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Competition Cleaning - Perfecting Your Routines · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table in a dance competition?
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: This is making the impact of the dance competition company.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: 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_02: It's getting to be that time of year.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Competition numbers are almost finished, and it's time to start thinking about cleaning data.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: This week we're here in the studio with IDA judges Christina and Chloe to discuss some of their favorite tips and tricks for cleaning competition dances.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, so welcome to the second episode of Making Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: I have two amazing IDA judges here with us tonight.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: I have Christina Yoder and Chloe Roberts.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Say hi, y'all.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: Hi.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: Hi.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: How's it going?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so happy you guys are here with us.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know that we're really excited to launch this podcast, and you guys are making this happen in our second episode.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks for donating your amazing knowledge and expertise in the dance world.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we're talking all things competition cleaning, how to clean our dances today, and help hopefully helpful tips in the rehearsal studio.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm also here with my amazing co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Hey everybody.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: We are so excited to have you ladies here with us today.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: Today we are talking about competition cleaning.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: This episode was inspired by a blog that Christina actually was a contributor to back way, way, way back in October of 2017.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: We got lots of fun tips and tricks from eight of our IDA judges.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_02: And Christina, this was a really, really popular blog.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Do you remember contributing to it?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: And why do you think it was so popular?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: I do remember contributing to it.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think that a lot of teachers struggle to come up with creative ways to keep things fresh in the studio, especially when they're learning choreography over the summer, and then they are continuing that choreography until the following summer.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: So keeping it fresh, keeping the kids inspired, that's something that we all struggle with, and getting some new ideas is always helpful.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: Chloe, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself before we jump right in?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, hi.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm Chloe.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you guys so much for having me.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I am a teacher and a choreographer.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: I'm currently the jazz and contemporary director at a studio in Santa Barbara, California.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: But I also travel a lot pretty much every weekend to set choreography for competition teams all across the United States.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, thank you guys so much for having me.
• 2:38
  unknown: Yeah.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for being here.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: I've watched Chloe's Amazing Dances uh competition, and they are fierce and thank you so much.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm obsessed.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I was I wish I could choreograph like you.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's so inspiring to see unique stuff on the competition stage like that.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Courtney left me the best judgments feedback I've ever gotten, ever, in like 10 years of being a teacher and choreographer.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_03: One of the things she said was, I want to meet the person that created this.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I remember that just meant so much to me that it was like it was such a personal comment, you know.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: I appreciate that.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's nice sometimes, you know, as teachers to hear that.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we're always talking to the dancers, and then it's like, hey, there's a whole choreographer on the other side that created this beautiful piece.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: We gotta recognize that.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you.
• 3:24
  unknown: Yes.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and Christina, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: I am Christina Young Yoder.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's what my bio says.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I currently live in South Bend, Indiana, and I travel and teach almost every weekend, or I'm judging every weekend.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: I am an alumni of Sesame Street Live, some different tap companies.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: I am the founder and director of Resonance Tap Experience.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: We produce the Rock City and Steel City Tap Fests and in Studio Tap Convention classes.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so we are super excited to talk about cleaning today.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: All of the teachers right now are probably either in choreography mode at the studio or in cleaning mode already because even though it's October, the season is right around the corner and it is coming like fire.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like it is gonna be here in a split second.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Conventions are already starting up this month.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: So people are most likely a lot of studios are gonna be taking some dances to conventions to test them out and see how they do and get some early feedback from the judges and make some changes and tweaks.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: And with that feedback, if teachers are going to convention in the fall, hopefully they need to go back in and clean.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's definitely what's gonna be happening.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we wanted to talk today about some different tips and tricks on how to successfully clean a routine and maybe be a helpful source for some teachers out there who need new inspiration on how to clean even better in the studio.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and I think the first, you know, the first line of defense for this, you know, for cleaning choreography is how do you engage our our kids for that long to learn a dance and then to clean it, you know, because you have to start with teaching it.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I know some people start cleaning as they teach.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's a strategy you can have.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: And some people choose to start cleaning after they've taught.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: So, uh, Chloe, what do you do?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: What's your strategy?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I I I agree.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_03: I think those are two very solid strategies that people use.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: I actually asked some of my students the other day, I was like, so I'm gonna be on this podcast, we're gonna talk about cleaning, and I'd love some feedback of like what do you guys like that we do in class?
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_03: And they were so excited to tell me about this.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and most of them, I I largely work with high schoolers, so I'm not working with little kids as much anymore.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: So these are um high schoolers that they learn probably anywhere from 20 to 30 competition dances.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_03: They go to big conventions, big competitions.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: So they're learning a lot of stuff.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: And overwhelmingly, they all said that they like to learn the entire dance and then go back and clean, and that they feel better when they have time to get the choreography in their bodies for a while and then go back and make those small adjustments, as opposed to learning, you know, one eight count and then spending a lot of time making it super specific right off the bat.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: So that's that's how my students say that they learn best.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_03: I think I also learn best that way as well.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, Christina, what about you?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because I mostly travel and teach, I don't always have the opportunity to clean as I'm going, depending on how much time I'm given in a studio.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I try and give as many tips and tricks as I'm going so that when they come back and evaluate what I've given them, they have some tools in their pockets to pull out and things to remember.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I also like to teach it.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: If I have my students in a studio, I like to teach it and then come back and clean after it's in their bodies, it's muscle memory.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's easier to teach it when they're out of their head or to clean it when they're out of their heads than whenever they're stuck.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because that can be really intimidating to, you know, okay, here's your five, six, seven, eight.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: Now your finger is here and this is here.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: And that makes sure, you know, that's especially for you know, high schoolers or anybody younger or less experienced.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's just that's a lot of information at one time.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm trying to think of what I prefer, like as a as a dancer.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually think that I want it to be taught exactly how the the teacher or the choreographer wants it to look.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because for whatever reason, my dancer brain will always remember the very first way you taught it to me.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So after I learn it, and then I have to go back and make small adjustments, which of course happens in competitive dance choreography, as well as working as a professional.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's what our job is to make those tweaks and adjustments.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: But for whatever reason, it's always harder for me to be like, oh yeah, they wanted it like this, right?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because I always remember how it was done the first time.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I I kind of love when they are very specific at first.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And and I've worked with different teachers, like as a dancer, I've worked with different choreographers that have been like, we're gonna get all the details and the specifics from the beginning.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: That way when we finish it, we won't have to clean as much.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, in a studio setting, that's what we all hope and dream for.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes sometimes that doesn't always happen.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm speaking in a professional perspective as a professional dancer, but yeah, I I think that it's two very different, you know, ways to clean for sure.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, definitely.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's something that's important for teachers to remember as well, is that there's so many different kinds of learners in your classroom.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_03: And so being aware that there might be a student that is going to want those specific details right up front.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I think just trying to get get to know your classroom and get to know your students as well as you can, that that can be really beneficial when you are figuring out the best strategy of how you're gonna clean.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: But then as you said, Christina, like sometimes you go in and I I just got back yesterday from a choreography trip and I set like 10 pieces in two days.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: And so, you know, cleaning is not really like the number one priority when you're there.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's important for teachers, but also for choreographers as well, of developing the strategy that's gonna work best for you in whatever particular environment it is that the students are gonna be learning the choreography.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: I actually want to go back to Christina, what you mentioned, because I feel like that this is a valid topic regarding guest choreography.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I was gonna go there too.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, great.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, good.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm I'm the same way.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: I do a lot of guest choreography.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: All of us do, actually.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: We all are guest choreographers, and we don't get the luxury to clean it.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: We come and we set a piece, and then we leave and we hope that it gets clean.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: So cross your fingers.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what are I know exactly?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are some of our requests, I guess?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe is that something Yeah.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I was I was literally gonna bring up the same topic in that, you know, you come, you set a piece, and and depending on the situation, like typically I go away and I might see you again and I might not see you till recital or competition or whenever it is.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: I but I had an experience a couple of years ago where I set a piece and then I was away for something.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: It was at a studio I was teaching at, and somebody else cleaned my number.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I came back and it it not not it wasn't not clean, but sh but the other person had changed things, like very very clear things that I had done something in a specific way for a specific reason to achieve a specific goal, and she like dumbed it down a little bit.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: And it was like, you know, it was like September or October.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I typically give you, you know, I'm gonna give you a couple more months before I'm gonna change that just to see if you can get it.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so my I guess my question to you guys is do you do you guys set parameters for the people who clean your piece, or do you just hope and pray that they don't, you know, change things and you can't recognize your own choreography?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: It it depends a little bit for me where I am.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: If I'm at the studio that I've been at for a long time, or with dancers that I've been working with for a long time, I kind of trust them already and know what their process is going to look like.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: I know that they understand my style, they understand what I'm going for.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: If I, if at all possible, I like to sit down with whoever's going to be cleaning the routine and go over like, this is what I'm looking for, this is where we're going, these are some goals that we're striving for.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: If I'll try and give them some things like, absolutely do not touch this phrase.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: There's something that's super important.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: But there are some times where it's a dancer I've never met before, a studio.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've set choreography for dancers that I meet when I walk into the studio, their mom or dad has a key.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: I walk in, I work with that kid.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: I never see another teacher or studio owner, and you're trusting the parents to convey information.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really hard.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think what you said, Christina, about like it's really valuable if you can talk with another teacher or specifically the teacher that's going to be cleaning the piece.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_03: So, for example, I like to, if possible, have the teacher that is going to be cleaning the piece present during the rehearsal process.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: So if that teacher can be there when I'm setting the piece, that's the best possible option.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_03: But that doesn't always happen.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: But I agree about like if you go to a place where you know the students and you know the teachers, uh, they know your style, then that's really helpful.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_03: I I really trust people to kind of make my vision come to life and they know what I want stuff to look like.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_03: But I have had experiences where I've I've seen the piece like on YouTube months later, and it's almost been like too cleaned.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's been cleaned kind of like you said, Leslie, that it's been like phrases have been dumbed down and things have lost their texture or their intricacy.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: And that is that is frustrating.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_03: And that's something that I am trying to figure out how to when I teach and when I set pieces, make sure that you know that that won't happen, or do my best to stop that from happening.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I think what you said, Christina, about you know, make sure that you don't touch this phrase, like maybe I just need to be more upfront about that and be very clear about you know what timing is interesting and necessary for the piece.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Do you guys find that videoing your choreography for them, like you doing it or having them do it next to you?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: I like to do it with if it's a solo or a duo tree or something, I like to do as much as I can with them.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not getting on the floor with you probably, but you know, I'll I'll give you the phrases and everything, just because, you know, again, if you're teaching somebody in eight hours, you know, over two days, and then you're never seeing them again, or you're only seeing them once, you know, once every couple of months, you know, you have to have that reference to go back to.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's valuable for me too, as the choreographer, to look back and be like, well, what did I do?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: Was that what I did?
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes, it was.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: That looked nice.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: It didn't look like it, you know, you need to try that again because remember what it looked like?
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like it looked like that just now.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious to know if I want to know if teachers really do go back to that reference video.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think soloists do, but in a group situation, I don't know if they really are studying and being like, oh, well, let me go look at the reference video and see what this e-count's supposed to be.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that they are.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And something that actually I really enjoyed when I uh taught once and choreographed once at a studio, they had like a rehearsal assistant for me.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, that's smart.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it was awesome.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: And like they're maybe like one of the seniors or somebody at the studio that like wasn't in the dance, so they were an outside perspective, and they were able to just kind of like take notes on what the spacing's supposed to be, or learn the choreography with me, learn that phrase with the dancers.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: So when they rehearse it without this person, because they're not even, you know, this dancer was an assistant, so they weren't the teacher, they weren't gonna be running the dance or cleaning the dance themselves.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: They were just gonna be the person that's like, I know what it is.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we're there's not a million people raising their hands saying, Oh, I know what this was what she said it was supposed to be.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: I hate that battle in the classroom.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: I I've been there when I've tried to clean other people's dances, and it's yeah, and I'm just like, so what is that supposed to be?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And there's some person that's like, well, it's supposed to be this, or it's supposed to be this.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I thought it was this.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: So it was it was a nice option.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: I would highly recommend that for teachers if they have guest choreographers coming in, videotape everything.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Take notes.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: I know some guest choreographers who send like blocking charts.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's serious.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, which I love.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, my crazy dancer brain would love that to have a public sheet.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: So sometimes what I'll do is actually always what I will do, not sometimes, always what I do now after learning from many seasons of exactly what you said, Courtney, happening, people arguing over specificity and things, is I will videotape a walkthrough where I stand in the back and you know they walk through stuff and I give very specific stylistic rhythm, those kind of notes as they do it.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: So then that way when they're watching the video of themselves actually doing the choreography to the music, they're and if they're off because they've just learned it, then you know, it doesn't become this.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: Well, was that on the one or the one-y, and or is that on the two?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't become that kind of problem because then they have the video of the walkthrough where I'm slowly saying, usually in my lovely singing voice, that you know, it's on the one and that kind of thing.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I found that the walkthrough videos are really helpful.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's smart.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: Not not necessarily having to do it full out, but just right doing the walkthrough for those really clear specific notes.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: Right, exactly.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: I also think that, and I don't know if I'm speaking for everyone, but I feel like that I I kind of wish I was more involved once I left the studio.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like that I teach the dance, I videotape it, I give you all the resources I can give you in my short time there.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then I leave forever.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I don't see, I never even get a video of the dance, maybe because of what we talked about, because maybe they changed a lot of it and they don't want to show it to us.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe, who knows?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Or they're just too busy and they they forgot.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I I would love for t choreographers and teachers and studio owners for when they bring in a guest to not be afraid to reach out with questions or not be afraid to um share a judge's critique or share a video from competition and ask for feedback on hey, what can we work on?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because that was the whole point of bringing in the guest choreographer is to get a you know, new challenge and experience something new.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if you guys feel the same way.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, I I feel the same way.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead, Christian.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's one of my struggles as a guest choreographer is stepping away and knowing there's a really great chance that this piece of art, this thing that I've created with this dancer or this group of dancers, I might never see again.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's like walking away from your child.
• 18:07
  unknown: Yeah.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Being like, all right, there you are.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that you grow up well and are successful in your life.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, definitely.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: I like to try and reach out if I can and be like, hey, can we FaceTime?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: What time do you guys, or you know, when is your advanced jazz class and when are you running this piece?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: Can we FaceTime?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: But I would say that that does not happen nearly as much as I would like for it to.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: But I I agree.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: I think that that would be nice to see them at some point before.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just like a progress report.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I think too, like teachers, studio owners, people who hire us to guest choreograph, we care.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like I want to know.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we all really want to know how this did, you know, because we want to know that you're happy and that your kids were challenged and and that you know you you got something out of it.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we don't know that unless you reach back out.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: So like don't don't be afraid.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: We want you to succeed.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and also I won't be, yeah, exactly.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I won't be offended if you don't remember if it's on the A or the One, you know, like I'll help you figure it out.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe I don't remember either, and so we'll sit together and work through it.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_03: I won't, you know, feel like they haven't done a good job.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_03: Like the students haven't done a good job if they don't happen to remember if it's on a specific timing or something like that, or what a shape is supposed to look like.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_03: I would rather, as you said, I care about what it looks like.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: I care about the product.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_03: I care that the kids are comfortable with it.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: So I would prefer that they would reach out and ask questions.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I I've had that experience where I've got in and set a piece and no one was ever assigned to clean it or work through it with the dancer.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: And they've sent me a video from competition like, why isn't this doing better?
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, have they practiced it?
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Have they run it?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Has anybody seen this since I left there?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and that's is this even my dance?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's why it's not doing well because it's not my dance.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's true.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I know a lot of guest choreographers who have said things like, you know, if any changes are made, or if a if a teacher wants to adjust any part of my choreography, they need to reach out to me and approve it with me.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And or I can I will send them over a different alternative or something like that.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody's obviously different with their their you know, hopes for that.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: But in the end, I think that the guest choreographers are looking at it from a perspective of I don't know what you might be changing it to, and you're still gonna say that this was created by me and exactly and you know it's gonna have my name on it at the end.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, exactly.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a little scary when we don't know what it's gonna turn out to be and or even know if it's gonna be cleaned like that because we want you to succeed, we want it to be an exciting new piece and we have all the hopes and dreams just like you do.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: But right, it can't be a fantastic piece unless it's cleaned and not too overly cleaned either.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: Do you guys so we grew up?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we really rarely had guest choreographers come in to set pieces on us.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: But when y'all grew up, did your teachers or anybody who were cleaning pieces have any sort of tricks that you remember that you continue to use to clean your own pieces?
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: Anything that stands out?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I also was not in a studio that was part of the kind of like the guest choreography thing.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't know if that's necessarily new, but maybe you guys can enlighten me.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_03: That seems like that's a recent, maybe in the last like 10 five to ten years, that it's become more of a prominent thing for competition teams.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_03: But no, so my teachers always said everything in-house.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: And something that they did that I always enjoyed was sometimes we would do like body part cleaning.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_03: So it would be like, okay, we're gonna run the entire thing and just talk about what our April Mall is, or we're gonna run the entire thing, we're just gonna think about our arm pathways and things like that.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: And that works really well for me, and I still like to use that with my students.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's one of my favorite things to do.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: And and the kids love it, because if you've been cleaning a number for a thousand years and they're just so over it.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Have them sit down, just do your arms.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: And like the ki the little kids love that.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: They think it's so crazy.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: And they and it really actually does help because because they're just only having to focus on the one thing.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: And and it is amazing how how much more fun they have if you just break it up with like, okay, we're gonna sit down and just move your arms, or like put your arms behind your back and just do the feet.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: And all of them sort of be like, oh, well, that's a more interesting way to move.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe we don't have arms there.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Our studio, we did have some guest choreographers, which was kind of unusual for the time.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: We definitely brought in some tap choreographers, and my dance teacher would be out in the studio learning the choreography right along with us.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: She made sure that we had all the details.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: She took immaculate notes.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: The shorthand that I use to write choreography is her shorthand.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's exactly what she does.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I do like taking notes.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: I've taken that from her, especially for tap.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: I write out every step, I write out every count.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: I don't choreograph ahead, especially if I don't know the dancers, because I don't I'll go with a broad idea, but I don't like getting into a studio stuck on my idea and not having room to change it if the dancer doesn't jive with what I've thought of.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: So being able to write quickly and have that something that I can explain to the dancers very quickly what this means is really helpful.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's such a great skill to have.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we learned a little bit of that kind of notation in in college at pedagogy.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I do I do the same thing as you do.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: I do the t the steps and the counts.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, going back and looking at that, those notes, you know, every now and then I get a little tripped up.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, what was that?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, if you if you if you know yourself, which we all know ourselves, like you can kind of get a picture of of what you've created, you know, 10 years ago.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's so helpful.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm thinking back at what my cleaning rehearsals were like at my studio.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of guest choreographers, we didn't really have them either.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: That wasn't really a thing.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we had multiple teachers, and we were fortunate enough to have two teachers that lived in New York City but traveled down to Maryland where my studio was every week to give us fresh New York City style.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it was very different than what our in-house teacher was teaching us.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it was it was kind of like having a guest, but it wasn't because we knew them and we we studied their styles and things like that.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: But we had a nice variety when it came to different choreography.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I I just remember like we would go from the top, and my teacher would, and I still do this to this day, and I'm sure we all do.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna dance until I say stop, until I see something that looks crazy, and I'm gonna press pause and we're gonna go back and we're gonna go through all the corrections, and we're not moving forward until we get that eight count right or whatever it is, and just keep going.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes you have to just focus on section by section.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, obviously that's that's so super helpful because I need to just retain a few corrections, get them like into my head.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go back.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: I need to do it once so it's ingrained in my body, and then we can continue on and I'll remember those forever.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's an important thing too, is I think it's really easy to get burned out on cleaning.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_03: It is not my favorite thing to do as a teacher, but I know other teachers who love to clean.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's like their favorite thing.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: So my advice would be is if you are a teacher like myself that does not love to clean, it's not their favorite thing, is that it is important to just like be vigilant and be like, nope, we're gonna do it again and we're gonna do it again over and over again because it really is worth it at the end of the day.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: And I know that you can be tired and your students can be tired, but I think remembering and reminding them that it will be amazing when it's super clean and the effect, the wonderful effect that clean choreography has is worth those hours of let's do it again, let's do it again.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: And knowing that repetition is going to create a new habit and help break those old habits and that old muscle memory is hard to get past with your dancers, especially the little ones.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: They're like on time 50, and you're like, Nope, still messing it up.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Let's try again.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do it again.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: But you kind of gotta think that all of us as judges, which is why we're here, because we're IDA judges and that's what we do.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: It judging is kind of like really quick cleaning.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's and it's crazy to think about that because you can be in rehearsal for hours upon hours, literally just cleaning.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: But we as judges have to figure out how I can clean this dance in three minutes.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the first time I've ever seen this dance, and I may not ever see it again.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so it's a great way to think about it.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and one of the things that I would love for teachers to know is something I say on my feedback all the time, and I'm sure that we all do, is what position was that?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: Was that supposed to be a passe or was that supposed to be a coupe?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want I think that something important while cleaning is to really distinguish and make sure that when you're watching it as a teacher, are you able to visually see every correct position?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you can't, then the judges won't either.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you never want the judges to question something because we don't know what it's supposed to be.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're we're watching taking it in for the very first time.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that would be in cleaning and and what the judges are looking for, that's definitely what I'm looking for are clean positions.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: I say a lot clear and distinct body angles or body lines or body shapes, knowing where the energy ends and where the energy initiates.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: So if I'm reaching, is it coming from my sternum or is that reach starting in the other arm and continuing through my body?
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Having clear pathways in and out of those positions so that everybody, if it's a group, is doing it the same.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: How are we getting up off the floor?
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Those little details sometimes get overlooked, and making sure that we're looking at all of the dancers.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: I know that when I'm watching my dancers, I know who's gonna mess it up and I'm looking at them.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I might be missing somebody on the other side of the room who's doing something completely crazy, and I just never bother looking over there.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: So stepping back and finding a new vantage point to see it is often very helpful.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: I also think that something that's important in cleaning and something that I noticed across the board is just kind of gotten messy in general in the dance world is transitions between movements and scores.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, absolutely.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like, is your foot supposed to be turned out?
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: Because that didn't look like it to me, you know.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: So thinking about that.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_03: Right, exactly.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and like are we moving through a plie as we transfer weight?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so I think talking to your dancers about like how am I transferring my weight from one position to the other is really important.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: And again, like you said, you know, about you know, how are we getting off of the floor?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_03: A thing that I see very, very common now is that when we're doing any sort of role and then standing up, that there's all sorts of parallel turned in flex feet to get you up.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, like you said, it's just those minute details, but they make all the difference when something is finally clean.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: So it starts with the little ones definitely.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of times where I see their senior teams are amazing and so clean, and then you see their younger teams, they're like, How is this the same studio?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like they they miss that attention to detail when it doesn't transfer as well to the younger dancers.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: I want to hear, Christina, your perspective, like of you know, clean and clear positions that we're looking for as a judge, but in the perspective of judging tap, because you're the tap expert.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that when I judge tap, I am like, was that a flap or a shuffle?
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Was that a time step?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: And and it I feel like that's why tap is so hard to judge.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so many teachers complain about, oh, well, the the judges don't know tap.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: They they obviously don't know what they're talking about.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, no, actually, I just couldn't tell what your dancers were doing.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I'm sorry, but I would rather be clean and a little bit more basic so I can make out each step and judge those steps for how they were executed.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are your thoughts on that?
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: I tell my dancers that remember that your audience, for the most part, are not tap dancers.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to make it visual.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: You have to not necessarily over-exaggerate, but you have to make your movements as clear as your sounds.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: So if it doesn't look like it's a shuffle, if your time step isn't picking your feet up off the floor, the sound gets smuttled because we need space between your taps and the floor for the sound to resonate.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it also looks sloppy because we don't, we don't walk with our feet connected to the floor.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: You would look awkward doing that.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: And upper body, it doesn't need to be super choreographed if that's not your style, but it needs to have some shape.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: It needs to do something.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: It can't just be hanging dead next to your body for the whole two and a half minute dance.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's just interesting to your audience and it's not aiding your choreography.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: Tap dancers also, tap choreographers need to think about how their upper body feeds and feeds off of what their lower body is doing.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: So is there some shape that we're trying to create?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: Is there some way that our upper body is helping us transition from foot to foot or from side to side or facing to facing, things like that?
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: That's I love hearing you talk about tap.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like you just have so much, it just makes so much sense when you talk about it.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I agree.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_03: I was telling her before, I was like, I have so much respect for tap because I'm personally a dreadful tapper, but I love it so much.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I love to listen to people who are really amazing at it talk about it.
• 31:42
  unknown: Yeah.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and speaking of, let's keep talking about tap for a second since we're there.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: So, sound-wise for cleaning, you know, how how do you go about getting a big group of people to sound the same?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Repetition.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure that everybody knows what the rhythm is.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: We count it, we scat it, we sing it, we clap it, we body percussion, we do anything to make sure that we know what the rhythm is.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: We also make sure we understand that we're not expecting our tap dancers to sound like one instrument because we're creating music.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: So if we're creating one universal sound, it's gonna drown itself out.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: So for there to be a little bit of variation between the dancers is okay.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be 100% uniform.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: But if there's one person who's trying to to stand out, to be the driving force, like you see it all the time, where there's that one dancer who she's the boss, she knows it the best.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: She's gonna stamp the floor so hard, she's gonna be limping off that stage, but she knows that everybody was following her.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't need to see that person.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: I want to see everybody be confident, and everybody knows the routine, and everybody knows the accents, and everybody knows the rhythm and the timing and the meter and all of the other good stuff that creates the music.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like, you know, we've talked a lot about because I think you know, a lot of us do work with older, more experienced dancers, and have we've had professional careers on our own.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, you know, how can we you know, there's so many teachers and studio owners out there, and I've heard this, and I'm sure you guys have too.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they want the judges to understand what a seven-year-old beginner student can do and like what the expectation is.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll touch on this even more in depth in another uh episode.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_02: But in terms of cleaning, you know, how much can we expect from from a seven-year-old jazz dance?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they've taken dance for two years and they're in this beginner level competition and it's their first time, they're doing you know, boogie shoes or whatever their dances, and you know, what haven't we all boogie shoes?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_02: You're missing out on something.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, how do how do we help those teachers help those kids?
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's my question to you guys.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think what you said.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, go ahead, Chloe.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_03: No, I was gonna agree with what you said a minute ago, Courtney, about that you would rather see shapes that are clear and clean than something that is more advanced than that dancer's ability and not executed correctly.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: So, like for me, I don't need to see a seven-year-old be doing aerials or a phone turns or you know, anything that I would not expect like even you know, high school dancers to be able to complete.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: So there are seven-year-olds that can do those kind of movements, and that's great.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_03: But if they're competing in a primary or beginner category, I would much rather see a nice clean single pirouette with a high posse, strong arms, and a smile than something that they can't do.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: Choreographing it to their level is always going to enable you to have a much cleaner dance than giving the material that they're not ready for yet.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: The stage is not the place to show what you're working on, it's this place to show what you've already mastered.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: So while in August you might teach it with some goals in mind, you also have a backup plan.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like if this doesn't happen by December or March or whatever, this is what it's going to be.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Giving yourself an out and just in case those goals don't happen.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I think especially too for I had a very similar kind of a mindset teaching some primary level kids a couple years ago, and letting them know that okay, this this is what we're aiming for.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like letting them in on the secret.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because you know, it's oh yeah, it probably doesn't feel great, you know, to to have it taken away from you if you didn't even know you were supposed to be working towards it.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, guys, we're we're really going for this skill.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_02: And if if if we're not there by December, then we're gonna pull it back to this thing that I know you can do.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: And the reason I'm doing that is because I want you to succeed and feel good about yourself on stage.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I think just the honesty kind of can can help, especially because there's so many kids these days.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: This is a whole other podcast in itself, too, that are just anxious and they wanna, you know, they really want to succeed, they want to do well, they want to do the you know, heel stretch turn and the fouetes and all the things that you know they see YouTube kids doing, you know, but here meanwhile they're working on their single pirouette.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: But it's like, okay, well, we need to get you these foundations first.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I think just letting letting them know what the stakes are and where we'll go if we don't meet them is, you know, a helpful thing.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, keeping a positive outlook on it is especially with those young ones, we want to keep them inspired to keep working.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to make them feel hopeless and that we're disappointed in them.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're exactly excited about the work that they've put in trying to get there.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's okay if we haven't quite met that goal yet.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: Next year is a new year.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think that, and like we all said, we less is always more.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's like a universal truth.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely think that if you're in the beginner level, think about it like that.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: Look at the fact that you are a beginner and we don't need to see more than a single.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'll take a double if it's clean.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't want to see a sloppy double.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: And just because you're in the beginner level, of course, when you move to the intermediate level, you don't have to be doing double pirouettes.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: You can you can still be doing a clean solid single if you want, and maybe hold it at the end.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_03: But no, I I think what we were saying about like, you know, the it's always technique over tricks for me.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I don't I don't I don't care if your students can do aerials and back tucks and all sorts of crazy stuff.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_03: I care that they know how to use their plie and that they, you know, know how to connect their arms to their back and that kind of thing.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, obviously skills and tricks and things like that can add elements to dances.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not saying that they can't, but particularly specifically talking about the beginner level, I want to know that they are getting a clean technical foundation from their teachers.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_03: And that I think that if we can continue to further the narrative that technique over tricks, then that is a that is a good thing for our young ones to hear.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that you listeners got some new ideas on how to clean your dances in the next few months.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to follow our amazing guests on Instagram, you can find Christina at ChristinaTap2 and Chloe at Chloe RobertsDance.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: A quick shout-out from one of our sponsors at IDA Affiliated Competition.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: Ideman Dance Competition is a deep competition experience you don't want to miss.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: YouTube is your stage rating for every entry from their nine colored palette, bringing a more professional feel and energy to the stage, and gives the choreographers more artistic control to see their work come to light.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: With improv competitions and a dance-off entertainment content.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: HD offers a morning warm-up class on the stage to encourage dancers to start the competition day like a professional and gives them a chance to really feel the floor.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: HD is passionate about continuing education and offers a variety of scholarship opportunities to their dancers.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: On top of it all, Titan Man is committed to providing a fresh, fun, positive, and professional competition experience for the dance community.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: For more information, visit HDDancecompetition.com to see when they are coming to a city near you.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have a question you've been dying to ask a judge?
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_02: Now is your chance to send us your questions.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: We might answer them on the show and give you a shout out.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_02: Submit your questions to us on our website at www.impactdancersjudicators.com/slash podcast via audio or text.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like what you heard on today's episode and want more, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.
• 39:22
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• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: Head over to Apple Podcast to rate it and leave us a review now.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: Make sure you like and subscribe to Making the Impact a Dance Competition Podcast so you don't miss our upcoming episodes.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_02: Coming up in the next few weeks, we've got Boys in the Dance, Lyrical vs.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: Contemporary, Choreography, and so much more.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: As always, we're so glad you joined us for this episode of Making the Impact.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in.