Latest / Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast / A Crash Course on Leaps and Jumps

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A Crash Course on Leaps and Jumps · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  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.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Soaring through the air in leaps and jumps is one of the best parts of being a dancer.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Nothing compares to the freedom you feel when you're suspended in space.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: But what if you struggle with leaps and jumps?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: Today on Making the Impact, we hear from two dance educators who have some excellent tips and tricks to help you reach new heights.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, dance world, and welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: I am your host, Courtney Ortiz, and sadly to say, I am flying solo this week without my co-host Leslie Mueller.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Because fun fact, as of this recording, Leslie is getting married very, very, very, very soon.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: And Leslie had a lot of bridal wedding errands to run today during recording time, which I totally understand.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And she was like, Court, I think this is gonna be, you know, the second or third time in the history of making the impact of seven seasons that I'm not gonna be on an episode recording with you.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so sad about it.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: So we miss you, Leslie, today on this really fun episode that we have in store.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: And this is an episode that I've been really wanting to do for a long time now because in the past we've talked about I mean, we talk about all of these skills and things all the time on the podcast about what the judges love to see and are tricks important, and what about acro and all of those things?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: And we've done a previous episode all about pirouettes, but now we're gonna talk all about jumps and leaps, which are a big component of dance.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of dancers love achieving their jumps, and it's a hard skill to achieve, and there's so many different variations of jumps that you may see in every style of dance that hits the stage, actually.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna dive into a really fun chat today.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: I wanna just give a quick little plug and say happy Halloween because it's about to be Halloween, y'all.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: I hope everyone has a really fun, safe, uh festive Halloween.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Let me know what you're gonna be.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm not gonna spoil it.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'll let you uh see on Instagram what I'm gonna be for Halloween this year, but it's a Friday for Halloween, which is so cool.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that like never happened.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's gonna be a wild one, especially over here where I live in New York City.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: But we don't really like have trick-or-treating because you know, you can't go to people's houses, it's apartment complexes in New York.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of weird.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, the street that I live on, there's like a bunch of shops, and all of the shops open up their doors to give candy to the kids, and they walk around and they go to like McDonald's and get candy, and they go to Express and get candy and and the random urgent care and they get candy.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: So instead of going to people's houses, that's how that's how it works over here in New York City for Halloween for the kids.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: But then at nighttime, it gets crazy because the adults come out in their costumes and hit all of the bars and restaurants and have a really good time.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: So everyone have a great Halloween.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And uh let's jump in to this fun episode.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: But before we do, let's hear from our sponsors.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Dancers, have you ever gotten feedback at competition and thought, wait, what did that correction even mean?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Or teachers, have you ever wished for feedback that helps you bring your choreographic vision to life and make sure your story is actually reading on stage?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Why wait until you hit the stage to get an unbiased opinion?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now you can have a fresh set of eyes on your dance before you hit the stage, with IDA's online judges' critiques.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Our critiques are done by professional pre-screen judges from IDA, many with decades of experience behind the table.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: You can even request a judge to specialize in your submitted dance genre so you're getting feedback that actually makes sense for your style.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: From technique to performance, to execution and costuming.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Your judge will offer personalized feedback based on your requests.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Our service guarantees delivery within five business days or upgrade to 24-hour rush delivery for those last-minute prep sessions before competition.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And we even offer our unique choreography console critiques.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: These are designed just for the choreographers, teachers, and studio owners.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of focusing on the dancers and the feedback, your IDA judge will do a deep dive into dissecting your choreographic elements from concept to transitions to formations and storytelling.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to learn more about our online critique service, then head to our website at Impact Danceadjudicators.com slash online critiques or click the link in the show notes to submit your video and see exactly why IDA's online critiques are the most trusted in the industry.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: All right, y'all, we're back, and I can't wait to learn about leaps and jumps today here on the podcast.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I teach them all the time, I do them all the time, but I think what's going to be so fun about this crash course is that we're going to have two special guests join us that teach them all the time as well, but coming to us from different regions and also different sides of the dance world, where maybe you call that jump something completely different than what I call that jump, or maybe you have a tip or trick on how to execute that jump even more successfully that you can share with all of our listeners out there.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully you have some really fun takeaways from this chat after we talk about all of the leaps and jumps that exist in the dance world and that we see on the competition stage.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: I am excited to welcome back a veteran guest on our podcast, as well as a veteran dance competition judge who has been on the IDA roster for 10 seasons, y'all.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: 10 years she's been here supporting IDA, and I'm just so, so grateful for her support for so many years.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's been an amazing journey, and I have a lot of episodes to share because she's been on a lot.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Season five, episode 169, a day in the life at a dance competition.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: That was a fun one of our day in the life series.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Season three, episode 99, QA with Courtney Live, April edition, which we answered lots of great questions.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Season two, episode 29, music at competition, which is always a very popular episode, and I think we should probably do that again.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: We need like a 3.0 of it.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: And season one, episode 7, age range expectations.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thrilled to welcome back Jessica Olnick to the podcast.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Jess.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, I'm so excited to be back.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I, you know, I'm just a part of the round table here.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's, you know, talking about jumps and leaps is so exciting because it's my favorite part of class.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And teaching, um currently the performance manager, the performance performance company manager at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia and Westchester.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we certainly do a lot of jumps and leapses.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, the challenge is it's so challenging, but so rewarding to teach and watch.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm excited to be here to talk about it.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, me too.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: I and I know that you, like you said, you teach it all the time.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you also are a jazz, jazz dancing and teaching like crazy.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: So you know a thing or two about how to execute some fantastic jumps and how to get your dancers to execute jumps.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I knew you'd be the perfect guest to join us here, as well as give the judge perspective from being a veteran judge for so many years.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: So oh yes, it's I've been at the judge's table for gosh, 15 years.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to give you guys all of my um knowledge today.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yay.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if you would like to share anything additional and remind everybody a little bit more about you, you can keep it brief since you've been here a million times, but whatever you'd like to share.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so yep, I'm the performance company manager at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia and Westchester.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: I've been a judge for over 15 years, nationally and internationally.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: I also have graced many different stages, musicals, dance companies.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Some of my costumes have been published in uh costume catalogs, and I'm a proud dance mom and uh proud wife.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, very excited.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much, Jess, for joining us back on the pod.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Our next special guest who is joining us, I'm meeting for the first time.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: However, they have been supporting our podcast since last season because they're they were a sponsor of our podcast in season six, which was so awesome.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: And they are the owner of Power Intensives in Texas.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: And fun fact, I will be teaching at Power Intensives in June 2026.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very excited to welcome Michelle Legans to the podcast.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Michelle.
• 8:46
  unknown: Hi!
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: I am so, so, so happy to be here.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_03: It is like full circle when you finally get to go face to face with someone that you've been admiring and sponsoring.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: And then now we get to actually talk and do all the dance-related things before we get to teach in person together here in Houston.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: I know, I can't wait.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad that that worked out and you reached out.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm very grateful for all your support.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I knew that you'd be a great guest for this one because you also come from like the drill dance team world in Texas, which y'all got y'all know how to leap over there.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's a it's it's a different world.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: Texas and dance is something I've never I had never experienced since when I moved here.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I've been here for 25 years, grew up in North Carolina, went to school in Oklahoma.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then I came here and I'm like, drill team?
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: What is this that's going on in these high schools?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: And it's so serious and it's so competitive.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_03: And these dancers grow up in studios dreaming of being on these high school dance teams.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: And now they're now going into high school dreaming about what collegiate team they would like to be on.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I was in the studio world for a very long time.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_03: I directed a competition company.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: So I've been on that side.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_03: I was a competitive judge as well, done all the things, but my heart and soul is truly, truly in this drill team universe where these kids are truly spirited about being a part of their school.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: And some of them will go on and dance professionally, and others, honestly, it's just because they love it.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's a great thing to support too.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I'm excited to learn about it because I really am, I know nothing about it.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Besides what I have learned from the podcast and guests we've had here, I've just never really been immersed in that side of our dance world.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it is a little foreign to me, but I do know there is overlap in studio dance and dance team drill world now in 2025, 2026.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: So we're excited to have you here.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: And is there anything else that you'd like to share with us before we jump into the episode or any plans?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I came from um, I went to Oklahoma City University, got my degree there, then I went on and danced for the NBA in Charlotte um for the Honeybees.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um I just had my 25th year anniversary with them.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: I went back and danced as an alumni.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: It was very fun.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I got to choreograph for the team again.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: So that was a huge thing for me.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I then danced for the NFL here in Texas.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: I was on the original first team ever, Houston Texan Cheerleaders.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm almost on my 25th year anniversary for that, and I still choreograph for the team.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: So I love keeping my NFL and NBA connections.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it was a huge part of my life.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: I loved it so, so much.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: And then I run Power Intenses for nine years.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's my own company.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_03: And then I was a sponsor on the podcast for my book.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I started doing Hey Dancers, let's talk about it on my Instagram.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: And it went crazy.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: I had no idea people wanted to talk about this kind of stuff so much.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, I just need to express myself in some way.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: And then I wrote a dance journal that dancers can read about certain topics and then journal all their thoughts and have an open way of communicating.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: So maybe we can create a more positive and inspiring dance atmosphere by opening up the conversations like you're doing on your podcast.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: I just feel like um we didn't talk about things when I was growing up.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I see a big difference when we all start talking.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_03: So the books was very successful.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: It was, it's been very fun to share it and have communications with dancers.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: And how can people get this journal?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: But it's on Amazon and it's called Pay Dancers.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about it.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_03: You can purchase it from there, they'll ship it to you.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I also have it um through Power Intensives on my website through that too, but Amazon's the fastest and best way.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then final plug, Power Intensives.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us more about that and how can people learn more?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so Power Intensives is all across Texas.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: We do about 20 events a year.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_03: Last year we had 2,000 dancers attend.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we have we're bringing in a lot of collegiate coaches now because it's very expensive for dancers to travel to all these other places to go train.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to bring in as many guest teachers here to help bring that to the dancers.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_03: We often have a live DJ.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_03: We do lighting to try to make it a dance party atmosphere where it's not competitive and feels a little bit more fun for people.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_03: And then we are now also associated with LA Dance Design, which is an incredible clothing company out of Florida.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_03: Kinsey and her mom are the owners, and we are doing our very first ever fashion show for them in December.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: And we are getting ready to announce that Jason Pickett is coming to help teach and be one of our judges for the fashion show as well.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_03: So that'll be really fun.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_03: But my website is just powerintensives.com.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_03: You can check it out on my Instagram as well.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_03: But we just try to make dance happy and fun and not competitive.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_03: That's all I want.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: And we are open and neutral, and you don't, it doesn't matter if you dance five hours a week or 50 hours a week, everybody is welcome.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_03: And we want it to be about friendships and love and not about constantly competing.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know because it is.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's exciting to know that, you know, there it just always feels lately like it's a competition, no matter where you go.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's you want to create these safe spaces.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, a lot of places will always say, Oh, there's no competitive atmosphere, and this is a safe place, and don't feel like you have to compete against the person standing next to you.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: But then there's like standouts and scholarships and all this, and it's like if it feels good to get recognized for those things, but then at the end of the at the end of the event, you're like, wait, so was this a competition?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like right.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to find just like straight up training opportunities sometimes because and also there's just so many choices.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: So it's you know, I think that it is cool that you have created something that is more geared towards the dance team drill um side of the industry, maybe even opportunities to expose dancers who maybe haven't dabbled in that yet and and and introduce them to it and say, hey, this is something that you could do if you're into uh going to uh your high school dance team, you know, come to try out power intensives and see if you like this style and vibe.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that can be, you know, an introduction.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that's great.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the more you know, right, and we try to do as many different styles as possible.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: So we'll have you know, either two to three different teachers, but just so that they can try and dabble in a little bit of everything.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe they thought they were terrible at hip-hop and then they realize, oh my gosh, I really love this, and it'll exp it'll change their mindset.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: But also, I think that I've just had a lot of people create friendships through because you know, if sometimes you feel like you're not welcome at a studio if they have a masterclass, and I just create a neutral environment where everybody can come and meet, and then they see each other at a competition or performance, like, oh no, I met you.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: They've created a bond and the dance world is so small, so that's wonderful.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_03: And you know what?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_03: Not every how many what's the percentage of how many make dance part of their life like we have?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's not it's small, but those friendships are longer, they last forever, whether you're still dancing or not.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that it's it's just bigger than a convention and bigger than a competition.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: And we get so wrapped up in things that I I want to make sure kids and parents know that it it can sometimes just be joyful, like just dance because it's happy, you know?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: And then that's gonna take you further places.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_03: I really believe that.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_03: Because if you're doing it from the right place, you're gonna learn faster and better.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: And with that, with my two fabulous guests, let's talk all about this little crash course that we're doing today on the pod, all about leaps and jumps.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Woo! So to kick off our chat, I have lots of notes on my end, and I'm just excited to see where this conversation takes us.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: But why do you feel like leaps and jumps are such an important element to dance and multiple genres of dance, like I mentioned in the intro, but why do you think that kids love to jump?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what doesn't it provide?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it it gives strength, athleticism, dynamics, emotion.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: It elevates the storytelling, it tells shows their technique and their mastery.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And most importantly, it shows their range as a dancer.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we can show different ranges, whether it's petite allegro or a big jump, you know, we can show our range too.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: So so much.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I think it creates great greatness and musicality and choreography too, right?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: That's where you build in a piece of choreography.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: You're for for me, if I have a team of 56 and they all jump at that same time, right?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: That an audience is like, whoa.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: So you're creating so much fun and excitement in a in a way when it's used correctly within the music.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, powerful moments.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it like heightens the experience of taking in the visual aspect of dance because we think about all these different things that compile choreography, all these different elements of a of a dance, the recipe of a dance.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: And you can't just have a whole dance with jumps, and you can't just have a whole dance with turns, and you can't just have a whole dance with legs.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now, have I seen all of those things in a competition?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: And and sometimes I'm like, can I get a jump in here?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what's going on?
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Why have you why have your feet never left the floor this entire dance?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I do think that the variety in in our skill set and uh what we are providing as a dancer in our training is important because then that allows for more ingredients that we can incorporate into choreography and jumps are a part of that.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's a strength or a weakness of yours, I think there's a way to always incorporate a jump in some capacity into choreography.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I definitely agree with that.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like you could do like a side passe jump.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not a good jumper, try to find something where, you know, you're just showing some elevation or um, you know, tuck the bottom leg.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Just try to find that variety.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: And you the levels don't have to be extreme.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_03: They just need to be there so that there is variety and that you're showing all different sides of yourself within a dance.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like we practice our plies at the ballet bar.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's like one of the very first things that we learn how to do are some of our positions, our parallel position, our turned-out position, our second position, all of our ballet positions.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And the very first thing that we often do at ballet at the bar is a plie.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: And fun fact, you need a plie to jump.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: You have to use a plie before and after most and all jumps.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I do that test all the time with dancers who somehow seem to like do an explosive jump, took off from a plie and jump into the sky and land barely using their plie, like practically locking out their legs, like not absorbing into the floor.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, how, how are you doing that?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't, I don't understand how you're risking your joints, your back health, all of the things.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: But then I test them.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay, so try jumping without using your plie.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Just stand still and try to jump from nothing.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: And they can't because they need to find that bend in their knees and utilizing that.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't even realize that our ballet class and our technique from the very beginning, like when we're like three, four babies, that's introducing us to what we will need to use later once we start incorporating jumps, even if it's a simple saute in first position or fifth position.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it's the foundation.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: It literally is the foundation from that's why they start that way at the bar in their plie, so they can understand how they resist against the floor to push up and elevate in their jumps.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and it's all about injury prevention too, right?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: So much of why it starts at the foundation of that and why it starts at the bar and why ballet is the key to everything, right?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: It starts there, is for the safety.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_03: So when you are trying to master more advanced and intricate jumps and leaps, that you're taking care of yourself.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because we think about the technique behind jumps, and even if it's the most basic, simple beginner jump that you do, there's still a foundational technique that needs to support it.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: And like I just mentioned of the plie, the same thing when we go to articulating through a releve and under understanding how to find a demi point properly, engaging our arch, engaging our quads, pulling up the leg, finding the leg line, the length from the leg.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: All of that is going to happen in the air when you jump.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then the same thing of doing like tonliers at the ballet bar and things that were rolling through our feet and our ankles, that's introducing us on how we're going to absorb the floor from being in the air back to the connection and the manipulation of the ankle and the strength that needs to support toe ball heel down.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, all of those elements that you do at the ballet bar translate into how you're going to jump.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: And even as a judge, like I can tell when dancers have taken enough ballet to support their jumps versus dancers who are just kind of hoping for the best when they go in the air and there's their feet are forgotten about, their legs aren't straight, and their landings are clunky and heavy because they're not really absorbing and articulating and have that foundational technique to support the jumps that they're doing.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: In our curriculum, actually, the and as a dance mom, because I've watched my daughter's younger classes.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: In the ballet class.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: And they they have to lift up.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: They have to pull up before they even they pull up, engage, then they go to their demiplié.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: That is how they're taught.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it's very methodical, it's very slow, but you can see them grasping it and it's just setting them up for their future the right way.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: That's yeah.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, here in one thing I talk about a lot in Texas is that we for drill team, we dance on gym floors.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_03: And a a lot of the schools here don't have great spaces for the dancers.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_03: I actually do a lot of choreography on cafeteria floors.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's awful.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's absolutely awful.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_03: And it's worse when you haven't had all the training that's necessary to take care of your body, to roll into your plie, to manipulate your feet.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_03: And then I'm like, okay, stop to stop leaping.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: Because I just I watch their knees and I'm like, oh my gosh, like I I've been injured on these floors.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_03: And I've been dancing for how long?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: So I always think so much about jumping and leaping and the more advanced things here because of the surfaces we're on.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_03: So going back to basics, a lot of the rolling through the feet and understanding the beginning and end is just as important, if not more important than the in-between is really important.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, the the surfaces, I get I get really passionate about it because these dancers deserve a little bit better here.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's just like we're dancing on concrete and it's it's not good for their bodies, especially if they're not trained correctly.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: And that's like when alignment comes into play so much because you can have done, you know, and again, why I keep going back to ballet.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can get technique in all of the styles that you do, but I feel like the repetitiveness of ballet that's often required at many studios is correcting our alignment, is um gaining support in our back, in our core, is also making us aware of our arms.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: And fun fact, everybody, your arms help you jump.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Your arms are always there in a position, in an engaged, supportive position to help you prepare and lead into your jumps.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: And the picture in the air of your jump needs to have a clean upper body.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone always thinks it's just the lower half of the body doing all the work, and it's like your arms are in like claw hands and shoulders are at your ears and your chest is pitching forward, and there's just the posture just went out the window.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, well, you're actually making it 10 times harder for yourself if you're not engaging your core and you're dropping your chest, just because, like, if a side leap, for example, that's like the go-to jump that everyone drops their chest and hunches forward.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, shoulders are at the ears, arms are flying up because it's a powerful jump.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: But I always try to tell dancers like shoulders over your hips, your core should be active.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like the legs are doing a lot of the work, but you also have to make sure if I took a photo that there's a good looking picture up there.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not hunched over and your shoulders are at your ears, like and sometimes, like in my class, I try to bring it back down to the floor.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: So what we do in warm-up can also be how we push, put it into the air.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: So if there we're working on side leaps, I say sit down, let's work on our placement.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: If we're working on soda shahs or jetes, you know, let's go into our split.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see if that back foot's pointed, you know, if the front foot's pointed, the knee.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: And those are the kind of things that as a teacher that we should integrate more into our warmups for the kids to understand.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: In calypsos, we're doing a jazz split.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: We do our arms, we calm right back.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is all a part of having them understand that.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_03: I could not absolutely positively agree more.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_03: I have a really long warmup, and some of the dancers are like, oh, so your warmups so long.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, okay, number one, you're not going to accomplish any of these things standing up if we're not doing them on the floor before we get ourselves up.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes I'll even I'll give them a partner and I'll make them take a picture of themselves in a certain position on the floor from all angles in a center position.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_03: We'll hold our legs up, we'll sit with our backs flat, our hips tucked under.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, do you look like this in the air?
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then we'll take a video of them in the air.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, okay, let's go back to the floor.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_03: You're not quite ready to get back up yet.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: But I it's a great tool.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, your warm up.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, I know, I know, but I feel like that's a lot of what's missing these days.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: Is some people just like warm up on your own and they're in a butterfly, like, yay, okay.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_03: And then they get up and you're trying expecting to do high-level winning competitive choreography when you've done nothing.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_03: And it's not preparing you, it's making your habits worse.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you got to start from the beginning to get to that level.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I love what you said about utilizing like photo and video to help self-correct yourself.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's important for dancers to understand is that, and I say it all the time when I teach, it's like, you're you have to make the most of your class.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: You can't just wait till the teacher gives you a correction.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are taking the time to like pair up and correct one another or say, oh, watch your shoulder right there, or why isn't your why is your elbow drooping?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Or hey, make sure you're really using your rotation here or whatever it is, like that's teaching how to provide corrections.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's teaching what to look out for.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe that you don't notice that on yourself, but you see it on someone else, and then you can analyze better.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: But like that's gonna make you a stronger dancer if you know what to look out for in the air.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, even the amount of times in classes that dancers aren't looking at themselves in the mirror in the sky.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, why aren't you like my head?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: I am analyzing as I'm in the air, you know.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that back leg wasn't straight.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay, gotta fix that in my granjete next time.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like we have the mirrors for a reason.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's what they're they're meant for you to be able to see yourself and and it felt straight, but when I saw it in the mirror, it wasn't straight.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: So how do I fix that the next time?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: If you just go across the floor like, oop, I did it, and you're not thinking about how I can do it better or using the tools uh surrounding you in the room, then your leaps are just gonna be what they are.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I always say, like, if you do not feel your pinky toe pointing in the back, and I mean feel it, not see it, then it's not pointed.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's a difference.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's feeling because when we're on stage, we don't have a mirror.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: We have to feel it.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: And and you have to feel it all through your body, all through the position, all through the muscles.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I always do that test with them.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't feel it, then it's not pointed.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I love that.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_03: And in gym where I do choreography, we don't have mirrors.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_03: So you gotta feel it.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: You gotta feel it, and you've got to be prepared coming into that type of rehearsal for choreography to understand all the mechanics so that when you are learning the choreography, you're also applying the technique on top of it.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_03: So you're not creating bad habits while doing the choreography either.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that takes me to another point that's just a life point, is that what we're working on in class is what we can do in choreography, but we shouldn't be implementing things that you've never done in a technique class into choreography.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: That shouldn't be the first time we're learning how to do a calypso or how to do a barrel jump or how to do a side leap or whatever jump it is.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: That should be there's a progression to get to that point based on the level, based on the amount of days a week you train, whatever the case may be.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: It can't just be, well, I'm I'm 12 and I'm in the intermediate level and I'm supposed to do this skill.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, then make sure that that's incorporated in your curriculum in your weekly training classes.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: But we can't just be like, well, just try it and hope for you know, hope that goes well.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, unless you're like a very advanced level dancer that can has the ability to just like try things because the foundation is there.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're not, which most dancers at 12 aren't, then we shouldn't be as teachers throwing in random jumps that they've never done because we saw it on Instagram and it looks cool.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, we gotta get the progression to get us there, which I mean, it's it's that's it's so smart.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, if we're not doing it in class, we're not hitting it consistently in class, consistency is everything.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: That is one of my big words.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: If it's not consistent, don't put it in your piece.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're getting judged on what we do well, right?
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: We do great, what we do excellent, and also what we're not doing well.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to think about that when we're putting together a piece.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_03: The stakes are high.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm gonna come from an interesting side of this because I'm also a freelance choreographer, right?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I have soloists that come to me from everywhere, and a lot of times I don't know them.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_03: And let's talk about the parental side of this.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_03: Because when these when dance parents This is a good point, right?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_03: When dance parents write me and they're like, okay, so my child can do this and this and this.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_03: She needs to do this and this and this in her solo.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like, okay, you're not their teacher.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_03: You're asking me to put something in that could make it dangerous in my rehearsal.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_03: So, yes, I understand you're trying to progress to this, but there also has to be a method to it.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I get hit with this a lot from this perspective of especially in younger dancers.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_03: My high schoolers are pretty well aware at that point of what they can and can't do.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: But it's like, no, I have to have this and this and this and this.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_03: And don't worry, Miss Michelle, I'll get there by the very crazy.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's sometimes you have to have a reach step.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: You have to have that reach step.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: But once we hit January, if we're not hitting your reach step, it's we're gonna just try, we're gonna edit.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we call editing.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah and and we're we're gonna make you look good.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the most important thing is that you go on stage confident and hitting it consistently.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: And and the parents also need to trust and appreciate their teachers and choreographers for what they're giving them in those situations.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: Cause sometimes as an outside person, I'm put in awkward positions where I'm like, no, yeah, you're prepping inverted for that pirouette.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_03: Why are you telling me you need to do four?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm not gonna give you that.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, like let's it' honesty, I think, is the best policy for safety and all the things, you know, to go along with all the topics.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, does jumps require strength?
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: Does it require technique?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: Does it require flexibility?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: Does it require control?
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: These are all the things that we learn in class and should be at our age level or just level in curriculum.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to push it because that's what like we talked about.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then our dancers are getting hurt and then they can't dance.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to make sure we're making the right decisions for our dancers, but also using all the tools in the toolbox to make sure they're doing it correctly.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: So that being said, let's dive into some of our different jumps that we know and we love.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I kind of would like to break them down in a progression order of what feels like more of a beginner level jump to kind of lay that out there and the progression to what's the next step up and the next step up from that.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a list over here, and then feel free to chime in and tell me others that I missed.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we'll start in the beginner level of what we feel like a beginner level jump is as educators.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: I love this.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the ones that I have listed are just uh a regular jete.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a uh a saute um in first position and fifth position, some of our ballet jumps that we do, granjete versus a soda shaw.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think that dan beginner dancers should know what the difference is, which if you don't, I guess I can tell you a granjete is going to brush through with a straight leg in first, and a soda shaw, and which is our regular leap that you're used to seeing, a split leap, many people call it, is going to move through a develop with the front leg.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: Dancers should know the difference.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I also talk about and please tell me, please tell me, Jess.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a cat's jump.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of what it's translates to.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: So think about the cat extending power.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: We love it.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: A sote passe, I think, is a beginner level jump.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh little candlestick jump is what I kind of call it where the or where their legs are squeezing together, just jumping straight up and straight back down.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe even a sote Arebes could be a beginner-ish level jump, doesn't have to be super high, but knowing how to spring off a one-leg landing on the same leg, and even just a stag jump of choice, maybe a double stag jump or a single stag jump.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: But are there any other uh beginner jumps that you feel like I missed?
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: One of the ones that I teach right from the beginning is actually a skip, the highest skip that you can ever possibly do.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, let's do it.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: Show me how high you can go.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then they can skip and then they can step to a saute and then they can work on extending.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just learn learning how to jump up and then land on that foot and then jump up and land, like transitioning your weight through your feet.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: It really helps them to understand as they go through the curriculum how to develop their jumps.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think that's great.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, all of all of that is definitely where you want to progress to to the next level.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: I think even at the bar, like just you know, working the even that skip, just doing something, stepping into the bar and pushing off that foot.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's so simple and sometimes dance don't understand it.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: So the simple is how you get to the big.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_03: You have to start at the basic so you can work your way up.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like that idea at the bar for using like even if you taunt your right foot front and then you sweep it back through first and you brush arabesque, but you push down the bar to try to get a nice high, so it's arabesque, you can work on your elevation and stretching through both feet.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and repetition.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: You could tuck the bottom leg, you can work on tucks.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_03: And the bar helps with posture too.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_03: I think.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think all of that is training where is that upper body needing to be whenever that bottom leg is coming off the floor.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 36:01
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• 36:09
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• 36:18
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• 36:19
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• 36:25
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• 36:36
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• 36:42
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• 36:47
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• 36:51
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• 36:55
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• 36:59
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• 37:06
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• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: All right, let's upgrade to the intermediate.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: I have a list and throw out some more once you hear my list.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: I have a tourgite, which kind of is a I mean, it's intermediate because it's not super advanced, but a tortitay is hard.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: Hard, yeah.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it might sound like something that dancers at age 10 are doing, but you have to have very on a good understanding of the fouete of a torgite, the pathway of the legs, the scissoring of the legs thing, an alignment of the hips, um, how to land in a proper lunge, all of those things that come with being a more intermediate level dancer and years of ballet training to do a torgite.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: I love a firebird jump.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: Every every kid in America loves a firebird jump, which do we all know I'm some people call them ring jumps.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: Some people call firebird are like a firebird.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: Firebird is the best.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: I've heard that back in the day that somebody used to call them a calypso, not a calypso, uh capizio.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_03: That was like the picture on the capizio logo.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, okay.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_03: That makes sense.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_03: I like the history.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's old though.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: I'm aging myself with that, but that's okay.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I feel like the firebird jump is like a ceison back attitude, is what we're talking about.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: A Ceison assemble, Ceisson jump with the back leg and attitude.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I want to ask you about this.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: Is the back leg turned out or parallel?
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's turned out.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: I can't imagine it parallel.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it's Michelle.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, if you're taking if you're taking off from a turned out position, but if you're not though, like if where we are, we plie like a lot of jewels, we plie in a parallel first.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: So there's answers.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: They rotate off on.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I I I find it interesting.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_03: Because if you look at a lot of like, especially in palm, because palm's done so fast, when we do palm, we play.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: That helps with precision too.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I find it interesting because some people, when they hit that perfect ballet back attitude, they end up looking like it's a calypso and they don't get the arch in the main picture.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's it's instant.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it's all at once.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: It goes down, hold back down, right?
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: Jumps.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's some jumps where you take off from one foot, there's some jumps you take off from two feet.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like like if I'm comparing a firebird position to a calypso position, uh personally, me, I think, like you said, Jess, if the prep is turned out, then the then we're preparing our legs and our hips to be in a turned out position.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: The prep always matches the turn.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody in existence, and I don't care if it's a turn, I don't care if it's a jump, it needs to match.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that's yes number one.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: Just put that in the the rule book.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: The golden rules.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: It is a rule.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Big poster on the wall.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's ingrained into teachers' heads again because kids are just doing whatever they want, and we have to remember that that is that is a crucial part of how to execute so many skills.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: And as a judge, we are looking at that.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you're educated, we see and we know, and this is important.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're showing us your technique right there.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: So if I'm like comparing a calypition to a firebird position, I feel like the calypso, I and I'm thinking of like a turning Tomekupejete back leg attitude is a calypso, which is also in my list of intermediate jumps.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like that that is going to be like flat parallel in the sky to the floor versus uh the firebird, the bottom leg isn't all the way up at a 90 degree point.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_01: They're more, it's more of like angular in the air and more of like a diagonal position.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, but is the mechanic of the the picture the same?
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, but we're just kind of shooting that top leg higher up and typically often arching back to try to hit the toe to the head in like a cambre arch.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: So that would be like my comparison to the calpso versus it's just the angle in the sky.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously having it come from an awesome Blaise Son type of position, landing with both feet versus taking off one leg, landing to the other leg in a calypso.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: Which we love a calypso.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I love a calypso jump.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I do them, I think I think that a calypso is an important jump to know how to do.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_01: Depending where you go in life, and I think that you're gonna teach calypsos, I don't think they're going anywhere, is what I'm kind of getting at.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they're like a staple in lyrical dance and often sometimes contemporary dance, dance team, uh, jazz dance, Broadway dance, they're there.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: So one thing that I've kind of in my class, because when we do calypsos, you can have a bent leg with a round arm, or you can have an extended leg with a straight arm.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: Does anybody else do that?
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like a chene jete?
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but like it's kind of the same feeling as a calypso, but your back leg is straight and your back, your arm is straight and extended back versus you know curved above.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just a chenejete?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like just a chene jete.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: I just I call it a calypso with a straight leg and straight arm.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: Oh I say leg is straight.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_01: I know it is a straight arm like that.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, straight arm back.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is that so yeah, that versus this.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're curving our arm and we're extending our our arm behind to match our leg behind there.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's interesting.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: I've never seen I've never actually seen that.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's a fun one to do diagonally in class.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_03: I would have done it as a Cheney.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like calypso versus a Chenejete, where you're working on the difference between the positions of the back leg.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: Me too.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: And the arm positions would be different.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: The right arm in front if my left leg's behind versus the left arm high overhead and fifth for the calypso.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I do also talk about a rounded fifth versus a flipped wrist L position, jazz fifth for different positions.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I also I've done what you're describing, but with the back leg bent, but with the arm free here.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: To just we can do this different stylistic style to the upper body.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_03: And we do different arms for cleaning.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_03: Like we do different arms, like in a if you have a ton, you know, I mean, the teams I work with are big.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_03: So to get everyone to hit that angle, sometimes that rounded position isn't as clean.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: No, it doesn't.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so it's something that a lot of it's easier for lower intermediate dancers to hit a position like that where everyone can look alike.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: And the and with an attitude, especially with a lot of pe dancers in the piece, like you said, it's hard to match on the angles and everything.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_00: So trying to keep everything straight and like a strong arm does help for sure.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I use it a lot.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_03: Can I ask a calypso question?
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_03: Calypso it away, yes.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_03: So, or do you teach them coming from a brush?
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_03: Or from a fan kick.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_00: It just depends on the class.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like some dancers go coupe down out, like Sunday coupe, out.
• 43:56
  unknown: Okay.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of variety of that here in Texas of what I'm seeing.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_03: And it's very interesting because I teach them for the pop to get the height at the same time.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't necessarily work them from a fan kick because then I'm getting an up and over position instead of the power that I want in the jump.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_03: But it's so interesting when I go and I'll have like lines crossing and they have to like all clip so at the same time, right?
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_03: Going different directions.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: And the people fan kicking are whacking people everywhere.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, what is happening?
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_03: What's happening?
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_03: But I always they're like, no, I was taught from a fan kick, like telling me I'm wrong.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm always curious.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think either one is necessarily wrong.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's a fan kick.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think you just brush sides.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_03: No, they're doing like a full fan kick, like leg to the nose and then up to the leg in the back.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, I don't, I was not taught that way, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_03: So I thought I'd ask the question.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: I so I am a big stickler for execution of calypsos because I agree when I teach them in guest classes, I see the fan situation.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that they the fan never finishes the the picture in the sky, like that method of it.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: There should be a point in in the execution of Calypso where you are at your peak and it is squared off properly.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: Just like a Jasplet on the floor.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said from the beginning, like it's the exact same picture.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: But well, when you're in the air rotating, you have to understand where is your audience perspective for the shape to hit?
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_01: When does that peak happen?
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_01: What count does that peak happen?
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: And how what are the pathway of the leg to get there?
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm a fan of either developing or brushing whatever feels good, but straight straight in the direction that I'm going.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: And finding that peak and pop.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: And also important, and this is a non-negotiable, everyone.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: There is no such thing as a calypso with a back leg turned in.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: That does not exist.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like that is not a thing.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a thing in dance team?
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's not.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_03: But everybody thinks that the higher they get, that's what makes it great.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: I can't imagine that with the hip placement either.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_03: Well, and they end up shifting their shoulders like the wrong way.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_03: And then when we show them on a video, like we do a slow-mo, we're like, hey, look, you're not flat, and it's all because of the placement of the back leg.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_03: So we just put them back on the floor and make them sit there and understand this is where your positioning is in that split position on the ground.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_03: But I was I'm I feel a lot more validated at this exact moment because so many dancers kind of have fought me on this fan kick thing.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm against it as long as your picture is good.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you're not, it's going like up and over and not hitting a moment.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it still is gone.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's an arc in the air, right?
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I also like to say that a calypso is not you're not turning in the air.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_00: You are you're turning before you get there, and then you it's like doing run, run, leap, but you're just doing turn and leap.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_00: So that's not the turn point.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's probably where the fan kick is happening.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel this round feeling.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's coming like a round, like in the corner.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_03: And then their hips hit the wrong place in where they're supposed to be squared off to.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why in a group dance per se, people don't look alike doing one.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad you said that, Jess.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was fantastic.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like imagine that you're a horse and you're going up and over a fence.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: So you're you have to brush your leg, you have to lift, hold the moment, come down over the fence.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that you're kind of using that whole up and over feeling.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: I yeah, it's the momentum of of having too much power and not understanding how to stop it like a dime in the air.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: They just let the momentum overtake the shape in the sky and uh continue the rotation in the air instead of hitting the picture.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the picture is the key point to the clip.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we want an explosion, but we also want the the clarity of is your leg in front devant with the back leg in a back attitude?
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: And do you have this the hip strength and the core strength to support that position as you explode in the sky and roll to the ground?
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: So calypsos are harder than a lot of dancers think, and it's not one leg than the other.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_01: There is a peak to a calpso.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully that helps some friends that are listening.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_01: I hope so.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, we have some more jumps that we need to talk about.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_01: And another one that um I love is and every dancer loves is a tilt jump.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a kind of an intermediate level jump that a lot of younger dancers love to do because to me, it's just a big old giant gram, like develop a bat ma is kind of like you you bot ma so high that it takes you off the floor.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_01: And our goal in the tilt jump is that bottom leg shouldn't stay right underneath of your hip alignment.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: There should be a little bit, yeah, there should be a little pop out to the side, but it's not getting all the way up to 90.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's creating that diagonal, and that's why we need to really drill it in the mirror to understand what is the positioning.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm a big stickler too, again, for the tilt jumps to not have your chest drop.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why every kid drops their chest in the tilt jumps.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think they think it makes them get higher.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's like hunchy.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: I always teach that you look just so that it opens up the chest line, that you look away from the leg and you open up your focus towards the opposite side.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's nice.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it kind of opens it up versus them creating that habit of hunching forward.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_03: And here I get where they instead of looking, they tilt their head and it's almost like they're laying their ear on their arm.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_03: They're listening to their shoulder.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and then they have no neck and they aren't understanding that the placement of the upper body makes the line, the legs improve.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_03: Like it it goes together.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_03: But I even in bot moss, I'll get this like head tilt.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's showing effort.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna be real because they're like, yes, I've got a head in my moment, but then it's like, well, bam, with their head.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, okay, okay, okay.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_03: And that's another time I get a foot a picture out or a video out.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, let's look at where your head's going because you're almost pulling yourself in the wrong direction.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, right.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_03: But that seems to be a habit around.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: You always have to pull it like in a tilt when you're standing, doing a tilt, it's a tilt is a standing middle split, right?
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're just shifting our body, so it's the same effect.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_00: You have to stretch the torso away from the legs so it expands.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's important for dancers to understand how to do a tilt on one leg before we start jumping it.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think that is the progression to it, is that you should under understand the positioning where your hip alignment is supposed to be, where your upper body is supposed to be.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_01: Can you hold this?
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_01: Can you maintain this?
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have the hip strength to support it, the core strength to support it?
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I am not a good tilt holder.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_01: My hips kill me and it hurts.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have that type of flexibility.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not like super whacked out with my hips, but I can tilt jump.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's just a you you you hit the picture, you come out of it versus holding.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_00: You have really awesome power in your jumps.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I do have power, and I always try to think, how did I get all that power?
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's really core strength, a lot of core strengths and and really taking advantage of your preparation, you know, because like tilt jumps, you do have to have flexibility, but at the same time, like you can hit a low tilt jump with cleanliness and punch still at the top, no matter how how far your legs are going.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: I have almost seen dancers who are too hypermobile not be able to do a tilt jump because there's not the strength to support it.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that makes them as like lopsided.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, because they have like super hypermobility in their hips and their legs just fly up, but they like barely get off the ground.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_01: And and and they can't get back, which by the way, tilt jump should end in a back coupe.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_01: In a perfect world, they should end in a back coupe on one leg.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_01: They shouldn't land both feet at the same time.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_01: Never or right foot than the left if you're doing the right side.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_01: So just even understanding like how do we get into it?
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a run-run?
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a chausset step?
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_01: That final step, because you're taking off of one leg, needs to have a really, really grounded, deep, deep, juicy plie.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_01: So you can really rebound and spring off of it.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we say the the power is in your plie.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_00: The power is in your push.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_00: And without that, you're not going to accelerate into the air and execute the jump the way you want to, for sure.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely why strength and conditioning classes and all of those things also play into being a good jumper and a good leaper, right?
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_03: All the all the extra exercises you're training at home and doing at the studio that you can put together to make those jumps stronger.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna list off a few others, but I want to get to some of our advanced jumps.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just gonna say some more intermediate.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_01: And if there's any others that you think I missed, let me know.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_01: On my list, I have a reverse leap, which um reverse, maybe we fate in the air when we're in a nice little soda shaw.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_01: I have a Sisson jump of any choice, uh, kind of like the firebird, but maybe our body says stays upright.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's an airbush jump.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have an axle, which no one does anymore.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_01: They're kind of old school these days.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_01: But we love, we love axles over here.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_01: I know we do.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna put it in a combo this season.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_01: I've already decided.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, double tuck jumps or soda bosques or chassis tours.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think that rotating jumps like that are nice.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_01: And also I have like a fan renversay.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it's uh more of a fan jump with a turning aspect, but stopping like a dime at the peak of it.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they land in lunge positions or you end in a back coupe unlined out of it.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_01: So those are some of my intermediates.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's right on my intermediate list right now in October.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_00: Nailing it.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yay! Yes.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_01: We have some advanced jumps here.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a few that I want to touch on because I think that these are some of the more popular ones that are existing right now.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_01: And one of those is a switch Airbus.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_01: That is every kid's dream to do a darn switch airbus.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_01: No mine.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_01: Or even I forgot to say like a fuette Erebus, which would be intermediate for me.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_01: A fuette Erebus jump.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_01: But you have to know how to do that.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's why it's in my intermediate category.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_01: You have to know how to do that before you can even try to do a switch arabesque.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I I don't understand.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I need to see that you understand the fuete of the fute.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_01: Snapping of the hips.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's the most important part of it.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, how do we think we can add a whole switch of the leg if you still haven't figured out how to fuete?
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the elevation, because in a switch arabesque, it keeps going up.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I've watched several videos on this because I too am curious on how we can make these jumps better.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it you have to brush, and then as you swing the leg to fuette, you have to keep growing in the air to go higher.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's not the down point, that's the the peak of the jump.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's like and up down.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: So you definitely have to understand how to fuette your hips.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's how I start teaching them.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I almost think the progression of a switch error bus, and I could be wrong because switch error bus came after my time, my training time.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_01: These are like a new phenomenon of, you know, since I was a comp kid.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_01: And they're beautiful.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_01: They are.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_01: They're really really nice when they're they're done properly.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I feel like that you should also possibly know.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: I correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like that I would want to know how to do a regular switch leap before I know how to do a right uh switch arabesque.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I could be wrong.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's easier to do arabesque.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_03: Switch arabesque seems to be more if I was like labeling it like switch leaps in terms of advanced level, I actually think switch arabesque is on a is on the lower side than a regular switch leap.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_01: And what's your reason?
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think because of the rotation, like going into rotating and getting that back leg up into that arabes position seems to be more natural, where you're also not bringing your bottom leg up quite as high, where in this regular switch, the power it takes to get both legs completely even, yeah, so much more power from that bottom leg, right?
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_03: So once you have learned the switch arabes, then go into that switch leap.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_03: Now, also here, I I don't know if this is a drill team, Texas dance team thing, we do switch tilts.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_03: That's an advanced definitely advanced advance.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_03: But what happens here, what I'm noticing is that making dancers understand the difference between the switch arabesque and switch tilt with your hips is very, very hard.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_03: And then once they think they can do both, they end up looking like one in the same.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_03: And it creates some random leap that it doesn't exist.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_03: So it's interesting to really train the switch regular switch leap of the hip placement, the switch arabesque of the rotation, and then the switch tilt of that your hips are going back square.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_03: So it's very those three together, like they all have to be trained in very different ways.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_01: And the dancers need to know the difference.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_01: It is important.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_03: Just because it's a switch doesn't mean that it's the exact same thing.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, alignment, the transition into it, the hip alignment, the picture to the audience.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_01: All of those are true telltale details on if you understand what type of jump you're doing.
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_01: And as a judge, I need to know that you understand what type of jump you're trying to execute.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_01: I shouldn't be sitting there being like, what did you just is that a switch tilt or a switch airbags?
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I should never ever say in the air, too.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of times where the dancers are trying to do it and then land on the ground, like land, you know, not just in their plie versus trying to show the position in the air.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_00: So right.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_03: We also do switch firebirds.
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, those are fine.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, those are rarely seen that.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_03: That goes to another.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, what I had uh at a power sits, we had an improv and a girl across the floor.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_03: She she did the switch fire bird, and the whole place was like on the floor, like hitting the ground, clapping.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_03: Like we were like, okay, so we need to film that because that's what it's actually supposed to look like.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's exceptionally difficult.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's exceptionally difficult.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_03: But that's like to me, another tricky thing that's come from a you know, well, we used to do just a switch leap to the floor.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_03: Now you've got these progressions of now taking almost every jump and somehow rotating it and switching it.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_01: But like you mentioned, I think that like any switch aspect to a jump, I think is living in the advanced territory of a jump skill.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_01: You have to know how to do the regular version without the switch first before we can even upgrade to an extra, like the leg doing an extra pathway.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you have to under and and before that, the regular jump without the switch needs to be really, really high, really powerful, um, very clean, consistent.
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's there's aspects to that before we can even attempt these other ones.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_01: Cause like if you don't even know how to spring off of your rebound for your chaussy step preparation, then if the mechanics aren't there yet to allow an extra switch to to exist.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_01: You have to be like super, super powerful, really understand the mechanics.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's why it's advanced.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_01: And often younger dancers can't do that yet.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_01: They're working on it, but you there's more strength and control that uh needs to be involved.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the trailing back to our other conversation of having younger dancers do these steps, what Courtney is saying is correct.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_00: Have them develop the jumps for their age in the correct level so that they can actually showcase it the right way.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, again, we're going back to what we put on stage, what we're doing in our dances, we're getting judged on.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_00: And if we're not doing it correct, then we have to mark down for that, you know?
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're seeing that that dancer is not rolling toball hill in these gorgeous, beautiful plies before and after an intermediate level jump, please, please don't take them to something that is gonna cause bad habits, even in their intermediate skills, right?
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_03: If you progress them too quickly, which I think is a problem right now, is that everyone's trying to get to something too fast.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_03: Like let's let's be safe all the way around and then let's get to that point.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_03: And then that's gonna be more successful faster, right?
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_03: If you do it in the right order, and it's so valuable.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you do it the right way, if you're learning it the right way, how valuable is that to your training?
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_00: How valuable is it for a dancer to walk into an audition and do it right?
• 1:00:15
  SPEAKER_00: They're the one percent, and we're gonna know right away.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to know right away that they were trained properly.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what you want for your dancers, for sure.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, some other advanced jumps that we love.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like everybody loves a turning disc jump.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what y'all call that.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone calls it different.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's essentially a Shenai up, Shenai down, center leap often rolls to the floor.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_01: But a lot of people call that turning disc.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is there any other names for that?
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like a spinning center.
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_01: Turning center.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_01: Turning center.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_01: What do you call it, Jess?
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_01: A spinning disc.
• 1:00:49
  SPEAKER_01: Spinning disc, yeah.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_01: Spinning disc.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of different uh terms for that.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we also have like a butterfly jump.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that is like a flying squirrel, I think some people call it.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_01: Flying squirrel or butterfly.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_01: Those are really difficult and uh kind of like a tour de taille, but more parallel to the ground, I would say.
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, with the scissoring of the legs.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: We have every switch under the sun is an advanced uh jump, as well as another fan favorite is the pop j'te, is what I would call it.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_01: I that's another, I feel like kind of dance team-esque style jump that everyone's incorporating into a lot of things now.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_01: Post my time in the dance training world.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_01: So is that something that you think dancers should know how to do?
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_01: Is this pop jete?
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_01: Is it like the next big thing for Choreo and dance team and things?
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_03: Dance team, it's a very big thing here.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_03: So you want to know what else we do here?
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_03: Is we combine a calypso with a pop jete.
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_03: So we go calypso, land in the coupe, pop out to the pop jete, and then roll to the floor.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_03: So we connect them.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's a big, big advanced leap here.
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_01: So calypso the unwind out of the calypso is the the prep for the day that takes you to the pop jete.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 1:02:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then that rolls to the floor.
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_03: Rolls to the floor, and we go like rounded calypso arms, and then we typically pocket the arms to get the arch of the back in that pop jete and then roll out.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_03: So that's how we connect them here to make them that next like elite level of advance where it's not just the jet the calypso and not just the pop jete, or sometimes we call them surprise leaps here.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_00: What's the secret to getting the front leg up on that pop jete?
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, you have yeah.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, a lot of it is floor training, right?
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_03: Weights, different jumps we do across the floor to prep for it.
• 1:02:40
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 1:02:41
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of it is how we I train the calpso and where to land before you pop.
• 1:02:45
  SPEAKER_03: So they're not allowed to go up until they understand where the coupe position is, where the body position should be placed, and then the chest going up and the arms going down help create the pop and the vertical to go up.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_03: The typical bad habit is they lean over the front leg in the pop chante and their weight is in the wrong place so their front leg can't be done.
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_03: So that's like back support, core strength.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and everything is about the stacking, right?
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_03: Of the the shoulders directly over the hips and understanding where, but they need again to be doing a ton of jumps and leaps that are coming from one foot to get the power to understand how to go back up.
• 1:03:22
  SPEAKER_03: But that's I don't know if it's a Texas thing.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_03: I really don't know.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_03: But I had to learn a lot of this when I moved here because it was so foreign to me.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_03: But that is the big calpso pop up and it goes quick.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's here, here, here.
• 1:03:36
  SPEAKER_03: Like it all happens very quickly.
• 1:03:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, are they doing it on Broadway?
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_00: Are they doing it in Albany?
• 1:03:43
  SPEAKER_00: They probably are definitely not.
• 1:03:45
  SPEAKER_03: But it's fun, it's fun, it's a fun jump.
• 1:03:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, but here is everyone is prepping to be on a college dance team.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm just saying, like in other avenues of dance.
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh gosh, no, no, yeah.
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I didn't do that growing up, like that was not a thing.
• 1:04:00
  SPEAKER_01: No, I think that's important to like after we've listed all of these different types of jumps, which like another final jump on my list is a 540, which is often done by male dancers.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a a jump in ballet that they often have to achieve at a point in their ballet training for male dancers.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_01: But a lot of female dancers are tackling them these days because they're just so athletic and amazing.
• 1:04:21
  SPEAKER_01: I love seeing it on stage.
• 1:04:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's really exciting.
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure I've missed some other jumps, but I think that like one thing I kind of want to like round this out is like what are what are some of those jumps that we think are are needed?
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_01: Some are fun and exciting that like we want to achieve and reach those goals, just like our aerial, just like our front step out or whatever.
• 1:04:40
  SPEAKER_01: But what are some of the ones, if a dancer wants to have an actual career in dance, whether that is on dance team, maybe we need to separate it, maybe it is a dance team, dance team after college or into college.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_01: What are some of the skills for that versus what are some of the jumps that you would need to know if you're doing a cruise ship, if you're doing dancing for Taylor Swift, if you're dancing on Broadway?
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that those two worlds, those jumps, the lists would be very different.
• 1:05:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think.
• 1:05:06
  SPEAKER_01: So let's start with the dance team.
• 1:05:08
  SPEAKER_01: What what are some of the like you must have this to get onto a college dance team?
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think any switch sleep possible.
• 1:05:15
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_03: In all ways.
• 1:05:17
  SPEAKER_03: I think it has now become a 540.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_03: Which is scary and a little dangerous, but it is something that every dancer I know that is wanting a college dance team is training.
• 1:05:28
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:05:29
  SPEAKER_03: Here in Texas at least.
• 1:05:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think that surprise leaps, big jumps coming off one foot.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think also now taking turns, any kind of turn and jumping it, also jumping inside of turns, back into turns.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_03: It could be a tuck of just a bottom leg and an all-scaled turn combination going back into a turn.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_03: Any anything that is all about power.
• 1:05:55
  SPEAKER_03: Toe touches are huge, multiple toe touches in a row for palm.
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_03: You will not see.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_03: College dance team that is not going toe touch, rotate, toe touch into another jump.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I think it's athleticism, yeah.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's all athletic and power.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_03: It is where and why dance team and the combine.
• 1:06:13
  SPEAKER_03: We now have the common app, which is all geared toward making a collegiate dance team.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_03: Tribe 99, of course, has been the main founder of the progress of collegiate dance team, but there are lists of skills from every college of what is required for you for you to be recruited onto these teams.
• 1:06:33
  SPEAKER_03: And it is recruitment now.
• 1:06:35
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like we have created the Super Bowl of dance.
• 1:06:39
  SPEAKER_03: There is a combine now that you can attend where you get recruited by these collegiate teams, but it is all athleticism.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_03: Everything is about power and being athletic in your movement.
• 1:06:49
  SPEAKER_00: I love that they offer that though for them.
• 1:06:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think that that's such a great idea, you know, bring it all together.
• 1:06:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's keeping everybody on the same playing field now, where like you can go in and you apply through this app.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's really great.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_03: And we're like now, collegiate coaches are starting to travel a lot more to meet dancers and really explain what's needed for their programs, which is also incredible that they're putting in the time and effort for that.
• 1:07:12
  SPEAKER_03: But definitely in terms of jumps and leaps, it is all about power.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_03: So how you train up to that point is so, so important.
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_03: So you're safe and kind and wonderful to your body during the process.
• 1:07:23
  SPEAKER_01: All right, Jess, give us your list for being in the classical studio setting from the competitive dancer world, maybe into pro stage world.
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I would I would say kind of your from your intermediate to your advanced jumps.
• 1:07:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, definitely for a gentleman, they would need a double tour.
• 1:07:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's you know, from fifth up down, double tour land.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's very important.
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, generally just like the soda shaws, the turning, you know, jetes leaps.
• 1:07:53
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing for the females.
• 1:07:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like I would I would say we're not doing, they're not doing switches.
• 1:07:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's not something that's on the list, especially with hip injuries and stuff like that.
• 1:08:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and you think about even stage like Broadway.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we're going down to basics there.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just saying this because they're singing and dancing.
• 1:08:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we can't do all these jumps and turns in a piece and be singing and dancing.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_00: So we're it's more on style, you know.
• 1:08:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you're if you're what dancing on stage with Taylor Swift, she's not leaping, you know, right?
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_00: We're not going there.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it's about maybe taking a cool jump and making it interesting, but still having those fundamentals and those basics.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean having them like tricks up your sleeve is always great.
• 1:08:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it's nice to pull them out in auditions to show that you have that skill.
• 1:08:37
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe that could be incorporated into the production as a feature, but it would never be something like a a turning dish jump would never be something that you need to do to be on a cruise ship.
• 1:08:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's not probably in the choreography because it's just a little too advanced.
• 1:08:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's unheard of to get multiple people to do that, even though that seems standard in many studios.
• 1:08:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so I just want to kind of like shift that perspective of like, well, what should we really be working on that's gonna help us?
• 1:09:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you need to have a great leap, a beautiful, perfect, one like flat, gorgeous soda shaw with clean technique and clean lines.
• 1:09:13
  SPEAKER_01: I can tell so much about you from that.
• 1:09:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't need a switch, I don't need all the advanced stuff.
• 1:09:17
  SPEAKER_01: I need to know that you know how to do a leap.
• 1:09:19
  SPEAKER_01: And how you land it, and how you land it, and how you look in the air while you're doing it.
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like that is important.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_01: You might have to do a calypso.
• 1:09:27
  SPEAKER_01: I would say that's the next line in line for cruise ship and stage performance.
• 1:09:31
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely like a barrel jump and and chasse tours and more like low impact jumps because a lot of times, especially for female dancers, you're gonna be in a heel, so they're not gonna make you do power jumps.
• 1:09:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just too risky.
• 1:09:43
  SPEAKER_01: You're on a moving ship, like, no, we're not doing it.
• 1:09:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're on a you're dancing on an NBA uh court, like they're not gonna risk some of those power jump.
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_00: So there's some big jumps for the Sixers.
• 1:09:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, put me in.
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I did for NBA too.
• 1:09:58
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't do it for NFL very much, but NBA I did.
• 1:10:00
  SPEAKER_01: And like side leaps, I think, are definitely a needed skill for sure.
• 1:10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, for a lot of dancers.
• 1:10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Axle jumps happen in choreography, especially pending how dated is the show that you're dancing.
• 1:10:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, who knows?
• 1:10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's cruise ships that have axle jumps on them still.
• 1:10:15
  SPEAKER_01: And if you've never learned that, you can't be learning it for the first time when you get on the job.
• 1:10:20
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 1:10:20
  SPEAKER_01: But as far as some of these really exciting ones that we're seeing at competition, I think that those you put in your back pocket and that's a special skill of yours that you can whip out when you want.
• 1:10:29
  SPEAKER_01: But is it a requirement to be on Broadway or on stage?
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
• 1:10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, unless you're in a specific show like Cats are or Lion King that's gonna be doing a lot of jumping.
• 1:10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:10:39
  SPEAKER_01: But jumping is super, super important.
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that we covered like as many jumps as we could in an hour's time over here in a nice little like crash course, which was super fun to dive into the specifics of them and like some of the things we see at competition and as teachers.
• 1:10:53
  SPEAKER_01: So uh thank you both, Michelle and Jessica, for sharing all your knowledge about jumps and leaps today.
• 1:10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was so fun.
• 1:11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yay! I love it.
• 1:11:02
  SPEAKER_01: We should do more crash courses.
• 1:11:04
  SPEAKER_01: I guess we should do one for tap and hip hop, and maybe this is a whole new thing that we start getting into over here on the podcast.
• 1:11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, final thoughts, because we always have our guests lead out with one final thing you'd like to share about the topic today, which today we're talking about leaps and jumps.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_01: So anything that you missed, any advice you want to give to teachers, to dancers out there as we head into the competition season.
• 1:11:26
  SPEAKER_00: All right, I'll hop in first, no pun intended.
• 1:11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know what?
• 1:11:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think first and foremost, when we are teaching jumps and leaps, we want to break it down.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_00: We want our students to understand the breakdown of the step, the position.
• 1:11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And something that I love to do is called the A B C's of jumps.
• 1:11:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I will start with the very basic A.
• 1:11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk paved.
• 1:11:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna go up, we're gonna step, we're gonna skip up.
• 1:11:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's my A.
• 1:11:56
  SPEAKER_00: My B, we're gonna step up, we're gonna skip around in a circle.
• 1:12:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's B.
• 1:12:01
  SPEAKER_00: C.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna step up, step up, skip, extend the leg back, and land.
• 1:12:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we have A, B, C.
• 1:12:08
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna break it down, we're gonna help these kids understand what they're doing in the air.
• 1:12:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then we try to combine it and kick that front leg up with power.
• 1:12:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really important.
• 1:12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, consistency is everything, and that everything that you do in class, everything that you do outside of class will help you to understand and really execute all of the jumps that you want to do for your dance.
• 1:12:33
  SPEAKER_03: I think my number one thing coming from a choreography perspective is safety.
• 1:12:39
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's really important that you are training properly in your studios before you're, in my world, making a drill team, a dance team where you are not on the best surfaces all the time.
• 1:12:52
  SPEAKER_03: If you are preparing for a collegiate, that you're getting with the right instructors, taking the right classes, making sure you're doing everything to prepare you in the right order.
• 1:13:01
  SPEAKER_03: The order that you do things for jumps and leaps will create the longevity that you have as a dancer.
• 1:13:07
  SPEAKER_03: Coming from someone that, you know, I'm older, I've had four knee surgeries.
• 1:13:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's not, I was dancing on legit concrete sometimes growing up.
• 1:13:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that I am really careful with dancers of how hard and where they want to push themselves when they're not ready to get there yet.
• 1:13:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I think we need to be honest and open about the conversations of who you are as a dancer, where you need to go, what are your goals, and how are you going to get there so you do it safely.
• 1:13:34
  SPEAKER_03: And are, like I said before, you really have to be kind to your body in this industry.
• 1:13:38
  SPEAKER_03: This, the collegiate dance team side, the dance team side, because it's so athletic.
• 1:13:42
  SPEAKER_03: I would love to see you have your full career that you want and not have your body get out on you in a way that you can't make that happen.
• 1:13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for tuning in to our crash course all about leaps and jumps.
• 1:13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Special shout out to our guests, Michelle and Jess, for joining us on this chat.
• 1:14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to follow them on Instagram.
• 1:14:03
  SPEAKER_01: You can find Jessica at JWO Dance and Michelle at Michelle League's.
• 1:14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Available for purchase on Amazon.
• 1:14:20
  SPEAKER_01: And learn more about her Texas-based dance event, Power Intensives.
• 1:14:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be teaching at her event in June 2026.
• 1:14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Register and learn more on her website at powerintensives.com.
• 1:14:32
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• 1:14:53
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• 1:15:00
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• 1:15:11
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• 1:15:16
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• 1:15:18
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• 1:15:24
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• 1:15:30
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• 1:15:35
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• 1:15:44
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• 1:15:50
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• 1:16:00
  SPEAKER_02: Stay tuned for more great episodes of Making the Impact, including a throwback all about pirouettes, Day in the Life of a Broadway performer, a throwback episode about musical theater entries at competition.
• 1:16:11
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you then on Making the Impact.