Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Mini Mania! Featuring Richard Elszy and Katia Bode

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Mini Mania! Featuring Richard Elszy and Katia Bode · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at Advanced Composition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is Making the Impact, Advanced Composition 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.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: This week on Making the Impact, we're talking Mini Minis.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: The minis are the bread and letter of the dance studio world, and it takes a special teachers to build minis into the dancers of tomorrow.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Joining us today are Fitzky Abodi and Richard Elbe, two fantastic dance educators who produce some of the best minis we've ever seen.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: They're here to give us some tips and tricks to teaching these tiny dancers.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: Hey everybody, welcome to episode of Making the Impact A Dance Competition Podcast.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_03: I am your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I am here with my co-host, Leslie Mealing.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_03: Hey Courtney, hi friends and dance family.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: How are we?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing good.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: How are you doing, Leslie?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing great.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: As of this release date, I am walking without crutches.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hooray.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Go me.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so dancers out there, if you uh if you're ever on crutches, I feel for you.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you don't ever have to deal with that.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And keep taking ballet.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's all I have to say about it.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_03: Keep taking it.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, I took ballet this weekend.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: You did what?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, did I tell you?
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: No, no.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: I took ballet bar with Duncan Cooper.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: If y'all know who Duncan Cooper is, he's exceptional.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: And I have to admit, don't be like me dancers.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_03: This is probably my first ballet bar in like at least four years.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, oh god.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: Oh god.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_03: It's been a minute.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I just was like, I just gotta do it.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like I and and my hips, oh my gosh, my hips hurt so bad.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I was giving a 45 at all times.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: And my hips, the rotation, I just don't rotate like that anymore.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: But it felt so good.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: And it just come, it was so exciting for it to just like come back to me so naturally.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they do say it's like riding a bike, except you're probably pretty sore after riding a bike, also.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: So just like ballet bar.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: So yes, everybody listening, make sure you don't take ballet every four years like Courtney Ortiz.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure that you're taking it preferably at least once a week, maybe two or three times a week.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: That's gonna be like a New Year's resolution for me, maybe for 2022.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll come take bar with you and then I'll leave.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, great.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I can't do center.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-uh.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm leaving after bar.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: Well, goodness.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: Enough about us.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: We're here to talk today about the minis, y'all.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_03: This episode, mini mania.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's all about the minis.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure you know exactly who I'm talking about when I talk about those fierce minis.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_03: You all have seen them.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: We have sat in the audience and watched them.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: I have judged them with my jaw on the floor, wondering how in the world are six-year-olds doing what they're doing.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I can't wait for you all to hear from our special guests that are joining us today, because I feel like we found two of the best guests for this episode who currently are training those minis I just talked about.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_03: So we're going to introduce them soon, and you're gonna hear lots of helpful tips and tricks.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_03: And this is gonna be great for studio owners to hear and teachers as well.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_03: But before we jump into our episode, we wanna let you know a little bit about our sponsors, and this week's sponsor is Level Up Dance Supplies.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: Level Up Dance Supplies was founded in 2010 by a dance mom with the goal of being your one-stop shop for all of your dance gear and accessory needs.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: They have everything you need from backpacks, flooring, privacy tents, stretching and travel gear, plus all types of bags and rolling racks.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: Get ready for competition and stock up on all of your dance essentials with Level Up Dance Applies.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: At Making the Impact, we have an exclusive promo code for all of you podcast listeners to use at levelupdanceupplies.com.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: So be sure to use impact 21 in all caps.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: That's impact 21 in all caps at checkout to receive$10 off your entire order.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much to Level Up Dance Supplies for sponsoring us for our third season.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: And new this season, guys, we have a new opportunity for our listeners to support making the impact.
• 4:38
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• 4:50
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• 4:58
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• 5:00
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• 5:01
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• 5:03
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• 5:05
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• 5:08
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• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: The link is right in our show notes to donate today.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we are just so grateful for those of you who have already donated.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we wanted to give a shout out to our most recent supporter, Abby De la Cruz, who says simply, you guys are amazing.
• 5:28
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• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: All right, listeners.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: It is time to jump into this episode and meet our special guests who are joining us today.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_03: I cannot wait to get to know them more.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: They are both brand new guests joining us on the podcast.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: And the first guest that I'm excited to welcome, I got to know one of their dancers.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_03: And Leslie and I both, we watched their dancer in IDA's virtual competition when we started that back in March 2020.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: And this dancer won first place overall three times in three different IDA virtual competition events.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_03: Two times as an eight and under soloist.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: And then she got a little bit older and moved into the 9 to 11 division.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: And guess what?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: She won first place in the 9 to 11 division at the lowest end of that age division.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: So that is obviously saying something about this spectacular dancer.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I've also watched other dancers at uh their studio who competed in our event, and I was just blown away by the talent at such a young age.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_03: So I knew that this studio was training spectacular minis, and I had to have them on this episode.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_03: So I am super excited to have Katia Bodie here with us on the podcast today.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for having me.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_03: I am also so excited to be on the podcast.
• 6:51
  unknown: Yay!
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: And you're affiliated with Woodbury Dance Center in Minnesota.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm sure all y'all know if you've seen or heard of Woodbury before, you know what I'm talking about.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: But also PS Minnesota produces some fierce dancers, y'all.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: Let's be real.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I feel like everybody, every studio in Minnesota just blows me away.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm a huge fan.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for joining us on the pod.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: Shout out to your student Skyler, who won IDE's virtual competition three times.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: She has a very bright future, and so do so many of your dancers at the studio.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_03: So if you wouldn't mind sharing a little bit about who you are and anything you'd like to share about your studio as well.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we are in Woodbury, Minnesota, studio Woodbury Dance Center.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: I am a competition director here.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I do teach the our little babies, our minis, our juniors, our teens, and our seniors.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: But I have to say the minis are my favorite.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: So this is perfect that I'm on the podcast.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: They are my favorite.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: Many reasons why, and we'll get into that, I'm sure.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I've been teaching here for my mom owns the studio.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I've been here since day one.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: The studio has been open for, I believe we're on our 26th year.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: So from day one, I've been here.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: Took a little break after high school to dance in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then eventually made one my way back home.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: And here I am doing what I love.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_03: How long have you been teaching at the studio?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I think I was thinking about that this morning.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I'm going on 13 years.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that's wonderful.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'm assuming that you're if your mom owns the studio, then you trained at the studio growing up and your mom trained you.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: So your mom's doing something right too.
• 8:44
  unknown: Oh.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: Because she she taught you and then you came back and now you're teaching the minis and you're producing what you're producing.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, great job to your mom, you, everybody at the studio.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: You guys have a huge faculty as well.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: I I saw on the website.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: Lots of teachers.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's great.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we're big fans of y'all over here at IDA.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you so much for joining us today.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: You're welcome.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: And our next very special guest is joining us for the first time on the podcast.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like so many of you probably know this fabulous educator in the industry.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_03: I've been admiring his work from Facebook posts.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: I love, I love Facebook, y'all.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it connects us with so many people that we I would never even have a chance to connect with.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: And he posts such awesome videos when it comes to training these minis.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: And he even has an entire program and course devoted around his philosophy of teaching.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: So I think he was the perfect person to bring on for this episode.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I can't wait to introduce Richard Elzy to the podcast.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome, Richard.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_04: Hey everybody.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you for having me.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_04: I'm super excited to be here.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_04: I've listened to quite a few episodes of your podcast, and it's it's just so cool and informative.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_04: And what you're sharing with, you know, parents and teachers and educators is, I think, just so cool.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_04: Because that's something I, you know, I'm really passionate about as well.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_04: So thank you for having me.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: Of course.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for listening.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we're so happy.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_03: I know it was hard to squeeze this into your busy schedule, but I knew that we needed you on this one because this is like your specialty.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: So we're gonna hear all about your program as well, which be sure to give us a little rundown of you and your training background and any career credits you'd like to share, but also tell all the listeners a little bit about your program too.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, great.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_04: How much time do you have?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_04: I'm getting up there in years here.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_04: So I've I've been teaching for I was I was trying to figure this out too, for about 25 years.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna be 44 real soon, and I'm not scared to say it.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_04: It's fine.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_04: Been doing this for a while.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_04: I teach at a studio here in Los Angeles called a Dodge Dance Center.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_04: And I've been there for 17 years, and yeah, it's been a while.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_04: And then, you know, of course, I travel teach.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_04: I taught at Edge PAC for a long time and before they closed.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_04: I'm super sad about that.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: R.I.P.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, RAP totally.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_04: And then, as you know, in case listeners don't know, I also have a program called Building Blocks of Dance that I started based on things I'd learned that worked for me as a dancer training, because especially because I started very late training as a dancer, I started at 15.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_04: So I was really very late.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, for a guy, sometimes that's not late, but for I think for anyone that's pretty late.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_04: So I never trained as a mini, which is interesting.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's interesting.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_04: Right?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_04: And so I uh sort of started this program based on things I had learned that helped me, but also based on things that were working in class with my minis.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_04: And it's called Building Blocks of Dance, and it is for teachers that would like to learn the tips, tricks, uh games that have worked for me over the years.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_04: And it's a little different than sometimes what people might expect because when they look at my posts on uh Instagram and Facebook, you know, I like to post the things that that make people go, Whoa, that's so cool, you know, like that mini can do that, or their leg looks just so great and that up in the air and that panche and things like that.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_04: But really, my program is mostly geared towards understanding alignment, posture, tracking of the knees, how to use your feet, how to teach minis how to stay safe as they're learning to do these really cool tricks and things that are um becoming not only popular in the in the competition world, but also that's just kind of the way that dance evolves.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_04: Like as as we evolve, as teachers learn more, you know, kids are able to do more at younger ages.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_04: And I really started this program because I felt like people needed this.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_04: People needed these things.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_04: And I felt like, you know, not only are we training fabulous minis, but you know, we're training fabulous dancers as they grow older and then after they leave us as well.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_04: You know, dance should be a part of your life forever.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_04: And so I wanted to do my best to protect them and make sure they just have the tools to do that.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_04: So that's in a nutshell, me.
• 13:28
  unknown: Yeah.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_03: That's great.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I love everything that you're doing, and I love this course that you've developed, and I agree with you.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_03: I think it is definitely needed in our industry.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you so much for uh creating this for teachers out there and for all of the teachers who are listening who are curious about learning more about your program.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: Where can they learn more about it or purchase it?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you can go to buildingblocksofdance.com and it is a 10-week program.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_04: There are five instructional videos and five hour-long live sessions with me.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_04: So you I basically go along the course with you, and I've had over a hundred teachers go through level one so far.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_04: There's three levels, and yeah, we have another session coming in January.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_04: We usually do a January and a September session every year.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: So awesome.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Cool, that's great.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this will release right in time for people to be ready for the January session if they want to.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: So perfect.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect timing.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Go ahead.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you so much for sharing all of that information.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody go check out Richard's program and sign up for the January session.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm pumped to jump in.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about those minis.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, the little nuggets.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: Mini mania.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: We mini man.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: We all know that like the minis are, you know, that's where dancers start out.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: We all start.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, except for Richard, when he was 15.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: But like most of us start out with tiny little nuggets.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, you always hear the term or like the phrase, you know, the babies are your are your bread and butter of the dance studio.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you have to start somewhere and they're what you know your base is, and then you can grow them up.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: But I think teaching minis, I mean, Katia, my um mom is a studio owner as well, and watching her teach the babies, it is a skill.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: You can't just throw a 17-year-old assistant teacher in with the minis and expect that to like change the world.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious, in your experience, what makes teaching minis different and what makes it challenging?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think for sure, patience with a capital P.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it it is just requires a lot of patience and I would say creativity.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: I can, you know, plan out for days everything that I'm gonna do in the classroom, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think right now, especially with what they're going through at school and at home and everything in the world, there's a different energy in the room, I will say.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: So we just need to be a little bit more creative of how we're uh sharing these tools with them and how to get them to um pick up their choreography or refine their technique.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, patience and creativity.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Get on your patients' pants.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: That is that's real.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Richard, what do you so since Richard, since you didn't train yourself as a mini, what got you into teaching minis?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how did you even start teaching, having not grown up sort of in that atmosphere?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_04: To be honest, I I was just kind of thrown into it.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_04: And I just was always good at it from the day I walked in.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_04: I don't, honestly, I don't know why.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_04: I really don't know why I was good at it.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_04: But I was uh teaching at a Dodge dance center, and I the ballet teacher they had on staff wasn't working out for whatever reason.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_04: And actually, shockingly enough, it is kind of hard to find a ballet teacher in Los Angeles for many reasons.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_04: Many reasons they're performing, they're committed to strictly ballet studios, a lot of them.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_04: So a lot of them don't feel comfortable teaching dancers sometimes that are more of jazz contemporary dancers sometimes.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_04: So sometimes it's difficult.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_04: So the owner said to me, because you know, she knew I was a great technique teacher, I taught ballet as well.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_04: She's like, why don't you take over the ballet program?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_04: And this is a part of the program.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_04: Here are the minis and go.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so I walked into it and sort of just decided, you know, this is a great exercise for me to learn more about myself as a teacher, to learn another side of myself.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_04: Also, I was training at the time with a teacher, her name was Paula Morgan, or her name is Paula Morgan, she's around, and she in her 70s, a master teacher, had trained Tys Diorio, Carrie Legrand, all these famous Bill Bowl, these famous uh dancers, and I was learning a lot from her at the time and thought, well, you know, there's there's some things she's saying to me that I could translate and figure out a way to get these little ones to understand these really complex things, but make it super fun.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_04: And I love, I like what she said about, you know, having to change sort of the way that you are looking at your class or relating to your class, depending on what's going on in their lives.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_04: And I really like looked at at my classes and thought, you know, what can I, how can I translate this into a way that is simple enough for them to understand, relates to them, and makes them go, oh, this is actually really fun.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_04: Even though I'm learning totally about like how to align my knees properly and use my metatarsals in the right way, you know, they don't understand that, but it's I s it still becomes fun for them.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_04: And so that's kind of like I love that she said that because I think that anybody who really loves teaching minis and likes the challenge of it is sort of like that's a real big part of it, you know, is that creativity and being able to read your class and that extreme patience with the capital P.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_04: Sometimes I think of it as putting on my blinders for a second, because I I think I tell the teachers when I program this too.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_04: Sometimes I go in there and I'm like, today this is gonna happen.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_04: Like this has to happen today because we've got competition in a month, or we gotta learn this because we're gonna learn this in the routine or something, you know.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_04: And then I go in and like there's the parents that are watching in the window, maybe it's beauty week, and I'm like, oh, okay, we're gonna do this today, but maybe it's just that day where for whatever reason the teachers decided at school to give them candy or something, and it's just like everywhere.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe it's just that's just not the day for it, and I gotta go, you know, we're gonna touch upon it.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna put on my blinders, I'm gonna read them.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna see the things that are wrong today, I'm gonna see the things, I'm gonna see the things that are right and start from there.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_04: So interesting.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_04: Anyway.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: I love all of the things that you you both just said in regards to it, and I think that it's it's definitely interesting to hear, Richard, how you kind of approached the concept of figuring out ways to be creative to explain to a little seven-year-old how to articulate through your feet properly or align your knees.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: The dancers probably don't even know that that's what they're doing if it's taught in a way that is a relatable to them and like with terms that are that they can understand and make it kid-friendly and fun.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that is probably where a lot of teachers struggle in working with the minis, where they don't really have that cre I mean, no offense to teachers.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not calling you out, but I'm saying I'm sure it can be a challenge if you don't have that creative mind to come up with different ways to approach teaching something as important as alignment, because that's the foundation.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: The kids need to know what the difference is between parallel feet and turned out feet, and they're not.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: They they never learned it in a way that felt relatable, I guess.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so if teachers are creating ways and using terms that the kids understand, they're going to adapt to it easier.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the same thing, actually, and Leslie, I'm sure you can relate, applies to judging because a lot of times judges will get into the mindset when they're critiquing minis and we're talking directly to the dancer, but they're using these terms that like only the teacher would really understand.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I think as judges, we have to get creative in how we are describing feedback in a way that is relatable for young ears to hear and take that criticism and say, you know, you know what I mean?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's a very, very hard skill, actually.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I think uh the Katia, you uh said something that sparked me to think about, you know, patience, yes, but flexibility in your own mind as a teacher and As a judge, I think for minis is so important because if you walk in with a fixed mindset, Richard, like you mentioned, you can't do sometimes of I'm gonna do this thing today and it's gonna happen today.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they get they got candy in kindergarten at somebody's birthday, and that is not happening today.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: So what's your plan?
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, as a mini teacher, you can't, I mean, as any kind of teacher really, like you do have to be able to turn on a dime and say, okay, that lesson plan is not gonna work.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: What is plan B?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: What is plan C?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because she's running around like a crazy person over here, Sally is, and she's not staying on her spot.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, you you just have to pull so many things out of your magic hat.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Haha, imagery, magic hat.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's imagery, imagery, imagery all over the place.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that is what separates a great mini teacher from just a great teacher.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, listen, you can be a great teacher, but have no business teaching minis because you're more interested in talking about your metatarsals or the alignment of the knee over the tibia.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, children don't care about that.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: What they do care about is standing up tall like a tree and rooting, you know, growing their roots into the ground.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like this is what children relate to.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: So if you as a teacher can be flexible in how you're willing to word things, and if you can drop the sort of, I have a BFA in dance ego, which plenty of us do.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Good for us.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: But a six-year-old doesn't necessarily care.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: And in your BFA in dance, you may or may not have been trained to teach a six-year-old.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that is the truth about the BFA system, anyway.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_04: Kids don't know what a BFA is.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_04: Right, exactly.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_04: They really just don't.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_04: The mom might, but they're amazing.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_04: Um, it's you know what's funny is I sometimes people I've had people call me the Mr.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_04: Rogers of Dance sometimes.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_04: And it's funny because I love why I think this.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, one of the things that I like, I really I used to love Mr.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_04: Rogers when I was a kid.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_04: And but actually before I want before I knew I was gonna be a dance teacher, before my life took this like turn or whatever, I actually wanted to be a second grade teacher because I I loved elementary school.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_04: Like I second grade was my favorite grade, right?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_04: And I loved what I loved about Mr.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_04: Rogers though is one, like I love like the opening of his show because he walks in, right?
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't know how many times they shoot that opening or they shot it, but he did everything exactly the same every single time he walked in.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_04: To the T.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_04: There's even if you watch like read books about him, like he buttons everything like exactly the same, right?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_04: Because he knows that kids like they love structure, right?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_04: They love structure.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_04: And then I also love because it makes them feel safe, it makes them feel at home, right?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_04: And I also love about his show that he talked about so many things that were like actually beyond probably what they can really understand, like, you know, accepting tolerance, accepting other people, like emotions that, you know, are hard to talk to little kids about.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_04: Like he covered these things, but he did them in ways that were relatable and also very like kind of particular, but in ways that were almost like fun.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_04: And so I thought, wow, this is actually like there's something to be learned from this when you're working with with littles and with minis, really with anybody, you know?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_04: And like, oh, like how can I be inspired by that and sort of like find out like what how do I relate that to dance and to little ones and how I like communicate these concepts to them and how do I make them feel, you know, safe and at home in the classroom.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_04: And also how am I able, because when I do that, then I'm able to be not only like share these concepts with concepts with them, but I'm able to actually give them real corrections in ways that makes them feel like they're not being like, you know, you know, talked to or talked at in ways that make them feel like, oh, I understand that correction because I understand what my ice cream scoop is.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_04: That's the term that I use for for basically a posture alignment of your your center and for pull-up, right?
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_04: And so these ways, like by giving them a language, it sort of like gets them to understand how to like take correction.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know, super interesting.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know why that just came to mind when you were talking.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love that.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: When like, I mean, as as somebody who also grew up with Mr.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: Rogers, like I feel you, you're totally right.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, kids thrive on structure and and they're smarter than I think we give them credit for sometimes.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's just that you can't spout off, you know, anatomical definitions all the time and expect them to absorb it, which is why you have to talk about an ice cream scoop.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: But then once they get to a certain age, they're gonna be able to understand how that, you know, comes together with the anatomical physiology terminology.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: So excellent.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's really cool.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_04: I think because you were, I think as you were talking about that, that the BFA thing and like sort of letting go of that side of yourself that's like, this is what it is, and this is the way that it's traditionally explained, you know, it's sort of like I think Katia probably would relate to this too, is at some point you kind of have to let go of self a little bit and be like, okay, like, you know, this McMaybe I don't know everything because I am gonna have to alter the way that I think of this in order to make them understand it.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's a big thing with teach working with littles that I I had to really learn.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_04: It took me a second, but I somehow figured it out.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Katia, what so you're teaching littles on a regular basis, right?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm at the studio.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: So we were t we talked earlier about Skylar, your amazing uh soloist that we saw at the IDA virtual a couple times.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Thinking about her class, and I think uh listeners, we'll we'll maybe post one of Skylar's routines that won in the show notes so you can see who we're talking about and the kind of dancer we're talking about.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: But thinking about like Skylar's class week and the kids in her class, what does that training schedule look like for them?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: So they have And I guess can you tell us how old she is right now?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Ten.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: She's ten.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: So can you think back to when she was eight?
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Is that too far away?
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's this is perfect.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: So they have let's see, we have our petites and our juniors.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: They will take ballet three to four days a week, a technique class once a week, and then rehearsals depending on how many routines they're in, up to four days a week.
• 28:09
  unknown: Okay.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then we recently started a program on Sundays that's called Sunday Ballet, trying our best to encourage the dancers to love ballet at a young age.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Do they?
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: They actually do.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we're blessed with an incredible ballet teacher and teachers, and that really is what does it.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we've had years when the kids don't love ballet as much, and sometimes it does have to do with the teachers, you know.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: But right now we're super lucky to have incredible ballet staff.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, ballet training and technique classes.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I think, especially at that younger age, they want to compete and they want to do well.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: So, yes, the rehearsals are so, so important.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: But my number one goal, especially with my minis, is that they're coming into the studio and we're not just cleaning our dances every day.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not just perfecting a two and a half minute routine, but I'm really focusing on technique and their training.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: I'm heard it here, folks.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you heard it.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: Y'all heard it.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_03: Again, we've been saying this a lot on the podcast lately, everybody.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is a it's a theme this season, Courtney.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: Is ballet multiple times a week.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, who would have thought?
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_03: But what about like, okay, like, or maybe you could even think about some of the current five-year-olds, six-year-olds that you have at the studio.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: Are they also taking ballet that often, or is their schedule a little less?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_03: Three days a week still.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_03: For five-year-olds?
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_02: Five-year-olds, two days a week.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, but still two days?
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm still like that's except I'm surprised that well, that's a requirement, I'm assuming, to be on the team.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: But like obviously, it's we're not just doing baby combo classes, y'all.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like they're in ballet twice a week.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_03: That's not even any other classes.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: And we have to get very creative with the ballet classes.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it isn't their typical walk in, go to the ballet bar, going through a typical ballet class that they will as they get older.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_02: But it's a little bit more fun.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: The terms are a little different.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: But you're probably still using starting the basics.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's still fun.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's still definitely not, like you said, a 45-minute bar and a 30-minute.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: No, none of that.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the important thing, especially when they're younger, is that we're teaching them class etiquette is like number one.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: I want to get to the thing.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: How to take class, how to apply corrections.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's like the biggest tool that we can teach them at this younger age.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: I'm really glad you brought that up because that was a question that I wanted to ask actually.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_03: Was I feel like, and I I could be wrong, but and I guess I'm also even speaking from my personal experience.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_03: I love a mini.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_03: I love the mini class.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_03: I love teaching it.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: I want to give a shout out to every single teacher in the world that has to teach the minis on the weekly, because that is a very hard job.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I think what makes it hard is if the dancers don't have etiquette.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's when it's hard.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_03: Because they're just so darn cute and we just love the little minis.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I think there's so many teachers that are so excited to like sculpt a dancer from the very beginning and like make them into what their potential is going to be and creating it from the ground up.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: But some teachers, I'm sure, are listening and they're like, I can't even get my kids to stand on their dot on the floor beside because they're doing cartwheels or hanging on the bars or doing all the things that we all know minis might be doing in class.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: And that comes down to etiquette.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that etiquette is possibly something that turns teachers away from wanting to work with minis more.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: What types of etiquette advice or things are you guys implementing in those classes that could be helpful for teachers listening to utilize if you have any recommendations or advice, suggestions?
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I'm pretty big about with class etiquette of like, we are not crossing our arms.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: If we're yawning, we gonna do like five jumping jacks in the corner just to wake yourselves up.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I I don't say it in a harsh way or in a mean way, it's just a friendly reminder, right?
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I'll give them the example of like, I'll start teaching and I cross my arms and I kind of slouch and start yawning and I say, Are you excited to learn from me today?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: So if they're doing the same thing, then you're probably not as excited to take the information in that I'm giving you.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: And they do respond to that really well.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the younger you can teach that to them, just those little behavior things, the better.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_02: Another thing that I do in my class, especially with the little ones, because I go out in that lobby and they have like as many little fidgas as they can fit in their in their dance bag, and just like running around as we come in the room and I always have like an obstacle course or station set up just to get them in the room and they can like run free for a while.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: And it's always themed.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: In October, we do spooky, you know, jumping jack-o'-lanterns and pumpkin rolls and all of the Halloween spooky things.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, November it will be all Thanksgiving related.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I first get them to just come in and run around the room, let out all their energy, and that helps a lot.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: Because then when it is time to learn and time to, you know, listen and follow along, it feels like they wore out some of their energy so they can focus a little bit better.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: So that's super helpful.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_04: Actually, um, I like that uh some of the things you said, like it you especially like um Katia, especially like uh when you you said, you know, you don't you show them like, oh, if I stand like this, you're not gonna wanna, you wouldn't want to learn from me, you know.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_04: I because I always feel like when I leave the mini-room, I am the most exhausted.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_04: Like I have to say, I'm so tired because I have to be the most on, because my energy has to match their energy in the way I want their energy to be for me.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_04: And so I leave the room sometimes and I might have like the seniors next, and I'm like, you guys gotta give me two minutes.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_04: I gotta walk outside and have some air for a second.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_04: Because my head is like spinning because I was just on for like an hour with minis.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_04: So it's kind of funny you said that.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_04: Some of the things it's interesting, though, the question that you asked about structure or getting them to, you know, uh be able to have class etiquette, is that that's one of the things I I learned from Mr.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_04: Rogers the opening.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_04: Because one of a part of my program, one of the things I do is I talk about things that have helped me get the minis to focus enough to get these concepts.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_04: Because in order to get the concepts, you have to have a certain level of focus, right?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_04: And so, you know, my program is a lot about, you know, for instance, when I'm ready to start class, I have them, I have a certain position I like their arms to be in, and we all ballet walk in.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_04: And so they start the the class.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, I don't start younger than about five.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_04: I've had fours, but my rule, because I don't have an assistant when I teach, it's just me, and I don't use music when I teach either.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_04: Very rarely.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_04: Oh.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_04: Even with the littles.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_04: I'm different.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_04: Interesting.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_04: But so with the littles, if they can't, it's kind of a funny rule.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_04: If they can't use the restroom on their own, I can't teach them because I'm a guy and I don't have an assistant.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_04: And so five usually is a rows.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_04: So, but for me, you know, I have a system that is an order of the way I like to do things, much like Mr.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_04: Rogers, and the way I present it is designed to make them understand how to focus.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_04: And so, you know, I have a countdown method with certain when I'm teaching them a new element, I have a certain way that I teach it, and then I have a certain way that I have them focus and hold that position.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_04: And it's a game.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_04: How, how long can we hold it?
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I have little analogies like my free spray, how long can we hold this position, doing this, this new element of your posture.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_04: So, and it's all kind of done in like a structured way so that you know the goal is that as a teacher starts within the program, maybe, and I tell them this, I'm like, it's gonna take time, but maybe when they start, they might get a good five minutes of concentrated mini work.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_04: But over the time as they work with them, they might end up with a half an hour of concentrated mini work where they're getting some like, wow, some pretty like cool stuff done in terms of like some complex things they're getting.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_04: And then they still can incorporate those things, like you know, the fun things they're doing with the music and with the the props and you know, the stuff for coordination, the stuff with getting their energy out, like, because that's important too.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_04: So that's kind of some of the stuff that I I do to try to get them focused, because in order to get some of those concepts into their bodies, you have to have a certain level of focus.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_04: And the younger they get that focus, as they grow, you know, they're gonna understand, oh, this is what dance is.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_04: It's actually a fine art and it's fun.
• 37:07
  unknown: Yeah.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_04: And a fine art.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_04: You don't go into violin class jumping off the walls, you know.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_04: So it's it's a balance.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they need to they need to be taught the ed I think that's that's extremely important for for people to hear.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I've I think I've definitely said this on the podcast before as well, but like being a guest teacher, I don't I don't teach in studio on the regular.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: I travel and teach.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_03: So I get to experience etiquette at different studios.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_03: Some have better than others.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_03: At the same regardless, etiquette should be taught.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_03: And there are many times that I go to studios that I'm like, there is zero etiquette here.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_03: How do you, as a teacher, not see that?
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_03: And how are you okay with bringing a guest into your studio that's noticing the lack of etiquette?
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I would be so afraid to have anybody walk into my studio that if my kids weren't on their best behavior and there's a disconnect.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I it starts, I think it starts from the minis.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_03: I think it starts from the very beginning.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_03: Because if the teens don't have etiquette, they were never taught it when they were young.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that that's a huge part of those mini classes that, like you said, if they don't have the focus, they're not going to be able to learn.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_03: So the etiquette has to come first.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_03: The focus and the etiquette needs to be implemented more, I think, in classes.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I think another important thing to remember, especially with our two guests and the dancers that they work with on the regular, is like their dancers are training multi-day in the studio.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_03: So they're getting that etiquette more times, you know, repetition.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_05: True.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_03: So that's another important thing.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm curious, like, I'm sure a lot of people are listening.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_03: Well, my minis only go to the studio one day a week, or how am I supposed to get etiquette done, but also be able to teach them how to do a leap across the floor and a bat ma, you know, things like that.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_03: But I think that there's ways to incorporate it in.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: It should be in every something as simple as what Richard said is having a set way to come into the classroom.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's they do that in regular school.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like you walk in, you put your stuff down at your desk, you put it at your cubby, whatever it is that you do.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's always a consistent way to come into the room to say, I am coming in and we are ready to do the thing that we do here.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is where we take dance class.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: This is how I enter the dance classroom.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I think some teachers, myself sometimes included, just you just want to get to class and you're like, find your spot, you know, let's do plas or whatever.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: But you you can't forget about that need for consistency, that need for structure.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: And when you abandon that is when the disconnect starts to happen.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: And if you are only in class one day a week, that's what you have to have.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's the way you're gonna get the etiquette to come eventually.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's not gonna come overnight.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like Richard said, you're gonna get five minutes once for three, four weeks until you maybe graduate up because everything takes time.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that is the challenge of being a very consistent mini teacher, is you have to, it's it comes down to the teacher.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: You have to have, you have to have the patience, you have to have the willingness to do things very consistently.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I would, and I'm not a parent, but I would assume this is very much like parenting, like as much as you just want to let them wake up from their nap early, if you want them to ever take that hour and a half nap, you have to hold your ground, you know?
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: And like you just you have to have that commitment to whatever the task is at hand to say, you know what?
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_01: No, we're doing this every time.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then eventually it will catch on and it's gonna be the standard.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_04: I think for like definitely like an element of forgiveness for yourself as a teacher as well.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_04: Because I think that, like, especially for those of us who've been doing this for a while, you know, that sometimes you're thinking, oh, I'm, you know, why is this not happening like it always happens?
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_04: You know, why why doesn't isn't this dancer getting it like this dancer got it two years ago?
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_04: Well, this dancer is not that dancer that you had two years ago.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_04: Also, it's two years ago and times are different right now.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_04: And so sometimes it's about like, you know, looking at myself being like, Richard, it's okay.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_04: Stick to stick to what you know, alter it a little bit, you know, and and everything is gonna be okay.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_04: Um, also what you were saying about elementary school, this just I just remember this.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_04: I remember being in kindergarten and feeling so scared to walk into the classroom.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_04: I remember being terrified because I was that kid, right?
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_04: I remember being in line in front of the door and being so scared to walk in and like wanting to cry, right?
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_04: But then because of the systems they had in place, when you walked in, I don't remember being scared anymore once I was in because you have a routine.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_04: And so now your mind is focused on, oh, now we do this, now we do this.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_04: My crayon box goes this, now I sit down, I put my hands like this, the teacher stands up and does this.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_04: So then on now everything fades away.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_04: And so I love that you said that.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_04: And actually, I just should just remember that right now.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_04: Fun.
• 41:55
  unknown: Yeah, yeah.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: Fun.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: Memories.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_03: Remember that memories.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_03: Y'all know what I'm talking about when I say tricks.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_03: I know we've all seen some of those minis that can do triple leg catch turns and six pirouettes and side leaps with their legs up to their ears.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_03: I've seen it.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_03: My mind is blown whenever I see it.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_03: Now, my question is do we feel like tricks are one of the important elements for minis to be focusing on at that age?
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_03: And do we also feel do you feel that tricks are kind of being taught too young at times, certain skills?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_03: The emphasis on having particular tricks at a young age, it's pretty heavy as far as you know, rewarding that and praising that at such a young age.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_03: What are y'all's thoughts on just tricks in general?
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_03: What is necessary for a mini to actually be learning?
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_03: Because I think that minis are getting more advanced as we every year.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes it's like, do they need to be that advanced at that age?
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_03: I guess is is kind of my main question.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_03: Thoughts on the tricks, y'all.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this is this is a tricky question.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I am still a little bit torn on this question too.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: New this year, we've always offered optional acro classes.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: New this year, it's built into their weekly schedule.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_02: So now our competition kids are required to take acro classes, and for that reason, like I want to make sure that if they are doing these tricks and skills at home, that they're doing them safely and learning them properly.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_02: So we do have it built into their schedule.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: For me, especially Minnie's, I mean, I think back to when I'm a kid and and why I fell in love with dance.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_02: I would never imagine like stepping into Mandy Moore's class and having us go across the floor.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: In her being like, all right, we're gonna start with a front walkover, and then we're gonna step into an aerial and then we're gonna do a leg holder.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_02: And thank God she didn't do that because I would hate it.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_02: I think.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm all about the jazz progressions.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like that is number one for me.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_02: But like you said, dance is heading a different direction.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I do think it is important that if these kids want to keep up, maybe with with where they want to go with their dancing, that that I am allowing them the opportunity to learn these tricks and skills.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_02: Because dance is just different now, like you said, which is is good and crazy and all of those things.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_03: Very different from when we were minis.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_03: Like oh yeah, in the night and day.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_03: I learned a switch leap when I was eight.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_03: It looked tragic.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like I learned it when I was eight, and I thought it was the best thing in the world.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: These kids can do so much more than front aerials at eight now.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't see enough switch leaps though.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_03: I could I could get some switch leaps in motion.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_03: Switch leap.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_03: It's a hard skill, everybody.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_03: A hard skill.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_04: I used to have a good turning switch leap.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_04: Remember that one?
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, I love the turning one.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_04: That's even harder.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_04: Do those.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_04: That was my genius.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_03: For the switch second.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I had a great switch.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_04: I was all about the switches too.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's a great skill.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_02: The biggest thing for me that has come out of it though is that these kids are becoming more fearless.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: So they're not scared to, you know, try something new because they like, for example, I'm really big on like goal setting.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: The kids need to set goals at the beginning of the year.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: We do like monthly check-ins, we do monthly reflections, lots of journaling.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: Love a good journaling exercise.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I had the kids, I pulled out their goals from one year ago with their afro skills.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I would say, like, all right, Rebecca, stand up.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: Your goal was to do uh Ariel, and she did an Ariel.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_02: Love that.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Rachel, your goal was a Valdez, and she did her Valdez.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_02: Every single kid in the room accomplished all of their goals that they had a year ago.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_02: And they all had this like moment where they were like, oh my gosh.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we're good.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: We can do this.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, you're right, you are.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_02: So time to set new goals.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm always one to look on the positive side of things.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_02: So yes, I wasn't quite on board with the tricks and skills I would say a few years ago.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: But these are things that I'm learning, you know, as I'm teaching that that these are the good things that are coming out of these this new direction of dance.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and what you said about allowing them, like if this is where we're going, I can at least allow them to do it safely and properly.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, now we have an acro class that you are coming to instead of learning how to do an aerial in your front yard.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like I think that's key as well.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_01: That, you know, if we are gonna get into Trickland, because we are, you gotta at least give them the proper tools to do it well.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_04: That's like um actually, cause I would say the same that, you know, I've been I've been doing this for a long time.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_04: And so I saw the trends start to change many years back, you know, as we've all been doing this for a while.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_04: And that was one of the reasons why I started, I didn't have my program back then, but that was uh one of the reasons why I started, actually it was the main reason to be honest, why I started making the program that I have, because you know, I would go into my room and to my, you know, technique room or ballet room and you know, do my thing.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_04: And then next door, they'd walk next door and they're learning, they're trying to learn how to do triple pirouette.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_04: They can't even stand up yet, you know.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_04: And I thought, okay, what is this doing to their bodies?
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_04: You know, to how are they gonna be when they're older, trying to not only continue their training because people don't realize that, like, when you when your body changes and you become a teen, all the things that you've done to your body as a mini and junior, they're still with you as your body changes.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_04: So if your alignment is not as such and you're very hyperextended in your back, now you have how overdeveloped quads because you've been doing all these switch things and you haven't been using the right muscles or had the alignment to do them.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_04: Now, you know, you don't know how to track your knees, so now your knees possibly are already starting to hurt you.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe your shoulders are overdeveloped because you know you never had them, understood how to stretch them properly or put them into line.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_04: So these things like they follow you, and then when you go back and have to fix them, not only are you fixing one problem, you're fixing ten problems.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_04: Because a problem made a problem, made a problem, made a problem.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_04: Now you gotta go back and fix it all.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_04: So it takes longer.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_04: And so I thought to myself, okay, I like to think on the upside of things as well, and I thought, I'm not gonna change the trend.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_04: Like, little oh me is not gonna change the trend.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_04: This is the way that the world works, you know?
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_04: When in the 90s, when I competed, you know, people that competed in the 80s thought, wow, you guys are doing such hard stuff.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_04: It just continues to go.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_04: So it's never gonna change.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_04: So I thought myself, well, what can I do to support what it is that's happening?
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_04: What can I do to support that teacher next door that's working on that?
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_04: Because that teacher has a talent to get that skill, but what can I do in my view of what more my skills skill sets are, what my goals would be for these dancers?
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_04: What can I do to support that to make them ready and to make it safer for them as they do these things?
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_04: And that's kind of like where my my mindset was, because I'm not as I'm not a trick hater at all.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_04: Like, and I'm I think they're fun and I think they look cool, and I like to teach a good trick.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's fun.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_04: One of the things that I like to do with mine though is, you know, instead of walking in the first day and working on a trick, we're gonna walk in, work on the alignment and the strength, and then as their body is ready for the tricks, we go.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_04: You know, so it's it's the system, or you know, I'm gonna go in and build their strength and build their alignment so that the teacher that is designated to work on those skills for that period of time feels like, oh, they're actually really ready to do this.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, that's cool.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, it looks really good.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_01: You're making their job easier.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_04: And that's what really my program is about.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_04: Like, two, and about what I do is about.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_04: Like I always tell teachers, like, you know, every teacher has the their talent and their gifts and what they see and what excites them, you know, and I think that's the really great thing about knowing so many talented teachers, right?
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_04: And I always say to them, like, you know, because sometimes you go into a program or you hear other educators talk and they're like, if you don't do it my way, then you know, da-da-da-da-da-da-da, and this and that, that, you know, BFA mentality.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_04: We don't like to say that, but you know what I'm saying?
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, I like that everybody is so different and has different, you know, different abilities with minis, with dancers.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_04: And so I always tell people, what I do and what my program does is just to support you and what you do.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_04: I liked what Katia said about like, you know, like this is what's needed to is expected sometimes in competition nowadays.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_04: Or is it's gonna be expected of them maybe as a junior when they walk into somebody's class, they they might go across the floor and the teacher's like, now we're gonna do three pirouettes into you know a leap and they've never they might have to know these things, right?
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_04: And so I can't be a hater of of what what they might need in the future because it is what it is.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, yeah, I agree.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I will add to because I I judge for masquerade, is when I'm judging, I would never give a kid a platinum over a high gold just because they did an aerial ever.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody said maybe if they have like a a pretty transition into you know, a front walkover into something pretty that has to do with movement, but it's definitely not a make or break.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_04: I love to hear you say that, especially to like you know, when you've got like, you probably will identify with me, um, Katia, like, you know, you've got you know, students or possibly parents that, you know, are like, my daughter doesn't have that arrow in her solo.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_04: She's never gonna win first place.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, actually, I think she's gonna be okay because she's beautiful, she's a beautiful mover, she's got great focus, she's a beautiful performer, she does this really well.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_04: Like sometimes people get their blind, like their one-track mindedness set on, well, that kid, that mini does this, so my mini has to do this.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like actually not real.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_04: And I think a lot of judges would agree with I love that what you just said.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_04: I think a lot of judges would identify with you with that as well, as I do too.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_04: You know, absolutely.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and I I think we can speak for IDA judges as a whole as well.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's the same, you know.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_01: You you don't have to have all these crazy tricks.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_01: You need to have good technique and you need to show me components of an actual jazz routine.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_01: If it's jazz, which is my segue into what are the exercise the components that make up a successful mini routine.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, that's that's what you need.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need all the tricks.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_01: Tricks are nice, they're like Carla from Expression said on our podcast uh previously, it's the sprinkles.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the tricks are the sprinkles.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_01: You can't have a delicious cake without the foundation of the cake.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_01: All you have is sprinkles, if that's if you just have tricks.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_03: And one thing to add, which I'm just kind of agreeing with everyone, and just being the fourth voice on this trick topic, is I totally agree that we don't need the tricks, we need the technique, we need the foundation, we need the proper alignment, we need the strength, we need the control, we need the transitions into the tricks that make them exciting to watch.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_03: But I think that like you kind of like all of us kind of mesh mentioned, the pressure in the trends of advancing before dancers are ready is the problem that's happening in the industry.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_03: And there's that pressure of, oh my gosh, I need an aerial or I won't win first place when your aerial looks a hot mess and you're not pulling it successfully every time you get on stage.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-uh, sorry about it.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_03: It does not need to be in your dance.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_03: And that applies to any skill that you are not successfully nailing every time you run your routine.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_03: It should not be a questionable skill in your dance for a solo at competition if you want to succeed.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_03: Once you get to the senior level, I want you to take risks.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_03: I want you to fall off your center.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_03: I want that.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_03: But for a mini, I just want you to be clean.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_03: Show me what you're working on in class and be clean, dance on the beats, clap on the beat, don't step heel toe, step toe ball heel.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, things that many should be doing and the pressure of advancing too quick, and studios and maybe the parents too are pressuring the teachers, like we said, to advance before they're ready.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_03: I think we have to remember go back to basics.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_03: I say it all the time, and that's why I love Richard that your course is called the building blocks of dance.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_03: Hello.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_03: We cannot advance to the top block until we have the supporting block at the bottom.
• 55:16
  unknown: Yeah.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's just we we say it all the time, this type of stuff all the time on the podcast.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why I'm so glad we have this podcast platform to say it, because we can say it on our judge critiques all the time.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if it's being listened to.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_03: I know y'all are listening to these episodes.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_03: I see who's listening to these episodes.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully Yes, we have good analytics, y'all.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_04: You know what else?
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_04: I have to say, like, what is wrong with dance being a journey?
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, your dance training is a journey.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_04: And sometimes when, you know, you know, whoever it is that is looking at, you know, Suzy Q dancer that maybe my dancer doesn't do what that dancer does, okay?
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_04: If you are saying, oh, throw out everything, I want my dancer to do this one thing, now you're taking away from those things that your dancer not only does well, but those things that would be a part of their personal dance journey, right?
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_04: Because everybody is different, every mind is different.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_04: If you were born and you were, you know, the sort of like that super flexible, like loosey-goosey dancer, you know, that takes a long time to build strength, right?
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_04: Versus a dancer that's built like a brick, like they are strong automatically, right?
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_04: This dancer that's built like with the the natural strength, and this dancer that's built more as, you know, I call them sometimes they might be a little noodly, right?
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, their journey to get to their their ultimate potential is different, right?
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_04: And if you skip over that journey to get a trick and to focus for six months for a trick, you're cheating your dancer of their ultimate potential because maybe that's not their journey.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_04: And you know what?
• 56:55
  unknown: That's okay.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_04: Because they're all gonna be just as beautiful as each other and they're all gonna be special.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_04: That's what dance is about.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_04: That's why it's also an art, right?
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_00: That was beautiful.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_00: That was such a beautiful like soapbox.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 57:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk really briefly before we close.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you could share with us one, if you had one specific exercise or combination of things that you like to do with the minis that you find gives them, you know, something that you need strength, control, balance, alignment.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what is something that you like to do with all of your minis that you find garners really good results?
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_04: That's a great question because there's a lot of things that I'm trying to do.
• 57:37
  unknown: I know.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I don't want you to share your whole building bronze program.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_01: I just need like one tiny little nugget so that we can, you know, give people some hope.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_04: Uh you know, an important thing for me is the feet.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_04: Feet, feet, teeth, feet.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_03: Me too.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_04: Feet.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_04: Feet is is important.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I think because thing that people find kind of shocking about my program is in my program, they don't wear shoes from the beginning of class.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_04: Because a lot of times, you know, if you're a ballet teacher or a technique teacher, in general, you've got your ballet shoes on or you've got your jazz shoes on, and the kids, as they grow and as they're learning, you don't see what their feet are doing inside their shoe.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_04: So you may have even a mini or a junior or you know, a kid the inside their shoe, their toes are starting to overlap, right?
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_04: And you're never gonna catch it because you never see them without their shoes on in their technique class.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_04: Good point.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_04: So looking at feet and also feet exercises.
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_04: We do some feet exercises called eyelashes, little piggy open and close the door.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_04: Um these things that are designed designed to help them to condition their feet so that they're they're ready for to have stable a stability in their feet and alignment and the use of their feet will make it easier for them.
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_04: So that'd be my thing.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_02: My tip would be to, as we said earlier, keep things consistent for the minis.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_02: So we do our our pirouette balancing exercise every class is to Justin Bieber, baby baby.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_02: So they know that I don't even have to say it.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_02: I just push play and they hear and they stand and they're ready to go.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_02: So they know the combination.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_02: Same with we do what do you mean, Justin Bieber again.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what it is about just beer.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_04: You just really like just being carries in my class.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_02: They love the paper.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_02: We do what do you mean?
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_02: Jumping jacks.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_02: And then every time he says, What do you mean, you do a burpee, and they just know it.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_02: Again, I don't even have to say, We're doing your your burpees.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_02: And they giggle because they're like, He's saying it again.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, yeah, do another burpee.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_02: And they love it.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's it is just like keeping it consistent, right?
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_02: Especially with technique.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_02: If they know the combination without even having to think about it, then they can really focus on their technique.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_02: And us as teachers can try to get through to them with breaking those little bad habits that they have.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because that's what's so hard, is when like you're trying to teach something different every class, you only have 45 minutes, but you don't even have time to correct what you just witnessed.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_03: And then if you don't redo it next week, then how are they gonna apply the correction?
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's wonderful advice to have a little bit more repetition and structure on the weekly for those same classes so they know exactly what they're gonna have be expected to do, and then you can, you know, correct as needed, so they're not doing the habits, like you said, because and I think you mentioned this earlier, Katia, like getting dancers to understand how to self-correct themselves at a young age is really important.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's a very hard skill.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_03: It's hard to learn how to do that.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's why we have mirrors to watch, you know, there's one teacher per 20 dancers in class, and they can't be correcting every 20.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_03: So young dancers have to start understanding when a teacher gives you correction, that needs to apply to all of your styles of dance, and that needs to apply every time you do that step.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_03: And that's the only way that that you're going to progress at the level that you want to see the progress at a quick rate if the dancers at such as at an age as young as seven understand the you know how to self-correct themselves and modern in the mirror.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_02: I do this uh fun game with my littles called Dance Doctor, where they will be working on botmas or pirouettes or whatever it is, and they get with a buddy and they play doctor, dance doctor.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_02: So you're with your buddy, you have your your patient, and you cure them of their bad habits.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_02: So suddenly they remember every correction that I gave them before.
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_02: But because they are the doctor and they're with their friends and giggling, they're all of a sudden excited to strain their knees and point their feet.
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_02: Funny how that works.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's such a cute, that's it.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_03: So clever.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I it's almost like they're like calling out their friends on like what they're doing wrong, and I'm better they secretly love that.
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_03: Like having the authority, you know what I mean?
• 1:02:05
  SPEAKER_03: But then also at the same time, it it's like could be so cute.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_03: I could just see, like, okay, let's have each pair go around the room.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_03: Show me what you corrected, okay.
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_03: Show me how you applied it.
• 1:02:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's just such a great tool, I think, that people could utilize more.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_03: The dancers, like you said, I'm sure they love that.
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_03: Love it.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_04: That's so cool.
• 1:02:25
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 1:02:25
  SPEAKER_04: That's a great idea.
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_04: I like that a lot.
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_04: We're all gonna take your dance doctor now.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_04: I'll take your dance.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes, all the dance, all the tips.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_03: There's so many.
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_03: Copyright Katia.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_03: So good, y'all.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I feel like we covered a lot in this episode and such helpful advice.
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody listening, I hope that you learned something new.
• 1:02:47
  SPEAKER_03: I hope that you have a a little bit of a new perspective when it comes to those minis, as far as how if you're a teacher, how to approach class, if you're a parent, what should be happening in those classes, what matters when it comes to the minis, especially hearing from all four of us who are I would consider all of us experts in this field, you know, especially when it comes to the minis.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_03: Like we have expert guests on this episode and you heard it from them.
• 1:03:15
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, take all this feedback, take all of this advice, use it.
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_03: Parents out there, don't number one, trust your teachers.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_03: Number two, don't pressure them into skills that you think your dancers should be doing that they're not ready for.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's a big one.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_03: And speaking as a teacher, I've felt that pressure before.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I think we all have.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think all the teachers are shaking their head like, yep, I know exactly what you're talking about.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, wish the parents wouldn't do that.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_03: So all you dance parents listen in, I know y'all listen, make sure you uh take that little bit of advice.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_03: Trust your teachers, they're doing everything right for your dancer to take their journey, like Richard said, the journey that they're meant to be on.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_03: Trust the journey, trust the process, everybody.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_03: And use some of these awesome tips and tricks in classes coming up.
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_03: Dance doctor it up.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's such a cute little skill.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, from the judges side of things, just just give me a clean, cute, beautiful mini routine.
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure they're having a good time.
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure they love their life up there on that.
• 1:04:21
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure they know how to count their music, please.
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_03: That's another one that I want to see minis do a little bit more is dance on the beat.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_03: Please and thank you to all and take make sure they're taking tap so they learn how.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_03: Anyway.
• 1:04:34
  SPEAKER_03: Guests, you are fabulous.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for all of your wisdom and sharing it with the dance world on the podcast today.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we loved having you both join us.
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, I would love for you to lead us out with one final bit of advice or is there anything you'd like to share when it comes to those little minis at the studio?
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_02: Minis are the future of your studio.
• 1:05:01
  SPEAKER_02: So, like I said earlier, patience with a capital P and don't give up on them.
• 1:05:07
  SPEAKER_02: They will deliver, but you just gotta be creative with how you present your information.
• 1:05:12
  SPEAKER_04: I agree.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_04: Same.
• 1:05:14
  SPEAKER_04: Patience, you know, consistency and trust the process, you know?
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_04: And I love what you said, uh, Courtney, trust your teachers.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_04: Because your teachers want the best for their students just as much as you do want for your kids, right?
• 1:05:27
  SPEAKER_04: We want we want the very best for them.
• 1:05:29
  SPEAKER_04: We want healthy humans that, you know, are loving what they do and learning something.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_04: So your teachers are are there to help your kid and trust that, especially the mini teachers, because it takes a special teacher to really enjoy working with minis, I think.
• 1:05:47
  SPEAKER_03: We hope you enjoyed this week's episode all about the minis.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_03: Shout out to our very special guests for joining us on this episode.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_03: Be sure to follow them on Instagram.
• 1:05:58
  SPEAKER_03: You can find Richard at RichardLB and see us at KLOB90.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_03: Also be sure to get to see a studio of follow-ups at WitfordDance.com.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_03: If you're interested in learning more and checking out Richard's Building Blocks of Dance TV training course, you can click the link in our show notes or visit his website at buildingblocksofdance.com.
• 1:06:21
  SPEAKER_03: Their next interactive session starts in January 2022.
• 1:06:26
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to follow Makey Leimpact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcast, Google Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 1:06:35
  SPEAKER_03: If you're looking for a fresh set of eyes to critique your dance before you hit the stage this competition season, then we would love for you to check out our service, IDA's Online Judges Critique.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_03: An IDA judge will go through and critique your routine in a video critique, just like you receive a competition.
• 1:06:53
  SPEAKER_03: But one of our best-selling and unique features is our additional feedback option.
• 1:06:57
  SPEAKER_03: Where not only will you be able to watch your judge critique your dance, but they will go back through from beginning to end and pause the video to elaborate even more with their professional level feedback.
• 1:07:09
  SPEAKER_03: This service has been a game changer for so many dancers each season, and it is such a helpful tool to utilize while prepping for the competitive stage.
• 1:07:17
  SPEAKER_03: You can even request a genre-specific specialty judge to complete your critique so you are guaranteed to receive the most accurate feedback from a judge who specializes in your style of dance.
• 1:07:28
  SPEAKER_03: IBA's online judges' critiques start at only$35 and are available year-round.
• 1:07:34
  SPEAKER_03: Learn more about our service and submit your dance now by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting our website at ImpactDanceadjudicators.com slash online critique.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_03: We can't wait to see your dance.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_01: We are on a roll in season three with some excellent episodes coming your way.
• 1:07:52
  SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned for cultural appropriation versus appreciation, the power of networking, and the December edition of the QA with Courtney.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much for tuning in to this week's episode.
• 1:08:04
  SPEAKER_03: We hope you enjoyed it.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_03: Until next time, keep dancing.