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The 2023 Competition Season - Takeaways From your Judges · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_04: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table at a dance competition?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_04: This is Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_04: Each week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive dance from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_04: As the 2023 competition season comes to a close, we ask you, our loyal listeners, what topic you'd like to hear from your IBA judges.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_04: On this week's episode of Making the Impact, you'll hear from 10 of your favorite judges about their takeaways from this competition season, what they loved, what they didn't love, and what they wished they saw more of.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_13: Hello, dance world.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_13: Welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_13: I'm your host, Courtney Ortiz, and I'm here with my co-host, Leslie Mueller.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_13: Hey Courtney, I can see you.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_13: Oh my gosh, we are literally sitting next to each other for the first time since probably the beginning of the season.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_13: Like September.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_12: Yeah, I'm so sad.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_12: It's been that long.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_13: Like usually we're always next to each other recording the podcast, and we just haven't been able to do that this year.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_04: No, but through the wonders of technology, we have been able to make it all happen.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_04: But it is nice to be in the same room, in the same space for these final couple episodes.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, I agree.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_13: And I like you said, it makes so much sense because this is one of our last episodes of season four.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_13: So sad about it.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_13: Bye, season four.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_04: I know.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_05: We hardly knew you.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, it's gone already.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_13: So, so, so sad.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_13: But we have a really great episode to bring to you today.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_13: And this is a Facebook community pick.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_13: So we actually did a poll in our Facebook group, and we started this last season when we introduced our Facebook group, and we just asked all of the fans and the community group, what episode would you like?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_13: What topic do you want us to tackle as one of the final topics of season four?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_13: And we had some really great suggestions, and all of those suggestions went right into our brainstorming topics list for future seasons and episodes.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_13: But you all voted and you picked this one.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_13: And maybe we should make this a regular episode every single season.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_13: I think.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, we got the feedback that people did really like this.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_04: And I honestly can't remember how many times we've done it.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_04: We've done something similar a couple of times, but I do think, you know, you 2.6,000.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_04: Let's do that math.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_13: We have over 2,500 people in the in the group.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, all of y'all really expressed interest in hearing directly from the judges what they liked and disliked and want to see more of and want to see less of at competition.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_04: So we we polled a bunch of our judges.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: We've got a bunch of different feedback here today.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_04: So we're super stoked to hear from them and then throw our own two cents in as well.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, this will be your 2023 competition take backs from your judges episode.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_13: And I definitely think we will keep these going for future seasons.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_13: So I hope you'll enjoy.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_13: But before we jump in to hear from our judges, we want to tell you about some of our recent Making the Impact Award winners at IDA affiliated competition events.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_13: As you've heard us announce throughout the last part of our season, we have been awarding Making the Impact Awards at IDA affiliated competitions where your judges will select that one dance that they just cannot stop thinking about by the end of the weekend.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_13: This can go to a solo through production, and our judges have loved giving this award out to so many dancers and studios throughout the entire season.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_13: And one of the perks of winning this physical award on site is also to hear a podcast shout-out on the pod.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_13: So we're gonna give you a studio shout-out, and we have a few winners to announce.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_13: From Just Dance Invitationals event in Seattle, Washington, congrats to Premier Studios Northwest from Lake Stevens, Washington for their small group sweatpants.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_04: From Legend Dance Competitions Event in Long Island, New York, congrats to Dance Mechanics from Great Neck, New York for their large group One Short Day.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_13: From Just Dance Invitationals event in San Mateo, California, congrats to Castro Valley Performing Arts from Castro Valley, California for their award-winning duo trio.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_04: And from Decca Dance Competitions Event in Clifton, New Jersey, congrats to Miss Andrea's Dance Studio from Scarsdale, New York for their small group.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome to the party.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_13: We have a lot more Making the Impact Awards to continue to give out throughout the rest of competition season.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_13: So stay tuned to hear if you are an award recipient for your studio shoutout on a future podcast episode.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_13: Alright, let's jump on in to this week's episode.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_13: And these are the judges' takeaways from watching all of your dances all season long in 2023.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_13: Shoutout to all of the judges who sent in clips.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_13: Can't wait to hear what you have to say.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_13: And let's kick things off with Amy Gibson coming to us from North Carolina.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, this is IDA Judge Amy from North Carolina, and I just want to share some of my thoughts as we wrap up the 2023 competition season.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_10: I've seen some incredible energy from dancers on stage, and I've seen some real passion and excitement for dance, which is what should be happening, right?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_10: We should love being able to take the stage every time.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_10: Some things I feel like we need to work on, though, is as much as we want to showcase that really difficult turn sequence or we really want to do this cool acro move, we have to remember that we have to take choreography to the stage that we've really mastered in our technique classes.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_10: We're always going to strive for improving on our technique no matter what our age is as we continue to grow as a dancer.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_10: But just make sure that the choreography we bring to the stage is technique and skills that we have really mastered and can execute clean, clear, and precise.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_10: Thanks for a great season, everyone.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_10: And I hope you have a wonderful summer.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_10: And I can't wait to see you next year.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_04: What an excellent judge.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_04: Miss her, haven't seen her in several years.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, just like I haven't seen so many of these lovely names and faces in several years, but always cool to hear some feedback from Amy about technique and making sure you are pushing your technique forward and showcasing what is available to you at the time, at the time of show, you know?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, I think that is pretty consistent throughout a lot of judging panels is that we don't want to see what you're working on.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_13: We want to see what you are excelling at and what you can really master on stage.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_13: And I I think that we, you know, a lot of people have missed mixed feelings about this because a lot of people will say, like, oh, well, this will really help push them.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_13: If I put this challenging move in there that they really haven't perfected yet, by putting it in their solo, it'll really get them to work, continue to work on this skill, you know.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_13: But at the same time, you know, that's great and that's a great way to approach teaching.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_13: But on our end, we don't know that as judges.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_13: We don't know the progress that this dancer has made with this particular skill.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_13: We don't know if they've gotten close.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_13: We don't know if whatever the the scenario may be as to like the reasoning why um studios might want to, you know, approach it like that.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_13: So I think the safer option would be to make sure that there are skills and elements within the routine that the dancer is just really nailing every single time.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_04: And I mean, I think it goes back to, I think we've talked about this before.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_04: I would never, you would never go into your second grader's math class and say, excuse me, ma'am, Miss So-and-so.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_04: I really think that Sally needs to be doing trigonometry.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_04: Well, Sally does not know how to do fractions.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_04: So I don't know that, you know, we need to be pushing on any on from anywhere, from any direction, a skill that you're not ready to do before you've mastered the basics.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_04: And I think, you know, like you said, Court, I think there are mixed feelings.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_04: I think you can, you know, take a few risks here and there.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_04: But, you know, sometimes I think we see routines that are literally just skill after skill after skill that hasn't been mastered.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_04: And you're like, you could have just picked one.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, showcase the things you're really good at and then throw that one thing in there that we're still really working on, but don't let it be back to back to back, something which you're just falling out of or not ready for.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, I agree.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_13: And I think we have a few more judges that also agree and want to bring even more to this topic of discussion.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_13: So let's hear from them.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_07: Hey, this is IDA Judge Maddie from Tampa, Florida.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_07: And something I've noticed a lot this season is that when it comes to tricks, and I love a good trick, sometimes dancers are throwing tricks that maybe they aren't quite ready for.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_07: So a couple of examples.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_07: I'm seeing dancers not clear the floor on their aerials and have to put their hands down, or I'm seeing bent knees or dancers falling out of turn sequences.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_07: So, as a rule of thumb, I always say if you can't do it at least nine out of 10 times, preferably 10 out of 10 times, really, really well in the studio, maybe it doesn't belong in the choreography.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_07: I love a good trick, but we need to make sure that the tricks are safe and properly executed for the dancers.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_07: So maybe you keep working on that aerial or that turn sequence and you put it in your solo next season.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_07: We always want to show our dancers off at their very best.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_07: And remember that as judges, we are always rooting for you and we want to see you shine and succeed.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_07: Happy dancing, everyone.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_09: Hi, this is IDA Judge Miranda Spada from Buffalo, New York.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_09: As we wrap up our 2023 competitive season, one of my biggest takeaways is that this generation of dancers continuously pushes the limits with their skill sets and athleticism.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_09: I'm always mind-blown by what I see dancers being able to execute on stage.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_09: However, something to remember that I think is so important moving forward is that nothing truly beats clean technique.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_09: Always remember to prioritize your training in the studio so that when you execute these incredible skill sets, you have the technique to back them up.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_13: All right, yeah.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_13: I mean, obviously both of Maddie and Miranda agree that we should be prioritizing technique over tricks, making sure we have those basics and fundamentals down before we start attempting tricks that might be beyond our level.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_04: Well, and I like what Maddie said about the safety coming first, because I mean I cannot tell you how many times I have cringed and and and frozen, like my body has tensed up every time I see somebody.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_04: I just can tell.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_04: You can tell it at the preparation for an aerial if that is gonna succeed or not.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, that that is a dangerous skill.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_04: It is dangerous.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_04: It because you are you are going upside down and your hands are not supposed to touch the ground.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_04: And yes, the floor is there to save you.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I think as uh Miranda said, like it is amazing how much prowess and skill that some of these dancers have these days.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I can't do an aerial.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_04: I never tried.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_04: I didn't, it was scary.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_04: Like I did not want to go upside down.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_04: And the pushing, you know, everybody's pushing so hard to gain these skills, and so many people have.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_04: But again, I think there's that like, you know, dance society pressure.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_04: Well, you have to have your aerial.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_04: Well, yes, but you have to have it properly executed and trained so you're not hurting yourself and you're not terrifying us.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_13: It's no different than whatever, you know, everyone knows the phrase, I'd rather see a clean double than a sloppy triple.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_13: Like we hear that all the time.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_13: The same thing applies to acro, the same thing applies to the ins and outs of things.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_13: Like you said, Leslie, we as judges can tell based on how you are gearing up for that preparation for any skill, truly any skill, pirouette, leap, aerial.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_13: I don't care what it is, I can tell based on the prep if it's gonna be a go or if it's gonna be a hot mess.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_13: And I don't want it to be a hot mess.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_13: I want you as the dancer and you as the choreographer to know that you are presenting the best possible dancer and execution from the dancer on stage.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_13: So doing aerials with your hands down, why?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_13: Like, I and again, I can tell if it was a smart choice for the dancer to put the hands down because something happened and they didn't get the right prep.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_13: Like, I I know that as a judge.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_13: Experienced judges understand it, but I also can tell when based on that prep, I knew you weren't gonna make that aerial anyway.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_13: You had to put your hands down because I could tell you were gonna fall on your head if you were if you didn't.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_13: And like that, I guess that is still being the smart dancer, but at the same time, I'd rather you not at the same time.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_04: You can also see.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_04: I I don't know, I feel like you can tell when it's somebody who's used to doing them, they're used to doing them well.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_04: They usually happen and for whatever reason, off day-because the timing of when you put your hands down matters too.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_04: And I can tell when you have an inexperienced aerialist, the timing is incorrect, which that is when you hurt yourself.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_04: No, maybe you're not gonna fall on your head because human instinct is to put your hands down and save yourself.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_04: But if you do not put them down at the right time to support your entire body rotating in space, landing on the floor with on your hands, that's a broken bone.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_04: That is a fractured wrist, that is something awful and dangerous that we don't want to see happen.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_04: And like you said, Courtney, I I like when I see a well-executed aerial, just like gives me chills.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_04: It makes my heart sore.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_04: It's just lovely.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, we want to see more of that.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_04: But the only reason, the only way we see more of that is if you if you show us that because you've trained to execute that on stage 100% of the time technique behind it.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_13: You have the foundation of fundamentals, like we say all the time.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_13: It has to be there.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_13: Like Miranda said, we have to make sure we're prioritizing the technique and not jumping the gun and rushing ahead because you're so excited to do this skill.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_13: There's building blocks to dance.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_13: And uh, I always go back to Brandon Cornet's uh mention that he said, like instant microwaveable success.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_13: Like we can't we don't have like It's not a lean cuisine.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_13: Yes, it's not a lean cuisine.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_13: It is not like an pop it into the microwave and boom, you have your aerial.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_13: It takes time.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_13: There's you know progressions that we need to do in acro class and the technique and the basics.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_13: So really make sure that we're focusing on that as we head into the 2024 season.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_13: That way, by the time March hits in 2024, guess what?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_13: You can put your aerial in your dance.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_13: Yay! We fully support aerials, y'all.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_04: We love an aerial, like you said.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_04: I wish I could do one.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_04: I always thought maybe I I could, but then I got too old and scared and I was like, never mind.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_04: This is not for me.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_04: The timing has passed.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_13: I actually did I we only had like tumbling at my studio.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_13: We never had like acro, and we just learned like very basic skills, and I learned how to do an aerial, and it was in my solos for like maybe three years, and then I just stopped doing them and then I lost it.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_04: So that was sad.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_04: It does seem like a thing you could lose pretty easily if you don't practice.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, it is.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_13: So keep practicing your aerials, y'all.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_13: Don't lose your aerial, like Courtney.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: All right, let's hear from our next judge.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: Hi, everyone.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: This is IDA judge Amanda Nicole DeTullio coming to you from Virginia.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: And one thing that I saw this season that I absolutely loved was all that classic, grounded, stylized jazz on the competition stage.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: We've been talking about it on the podcast and in the forums that we want to see dancers doing more classic jazz on stage.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like I saw more of it this season than I've seen in all of my past judging seasons.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: All of the directional changes and the weight transferences and the triplets and the potabarets, you name it.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_03: It was there.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: So I want to encourage all of you dancers who are training that way and give all of the choreographers and teachers who are training dancers in that important style kudos for bringing it back this year and encourage you to continue on.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: Not only is it fabulous for us as judges to see that on stage, but it's important for your training as well.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_03: So continue bringing that classic jazz back to the stage.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_04: Love it.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_04: I agree.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_04: I saw some amazing classic jazz this season too, and and from young people, like from some like 12-year-olds.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_04: It was kind of it was kind of stunning.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm so glad that that um Amanda is seeing it across the country too.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, me too.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_13: I mean, I'm I'm so here for that.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_13: That's like what I do.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_13: I love me some jazz dance, and as we've known in the past, a lot of our uh jazz categories are oftentimes very contemporary.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_13: And while, yes, contemporary jazz is a style of jazz that does exist, it is really nice to see a more classic patabouray jazz.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_13: Right, right.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_13: So I'm I'm here for it.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_13: I fully support it.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_13: And I I do think that there is like a nice like blend of old school, new school jazz that's kind of being created in our industry that I like the throwback songs that are being used, but then there's like a new spin on it that still feels current and not too old school because sometimes it can get a little too like, ooh, this feels a little too 1980s right now, instead of being like 2023 uh version of that.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_13: So I applaud all of the jazz teachers out there who are teaching those basics and fundamentals and then figuring out ways to keep this style new and innovative.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_13: It's really refreshing.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_13: Uh let's hear from our next judge who wants to say a few things regarding dynamics and choreography.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh hello, this is your IDA judge Rob, currently from Massachusetts.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I wanted to bring up the subject matter um mainly based towards our choreographers and studio directors about dynamics of our choreography for our pieces.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what I'd love for uh individuals to start thinking about, or even in group settings, or especially our younger choreographers that are coming up in the industry, is to uh really match the music that you have chosen to dance to from a dynamic standpoint.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so when you have the biggest crescendo or the biggest point of the entire piece are what I saw this season sometimes as dancers just on the stage being on the ground, uh not being able to match that to their fullest potential, or for I think to the fullest choreographic inspiration.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_04: I absolutely agree.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's interesting uh from my perspective, having directed for the past couple seasons as opposed to judging, like I'm just ingesting information and not commenting on it, but I feel the same way and it's it's inter they're interesting choices, and it's like, you know, nothing is wrong or bad, or you know, you're not making the wrong choice.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_04: It's a choice to dance to a Celine Dion song and be on the floor on the crescendo, you know, while the strings are going and the drums are going and her voice is going and you're doing a split roll on the floor.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_04: You know, why are we not leaping?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_04: Why are we not turning?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_04: Why are we not lifting somebody?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's interesting.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_04: And so I kind of agree, yeah, it it feels almost like you could put any piece of music on sometimes, and it wouldn't make a difference in the world because there's nothing that's leading the movement to a particular place.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_04: It's just movement on a stage and there's some music on.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's what it feels like to me sometimes.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_13: Oh, a hundred percent.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_13: I mean, and I think that I continue to go back to and like maybe I go back to this so frequently because I've been the teacher judge at Revel all season long for the past two years, and that's like the primary judging that I do is talking more towards towards the teachers.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_13: But this is obviously a note to choreographers, and the choreographers probably aren't getting this type of advice on the regular critique tapes because it's out of the dancers' control.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_13: So, how are the choreographers going to grow and become better choreographers if they're not hearing this type of feedback?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_13: So I do think that's because of the lack of feedback that we as judges are able to deliver to choreographers as artists to continue to perfect their craft, then I I feel like it's primarily possibly younger, like Rob mentioned, younger, newer, up-and-coming dancers who are, you know, dabbling into choreography and are kind of learning the ropes and learning like what works, what doesn't.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_13: But I know that like music is what fuels me as a choreographer.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_13: I find the song, I listen to the different arcs of the song, and then I create things based on that.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_13: There are so many times as a judge that I'm watching a dance, and it's not even just the fact that the dancer's not connecting to the music, it's the fact that the choreography is not connected to the music.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_13: And that's not the dancer's fault.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_13: That's the teacher's fault.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_13: Like the teacher wasn't it like there was a crash, bang, boom, and nothing was even why why are we not using that?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_13: Like that it should be, it should be guiding you as a choreographer.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_13: I personally think.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_13: That's at least how I approach choreography.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's interesting too, even like I used to choreograph lyrical numbers and I would literally almost diagram them like you would diagram a sentence or a story.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_04: And like literally, you you know, you're going straight for a while and then you climb and you climb and then you you dip down and then you come back up and you plateau and then you come down again.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_04: And it's like that's what happens in music.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_04: You look at a music file and the actual music moves around, and so should your movement.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_04: And it feels weird if it doesn't.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_04: It does.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_04: And so, like you said, you know, you're moved by the music.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe other people are are choreographically inspired by something else, but the where it when it comes down to it, music is goes hand in hand, you know.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_04: Every now and then you're gonna see an a cappella dance, but even then there's still gotta be an ebb and a flow.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, so I I do wonder kind of what's up with that.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_13: So I think it's lack of understanding of musicality on the choreographer's end.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_13: And then it immediately translates to the dancer looking like they don't understand musicality, but they were never taught musicality because the choreography isn't even musical.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_13: So like it has to like I think that that's and that's an element to me as like what what like an attribute that makes a dancer strong is having musicality.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_13: But if they're not being given that in the choreography, then how can they display that to the judges?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_13: So I think that you know, the dancers pro sometimes are just doing the best they can.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_04: Well, and that's a really advanced skill too.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_04: So like if you're a a younger, you know, if you're 15 or whatever and you've been given choreography that that hasn't been specifically structured to adhere to the musicality and like you haven't been given the highs and the lows, you you're just kind of there, you know, unless you are somebody who is the same, like very moved by music.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's not everybody, so you do have to learn it.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_04: It does have to be taught and shown by example and mimicked until you feel it yourself, like in your own body.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, I I do think that, you know, if you're a younger choreographer or an inexperienced choreographer, or you're just getting started, that is that's huge.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_04: And that does take time to be able to.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: to you know uh to develop that skill and to impart it to other people because I think also that that's a skill to pick that up.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you can you can tell somebody for months and months, I need you to need you to grow this part and they're just they think they're doing it and they're just not.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_04: So I think it is pretty pretty complicated.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but it's definitely doable because when you see a piece that adheres to the musicality visually, it's it blows you away.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_13: So I would highly encourage new choreographers to explore that more.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_13: Keep working on that in their development of new choreography next season, making sure that you're listening to all parts of the music.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_13: Put your headphones on, listen to the music in different ways.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_13: Have it on on your headphones, put it on the speaker at the studio, play it in the car.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_13: You might hear different parts of the song different based on which speaker you're listening to.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_13: The bass might be more prominent here versus those little highs in the background.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_13: And you can use those sounds to choreograph too.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_13: It's not just the lyrics that exist in a song.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_13: There's so much more to a song.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_13: All right Amanda De Tullio is coming back at you with some more feedback when it comes to some transitions in choreography.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_03: Hey Dance World IDA Judge Amanda Nicole DeTullio here from Virginia and one thing that I feel like I saw a lot this season even more than previous seasons was a lack of transitional fluidity going into turned.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_03: And that includes the teen senior advanced divisions.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: I really want to encourage dancers to think about those transitions and try to imagine dancing through your fourth position perhaps into your turned and keeping that connectivity in your movement rather than just stopping to set the turn up.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: And so often we see dancers on stage doing beautiful movement quality, gorgeous performances and then everything stops so they can set the turn up and we can see it coming.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_03: Let it be a surprise think of that phrase in your choreography like a cursive word that you're trying to loop together so that we don't see any disconnect between your movement and your setups for your turns.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: That goes for any transition but I just feel like I saw it a lot with turns this season and I want to encourage Dancers to keep working on that.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_13: Oh I love this one from Amanda.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_13: This is great.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_04: You know we love some transitions over here.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah we had our whole transitions episode this season which was one of my favorites so make sure you go give a listen but I absolutely agree we see the stress on the face.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_04: I call it the concentration face because you're like oh I'm telling the story and everything's emotional and I'm doing the thing a step prepare do a turn.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_04: And now I'm all emotional and doing that and you're like oh oh okay okay okay that was it that was double pirouette.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_04: And now we're back to being angsty about our boyfriend leaving us.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, got it okay but you had to put that pirouette in there.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_13: Right, right.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_13: It's so disconnected so strange.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_04: It is and that you know there is room for you are seven years old and we are dancing to you know whatever car wash I like to bring up car wash.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_04: And of course we're gonna step prepare and do a turn.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_04: That yes that's a skill you have to do it but once you get into those older levels you have it has to be more hidden.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_04: I don't want to see you step prepare do a turn especially again if you're angsty about your boyfriend leaving you.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_04: And then all of a sudden here's a turn sequence that you just really like you know you got your life together and you did your turn sequence and it's it just takes you out of the moment.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_13: It's it's kind of a fine line too because I think that like there's a lot of times that I say that I wish I could see your preparation because there's a lot of dancers that just eliminate the prep and just hope for the best.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_13: Fingers crossed here we go and like hopefully I do this pirouette and I land it.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_13: And I'm like, but I need to see the beginning the middle and the end.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_13: So especially for when we have all of these different levels of competitions and everyone's a compo competition dancer now recta advanced I don't care what level you're in.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_13: But especially if you're in if you're in the recreational division or the intermediate division, I need to know that you know how to do a prep.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_13: Yep.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_13: You I expect to see your prep.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_13: And Amanda's mainly speaking more about connecting the steps transitionally but also to the choreographers to understand how to disguise a prep once you're at a certain level.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_13: When you are in the advanced teen to senior division I don't necessarily always need to see your prep but I I do want to see you, you should have the technique and the foundation by that point to be able to do a pirouette without the like the perfect preparation and still have a suspension out of it.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_13: But when you're growing and learning and you're younger and you're intermediate, I want an I want you to not rush through it and please show me something.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_13: Please even to the choreographer give them the prep if they need it.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_13: Give them a Tondu side one, two prep three, four I would I would appreciate that.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_13: I feel like that people just rush through it and then their pirouettes aren't good and I'm like well duh because you didn't prep.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_04: Well and then they wonder too well why am I not turning?
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_04: Well it's because you're not setting yourself up for success.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_04: And yes you know but we also don't like I find it hard sometimes in those sort of middle levels it's I think a lot of times people are rushing the choreography and you get over to the corner and then you stand there ready tondu forward uh to do a PK turn and you're waiting there for two counts like either you're rushing or the choreography needs to run run run run seven and point in PK turn and like it's gotta flow together a little bit more.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_04: I don't want to see you waiting there in your prep.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_13: Exactly yeah exactly yeah and if you are waiting take advantage of the time and really sit into your plie and really find your center and really make sure you're not just like oops shoot I'm early okay.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_13: Oh here we go.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_04: Like if you're gonna be early take advantage of the fact you're early and like set yourself up you know don't just sit there eating a ham sandwich.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_13: Yes there's and that just immediately made me think of something just completely off topic but I've been doing a lot of choreography for RWS and running auditions and there's a triple pirouette in the combination and it uh does a drag for one, two, we prep three, four, we turn five, six, seven I think it's a three, like you have three counts to pirouette.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_13: But so many dancers love to rush the preparation and start taking off into the four or five turns.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_13: Exactly I was like y'all you don't wanna you don't want more time you don't need more time.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_13: You it you're making it harder for yourself if you rush the prep because it's gonna be off the music and then you're gonna be early for what's next and then you're gonna look crazy.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_04: Or you're gonna have to somehow slow yourself down and not pirouette and be like, well here I am trying to hold this releve.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_13: Yes like don't be anxious and like jump ahead y'all take advantage of your preps if you have them.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_13: And for our advanced dancers making sure that we're moving through our preparations and connecting those steps transitionally I think is really important.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_13: So great tip from Amanda.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_13: Next up we're gonna hear from Karen let's see what she has to say.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_11: Hello this is IDA Judge Karen from Illinois and one of the biggest trends that I've seen this year is the redevelopment of a concept in all kinds of dances.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_11: Usually we see a lot of storylines occur in a lyrical piece but there's been all these creative concepts in every single genre of dance and it's been really neat to see the creativity kind of come back in full force.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_11: We've seen stuff from four scump and from Legally Blonde from a bridge from stairs all these things really kind of happen now and it's been great to kind of see that regrowth and rebirth of a concept in a competition routine.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_11: Thank you studio directors and choreographers for really creating that next level of artists and our dancers it's been great to see thank you so much for a great season and can't wait to see what next year will be.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_04: Oh Karen that's so nice I love to hear that you know everywhere people are you're seeing some cool concepts and I have to agree I I um I feel like there's some studios out there who do a great job of being willing to think outside the box and not just grabbing onto whatever trend is happening even in just pop culture like and and I'm not mad about this, but we saw a lot of Top Gun Maverick you know when that movie came out I saw a ton of Top Gun and listen I love all that music like please play me all that music all the time but you know that was just something in pop culture that people just grabbed onto.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_04: And that was cool too.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_04: But at the same time I'm always really interested when somebody brings something completely new to the table that maybe seems a little risky.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe it seems like maybe nobody's gonna like this because it's a little you know different than what you usually see.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_04: But I think that's really cool that she's been seeing that too.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah I think you know it is exciting to see a theme or a concept that we haven't seen before or done in a different way in a way that would would have been like oh wow I wouldn't have thought this but you know there's a lot of dances that we see almost every weekend.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_04: Right you're always gonna see an Alice in Wonderland.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_13: You're gonna see there's always a hairspray there's always a like an Annie or something you know I don't know just and like those are musicals and that's fine.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_13: But um when it comes to certain themes and stuff like we've definitely seen a lot of of similar themes but if someone takes it and twists it into a different way and it feels like you put a lot of thought and effort into how can I make this different and unique and exciting like I always applaud that to the choreographers.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_13: So continue to do that y'all um don't take the easy road really think about the concept really map this out like just because you heard a cool song at competition once like doesn't mean that we have to use that.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_13: What else could we use?
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_13: Like we've always seen the like creepy like monsters under the bed type of dance and there's a bed on stage and oh my gosh and you know like okay cool how can we make that different right and I think I think what's what's probably a little challenging for studios out there and we you know I I go out 12 weekends a year.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_04: Most judges if you're if you're a full time judge you're probably going out 14 to 16.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_04: And that means I'm watching 30 hours a weekend of dance times that by whatever that math is and that's a lot of dance.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_04: So of course we are bombarded with concept after concept that might be the same.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_04: And you studio owner from wherever you're from might have never seen it before but I've seen it 15 times this season.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_04: So not to say that it's not interesting for you and your crew of people, but you also continue to have to remember like we've said before, you're not dancing just for you when you have entered a dance competition.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_04: You are dancing for the audience you're dancing for the judges and you're dancing for you.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_04: So you know not that it should be the first thing on your mind is well what concept quote unquote is going to win or is going to be the most different like do you but remember if you're doing something chances are unless it's like wildly outside of the box we've seen it before.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_04: You know and we want to see your version of course you're gonna put a different spin on it because you're you but you know there's only so many ways you can do creepy monster under the bed you know that's just that's that there's a reason that is a trope that's there's a reason that it exists in history and storytelling like those stories have existed forever and ever.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_04: You know, put your spin on it make it different make it interesting make me remember your creepy dance with the monsters under the bed.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_13: All right and we have one final bit of choreography advice coming to us from Jess Beach and I think it might be my favorite one.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh this is your IDA judge Jess Beach from Baltimore Maryland and a huge trend that I had witnessed a lot of the competitions of our feet so we can get back to the quality of movement that makes dance so beautiful.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: Just by two sense keep up the hard work full out of get out I love it.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_04: Yes specifically the balls of our feet thank you Jess Beach.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_13: Jess Beach, thank you.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_13: I cannot thank you enough because I have actually said those exact words in teacher meetings that we've had.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_13: So at Revel after I'm teacher judging all weekend on the final day of convention on Sunday after competition's over we have a teacher's meeting where I get to actually talk to the teachers directly and talk about some things that I witnessed over the weekend and even just things that we witnessed throughout the season.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_13: And one of the things I've said is I feel like that the dancers are dancing more on their hands and their heads than actually on their feet.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_13: And that is an issue I think it's a huge issue because yes we love acro we love acro I get it but it's a dance competition.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_13: I need to know that you know how to dance not just walk around on your hands doing floor work springing off your head 24-7.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_13: It's it's nonstop and like I I keep talking about ratio a lot this year but I do think it's important to remember like the ratio of you know not that there's a checklist of skills that we need in a dance but honestly if you are one of those contemporary dancers that loves to be on the floor take a good look at your dance.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_12: How often are you actually upright and standing on your feet throughout your dance or are you are how many times do your hands touch the floor in your dance?
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_12: Your head touched the floor in a dance it's important to look at.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_04: It is well and I've I've seen I haven't seen these in a while but I saw a lot of them the past coup past couple weekends it's where you you do your head stand and then you you're you know your feet are up in the air your legs are together whatever and then you just pick your arms up.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_04: So you are literally balancing on the top of your head.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_04: Why?
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know and then they like cartwheel off of it.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_04: Why and I don't want to say I don't care but I don't care that that's a circus trick to me like that is something that would be cool if you were in a strong man you know duo if you were in a hand balancing act like that is not the same balance on my head like no and it just it's little little small people that are doing it like children and I just their neck their cervical spine is giving me anxiety.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_04: I can't imagine and I like you said I I again contemporary dance there is a world in which a whole contemporary dance can be done on the floor.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_04: Sure.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_04: That's cool.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_04: Does it need a headspring but maybe that doesn't need a headspring maybe again we are looking for versatility you know like there's I think you'll find you know it's a it's a more interesting routine also if there's more dancing in it honestly I don't know.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_13: I think it just makes sense really goes back to quality of movement.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_13: I think that especially with the headsprings the headstands all of it it's just trendy.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_13: Somebody started it next thing you know everyone's like ooh I want to try and then everyone's doing it.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_13: That's great.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_13: You know skills are going to trend throughout the years.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_13: I mean I remember when the reverse jete was like something new in like 2000 and everyone's like wait you can fouette your upper body while doing a jete in the air what?
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_13: Like that's mind blowing.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_13: Hitch kicks back in the 90s they were the they were the jam.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_13: So sure we're in the the we're in the world of headsprings and and dancing on our heads but I for me it's repetitive when everyone's doing it.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_13: It's it's honestly like I think there's more to dance than dancing on your head.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_13: And for me the main thing is safety.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_13: All I think about is the fact that one wrong twist yeah one you know if you anticipate something on the in and out of that in the wrong way once you could truly paralyze yourself.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_13: That's terrifying.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah it's dangerous and like you know dance shouldn't be that dangerous.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_04: Like yes we're we uh we inherently take a risk when we move our bodies in big and interesting ways on a floor that you know maybe you're maybe maybe it's not sprung.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_04: But like when when you sign your child up to do gymnastics and tumbling for the beginning of that time and all I mean literally for any of that time.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_04: I don't care whether you're uh in the division whatever you're in before you go to the Olympics, you're doing that on a sprung floor or a mat.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_04: Dance is the only thing you know breakdance too and that's probably a whole nother conversation we could have about the safety of that kind of skill.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_04: We should do an episode of breakdancing.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah and like again I don't want to poo-poo anybody's art form, but but when you're talking about standing on your head, the majority of people who teach that teach it in a gymnastic setting on a sprung floor and or a mat that is cushioned.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_04: We're asking dancers I'm not asking anybody, some of y'all are asking dancers to do this on a wood floor, on a tile floor, you know some students have tile I don't know about your studio.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know where you're training the skill and so when you're showing it to us on a on a stage, you know, I don't know it just safety we we care very much about your safety here at IDA.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_13: Yes it really it's that's the main issue.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_13: Just because it's trendy and cool doesn't mean we have to do it.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_13: And I've seen a lot of studios and again it goes back to that technique talk I can tell that you're not ready for this.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_13: I can tell that you're not ready to balance your entire body weight on your on your neck literally your neck like and the teacher should know better to be honest the teacher should know better and not feel obligated to follow a trend just because first place overall did a headspring in their dance at the last competition you were at.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_13: That's not a reason to put something into your dance.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_13: So just remember that especially to all the dancers because of course they're gonna think like that but we as the adults need to reel them back and say that's great that you have this this goal we're gonna make sure we teach it to you properly and if I feel like it fits into your dance then are you gearing up for nationals?
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_13: If so then you should be utilizing our service IDA's online judges critiques to help prep and prepare your dance before you hit the stage one final time this season.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_13: Send us your video now and an IDA judge will critique your dance just like you receive a competition.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_13: But what makes our service unique is our additional feedback add-on option where your judge will go back through your dance to offer 10 to 15 minutes of extra post-critique feedback.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_13: They will analyze your routine even more and offer personalized feedback to help take your performance to the next level critiques start at only$35 and are available year round on our website.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_13: Learn more and submit your dance now at Impactdanceedjudicators dot com slash online critiques.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_13: We can't wait to see your dance all right let's move into the presentation talk of things because that is a part of your score most oftentimes at competition and I'd love to hear from IDA Judge Maddie coming back at you.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_07: Hey this is IDA Judge Maddie from Tampa Florida and when it comes to appearance something I've noticed increasingly that is a really big pet peeve of mine is dancers wearing their hair in a slick ballet bun for a hip hop routine.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_07: Now I know that sometimes the schedules are really really crazy and we don't have time to change our hairstyle but I think that it's doing a huge disservice to the dancers and their ability to feel grounded and really into the style.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_07: You probably unless you're doing contemporary ballet you wouldn't do a ballet dance with your hair down, right?
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_07: So why are we doing hip hop with our hair in a bun?
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_07: It just continues to privilege ballet as a form and we're not doing a service to our students.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_07: So I would suggest taking your hair out, letting it go and maybe even like take the bun out and being a nice like low pony.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_13: All right you just heard from IDA Judge Maddie again and she is not a fan of the hip hop bun.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_04: The hip hop bun yeah and I think you know I like what she said about you know the bun being sort of the privilege of ballet and and the centering of ballet and we've had many conversations over the years and the in as the industry has grown about you know ballet is not the end all be all.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_04: It is not the only form of dance that matters.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_04: And you know every style has its own background and its own expectations and hip hop does.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_04: It has its own expectations and a bun is not it.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_04: I agree.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah I mean I I mean I there's so many different hairstyles and I just don't think that and it depends on the type of bun, but I I really don't know if it's the best fit.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_13: I think that it will limit a dancer from really feeling like they can embody the style properly.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_13: I know that like when I dance in hip hop I don't want to dance in something that's like a leotard.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_13: Like I would never go to a hip hop class in a leotard and no like pants.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_13: I like to have like we see it all the time at like convention and I'm just wondering like how do these dancers even get into the groove and the feel of this style when you don't have the appropriate attire on to like reflect it.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_13: And I think the same can go with hair.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_13: Like you know some people might say well judges don't want your hair down.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_13: I mean I don't if it's hip hop like I don't mind if your hair is down as long as it's like completely not covering your face the entire time there's ways that we could do it.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_13: And like I get like Maddie said I get that the schedule is tight.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_13: But I do think that if you choose to do a bun as your quote unquote competition hairstyle, you pull the bobby pins out, you you fluff that ponytail and you go out on stage and you rock a pony for for hip hop but that feels more appropriate than a bun.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_13: And then you can easily just whip that back up into a bun afterwards.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_04: Like yeah I mean and listen if you're a dancer whose mom is still doing their bun by a certain point you got to start practicing your bun.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_04: You have to do it it is your hair it is your dance and you should be able to whip up a bun.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_04: And if you can't you got to figure it out because that is that is a that's a very easy fix.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_04: We're not asking you to take your whole hair out brush it curl it perm it.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_04: No you just have to be able to take it in and put it out and now nowadays there's all kinds of bun you know accoutrement accessories to make the bun like I never I just bobby pens.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_13: You just swirl it, bobby pin, hairnet, boom.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_13: So like this, there's there's hacks.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_13: Five minute bun.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_13: The end.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_13: You could I mean, and if that's the case, you have, you know, a friend nearby that says, all right, we have a quick change, ripping out your hair, putting a brush through your ponytail really fast, you're ready for hip hop.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_13: All right, we have to whip you back into a bun.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_13: You're quick changing, and she's working on your bun, like teamwork.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_13: I mean, we have to like, there's no excuse for me unless it's like literally you have like two dances in between and that's it.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_13: But it's clear when it's like this is the studio hairstyle, and we're just like choosing not, well, well, the bun is so slicked and perfect.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, sure, it looks great.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_13: But you have a hip-hop dance, and the kids are just like, they look great, but I think they'd feel better and dance better if they had their hair down.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_04: I agree.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_13: All right, let's hear some more presentation tips from our judges.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_13: And next up, we are hearing from Mary.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_13: IDA Judge Mary is here to share some things she's seen this season.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_06: Hello, this is IDA Judge Mary from Florida.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_06: And one of the things that I was so excited to see more of this season are two shoes.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_06: That's right.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_06: I saw two shoes worn on multiple dancers in multiple competitions.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_06: And very rarely did I actually have to speak about the whole impact of the one shoe.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_06: In the professional world, you're never gonna go on stage with one shoe.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_06: So thank you, studio owners.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you, dance teachers, for bringing back two shoes or just going barefoot.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_04: Listen, Mary is passionate, y'all.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_04: And look uh, so are we?
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_13: Oh, we are very passionate about this.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_13: Two shoes or no shoes over here on Making Impact.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_13: I'm sure you've heard it many times.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, listen, we should have just called it that.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_04: Not making the impact, just two shoes or no shoes, a dance competition podcast.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my gosh, that is so true.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_04: That's a great topic.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_04: Someone take it, y'all.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_04: Someone, there you go.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_04: There's a free, free, free topic for you.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_13: I'm so happy to hear that Mary has seen two shoes on stage.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_13: I will actually chime in and agree for the most part.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_13: I will say that if I have to do an overview of the season, I've seen more two shoes than one shoe.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_13: Yes, I would agree.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_13: There are still people out there who are doing one shoe.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_13: You know who you are, and I already talked about it with you.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_04: And it's probab it's more than likely soloists, I think.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_04: I feel like the group numbers, it has not been across the board.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's true.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_04: One shoe, it's there's there's you know, and there's turners, which we could could talk about those two, but at least there's two of them in the group numbers that I've been seeing.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, I agree.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_04: I think maybe that trend is dying.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_04: It's slowly.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_04: I hope.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_04: It's slowly dying.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_13: I think and and it's it is interesting, and it's usually a studio-wide habit.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_13: Sometimes there will be like someone that just popped out on stage with one shoe, and the studio owner is like, oh my gosh, I cannot believe they they you know slipped past me with that one shoe on.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_13: But um, most of the time, if I do, and I I do agree, it's usually solos where the dancers need to do their acro, whatever.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_13: You know, we've talked about this.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, revisit every podcast ever and you'll hear us talk about this.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_13: So um We don't need to rehash it.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, happy to hear that it's uh phasing out, but I do think that Maddie has uh something else to add in when it comes to this this two shoes or no shoes.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_07: So let's hear from Maddie again.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_07: And on the note of appearance, I don't understand why we haven't left the one shoe back in 2016 where it belongs.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_07: I will always say something on my critiques and I will always remind you that you're never gonna go to an audition with just one shoe on.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_07: Thanks for your awesome dancing this season.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean it's regional, I think.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_04: I think a lot of times, depending on where you are, you're gonna see it, you're not gonna see it.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_04: But I also agree, you know, and the we, there's always the pushback from somebody.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I'm not training professionals and my kid's never gonna be professional.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_04: We should just train, everybody should do whatever.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_04: No, it's first of all, yeah, that kid, the kids that dance at your studio may not always dance for your studio.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_04: They may move to wherever.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_04: And if they showed up to a studio who was adamantly a two shoe studio with their one shoe, I mean, hopefully nobody would like berate them, but it's gonna feel they're gonna feel a little silly if they show up somewhere where the expectation is two shoes, and that is the going expectation, and that is what everybody's been trained.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I wouldn't want to walk in with one shoe and try to explain myself.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_04: Like, and but then and also then you're gonna be required at new studio to dance in your two shoes.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_04: And are you gonna be able to do that?
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_04: Probably not.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_04: If you've been saying for years, well, I can't do this dance with without one shoe.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_04: Like I have to have my one shoe.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, no.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_04: Uh do professional dancers wear one shoe?
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_04: No, they don't.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_04: And that does matter even to the kid who doesn't want to be a professional.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_13: Yes.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_13: Absolutely agree.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_13: It's just professionalism and it's first impression.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_13: I think that's important to remember.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_13: Do you as a studio want to make that first impression and have your judges already have an entire impression on you because you walked out, you haven't even danced yet.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_13: You walked out on stage with one shoe.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_13: It's the first thing I noticed.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_13: Yep.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_13: It's the first thing we see.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_04: I'm watching how you walk to determine our how we how we looking today.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_04: You got I got you got two minutes to impress me.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_04: You start the minute you walk on stage.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_04: And you started one foot barefoot and one foot with the turner on.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_04: There goes that impression.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_13: I'm already angry.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_13: You don't want me to be angry before your song starts.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_13: So in 2024, I hope that during our wrap-up in season five, with our takeaways, that we don't have to talk about this.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_13: Or maybe we're just like like Mary said, she's so happy that she saw it.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_13: I hope that we are feeling the same way.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_13: We're praising the fact that there's no more single shoes on stage, y'all.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_04: Well, and I'm pretty sure maybe I'm wrong.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_04: I think turners have right and left.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_04: Some brands do.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_04: Most brands of shoe generally have a right and a left.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_04: So if you're you just spent$55 on some some leather shoes.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_04: Wear them.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_04: And you're wearing one.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_04: So that's$20 something dollars in your closet just sitting there if you're not wearing the right one.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_04: Are you kidding me?
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's not even that's not even like economical.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_13: Do what you want in class, wear whatever you want in class.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_13: I don't care.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_13: I mean, maybe there should be a little bit more.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_13: I mean, I I'd be I do.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_13: If it was my class, I wouldn't let you.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_13: But I mean, if studios want to do that, but I think for the stage, there is an expectation we have to make sure that we're living up to.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_13: So, and and your judges know they have an expectation when it comes to presentation.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_13: So, let's hear some more uh presentation expectations from your judges.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_13: Next up is IDA Judge Rob coming back.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is your IDA judge Rob from Massachusetts again, uh, wanting to bring up the conversation point of aesthetics, uh, making sure that uh studio directors and choreographers are doing dress rehearsals and costume rehearsals in the studio space before those dancers get on stage to make sure that all undergarments are staying where they need to be.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that if you have a really beautiful long skirt, that sometimes it's not conducive to that kind of movement on stage.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen dancers get wrapped up um in front walkovers or acro elements uh in some of their costumes.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: And to also make sure that you're always uh cutting out those interior tags.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_01: We call them joker tags sometimes, uh so that we feel uh that we look as pristine um from our costuming standpoint as we do from our rehearsals.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you're spending that much time in rehearsals uh concentrating on your technique and choreography, do the same for your costumes.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things that I noticed this past season that I really wanted to uh uh be able to talk about on our podcast is the emphasis on appropriate undergarments.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_01: I noticed quite a bit of labeling.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um sometimes I saw uh bike shorts or undergarments that had a really wide label, such as like underarmor or Nike that were really distracting to the performance, and also uh the subject matter of uh appropriate undergarments uh for your actual shape and size, so that the dancer feels really comfortable on stage and that your audience, especially your judges, don't feel uncomfortable that there might be some sort of costume malfunction.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_13: All right.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_13: This is a great bit of feedback from uh IDE judge Rob.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_13: And I think that it's also interesting that this was one of the his takeaways.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_13: Being a male judge on the panel as well, I think is an interesting perspective on this because not only are we sitting extremely close, we have to remember like how far away the judges are, we're very, very close to the dancers.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_13: But also if things might be popping out, falling out, not really taped down.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_13: Like we have more different genders on the panel that might feel very uncomfortable.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_13: I mean, if I'm uncomfortable as a female identifying judge, I'm sure our male identifying judges are even more uncomfortable when watching those mishaps, those costume mishaps happen.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and obviously there's there's situations where things happen and you couldn't have foreseen them.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_04: But, you know, that's why I really do agree with Rob that the dress rehearsal in costume, in undergarments, in costume, in everything you could possibly do to make sure that that strap doesn't come off or that, you know, leotard bottom doesn't ride up because and make sure everything fits, you know, and that's I think he made a good point of like we need to make sure we're costuming and undergarmenting for your personal shape and size.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_04: What works for me does not work for Courtney.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_04: And and it shouldn't be expected that it should, because we were all different and beautiful, and our bodies deserve respect in terms of what we're putting on it and using to support them.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, I think that's a really important point and important for people to remember again of our placement.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_04: You know, most of the time we are as judges sitting slightly below, but I mean, I could reach out and touch someone if I wanted to at some of these venues.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_04: And that's close.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_04: That's real close.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_13: It is.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_13: And regarding the undergarment, something I want to briefly bring up, and it's been a topic of conversation many times, and we've talked about it on the podcast.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_13: And in particular, I'm speaking on costuming that may be backless and bras off the top of my head.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_13: A lot of dancers need to wear bras under their costume, and that is completely fine.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_13: But I think it's important to try to do our best to disguise it.
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_13: And if we are costuming a dancer in a backless costume, I want to see your back, I don't want to see your bra.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_13: And if you need a bra, then guess what?
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_13: We have to go back and change the costume.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_13: Honestly, we have to we have to pick a different costume that's going to allow our dancers to wear the support and the coverage that they need to be able to dance to their best ability and to feel confident on stage.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_13: But by a studio owner or a teacher selecting a costume that's not going to work for every dancer on the team, and then we have to now jump through hoops and put like a clear strap back bra on, which let's be real, those don't do anything.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_13: Like those don't support you the way you need to.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_13: Most of the time, with those clear straps, they just start falling off and hanging down.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_13: You know?
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_13: So, like, if you need to wear the support, make sure that we're able, we're letting the dancers wear what they need and costuming them properly because we don't walk around in life showing off our bra and our panties in regular life wear.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_04: I hope not.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_04: Well, and even, you know, I am somebody who needs more support.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_04: Never have I ever been able to, even in my personal life, wear a backless anything.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_04: It does not work with my body.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_04: Am I sad?
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, because at one point I had a really beautiful back.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_04: My back was bomb.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_04: I can't, I just can't show it off because there's no way to do it where I feel comfortable in the front.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, listen, everybody again has different comfort levels.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_04: But if we're talking about presentation in a performative environment where we are also supposed to be uniform, you have to make these decisions.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_04: And I think, Courtney, like you said, you know, solos are one thing.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_04: That's one person, that is one costume, that is one, you know, it's easier to deal with that.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_04: But when you're costuming a group, it is unfair and it's inequitable for teachers to say, okay, well, I love this costume and it's gonna look good on six out of my eight girls.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_04: Those two other girls, too bad for you.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna have to figure it out.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_04: That's not fair.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_04: It needs to go the other way.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_04: We need to be able to costume the people that are ch more challenging to costume.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_04: Everybody else will look wonderful.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_04: We'll all look wonderful, but but nobody's gonna look, you know, everybody's gonna be uncomfortable if you have two people who just have to bend over backwards literally to try to get their bodies into a costume that doesn't make sense for their bodies.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, I agree.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_13: And when Rob was briefly mentioning about like seeing like big labels on stage or on the waistbands, or we all know the little Lululemon circle on the back of uh, you know, on the side.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_13: Nike swoosh.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_13: Yes, like those types of things.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_13: I agree.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_13: I it is very confusing.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_13: It feels like, unless we're going for like the activewear look in the costume, you know, obviously.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_13: Sweatpants are great for that hip-hop dance.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_13: Fine.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_13: But if it's like, you know, we're wearing like more pedestrian style clothing for a contemporary dance, and maybe it's a skirt, but then the booty shorts underneath are just like active wear and you didn't disguise the logo, it actually is confusing to me.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_13: And I I all you have to do is grab a permanent marker and and you know, sharpie that's black electrical tape.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_04: I mean literally anything.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_04: Literally anything.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_04: Because it I agree with you.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_04: I don't like to just again be taken out of like, yes, I realize you got that dress at Forever 21.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_04: That's fine.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_04: But it doesn't say Forever 21 on it.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_04: It makes your shorts say Nike and that's a problem for me.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, just like let's like just black out the logos if possible, especially if they're, you know, supposed to be more like undergarment style anyway, if it's a bloomer or if it's sports bra, things like that.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_13: So keep that in mind for next season and cut those tags out.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_13: I'm a huge stickman that I will say it.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_13: Cut it out.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_13: If you flip upside down at any point and you have a tag on the side of your side, yep, I don't want to see it, cut it out.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_13: All right, let's move on to some performance feedback that the judges saw this season, and we're kicking it off with Karen.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_13: She's coming back to share some things that she's seen.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_11: So, this is IGA Judge Karen from Illinois.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_11: And one of the takeaways that I have from this year is just seeing the growth of the dancers.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_11: Ever since COVID hit, it's been really difficult, I think, for the dancers to keep their stamina going and to be able to dance bigger than themselves and reach beyond their bodies and stretch their feet and their legs.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_11: And as the season progressed, I really got to see these dancers grow and really across the country see so many dancers really be able to keep that stamina up and really reach beyond their bodies and dance bigger than the stage.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_11: And it's been so wonderful to see the art form be able to come back even stronger after everything we've been through these past couple of years.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_11: So thank you for all of your hard work, dancers, dance families, dance studios, directors, choreographers.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_11: We're all artists and it's so great.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_11: Excited to see what next year will bring.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_11: How lovely.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_13: Yes, Karen.
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_13: This is so great.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_13: And it's so nice to hear that you have seen the growth from dancers, probably also your own students.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_13: But I do feel like that it has elevated a lot since the pandemic because you know that did that did put things into perspective as far as like we're not training as much during the pandemic.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_13: We weren't able to move through space as much in the during the pandemic.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_13: Maybe we did lose our stamina.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_13: So to see things get a little bit more heightened at this point and that training getting back up to the standard and expectation that we had pre-pandemic is really refreshing to hear.
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and I I think maybe that is indicative, and I don't know if this is true, but you know, there's so many, there's so many dance influencers out there who are promoting cross-training, and you know, dancers are expected to do so many more things these days, and that I think everybody has realized, you know, it's not only just dance training that's going to get us there.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_04: It's cross-training, it's doing Pilates, it's doing, you know, all kinds of different fitness to build our stamina up.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_04: And I think maybe, maybe that's what people are doing.
• 1:00:02
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_04: That would be cool to know.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 1:00:04
  SPEAKER_04: Shout us, you know, let us know in the podcast group or elsewhere if y'all are doing extra training, because that would be great to hear.
• 1:00:09
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_13: So thank you for sharing that, Karen.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_13: It's really great to hear that.
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_13: Let's hear from our next two IDA judges.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_06: Hello, this is IDA Judge Mary from Florida.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_06: And one of my main critiques this season was all about spiraling energy.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_06: Whether you're jumping, turning, you've got the most amazing tilt.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_06: I just kept wanting to see more of a sense of opposite but equal energy.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_06: So that I wanted, I kept saying, find that spiraling energy out through the crown of your head and find that spiraling energy through the floor, whether that's through your supporting leg or just having that sense of where we are in space.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_06: So, dancers, spiral the energy and find your tallest self.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_08: Hey there, this is IDA Judge Halley coming to you live from New York City.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_08: When I think about the 2023 competition season, the numbers that stand out to me are the ones where I saw the dancers showing us their passion and love of dance and performing.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_08: I would love for studios to really focus on the performance quality of their dances, tell us a story, share with us some emotion.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_08: Obviously, technique is super important, and we definitely want to see you showcasing all of that hard work that you're putting into classes and time at the studio.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_08: But for me, performance is everything.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, these are some uh great tips from the judges that you just heard from Hallie and Mary.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_13: And this really comes down to the dancer's execution, what's happening on stage.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_13: And I really love uh Mary's bit of advice and feedback that she's been sharing constantly is that oppositional pool of feeling like I always say like hip-to-toe, really making sure we're finding that expansiveness and feeling the full stretch and lengthen through our legs, or feeling really rooted into the ground when we have both feet planted into the ground, or for reaching to the sky, really making sure we're reaching all the way through the fingertips.
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_13: That type of oppositional pull and energy that we are finding as we dance, I think we can explore more, so much more for a lot of dancers that we've seen on stage this season.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and I think it's one of those things that you don't know what it feels like until you've done it, you know.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_04: And I think it does take a little bit of a push for teachers sometimes to get that out of dancers because if you're really, really doing it, you really feel bigger than yourself.
• 1:02:40
  SPEAKER_04: You feel like extended and long.
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, it's it really is like creating space in between your joints.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_04: And there's a huge difference between jumping and jumping with spiral energy.
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_04: Like I know exactly what she's talking about of just like thinking about a drill just all the way up, you know, through your head.
• 1:02:58
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's a very different feeling than just okay, I went up and I came down.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_04: You know, so it's kind of an advanced concept, but I think if we can show, show and tell kind of as we're demonstrating or having your assistant demonstrate if you're not demonstrating anymore, you know, there's a big difference between the two.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_13: And then Hallie shared some performance feedback, and she really wants to see those dancers really get and invest into the performance aspect.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_13: We've talked about a lot of different things on this episode when it comes to choreography choices and themes and presentational things, and a lot of those things might not be all from the dancer.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_13: That might be a lot of feedback for the teachers and the studios and the choreographers.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_13: But when it comes to performance, yes, obviously we hope that the dance is giving the the moments for the dancers to find that performance.
• 1:03:48
  SPEAKER_13: But there are a lot of dancers who need to dig a little bit deeper when it comes to uh adding that layer of performance quality to your dancing because you work so hard on your technique and it almost feels like that takes so such priority.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_13: The only times you really get to practice performance is when you actually get on stage.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_13: So we have to make sure that we're incorporating performance work into our rehearsals as well, so it can translate into the stage a little bit easier and um more successfully.
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and because it's it's very telling when you're watching a piece and either somebody's uncomfortable with performing or they just are not present in the moment.
• 1:04:27
  SPEAKER_04: Like it really does stand out, especially in a group number, if somebody's just uncomfortable with performing, which is that's what we do.
• 1:04:34
  SPEAKER_04: You know, like if you just wanted to dance, you'd just go take dance class.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_04: And it doesn't matter really in dance class if you're performing.
• 1:04:39
  SPEAKER_04: Because if you're just there to learn, cool.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_04: Do that's amazing.
• 1:04:42
  SPEAKER_04: Do that.
• 1:04:42
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_04: But this is a performative art when you're putting it in this, you know, context of a dance competition.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_04: And that needs to be a big part of it too.
• 1:04:50
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, I definitely think she's right.
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_04: I love a good technical dancer all day long.
• 1:04:55
  SPEAKER_04: But if you're boring, you're boring.
• 1:04:58
  SPEAKER_13: Miranda Smato's back to share a little bit of performance advice as well.
• 1:05:03
  SPEAKER_09: Another thing to remember is to always lead with your passion for dance and the ability to not only tell your story, but to entertain an audience.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_09: Remember that first and foremost, we are entertainers and performance as well as artists, and to never forget to lead with those skill sets first.
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 1:05:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Miranda, I agree.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, we just dance competition land is so many things.
• 1:05:26
  SPEAKER_04: We've put scores and we put trophies and we put adjudications and overalls, you know, on these expectations on dancers when, you know, a lot of us really just love this.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_04: We just love dancing.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, when when I see a kid get out there, and maybe they're not the very best dancer in the world, but you can tell their their whole heart and soul is in it.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's who I want to watch.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 1:05:47
  SPEAKER_04: You know, like you can work on your technique for years and years and years and never be perfect.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_04: But if you are perfect in your love for dance, that shows and that lasts also lasts longer.
• 1:05:58
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah you know, and if you can hold on to That I think that's the most important piece because not every you know, listen, dance competition ends.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_04: It ends when you're 18.
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe you're gonna, you know, compete as an adult or as a pro am or something, but you know, the competition's not the rest of your life.
• 1:06:11
  SPEAKER_04: Dance can be the rest of your life, whether you are dancing, teaching, observing, being a patron, like it has to still come from your heart.
• 1:06:20
  SPEAKER_04: Otherwise, you're just a robot doing moves to music.
• 1:06:23
  SPEAKER_13: Right.
• 1:06:24
  SPEAKER_13: And let's be real, performance isn't for everyone.
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_13: You might feel obligated to perform because you're on the competition team and that's the only way that you can continue to dance.
• 1:06:34
  SPEAKER_13: Maybe there's not a recreational program, and maybe this is part of, you know, how you keep dancing your life is well, I gotta be on the comp team, which means I have to perform, but I don't really like to perform.
• 1:06:45
  SPEAKER_13: That is okay.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_13: But it is a part of dance for competition.
• 1:06:49
  SPEAKER_13: And if you are choosing not to perform, or if it's just not really in your wheelhouse and it's, you know, you're it's hard for you to really find that love of performance, you know, just know that there could be, it could reflect your score a little bit, but don't let that change your love of dance.
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_13: Don't let something as as a numbered score change how you really feel about dance.
• 1:07:12
  SPEAKER_13: Because if you do love it, even if it's hard to show through your expression, then you can continue to keep doing this, like Leslie said.
• 1:07:20
  SPEAKER_13: And there's so many ways to keep dancing your life that doesn't involve performing down the road.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_13: So just know that performing is a part of competition for sure, but it's not the only thing that is dance, isn't just performance.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_13: You can be a teacher, you can be behind the scenes.
• 1:07:35
  SPEAKER_13: There's so many ways to keep incorporated into your life.
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_13: So keep working on that performance even more.
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_13: I know as judges, we do expect it.
• 1:07:42
  SPEAKER_13: We want to see it, we will remember those performers for sure.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_13: So keep working on that in rehearsal for all of my studios out there as we head into the 2024 season.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_13: And Mary's coming back for one more tip to all of the dancers out there.
• 1:07:57
  SPEAKER_13: And I think it's a really great one.
• 1:07:58
  SPEAKER_06: Hello, this is IDA Judge Mary.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_06: And this season, although in many seasons, one of the main reminders that I want to give dancers is that we as judges, we are already your biggest fan.
• 1:08:13
  SPEAKER_06: So when I see a dancer come on stage and they look at us and they're suddenly going, oh my gosh, those are the judges.
• 1:08:21
  SPEAKER_06: I want to encourage every single dancer to look at the judges and go, Right, that's my biggest fan.
• 1:08:27
  SPEAKER_06: They're gonna love me, they're here to support me, and they just want to see me do my best because that is why we're here.
• 1:08:37
  SPEAKER_04: That is true, Miss Mary.
• 1:08:39
  SPEAKER_13: Yes, so true.
• 1:08:41
  SPEAKER_13: And that is really important for the dancers, especially the young dancers who might be new to competition.
• 1:08:47
  SPEAKER_13: To remember is that we are actually on your side, everybody.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_13: We are rooting for you as judges.
• 1:08:52
  SPEAKER_13: We want you to succeed, we do not want you to fail, and we want you to get perfect scores, y'all.
• 1:08:58
  SPEAKER_13: Like we are here and only we are your biggest cheerleader.
• 1:09:01
  SPEAKER_13: So just remember that it may seem like we are a scary face behind the table, but just know that we wouldn't be sitting behind that table if we didn't love and support what you are bringing to the stage.
• 1:09:12
  SPEAKER_13: All right, so this has been such a awesome reflection of the 2023 season from so many judges.
• 1:09:19
  SPEAKER_13: And you've heard a lot of takeaways from what they've witnessed on stage, the good, the bad, all the things that we can continue to work on, things that we're going to take into us in the season 2024.
• 1:09:32
  SPEAKER_13: Wow, it's crazy to say that.
• 1:09:34
  SPEAKER_13: But we do have one final takeaway that we want to share with you.
• 1:09:37
  SPEAKER_13: And this is such a beautiful moment that IDA Judge Jess Olnick experienced this season while sitting behind the judge's table.
• 1:09:46
  SPEAKER_13: And we can't wait to share with you.
• 1:09:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, this is IDA Judge Jess Olnick from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I am here to talk to you about an unforgettable duet that happened this season in Greenwoods, South Carolina with epic dance competition.
• 1:09:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was a duet between sisters Paisley and Ella Kate.
• 1:10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Paisley was diagnosed with San Filippo syndrome, a rare disorder in children who have a genetic error in their metabolism.
• 1:10:08
  SPEAKER_00: As the disease progresses, they slowly lose their ability to speak, walk, and eat.
• 1:10:12
  SPEAKER_00: There is no cure, and life expectancy is 10 to 20 years.
• 1:10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Paisley was told she has six months left to live.
• 1:10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And one of her wishes before she passed was her reform with her sister.
• 1:10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that she did.
• 1:10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I have to tell you that even before they stepped on stage, there wasn't a dry eye left in that audience.
• 1:10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Her sister Alakade assisted her throughout the entire duet in her wheelchair.
• 1:10:34
  SPEAKER_00: And lastly, helped Paisley out of her wheelchair and walked her across the stage.
• 1:10:39
  SPEAKER_00: They were holding hands, and in that moment, Paisley's spirit was dancing.
• 1:10:44
  SPEAKER_00: It was so wonderful to experience.
• 1:10:46
  SPEAKER_00: I have to thank Paisley and Allocate.
• 1:10:48
  SPEAKER_00: They left a forever impact on my life and the audience that day.
• 1:10:51
  SPEAKER_00: It puts dancing and competing on stage in such a perspective, and I have a new light on everything.
• 1:10:57
  SPEAKER_00: It was an honor to be a part of her one last wish.
• 1:11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I thank her so much.
• 1:11:02
  SPEAKER_00: I will never forget it.
• 1:11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 1:11:04
  SPEAKER_13: That is absolutely beautiful, and what a moment to witness and be there to experience Jess and to every dancer and audience member who was able to be there and watch this beautiful moment take place on stage at competition.
• 1:11:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I could really hear the emotion in uh Jess's voice when she was describing that, and I could just I could see it, you know, it was wow.
• 1:11:25
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, there's there's more there is more to what we do.
• 1:11:29
  SPEAKER_04: It is not just about a score or a trophy, it is about sharing your love for dance and the special moments that dance can create, you know, in a room of people.
• 1:11:38
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah, that is really, really special.
• 1:11:41
  SPEAKER_13: So thank you so much to Jess for sharing that with us and the world all across podcast land.
• 1:11:48
  SPEAKER_13: I'm so happy that you were there to be a part of this dancer's uh time on stage and performance.
• 1:11:55
  SPEAKER_13: I'm sure it was very memorable for them as well.
• 1:11:58
  SPEAKER_13: All right, y'all.
• 1:11:59
  SPEAKER_13: Well, it looks like that's a wrap on this takeaway episode of the 2023 competition season.
• 1:12:06
  SPEAKER_13: You heard from so many different judges.
• 1:12:09
  SPEAKER_13: And I think that this is a great way to uh reflect back and remember some of the things that your judges loved seeing, some things that they would love for you to continue to work on.
• 1:12:19
  SPEAKER_13: Maybe we get rid of the uh one shoe.
• 1:12:22
  SPEAKER_13: Maybe we uh get off of our heads and headspring as as a little too frequently this season, and we're gonna uh dance on our feet a little bit more into 2024.
• 1:12:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, we hope so, and we are excited uh to see y'all for next season on stage and in podcast land.
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_13: We hope you enjoyed this week's episode with our takeaways from the 2023 competition season.
• 1:12:47
  SPEAKER_13: Shout out to all of our IBA judges who helped contribute on this episode.
• 1:12:51
  SPEAKER_13: Thank you so much for sharing your perspectives and takeaways from the 2023 season.
• 1:12:56
  SPEAKER_13: We love all of our IBA judges and we appreciate all of your hard work as a competition judge.
• 1:13:01
  SPEAKER_13: Thank you for everything you did.
• 1:13:04
  SPEAKER_04: Don't forget to follow Making the Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcast, Google Podcasts, and pretty much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
• 1:13:12
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• 1:13:18
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• 1:13:26
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• 1:13:32
  SPEAKER_13: If you're looking for a fresh set of eyes to critique your dance before you hit the stage this competition season, then we would love for you to check out our service, IDA's online judges critiques.
• 1:13:43
  SPEAKER_13: An IDA judge will go through and critique your routine in a video critique, just like you'd receive a competition.
• 1:13:49
  SPEAKER_13: But one of our best-selling and unique features is our additional feedback option, where not only will you be able to watch your judge critique your dance, but they will go back through from beginning to end and pause the video to elaborate even more with their professional level feedback.
• 1:14:05
  SPEAKER_13: IDA's online judges critiques start at only$35 and are available year round.
• 1:14:11
  SPEAKER_13: Learn more about our service and submit your dance now by clicking the link in our show notes or visiting our website at Impact DanceAjudicators.com slash online critiques.
• 1:14:23
  SPEAKER_04: Next week we'll be releasing our final two episodes of season four.
• 1:14:27
  SPEAKER_04: Stay tuned for our final spotlight episode featuring Host and Mayer and our wrap up of season four.
• 1:14:34
  SPEAKER_13: Can't believe season four is already coming to an end.
• 1:14:37
  SPEAKER_13: We'll see you next week for our final two episodes.
• 1:14:39
  SPEAKER_13: Until then, keep dancing.