The Dance Podcast

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#150 Stacey Tookey. Emmy nominated choreographer. Director of The Bridge and Protege Movement. Aug 19, 2020

Show notes

Stacey Tookey is back and sharing with us current industry conversions and plans, how she has become her own business, the true practice of self care and working through imposter syndrome. After connecting with pre-professionals and professional dancers feeling lost and disconnected, Stacey has created a virtual program called The Bridge where dancers from around the world receive unparalleled training, mind, body and artistry.

Emmy-nominated choreographer Stacey Tookey is a multitalented, Canadian-born director, choreographer and dancer who has worked with legendary musical artists such as Celine Dion, Bette Midler, Justin Timberlake, and Michael Bublé.

Stacey performed as a member of Mia Michaels' cutting edge dance company R.A.W., New York's Parsons Dance Project, Ballet British Columbia, ChuThis, and the Houston Grand Opera's Carmen. She also earned the coveted role as Assistant Choreographer for Broadway's A Few Good Men Dancin' and was an original cast member for the entire five-year run of Celine Dion's record-breaking show, A New Day at Caesars Palace.

Stacey's passionate pieces on So You Think You Can Dance have earned her three consecutive Emmy nominations from 2010-12. She has also choreographed for Dancing With The Stars in the featured Macy's Stars of Dance opening number. She choreographed the video for Atlantic Records recording artist Christina Perri's chart-topping hit Jar of Hearts, as well as Vienne's She Breaks, and John Torres Ocean music videos.

#149 Katrena Cohea. Different Drummer Dance. Body Positive Teaching. RAD ballet teacher. Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

We talk about body-positive teaching, the impact of conscious educators and the impact of mindfulness within dance.

She trained in the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) syllabus, and has completed their Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies (CBTS). She also trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of dance and performed professionally with Brisas de Espana, a Flamenco and Spanish dance company.

She has been teaching for over 10 years, teaching at both for-profit and not for profit schools and serving a diverse community of dancers. Benicia Ballet School, Community Youth Center, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Sonoma Conservatory of Dance are just a few of the places that have been her dance homes.

She graduated with B.A. in Theater and Dance from CSUEB, where she had the opportunity to add to her training in modern, choreography, jazz and hip-hop from noted Bay Area directors/choreographers Nina Haft, Eric Kupers and Laura Elaine Ellis. Katrena has performed and taught across the United States and Canada including Vancouver, New Mexico, and New York.

#148 Liana Blackburn. Body Language. Daily Dancer Diet. Inspirational Mover and Shaker. Aug 05, 2020

Show notes

She is back for round 2! Her first episode on the podcast, Episode 43, was a bomb of inspiration and love. Liana has worked with everyone from Britney Spears to Ricky Martin to Katy Perry. We loved her so much - we brought her back and this time to talk about her program, Body Language. Over the past few years, Liana has taken her love of dance and movement and brought back into an authentic experience - one that is centered around enjoying your how your body moves, how your heart grooves, and how community connects us all.

#147 Chloe Arnold. Syncopated Ladies. James Corden. Chloe and Maud Foundation. Jul 29, 2020

Show notes

Emmy Nominated Choreographer, and International tap star Chloé Arnold was discovered at a young age in Washington, DC by the legendary Debbie Allen. A leading lady of tap, Chloé has performed on stages around the globe and her choreography has been featured in over 50 episodes of The Late Late Show With James Corden, including the hit Crosswalk The Musical, Aladdin with Will Smith, Mena Massoud, and Naomi Scott. Also on hit television shows such as So You Think You Can Dance, Good Morning America, HBO's Black Lady Sketch show, and national commercials/print campaigns for Special K, Macy's, GAP, Aldo/Refinery 29, and Cantu.

Chloé's is the Artistic Director & Founder of Syncopated Ladies, an all-female Tap company that are widely known for viral videos that have accumulated over 50 million views. The most successful being their tribute to Prince and their cover of Beyoncé's Formation, which Beyoncé shared on all of her social media and then hired Chloé and the Syncopated Ladies to perform at her Ivy Park active wear clothing line launch at TopShop, London. Chloé along with her company performed live on ABC's Good Morning America and have had sold-out concerts in Los Angeles, Dubai, New York City and Washington, DC, receiving rave reviews in The New York Times and more.

Chloé is also a female entrepreneur that holds a degree from Columbia University. She and her sister co-founded Chloé and Maud Productions and DC Tap Festival, and co-produced the award-winning documentary TAP WORLD with Hollywood Executive Producer Dean Hargrove.

Other career highlights include winning So You Think You Can Dance: Dance Crew Battle (Season 11), HBO's The Comeback, recurring role as an Onyx Girl on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, guest performing on America's Got Talent and Dancing With The Stars, a sold-out NY run of her One Woman show My Life. My Diary. My Dance. at La MaMa in New York City, Global Fusion Concert in Dubai, Jacob's Pillow Dance, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids Easter Bonnet at The Minskoff Theatre, numerous musical productions with Debbie Allen including performing at a star-studded gala hosted by Diddy at the Howard Theatre in Washington, DC.

#146 Justin Su'a. Mental Performance Expert. Increase Your Impact Podcast. Tampa Bay Rays. Jul 22, 2020

Show notes

Let the inspiration flow! We are talking about goals and the complexity of goal setting, how to build confidence and the difference between performative success vs authentic love of the process and so much more. Justin Su'a is an Executive Coach for elite performers. He is currently with the Tampa Bay Rays (Previously Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Browns Organizations). He also travels the country speaking and training various organizations on how to optimize performance and create a culture of excellence. Justin's clients perform in the NFL, Olympics, WWE, PGA, CrossFit, the U.S. Army and the MLB. He is the author of two books: "Parent Pep Talks: The 10 Must Have Mental Skills Your Child Must Have to Succeed in Sports, School, and Life" and, "Mentally Tough Teens: Developing the Winning Mindset". Justin is also the host of the daily, "Increase Your Impact" Podcast on iTunes.

#145 Misty Lown. More Than Just Great Dancing. Misty's Dance Unlimited. Y.P.A.D. Jul 15, 2020

Show notes

Misty Lown is a dance powerhouse and entrepreneurial force. Misty Lown is the founder, president and energized force behind More Than Just Great Dancing™ - A licensed dance studio affiliation program that has a positive impact on over 60,000 dance students around the globe each week. She is also the founder of MoreThanDancers.com, an online lifestyle magazine for young people that has over 35,000 visitors each month.

Her dance studio, Misty's Dance Unlimited, founded in 1998 and named a "Top 50 Studios in the Nation" by Dance Spirit Magazine has provided $225,000 in scholarship for dancers. Misty has been a speaker at the PULSE Teachers Convention, Hollywood Connection, Dance Teacher Web, Dance Teacher Summit, and the DanceLife Conference. She has also been the keynote speaker for the Australian Teachers of Dancing Convention. Misty is on the staff of Dance Revolution Convention, a faith based dance convention, and has authored over 40 industry articles.

She is a sought after speaker and recently shared her business methods as a guest blogger on SUCCESS.com and as a speaker at IF:Gathering Local and the US Army Garrison Woman's Equality Day. She has been recognized as "Teacher of the Year" by Eclipse, "Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year" by the YWCA and awarded the "Pope John XXIII Award for Distinguished Service" by Viterbo University and the "Philanthropy Award" from the Red Cross.

Misty is an entrepreneur at heart. In addition to her dance studio and licensing program, she owns a dancewear store, a dance competition and a self-storage business. She is the author of One Small Yes and creator the One Small Yes podcast.

#144 Bradley Rapier. Groovaloos. Groove Mindset. Canadian Hip Hop Legend. Jul 08, 2020

Show notes

A Canadian native and original member of the pioneering dance group Streetscape, Bradley relocated to the U.S. after winning a Canadian Talent Search and top honors at The IMTA Awards in New York and L.A. Choreography honors include an Ovation Award, World Dance Award, and multiple NAACP Awards. Other credits include; La La Land, The Goofy Movie, and World of Dance. Bradley currently serves as Creative Director at Cantinas Arts, is happily married and has three beautiful children.

Bradley has a deep desire to share the spirit, freedom, and power behind street dance culture with the world. As the founder of The Groovaloos, Groove Theory, and Groove Mindset, he uses his dynamic life experiences and powerful analogies from the art form to break people free from self-doubt, anxiety, disconnectedness, and fear. Bradley believes it's crucial for people to step into who they are designed to be and to bring that authenticity into the circle.

Initially from an academic background, Bradley dramatically switched gears and dove into twenty-five years of street dance culture. He pioneered a movement in Los Angeles that ignited the community, launched countless artists, and positively impacted the landscape for hip hop and freestyle dance in culture and media. Bradley went on to perform and choreograph at the highest levels in the industry from L.A.'s commercial world to New York's Broadway stages, orchestrating complex multi-layered theatre productions while creating a curriculum and teaching at universities and conferences internationally. His collaborations include the likes of the directors of Hamilton and Jesus Christ Superstar, to orchestrating the story of his crew in their own Off-Broadway show and leading them onto So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars, Superstars of Dance, The Wayne Brady Show and Ellen.

#143 Alex Wong. Greatest Showman. SYTYCD. Boys Dance Too. Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

From winning the world ballet competition Prix de Lausanne, to hitting the stages with ABT, Miami City Ballet, SYTYCD, and Broadway's Newsies Alex Wong has crossed over from ballet companies to tv, film, and live theatre. Alex speaks about his resistance to dance at a young age because "only girls dance" to being instrumental in the Boys Dance Too viral movement. He shares how his teachers were the most critical part of his ballet success as well as the multiple, often public, injuries that shaped his career and defined how he moves through life as a person, dancer and artist.

Alex can be seen in multiple roles starting in 2011 including the TV series "Smash" directed by Steven Spielberg, "Glee," and as a semi-finalist on "American Idol." On Broadway, he portrayed Sniper in the original cast of "Newsies" and later in "The King and I." In 2014/2015 he landed roles in NBC's "Peter Pan Live!", "Ted 2" and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and a co-starring role in the Starz series "Flesh and Bone." Alex also continues to return every season as a reoccurring All-Star on "So You Think You Can Dance."

#142 Season 4 Finale with Clint Salter. Innovator. Author. DSOA. Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

Clint Salter, founder of Dance Studio Owner's Association has been helping us close out each episode this season, so it's only fitting he closes the season with us! In just the past few months, Clint has held a massive Dance event in NYC and released another book, Dance Studio Secrets. Lauren and Clint dive deep into the ideas around innovation, being in flow and showing up in the spaces of personal JOY, what is takes to serve long term thinking over immediate gratification and the courage it takes to make difficult decisions. Listen now on Apple podcasts, spotify or at thedancepodcast.com Learn more about Clint at dsoa.com

#141 Podcast takeover! Lauren is interviewed by Julianna Bootsman about mental skills training and leadership in the dance community! Sep 18, 2019

Show notes

This week Lauren speaks to what she has learned from her studies focusing on Mental Skills Training. From the responsibilities we hold as dance educators to building and executing goals to creating and standing for the dance community we desire. Lauren is in the hot seat with guest host, Julianna Bootsman, asking the deep questions about values, intentions and, of course, a few laughs along the way!

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