282. DANCE + BOBBY AMAMIZU

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So I fell in love with ballet.
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Yeah. How did that happen?
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So after a few years.
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Not my attitude.
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Yeah.
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What were you thinking?
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I know, right?
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Hey, I'm talking to you. Who am I talking to? Okay, great. Hi, I'm Dana. This is Dance Plus. I'm super excited about my conversation today. I'm meeting with Bobby Amamizu, a person I've been an admirer of for a very long time. A cool, calm, collected hand. Whether he is in a support role on a choreography team or leading the room himself, or educating, I am just a big fan of all that this person has to offer. And I'm very, very grateful for the stories and lessons that they have shared today. You're in for a very big treat, my friends. If you are interested in working in TV and film, if you're interested in assisting, and if you are interested in navigating a full professional life with grace and with determination and immaculate technique, this episode is for you. And even if you are not interested in those things, if you're just interested in laughing, because I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of on point in this episode. I said some funny things. Is it too much to say that maybe we should cut it because now your expectations are set high? One of the things we talk about in this episode is having high expectations and meeting them. So thrilled about Bobby. But first, we're going to do some wins. Today, I am celebrating being almost ready to depart for Southampton, Massachusetts, where I will begin my role as Director of Professional Development. I leave on Saturday. Today is Thursday. Friday. Nobody can really be sure what day it is right now. As a matter of fact, by the
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time this comes out, you will have
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done your month there, though. Oh, my goodness. In the future, I'll be done with my first season or with my first block, my first work block at cli. So thrilled to be embarking on that and very excited. Celebrating a future win. Of letting you know how my first four weeks goes out of cli. That's me. What about you? What are you prepared for and excited about? It's so funny. Like, I feel like you might not participate in this. If you don't participate. You're really missing out on the whole point of the podcast, actually, which is to be celebrating our wins. So if you don't do wins, I just stuck my tongue out at you. Okay, great job. Thank you for participating in wins. That was important. You did it. I'm proud of you. Nice. Let's get into this conversation with Bobby Amizu. Shall we? Get ready oh, God. Try to do a pirouette on the rug, Idiot. Cheers, Bobby. Welcome to the podcast.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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Thank you for being here and for listening. You listen to the podcast?
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Yeah. Big fan.
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I'm always so surprised. People will, like, send me a note, like, I heard this episode where you're talking about this, and I'm like, you listen.
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Like, they listen.
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The people are listening. Thank you for listening, of course. And for being a fan of the pod and for being a fan of me and championing me. Bobby is partially responsible for me looking as good as I did. If we can say that I looked good. Tap dancing, like, really, we were hoofing.
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Yeah. That.
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The audition was very hard. The audition was harder than the gig wound up being. But for Happy Socks with Pedro Pesto Pascal.
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Yes.
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A handful of years ago now.
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Yes.
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But it was a dancing ass audition. And I remember really looking to you being like, like, bobby, help me out, dog. And you were such a thorough teacher, such a supportive piece of the choreography team in an assistant role on that one. But you serve in many different roles on choreo teams, and whenever I see your name on a choreo team, I just know that that gig will be cool, calm, collected.
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Thank you.
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And. And even in spaces where things will get crunchy and hot, intense and, you know, whatever, when you're on the team, I know that at least part of it will be cool and calm.
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Well, thank you so much.
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Yes. I'm a big fan of yours.
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And I mean, that was, you know, Michael Rooney, the brilliant Michael Rooney's job. And yes, he's such a visionary, you know, and I noticed, because you had him as a. Yes. Nick Drago. Yeah, Recently.
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Right, yeah.
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And you talked about Michael Rooney, but yes. He is such a building block kind of person. Right, Totally.
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Yes. He builds in, in, like, step by
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step by step, arm by arm, feet by feet, head by detail. Like, I remember, even for Happy Socks, like, when we were prepping, we'd have one eight count.
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Yeah. What was that?
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Like, we had like 26 versions of every eight count, you know, and then usually he goes back to the version one or two he loved.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
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But he likes to try all the options, all possibilities.
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You need to know, what is it, what it isn't.
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And I respect it because that's how I feel. Like he's been around for a long time.
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Yeah.
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And you see his work from, you know, it's so. So quiet and today. And it's always been a masterpiece in one kind of way.
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Yeah.
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And I think it's because that's how he creates.
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Yeah.
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You know, I think you're right. So I respect that.
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I think you're right. It's not for everyone, but the process, it can be. Yeah, it's. It can be. It can push your bandwidth. Wait, what version of what part of this? That. And we're still. Oh, yep. And that's what it is. And sometimes that's what it is. My first time working for Michael Rooney was on Shrek in 2000. No, I was still in high school. I love you for that, though. 2006, maybe.
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Was that the get your groove thing?
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Yeah, amazing. Shake your groove thing 2. I think the pipe pipe piper came and did a thing and. And there's this big epic.
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Yes.
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Like very disco inspired dance number with a Busby Berkeley moment. And they came out in 2004. Shrek number one came out in 2004,
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but there was a later one, I believe. No.
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Or maybe it was Shrek 3. There's been like 12. So look up Shrek. Shake your groove thing
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came out in 2006. 7.
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Is that more what you're thinking? Oh, yeah, that's. Yeah, that's better. And I remember just being really nervous because his bar is so high.
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Yeah.
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He is truly one of the greats of our time and has high expectations from his dancers. But the. But what brought. What I wasn't expecting is what brought us to his high bar was exactly what you said, his vision.
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Right.
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We walked into the room and he painted for us the scene of what we were going to be doing. And he did it so grand and he made it so, like, noble that our pursuit of this epic thing for Disney was it DreamWorks. You know, he painted a world that was big. And so we met the expectations which were high.
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Right.
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So I guess I. I think it would be one thing to have to do the brick by brick with no vision, with no understanding of the greater world. If all you're looking at is the bricks. But you are going brick by brick in a world that he has painted. The walls, the ceiling, the. You know, he is so good at world building, at making a scene that you're like, okay, yeah, and I fall into place on the yellow brick road. And here we go. One brick at a time. Yeah.
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Yeah. And I think you never have to question what his vision is, like you said, because he does explain it to his cast or an assistant or whoever.
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Yeah.
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You know, whoever's in front of him, what he wants, what he sees. It's just all about delivering what he wants.
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Yeah, yeah, totally. Once he's made the world giant, I'm like, okay, I'll try. I remember on that gig specifically, there was like, a lot of partnering, and I don't have a ton of partnering experience. Oh. I would way rather tap by myself than need to partner with someone else.
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Wow.
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Oh, yeah.
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Okay.
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For sure. Well, tap was kind of my first love, actually. I.
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And that was my first love.
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Was it really?
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Yes.
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Okay. I want to know all about your first loves.
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Okay.
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Within a professional context for viewers. But maybe first we'll have you introduce yourself. You know the podcast, you know the rules.
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Yes.
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What would you like the good people out there to know about you?
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So, hi, my name is Bob Mimizu. I'm a dancer, assistant, associate choreographer, choreographer, dance educator. Yes, Husband. That's true. And I'm an only child, so I'm a son. Yeah. And a mover.
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And a former dog.
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Former dog, maybe.
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Former dog, maybe. We're not. It cannot be confirmed, but Riz, my daughter, had a deep connection with Bobby upon entering the home. It's not always that way. Riz is a lover. She, like, loves a lot of people, but there was a connection and. And Bobby confided in me, which I'm now confiding in you world, that maybe in a past life you were adopt. You feel a kinship. Yeah. With the canines.
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I just like having love for them. I don't know, it's just very comfortable.
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I. I have this feeling. I know that money makes the world go round, but my belief is it's actually dogs. My belief is that actually the reason why anyone's able to function these days is because someone has a dog and is being filled their love cup.
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They are our best friend. Yeah.
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Riley and I almost canceled the day because Riz was being so cute. We were like, there's no way we can do anything but focus on her because she's perfect.
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I love that.
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Do you. Listener, viewer, understand? Could you. Could we just take a brief second and ask the listener, viewer to flood our DMs with photos of your dogs or videos? I'll take short clips, less than 30 seconds. Okay, so husband, dog, fan, former dog, assistant, associate choreographer, educator, and I would like to also add heartful technician. Oh, thank you. I. When I think of you, I think synonymously with immaculate technique, but not sterile. So I want to talk a little bit about how you and dance met each other. I want to know about love and loving tap, but I want to know how you and technique Technique came to be so tight because it looks like y' all just like.
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Well, thank you.
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Really tight.
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I appreciate that.
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Well, I appreciate that about you, but I. What I really am curious about is how you seem to infuse that with feeling without compromising any of that solid structure.
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Yeah. So first of all, I started dancing because I was that kid, you know, when music comes on.
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Yeah.
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I just bop.
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Yeah.
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Ice cream truck drives by, bopping, you know, And I started with. I had a lot of energy, but I was very shy, so I didn't like to be in front of a lot of people.
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Oh, okay.
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So I think, you know, one day I was just dancing. My mom was like, huh? Do you want to dance? And I said, yeah. So a friend of my mom's just found a local dance studio.
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Okay.
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And I'm from Orange County. It's my home, so. In Irvine, it was called Irvine Dance Academy. And I was five at the time.
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Oh, man. Five year old mom. Yeah.
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With a bowl cut, of course.
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For sure.
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And so when we stopped by, you know, we asked the owner of the studio, hey, he's five, what can he do, Right?
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Yeah. What exists for this age?
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And you know, this is in the 90s, right?
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Different time.
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A little different time.
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Yo, five year olds these days. Oh, some unreasonable things happening in the five year old.
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And I want to talk about that later. I know we're both on the convention circuit too, so what we see in today's world is.
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Yeah, let's talk about that. We'll put that in parking.
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But so we asked, you know, what can you do? And they were like, oh, at 5, I think tap is available because it was either tap or ballet. And I was like, no, not ballet.
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Interesting.
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I was that guy that was like, it's too slow for me.
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Yeah, you want to make noise. You want to move your body.
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Yeah. So I joined tap. Fell in love with it for sure. But I think I didn't have a lot of talent. Like, I was not made to be a dancer.
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But you have a lot of passion.
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But I had a lot of passion and I had good musicality and I was able to pick up choreography quickly. So those were my strength.
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Mm. But even from a young age, those things were.
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Those were easy for me.
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Cool.
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You know, like being on the music, remembering, retaining. Like looking back at my recital video on the vhs, you know, we're gonna need. I was commanding the people to move into their lives. It was bad, but I realized I was like, instructing the girls to, like, you're Supposed to be in the line.
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You're doing it wrong.
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You know, I mean, I was bossy, but, yeah, I was good at those things. I was not flexible.
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Huh.
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No technique, like, those things were not happening.
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That's fine.
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Yeah. But, yeah. Searched the tapping, Fell in love with it. Second year, I just took, like, four tap classes.
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Oh, wow.
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A week. And then just followed my friend to a jazz class. And then it was a competition team class.
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Okay.
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So I was like, I want to do that. And the teacher allowed me to take that one class. And she was like, do you want to join the class? And that's how I got my friend in the competition world, too.
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Wow.
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When I was six years old.
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Okay.
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I remember back then, it was rare for younger dancers to compete that young. Know, we didn't have the minis category back then as much.
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We certainly weren't sitting through hours of mini solos.
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No. Well, in the solos, I didn't have my first solo Till I was 10. Because I think back then it was like graduating seniors.
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Yeah.
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Or teachers invited you if they felt like you were ready.
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Yeah. Yo, yo. Not everybody was just having solos.
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Right.
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That was a.
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It was.
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That was a privilege.
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Yes, it was. So, you know, but growing up, from when I was 10 till 16 is when I graduated high school, so it was a little earlier, but I did tap solos all my years, and that was, like, the one solo I did. And then, you know, going through my teen years and all that, so I fell in love with ballet.
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Yeah. How did that happen?
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So after a few years, my attitude. Yeah.
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What were you thinking?
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I know, right?
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So it's just. That's just my experience of it. Ballet was tough for me. I still grip my hip flexors. Anything above 45,
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that's okay, because you're amazing at a lot of things.
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Thank you.
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You are.
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Thank you.
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I appreciate it. I think the right teachers at the right time helped for sure. I had a male ballet teacher as my first ballet teacher, and I was eight, maybe nine. Eight or nine.
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So they're modeling for you like this is possible.
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Yes.
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This is a thing.
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And they didn't require me to wear ballet black tights.
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Did not right away.
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No.
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Okay.
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I chose to do it later on.
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See that it. See, if it was a choice, then
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you stick with it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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I'm just trying to think of the choice to not use my hip flexors. And I can't make that choice as, like, something that is override mode. Quads, take over. We're back to you and your tights.
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Let's. No. So, like, you know, I wore biker shorts or like basketball shorts so they can see my lines. But.
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But you got to a point, you know, really young, where you were like, no, I want to do this for
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real, like within six months. I said, oh, I'm gonna wear tights because I.
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You love the disciplines.
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You know, I love the discipline of like, it's either right or wrong. I kind of like that.
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Okay.
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I'm a math guy.
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Okay.
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So I like answers, black and white, not the gray matter.
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Interesting.
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So I think that was appealing to me totally. And yeah, he just never forced it. And he was just kind of like, you know, do this if you want. When you're ready, wear the tires. He just gave my timeline.
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Yeah.
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So it was easier for me to adapt to that. And after a couple of years, you know, he said, I see that you're more into it. What about going to a ballet conservatory? Not that he was trying to recruit me to other schools.
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He said, this is an option for you.
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So I did both. I went to a concert studio and started doing ballet conservatory at the same time.
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Yeah, that. I can see that.
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You know. And so I went from one hour to two hours of ballet into about seven to eight hours of ballet a week. Wow. And I was around 12. Yeah. Yeah.
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And did you see that same kind of exponential growth, A big growth.
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Came more in my high school years, I think.
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Oh, okay.
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Because I think when you're younger, you're still trying to figure out your body.
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Totally. And your body can't meet you where your brain is at. Your bones aren't even all there yet.
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Right. You're maturing. Right, Right.
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When do we get all our bones? There's some, I remember reading somewhere about, like, specifically, the bones in your feet are some of the last to develop. And you're still like, really?
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I'm learning.
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Yeah, yeah. Yo. It's a real thing. And then also, like physical strength, like, you can do all the push ups in the world when you're an eight year old boy. Humans reach their final adult count of 206 bones by their mid-20s.
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Wow. Together.
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Right. Like when you're a tiny tot, you don't even have all your bones.
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That's wild.
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Yeah. And you can, like what I was trying to say, you can do all the push ups in the world As a 9 year old kid, but you're not going to be able to lift your same nine year old counterpart over your head.
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Right.
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There's just some like, physical, developmental timeline stuff that Isn't there?
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Right, right. And I feel like I'm jumping out of place a little bit.
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But you're good, you're good.
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No, I'm. I. So I went to dance competitions, studio ballet, and I also went to arts middle school, high school. Oh, you were in it called osha. I don't know if you've heard of it before.
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Absolutely.
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Yeah. Orange County. It was High School of the Arts at the time at Los Alamitos, but they moved to Santa Ana and created their middle school in the year 2000.
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Oh, cool.
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So I entered in 2000.
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And you were the first class.
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Yeah, six years. And it was funny because that's the year I was in fifth grade and I went to my principal and said, I really want to go to school. Can I skip sixth grade? And he said, sure. So I jumped from fifth to seventh grade.
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That's like my biggest dream as a kid, to be like, hey, principal, can I not do this for a year? And then be like, yeah, I don't know.
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That happened.
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Yeah.
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I don't know how that happened.
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You're very persuasive.
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But I remember, maybe I remember doing half of my courses with the sixth graders already.
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Okay.
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So he kind of like gave me an option of if it's too hard for you, come back.
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Oh, okay.
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And the door's always open, reasonable, and if you feel like you're okay, go for it. And I. So I never graduated from elementary school. I just went straight to middle school. And Yeah. I was a 10 year old in middle school with 12 and 13 year old. And that gap was huge.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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At that age. Maturity wise.
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Yes. And socially.
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Oh, socially everything. Right. They looked at me like I was a little kid.
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Right.
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I mean, who wants to hang out with a 10 year old and shiny tattoos? But yeah. So I was dancing like 30 plus hours a week. Wow. For a long, long time. About six years, I would say. So. But going back to the ballet, you know, I felt like ballet was my weakest still.
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Okay.
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All the way through my high school years, even though I was proficient at it. And so when I was choosing college because I went to college, afterwards, I went to UC Irvine.
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Cool.
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And I chose that school because I was 16 turning. You're not ready to be. Yeah. I mean, my dream would have been Juilliard. At one point I applied for it, but something told me when the audition came, I'm not gonna go. I got kind of scared.
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Okay.
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Maturity wise. Like I wasn't ready because I was yo 15 when I was applying I'm
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40, and I'm scared of what auditioning for Juilliard would be like.
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Yeah.
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So no judgment.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, that was, like, one of my goals, but it just pivoted the other way. And I chose to stay local by home at UC Irvine, where it's my comfort level. Totally. You know, And I chose that school because there was a lot of great ballet reviews.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Professors, too. That's when Jody Gates was the new teacher there. Professor there. I had a teacher that I grew up with, Molly lynch, who was the director of my ballet conservatory at the time. All these people that I knew of that were great, and I knew I was gonna get good training, so I chose to go there to perfect my ballet side.
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Nice.
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Because I knew I can take outside schools for my commercial styles.
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Okay. Which was always an interest to you, or was ballet your North Star? You're imagining you're on companies. Like, what was the future focus? Or was it pretty training centered? Was training up front? It sounds like training was up front.
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Yeah, training was up front. And I think I was deep into both worlds in my mind.
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Okay.
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So I was open to any opportunity that comes up, whether that was a ballet company route or if it was a tour or film. Whatever it was, I was happy.
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So that work was existed in your realm. Like, you knew that that stuff was an option for you, for sure. And you chose to lean into the weakness that was you wanted to finalize and polish this ballet technique.
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Yes.
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So chose UC Irvine. The directors are people you know and trust. And you're like, okay, this is a known thing. I want it to be a strength.
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Yes.
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I know I can supplement my training, like, nearby. And that's what you did for four years?
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Well, graduated, yes and no. So I did for three years.
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Okay. And then you graduated early. You talked to the principal.
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Yeah, I tried that. Didn't work quite as well.
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Can I just get out of here early with the thing and the hat with the. Can I just. One year. Yeah, I'm sorry.
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Yeah, I tried that. Didn't work. It was my plan originally to graduate in three years, but. So my third year, right before I auditioned for the movie Fame, the remake in 2009, and Marguerite juries was the choreographer for that. And I went to the open call. It was at Screenland Studios.
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Yeah, I was there. I auditioned.
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Oh, were you there?
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Typecast.
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Typecast.
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Typecast.
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And I don't know how I got kept for that, but she never met me. I never met her. It was an open Call that Clear sent me on at the time. And I just showed up. And I remember. Okay. So I don't know if she remembers this, but it was Black and Gold. We were doing the choreography to Black and Gold.
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Yeah.
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Iconic. Iconic. I did the group. She stopped the music. She made everybody go off. And she pointed at me and she said, who are you? What's your name? And I said, I'm Bobby from Orange County. It's my first time meeting you. I'm so honored to be in this room. Blah, blah.
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I'm Craig.
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She goes. But she goes, so I can't hire you if you're gonna dance like that because you're a soloist. Right. And I. And in my mind at the time, and I remember this, my mentor, Moni Adamson. I don't know if you know Moni Adamson, but she was a resident crafter for MADtv.
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Okay.
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When that show was happening.
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Oh, I think now it might be placing face with names.
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But she was my teacher from when I was like 6 till all my years. So she taught me because I was short. I'm a small dancer.
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Huh?
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You have to dance big.
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Huh?
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Don't let anyone out dance you. Oh, and you know, competition convention. Oh, yeah. Lives. Yeah. So that's what I was doing.
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Dancing big.
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I was understanding professional world. I was showing off. Right. And so when she said, I'm gonna let you do it by yourself, I'm gonna let you and do that. If you don't do it the way I showed it or the way I
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like it, my skin is hot.
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You are allowed to leave.
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Tearing up. Did you. Were you on the verge of tears?
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I think I was more stunned. I didn't really process.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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What was happening.
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Okay. So you're receiving, you're hearing. You're in a vortex, Marguerite.
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Yeah.
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And she's like, you get to do it again. And you're like, yes, I do.
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Because I was only 17 when I auditioned. Turning 18, like a month later.
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Okay.
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So I was like, okay, I'm gonna do my best. And I remember just trying to be as exact with the positions.
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Yes.
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Details.
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Yes.
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And not worry about extra energy.
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Yes.
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And so she stops music like, you can stay. I got to stay.
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And that was stay on the edge of your seat for the next four hours.
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Yeah.
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Wow.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was my first audition, and it was like three days long. And that was like hour three of the three day long process. So I experienced that right away, and I kept getting through and kept till the very, very end. And that was my first movie that I booked.
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Amazing.
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Yeah.
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So good. It's so good, actually. Thank you for begging. A rewatch. I need to revisit. Okay. So what happened with school and how
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did so that happened? That kind of took me off my three year plan I had. Because I couldn't take the classes that were offered in the fall that I had to take.
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Oh, yes.
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Had to wait till the fall. But then later that year, I also auditioned for Cirque du Soleil called. It was called Nothing at the time, but it was for Elvis Presley, which I know you work closely with his movement.
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I. I did, but not for the Cirque version, but for the Baz Luhrmann for the Austin Butler version. Yeah, yeah. So, so satisfying. Yeah. The music and the movement. Oh, my God.
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So cool. It's very human, right? Like it's animal. It's dancing. It's. Yeah. It's not a technique. It's just like your body moving.
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Yeah.
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But it was directed by Vincent Patterson.
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Cool.
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Another legend.
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Yep. Podcast guest as well.
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Choreographer was Bonnie Story at the time. And so it was at Millennium's dome.
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Cool.
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Audition and stuff. The historical dome.
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Auditioning in that room is insane. Yeah. Several times I got to audition in that room. And it's like the sound and the way it bounces and the bot. The amount of people that could fit in that room. The energy is insane.
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Yeah.
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And the parking lot energy also. It was insane.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Okay. So that came right after.
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Well, so going back just a little bit, I also competed at a ballet concert called ygp. Right. And so I never really won. I went to finals twice. I was invited to go to the finals twice. Never really won because I was more of a. In their eye, contemporary dancer.
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Totally not classical. By the books. Very high level, very intense competition.
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And the talent scout happened to be at the finals, so I didn't get into war, but he was interested.
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Oh, cool.
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The scout for Elvis, for Cirque in general.
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Okay, cool, cool.
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The company. His name is Rick Tia. And he reached out to me a month after finals, said, we liked your solo. We would like to invite you to be in our database. And he was in charge of running the audition for Elvis. So he reached out to me and said, hey, this guy Vincent Patterson is holding an audition and I really think you would be right for the show. Can you show up? So I went. He was there. So he was a big advocate for me.
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Yeah.
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Because at the time, I didn't really know Bonnie or Vincent at the time.
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Yeah.
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I Knew them. But yeah, they didn't know who I
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was and they weren't teaching. There wasn't a way to really access them.
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And so he put a really good like nice word in for me. And I remember we did ballet across the floor.
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Uh huh.
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That was our first cut. Ballet across the foot progressions like, like what? Like pirouette, pirouette, arabesque, torgite, leap across like, like full on grand allegro.
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Grand allegro takes me out. I will petite all day. All day. Petite allegro. But man, you asked me to do big jumps. I, I big leave I big bow out. But that was your thing. You felt like confidence in a ballet.
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Yeah. So in the ballet space, I feel like I can shine there.
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Yeah.
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So I did that. Made the cut. Then Bonnie taught us like a minute and a half long contemporary combo.
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Oh, that was a. Let's go.
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And she's a storyteller.
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Quite long.
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She's a big storyteller. Bonnie is. So that was very important for her. So like it was like setting the mood. Who's her character? Since the same way.
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Yes, absolutely. I was just gonna say the, the two of them really, really championing character dancers who can act story.
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Yes. So did that. We got kept. Then we had to learn a jive piece because there was a. There was gonna be a big jives like social dance number in the show.
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Period.
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That tracks got kept. How to switch partners to dance with someone new. Yeah, did that.
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That's always Rocky.
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Got cat.
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Wow. Getting partnered up at an audition, y', all, that is a very real tension. Yeah. Everybody's like.
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Because you got to trust them. Are you got to trust each other? Yeah.
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Are you going to make me look good? Am I going to make you look good?
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That's the real question.
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Are you going to get me this job? Are you going to cost me this job? Like those are real sentences that you're allowed to think in that moment.
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I bet.
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Yeah. Neither one of those are useful. I'm just setting you up. When those thoughts show up, you can go ahead and next those There are better ways to.
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But it's very real, I think.
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Yeah, for sure.
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And I think for me, when I do partner at an audition, I'm more worried about the other person than me getting the job at the time. Because I was like, I don't want to be the reason why they got cut. Like, I don't care if I get cut because of myself. Yeah. But when it affects somebody else's chance. Yeah, that's scary.
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I hear that.
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Yeah. But I think what made them remember me at Cirque is they asked me a real question, which was, have you heard of us? And I never lied. And I said, I've never heard of you guys before.
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I love that.
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And they started cracking up.
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I love.
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And they started listing all the shows they had in Vegas and stuff.
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And you were like, yep.
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You know, mysterious. I was like, yeah. Don't know what you're like.
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I am literally 17. I grew up in Orange County. You want to talk about. I know. I know. Disney. Like, I know. Yeah. But that is such a sir thing to do, by the way.
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But, you know, I could have lied.
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You heard of us. I could have lied my French accent. Sorry. They just. They're, like, famous for being. I won't say pretentious, but prestige. Like, part of their prestige is baked in the company culture. So that's why I'm saying this does not shock me. Wow.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and I could have said something and said, yeah, of course. Because they weren't gonna ask me more than that. But I said, no, I really haven't. But, you know, that also told me need to research, huh?
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Yep. I will know more tomorrow. Should you have me back?
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Yeah. So, you know, I got to have that interview. They all laughed. They all. Well. And never heard back.
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Uhhuh.
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That's how they are, though. I was told that with Cir, you
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know, you go into another database.
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Yeah. And you may never hear back.
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Or you may hear back six years later. They're doing a different job. They very good at that. It's just. Yes.
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Yes. So I had no clue. Audition was, I think September also. I think fame and that, like, was like a week late after each other.
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Oh, wow.
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It was, like, very close to each other. And one day after Ballet five at UC Irvine, I had a voicemail like, five months later. Hey, this is Cirque du Soleil and we would like to hire you for the new show for Elvis Presley.
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Wow.
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The Phinney would be next month. Are you available? Montreal, Quebec. And so I'm in Ballet five, listening to his voicemail. And, you know, I'm ecstatic. Of course I'm excited. I think it was my. One of my first big, big jobs. It was a two and a half year commitment.
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Yep.
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Because it was.
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Because it was creation.
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And then correct creation for about six months.
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Mm.
381
00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:57.000
And they wanted, you know, people to be in the show for about two years because they don't want to find a new cast. Yep. And I was debating about not doing it because at the time I had this really, like, a path of ballet company, I was offered, like a possible studio company position with the ballet company during that summer. So it was like a deciding factor of do I want to do classical.
382
00:32:57.000 --> 00:32:58.000
Yeah.
383
00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:04.000
Or do I want to do. I don't know if circus commercial, really, but, like, more in that world, it's
384
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:06.000
giant corporate is what it is. So.
385
00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:09.000
Yeah. But it's definitely not ballet company route.
386
00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:10.000
Correct.
387
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:11.000
You know.
388
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:11.000
Correct.
389
00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:23.000
And I was putting my attention a lot on the ballet side, so it was hard for me to decide. But I, you know, I talked to my mom and, you know, at first I didn't even consider taking it because of school.
390
00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:26.000
Were you still living at home or were you able to.
391
00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:38.000
Yes, Yeah, I was still living because school was literally around. So I was like, maybe I won't take this job just so I can finish school. And she was like, that is the dumbest thing I ever heard you do.
392
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:52.000
I love your mom because, I mean, I. Listen, we all make our decisions based on what we have, but man, oh, man, I just am such a fan of getting into the workforce early and learning on the job.
393
00:33:52.000 --> 00:34:23.000
And, you know, my major was dance. Right. So she said, isn't this what you're going to school for? I said, yeah. And she's like, school, always be there. And my dad was also a big supporter of me. Like, he was at every dance competition, never missed a show. Like, you know, he was also an artist as well, in a way. He's a chef. But he also loved dancing himself. He was a swimmer when he was younger. Like, he was a gymnast. Like, he did. He was very athletic.
394
00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:24.000
That's epic. But an artist in his own right.
395
00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:30.000
And supported you on your mom, too. She took ballet in her college years. She was a professional pianist.
396
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:31.000
Okay.
397
00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:33.000
You know, so she was into music.
398
00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:34.000
She was.
399
00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:34.000
So they were both artsy.
400
00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:35.000
Yeah. Yeah.
401
00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:39.000
So I think that was the saving grace for me, too. Because,
402
00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.000
you know, nobody was ever telling you that you can't.
403
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:52.000
Right. And not to put culture really, but Asian families typically, education, education, education. What's your real job?
404
00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:54.000
How are you going to provide for your family?
405
00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:55.000
What's your backup plan?
406
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:56.000
What's your backup plan?
407
00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:00.000
And it's funny because all my parents. Family used to ask my parents, what's his backup plan?
408
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:02.000
And they fielded that question and they
409
00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:23.000
said, we don't care as long as he loves what he does. And so my support for family was always there. So I think that was the one thing I never had to fight for or struggle totally. Because I know that's not for everyone. Right. Everyone's case. So my mom gave me the push to go do Cirque. I did Cirque for two and a half years.
410
00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:24.000
Wow.
411
00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:33.000
And after that was over, I felt like I had done 960 shows. You know, it was just. Yeah.
412
00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:46.000
Yesterday I was just bragging about 153. I was like, yeah, I did 153 like I love yous. I probably did like more thousands, but. But how many shows?
413
00:35:46.000 --> 00:36:10.000
The contract was 960. I think I did miss like 10 days of work through the two years because of injury or sickness and stuff like that. But I did 900, like 40 shows during that time. Yeah. But learned a lot about myself. Totally about what I enjoy about that job and not enjoy about that job.
414
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:18.000
And you grew up, you kind of became an adult on that, on that contract and you lived in Vegas and you lived in Montreal and. Yeah. So cool.
415
00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:19.000
Yeah.
416
00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:22.000
And then after that hit back, hitting the ground running and doing the gigging,
417
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:23.000
it was in my.
418
00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:26.000
From where I'm seated, you have not stopped.
419
00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:27.000
Is it.
420
00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:33.000
Is that how it feels from the inside of your career? Or have you had major goes and major lows?
421
00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:52.000
Oh, Lowe's for sure. I think so. After college I, you know, I lived in Orange county because I went back to UC Irvine. Right. But at that time I already moved out of my parents house, of course, and all that, got my own apartment. So I lived in Irvine, tried to do the LA thing.
422
00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:53.000
Commuting.
423
00:36:53.000 --> 00:37:40.000
Commuting, right. Auditions, all that kind of stuff. It was hard because it was hard for me to drive two hours for sometimes a casting that last two minutes and then have to drive back two hours again because of rush hour and not get a phone call. And that went back and forth for about a year and a half. And you know, you book gigs here and there that we always post about. We didn't post back then because we didn't have Instagram, but you know, we just talk about the wins, not the. I don't want to say losses, but the. But the no's. And I kind of fell into this whole. I'm just teaching a lot. And so I kind of. For a year and a half I stopped dancing myself as much and got into. Stuck into studio teaching schedule.
424
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:41.000
Okay.
425
00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:43.000
Because that made my ends meet.
426
00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:44.000
Totally.
427
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:53.000
And I gained a lot of weight that year. I felt like. And I was only 23, 24. Should be our prime, like getting started.
428
00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:57.000
Listen, my weight gain lose cycle seems to answer to no one.
429
00:37:57.000 --> 00:37:58.000
Yeah, it does.
430
00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:38.000
Certainly I don't know. I. The body thing is a very interesting conversation, and it's interesting to hear about it from a male perspective, because from a female perspective, it's like, I don't ever, even when I was 11, remember being thin. Like, my experience of my body has always been, like, I don't look like everyone else. And the bodies I'm comparing myself to obviously are majority other dancer bodies. But I went on tour at 21 and still feel like I had baby fat at 21 years old. So, Yeah, I don't know. I do know right now that I'm coming into 40 stronger than I have ever been in my life.
431
00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:39.000
That's amazing.
432
00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:58.000
With a different relationship to my body thanks to weight training versus constantly trying to do cardio to lose fat. So I. I'm. Different seasons, for sure. But interesting to hear that when you thought you should have been your fittest, you felt like you were not.
433
00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:10.000
Yeah. And that might be because I got into the ballet world, which is. Which is talked more about. And I think you said it was interesting that a male figure is talking about this.
434
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:11.000
Yeah, please. Yes.
435
00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:16.000
I think it's because I have a perception of, you can't talk about weight to women.
436
00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:17.000
Ah.
437
00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:33.000
But to guys, it should be easier to talk about. And, hey, you need to lose weight. And so my. My parents were lovely, but one thing they did do to me a lot was, I think you're a little bit too thick. Like, you look better doing those moves if you were.
438
00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:34.000
Wow. Yeah.
439
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:42.000
And my mom wouldn't be afraid to say that to me. So growing up, she's like, you should lose more weight. Blah, blah, blah. And then when I'm right, right. Weight. Quote, quote.
440
00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:43.000
Yeah.
441
00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:51.000
She's like. She wouldn't say anything. So I think that was the one thing my parents accidentally. Without totally, you know, purposefully doing it.
442
00:39:51.000 --> 00:39:52.000
Yep.
443
00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:58.000
Have said about body image. And it was not looked as so negative back then compared to nowadays.
444
00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:05.000
Oh, for sure. It was normal. It was loving for them to weigh in on that. No pun intended.
445
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:06.000
Yes.
446
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:12.000
I have. I have dance moms who have used far sharper words to say the same thing. So. Yeah.
447
00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:24.000
And so when I felt like I was, you know, gaining weight, and I'm not saying five pounds, like I've gained a lot, I was like, I need to change my lifestyle. Something.
448
00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:25.000
Something's gotta shift.
449
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:46.000
Right. So then I happened to get a Facebook message from a friend of mine from college saying, hey, a friend of mine's trying to, like, start a residence ballet company in Houston. It's a startup. It's nothing big, but they're looking for dancers. Do you want to audition for them? I jumped on it, flew. They flew me out, which was so much.
450
00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:47.000
To audition.
451
00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:51.000
To audition, work, normalize that. I wish. Right?
452
00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:52.000
Yeah.
453
00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:53.000
Usually you have to pay for everything.
454
00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:54.000
Yes.
455
00:40:53.000 --> 00:41:21.000
They put me up. It was a two day process. They put me up at their house, like, you know, the guest house. I auditioned for them, they wanted me. The pay was horrible. You know, it was pennies compared to what I was making. But this was my change. So I packed my bags, moved to Houston and joined the company for a year and a half. I'll tell you why it's a year and a half, but I did it for a year, full season. I lost £20 during that year.
456
00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:22.000
Wow.
457
00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:24.000
Just because I was taking class Monday through Friday.
458
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:25.000
Yeah.
459
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:26.000
And rehearsing.
460
00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:27.000
Yeah.
461
00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:29.000
I was dancing six hours again every day.
462
00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:30.000
Right.
463
00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:46.000
And I just naturally lost weight and I was back in my shape that I remembered my dad got sick. He got cancer. So that brought me back home and I just. That's when I actually moved to la. First time ever.
464
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:47.000
Wow.
465
00:41:46.000 --> 00:42:03.000
Because I was like, do I move back to Orange county and get back in this routine that I had where I probably will call out of auditions because I'm too lazy. Didn't want to drive or make excuses for myself, not show up. So I was like, let's move to la. That's when I moved to la.
466
00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:09.000
Let's be closer to family than Houston, but let's be closer to work than Orange County.
467
00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:10.000
Yes.
468
00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:15.000
And you found yourself the. The version that satisfies both. Okay.
469
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:33.000
And so I moved to LA. I think that was 2014. Okay. Unfortunately, my dad passed away about nine months later from colon cancer. Yeah. That was hard. That's when I was 25. My mom had a heart attack that same year. Twice.
470
00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:34.000
Oh, my goodness.
471
00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:42.000
She went to the St Joseph Hospital in Burbank. You know, my. At the time. Maybe you want to cut this part out, but I'm gonna share with you.
472
00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:43.000
Yeah.
473
00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:53.000
Yeah. My girlfriend at the time, we were together four and a half years. We broke up because of. She wanted family. I was ready to get married. All those things.
474
00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:54.000
Yeah.
475
00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:56.000
So we decided to go away from, you know.
476
00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:57.000
Yeah.
477
00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:59.000
Separate ways. But that all happened within like six months.
478
00:42:59.000 --> 00:43:00.000
Bobby.
479
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:09.000
My bam, bam, bam. Like cancer, my mom, heart attack. Long relationship, going away. That was probably my low of the lowest.
480
00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:53.000
Big curveballs there. I talk a lot when I'm like career coaching or when I'm life coaching. Looking at big picture strategy. Anything. I. I like to imagine our life as a bell curve. And in terms of positive experiences and negative experiences, there will be a few very negative experiences. A lot of kind of less good, sort of bad, kind of bad. Pretty good, very good, less good. Really, really good. Like that we will have a natural distribution, a perfect bell curve. It sounds like you had some of those very rare, very negative in the same year. Like those hit you on a pretty, pretty tight time.
481
00:43:53.000 --> 00:44:00.000
Yeah. And people say when it rains, it pours. And it really did that when it was positive. Positively too, but negative.
482
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:05.000
Oh, interesting. So kind of an extreme life cycle moment.
483
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:06.000
Yeah.
484
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:14.000
How did you find yourself talking to yourself in that chapter? And what was it that transitioned you out?
485
00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:36.000
I mean, it was really tough. I'm very good at keeping things and emotions to myself, so, you know, not a lot of people knew I was going through this. You know, to add to that, my dad ended up moving to Japan because he wanted to visit his family for the last time, quote, unquote. And my mom was supposed to go with him.
486
00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:37.000
Oh.
487
00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:42.000
But ended up not being able to go because of other family issues. So she moved in with me.
488
00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:43.000
Interesting.
489
00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:53.000
In a one bedroom apartment. And she ended up living with me for four years. And I had to take care of her because she's never worked in her life because she was a stay home mom and raised me.
490
00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:54.000
Yep.
491
00:44:54.000 --> 00:45:02.000
And I'm an only child. I think I said that earlier in the podcast, but. So that's what I had to do. I was 25 now, financially.
492
00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:03.000
Yeah.
493
00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:05.000
Responsible for myself and for my mom.
494
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.000
Yeah. You had a dependent, the person you depended on.
495
00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:10.000
Yeah.
496
00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:22.000
What an interesting flip flop. And this is like, this, this is like a normal trajectory. Right. We usually wind up taking care of our parents, of course, but that was again, a tighter timeline than what people usually see for themselves.
497
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:30.000
Yeah. So it was tough. I don't, I mean, to be very, very honest, I don't know how I really got out of it.
498
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.000
Well, circumstances changed, so your thinking changed and then your life changed.
499
00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:35.000
Of course.
500
00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:42.000
But do you remember at all, like, the way that you talked to yourself that made those days manageable?
501
00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:55.000
You know, I think I was so good at flipping the switch in my head of when I'm working, I was able to really be working. And the minute I walk out, then I get to be human again. But I'm very good at that.
502
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:57.000
Like the compartmentalization.
503
00:45:57.000 --> 00:46:09.000
Yeah. So I think I made myself very busy with work and I know. No, that's ignoring the I don't know if that's healthy, Elsie, necessarily.
504
00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:13.000
But that was how you did it. That was a coping. It is a total, total coping mechanism.
505
00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:15.000
I totally get it. Yeah.
506
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:16.000
Okay.
507
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:16.000
I don't know.
508
00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:58.000
That's okay. That's okay to not know. I'm so curious and I'm finding a lot more of people my age finding themselves taking care of their folks already and just wondering, wanting to offer perspectives that I haven't experienced yet. So I'm curious and gel on this and if things come up, you can. We can have a fully dedicated podcast to just this. But I do think it's so interesting the. The entertainment lifestyle that enter art and entertainment lifestyle that we've chosen doesn't abide by most rules. Number one, the healthcare and retirement rule that says you and yours are taken care of.
509
00:46:58.000 --> 00:46:59.000
Right.
510
00:46:59.000 --> 00:47:08.000
That's not a given for us. Number two, our hours are not traditional nine to five. Some of us are lucky to have jobs that are that engaging.
511
00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:10.000
Yes.
512
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:36.000
Most of us are. Are seeking something quite that regular. But there's a lot of, A lot of unusual in our world. And when you have an unusual at home life also having unusual work life can be. Can maybe feel double destabilized. Two negatives not making a positive. But it sounds like what you were able to do for yourself is double down on work, provide for mom and have that be okay for you.
513
00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:40.000
Yeah. And I don't know if that was the healthiest choice, but it was the.
514
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:47.000
It is the choice control. It was the thing. Yes, it was the thing that happened. And here you are right now. So I think it was just fine.
515
00:47:47.000 --> 00:47:54.000
Thank you. And I think, you know, that's actually when I actually started to work for Michael a little bit. Michael Rooney.
516
00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:55.000
Oh, okay.
517
00:47:54.000 --> 00:48:10.000
At that time, yeah, way back when he gave me my first job when I was nine years old. I. I didn't talk about that, but so when I was nine, I auditioned for him at the Dome as well. Amazing Fiona Apple music video Paper bag.
518
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:11.000
Whoa.
519
00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:12.000
Yeah.
520
00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:13.000
Deep cut.
521
00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:14.000
Yeah.
522
00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:14.000
Amazing.
523
00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:16.000
And that's my first professional job.
524
00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:17.000
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
525
00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:22.000
And I didn't. I've been trying to get in front of him for 15 years after that.
526
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:24.000
Okay, and when you did, did he recognize you?
527
00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:28.000
No, but that's okay. So funny, you know, but what I
528
00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:35.000
did was I am constantly reintroducing myself to people also, I'm certain the next time I see Michael Rooney, I'll be like, it's Dana, remember?
529
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:45.000
No, he knows you. But, you know, he was teaching three master classes, which really happened at the time. He didn't do that. I showed up to every single one.
530
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:46.000
Yes, you did.
531
00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:50.000
The third one, I remember him saying, hey, just so you know, I recognize
532
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.000
you now from the last class.
533
00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:55.000
You know, like, he just came up to me.
534
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:58.000
He means he remembers from when you were a kiddo.
535
00:48:58.000 --> 00:48:59.000
No, no, no, no, no. For those classes.
536
00:48:59.000 --> 00:49:00.000
Oh, yeah. That's what it is.
537
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:09.000
For those classes. Yeah, yeah. From those classes. And I was like, okay, I'm finally being seen. And it's crazy to think that that's. We have to. But we have to do that sometimes
538
00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:10.000
that is what it takes.
539
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:11.000
Right.
540
00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:15.000
Because he sees a lot of people and he does a lot of gigs, and he's worked with a lot of the kids and.
541
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:22.000
Yeah, but, like, that's where my, like, relationship with Michael started for about four years until really the pandemic.
542
00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:23.000
Yeah.
543
00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:25.000
I was pretty close with, like, working with him.
544
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:26.000
Yeah.
545
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:36.000
With a lot of projects, which I'm thankful for because I learned so much from him. And then, you know, Marguerite also kind of came in my picture, actually, during CLI pandemic.
546
00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:43.000
Oh, get out of here. Because she was teaching for CLI and you assisted her. Her virtual classes.
547
00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:51.000
And this is what's beautiful also, which I hope people take away from this. Yeah. I messaged Marguerite on Instagram.
548
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:52.000
Yep.
549
00:49:52.000 --> 00:50:07.000
And just said, I hope you're safe through this hard time. Hope to see you in the near future. Take care. Something along those lines. A minute later, she messaged me, hey, I'm teaching six or maybe six or
550
00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:11.000
eight something or maybe 800
551
00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:17.000
CLI classes virtually. Yeah. Are you available? We were, of course available. Right. We're locked down.
552
00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:18.000
You said, hold on, let me check.
553
00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:24.000
Yes. And since in July. And I said, absolutely. And that's how I got my foot back in the door with her.
554
00:50:24.000 --> 00:50:25.000
Amazing.
555
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:28.000
Because I never worked with her since fame.
556
00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:29.000
Amazing.
557
00:50:29.000 --> 00:50:30.000
Yeah.
558
00:50:30.000 --> 00:51:15.000
You know what I want to say to her, to her credit, really fast? What she did for you in that audition, I have seen her do for others. I've seen her do in class. And I feel like educators have gotten very cautious in calling people out. There are different norms and different standards today than there have been in the past. And I think sometimes that's not for the best. Most times it is. But I think I've never seen someone so masterfully call out with specificity, with compassion, with humility, and without humiliation.
559
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:16.000
Yeah.
560
00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:19.000
But will make a lesson stick.
561
00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:20.000
Yes.
562
00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:23.000
And that lesson wasn't just for you. It was for everyone in that room.
563
00:51:23.000 --> 00:51:24.000
Right.
564
00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:36.000
You were the hot seat. But I've seen Marguerite do this once or twice outside of the story that you just mentioned. And every time I've seen it happen, I get my pen out and I'm like, oh, that is how you make a change.
565
00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:37.000
Right.
566
00:51:37.000 --> 00:51:38.000
In. In the ecosystem.
567
00:51:38.000 --> 00:51:39.000
Yes.
568
00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:48.000
She made a change in your life for sure. But I've been in the rooms and I'm like, oh, I'm listening. And. And she did one@nycda nationals. Okay. You were assisting her.
569
00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:49.000
Okay.
570
00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:55.000
I don't know if you remember this, but she was teaching our senior, I think, outstanding dancer audition.
571
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:56.000
Okay.
572
00:51:55.000 --> 00:52:36.000
So this score was part of a composite score with other auditions and their solos. And a lot of things get math together, but a lot of people come in, teach a combo, the faculty comes, we, blah, blah, blah. She was in high teacher mode. And she said, I hire. I hire people a lot, skill level wise. There are a lot of people in this room that I would like to hire. But there's also something, something happening in this room that I have to tell you when I see it. It's an immediate no. I will cut immediately if you are doing this thing. I don't think she phrased. I don't think she teed it up that way.
573
00:52:36.000 --> 00:52:37.000
Right.
574
00:52:36.000 --> 00:52:42.000
But what she was saying, she was talking about this trend at the moment, which she called fish mouth.
575
00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:44.000
Yes.
576
00:52:44.000 --> 00:52:46.000
And it was like a breathe. I think people were doing it to breathe.
577
00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:47.000
Yes.
578
00:52:47.000 --> 00:53:00.000
But it, it also telegraphed as being performant, like feeling like. Like I'm so feeling that I have to chew with my mouth open. I don't know. I don't know. It was a trend.
579
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:01.000
Right.
580
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:34.000
It was a, A habit for a lot of people simply weren't aware of it. And I do think she touched on that too. She didn't call any one person out. This was a room. She was addressing the room and she said, I see this thing happening. I don't know if you're aware of it or if you aren't, but you should know that I will not hire people who do that. And the whole room all of a sudden became aware of the thing that nobody was thinking about because they were all thinking about all the rest of their bodies. But. But if you. She works in TV and film.
581
00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:35.000
Yeah.
582
00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:53.000
So often the shot is here, and if you are not in control of your freaking face. And she was like, you must control this thing. You must be in the cockpit piloting your own face. Please be more conscious of how you are using your face, because I can't hire that.
583
00:53:53.000 --> 00:53:54.000
Right.
584
00:53:54.000 --> 00:54:11.000
And she said it in front of the entire faculty. We were all in there. And we all thought we were just talking about everybody's solos or we all thought we were just talking to the outstanding dancers. But her vision was so far beyond that. She's wanting these people to go into the workforce. She's wanting to hire people.
585
00:54:11.000 --> 00:54:12.000
Yeah.
586
00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:46.000
And the real cool thing about that and why I love her for saying that and in front of all of us is that when I'm judging now on panels or when I'm in audition rooms and I see people doing that, I will say, I don't know if you know Marguerite Derricks, but I want to give you a heads up so that you find yourself. So that if you find yourself in a room with her, you are prepared. What you are doing with your face is a full stop for Marguerite. And I think it probably always will be. I hope it doesn't turn into something that she loves.
587
00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:47.000
But. Right.
588
00:54:47.000 --> 00:55:03.000
I love when people make their full stops known. Because if it's that easy for me to make it with you and if it's that easy to break it, like I want to know, I want to have a fighting chance.
589
00:55:03.000 --> 00:55:04.000
Yeah.
590
00:55:04.000 --> 00:56:06.000
Because it would be such a shame for these dancers training their whole lives to get to a point where ability wise, they're able. But there's this unintentional quirk happening that you can absolutely attend to and refine or fix if we want to use that word. But I just, I really love how particular she is. I love how accessible she is. She said, you know how to reach me. I am in the world. I believe she even told the story of how you reached out to her. And it's so funny, a lot of people assume that mad dancers are just banging down Marguerite's doors. She said, you would be shocked at how few people reached out to see if I was okay during that time. And she said, this young man reached out and asked if I was okay. And that made an imprint on her. And so thank you for sharing this story. It's so important to remember that these heroes, these titans in our world who have a lot of power.
591
00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:07.000
Yes.
592
00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:09.000
Are still simply humans.
593
00:56:09.000 --> 00:56:10.000
Exactly.
594
00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:21.000
With families with needs, with demands on them. And. And so you saw her humanity and she saw your superhuman humanity. And what a great team.
595
00:56:21.000 --> 00:56:26.000
And I do. People can tell when you reach out during those times.
596
00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:27.000
Keep talking.
597
00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:30.000
If they're thinking about just opportunities.
598
00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:32.000
Hey, Marguerite, I'm starving.
599
00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:35.000
Versus how are you actually genuinely asking as a human being?
600
00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:36.000
Totally.
601
00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:47.000
Because, you know, we can always reach out to people. Right. And like happy New Year. And like there's Always an intention. Maybe book me on the next job versus actually just asking. Right.
602
00:56:47.000 --> 00:57:13.000
That's so interesting. I. Yeah. She's. She is so legendary. I know what it means to be in a support role. I know that that can be challenging, but I know that it can be also be liberating. Just tell me really quickly a few of your favorite things about being in a support role on a choreography team and what you love most about leading yourself.
603
00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:21.000
Oh, well, okay. So I'm going to go with Etoile, obviously, because that was like my last huge, huge thing I've done with her.
604
00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:24.000
I haven't finished it yet, so don't give any spoilers.
605
00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:29.000
Yeah. But that was actually my first time assisting Marguerite in that scale.
606
00:57:29.000 --> 00:57:31.000
Okay.
607
00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:34.000
I never worked on a show with her from beginning to end.
608
00:57:34.000 --> 00:57:37.000
Were you in Maisel, but not assisting her on it or what was.
609
00:57:37.000 --> 00:57:43.000
I was only in Maisel for one episode, and it was the same episode I actually assisted on for one of the numbers.
610
00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:44.000
Okay.
611
00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:46.000
But see, I've always helped her with a number.
612
00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:47.000
Got it.
613
00:57:47.000 --> 00:57:48.000
Versus never a show.
614
00:57:48.000 --> 00:57:49.000
Yeah.
615
00:57:49.000 --> 00:58:12.000
Yeah. So it was a big going to school day for me. Totally going to school. But I think being on that Etoile show and being able to be by her side. Yeah. And see the world. Paris, New York, like, I mean, what a. Like, what an incredible experience that was.
616
00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:13.000
What a dream.
617
00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:18.000
And we hired, like, so many dancers. True ballet dancers.
618
00:58:18.000 --> 00:58:22.000
Oh, my God. Yes. Tyler Peck. Yes. Speaking lines.
619
00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:40.000
Yes. Yes. That was special to me because one, I got to go back to, like, the ballet world that I haven't been in for a long time. So I got to revisit that. And, you know, dance more, too, because we also were into Amy Sherman Palladino.
620
00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:41.000
Yeah.
621
00:58:41.000 --> 00:58:48.000
Was so about keeping the dance creator. Yeah. Dancers in shape. So we had to have class every single day.
622
00:58:48.000 --> 00:58:53.000
Right. Because if all of these company dancers stop their lives to make a TV show.
623
00:58:53.000 --> 00:58:54.000
Right.
624
00:58:54.000 --> 00:58:56.000
They would. They wouldn't be able to continue their
625
00:58:56.000 --> 00:59:01.000
lives as dancers, and they wouldn't be able to perform what we were asking for because we were trying to be as authentic.
626
00:59:01.000 --> 00:59:02.000
Yeah.
627
00:59:01.000 --> 00:59:03.000
For the show as well.
628
00:59:03.000 --> 00:59:05.000
Were you guys having class every day? We did before.
629
00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:13.000
Before even shoot days. So as an assistant, I was. Part of my job was to give class.
630
00:59:13.000 --> 00:59:14.000
Wow.
631
00:59:14.000 --> 00:59:17.000
And sometimes the 5am class
632
00:59:17.000 --> 00:59:19.000
for that 8am hair and makeup call.
633
00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:23.000
Yeah. What? Yeah. So I remember getting picked up, you
634
00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:28.000
know, was that factored into their shoot time? So that was part of their 12 hour day, technically.
635
00:59:28.000 --> 00:59:31.000
Oh. And then in. In Europe, it's 10 hour day.
636
00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:32.000
Okay.
637
00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:34.000
Yeah, usually or 60 hours a week kind of a thing.
638
00:59:34.000 --> 00:59:36.000
Oh, okay.
639
00:59:36.000 --> 00:59:37.000
Right.
640
00:59:36.000 --> 00:59:38.000
Okay.
641
00:59:38.000 --> 00:59:43.000
But no, because we said, do you want class? And most of them said yes.
642
00:59:43.000 --> 00:59:49.000
Interesting. So I guess that's true. Like Anna. Interesting. It wasn't required.
643
00:59:49.000 --> 00:59:51.000
No. Okay. Cuz some people would skip.
644
00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:59.000
Yeah. I think if I. Yeah. There are shoot days where I wake up early to go to the gym because I need my body to feel okay for the day. Wow, that's cool.
645
00:59:59.000 --> 01:00:02.000
But it was every day. We were.
646
01:00:02.000 --> 01:00:03.000
Wow.
647
01:00:02.000 --> 01:00:13.000
Yeah. So that was discipline. Yeah, the discipline. You know, And I respect that because I think that is the one thing I really do take away from the ballet side is that work ethic.
648
01:00:13.000 --> 01:00:14.000
Yeah.
649
01:00:14.000 --> 01:00:15.000
You know, that's the culture.
650
01:00:15.000 --> 01:00:27.000
And there is no substitute for discipline. And you can't cram for a technique test. Like, there's no way that the night before I can meet you where you've been getting for the last 10 years.
651
01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:28.000
Right.
652
01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:29.000
Like there's just. You can't fake it.
653
01:00:29.000 --> 01:00:32.000
But I feel like that's with everything. Right. Even like, for example, hip hop.
654
01:00:32.000 --> 01:00:37.000
Well, there's always foundation and style. Genre wise. 100%.
655
01:00:37.000 --> 01:00:38.000
Right.
656
01:00:37.000 --> 01:00:47.000
But I do think. I mean, I have gotten away with not having perfect technique because I have other strengths.
657
01:00:47.000 --> 01:00:48.000
Right.
658
01:00:48.000 --> 01:00:55.000
But if we are measuring technique, you just can't fake it. Like, I can distract you with other things.
659
01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:56.000
Right.
660
01:00:56.000 --> 01:01:03.000
To hide my technique. But if we're just looking at technique, there's nothing that you can do to hide where you're at.
661
01:01:03.000 --> 01:01:04.000
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
662
01:01:04.000 --> 01:01:06.000
Okay. We've got one more question for you, Bobby. You ready for it?
663
01:01:06.000 --> 01:01:07.000
Yeah, sure.
664
01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:43.000
I mean, I could definitely talk to you forever, but I will be respectful of your time. Instead of doing Rapid Fire Burnout round, I'm taking a question from whitamcom, which is my coaching community. And today we want to know, as a person who values discipline but also values a full life and understands that our trajectories are not always straight, but sometimes out and in and around. How do you find yourself coming back to an embodied practice and a love of dance and a grit for dance if you've been away for some time,
665
01:01:43.000 --> 01:02:08.000
you know, I think there's no right answer. Right. Hopefully. But for me, when I. I've never thankfully fallen out of love from dance. But there's obviously challenges we go through. Right. So what I tend to do is surround myself with music. I love music. Yeah. And because the music is the reason why I was boppy in the first place when I was little.
666
01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:13.000
Boppy, Right. I love boppy. That's Your new nickname.
667
01:02:13.000 --> 01:02:36.000
So, like, to me, when I hear music that I love naturally in my mind, it starts to work, like, with movements and visuals in my head, and that transforms into movement to me. So I don't know if that's the answer that I should give. But to me, what inspires me to always go back to dancing. Is music beautiful. It speaks to me.
668
01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:37.000
Beautiful.
669
01:02:37.000 --> 01:02:38.000
Yeah.
670
01:02:38.000 --> 01:02:53.000
I. That's a wonderful reminder. Just the other day, I was like, wow. I haven't, like, I'm having a book on tape moment. I do a lot of driving these days, but I'm like, booksing because I want to read books.
671
01:02:53.000 --> 01:02:54.000
Yeah.
672
01:02:53.000 --> 01:03:17.000
I'm always so tired at night, so I fall asleep as soon as I crack the book. So I've been doing the books on tape thing, and it was just a couple days ago that I was like, I haven't, like, blasted music in my car in a while. While. Turn on Kelly Clarkson. And it was the best. I was like, alive. It was incredible. You're right. Let's not forget, friends, you have a life source just a button away.
673
01:03:17.000 --> 01:03:18.000
Yeah.
674
01:03:18.000 --> 01:03:21.000
Just a quick. But what was your favorite thing to listen to right now?
675
01:03:21.000 --> 01:03:25.000
I don't have a song genre. I'm an old soul.
676
01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:26.000
Do it. What you got?
677
01:03:26.000 --> 01:03:38.000
Motown and stuff. Nice. And like, power ballads. Like Luther Van Ross when he's like, I'm an oldie. Yeah. And I. Then I also love Prince. And of course, why not, right? Prince, Michael Jackson, all those things.
678
01:03:38.000 --> 01:03:43.000
Yeah. If you don't love Prince, I don't really have a whole lot of space for you.
679
01:03:43.000 --> 01:03:47.000
I'll be very honest. I probably am terrible with current artists.
680
01:03:47.000 --> 01:03:50.000
I'm not so good.
681
01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:55.000
Like, I'm always looking at the past music. And that's because I feel like that's what I grew up with.
682
01:03:55.000 --> 01:03:56.000
I feel you.
683
01:03:56.000 --> 01:04:01.000
And that's what, first of all, made me want to dance. Right. Those MTV days.
684
01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:02.000
God.
685
01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:04.000
So, like, those music videos were films.
686
01:04:04.000 --> 01:04:05.000
Amazing.
687
01:04:04.000 --> 01:04:05.000
They weren't music videos.
688
01:04:05.000 --> 01:04:06.000
It's true.
689
01:04:06.000 --> 01:04:07.000
Short films.
690
01:04:07.000 --> 01:04:09.000
What are you gonna listen to on the way home?
691
01:04:09.000 --> 01:04:14.000
I just. I had the greatest hits of Luther Vandross on my. On my Spotify.
692
01:04:14.000 --> 01:04:16.000
Phenomenal. Oh, thank you for that.
693
01:04:16.000 --> 01:04:17.000
So it'll probably be one of those
694
01:04:17.000 --> 01:04:24.000
songs like, oh, the sun is coming out. It's kind of an overcast kind of day. It feels like a great day to be soulful and.
695
01:04:24.000 --> 01:04:25.000
Yeah.
696
01:04:24.000 --> 01:04:28.000
Well, Bobby, thank you for. For simmering and sharing.
697
01:04:28.000 --> 01:04:29.000
Thank you.
698
01:04:28.000 --> 01:04:32.000
Really just think the world of you and always will. I'm grateful for your time, and I'm
699
01:04:32.000 --> 01:04:34.000
a huge fan of the podcast, so thank you for having me.
700
01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:47.000
Thank you so much for being here. Thank you listener viewer for being here. Like click the bell for notifications, Leave a Review a rating, subscribe, tell a friend, and of course get out into the world and keep it very funky.
701
01:04:47.000 --> 01:04:49.000
Bye Bye.
702
01:04:49.000 --> 01:05:31.000
Dance plus is produced by me with the help of many big, big big big love to our Executive assistant and Editor Riley Higgins. Music is by Max Winnie, logo and brand design by Bri Reitz. Our communications team consists of Ori Vajadares and Sydney Richardson, and we've got extra help from LMU intern Carly Clayton. If you're digging the podcast, please leave a review or rating. Also, if you want to connect with me and the many marvelous members of the Words that Move me community, visit danceplus podcast.com if you're curious to know more about me and all the stuff I do outside of the podcast, visit thedanawilson.com.