Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / Spotlight Feature - Maud Arnold of Syncopated Ladies

Transcript

Spotlight Feature - Maud Arnold of Syncopated Ladies · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
0:11
SPEAKER_00: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
0:13
SPEAKER_00: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: Making the Impact is excited to bring you our second spotlight episode of season two, featuring the dynamically talented Maud Arnold.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: You may recognize her from her work with Syncopated Ladies, the world-renowned all-female tap band, or you might even own a pair of the Chloe and Maud tap shoes that she and her sister helped develop her blog.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: We can't wait to hear all about what she's up to.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone, it's Courtney Ortiz, and welcome to Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, and I'm here with, of course, my co-host Leslie Mueller.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: Hi everybody! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Yay!
0:56
unknown: Yay!
0:57
SPEAKER_01: It's Thanksgiving, and I hope that you're all spending time with your loved ones and having a wonderful day.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for tuning in if you're actually listening on Thanksgiving.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: And make sure you go Black Friday shopping tomorrow, maybe um virtually instead of in person this year.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: But uh Black Friday is one of my favorite shopping days of the year, so yay for deals.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, we we just want to say thanks and we want to say thank you to all of our listeners who have been listening to the podcast.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: It's been a joy to create this for you all.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: We have so much fun with our discussions and all of our fantastic guests who've been joining us throughout this season and last.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: So thank you, thank you, thank you for tuning in each week.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: Every Thursday we launch, and thank you for subscribing.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: And if you aren't subscribed, press it now.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: And thank you for supporting IDA and making it impact and impact dance adjudicator.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: So yay! We also have another element of our company is our IDA virtual competition, which currently is open now.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: You can send in your solo right now for our fall virtual competition event.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, you only have like a few days left to enter.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: So if you've been waiting and you've been hesitating on pressing submit to send your dance to our judges, go ahead to our website now at impactdanceadjudicators.com slash virtual competition.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: Submit your solo to us, get some preseason adjudication, see how your dance is panning out, get you know, submit your routine.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: You can even get genre-specific judges to critique it.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: So if you have a hip-hop routine and you want a full panel of hip-hop judges, guess what?
2:29
SPEAKER_01: You can do that, which is really exciting feature that we offer.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: So send it our way now.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: We would love to see your dance, and the deadline to enter is December 1st.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: So make sure that you aren't too late.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: And before we jump into this week's spotlight episode, which I'm so pumped about, we have the best guest on board, and we can't wait to introduce her.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: But before we do, we want to give a shout-out to our sponsors who who we couldn't make this podcast possible without.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: So, first up is Purple Pixies Dancewear.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: Purple Pixies Dancewear is known for their fresh, fun, and fabulous active wear inspired by dancers.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: With limited edition colors and prints that all mix and match, you're sure to find your new favorite style for class, lounging around, and anything in between.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: PurplePixies Dancewear is proudly made in the USA and can be found at pop-up shops at some of your favorite dance conventions, or online at purplepixies.net.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: Use code Impact when you place an order online for 15% off.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: Yes, we love you, PurplePixies.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: And another one of our favorites is Dance Costumes by Urzua.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: It was founded by dance teacher and costume designer Lily Erzua with the mission to give back to her local dance community.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: By purchasing a beautiful one-of-a-kind costume, you are helping another young dancer continue their training and live their dream.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: Each custom piece by Dance Costumes by Erzua features five variations in size: slim, narrow, medium, curvy, and wide for a completely customized fit.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: Stand out on stage and in class with a totally unique piece made just for you.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: Use the code IDA15 to receive 15% off all dancewear and custom costumes.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: Head to their website now at dancecostumes byerzua.com.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much to our sponsors for supporting us, sponsoring our spotlight feature episode.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: Okay, everyone, the time you've been waiting for.
4:16
SPEAKER_01: We cannot wait to introduce this month's spotlight guest.
4:20
SPEAKER_01: And we're so excited to have this incorporated into season two where we get to sit down and chat with some inspiring dancers, educators, choreographers, teachers in the industry who are making an impact in the competitive dance world.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: And this month's guest, you may be familiar with her from Syncopated Ladies.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: She also produces the DC Dance Fest and is the creator of the Chloe and Maud Foundation.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: We are so grateful and excited to have Maud Arnold joining us today.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the pod, Maud.
4:50
SPEAKER_03: Hello, thank you, ladies, so much for having me.
4:52
SPEAKER_03: I love what you guys are doing.
4:54
SPEAKER_03: It's so important.
4:55
SPEAKER_03: So thank you and happy Thanksgiving.
4:58
SPEAKER_03: Happy Thanksgiving.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: Happy Thanksgiving.
5:01
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for being here.
5:02
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
5:02
SPEAKER_03: There's a lot to be thankful for.
5:04
SPEAKER_03: I think it's important that we remember that.
5:07
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: Especially this year.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: It's it's been an interesting year.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: So we want to make sure that we remember all of the good things that we have in our life that are that are here with us today and spend time with our family and be thankful that we have dance in our life.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm very thankful for that.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: 100%.
5:22
SPEAKER_03: Me too.
5:23
SPEAKER_03: So thankful.
5:24
SPEAKER_03: Dance and a dance community and all the good stuff.
5:27
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Well, Maud, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down and chat with us.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: And I know I'm really excited to hear all about your dance journey.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: So let's just jump right in if you're ready for it.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: You have, you know, so many beautiful things have happened in your career.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: And I would love to just like go back from the very beginning and just start from the top.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: When did you start dancing?
5:51
SPEAKER_01: Why did you start dancing?
5:53
SPEAKER_01: What was that like in your childhood?
5:55
SPEAKER_03: Um, I started dancing when I was really little.
5:58
SPEAKER_03: Like, it's interesting because when I look back at it now as a dance teacher, I was really just babysitting to music.
6:06
SPEAKER_03: I was like three or four, and you know, you do like the little exercises where you like run and you have to do a leap over the hat.
6:15
SPEAKER_03: I was the kid who ran around the hat.
6:17
SPEAKER_03: Like I was lazy.
6:19
SPEAKER_03: I chewed gum.
6:20
SPEAKER_03: We have footage of me like in a recital, like four years old, and all the kids.
6:25
SPEAKER_03: I remember it's like about cleaning, and all the kids are doing the dance full out, and I'm standing there holding the the little duster, just smacking my gum, looking at people, y'all really doing this?
6:36
unknown: Oh, okay.
6:37
SPEAKER_03: I and like like I not shy.
6:41
SPEAKER_03: I've never been shy.
6:42
SPEAKER_03: I just was like lazy.
6:44
SPEAKER_03: I was even like I didn't speak till I was three years old.
6:48
SPEAKER_03: Really?
6:49
SPEAKER_03: Very lazy.
6:50
SPEAKER_05: Oh my god.
6:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, my mom was actually concerned that I was perhaps on the spectrum.
6:56
SPEAKER_03: She like got me tested and everything.
6:58
SPEAKER_03: And the doctors were like, Well, she's hearing two languages at home, and she's the youngest.
7:03
SPEAKER_03: So she's just lazy.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: She's just like, everybody else can do everything for me.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just gonna sit over here.
7:10
SPEAKER_03: My mom said I would be like, mm-mm, mm mm, and point at things, and people give me the things.
7:14
SPEAKER_03: And I was very cute.
7:15
SPEAKER_03: I was like very chubby, cute little kid with like big hair, and I just like knew how to manipulate.
7:22
SPEAKER_03: This is terrible.
7:23
SPEAKER_03: I sound like a terrible person.
7:24
SPEAKER_03: That sounds like the cutest little kid though.
7:27
unknown: Yes.
7:28
SPEAKER_03: And my mom, my mom said, yeah, and then once you started talking, you just never shut up.
7:33
SPEAKER_03: So here I am, many years later, a talker, a dancer.
7:37
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, when I first started dancing, it was like at one of the like a like a studio at a strip mall, and and then I got taken out of there just because of financial reasons.
7:47
SPEAKER_03: My mom couldn't afford it anymore.
7:48
SPEAKER_03: And then my sister started dancing at this place called Taps and Company in DC.
7:53
SPEAKER_03: And it was like a primarily d uh tap dance based company, but we learned everything.
7:57
SPEAKER_03: And the studio was literally the size of somebody's living room in New York City.
8:01
SPEAKER_03: Tiny.
8:01
SPEAKER_03: Like mine.
8:02
SPEAKER_03: It was owned by like teeny teeny tiny one room owned by two young black women, like they were probably like 27, 28.
8:10
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
8:10
SPEAKER_03: And it was this company full of black girls.
8:13
SPEAKER_03: It's amazing.
8:14
SPEAKER_03: And my I ended up going mostly because my mom like we couldn't afford a babysitter.
8:20
SPEAKER_03: Chloe and I grew up poor, for lack of better words.
8:24
SPEAKER_03: And so I just was there all the time.
8:25
SPEAKER_03: And then I started taking class at like seven.
8:28
SPEAKER_03: I really got serious.
8:30
SPEAKER_03: Took the one o'clock tap class every Saturday.
8:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
8:33
SPEAKER_03: And and my teacher, who funny enough, is a volunteer at the DC Tap Fest to this day.
8:38
SPEAKER_03: Love that.
8:39
SPEAKER_03: She I always thought she was mean to me.
8:41
SPEAKER_03: And I remember I told my mom, I was like, I came home one day and I was like, I'm quitting chat.
8:45
SPEAKER_03: Miss Dana is mean to me.
8:46
SPEAKER_03: And my mom was like, What did you do?
8:48
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, ah, I uh I didn't want to do the thing.
8:53
SPEAKER_03: And my mom was, this is what she said.
8:55
SPEAKER_03: I was like seven or eight.
8:57
SPEAKER_03: She said, Do you want to be homeless?
8:59
SPEAKER_03: Now, I don't know what she meant by that.
9:02
SPEAKER_03: She's gonna kick me out of the house.
9:06
SPEAKER_03: And the thought of homelessness horrifying.
9:09
SPEAKER_03: So, do you want to be homeless?
9:10
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, No.
9:11
SPEAKER_03: And she was like, You will learn how to complete a task.
9:14
SPEAKER_03: You made a commitment, you'll finish till the end of the year.
9:16
SPEAKER_03: Thanks, mom.
9:17
SPEAKER_03: Okay, mom.
9:17
SPEAKER_03: Yes, mom.
9:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, great parenting.
9:19
SPEAKER_03: Great parenting because a lot of parents would be like, okay, she was mean to you.
9:24
SPEAKER_03: She made you cry.
9:25
SPEAKER_03: I was being lazy and rude.
9:27
SPEAKER_03: That's why she was mean.
9:28
SPEAKER_03: She was absolutely appropriately mean.
9:31
SPEAKER_03: And so thank God my mom made me finish.
9:34
SPEAKER_03: And I never I've never stopped since.
9:37
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: Well, uh, your mom sounds amazing.
9:41
SPEAKER_02: Oh, she's hilarious, y'all.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: Like, can you imagine telling a seven or eight-year-old, do you want to be that's I don't know that we say that in 2020, but like back in probably the 80s or the early 90s, you definitely probably said that.
9:54
unknown: Yeah.
9:56
SPEAKER_03: And I looked at her like, she will kick me out.
9:58
SPEAKER_03: This woman is serious.
10:01
SPEAKER_03: But I think the idea was like, if you don't comp if you don't learn how to complete a task, you will never complete anything.
10:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
10:08
SPEAKER_03: And that probably includes paying your rent.
10:10
SPEAKER_03: So I think I think she was setting me up more so for like my future.
10:15
SPEAKER_03: So I'm very thankful because I know how to complete a task.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: So it sounds like that it's you said it was Miss Dana.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: Is that who it is?
10:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Miss Dana.
10:24
SPEAKER_03: She's the bomb.
10:26
SPEAKER_03: Oh no, Miss Dana plays no games, okay?
10:29
SPEAKER_03: And what's amazing about the women who own the dance studio is Miss Dana and Miss Tony.
10:33
SPEAKER_03: Very sadly, Miss Tony passed away about five years ago.
10:37
SPEAKER_03: But they also weren't your conventional dancers.
10:41
SPEAKER_03: And I'm doing air quotes.
10:42
SPEAKER_03: Miss Dana is like a full-size woman, and Miss Tony was not skinny.
10:49
SPEAKER_03: Miss Tony had been on Broadway in a show called um Saturday Night Uptown.
10:54
SPEAKER_03: And then they both came back to DC and started a studio.
10:58
SPEAKER_03: But what was amazing about the studio is that obviously we learned how to dance well, but they also taught us about sisterhood and empowering ourselves and things like hygiene and boys.
11:10
SPEAKER_03: You know, it was really a family.
11:12
SPEAKER_03: And I I think that the Sigapeda ladies is a huge reflection of how we grew up and danced because all of the women that we danced with 30 years ago are our friends to this day.
11:23
SPEAKER_03: And whether they're head doctors at children's hospital or advising African presidents on their energy plans and have PhDs from MIT, they all still tap dance.
11:33
SPEAKER_03: Oh, and we're all still close.
11:35
SPEAKER_03: Like we all still spend Christmas together in DC.
11:37
SPEAKER_03: That is so cool.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: That is that's wonderful.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: And I, as you were saying that and just kind of describing the atmosphere of what your home studio was like, it sounds like that that really inspired you to continue that into syncapated ladies and some of your your other programs and things that you've designed, you know, through your professional career.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: So it seems like it really, really impacted you at such a young age.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: I mean, for you to remember that story at seven, yeah.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: Like I can't remember what I was doing at seven.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I can't remember like a moment in time at seven years old.
12:11
SPEAKER_01: So, like, obviously, your mom and your dance teacher like really taught you a life lesson there that you took with you.
12:18
SPEAKER_03: I remember crying like in her dance class.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: I remember what it was.
12:23
SPEAKER_03: It wasn't even tap guys, I was in second.
12:26
SPEAKER_03: I'm the most like unflexible human being.
12:28
SPEAKER_03: And I we were in second on the floor, and you know, like your teachers like push you down, right?
12:33
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I can't do it, I can't do it.
12:35
SPEAKER_03: Whiny whiny.
12:36
SPEAKER_03: And she was like, stay.
12:38
SPEAKER_03: And I and not second, like the Chinese split.
12:45
SPEAKER_03: I mean, like literally, like my butt is on the floor and I'm just reaching forward.
12:48
SPEAKER_03: Like you're in a straddle.
12:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was like a straddle, yes.
12:51
SPEAKER_03: So not even anything like pain, you know, seven-year-old is painful.
12:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I kept trying to like, you know, like you pull back, you inch back, you lift your back up, and she was like, stay.
13:01
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I started crying, and my mom was like, uh-uh.
13:05
SPEAKER_03: My mom's like, I don't, I'm not raising any punks.
13:08
unknown: Like, uh-uh.
13:10
SPEAKER_03: You're gonna cry the stretch.
13:12
SPEAKER_03: My mom is a white woman from Paris.
13:15
SPEAKER_03: Really?
13:16
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
13:17
SPEAKER_03: I didn't know my dad is black, uh-huh.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: So close to the black.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: So you that's what you were saying when you were brought up in the household speaking two languages.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: So you do you speak fluent French as well?
13:28
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
13:29
SPEAKER_03: And I learned how to read and write French before English.
13:33
SPEAKER_03: I went to like a special immersion school, but my accent is so bad because I'm American.
13:41
SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, and I when I I would like to go live in Paris for like a month or two to just perfect my accent.
13:48
SPEAKER_03: I also speak like uh some Portuguese, maybe like 60%.
13:54
SPEAKER_03: I'm looking over at my friend who's Brazilian.
13:57
SPEAKER_03: I'd say like 60%.
13:59
SPEAKER_03: It's like, is that right?
14:00
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, uh, but I'm self-taught.
14:03
SPEAKER_03: So I taught myself that as an adult.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: So 60%'s pretty darn good for self-taught.
14:09
SPEAKER_03: Yes, and I also would like to live there for a few months to like perfect it.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: Do you feel like it was easy to self-teach yourself Portuguese because you knew how to speak French?
14:20
SPEAKER_03: 100 million percent.
14:21
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
14:22
SPEAKER_03: Because it's like they're both Latin romance languages, they conjugate similarly.
14:28
SPEAKER_03: And I also learned when you unlock a language, it's like it opens up the other ones to you in a way, especially when you learn it as a kid.
14:37
SPEAKER_03: And because I learned phonetics in French and everything like that, it helps a lot.
14:41
SPEAKER_03: But I learned for free on podcasts, free podcasts, shout-out podcasts, yes, and I go to Brazil twice a year.
14:49
SPEAKER_03: So, and then also just like full immersion.
14:53
SPEAKER_03: Like I tell my friends they're like, Don't speak to me in English.
14:56
SPEAKER_03: I will teach all my classes in Portuguese.
14:57
SPEAKER_03: And if it's and if I'm wrong, correct me.
14:59
SPEAKER_03: Right.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Always ask for help.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
15:02
SPEAKER_01: That is awesome.
15:04
unknown: Wow.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: I I'm just thinking, obviously, because you are teach tap, we're shifting away from the young childhood mod stories for a minute, but like obviously you teach tap, so you're teaching tap in Portuguese when you go to Brazil.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: But I feel like that there's probably a lot of things like rhythmically that you can obviously teach without speech, you know.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: I feel like it's probably easy to I'm just curious to hear like how how you translate that, you know, through your movement and your body.
15:33
SPEAKER_01: Is there a lot of things similar as far as like terminology for tap over there?
15:38
SPEAKER_03: Well, it yes and no.
15:41
SPEAKER_03: Because, okay, so it depends where you are, it also depends on the access of the student.
15:46
SPEAKER_03: If you go somewhere and it's low income, they have no access to English.
15:50
SPEAKER_03: So it is not the same.
15:52
SPEAKER_03: If you go somewhere and kids are in private school and have English tutors, they can understand shuffle step or pullback.
15:59
SPEAKER_03: But it it's interesting because it reminds us of our privilege a lot.
16:04
SPEAKER_03: And like we went to one of our after-school programs, and you know, these kids literally have nothing.
16:10
SPEAKER_03: Thank God for the programming.
16:13
SPEAKER_03: And they don't speak a lick of English.
16:16
SPEAKER_03: The English they know is Beyonce.
16:18
SPEAKER_03: Like, you know what I mean?
16:20
SPEAKER_00: Like that.
16:21
SPEAKER_03: So I can't be like shuffle step, shuffle step, and then look at them like, what are you doing?
16:25
SPEAKER_03: What are you doing?
16:26
SPEAKER_03: We our friend was there and he's Brazilian, he lives there, and but he's lived in America before he's actually a hip hop dancer, but he knows like the basic tap terminology, and he was like, say it like this, because then the kids will understand like toe heel if you say it in Portuguese this way.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
16:42
SPEAKER_03: And so, like, if I say tap dance to some kids in Brazil, they'll be like, Oh yeah, tap dance.
16:47
SPEAKER_03: But some kids that they call it sapateado.
16:50
SPEAKER_03: I have to say that and then they know what I'm talking about.
16:54
SPEAKER_03: But like I've taught in Russia before, and those kids spoke not a lick of English.
16:59
SPEAKER_03: And the difference I would say is that in Brazil, people are very like touchy-feely, very like they move through their bodies, they speak through their bodies naturally.
17:10
SPEAKER_03: In Russia, it is the opposite.
17:11
SPEAKER_03: So teaching there was a lot more difficult because you don't have that same like affectation or like do like this.
17:20
SPEAKER_03: There's there's not the same level of freedom.
17:23
SPEAKER_03: And so it does pose more of a challenge to get them to feel free because it is a culture of staying in line.
17:33
SPEAKER_03: And Brazil is the culture of being free.
17:35
SPEAKER_03: So and like in America, it's the same, it's the culture.
17:38
SPEAKER_03: Our culture is is like be you, follow your dreams.
17:42
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's capitalism.
17:44
SPEAKER_03: You, you, you, you, you.
17:46
SPEAKER_03: In other countries, like Russia, it's like us, us, us.
17:50
SPEAKER_03: And I go, I teach in the Ukraine a lot too, and it's similar there, but I'm I'm helping them like, you know, just enjoy themselves and embrace who they are and and their freedom.
18:00
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
18:00
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: That's so inspiring, and something I've always been curious about as far as like teaching internationally, and of course, with dancers that don't speak your language, you know, how do you translate that?
18:11
SPEAKER_01: And dance feels so universal and you know, so so easy to be able to just kind of like do this, you know, but I it still sounds like it would it's difficult to translate to certain dancers, depending on where you're teaching.
18:25
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
18:26
SPEAKER_03: Because dance is truly a universal language, and I think everybody feels it the same, but I don't think that everybody has been given the same freedoms to express it the same way.
18:36
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's the hardest thing, I'm sure you have experienced this in teaching, is when you tell a kid like loosen up and if a kid is shy or like has fear behind it, that's the hardest thing.
18:50
SPEAKER_03: It's easier to tame the wild kid than loosen up the fearful student.
18:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: That's so true.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: The truth.
18:59
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of access to classes and things like that, I would love to talk a little bit about Chloe and Maud Productions and what that company does and how you guys got started with it, and what you're what you're working on for the community.
19:11
SPEAKER_03: So Chloe and Mod Productions is our LLC.
19:14
SPEAKER_03: It's a for-profit, and through that, we do we have a clothing line, we sell merch, a lot of if you ever see something that says iHeartTap with a woman's silhouette in it, that's me and Chloe's brand.
19:24
SPEAKER_03: We also sell span decks that we manufacture in Brazil, and there's like unitars and stuff like that.
19:32
SPEAKER_03: And then we have some programs that we do through our LLC.
19:35
SPEAKER_03: Through our foundation, we produce the DC Tap Festival.
19:38
SPEAKER_03: We have our after-school programs.
19:40
SPEAKER_03: Now we have the online tap fest because of COVID-19, because of the pandemic.
19:45
SPEAKER_03: But since the pandemic, our foundation has given out$35,000 in scholarships and$8,000 in cash, mini grants to families and tap dancers in need during coronavirus.
20:00
SPEAKER_03: So we did a tap-a-thon.
20:03
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
20:04
SPEAKER_03: It's we're gonna do another one.
20:05
SPEAKER_03: So we did a tap a thon in like May, I think.
20:09
SPEAKER_03: I can't remember if it was May or April, and we were on Instagram live.
20:13
SPEAKER_03: We coordinated, shout out to Liz Carroll, who helps us with everything.
20:17
SPEAKER_03: Coordinated people from Israel, Dubai, London, Paris, Brazil, Costa Rica.
20:26
SPEAKER_03: I know I'm like Kuwait and everybody who tap dancers, they all called in and we just first we had a conversation like, yo, how are you?
20:34
SPEAKER_03: What's it like where you live?
20:35
SPEAKER_03: And then they would dance for us and people would donate.
20:38
SPEAKER_03: And so we raised$6,000, and then Chloe and I gave$2,000.
20:43
SPEAKER_03: And so we gave many grants to every single person who applied.
20:47
SPEAKER_03: I think it was like 33 grants, and they ranged literally from$50 to$500.
20:54
SPEAKER_03: And for some kids, we made I made the application very easy because I have been applying for grants all quarantine and they're really hard and they're really tedious.
21:04
SPEAKER_03: And I think that when people are experiencing financial hardship, the last thing you need to do is write a thousand-word essay about why I need help.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: Yep, it's too much.
21:12
SPEAKER_00: It's too much.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: It's too much.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:14
SPEAKER_03: So ours was really easy.
21:15
SPEAKER_03: Like, why do you love tap?
21:16
SPEAKER_03: And what do you need help with?
21:18
SPEAKER_03: Groceries, medication, transportation, rent.
21:21
SPEAKER_03: One little and I made it so easy a seven-year-old applied.
21:24
SPEAKER_03: And she said, My school took away my my um tablet because of eight.
21:29
SPEAKER_03: So I don't know how I'm gonna take dance during the summer.
21:31
SPEAKER_03: So we bought her a tablet.
21:32
SPEAKER_03: Oh, we made it like very easy.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:35
SPEAKER_03: But so yeah, that's what we've been up to.
21:38
SPEAKER_03: Our after school program in Brazil just started back up in person like two weeks ago, and then our after school program here in South Central LA is starting on Zoom in November.
21:48
SPEAKER_03: Cool.
21:49
SPEAKER_03: Wow, y'all are saying busy.
21:51
SPEAKER_03: I love it.
21:52
SPEAKER_03: We are very, very thankful.
21:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we are we are very busy.
21:56
SPEAKER_03: It's it's crazy because it's like the pandemic.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: And I feel busier and more tired than I did when I was traveling a hundred thousand miles a year.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: Totally.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of artists and performers and teachers feel like that too because you know, we already are all very busy people with many, you have, you know, you have your feet in many pools.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: And then you put the added stress of financial stress, health stress, world, you know, situation stress on top of it.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: And you know, it it is better to be busy than bored.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: So I say the same thing.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate that.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: But yes, let's take some time for some self-care also.
22:34
SPEAKER_03: It's so important.
22:36
SPEAKER_03: I did go to Tulum in August.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
22:39
SPEAKER_03: How was that?
22:41
SPEAKER_03: It was everything I needed.
22:43
SPEAKER_03: I don't think I would have been able to continue this productivity and my own personal joy if I hadn't gone.
22:53
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
22:53
SPEAKER_03: It was everything.
22:54
SPEAKER_03: And I do realize I say this from a great a place of great privilege to be able to afford to fly somewhere, to be healthy enough to fly somewhere.
23:05
SPEAKER_03: But it was everything I needed.
23:07
SPEAKER_03: Everything.
23:08
SPEAKER_03: We did nothing.
23:09
SPEAKER_03: Like well, I the funny thing is actually we I did teach some Zoom classes in London air quotes from there.
23:16
SPEAKER_03: But our friend owns this a beautiful hotel there.
23:21
SPEAKER_03: But what's funny, because the dance, we're talking about dance, this is all because of dance.
23:26
SPEAKER_03: So our friend who owns the beautiful hotel there is actually the daughter of the late great Gregory Hines.
23:31
SPEAKER_03: No way.
23:33
SPEAKER_03: Tap dance.
23:33
SPEAKER_03: Tap dance.
23:35
SPEAKER_03: And she said, she wrote it, she's like our big sister.
23:38
SPEAKER_03: She said, Y'all are working so hard, y'all need to take a break.
23:43
SPEAKER_03: Y'all need to come here and just relax and be in the ocean and take a break.
23:48
SPEAKER_03: And thank God for friends who make you stop.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
23:56
SPEAKER_00: We say this almost every single episode.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: The dance world is so small, you know?
24:01
SPEAKER_03: That big.
24:02
SPEAKER_03: It is so small.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: Tiny.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's just wow, that's so cool.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I also think that she obviously follows you and has seen how hard you've been working and how even just listening to like how much you've accomplished during the pandemic and how you've flipped everything around and made it work.
24:21
SPEAKER_01: And let's create these grants for people that need it.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: Let's let's create these opportunities for t tap dancers.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: Let's create a tap-a-fon, like all of these different, you know, things that you weren't expecting to do in 2020.
24:33
SPEAKER_01: You've figured out ways to flip it around and and make some good out of it.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: And people recognize that.
24:38
SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, obviously she did and said, Hey, you need a getaway, girl.
24:42
SPEAKER_01: Like, here you go.
24:44
SPEAKER_03: We needed it.
24:45
SPEAKER_03: And Chloe and I went together, and it was like we went the week of Chloe's birthday.
24:50
SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
24:51
SPEAKER_03: And it was everything.
24:53
SPEAKER_03: Like we took our walk on the beach every day at 7 a.m.
24:57
SPEAKER_03: Like it was paradise.
24:59
SPEAKER_03: And you forget because it's funny, we're grounded at home, but how still are we?
25:04
SPEAKER_03: You know, like how much are we grounding ourselves?
25:07
SPEAKER_04: Right.
25:07
SPEAKER_03: Because it's such a grind.
25:09
SPEAKER_03: Like for you ladies, you're doing 15,000 things and then you're in your house.
25:13
SPEAKER_03: It doesn't make it easier.
25:16
SPEAKER_03: You know?
25:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
25:17
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it makes it harder.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: I miss the hustle and bustle of New York.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: Like like what we're used to, and I'm sure what you are used to in LA, like I like you said, I mean, yes, I feel so busy.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: I and I feel the same way as you do, Maud, like more busy during the pandemic than before it hit.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: Because again, we have to flip things around.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: We have to make it work.
25:38
SPEAKER_01: We have to figure like we talked about at the beginning, like we started a virtual competition out of the blue.
25:42
SPEAKER_01: Like in five days, we're like, let's do it.
25:44
SPEAKER_01: And we did it.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: And we've been busy as anything.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: And it's just given me motivation to wake up and and have something to work towards and stay involved and not feel stuck in because we are kind of stuck right now, as far as like limited into what we can do in the world with the pandemic.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I just miss waking up and like walking the streets in New York and seeing all of the people, and and you know, that's not there right now, and it it does feel hard.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: So I can understand needing an escape sometimes, especially with this year.
26:17
SPEAKER_01: Hello, it's been a year, so I'm jealous of that escape.
26:22
SPEAKER_03: And I miss I miss children so much.
26:26
SPEAKER_03: And our friend has a little daughter who's seven, and being able to like play with children in an open way, like, because our lives revolve so much around children.
26:38
SPEAKER_03: And I love my students and I love the kids from our foundation, and I'm so used to being with children all the time.
26:45
SPEAKER_03: And it's like I miss their joy, and I I also am heartbroken by a lot of them feeling sad during the pandemic or like depressed.
26:54
SPEAKER_03: We had a nine-year-old telling us, I think I'm depressed.
26:57
SPEAKER_03: Oh no.
26:58
SPEAKER_03: No, yes, I I'm tired of I'm tired of looking at the screen.
27:03
SPEAKER_03: I miss my friends.
27:05
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yo, that's real.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: Right.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: You probably are depressed.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: We all are.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: And like how do how do we like get out of that?
27:12
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and as as much as the kids and I haven't taught a ton via Zoom, but you know, I know that's been the reality for many teachers and many students, you know, school-wise and dance-wise.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, I I know it's got to be frustrating, but that is one thing we can do.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can get up, you can turn on that computer, you can move your body with your friends, and that's gotta be just an inkling better than sitting there and staring at your friends.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: You know, like the added addition of moving your body in community, even if it's via a screen, is is something to get you out of that funk.
27:44
SPEAKER_03: No, I tell them, I'm like, it's you the Zoom classes are important for dance.
27:48
SPEAKER_03: What I did last, so we have a youth company that that's also through our foundation.
27:54
SPEAKER_03: We meet once a month for five hours.
27:55
SPEAKER_03: We have a program in Florida, in Orlando, New York, and LA.
27:59
SPEAKER_03: Usually we meet in real life.
28:00
SPEAKER_03: Nice.
28:01
SPEAKER_03: And I Chloe and I usually one of us does New York and the other does LA because we also live in New York part-time.
28:07
SPEAKER_03: And I so what I did with them, we've been doing it on Zoom, obviously.
28:11
SPEAKER_03: So last month, what I did, so we danced for like two, two and a half hours.
28:15
SPEAKER_03: The rest of the three hours, guys, we played games on Zoom.
28:19
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
28:19
SPEAKER_03: We played categories, we played scavenger hunt, and the kids were having the best time.
28:27
SPEAKER_03: And when I say kids, I have age range from six years old to 20 in this program.
28:34
SPEAKER_03: From low income to wealthy, from every race, ethnicity, religion.
28:40
SPEAKER_03: It is the rainbow tribe, right?
28:42
SPEAKER_03: When I tell you the kids and me, I told the kids, I said, I don't know who's having more fun, me or y'all.
28:48
SPEAKER_03: Because I'm like crying, laughing at the children.
28:51
SPEAKER_03: And it's was so fun.
28:52
SPEAKER_03: And the kids, Rome, they're like, Can we please do that again, Miss Ma?
28:55
SPEAKER_03: That was so fun to just like have fun.
28:58
SPEAKER_03: And so I think that's important too for all dance teachers to remember.
29:02
SPEAKER_03: Is like sometimes the kids just need to do kids' stuff and have fun and do real life games because we're so like technological now.
29:10
SPEAKER_03: Like a lot of kids are like, some kids are obviously addicted to video games and things, but I find dancers want to do like the old school games.
29:19
SPEAKER_03: So, like scatteries, most of the kids had never heard of it before.
29:21
SPEAKER_03: I love that.
29:22
SPEAKER_03: And they were like, This is so fun, and it's a smart game, it makes you think.
29:26
SPEAKER_03: And so they're writing down pen and paper, my scategory thing.
29:30
SPEAKER_03: Scavenger hunt, they're running around their houses looking for something green or something that makes you happy, or something that inspires you.
29:38
SPEAKER_03: Like, so many kids brought their parent in the things that this person inspires me, you know, and it's like love that it was really fun.
29:45
SPEAKER_03: So I would say for any teachers listening, like, just let your kids have fun sometimes.
29:51
SPEAKER_03: Have a dance party, you know, DJ it, let the kids DJ it.
29:55
SPEAKER_03: It's we've also had a dance party and it and the kids, it was so fun.
29:59
SPEAKER_03: I played all old school and the kids were like, we need your playlist, Miss Ma.
30:03
SPEAKER_03: That was so fun.
30:04
SPEAKER_03: Yes, you do.
30:05
SPEAKER_03: I'll send it to you.
30:06
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
30:08
SPEAKER_01: That's so cute.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: Like all of those ideas are such creative ways to stay, you know, involved and make Zoom fun.
30:16
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we sadly we've had to like resort to that way of learning for so long now that it can feel repetitive and not exciting.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: But like even that idea of like let the kids DJ, I mean, these kids know how to work Zoom better than I do.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: Right.
30:33
SPEAKER_01: So they know how to put like fancy backgrounds on it and like share their screen and like whatever.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they can easily just click share my music and they can become the DJ of the class, you know?
30:43
SPEAKER_01: Like, how fun is that?
30:44
SPEAKER_03: And then they feel ownership and responsibility and not just a chore to be there.
30:54
SPEAKER_01: Hey to all my dancers and dance moms out there.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: If you've been hunting for the perfect dance wear that flatters your specific dancer body, you're in love.
31:02
SPEAKER_01: Our sponsor, Dance Customs by Erdua, hears you, and they are here to fix that problem in the industry.
31:08
SPEAKER_01: They have designed a brand new semi-custom dancewear line that offers five different size options, as well as five different skin tone variations.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: With their new innovative line, you no longer have to pay more for custom dance wear because of your body shape.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: Dance Customs by Ardua is offering an exclusive promo to our podcast listeners.
31:26
SPEAKER_01: Use the code IDA15 in all caps at checkout to receive 15% off your dancewear or custom costume.
31:33
SPEAKER_01: Head to their website now to learn more and view all of their designs at dancecustumes byardua.com.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: And now let's get back to the show.
31:43
SPEAKER_03: The other day, Chloe and I were on a like a call with the CEO of Zoom.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: Let you can you please tell him we need to be have mirroring of the screen capabilities.
31:55
SPEAKER_03: So I can't wait to hear about this.
32:01
SPEAKER_03: So he's he's from he's Chinese, moved to America, American dream, et cetera, et cetera.
32:07
SPEAKER_03: And his whole philosophy for his company and his life is happiness and joy.
32:12
SPEAKER_03: Like he's like, if my if my employees are not happy, if they don't feel good, I tell them to take a day off.
32:17
SPEAKER_03: And he was so humble in all of his answers to questions.
32:20
SPEAKER_03: So Chloe actually asked him the question about music and delay.
32:25
SPEAKER_03: And she was like, you know, we teach dance and there's this like strong delay in the music, blah blah blah.
32:32
SPEAKER_03: And you know what he said?
32:32
SPEAKER_03: He said, Thank you so much for saying that.
32:35
SPEAKER_03: My daughter dances and is telling me the same thing.
32:38
SPEAKER_03: We're working on it.
32:40
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
32:41
SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
32:41
SPEAKER_03: And the other thing he said is he said, you know, once everything gets safe, he was like, kids need to be back in school.
32:50
SPEAKER_03: He was like, I am thankful that I've been able to provide something that can help the children, but kids need the social aspect of real life.
33:01
SPEAKER_03: And he's like, I can't wait for kids to go back.
33:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
33:04
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, this man is a gazillionaire because of this.
33:08
SPEAKER_03: And he's literally and he's talking about the importance of kids returning back to real life.
33:13
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's an important thing that we also remember too.
33:17
SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, even just I feel like that there's so many kids who are still, even to right now, this Thanksgiving, who are still possibly learning virtually and not, depending on where they live, may not have returned to school.
33:33
SPEAKER_01: And but there's different rules for maybe school versus dance class.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: So maybe for dance, they are allowed in the studio space.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: And I know that a few studio owners and teachers that I've talked to, they're like, we're looking at dance as their escape, their safe place, their place where they can create that connection and have the friendship and community again and interact with one another, even if it means staying six feet apart and s wearing a mask.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: It's better than not having that because they don't have that right now at school at all.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: So, like dance, thank thank gosh, we have dance, you know, and and all the studios that are able to be able to be open right now, you know, we should be really grateful for that around the country.
34:15
SPEAKER_03: It's therapy and it's so important.
34:17
SPEAKER_03: It's such important therapy.
34:19
SPEAKER_03: I mean, you know, on the extreme, like I know two people have committed suicide during the pandemic and one who's attempted.
34:26
SPEAKER_03: And these are people I know, not like people that I heard of or a friend of a friend.
34:31
SPEAKER_03: These are friends who successful people, and you know, and and you just don't know how this isolation is affecting people, and nobody is like too strong or too this or too rich or too successful.
34:47
SPEAKER_03: It's like you never know how loneliness can affect somebody.
34:51
SPEAKER_03: So I think it's important if kids can interact with other children that they do it because the psychological effects of this I think are gonna be scary.
35:01
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
35:02
SPEAKER_03: That sounds really sad.
35:03
SPEAKER_03: But that's why dance is so important because it's the thing that can one of the things that can help us heal and help us stay connected.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: Let's jump quickly to something that I didn't know about you that I was super excited to find out.
35:15
SPEAKER_00: That you have a degree in film from Columbia University.
35:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, I went to Columbia.
35:20
SPEAKER_03: Tell us all about that.
35:22
SPEAKER_01: That seems like like such a fun thing to study.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like I I'm I wanna know, like I wanna know leading us into that.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: What made you like in high school?
35:32
SPEAKER_01: Were you were you like, I'm gonna be a top dancer and I'm gonna pursue this, or were you, you know, uh no, you know, I'm still feeling it out.
35:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go to school for film.
35:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm kind of curious to hear like your decision from high school and then how your college experience was that path.
35:46
SPEAKER_03: Well, I knew that I wanted to live in New York City from DC.
35:50
SPEAKER_03: I was like, I'm gonna live in New York City.
35:52
SPEAKER_03: And my sister is six years older, so she gone Ivy League.
35:58
SPEAKER_03: My big brother had gone Ivy League.
36:00
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
36:00
SPEAKER_03: And my mom was very much like education is your freedom.
36:05
SPEAKER_03: You do well now.
36:06
SPEAKER_03: I tell my students now, I'm like, you do well now, it makes your life easier later.
36:10
SPEAKER_03: And my mom, so Ivy Leagues, which I don't know if a lot of people know, actually give the best fine need-based financial aid.
36:19
SPEAKER_03: So if your parents make a certain less than a certain amount of money, then you go for free.
36:24
SPEAKER_03: Now it got better since I left.
36:26
SPEAKER_03: But if but they did give me the best need-based money.
36:30
SPEAKER_03: So when I was in high school, I just was like, I have to get out of DC.
36:33
SPEAKER_03: That's what I knew.
36:34
SPEAKER_03: Like, I need to leave DC.
36:35
SPEAKER_03: DC, I love DC, but nothing is happening here for dance.
36:39
SPEAKER_03: Also, when we grew up in DC, it was like the murder capital of the world.
36:43
SPEAKER_03: It just wasn't like a safe place to, I just didn't see myself like I'm gonna live here forever.
36:49
SPEAKER_03: And so I did really well in school.
36:52
SPEAKER_03: And then I actually, my senior year high school, I moved to Los Angeles because I got a full scholarship to study at Debbie Allen's Dance Academy.
36:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
36:59
SPEAKER_03: So I in my senior year high school, I finished here in LA, but I remember applying for college.
37:05
SPEAKER_03: Shout out Debbie Allen wrote me my college recommendation.
37:08
SPEAKER_03: Oh my god, supplemental one.
37:09
SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
37:10
SPEAKER_03: Love you, Miss Allen.
37:12
SPEAKER_03: And I applied early decision to Columbia.
37:15
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I hope I get in, you know, I hope I get in.
37:19
SPEAKER_03: And I got in.
37:20
SPEAKER_03: And when I got into Columbia, when I ended up going to college, Columbia has like a crazy core curriculum that takes you like two years to do.
37:27
SPEAKER_03: Everybody does the same thing.
37:28
SPEAKER_03: It doesn't matter what you want to be, you're all taking the same classes for two years.
37:32
SPEAKER_03: Kind of old school and lame, and a lot of the teachings are just old, dead white men.
37:37
SPEAKER_03: But they're trying, some people are trying to change that.
37:39
SPEAKER_03: But because Columbia is really old.
37:41
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
37:41
SPEAKER_03: Everybody who's listening to this and you love Hamilton, and he says King's College, that's Columbia University, right?
37:47
SPEAKER_03: And so you can imagine what we we've learned a lot of things there.
37:52
SPEAKER_03: But when I but I knew I knew that I didn't want to major in dance because I didn't like the idea of being like graded on dance, and there was only like a few tap classes.
38:03
SPEAKER_03: So I did take tap class at Columbia with Margaret Morrison.
38:07
SPEAKER_03: I love her dearly.
38:07
SPEAKER_03: And so some of it was like history, and then one was like an improvisation class, and we would just go and improvise.
38:13
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and she would like bring musicians and we just improvise and we had like a little show.
38:17
SPEAKER_03: Cool.
38:17
SPEAKER_03: So that was really fun.
38:18
SPEAKER_03: But the reason film is really because of Debbie Allen, because she is a director, producer, choreographer, everything.
38:26
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, she's amazing.
38:28
SPEAKER_03: She's like the slash queen and renaissance woman, and she's like, you have to learn how to do everything.
38:34
SPEAKER_03: And we have always wanted to put tap dance, you know, back on the big screen, back on the small screen.
38:41
SPEAKER_03: And what better way to do that than to equip ourselves with that knowledge?
38:45
SPEAKER_03: So when I was in college, I had an internship, and then they turned into these jobs, and I PA'd on music videos, rap, like the biggest music videos.
38:54
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm talking Buster Rhymes, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Fabulous, Jeezy, Beyonce.
39:00
SPEAKER_03: Like, I did everything.
39:02
SPEAKER_03: I was working, working, working, working, and I was like, I want to be a music video director.
39:06
SPEAKER_03: That was my dream.
39:07
unknown: Okay.
39:07
SPEAKER_03: And then like tap dance really started like, and I'm still dancing.
39:11
SPEAKER_03: I street performed when I was in college, like every other day to help me pay for food and stuff.
39:16
SPEAKER_03: And then tap dance.
39:18
SPEAKER_03: So when I graduated from college, yeah, from college, I still was like PA ing and I was assisting directors, and I was teaching dance in Connecticut and doing that commute.
39:27
SPEAKER_03: And then we started syncing pay to ladies.
39:30
SPEAKER_03: But what's amazing is so I graduated college in 08.
39:33
SPEAKER_03: Last summer I got to direct five music videos for my dear friend Kondola Rashad, who's an amazing singer.
39:40
SPEAKER_03: It's a series of music videos called Space Daughter, and they're amazing.
39:44
SPEAKER_03: They're available on YouTube.
39:45
SPEAKER_03: And she and I co-directed them together.
39:47
SPEAKER_03: And so that was really exciting to bring back that knowledge from high school.
39:51
SPEAKER_03: I mean from college.
39:52
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
39:52
SPEAKER_03: And all that work I had done.
39:54
SPEAKER_03: And then now, and those videos are all out.
39:56
SPEAKER_03: They're on my website.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll link to them in the show notes.
39:59
SPEAKER_01: We will link all of the things, every single thing that you've mentioned.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: We will have links galore.
40:06
SPEAKER_01: People can buy your merch, people can sign up for the DC Dance Fest, and they can watch the music videos.
40:12
SPEAKER_01: We're excited to like you share all of your problems.
40:15
SPEAKER_03: People are gonna be like, I'm so tired of these links.
40:18
SPEAKER_03: No, we love a link.
40:19
SPEAKER_03: We love a link.
40:21
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
40:22
SPEAKER_03: And the link to my TEDx talk.
40:24
SPEAKER_03: Ooh, oh, tell us about that.
40:26
SPEAKER_03: Ooh, when did that happen?
40:27
SPEAKER_03: November 6th.
40:29
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
40:29
SPEAKER_03: Please watch my TEDx talk.
40:31
SPEAKER_03: It's about TEDx DC and it's about joy and tap dance and how tap dance is how I live a life of joy.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to watch it.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: That is so cool.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: And I love, I love just like the full circleness that you had mentioned a minute ago about, you know, you went to school for film because you were inspired by Debbie Allen, and then, you know, recently you got to use that knowledge again, you know, as a as a producer and everything with the music videos.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: So that's awesome.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: Learn everything, children.
40:59
SPEAKER_03: Thanks.
41:00
SPEAKER_00: Be versatile.
41:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, learn everything.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing not worth knowing.
41:05
SPEAKER_01: So after you graduated from Columbia, how did syncabated ladies come about?
41:09
SPEAKER_01: What made you guys when did that start?
41:11
SPEAKER_01: And like what made you and your sister want to do that?
41:15
SPEAKER_03: So it actually started in 2003 when I was in high school.
41:18
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
41:18
SPEAKER_03: And the other members were in middle school.
41:21
SPEAKER_03: Uh uh.
41:21
SPEAKER_03: Uh what?
41:22
SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
41:23
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
41:25
SPEAKER_03: We've been together for 17 years, y'all.
41:28
SPEAKER_03: I love it.
41:28
SPEAKER_03: It's been a long road.
41:29
SPEAKER_03: A long road of awesomeness.
41:31
SPEAKER_03: So Chloe, there used to be this tap jam on Mondays at Debbie Allen Dance Academy.
41:36
SPEAKER_03: And one day, Chloe was like hosting the jam.
41:39
SPEAKER_03: And it was all women, well, girls at the time.
41:42
SPEAKER_03: It was all girls.
41:42
SPEAKER_03: Chloe was the is the oldest.
41:44
SPEAKER_03: She was maybe like 22.
41:46
SPEAKER_03: So it's all girls.
41:47
SPEAKER_03: And she was like, we should start a group.
41:49
SPEAKER_03: So she started the group and we performed once a year at like a tap festival.
41:56
SPEAKER_03: And when I look back at our costumes, ooh chat, and just like at everything, you know, but it's important to have growth.
42:03
SPEAKER_03: I'd rather look back and be like, ooh, that was terrible, as opposed to look back and be like, damn, we were better.
42:07
SPEAKER_03: Right.
42:08
SPEAKER_03: Um so it just started out like once a year.
42:12
SPEAKER_03: And then 2012, they were bringing back in living color and they were looking for fly girls.
42:19
SPEAKER_03: And we were like, we should be like tap fly girls.
42:21
SPEAKER_03: So we started, we made this video, yes, pretending to be like the fly girls.
42:25
SPEAKER_03: And then the year after, we were like, we work on all these music videos, we work with Beyonce.
42:30
SPEAKER_03: Why can't we just be like Chloe?
42:32
SPEAKER_03: It was like, we should, we need to be like Beyonce.
42:34
SPEAKER_03: And and you know, and at the time we're like going to the club and you know, like living our best 20s lives and college lives, but and we know how to make music videos, we're like, let's make one.
42:45
SPEAKER_03: So our first video was to Rihanna, where have you been all my life?
42:48
SPEAKER_03: And it went viral because at the time, it went viral for the time, yeah.
42:52
SPEAKER_03: That was early views because there was no Facebook video, there was no Instagram, there was only YouTube.
42:58
SPEAKER_03: And like, and people were watching it in Dubai and like all over the world.
43:01
SPEAKER_03: And then the year later, maybe like six months later, we did uh thank you to Beyonce because Chloe had worked on a commercial with Beyonce, and because of that commercial, we were able to buy our apartment in New York.
43:11
SPEAKER_03: Wow, nice.
43:12
SPEAKER_03: And we just wanted to thank her for all of the inspiration that she's given us personally, like one-on-one, but also just as black women and as women.
43:21
SPEAKER_03: So we did this like salute to Beyonce.
43:23
SPEAKER_03: Well, she shared it on her Facebook page, and then the rest ever since literally, let's see, that was 2014, 2013, 14.
43:32
SPEAKER_03: I don't know, 2013 or 14.
43:34
SPEAKER_03: We've been working ever since.
43:35
SPEAKER_03: And then in 2016, she shared our video again to formation and she made us her homepage of her website.
43:40
SPEAKER_03: Like if you went to Beyonce.com, it had our it said syncopated ladies and our feet, and it said watch this, and it clicked to the link.
43:47
SPEAKER_03: Nice for like three weeks it was up, and ever since then, honestly, we've been working nonstop.
43:51
SPEAKER_03: And I would say we call it the Beyonce effect.
43:53
SPEAKER_03: She's like Oprah, yeah, yes.
43:54
SPEAKER_03: So it's like when she stamped it, it was like, oh, well, this must be great.
43:58
SPEAKER_03: And so we're still forever.
44:00
SPEAKER_03: Thankful to her for her kindness and belief in what we were doing.
44:06
SPEAKER_03: So shout out to Beyonce.
44:09
SPEAKER_01: Yes, shout out to Beyonce.
44:11
SPEAKER_00: We'll link to Beyonce too.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
44:13
SPEAKER_01: We'll tag her.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
44:15
SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
44:16
SPEAKER_03: Love it.
44:16
SPEAKER_01: I think what's so exciting about this story is I love the fact that, like we've said before, that you were using your skill that you learned in college for film to create these videos.
44:27
SPEAKER_01: As we we know now, I mean, you were speaking like back when these videos went viral, and when you started doing like producing these high-level videos, it was like 2012, 2013.
44:38
SPEAKER_01: I would say like that was kind of around the time when like dance videos were starting to like make their way or still very new.
44:45
SPEAKER_01: Like now in 2020, it's like every person and their mother's making a dance video every other day.
44:51
SPEAKER_01: You know, like that's what it's all about is dance videos now.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: And you were kind of ahead of the game in that sense because you had that knowledge.
44:58
SPEAKER_01: You knew how to shoot, you knew how to produce, you knew how to direct, you knew how to film it.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: So you were able to use that skill that you learned at Columbia and apply it to this girl group of tappers that and and on top of it, like that's another thing that we don't see.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: We don't see enough tap at all.
45:16
SPEAKER_01: And then we don't see females doing tap ever.
45:19
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we we see there are many female tappers, but we don't see them in a group collectively, like killing it, you know.
45:26
SPEAKER_01: I think that's what's so inspiring because we need we need that more in our life.
45:30
SPEAKER_01: And then once, you know, it went viral and people started seeing what you guys were like doing.
45:35
SPEAKER_01: I mean, how could you not support it?
45:38
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
45:38
SPEAKER_03: That means a lot.
45:39
SPEAKER_03: I mean, we're very thankful, but I I like to tell people or I like to think about it like you look at like Misty Copeland, right?
45:47
SPEAKER_03: Love her, she's amazing.
45:49
SPEAKER_03: Wow, and she was fighting against an institution to allow her to be great in that institution.
45:57
SPEAKER_03: For tat, that institution doesn't exist, it's not respected.
46:02
SPEAKER_03: So not only are we fighting for respect, we're also building the institution and building the place for which it will live at the same time, which is like very, very, very challenging, but it also is what makes it very special because it hasn't been done before.
46:17
SPEAKER_03: So we're very thankful for all of the love and support that we've gotten from people around the world because we get to do what we do and what we want to do.
46:25
SPEAKER_03: And as women and as women of color, that's very rare in any field to have that freedom of there's no man in charge.
46:34
SPEAKER_03: And you know, none of the singulated ladies like came from a lot of money, and like somebody's parent is paying for the videos, like we put this stuff on credit cards and just was like, okay, this$8,000, Lord please, you know, like we'll hope this hope it pans out.
46:49
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, we're very, very thankful.
46:52
SPEAKER_03: And we want to change that so there's more opportunities for tap dancers and for women in tap and for girls.
46:58
SPEAKER_03: Cause if you look at a tap dance class, it's mostly girls, and it's like, what happens after?
47:04
SPEAKER_03: You know, we had a 30 city tour, but it got canceled because of coronavirus.
47:09
SPEAKER_03: No, I should we should be on tour right now.
47:11
SPEAKER_03: No, I think we should be.
47:12
SPEAKER_03: Let me see.
47:13
SPEAKER_03: I think we would be in like Atlanta right now.
47:16
SPEAKER_03: No, that's my hometown.
47:18
SPEAKER_03: I would have come home.
47:19
SPEAKER_03: We would have gone.
47:20
SPEAKER_01: No.
47:21
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, well, I hope that you get to redo that.
47:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, once live entertainment comes back, which knock on wood sooner than later, but you know, we're not sure at this moment when that's coming back.
47:32
SPEAKER_03: We know that whatever is meant to be will be.
47:35
SPEAKER_03: Like, we we can't we don't stress like the unknowns of it because like look at Broadway, they're unsure, and that's a billion-dollar industry.
47:43
SPEAKER_03: So it's kind of like you know what's meant to be will be, and and we're thankful for you know everything.
47:50
SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious to hear, now we're gonna kind of just like towards the end of our chat, flip it into like a competitive the competitive dance world.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm curious to hear, did you have any experience growing up in the competitive dance world?
48:06
SPEAKER_01: And if you didn't, or even if you did, either way, how has that impacted your professional career and are you affiliated and involved in the competitive dance world now in in any way, shape, or form?
48:21
SPEAKER_03: So growing up, we didn't compete at all.
48:24
SPEAKER_03: I didn't really even know if that the competition dance world existed at when I first started dancing, only in when I got a little older.
48:33
SPEAKER_03: But we couldn't afford it.
48:35
SPEAKER_03: So when we did find out about it, it's not like it was an option for us because we can afford it, but we performed everywhere in DC.
48:44
SPEAKER_03: Old folks' homes, street festivals, an insane asylum for the criminally insane.
48:49
SPEAKER_03: Our dance teacher believed that like you should everybody deserves dance and you should dance the library.
48:54
SPEAKER_03: We performed everywhere, so we didn't lack performance experience, we just didn't compete.
48:59
SPEAKER_03: Now, as I've gotten as a grown-up, I work for a new convention called Heat uh Dance Convention.
49:06
SPEAKER_03: I also moonlight with NYCDA when Chloe when Chloe is unavailable, which I love, and I've judged countless competitions, and it's really interesting because it was a world I did not grow up in, but it's definitely a world that I'm like very immersed in now.
49:23
SPEAKER_03: And I choreograph competition pieces and you know I have students who compete, and so I'm definitely in it a lot.
49:31
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: I was I was just curious to hear your background because I do know that you are now involved as an a dance educator and choreographer and and things like that.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: And I think the great thing about it is even if you even though you didn't, you know, grow up in that world, you currently are inspiring so many kids in that world to tap dance that may not have even had anyone to look up to, especially the the the female tappers in the industry and the young dancers who, you know, love tap dance.
50:05
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, to be completely honest, I'm trying to think.
50:09
SPEAKER_01: I mean, how many other female tappers are like the you know, the ones that we really look up to?
50:14
SPEAKER_01: We think of so many other tappers that majority of the ones that are leading before us were male that we were that we know of or the names that we go to.
50:23
SPEAKER_01: And then now we have you and your sister who are like that's who I think of when I think of a female tapper.
50:30
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's at least in this generation, 100%.
50:33
SPEAKER_01: So, like, what an achievement and what a what an amazing way to like really be a powerful figure for these young dancers to like look up to, aspire to, and then especially all the things that you're doing to give back to that dance industry and that community to keep tap alive is so wonderful.
50:49
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
50:49
SPEAKER_03: That means a lot to us.
50:50
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, no, we're so thankful for like the competition convention world because it was a world we knew nothing of.
50:57
SPEAKER_03: And you know, the way Chloe really got immersed into it was because of Travis Wall when he was like a kid, because his mom used to teach us jazz at Debbie Allen, and Travis told Chloe you should teach tap at NYCDA, and he made that happen.
51:13
SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, and he was like, We need you, yeah.
51:15
SPEAKER_03: And he was like a kid at NYCDA, yeah, and we didn't even know that it existed, right?
51:20
SPEAKER_03: And so we're so thankful because it's a world of young people that we would not know, right?
51:26
SPEAKER_03: And we're so thankful that we get to bring them tap in this way and that they love it, and so we're super, super, super happy to be a part of the world of competition convention because it's so cool to meet people from Texas and you know, Kentucky and Florida and you know, Georgia.
51:45
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, we love it.
51:46
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
51:47
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I think a lot of the competition kids may not know that they know you, but if they're wearing your shoes, they do know you.
51:54
SPEAKER_00: I I wanted to give a quick shout out to my friend Susie Riefenhauser, who you guys worked with at blog.
51:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god!
52:00
SPEAKER_03: It's thanks to her.
52:01
SPEAKER_00: We have a tap shoe.
52:02
SPEAKER_00: It is, and she wanted to say hello, so shout out Susie.
52:06
SPEAKER_03: I love Susie.
52:07
SPEAKER_03: It is really thanks to her because she believed in us before really any big viral videos.
52:12
SPEAKER_03: And it's crazy.
52:14
SPEAKER_03: When we were at the office trying on the first sample of the shoe with her, is when Beyonce's publicist called us and asked us if we could perform at the opening of Ivy Park in London.
52:24
SPEAKER_03: Oh wow with her.
52:25
SPEAKER_01: No, yeah.
52:27
SPEAKER_00: Like, excuse me, I have to take this call.
52:30
SPEAKER_03: We are forever grateful.
52:31
SPEAKER_03: I actually owe Susie a call.
52:33
SPEAKER_03: Thank you for saying that.
52:34
SPEAKER_00: You're welcome.
52:35
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, so dancers out there, if you don't know the Chloe and Maud Tap Shoes by Block, it is a lovely, full soul.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: Thank you guys for making that happen.
52:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh two-ton shoe.
52:47
SPEAKER_00: I can't with the split soul.
52:49
SPEAKER_00: We can't with the split soul.
52:50
SPEAKER_00: So there's another shout out to that.
52:51
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it's it's a great tap shoe, and you guys were very, very included in the production of that, which I think is again another aspect of what you can do as a dancer, you know, which I always try to bring up to the dance parents that are listening that are, you know, oh, my kid really wants to dance as a profession and I don't know about that.
53:08
SPEAKER_00: And like, here's another thing you can do.
53:09
SPEAKER_00: You can be part of product development with your dance training and your dance skills, just you know, just like Maud was.
53:15
SPEAKER_03: I agree.
53:16
SPEAKER_03: I think that's such an important thing to think about.
53:18
SPEAKER_03: Like for any parents listening, and you're scared that your child is gonna be a struggling artist and da-da-da-da-da.
53:26
SPEAKER_03: It's like, first of all, most people struggle at everything that they do.
53:30
SPEAKER_03: Um, and and you know, you can be working on Wall Street and be making a ton of money, but if your soul is struggling, where's the success in that?
53:38
SPEAKER_03: So I would say encourage your kids to learn.
53:40
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, there's so much to do in the dance world.
53:43
SPEAKER_03: There's dance merch, there's dance consulting, there's dance development for big companies.
53:49
SPEAKER_03: Now everything is online, so people need producers.
53:52
SPEAKER_03: Like there's just so much to do.
53:55
SPEAKER_03: And so I think it's it's quite limiting when we think like, oh no, don't pursue dance.
53:59
SPEAKER_03: There's so much to do in the dance world, and there's so much money to be made.
54:04
SPEAKER_03: And I'm sure some kid is gonna innovate some cool thing and become some gazillionaire from dance.
54:08
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
54:09
SPEAKER_03: Yep, yep.
54:11
SPEAKER_01: I agree.
54:12
SPEAKER_01: Oh, this is such great advice, and it's been so lovely chatting with you through this past podcast hour.
54:19
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, ladies, so much for doing this.
54:21
SPEAKER_03: I think it's so important because particularly for like the competition world, if if we don't have good conversation and good dialogue and discussion, it can it can become a very unhealthy environment.
54:34
SPEAKER_03: And so I think what you ladies are doing is really important.
54:37
SPEAKER_03: And for all the listeners, you know, if you're educating yourself, kudos to you because it's so important to get a view outside of your own dance classroom and dance studio and and neighborhood.
54:48
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
54:51
SPEAKER_03: I hope everybody is able to be with people they love and feel surrounded by love, even if it's from a distance, and you know, and be grateful, right?
55:03
SPEAKER_03: The gratitude list today.
55:07
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much to Maud Arnold for taking the time to chat with us today on the pod.
55:11
SPEAKER_01: Stay up to date with Maud on Instagram at Maud EPoo and the syncated ladies at stinkladies.
55:17
SPEAKER_01: Also, be sure to check out some of Maud's current projects, including the Chloe and Maud Foundation, the DC Dance Fest, and her recent TEDx talk.
55:25
SPEAKER_01: All linked in our show notes.
55:27
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't subscribed to Making the Impact, be sure to head over to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Twitcher, Spotify, and Amazon Podcasts to stay up to date with our weekly episodes throughout the dance season.
55:38
SPEAKER_00: We release a new episode every Thursday.
55:41
SPEAKER_01: Black Friday is here, and our sponsor, PurplePixies Dancewear, will be offering some really awesome sales and discounts this weekend on their website.
55:50
SPEAKER_01: From leggings to leotards to sports bras and more, they have you covered with unique mix-and-match designs to wear in studio or at conventions.
55:59
SPEAKER_01: Head over to their website now at purplepixies.net and use the code BLACKFRIDY in all one word at checkout to receive some really special promos.
56:08
SPEAKER_01: A few reminders for all of you listeners.
56:11
SPEAKER_01: We will also be recording our new QA with Courtney Live Facebook event on Tuesday, December 1st as well.
56:18
SPEAKER_01: Tune in on Facebook Live where I will sit down with the special guest IDA Judge and answer your questions live on the air in this fun, interactive event.
56:26
SPEAKER_01: Get those questions prepped or submit them ahead of time for us to answer.
56:29
SPEAKER_01: Mark your calendars, and we hope to see you then.
56:33
SPEAKER_00: Season two of Making the Impact is full of new hot topics, listener questions, and interviews with the pros.
56:38
SPEAKER_00: Coming up in the next few weeks, topics include keeping jazz dance alive, the role of race in dance, and one of the hottest topics ever age appropriateness at competition.