Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hello. Hello. I'm Dana Wilson, and this is Words That Move Me. I move people. I choreograph movies, music videos, and TV shows. I dance for pop stars. I coach some really awesome people. But what I truly love is to learn, share, and inspire clarity and confidence in my fellow movers and shakers. So if you are navigating a creative career or simply want to live a little more funky and free, then settle in, because this is for you. Okay, here we are doing it. Words that move me. I'm Dana. I'm thrilled that you are here because I just had one of the most heartening, tearful, and joyful conversations with my new friend, Robert Green, and I cannot wait to share it with you. But first, we must celebrate some wins. Today I am celebrating being asked to collaborate on a passion project on a new friend passion project with my new friend, Robert Green. Oh, my gosh. We're going to make a thing, and I'm very excited about it. That's a win. That's a big win.
Oh, you know what else is a win? Oh, Jesus.
Bring your toy over here, honey. That was so just there's a lot. The setup is a lot. Who's got a new toy?
There's also an orange one. It looks like a big cheeto. It's amazing. Good girl.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: Okay, my win. Riz has new toys. I have a new dance partner. I'm thrilled about this conversation, but before we do that, you have to go. What are you celebrating? It's going to be kind of loud. You're going to hear the crinkling of the toy. This is one of the reasons listeners, not viewers, that you should be viewers, because if you were viewing, then you'd be able to see Riz's pickle looking. It's like a pickle octopus thing. I can't explain it. You're going to have to tune into YouTube. What's going well in your world, my friend? Tell me your win.
Congratulations. I'm so glad that you're winning, and I'm so, so glad to have recorded this conversation with Robert today. He had a doozy of a night last night. We'll talk a little bit about that in the podcast. We also talk about his nurturing and very encouraging relationship with his mother. We talk about his heart. We talk about his feelings. We talk about feelings being the fuel to our work and to our lives. And I've never believed that to be more true than right this very moment. I feel great about this episode, and I feel great. While Liz is licking Liz liz, that's her name. When she licks, Riz is licking my actual armpit, which is funny. It's not my armpit, actually. It's like my inner underarm, which also gets a shout out in this episode. So you have to keep watching to figure out what it is that I address that has to do with the underbelly of my arm. I'm going to stop now. My friends. Enjoy this conversation with robert Green.
Robert. Welcome to words that move me thank.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: You for having me.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: I'm thrilled to have you. And I want to tell you how this came about.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: I dropped in actually, Riz and I dropped in on Clear Talent Group a couple weeks ago. She was still a very new addition to my family. And they were like, Dana, oh, my God. Somebody was just talking about you. Robert Green was just talking about your Mime audition. And I was like, which one? I've done a couple and they were like, he was talking blah, blah. I would love to hear your experience of my Mime audition because I've only experienced it from my side, but they just had the greatest things to say about you, which reminded me that I also have the greatest things to say about you. You are from CC and Co, shout out Chrissy Curtis.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: Love you.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: We're going to talk about your training in a second. I have a huge fondness for her and for that environment that she's created, for the talent that she produces. And you are I mean, it's an outstanding roster that she's got, but even among them, you are outstanding. Thank you for being here today.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you for having me. And thanks for asking. And, yes, I was literally just with her. I was at the studio cece two days ago.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Yeah, fantastic. How's she doing?
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Fresh.
[00:04:38] Speaker A: Great. And kiddos.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Yes. I mean, the studio is doing so well right now. It's just always great to go back and be like, wow, I was in that exact position, and here I am now just feeding back into that. So. Yeah, I love her.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: I love returning to my home studio. It is wild now. I've been gone long enough. How many years have you been?
[00:05:00] Speaker B: 2010.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Okay. Yes.
Close to 20 years away from my home studio. So when I go home, it's like fully new kids. I don't even know, like, the littles that were little when I were there, when I was there have graduated and stuff. Fully new crop and being reintroduced as alumni always feels good. I'm glad you got to experience that. Yes, it was good. Okay. Podcast tradition. You've got to introduce yourself, tell us everything you want us to know about you.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Damn right. Okay.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: Wait, can I some people find that yes, you can.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Some people find this terribly daunting.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: You know what? I don't find it daunting, but I find it underwhelming.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: Oh, you're okay. Okay. I doubt we're going to be underwhelmed.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: I suck at that.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Oh, this is a great opportunity for practice.
[00:05:53] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. Okay. My name is Robert Green.
I am an artist, choreographer, dancer, stylist, performer, and many other things. Much like most people, I have realized that through my creative methods, that the only thing that actually ends up mattering to me is how people feel. So as much as I love what I do, I realize that that is kind of the most important thing to me. I've worked with some lovely artists. I've worked with some not lovely artists. I've worked with a bunch of amazing choreographers and have taught me a lot. And I've had some great opportunities in my career that I never thought that I would have today. So now I just want to share that.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Nice.
Create opportunities for other people.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
And collaborate in that way as well. That feels like mostly what I'm fascinated with right now.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Okay. So right now, collaboration, creation, choreography, creative direction, styling.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: But then let's zoom on back to CC and Code days. You went to a performing arts high school?
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Yes, yes, I went to Enlow. I did pretty much everything under the sun.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: Like, you are a musician.
Are you comfortable calling yourself a musician?
[00:07:21] Speaker B: Well, I would call myself a musician more than I would call myself a dancer.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Fascinating.
What's your instrument?
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Classical violin. For 15 years?
[00:07:30] Speaker A: Yes. I need to see it. I have to see it.
[00:07:33] Speaker B: Bach, Vivaldi, F sites, all of the true classical.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:07:38] Speaker B: I started learning by ear, doing Irish jigs and songs like Eel in the Sink and the Banshee. And then after that, my second grade teacher was like, you have a love for music. Would you like to play violin? And couldn't afford it, obviously, but she gave me free lessons, and now she's my second mother, so she taught me music. And music has been my language. And to be honest, I only dance now because I did music.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Because of music.
[00:08:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: I think music is the entry point to dance for many, maybe most. It wasn't for me. I think my mom, when I was young, my sister and I both, she saw dance as an after school activity. Like it was an alternative to daycare. I see. Which, fortunately for me, turned into a profession.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: But music as a portal to dance is something I'm kind of envious of I don't know how to play an instrument, I don't know how to read sheet music. These are things that I am working on. Yes, well, they are things that are on my to work on list. We should put it that way.
But I'm fascinated that you are able to reach a degree of mastery at one craft. I'm just assuming that you're very good at it. Well, also, you got to be good to play Bach.
You can't, like, chopsticks.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: No.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: So would you say that there was something, a tool or a skill or a character trait that made you good at learning music that also made you good at learning how to dance?
[00:09:13] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Yeah. I think the reason why I even began dancing, it came at a time in my life where I was, like, right in the middle of a transitional phase. Like, do I go to school? Do I go to road moment? Exactly. And because I didn't really know exactly what I wanted to do at the time. I also said, well, do I even want to do this right? And violin gave me so many opportunities, but my biggest thing was I grew, oddly enough, envy of the violin. I felt like I was always making the music through the violin, and I wanted to feel what it was like to be the instrument.
So I kind of told my mom, I was like, hey, I think I want to dance. I think I want to like, I.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: Think I want my body to be.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: I want to be the violin rather than the conduit. I want to be it. And I got so passionate about it. And I was in ballet with, like, five year olds for, like, three years in a row.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: At what age?
[00:10:22] Speaker B: What was I, a senior in high school.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
The most embarrassing thing ever. But you couldn't tell me nothing. I'm like, yeah, I'm in this, and I want this. Yeah, I'm going to get myself together because I want to do this. I absolutely believe that there's a similar language, for sure.
I just transferred everything I had in violin to my own body. I just had to learn it, in a way.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Yeah. What would you say are your strengths as a musician and as a dancer?
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Timing.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Patience.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Huge.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: I was going to say careless. I care a lot. Wow. I'm full of care, but I'm not full of concern, so I'm not concerned with everybody else's.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: This distinction in my friend is important.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: So I care about what I'm doing, but I'm not concerned with what people think about it.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: Careful. Not concernful.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Yes.
I feel like care free can also mean not without care, but free, like, free because of care. I care so much about just this thing, not those things. Yes, this one thing that you find a liberation in that, like, a freedom in that. And that's I think big, and I think so many of us have said at some point or another, and probably will say again, by the way, I wish I didn't care so much what people thought. Or like, how do you stop caring? People ask me all the time, how was it that you became so self assured, so unapologetically yourself? How is it that you just don't care what other people think? And I'm always like, oh, it's cute that you think that. Literally, that's really cute, because I do still very much care what people think, but not all the people and not all the time and not about all of the things.
Caring about what my dance teacher thought served me very well. It helped me become proficient at dance. And caring about what Cece thought was great for you. Caring about what my dear friends think of me works for me. It does. But being at the control center of who is allowed to matter in terms of your airspace, like, whose voices matter up here and on what subjects and when. That's huge. So it sounds like you found that relatively early.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: I think so. And then as I grew older, it was challenged more, and then I was like, oh, shit. Do I care more? What's happening now?
[00:13:06] Speaker A: This doesn't feel what do you think was happening?
[00:13:11] Speaker B: The more you adult, I think, and you realize that decisions affect your opportunities and other people.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: So sometimes we do care.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: We care about other people. Turns out yeah, it turns out.
[00:13:26] Speaker A: Turns out we care.
I'm very impressed, and I think that's a good thing to always kind of have your finger on the pulse of how much volume am I giving to other voices right now? Is that the amount that I want?
Am I giving equal to my own? I think usually the times and the reasons why we hurt because of what other people think of us is because we're not thinking so highly of ourselves. Other voices about us don't matter as much when we think we're okay.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: When we think we're not okay, that those voices start to kind of chip away.
So you're no stranger to criticism. I think you've probably been criticized in your life. And I also know, and I actually admire the way that you are critical of others. You use your platform to speak very plainly about things that are not tolerable to you and ways that you choose not to operate. I want to talk a little bit about how you view social media as a platform for your voice. Is this a love hate relationship? So many people say that. I'm like, what's your relationship with social media? Love hate, man. Love hate. But to me, it looks like a voice box for you. It looks like a place you're very comfortable. Is that just how it looks, or am I off target?
[00:14:45] Speaker B: No, I wouldn't say so. I think to be more specific about the love hate, I do love social media. I think it has adapted its own thing. But if we really think about it like the media of being social, there's nothing necessarily negative about that. It's what you take from it that could become negative.
And I have realized that, and I've had really unhealthy relationships with it.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Fair.
[00:15:13] Speaker B: Yeah. I also love that if you don't speak, you have nothing to relate to anyone with in terms of if you're not say, like, here, like, I'm here with you physically, yes. But those that are somewhere else, how do you connect with them if there's not a way of speaking or communicating? And so I do think it's a great thing.
I have been very crippled by it, though.
[00:15:40] Speaker A: Can you give me an example?
[00:15:42] Speaker B: Yes. I was literally, like, tried to post.
So last year I filmed a concept, like a Halloween video, and I spent an entire year just, like, looking at it an entire year.
The DP was like, Are you happy with this? Why are you not posting it? And I was just like, no, I'm happy with it, but I'm over criticizing myself, and I'm just being way too being super hyper analytical about all of it, and it's fucking art.
[00:16:23] Speaker A: Will not be perfect. Will certainly not be perfect to everyone.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Exactly right. And if that's the case, you're probably doing it in a way that honors you. It shouldn't speak to everyone or move everyone or do anything to anyone.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: And that was very challenging for me. Like, why did I wait a year to do this? I wondered that. I was like, okay. And then I answered it, and it took me a year because I was just second guessing the response. This is a five minute video that doesn't work on Instagram because everything needs to be 30 seconds. Says the algorithm, says the this, says the that. And I'm like, but what do I say, right? And it took me a year to be like, yeah, well, I say five minutes on Instagram, and I'm a Post it. It took me a year. I don't know why, but it did.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: It did. And I'm glad it did, because came out right when it had to. Right when it was supposed to is when it came out. I needed that. Yes. This brings me to a follow up question. I think most recovering perfectionists which is how I would label myself I'm coming out of it, though. I'm coming out of it. I think most recovering perfectionists struggle with knowing when is something done?
When is it ready to ship? This is one of the reasons why I really love deadlines, because the answer to the question when is it ready? Is when the deadline is.
It's got to go.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: I mean, in very few circumstances, I will push a deadline, or I will ask if there's any flexibility, but generally, I think however much time you have is exactly as much time as it will take. And when it comes to self produced projects, when you're in control of the deadline, that gets a little muddy. So I'm curious about how you know when something is done.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: I think I'm still learning.
I am a person that doesn't have a lot of allowance and forgiveness for myself. Okay, so I'm practicing that actually. I'm sort of practicing. I'm such a deadline person that I'm actually practicing. But, okay, what if it's actually 30 minutes past that time, Robert? Is that what you need?
[00:18:17] Speaker A: Is that acceptable?
[00:18:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And I'm learning that there's a sweet spot in between having the parameters of.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: The super regimented way correct and then.
[00:18:28] Speaker B: Also whether I'm being lazy or negligent, and then, like, I'll do it tomorrow.
[00:18:33] Speaker A: It's like the tomorrow that never comes.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: That literally will never come. So you have to find that sweet spot for me. That's great.
There are times where I'm also very much like, that where I'm just like, I would have loved for us to all have on that scarf tied around the neck. But they didn't ship from Amazon on Amazon.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: Right.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: And so now it's like, now what? We move on because no one's going to miss.
[00:18:55] Speaker A: Is this make or break?
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Yeah. No.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: Only you will know that it might have been or would have been or could have been, but next time, you'll order the scarves early, so it's better. It's good that you that's why it's so important to always be making work, is because you learn along the way, every little way. You learn a little thing. No one else knows, no one else felt that. I do want to come back to feelings because you mentioned that you think that's the most important thing is how people feel. I agree. I think feelings are the fuel of life. I say it on the podcast all the time. And I have come around to believing that I am of Olympic caliber feeling feeler status. Like, I might not be gold medalist, but I'm, like, on the podium at feeling my shit, for sure, all the time. I'm good at naming it. I'm good at being with it. I'm good at processing.
So I'm curious. Maybe you could talk just a little bit about the way you process feelings and perhaps what are your favorites and least favorites.
[00:20:02] Speaker B: Okay, so I am cancer down. Okay, same.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: Except for maybe not down because I'm on the cusp of Leo.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: Got you.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: But keep going.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: Yes. So when it comes, everything you literally said I could repeat and be like, that is how I process feeling. Being in it, noticing it, recognizing it, acknowledging it, taking accountability for it.
[00:20:28] Speaker A: That's mine. That's my grief. This is my anger.
[00:20:31] Speaker B: Yes, 100%. I'm so that.
And I think for a little bit, I kind of denied it a little because people call us, like, crybabies and stuff like that.
[00:20:46] Speaker A: Denied your super feeler nature.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: I'm super sensitive.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:50] Speaker B: I'm very sensitive.
[00:20:51] Speaker A: And for a while, you said, no, I'm tough.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: Well, I think I had to be in my environment growing up, I was taught that tough is the way to survive. And then I became a musician, and then I learned that wait, no. In order for me to actually be able to play this, I can't be tough. I have to feel in order for me to do that tombe Potter bore and live in it, I have to be vulnerable.
Work.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: Sorry, I just am filling in your blanks. But you saw.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: It's true, though.
It's true.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: I'll tell you what, I'm co signing and I'm interrupting you. I'm sorry, but I have to interject a story. A story that made me like ballet. And I struggled with my body for a very long time. Did not like being in tights and Leotard. Did not like having my leg above any sort of 45 degree angle fuck 90. We're not even. I cried every adagio that there ever was at the bar, at center floor, you name it. Ballet was not my thing. But I had a fantastic teacher once, Shabar Williams, who explained the posture of ballet as being about exposing your underbelly. It's literally the most vulnerable thing you can show is the soft part of your skin. Like, this skin over here is tough. The front of my legs is tough, but the back of my leg, the inner thigh, this part of my neck behind my ear right here.
We're used to taking life front on and ballerinas, take it on with our underbellies.
Yeah. When you think about a cancer has a hard shell. But ballet is the soft crab, right? Ballet the inner belly. So that really changed my perspective on ballet. So vulnerable. So, yes, to approach your art, you needed to feel feelings. Yes. And then you became real good at it.
I can always do better. I feel like humans, the human way, and definitely in our American society, is like, you should feel good all the time, and if you don't, something's wrong. So I think it's natural to avoid unwanted feelings and pursue the good ones. But I'm becoming a person who gives them all equal airtime.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: I, again, can't agree more when you ask which ones are your favorite or the ones not to. Not so favorable, if anything, especially this year. Last year, I had one of the craziest. Not crazy, actually, just like, most disheartening years of my life.
[00:23:28] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: I think I experienced heartbreak for the first time, and I turned 30, and it was supposed to be the year of, like, oh, my God, I'm getting fine, like wine. I'm like and it was like, for the first time as an adult, I experienced heartbreak and betrayal and some for myself, mostly from others.
And I didn't understand that, really. And I'm just now learning how to. So I'm sitting in one of the loneliest periods of my life right now, and I'm loving it. I'm accepting it, and I'm saying thank you for it because I think it's going to take me somewhere.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: I think, listen, being okay, spending time with yourself, there's never a bad time to be okay with that. It's never less good for you to be more okay with being alone.
It is a wonderful strength. Odly enough in our industry, because choreographers have different modalities. Right. One of my modes of working is I'm surrounded by people at all times. But one of my other modes of working in my creative phase is very isolated, is very all about me. So being able to be alone with myself and also to be lonely is a really important thing to know how to do. And I'm sorry that that heartbreak happened to you. I think it will, in the fullness of time, happen to everyone. It's a human kind of rite of passage thing. Not to call upon one of my favorite artists and one of my favorite lyrics by one of my favorite artists, which I'm now going to botch because cameras are rolling. Of course it's a hosier lyric. I had the tremendous honor and pleasure of dancing in the music video for All Things End, choreographed by Jillian Myers. And he says in the song, why am Riley's pulling it up right now?
If there was anyone to ever get through this life with their heart still intact, they didn't do it right.
[00:25:40] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:25:43] Speaker A: If there was anyone to ever get through this life with their heart still intact, they didn't do it right. Wow.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: I have chills again.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: So I'm with you on the heartbreak page, I'm with you on the lonely page, but also to spend time with yourself and be okay with that is so empowering.
When you think about the position of being okay alone versus the position of needing to be surrounded or loved or with or adored or whatever, it's an empowering place to be. I'm happy for you in that.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Thank you. You're welcome.
I'm curious, when you said when you're creating and that the space of isolation feels kind of like at home for you, does that shift or change? Are there times where you do feel more collaborative or feel like great question, because even with, like, Seaweed Sisters, I'm like, how do you no way.
[00:26:46] Speaker A: Oh, that definitely doesn't happen in a vacuum. Yeah.
[00:26:49] Speaker B: Beautiful and epic work.
[00:26:51] Speaker A: Oh, thank you so much for bringing that up. I appreciate that. You could ask this one right here. Riley, my off camera assistant and my right hand woman.
The idea phase for me happens alone.
The music phase, the studying a piece, the dreaming phase, that happens alone. But as soon as it comes time to put movement to the imaginary, I love being with other people. I work twice as fast if there's another body in the room because of the second guessing thing, if it's just me and myself in a mirror, forget about it. Not going to happen. Or maybe it will happen, but it will take twice as long. Sure. So, yeah, I do love working with other people. And then the Seaweed Sisters example, we have created this kind of ecosystem where yes is our default. And so in that space, because we're not answering to anyone else, we're not delivering for a pop star or a commercial brand or a class combo or whatever, it's truly just for us.
The lid is off and the ceiling is nonexistent. It's infinite. And a lot of times we start with the dumbest thing we can think of. Wouldn't it be stupid if we pulled up in a limousine? Right? And so on and so forth. Sorry, that's just a very specific example from a very specific show that's coming up. And then the answer is yes, and it's painted blue, pink and green or yes. And we'll try to get some lights to light up underneath it or yes. And it should be playing sound effects like waves crashing or whatever.
So, yeah, our way of collaborating is with yes and whatever's next, and it's a very natural, improv technique to do. But what's unnatural is the three of us and our individual minds, and as similar as we are in many ways, our actual experiences and strengths are very different. And when they come together, it's a really tasty thing. I'm so glad you dig.
[00:29:11] Speaker B: I mean, I'm actually obsessed.
[00:29:14] Speaker A: Do you want to watch before you leave? You can't see it. Do you want to watch before you leave? Our latest unreleased.
[00:29:20] Speaker B: There is a latest?
Are you kidding? That would make my triple going to.
[00:29:26] Speaker A: Die because of your absolute love and passion for clothing.
[00:29:31] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:29:33] Speaker A: So we shot our latest. I hope it's not too early to say. Maybe it is. Okay, I'm going to stop. Sorry. Sisters, sisters, tell me. Listen, having a podcast is a risky business, okay? We'll 100% share, okay. Please, I want to know. Let's back up to the back. Yes. Dana is a mime. You experiencing Dana in a mime audition, which you must have been much younger because was it Justin Bieber?
[00:29:59] Speaker B: I think it was Gaga. Was it Gaga?
[00:30:03] Speaker A: I don't remember if I auditioned for Lady Gaga or not.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: That's also that I'm aging.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: Isn't that funny?
[00:30:10] Speaker B: Yeah, we don't remember, but I know, but there's been a lot.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: It might have been I think I.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: Did audition for Lady Gaga, I think it was.
[00:30:18] Speaker A: And I would have worn a mime outfit because I would have probably been thinking somewhere in my mind, I need a shtick. I'm not going to be seen in this room unless I have a shtick. And for me, for a while, the mime shtick was the one that paid.
[00:30:33] Speaker B: Off, and only one of one can pull off something like that. And that is fucking Dana Wilson.
[00:30:47] Speaker A: Yo. Thank you.
[00:30:48] Speaker B: I mean, it that's crazy. Like, you didn't speak.
[00:30:52] Speaker A: No.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: You dead ass did not speak from the moment you showed up.
[00:30:58] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:30:58] Speaker B: I'm sorry. That's iconic. That is epic. And we understand, like, yes, that's what a mime does. But for someone to find the gall within themselves, to basically break the rules and to show up with such conviction, like, and this is what I have to give today, take it or leave it. Yes, they left it. Yeah, but you'd be stupid to leave it.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: For whatever reason, it wasn't right. But several times they didn't leave it. I've auditioned as a mime probably four, maybe five times, and I think that's the only time I didn't book it. And for the record, I must applaud my mime instructor, lauren Eric Psalm, because so the first time mime was created her name is Mimi, by the way. M-I-M-E clever. The first time Mimi came out was upon receiving a kind of. Open call notice for Rhapsody James, who is upcoming podcast guest. I can't even wait. She and I are absolutely we shouldn't be in the same room, let alone this close to each other. It's going to be blasphemy.
[00:32:10] Speaker B: If you can invite me, I've just sit on the couch.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: Sit over there. Yeah, I would really actually love we should have a live audience for that because people are you kidding?
[00:32:18] Speaker B: What's happening?
[00:32:19] Speaker A: What actually is happening?
So Rhapsody puts out a call for Sirens assassins.
Her show, which did you ever did.
[00:32:27] Speaker B: You get to see so good. It's epic.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: Her mind is brilliant. Her vision is wild and boundless. And she's just, wow, it's wild out there. So she put out a call saying that she was looking to replace a few of the existing Sirens. And they're assassins. They're these sexy, vixen murder women.
She can do a better job explaining that we'll have her on. And then she said, also looking for concepts for new characters. And I was like, okay, footnote must wear all black. And I was like, well, I'm obviously not doing that because I thank you.
When you break the rules like this, you must back it up with something. Yes, I know Rhapsody. Yes, I had trained with her.
Maybe not like in the in depth, but I know her taste. I know her sense of humor.
I thought that we had a good rapport, enough to the point where I could push that boundary, back it up with talent and be okay. Some rooms in which I would have been asked to leave immediately. And that's a risk I was willing to take. That's fine. But I decided. I was like, what? I'll I'll just wear all white? Maybe I'll body paint myself white. Maybe oh, that's a weird idea. Maybe I could be like a scary clown. And I was like, what? Wait, a mime whose imaginary mime weapons actually killed people? Like, I'm swiping a machete and blood splatters. I'm going to stick with it.
[00:34:06] Speaker B: That's what it does.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: Blood spatters across the wall. Or I have a fake hand grenade and I throw it, and then bodies just bounce off the walls. That was my thought. I did some Internet research on some quick shit because the audition was the next day. And at the time, I was living with a makeup artist who helped me create my look.
Fun fact, as soon as a mime is photographed in their face, it is effectively copywritten to them. It's their face. So I had a face. And as soon as the face goes on, I am not me. I'm Mimi. And I don't talk. I drove in silence.
[00:34:43] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: People would roll down their window and make fun of me. And I just I took it quite seriously because it's more fun to me to commit fully than to kind of straddle and be like, oh, sometimes I'll talk, but sometimes I won't. And so I wound up booking that gig, the Sirens assassin gig. And then I was terrified because what do I do now? I'm not an actual mime. And so I found Lauren Eric Psalm.
His studio is called Mime Theater Studio and started training with him one on one. Went on to take a couple of his workshops. And that work hugely transformed my dancing.
[00:35:29] Speaker B: I was going to ask, how did that hugely.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: Even in quality, in control, in imagination, in character, there are something crazy. Like, I have a mind book up here. I have several, actually.
There is something crazy, like hundreds of gestures for emotions.
You could make an alphabet book. I have an alphabet book. That's not it. That's not what I'm talking about. For, like, let's say A is angry. There is a gesture, an actual picture. It's not this. This is like concerned or in love. I can't remember. There is a posture for angry, there is a posture for hopeful. There's a posture for despair. There's a posture for in love. There's a posture like, somebody already did all that work.
[00:36:16] Speaker B: That's crazy.
[00:36:17] Speaker A: And the next time I'm creating a combo where I need to evoke the idea of love, I can call on my knowledge of Mime. I use it a lot in my movement coaching. There are techniques in Mime that I use as performance techniques that help make me look different on stage with other people who aren't clued in.
And I'm just obsessed with it. I love it so much. So I had an idea, fell in love with the technique, got some one on one training, practiced as much as I could and then kept using it and it kept doing well. So now that's just a thing that I have in my back pocket.
[00:36:53] Speaker B: It's a huge thing. It's epic.
[00:36:55] Speaker A: Thanks. Did you book that gig?
[00:36:58] Speaker B: No.
[00:36:58] Speaker A: Have you ever worked with her?
[00:36:59] Speaker B: No, I haven't.
[00:37:00] Speaker A: Will you give us your kind of bullets, please?
Who have you spent creative time working with on the pop star front?
[00:37:11] Speaker B: Okay, I'll go in order from more recent, because that helps me a little bit.
I've been on tour with Lil Nas X, which most recently was a blast just because of culturally just like, the blackness, the gayness, that space never existed. When I moved to La, it was like, we love that. That's awesome.
[00:37:41] Speaker A: But now you need to dance straight behind this female pop star.
[00:37:44] Speaker B: Exactly. And pick her up.
[00:37:45] Speaker A: And pick her up.
[00:37:46] Speaker B: And I was like, yeah, that's not happening.
[00:37:50] Speaker A: I'll pick her up emotionally, spiritually, I will definitely pick her.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: You look great today. I will lift you up, SIS. That was a really interesting, almost, like, self like it gave me self affirming. Yeah.
[00:38:06] Speaker A: That moment. Wow.
[00:38:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Crazy.
[00:38:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Talk about iconic. One of one. Yes, but also maybe not one of one, because if that was a one of one, then it wouldn't have caught. It wouldn't have caught if there was only one of him.
[00:38:21] Speaker B: You're right.
[00:38:21] Speaker A: That's why he's special, because he speaks to many.
[00:38:25] Speaker B: Very true. And I think there are those that sort of knocked on that door for it to crack and then absolutely.
[00:38:33] Speaker A: Yes. Standing on shoulders, for sure.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: 100%. So that was great. That was really sean Bankhead choreographed it, so just to have just the faces that look and feel and have shared experiences from growing up, that felt like a hug. And I always had to kind of be a little bit something different on stage, which was okay.
I think being a chameleon is one of the best traits that a person can embody, especially as a performer. But that was a great one. I also toured with Sam Smith. That music was phenomenal.
[00:39:05] Speaker A: Whoa.
[00:39:05] Speaker B: That voice dancing to latch. Are you kidding me?
[00:39:08] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:39:09] Speaker B: What? That felt godly, I bet it felt yeah.
I got to do mirrors with Justin Timberlake.
[00:39:18] Speaker A: Did you?
[00:39:19] Speaker B: On 1989 with Taylor Swift? Yes.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: Fantastic.
[00:39:22] Speaker B: As I look back and I'm like, there he is. Yeah. Wow.
[00:39:26] Speaker A: I know that guy.
[00:39:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: Okay, and what was it that you won the VMA for? What was the best? Taylor Swift. Yes. Taylor Swift.
[00:39:33] Speaker B: Yes. Which was epic. I mean, also, what a celebration of just, like, the community of queerness, wherever you fit in into that realm. And it was colorful in its aesthetic, but also colorful in its experience. And we made it look like it was 80 degrees, but it was not. So I had on that blue Speedo on that, and I was just like, my balls are inside of me.
[00:40:03] Speaker A: Inside.
[00:40:06] Speaker B: Literally. They're earrings right now.
Yes.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: Watch out. She loves earrings. And I'm just thinking now about testicle earrings. And now you're thinking about it, too.
[00:40:21] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:40:22] Speaker A: I was very inappropriate on my last podcast as well. We got started talking about periods.
[00:40:26] Speaker B: It happens.
[00:40:27] Speaker A: Normalized period talk. Normalized testicle dangle earrings.
[00:40:31] Speaker B: Earrings. Absolutely.
[00:40:32] Speaker A: It's not far off. I mean, Gaga wore a meat dress. This is a thing that we can do and handle, and it happens.
[00:40:39] Speaker B: It's real.
You know what?
Balls happen.
[00:40:44] Speaker A: Do they happen from your earlobes? Not yet. I haven't seen it. But there must be.
[00:40:49] Speaker B: I'm sure if I Google it, I.
[00:40:51] Speaker A: Can'T be that original phone's off.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: But if I google that I promise.
[00:40:53] Speaker A: Please follow us on Instagram, because if there are indeed testicle earrings, we'll be linking so that you can buy them. I can't handle it.
[00:41:01] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:41:02] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:41:02] Speaker B: Fantastic.
[00:41:03] Speaker A: So that experience for you was also a hug. It was. Other than freezing.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:41:08] Speaker A: I love movie magic.
We had a similar experience on in the Heights when we shot 96,000 at the pool, supposed to be middle of the summer, and it wasn't. And it was raining, it was gray, it was cloudy, and we're all here like, how the hell are they? What?
[00:41:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:28] Speaker A: Saw it on screen, and sure enough, I was like, wow, we look hot and sweaty. Good job, team. Good job, team. Circle back to your thoughts about being a chameleon and how important that is. Did you act in school? Were you in any acting?
[00:41:42] Speaker B: I did more so musical theater. Everything kind of musical spoke to me. There were some phenomenal actors at my school, and I touched kind of like, every area in the arts in my high school. Cool.
I did, like, sculpture and painting and jewelry making and chorus.
[00:42:07] Speaker A: Wait, yes. All of jewelry? Yes.
[00:42:10] Speaker B: I won an award.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: You won an award for your jewelry?
[00:42:14] Speaker B: It's a competition called pieces of gold. And it's like statewide, they recognize different entries of artwork at the high school level.
[00:42:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:42:24] Speaker B: And I made a necklace. And my teacher, she probably won't see this.
It was not that.
[00:42:36] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:42:37] Speaker B: She was very.
[00:42:40] Speaker A: Not a hug.
[00:42:41] Speaker B: Not a hug. Not a hug.
And she came to me one day and she like, pulled it. She grabbed it and she said, did you make this? And I was like, yes. She was like, you sure? And I was like, yes, I'm sure. She's like Miranda. Like devil wears prada. Like Miranda Priestley. It was that the next day it was submitted to represent my high school for the jewelry making for the entire state.
[00:43:11] Speaker A: Whoa.
And not only submitted, but I didn't win first, but I did place you're on the podium.
[00:43:19] Speaker B: Yes, I was on the podium.
[00:43:20] Speaker A: That is important.
[00:43:21] Speaker B: And I also just didn't see myself as that. So that was one of those moments. It's like, oh, shit. Should I maybe believe in myself a little bit?
[00:43:29] Speaker A: Gave you permission to dream out about other potential for you?
[00:43:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Back to your question. I got off, but I did that. I did chorus creative art or orchestra. Junior year, I did les miz in the kind of like regional high school type thing. Who. I was also in with ariana Devose.
[00:43:52] Speaker A: I was just going to say also CC from CC alum, along with Martha nichols, angela brickhouse.
[00:44:00] Speaker B: Patrick cook, noel marsh.
[00:44:02] Speaker A: Noel marsh, who am I forgetting?
Just to name a few. But truly, this is such a deep well of deep, deep talent. Good job, chrissy curtis.
[00:44:14] Speaker B: Good job.
[00:44:15] Speaker A: Wait, so you were in les mis.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: With yes and of course line. She was Cassie.
[00:44:21] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:44:21] Speaker B: That's when she really cassie.
[00:44:24] Speaker A: I can see her making such a great Cassie. I also would make a great Cassie. Hello. Cleanliness these days is not my biggest, like, to just fit into the chorus is not ranking doesn't work things to yep, same.
[00:44:39] Speaker B: I'm with you on that Cassie right now. Yeah, right.
[00:44:42] Speaker A: This is the chapter of for sure.
[00:44:45] Speaker B: It for sure is. And like, now I go back and listen to like, all I ever needed was the music and the mirror and I'm like, wow. Oh, shit. Are you really speaking like you're speaking to me now? And she was also aida. I was in aida. As well.
Just things that I'm, like, just immerse myself. And I got to just take a moment to say, like, wow, where I come from, that's not normal.
And my mom is, like, the biggest fucking epic person of all time because she put me in a magnet school. She went against the Board of Education to get me in these schools because where I grew up, I wouldn't have been in a magnet school. I wouldn't have been exposed to these things that then led to violin and music and theater, and I actually just found my languages. But if my mom had not done that as a single parent, I would have whoa. Maybe I would have found it. But she was made for me. She carried me through to where I am right now. So I love you, mom. Thank you.
Yeah. Don't get me started.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: I mean, it feels cheap to say anything after that beautiful testimony to your mom.
[00:45:57] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:45:58] Speaker A: And mothers all over the place who go against the grain to give their children the best possible opportunities. And, yeah, we will never know if you would have found music or had similar successes if she hadn't bent over backwards to do all that exactly. Or broken the rules, but wow, that she tried and that you then tried when you had the opportunity in front of you. Because also that could have been squandered or not hit.
[00:46:29] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:46:29] Speaker A: The magnets, if you will, could have been on opposing ends, and that couldn't maybe not worked out, but yes, she was made for you. You were made for her. From her. And what a wonderful thing.
[00:46:43] Speaker B: Okay. Dana right. I'm sorry, but it's true. Oh, my God. Yeah. I just owe everything, everything.
I'm eternally grateful. There is no area in this career that I'm not thinking about her and how to honor what she gave me. And yeah, so that's enough.
[00:47:07] Speaker A: Maybe an evening length show coming up or a collection.
Truly, if emotions are fuel, we'd be idiots right now to just tell ourselves to stop feeling this right now because we're on a podcast and we shouldn't. Whatever.
[00:47:23] Speaker B: So true.
[00:47:24] Speaker A: No use that that's showing up for you. It's knocking on the door of you as inspiration or as fuel or as truth or whatever it is. And for us to say, like, sorry, stop.
Don't ever stop crying, especially about your love for your mom.
The end.
[00:47:41] Speaker B: Literally. The end. The beginning and the end. You're so right. And we're so apologetic about even the biggest feelers. Still find a way to be apologetic totally, somehow.
[00:47:51] Speaker A: Right.
[00:47:52] Speaker B: And including myself. And that is what you do. That's your language. And you're so right.
Yeah, she's definitely probably going to see this at some point.
[00:48:06] Speaker A: Especially now.
[00:48:07] Speaker B: Especially now.
[00:48:08] Speaker A: She's going to cry.
[00:48:09] Speaker B: She's probably already crying.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: I hope she without even seeing it. Stop. Let it keep crying.
[00:48:14] Speaker B: Let it go more.
[00:48:15] Speaker A: Oh, that's catharsis. We need to do it. I asked about acting because I kind of assumed that you would have been involved just by proxy in a performing arts high school. But it kind of like mime. Changed my dancing a lot more than dance classes. Changed my dancing. Also, my acting teacher, Gary Imhoff, we did a podcast together. It will be linked in the description below. If you're curious at all about getting into a class, I know you're a busy person, but listen to Gary's episode.
[00:48:44] Speaker B: Okay?
[00:48:45] Speaker A: I tell everybody this, but he will take new students on at any time, but only allows visitors twice a year, so you cannot audit class outside of two times per year. We have open class because he is so important to him to create a super safe space.
[00:49:03] Speaker B: Yes. No, totally. It's awesome. Sign me.
Am. And I really do mean don't where I am, right especially. So I did a short film with Tony. Meet Tony. And I worked on it together. And it's the hardest fucking thing I ever did in my entire life.
[00:49:22] Speaker A: Why?
[00:49:24] Speaker B: Well, it was in the midst of my heartbreak. It was in the midst of me and my best friend just no longer being friends.
And he was asking me to show up every day and, like, typical test. There were days typical test. Tony, I love you.
[00:49:41] Speaker A: Routine. Yes, routine. And commitment. Full commitment.
[00:49:45] Speaker B: Truly. And there were days where I was in my car and I was like, Tony, I don't know if I can do this today.
And I was already at his know, like, in my car, and I would drive around his neighborhood. But just one of the hardest things and the nature and the topic of even what this short film is about is called Origin, and it was for the anniversary of hip hop as I I don't want to say too much. It premiered in New York, in Brooklyn, at Monsters, and we're going to have an La premiere as well. But oh, my goodness. The people that I popping Pete, that I had to also previous podcast guests. Yes.
[00:50:38] Speaker A: Yeah. It was before we were video format, though. I have to have him back. Pete, I'm coming for you.
[00:50:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Just really crazy. It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I was 12ft underwater filming. I was come on. On top of a dam.
[00:50:53] Speaker A: I was in a place in your life where you were raw.
[00:50:56] Speaker B: Exactly. And I felt sunked. Sanct. I don't know all of them. I was all of those.
And it felt hard and it felt dangerous.
That's what I live by now.
Keep your heart safe and your art dangerous. And I think doing that project really made me see what I was made of.
I think I saw what I was made of, and that's quite a lot. And I didn't know that. I didn't really think I knew that.
[00:51:35] Speaker A: You know what? You're drawing a parallel to something. I've been talking a lot about relationships lately, and I think both art and relationships, like with other people, have a way of showing you yourself that no other journaling can't and maybe therapy can in some kind of more intellectual sort of way. But your art and your relationships have a way of showing you that. Buckle up. Buckle up. Sometimes you're not ready for all that. Most of the time, I think, yeah, that's fantastic. I can't wait to see it. Tessa is going to come on as a guest probably close to the time of the premiere. Because we'll want to talk about it. We want to talk about the film. Yes. Okay.
We could go on. I feel very kindred with you and this is a very exciting conversation. I don't want it to end, but it must at some point.
[00:52:30] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:52:30] Speaker A: So we're going to get into the rapid fire round. I call it Wrist roll with it.
[00:52:34] Speaker B: Shit. I love that.
[00:52:37] Speaker A: Only requirements from you are that you answer quickly and from the gut. Just try to edit as little as okay. Okay. Favorite color?
[00:52:46] Speaker B: Blue. Klein Blue.
[00:52:48] Speaker A: What?
[00:52:48] Speaker B: Klein blue?
I just went to an exhibit in Berlin and it had this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful color. And I said, what the fuck is this color? And they were like, it's called Klein Blue. It's a part of like this true blue that is in the actual same blue that is the video editing software.
Klein Blue.
[00:53:06] Speaker A: Okay.
Favorite designer?
[00:53:09] Speaker B: Robert One. Wound work.
[00:53:12] Speaker A: We see it in writing.
[00:53:14] Speaker B: Yes. W-U-N.
[00:53:15] Speaker A: There it is.
[00:53:16] Speaker B: Right.
[00:53:17] Speaker A: Now, if you had to bring somebody to a dinner party, who would it be?
[00:53:26] Speaker B: Prince.
[00:53:27] Speaker A: Nice. Very good answer. He would steal the show.
Yes.
[00:53:32] Speaker B: I don't know if he might not even eat.
[00:53:34] Speaker A: Probably not.
[00:53:35] Speaker B: He might just show.
[00:53:36] Speaker A: He just eats funk. He doesn't sustain off of food.
[00:53:40] Speaker B: No.
[00:53:40] Speaker A: What is talking about him? As though he's living, which he is undeniably. Right.
He is on rotate on vinyl over there.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: Oh my God.
[00:53:51] Speaker A: My God. You get to collaborate with somebody on a class combo. Low stakes. Who is it?
[00:54:02] Speaker B: I am so somewhere else. This is very difficult for me.
[00:54:04] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:54:05] Speaker B: Robbie Blue.
[00:54:06] Speaker A: Nice.
I want to watch that.
I also want to put my name on the list of potential collaborators because I think we would make something very fun.
[00:54:17] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm going to wait for off camera for that because the way oh, Dana. Let's go.
[00:54:26] Speaker A: Let's go.
I would love to go. Okay. That excited.
[00:54:31] Speaker B: It is.
[00:54:32] Speaker A: Wow. My feet are burning. My heart is burning. I'm on fire. I'm literally burning.
Dana, my lap is also on fire because riz is 105 degrees. Wow. But yes. Okay. So done. That's happening. Okay.
[00:54:48] Speaker B: Yes. That's a for sure.
[00:54:50] Speaker A: That's a for sure. Yes. Okay. And let's just go ahead and broaden out. That doesn't need to be for class thing. That can be a freedom thing. That can be not for nobody other than ourselves.
[00:55:01] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:55:02] Speaker A: And then if we happen to decide.
[00:55:03] Speaker B: We want to share, fucking do it.
[00:55:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
Is there an artist that you feel most connected to?
[00:55:11] Speaker B: Recording artist, when you ask this? I'm trying to be quick as a dancer. As a dancer, it's different from just as a human.
[00:55:20] Speaker A: Go, human.
[00:55:21] Speaker B: Erica Badu.
[00:55:22] Speaker A: Nice. Okay, now go, dancer.
[00:55:24] Speaker B: FK Twigs. Wow.
[00:55:26] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:55:27] Speaker B: Bjork.
[00:55:28] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:55:33] Speaker B: I think the crevices of my creativity grab from this humanity, but that's also extremely otherworldly.
[00:55:43] Speaker A: From here.
[00:55:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:55:44] Speaker A: Both of them. Not from here.
[00:55:45] Speaker B: Not at all. And yet there's some form of soul still.
[00:55:52] Speaker A: Sometimes I refer to those types as superhuman. They are both extremely human and unnatural. Otherworldly.
[00:56:00] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. Extreme.
[00:56:02] Speaker A: Okay. Is there a song that you would never touch? Like, it's just too good. You can't choreograph. You wouldn't touch it.
[00:56:11] Speaker B: Pure imagination.
[00:56:13] Speaker A: Do I know that?
[00:56:14] Speaker B: From Willy Wonka.
[00:56:17] Speaker A: Wow.
You're right.
[00:56:23] Speaker B: And I say that now. Maybe. Who knows? I might be 80 and be like, It's time.
But it's my favorite song. It is so special to me.
[00:56:34] Speaker A: You are giving me pause right now.
[00:56:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Again. Could cry when I hear those chords. Like, I want it at my funeral. I want it at my wedding. I want it when I wake up.
Okay. If I'm going to be fully transparent right now yes, you are. Okay.
I was in a car accident last night.
[00:56:55] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
[00:56:56] Speaker B: And I got hit and spun in a full circle.
[00:56:58] Speaker A: Wolf. Wolf.
[00:56:59] Speaker B: And my car. I Ubered here because I don't have a car.
And I went home, and I played that song.
Damn.
[00:57:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:10] Speaker B: And it helped me realize that this is happening for me, not to me. And that just because this material situation where my life kind of blinked in front of my eyes, I had to find something to keep me going to feel like this wasn't happening to me, and that song did it.
I'm going to Urgent Care after this just to make sure my neck and back is okay.
But that song has saved me in many, many ways, in many forms.
And I'm a little bit on autopilot because I'm still a little, like, shocked. This happened literally on Van Noan Street.
[00:58:02] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:58:04] Speaker B: But I'm going to prevail, and I'm going to win, and I'm going to be okay.
[00:58:13] Speaker A: Yes, my friend.
[00:58:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:58:15] Speaker A: Oh, my friend.
[00:58:16] Speaker B: That's my favorite. I can't touch that song.
[00:58:18] Speaker A: I get it.
[00:58:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:58:20] Speaker A: I get it. And I want to stand up and hug you.
[00:58:23] Speaker B: This is also, like, the first time I bought a card that I was just, like, proud of myself. So, yes, it's a material item, but it represents something, you know what I mean?
And to see it go onto that tow truck, like, that felt like it was being stolen from me or something.
Yeah. And then also, just like me, just being behind the wheel, just spinning, I'm still maybe not all the way ready for that, but that is the truth of what my day has looked like after Halloween. And then that happening.
[00:59:03] Speaker A: And then going into talking about it, and then having your podcast host ask you how you process feelings.
[00:59:10] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:59:11] Speaker A: My friend, thank you for being here and being vulnerable and being so open and sharing and also health. First, let's make sure that you're okay.
[00:59:19] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:59:19] Speaker A: Let's make sure that that piece of you that went off on a tow truck is getting nurtured, cared for, and will be restored.
[00:59:26] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:59:29] Speaker A: It feels trite to continue. So I will only ask you one more question.
[00:59:33] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:59:34] Speaker A: And I feel like you may have given us a hint at one, but I ask all my guests this question. What are the words that move you the most?
[00:59:46] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:59:47] Speaker A: I'm so excited.
[00:59:48] Speaker B: Well, I think I spent a lot of my time in life and career preaching fearlessness, and I don't believe that to be true anymore.
That's growth, baby. Growing up, it's like, actually, no. Fear is human and normal and essential sometimes. And essential because from time to time hello. And so I'm realizing that in my car, fear is allowed to ride with me, but it's never allowed to drive. And if I passenger, seat passenger, or even the back get in the back. Get in the back. You can quiet down back there and buckle up. Keep it down. Buckle up. Because I'm going full speed ahead, and you could be in here, but you just can't drive.
And I'm really looking forward to my soft.
As sensitive as I am as a person or as a spirit, I'm a tough cookie. So I'm looking forward to actually being able to be softer.
I want softness as my passenger.
[01:01:03] Speaker A: Nice.
[01:01:04] Speaker B: And I want courage and tenacity to be in me when I'm driving. That's my car.
That's where I'm at. That's what I'm living by right now.
[01:01:13] Speaker A: I am thrilled for you, and I cannot wait to watch your journey continue. Your ride is exceptional. I am so thrilled for you. Thank you for being here, sharing yourself and your stories and your feelings. My God, your feelings. Thank you for feeling today. You make it look very cool to feel all of your feelings.
[01:01:32] Speaker B: Wow. I am appreciative of that. And thank you for having me. It's by no mistake, and I love that. And also big, big fan, always and forever.
[01:01:43] Speaker A: Thank you so much. Appreciate you. Yes, thank you all also for listening and watching. I appreciate you as well. If you're digging the podcast, please subscribe and click the bell for notifications, leave a review or rating. It is so helpful to the podcast. And then, of course, just go get out there into the world and be very funky, because that also is helpful to the podcast. More funky people. Exactly.
Have a great rest of your day. I'll talk to you soon.
This podcast was produced by me with the help of many big, big love to our executive assistant and editor, Riley Higgins. Our communications manager is Ori Vajadares. Our music is by Max Winnie, logo and brand design by Brie REITs, thumbnails and marketing by Fiona Small. You can make your tax deductible donations to Words That Move Me thanks to our fiscal sponsor, the Dance Resource Center, and also many thanks to you. I'm so glad you're here. And if you're digging the pod, please share it, leave a review and rating. And if you want to coach with me and the many marvelous members of the Words That Move Me community, visit wordstheveme.com. If you're simply curious to know more about me and the work I do outside of this podcast, visit thedanawilson.com.
