I try to be open.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um I prefer people to go to Y Lab because their schedules work out and they're 30 feet from here and they've have given my dancers great training for seven years.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: But if I get a new student and they're like, oh, we've been at so-and-so Orange County Ballet Studio, can we still go there?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: I will make exceptions, you know, as long as they give me a weekly attendance report signed off by their ballet teacher.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm a little strict there, but I want to make sure that everyone is fulfilling their the expectations of Project 21.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, because I mean, I assume do you do the same uh attendance situation with Ylab, or you just sort of know because you're right there.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh, there's there's Susie.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: She's good.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Susie made it.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Ylab actually has an amazing office manager, and she brings attendance over every Saturday, and she drops it into my mail slot if I'm not here, or she hands it to me if I'm in rehearsal.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so I get to read it in front of them, be like, hey, you didn't go.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: You need to make up those hours.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, wow.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I think you briefly mentioned this, but I'm curious to hear across the board.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: So you said that dancers at Project 21 train in ballet five to six hours a week.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Is that for every age, every level of dancer, or is there more or less for certain?
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's for all ages, but I have a lot of kids.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: I love getting the weekly reports and like, oh, Maddie Ortego went nine hours this week.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, God, how the heck do you have time to go nine hours ballet?
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my seriously?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, my kids like go to school too, and they're like here with me, like two and a half hours a day here at Project 21.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'm just like, wow, I don't know, do not know how nine hours a week is possible, but I'm here for it.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: Clap, clap, clap.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and that's an yet another reason to go to Y Lab because there's no time in the day to drive to another studio.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: All that driving time could be spent in ballet class.
• 26:26
  unknown: Yes.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I think everyone thought like that.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: I always do make sure, like if I see someone who's going nine or ten hours, I'm like, oh my gosh, that's amazing.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so to hope to encourage others who are just doing the bare minimum to do a little more.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: So uh listeners, you have heard it straight from Molly Long.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Five to six hours at the least is what these dancers are training in ballet.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's in addition to jazz, lyrical, contemporary choreography, whatever else you're about to tell us that they also do.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: What else do they so we know the ballet sketch now what?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: At P at P21, what happens there?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: So, okay, I'll give you like a Monday through Friday situation.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: So I when I worked at a studio, my old studio, I was I realized that there we were wasting so much time rehearsing groups every week.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think that was normal for back then, but we would spend 30 minutes on each group each week, you know.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: So we would run Teach Me How to Shimmy every Monday from 4 30 to 5 when we could be training.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I just was like, oh my gosh, like, yeah, I love to have my dances clean, but this just seems like, especially when you the dances are finished, they're on their third competition, like, all right, we look good.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if we don't look good, there's a problem if we don't look good.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I really wanted P21 to be about training.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: So all they do during the week is train from ballet and over here.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: We have privates where we work on their solos, but all group choreography and group rehearsals happens additionally on the weekends only.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: So Mondays, I'll give you a season six schedule because I'm very slow on season seven.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: You got a few more weeks at the time of this recording.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: You have a few more weeks.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: Really pushing it.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, hopefully by the time this is out, I will have the schedule then.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: We'll follow up with you.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it takes.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: On a Monday, I would, you know, I would start, and I will say COVID, terrible, sure, but allowed a lot of time for my kids to dance more.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was very appreciative of that.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: So most days I was starting privates at 12, sometimes earlier.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: And we would, I would do privates from 12 to 4 or 5.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: I would have the minis on Monday for an hour and a half, and we would just train.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: We would do like some conditioning, we work on the bozo for some strengths, and then I would have the teens and seniors and juniors.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: We had them to all three together for an hour and a half after with me, and we would do the same thing, obviously a little bit harder than what the minis were doing.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: And then they would have a two-hour class with my faculty Sam Nies.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: He teaches contemporary.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I know he would do across the floor with them in like the first hour, and then a contemporary combo in the second hour.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: On Tuesdays, I would start with the juniors for an hour and a half.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: It was like four to five, I don't know, 3:30 to 5.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: 3:30 to 5 with the juniors, and we would just do technique.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it would vary based on what I was feeling.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: I would try, I tried to really change things up so it wasn't just like, oh, we do this every Tuesday.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like sometimes it would be jumps, sometimes it would be back flexibility, sometimes it would be like transitions across the floor.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: So, and then next I would have the teens and seniors for two hours.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: We would do a two-hour technique class.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I really like doing a technique class with the teens and seniors because I feel like, you know, when we're at that age, we all know how to do a clean double, clean triple.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know what more they're going to be doing in a professional setting, other than like a really clean botmon and like a nice, you know, pure way.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: If you can do that, good.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: We try to like come up with these like fun, cool tricks.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: And like I post them on my Instagram a lot.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: One of my dancers, Selena Hamilton, like she does all this crazy stuff.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: She's awesome.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: She's kind of like the guidepost.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm we and it's really just like a collaboration.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: I love collaborating with the kids.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like, if I feel like I'm talking to a wall, I'm like, someone get me out of this class.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: But if we're all working together and we're coming up with new things, like my body can't do the stuff that their body can do.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like a really fun collaboration process.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: And it does take a while.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes we only get like two or three combinations across the floor, but it's like tough combinations.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember my mom always telling me once, like, when I was first started teaching, I would like come home so upset, like, oh my gosh, the minis look so bad in technique class today.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm so worried.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: And she was like, They should always come out of technique class looking bad.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like you should be challenging, challenging them so much.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like if they're like, they're nailing that double, like, okay, like let's give them something that you know they look bad at so they can keep practicing.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I always, when I get a little like stressed out, like, oh my god, whoa, what's happening?
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, okay, I'm pushing them.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: We're trying something new.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: This is great.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: So after the teen and seniors, I do an hour and a half with the minis.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then Wednesdays was my day off.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, gotta have that.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: Lovely teacher Maddie Hicks, who would come in.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: She she, I'm so sad she's not coming back for season seven because she's just like taking off.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: She's actually doing Revel with you, Courtney.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: So I love her, but she's still doing choreography for me and stuff.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like, so great.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: But she was a Juilliard graduate, and she just brings so much to the table that I will never be able to.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't graduate from Juilliard, so I will not be able to bring anything that she can.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: And so she did modern contemporary, and she even like if she was feeling a ballet class, she threw a ballet class on those kids, which I was all for.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: And it was the same schedule as Tuesday, hour and a half with the juniors, two hours with the teens seniors, hour and a half with the minis.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: And then Thursday was everyone's favorite day because it was my combo class.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: So it was hour and a half with the minis, two hours with the juniors, hour and a half with the teens and seniors, and then the minis did a another hour and a half class on Friday.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_02: And the teens and seniors and juniors had it off.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's all just training throughout the week.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like when I tell people this, they're like, oh my gosh, you don't rehearse the groups.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like, because we just rehearse, once the groups are finished, we just rehearse them the weekend before a competition.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: And they're like, oh my God, you just rehearsed them.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like they're so clean.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, we spend so much time training together that they end up dancing alike, right?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: If you're training that much together with the same teachers, I'm I'm a I'm hoping you guys dance alike.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's a lot of dancing together.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I throw throw choreography on them, it naturally is pretty clean.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I go in and I'm like psycho about cleaning.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like I love cleaning and I'm I'm really good at it.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: And so I can fine-tune things and things that I thought were once clean in March.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: I go back in June and look, I'm like, oh my god, that was freaking messy.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: But nothing is ever tragic when I first put it on them, or a choreographer puts things on them.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I really like credit that to spending the whole week just training together.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can't wait to use that as a quote.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to blast that to the world, everybody.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: Again, you heard it straight from Molly Long and her successful studio Project 21.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've seen her dancers on stage, you probably have sat down and thought, how do how does she get them that clean?
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: How does she get them like that?
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it's because it's about the training.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: Training comes first.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's getting lost in the competition world where everyone just wants to win a dang trophy.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have good training and good technique from the beginning, then you're gonna automatically win a trophy because, like you said, the whole choreography process is gonna be easier, their musicality is gonna be better, the technique's already there.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's I don't think that a lot of studios and teachers understand or comprehend that.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: And at the same time, let's be real, listening to your studio schedule, those kids are there five days a week, right, and they are training in ballet outside of all of those hours that you just said.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, yes, are they advanced dancers?
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: But they're not just drilling choreography 24-7.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're focusing on what matters, which is the training.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and the problem with drilling choreography over and over and over is that if you're doing one thing wrong, you keep drilling the thing that's wrong over and over and over.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if the technique is bad and you're drilling the bad technique, it's never gonna get better.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's reinforced.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, and I do I do think that, you know, I don't know that it's not necessarily that people don't care.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: It is that people want instant gratification.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: It is not a thing in the dance world.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: It is not.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: And anybody you hear from with a successful studio, with a successful program, with successful dancers, none of it happened overnight.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: Everything was, you know, a lot of things, like you said, have evolved and changed over the years, and you started this way, and you know, you moved on because things worked or didn't work.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you have to you have to instill that time.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: And just this the culture we live in is that instant gratification, fast food, microwaveable meal, you know, and it's just not the same.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it hated it.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: I do think that mainly going to convention competitions really helps put the emphasis on training as well.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like season one, we tried to do one regular competition just because that's what I had come from.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like I grew up going to like West Coast Dance Explosion, but that was like the only convention we went to.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I was not a convention kid at all.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I wish that I was, and I wish my studio put way more emphasis on in because I just think like it has so many benefits.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: But so we we were 20 kids, we had like six groups total, and we went to this competition, and the kids were dancing at like one group at 8 a.m.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: and then another one at like 2 p.m.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: And it just seemed like we could be putting better use to our time.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like they could have done five classes at a convention in the time they just sat here.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, and I realized a lot of studios don't have that luxury because they're way bigger than me.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like I have the luxury of being small and being able to do that.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_02: I know a lot of big studios can't take all of their kids to a convention because conventions have limits on financial for conventions and things, you know.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: They are a lot more expensive.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I totally get that like I have a a a different view because we're smaller, but it's so after that first season, we just were like, we're gonna, we're just gonna keep it conventions.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I threw my kids into like a really intense, best of the best convention world.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I'm hella scared to do this, right?
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_02: I were I'm just gonna throw them in there totally.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: And it was intimidating and it was hard, and we lost a lot, and but every single year I learned more and they learned more and they wanted to get better, and so it's worked.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's also like, and we're gonna talk about this at some point in the podcast, because I think didn't we are we doing like a convention versus competitions episode?
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: This season, yeah.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: This season.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna talk about the pros and cons and the benefits of of each, but I think kind of just how the industry has evolved, kind of like what you were saying, Molly.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't grow up as a convention kid.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think that when we were growing up, there weren't as many conventions offered out there.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: There was like Tremaine, West Coast, NYCDA, and like that was kind of it.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: And they really mainly went to the big cities.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you weren't in a hub, you're not going to NYCDA back in 1990.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like it wasn't a thing.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a thing.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: So like now I think with the addition of so many competitions and that also conventions, I think that a lot of the more advanced level studios have they care about the training first and foremost, like you do.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: So they're thinking conventions sound, like you said, way more bang for my buck and time.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, if I could be in five classes instead of waiting around at a competition.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: But also like the the level of dancers at conventions are seem to be a little bit of a higher advanced level.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody's so the competition is fiercer.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: That way you're competing against similar studios that are at the same level of as you instead of just sweeping the competition.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right, exactly.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's so great to be exposed to all those choreographers.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um I growing up, and I think it was just that the era we were growing up in, it was very frowned upon to take other choreographers and other you know what I mean?
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_02: Without saying too much, it was very frowned upon.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so I grew up only thinking that I was good in this one place, in this one studio with this one teacher.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I just like looking back, like I wish I didn't think that, and I wish I was exposed to more people so I knew I would I knew I could be successful no matter what class I took.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: So going into Project 21, I really wanted the kids to be exposed to so many people so that they knew that they could be successful without me.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, I could be your favorite teacher or whatever, but you can go and kill Kirsten Russell's class, you can go and kill a hip-hop class.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I want them to feel great without me.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know?
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: And we all know that this industry is about networking, and I'm sure that, you know, being in front of the right people can lead to new opportunities and starting young, it it's not a bad idea.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, not saying like go and feel like you have to convention hop.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of kids that that do that.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think we still have to go back to the training and still have a a place that you call home and that you have regular teachers at all the time to really you know correct you and I I love I love a convention.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: I love I love what they've done for our industry and for the training, but it is refreshing to hear that like while your dancers are out doing conventions and doing that, they still have a home base and all week long we're training.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the consistency you get at your home studio is really what makes you prepared to go out and do those things.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: How often do your students or you as a program take everybody to competition and convention?
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like how often are you guys going out every year?
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: So I take my Project 21 kids to about four regionals, and they're all conventions.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_02: We typically do Radic, Jump, Nouveau, 24-7, and uh we do a convention nationals in the summer.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: But my kids go to a lot of optionals, and a lot of the reason for that is most of these conventions have a solo cap of 15, and I have more than 15 kids.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I yeah, and so that's so a lot of times kids don't get to do their solos at any team competitions, Project 21 goes to.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so if they want to go compete their solo at a convention, they have to travel and go to an optional on their own, or if it's like a big group of P21 kids going, but especially in Orange County or wherever these conventions come to, whether it's Orange County or LA, they typically tend to be bigger conventions.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_02: So the solo cap is gets smaller.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: If we we we had to travel a lot last year due to COVID, and we went to a convention in Reno, and because that was a smaller convention, there was no solo cap, and all of my kids got to do their solos, which was amazing.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_02: So it really varies on like the city we go to, and because we're gonna do most of our competitions here, because they're gonna come here now, it's gonna be have that solo cap.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and so picking I have a really interesting way.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like people I've had this question asked to me before by one of my colleagues.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_02: She was like, She recently started a studio and she was like, How do you pick your soloist to go?
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a hard thing.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_02: I know a really successful studio in Arizona who does like draws out of a hat and draws out of a hat, and I don't know how other people do it, but so I sat my kids down and I'm really like, I like to have a collaboration.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, girls, like let's take a vote.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna take a vote.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think is like the most fair?
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, do we think it's fair for me to draw out of a hat?
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_02: Do we think it's fair if I pick solos based on who attends, you know, about their ballet, their classes here, and most of them always do.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_02: And or do we think it's fair for me to just pick who think who I think will represent Project 21 the best?
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: And they voted that one.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_02: Which I was very happy.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: They did.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_02: They voted that one.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_02: It was an anonymous vote.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_02: They just wrote it down and turned it into me.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so that was like season five, and I carried that over into season six.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I have a little, I have a not a little bit bigger of a team, I have a giant team this year.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_02: Pushing 60.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like doubled from last year.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, congratulations.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_02: So like the the biggest I've ever had was like 33, and now we're like a 58 almost 16.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, does everyone get a solo or is it like a luxury?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: So typically I let everyone have a solo because I think you grow so much in the one-on-one time.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's great to have something like you're invested in.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_02: And now I'm just worried about where am I gonna put all these privates?
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: One room.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, in a like, yeah, in a week, like doing 60 privates.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's like a full-time nine to five.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_01: Do most of your kids attend school?
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_01: Or do you have a lot of homeschool kids?
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_02: Most of the majority attend school.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_02: And because of COVID, I have a lot of kids who travel because they weren't in school last year.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so I have people like in like deep LA traveling.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, like they would leave LA at like 12 p.m.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: to miss the traffic and then just stay in Orange County all day.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_02: I have this sweet girl who like lives uh like in Redlands and she would come like on she would come for classes on Monday and still stay with Dylan Blackburn all week, just like we live at her house.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: I have people like down like almost like ne like Carlsbad, like which is near San Diego, which is like an hour and a half.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: So that was great about COVID is that like I got like a whole new influx of people because everyone was like available, you know, everyone was doing online school, they can do it in the car.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_02: But a lot of those kids stayed for season seven.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I know majority are not gonna be able to get here early.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just like this whole like this is my stress of the schedule coming out on all of you guys.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I can't even imagine because they're t there's just not enough hours in the day sometimes when you need them, you know.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, back to your question, Courtney.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like thinking, like, do I audition for solos now?
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like, do I make it like a smaller thing?
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_02: Because I have 60 kids.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I can't register 60 solos at any convention we go to.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that's like I'm still debating it.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully I'll have an answer by the time this airs.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean I think you'll have to uh by that point.
• 44:36
  unknown: Yes.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah so once everybody listens, Molly will have made the decision.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned, everyone.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's super interesting.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually I I didn't realize that a lot of these convention competitions put a cap on solos.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of wish everyone did, to be completely honest with you.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like I mean, at least solo per person, because how many times at a regular competition have you seen five solos from the same kid who are it's the same dance, just different music?
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: At least that, like at least make that cap, if not a bigger one.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's always it's always at the conventions we go to that like you can just do one solo.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_02: So but then my kids get like three to four solos a year because yeah, from like different choreographers and stuff, and they just like take them to different places.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you really are trying to find studio space for everybody.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_02: I might need to open another building.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, seriously, and clone yourself like five times and then be in every person.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because I'm like a little control freak.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I love like I'm a great mini teacher.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a great, like, I I love teaching the teens and seniors.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'd rather put my time there, but I'm also a great mini teacher, and like I know how to get mini super great.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't really trust anyone but me with the minis, but I'm only one person.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_02: Learning to delegate.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is hard.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: I know I know what you're saying.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: Business owner over here trying to do everything herself.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Leslie, help me.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: I do everything.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like wear a million hats, like all over the place.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_02: I like I finally hired an assistant this year and she's been like a god sense.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that's awesome.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I mean, it's so exciting to hear the success and how much it's grown each year throughout your seven, you know, going into your seventh season and how it's evolved throughout the years too.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: What do you what do you feel besides how we've heard about like how intense the training is at Project 21?
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: What do you feel like makes Project 21 different and stand out at competitions alongside other studios?
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_02: I definitely I really love how we bring forth like a variety of what we do.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like not a lot of people do what we do.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_02: We have, you know, a certain style.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_02: We're very like fierce, strong women.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I have had boys on the team and they were strong men as well.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_02: But I I just think we have like this.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_02: When I watch my dancers on stage, I'm like, they make me want to get up and dance, and they make me like, oh, they are so fierce.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's what I think when I watch them, and they're so they have such like a fire about them that's undeniable.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_02: And sure, other people have better technique and like beautiful lines, and my kids have great lines too, but I just think that there's something really unforgettable about them that I love, and it's it's it's definitely undeniable, and I I think that's what sets us apart.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I agree.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: Leslie and I were just enjoying some videos before we jumped on for this interview, and every video we watched on your YouTube, it's just every style, it's so distinct to the style of the song, and so many variations of jazz dance and or contemporary dance.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're just giving the dancers such variety and like awesome shading, great texture, great style, like all the things that I know I as a judge wish I saw more of.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just like a breath of fresh air.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I think all of your stuff is so fantastic and precise and the precision of it and things like that.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_00: But just like you said, I love that your answer was like just the variety and the versatility, because that's exactly how I feel too.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of people think of Molly Long and they think of jazz and you know, this sassy, fierce jazz, and it's like, yeah, but have you seen all of her other work too?
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because her dancers are doing everything and versatility is important.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_01: And there's like a signature, there's like an aura around it where it's like you can recognize it as what it is, but then there's variety within that like bubble, you know, and that's that's what I think is the special part is that the variety is there, but it has your signature on it.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_02: I I love that I can like I have like a a musical theater vibe jazz, and I have a a very like hard-hitting, fierce jazz.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I I like I really do think that I promote individuality within the kids.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_02: I I just think like when they're in their solos, I try to really like push what they're great at and really showcase, like a lot of people tell me, like, oh my god, you create stars.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I really don't think that.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think I'm just really great at unlocking what the kid already has, you know.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_02: And so, of course, like when they're in groups, I want them to become one and you have to be able to dance with someone.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you're not going to do be doing a solo next to Beyonce, you know, you have to be able to dance with people, right?
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_02: But I think it's also like I I like that you know, so and so can go out and do a fierce jazz, and another person can go out and do like a super classy jazz, but then they can come together and do what I want.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I am, I I totally agree with what I said about the variety, but now I'm going to start implementing like ballroom into their class schedule and hip hop, and I want to see them do like some other styles for sure.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_02: Cause I'm like, I know you're great at jazz, I know you're great at contemporary.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_02: Now let's see you try some ballroom and hip hop.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm really looking forward to that this year.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think a question that I'm sure like a lot of teachers probably have listening to this and like hearing you talk about this unlocking the fire within dancers.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: So many teachers talk about how do I get my dancers to perform?
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_00: How do I get my dancers to be confident?
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I cannot figure it out.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what I need to do.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how do I get them to look like that?
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm sure that every teacher, when they watch your dancers on stage, say exactly those things.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_00: And not even about the technique.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's more about like the confidence and the performance and the fire that you're talking about.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: What do you have any like secrets that you want to share on about unlocking the fire?
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_02: I just think that like I felt that way growing up, like when Shannon was my teacher, and so I feel like I have that fire, and I feel like I feel like what you give to them, they will.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, I'm sure a lot of teachers are like sitting here, like, I give them everything, and like it's still not coming.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_02: I also I also believe in like everyone has a time to like come out of their shell.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_02: I have this like little superstar, her name is Maddie Ortega.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_02: And when I first got her, she was like so timid and the musicality was not there.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_02: And now she's just like exploded into like this superstar, and she's like getting way more well-known, and I'm like, Yes, the kid's a star, but it took three years, you know.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I really like credit that to her parents.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it wasn't like, oh, she's not doing this, like what her teammates are doing, she's not they with no complaining, just committed and trusted the process.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so I feel like if you if you really do like, you know, and a lot of it is giving them that confidence.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like a lot of kids don't believe in themselves.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you're sitting there telling them, I know you can do this, do this, try this, it eventually will happen.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_02: But sometimes it takes a long time, and sometimes it takes longer than three years.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I know a lot of a lot of parents are like, that's too long, you know.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_02: And so they leave by the time they hit their potential or even unlocked a little bit of that.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it it is hard.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_02: I get that's not really advice.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's not really an answer.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_02: I guess my answer would have been just keep asking for more, you know.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like I always ask my dancers for more.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like, can that be cleaner?
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_02: Can you fill that pocket more?
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_02: Can you have better eye contact there?
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and and sometimes like some kids are just born with that natural performance, and some of it's harder for them, and that's something they have to work on.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I definitely I struggle with that with my kids too.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_02: It happens.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think having like some of the, I mean, now that you're going into season seven and having some dancers who have been with you training for six seasons and watching their progress, and now the little ones come in and look up to them and see what their performance is like.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you I think that's a huge, probably a helpful inspiration because if it's been ingrained in them and they already unlocked the fire, then it will be easier for the younger ones to see, okay, well, that's the fire I need to find.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_00: If I need to represent P21, like I I need to be at this level, you know, and it helps that like guide them.
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I think just allowing them to be like unapologetically themselves.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like a lot of kids are afraid to be like loud and strong and fire.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_02: And like when you allow them to do it and you say it's okay and you like embrace it and celebrate it, they're going to want to be more fire, you know?
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, if if if you're if you're telling a kid no, that's too much, or no that, you know what I mean?
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's not right, and they're gonna they're gonna be more insecure about it.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_02: But if you just let them be and let them be large and loud and you know, fully themselves, then it's it's going to, you know, they're gonna hit their potential.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_01: What so at this point you've already had auditions for season seven?
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 54:01
  SPEAKER_02: What I just did uh private auditions yesterday too.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh nice.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_01: So how do you what do you what do you go about looking for in your audition process, you know, for anybody who may want to audition for season eight?
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_02: Oof, season eight.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, I'm scared.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_02: I definitely look for the hungry dancer, and I feel like that's a little cliche, but it's it's true.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_02: I don't need to have a dancer with like perfect technique or, you know, perfect musicality, because all of that can be taught, but I really need someone who can be a good student.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_02: I like kids who are attentive and receptive and welcome critiques and corrections.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_02: If I feel like there's that wall and like, you know, the kids just looking at the clock, like bring the class over.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I this is not gonna be a good collaboration.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna hate your life because I'm gonna be mad at you for looking at the clock.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like, let's just not even start this now, you know.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_02: So just someone who wants to be better and is going to do everything, you know.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_02: I always say like I dedicate my whole life to this, and I expect kids to dedicate their life to dance.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't mean you have to be a dancer, it means you need to do everything you can to be your best self here.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's what I'm promoting.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not, I don't want slackers, I don't want people who are only in it, you know, halfway.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_02: I want people who are fully here and fully committed to, you know, to get the full P21 experience because that's what I have to offer, you know.
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I mean, I mean, even though you have close to 60 dancers this season, that is still incredibly selective.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like it feels like a lot to you because it's the most you've had.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_01: But like when you think about the size of of dance studios just generally, like that's a very, very selective group.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I'm and clearly you get those kids who want to be there and whose parents are also understanding of the commitment and the, you know, just go get them attitude of what you're offering.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_02: I was my parents have been so great.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was, you know, last year COVID was like insane, but my parents were so on board.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_02: I was so appreciative.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_02: Because we couldn't plan anything, like this competition schedules and stuff.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, nothing was happening in California.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so I would just be like, Oh, so next month we're gonna go to this competition in Utah and this one in Reno.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_02: And they were like, All right, booking our flights.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like they were just, yeah, very lucky.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm very lucky, I know, to have very, you know, onboard parents.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_02: But I feel like that's what I put out there, and so that's what I attract.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_02: And most parents, and it's not for everyone.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_02: I totally respect that.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_02: I totally do.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_02: But most people who are like, oh, you know what?
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_02: We don't want to dedicate our lives to it.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like they just find themselves out, they weed themselves out, and it's better for all of us, you know.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_02: So there's plenty of dancers in Orange County to go around.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I can imagine.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so final few things.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us all about some of your your studio's most recent achievements, like the Dance Spirit cover and how that came about, and then also your recent best jazz studio at the Dance Awards this year.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us a little bit about those achievements that you've uh recently experienced.
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_02: I will never forget getting the email from Dance Spirit.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_02: I like I was waking up because they're on East Coast time, so I was still in bed, and I was like, oh my god, is this real?
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like I thought it was fake for sure.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_02: I believe it was like a studio stand spotlight.
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_02: It was kind of like the same thing.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_02: That was what the article was about.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, we actually so of course I said yes to the email.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh my god, absolutely.
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like we will do anything you want.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us where when and where and we'll be there.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_02: And they they had said they're like, we we want it with your, you know, your your three title holders, your standouts, you know, Grayson, Dylan, and Selena.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like a lot of people think I picked them to be on it.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was gonna ask how how that worked, actually.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they they they were they asked, and it makes sense because they are the three title holders of my company.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_02: So we had scheduled a date to do it in LA and champagne problems, it overlapped with our World of Dance filming.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_02: And World of Dance, like you just like you get dates the day of, or the literally like three hours before, and like I can't with that lifestyle.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_02: So I we had to move the cover shoot and we had to go to New York to do it, which is so fabulous.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_02: I love New York.
• 58:15
  SPEAKER_02: So all three of us and their moms, or all four of us, we flew to New York and we like did it in this cool studio.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_02: We had like a full day of shooting, and then I I got interviewed for the whole spread part of it.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, it was just so cool.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like I I and I'll remember when I like went home.
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_02: I was like at the beach in the summer and I went home, I checked my mail, and I got it in the man, and I was just like, I couldn't believe it.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_02: It was so great.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_02: We have like a huge, like it's a literally like a full, it covers the whole wall, a frame of just the spread, like the cover, the like spreads, all individuals.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it's hanging up in our studio, and like I get to see it every day.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say, you better have that thing framed, yeah, everywhere.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, it's it was like a very expensive Michaels trip to get it framed, but it's so worth it.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_02: So worth it.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_02: Best jazz studios, very stressful, actually.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I know a lot of people do like full, like what is it called, studio of the year where you have to do like all genres and stuff.
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I hear that is just the most stressful thing.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_02: But I was very stressed out about doing best jazz because you have to submit three jazz pieces, and obviously we have a lot more than three.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was like, God, did I pick the right ones?
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I I don't want to I don't want to be the one to ruin it by like submitting the wrong dances.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_02: And then yeah, we were called for best jazz, and it was just so awesome, and the kids were so excited because that was like our goal going there was to win best jazz studio, and it's great.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it's very great.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think it's much deserved for sure.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's a mix of classic, but also a new, a new wave of jazz, you know, it's a nice m blend of everything.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_00: And like we already talked about, just depending on the style, whatever the song needs, that's what you give it.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it's yeah, it's just so refreshing.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm and I'm sure like that is probably why I'm sure you picked three very different pieces that showed the versatility of jazz dance, um, which is so important.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_00: And we have a whole episode of listeners about jazz dance that you can go listen to from season two if you need to hear it.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because we love jazz dance over here.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we do.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_01: Love jazz.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for keeping it fresh.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_01: I guess to close out, so you're going into season seven.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_01: What are your goals for the future?
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, do you see yourself uh doing this for the rest of your life?
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_01: Do you see this being short term and then moving on to something different?
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what's the what's the goal here?
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think I decided not to ever have a plan because my plans never go fine.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_02: I like it.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like I always you know what I mean?
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_02: Just like the only thing you can count on is for things to not go your way or whatever that saying is.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_02: I love doing this.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_02: I can't imagine not doing it, but I don't think I want to be 50 doing it.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_02: So so yeah, I'm open to whatever the universe is going to send my way.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_02: But until now, it is my it is my pride and joy, it is my child.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have any like dreams of being a choreographer for any big things that are outside of tw of Project 21?
• 1:01:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what would be like a dream job?
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like if someone said, You're gonna do this, you have this opportunity, would you like jump on it because that's your dream, or would you be like, nope, I'm gonna wait until it's a better time?
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_00: Ugh, I'm so bad at these questions.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'm always just like, I'm happy where I'm at, kind of girl.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, not like a settling, but just like I like where I am, you know.
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_02: But I definitely, if I was asked to do Ariana Grande's tour, I would say yeah, put it out there.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_02: Put it out there.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_02: But just because she's my fave.
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_02: I love her too.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_02: But that's all.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_02: I like I like my kids.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_02: I like my little ones.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they see they seem, you know, you have a very very loyal uh student base, and you know, people stick with people they love.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I think you're I think you're good.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_00: This has been so awesome learning all about Project 21 and all about you, Molly, and thank you for everything that you're doing for our dance community and being such an inspiration to so many young dancers, to so many studios, uh to so many training programs out there that really, you know, admire your work and can't wait to see what you produce each season and you know, or excited to compete alongside you or against you.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's I I think it's you're doing such great things, and uh, we are so grateful that you spent your afternoon chatting with us and being our very first studio spotlight guest.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so honored.
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you guys so much.
• 1:02:45
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the way we usually have our guests take us out is just with any type of words of encouragement, any inspirational things you'd like to share, any final thoughts from Molly Long, the owner of Project 21, that you'd like to send out into the dance world.
• 1:03:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think I would just like to say make sure that whatever you do, you do it with passion, because that ultimately is what's going to drive you to success.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much to Molly Long of Project 21 for joining us on our very first studio spotlight episode.
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can stay up to date with Project 21 on social media at Project 21 Official, and be sure to follow Molly at Molly Long21.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have a favorite competition studio that you would love to share on one of our upcoming Spotlight Studio episodes?
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_00: We would love to know who you'd like to see.
• 1:03:38
  SPEAKER_00: Get us an email at Podcast at Impact Dance Educator.com to let us know your favorite and most inspiring studios who are making an impact in the competitive dance world.
• 1:03:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you love what you're listening to and would like to support our podcast, buy us a coffee now by clicking the link in our show notes.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_01: Your donation will help us create high-quality content for future episodes.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_01: All funds contributed will go directly into producing making the impact.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_01: We appreciate all of your support in any form.
• 1:04:05
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to check out IBA affiliated competition Spirit of Dance Awards.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_00: Spirit of Dance Awards has competition events throughout New England and the Tri-State area.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_00: They are thrilled to offer their spirit class for dancers with special considerations and are especially proud of their trophies for a calls program, in which studios have the opportunity to donate the funds that would have been spent on trophies to a charity of their choice.
• 1:04:37
  SPEAKER_00: At SDA, you will find their judges to be highly qualified and knowledgeable dance professionals, exclusively from the roster of judges at Impact Dance Educators.
• 1:04:46
  SPEAKER_00: At each event, they provide designated studio dressing areas, director and teacher via paper, scholarships, choreography awards, cash prizes, and so much more.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_00: Also be sure to check out the SDA class experience held during the fall each season.
• 1:05:01
  SPEAKER_00: Their guest faculty is compromised of some of today's top professional dancers and choreographers, from television, speech, screen, drawing, and even Say Think You Can Dance.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Spirit of Dance Awards and to check out their 2023 40s, head to their website now at spiritofdance awards.com.
• 1:05:19
  SPEAKER_00: We hope to see you at one of their upcoming events.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_01: We are so pumped about all the topics coming up in season three of Making the Impact.
• 1:05:26
  SPEAKER_01: On the list include prop potential, dance in college, and overstretching and flexibility.
• 1:05:32
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining us for season three.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep dancing.