Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: And I'm a teacher's pet, too. So at this time, I was just like.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: I just got a compliment. She loves my pants. I loved those pants. I was like, hey, tell me about your pants.
[00:00:09] Speaker A: I was so happy.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Hello. Hello, my friend. I'm Dana. This is words that move me. This is my dog wrist roll, and she's blocking my shoe. My shoe is a feature today. The look is looking, and the shoe is reflecting. It's a steel toed demi heel. I'm not gonna call it a princess heel. Really? Come here, tiny one.
You guys, you know what time it is? Dinner time. And she's feasting on my fingers. Tiny, no. Okay, here, play with that. Okay. Today is a really, really special episode. I'm talking to one of my dear friends, and I will say a selected sister, like, chosen family in this creative life, the one and only Leslie Grace. And she and I became close working on in the heights. We talk a lot about the process of that film, but on a bigger scale.
I wish you could have seen her face, Jason.
She looks so concerned. Okay.
Leslie and I are talking about trusting yourself, trusting in teams, having permission, and giving permission. It sounds a lot like a lot of things you've heard a thousand times before. But another thing we talk about is how hearing the right thing at the right time can be life changing. And, my friends, if you are a creative person working in the entertainment industry, chances are you need to hear one of the things that we are about to say. But before we say that, before we say them, let's do some wins. Today, I am celebrating a fall full. Not quite fall, an end of summer full of excellent music that I feel very close to. I got to see Paula at the Hollywood bowl. I got to see Hozier at the Kia forum, both with Jillian Myers. Imagine that.
Hawk was at the bowl. Cat burns came to the bowl. It was a good bowl. Well, should I just say bowl one more time? Popcorn bowl. There's popcorn bowl right over there, just off camera. Anyways, the bowl was great. Hose your sorry I got sidetracked was fantastic. It's one of the best concerts I've ever seen, period. The end. I know, I know. How about you? What's going well in your world?
Yay.
Wow.
Congratulations, my friend. I'm so glad that you're winning. And I think I've got, like, two more minutes before this little demon on the floor right here rips my hand off. She's so hungry and so ready for dinner. But before I introduce you to Leslie Grace or remind you how much you really love her.
I have to tell you to please check out her two latest projects. The thickethead. And in the summers, both out now have been out, like, quickly catch up because she and all of the projects that she is a part of are inspiring, are important, and she's simply so wonderful. I under. I get it. Without any further ado, my friends, the one, the only, Leslie Grace Martinez.
Yeah, that was a step touch and a shimmy question. Do you prefer Leslie Martinez opposed to Leslie Grace or what's going on?
[00:03:35] Speaker A: Leslie Grace. Leslie Grace Martinez. Leslie Martinez. Whatever you want to call me, I'm good.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: Martinez. Grace. Leslie.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: Right? LG.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: LG, LG, LG.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: A lot of people just say LG when I'm around.
[00:03:47] Speaker B: Never fall onto my lap like that.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: I'm surprised.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: LG. That feels so good.
[00:03:53] Speaker A: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, life is good, LG.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Welcome to the podcast, my friend.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: I'm so happy to be here.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: Life is good. Life is better. Life is better when we are in conversation. When we're together, it's better. When we're together, it is better together.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: It is.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Thank you for making time and for being here today.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: Thank you for having me. It's kind of like fanning right now because, you know, I listen to the voice. I listen. And I remember when you first started, like, telling me that you were gonna do this. Oh, my God. That's right.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: You're there from the beginning. Yeah, dude, 2019. End of 2019.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: And I was like, this is gonna be amazing because you're the best. I told you off camera, but I told you I was gonna say it again.
You're my favorite person to talk to about deep conversations, to you. Deep topics, because you ask the best questions. You're a curious person, and that's.
[00:04:39] Speaker B: I'm a curious person podcast.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: That's something you have to be intentional about, you know?
[00:04:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: So, yeah.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Thank you for entertaining my deep questions. Not everybody likes to go there.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah, that's fine, too. I love to go there.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: Nice. Let's go.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: Yeah, let's go.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Well, let's introduce ourselves to the deeper places by introducing yourself to us, period. You are a multi type. You're a really talented person. So I'm curious to hear how you introduce yourself to listeners who may or may not be dancer, singer, actor, choreographers, but definitely creative types. I think this podcast attracts people who love learning and people who love to create.
What would you tell them about yourself?
[00:05:21] Speaker A: What I would say about myself is, first and foremost, I'm a human who loves people. I love people. I grew up in a big family. I'm the youngest of seven siblings. Big blended family. Love my parents, love my siblings. Learned a lot about the power and beauty of relationships and art within my family just by being, like, supported in doing that in my household in Dominican. So music and art and all of.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: That is just, like, a given.
[00:05:52] Speaker A: Yeah, a given in the household. It's not really explicitly, like, you know, taught or anything, but storytelling, performance. Yeah. It's just part of how we express ourselves. So I think that translates a lot into the way that I like to do my art now as an adult. And now that I get the gift of doing it professionally for a living, I sing, I act, I move. When I get the chance, I do a little two steps.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: No, it's the best step. If you only have one step, let it be a two step.
[00:06:27] Speaker A: Let it be a two step. Nailed a two step.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Ps, you have way more than a two step, but we'll get into that later.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: Well, you have a lot to do with that.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: My absolute pleasure.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Yes.
Yeah. And I just love. More than anything, I love the feeling of performing and being able to have experience the gift and give the gift of being moved, you know, being moved by anything, whether it's words that move you or sounds that move you or a feeling that might move you. I think it's a gift to be able to experience that, and then it's kind of, like, contagious when you answer the call to share it.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: To be moved in front of people is also a very vulnerable thing. I was just talking to somebody about the feeling that you get when you perform. I understand why a lot of performers become drug addicts, because there is very. In my. It's addictive in my body. There are very few things that make me feel the way that being on stage in front of thousands of people screaming. Cause they like it.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: Like, what else does that, sis? Not a whole lot.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Not a whole lot.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: So it is that feeling. I don't even know what to call it, but it is addictive, and it is special and magical and a privilege to get to experience, especially when you're doing a thing that you love.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: So, yeah, that expresses something about you that otherwise you wouldn't be able to. You know, there's also not many scenarios where, like, if you're. If I think about this more, as I'm. As I continue to age, there's not a lot of things as an adult that allow you to, like, express abstractly things that are hard, you know, to people.
[00:08:20] Speaker B: So how often do you do that. Are you in practice of, like, I'm driving? Hey, best friend, I wrote you a song because I didn't know how to say blah, blah, blah. Do you do that?
[00:08:33] Speaker A: Yeah. As of recent, like, recently, I've been getting more into the practice. I had to strip down in my music practice. Back to basics. I took a little pause and wanted to repair a little bit of my relationship with music. Okay.
In a yeah. Going back to basics way. And a lot of that ended up being me, expressing really simple or really hard feelings just because I knew I needed to practice in order to repair. I needed to practice more consistently, less for, like, wanting to make a good song, and more, like, for just expression's sake, because that's what I was repairing at the time.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: Nice. Ooh. Leslie, that's important. Thank you for sharing. I'm glad to know that you're repairing and starting with a strong foundation or revisiting a foundation of music. That's very interesting. I want to talk about how we met and how you developed your strong foundation for acting, because was in the.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: Heights your first acting thing ever?
[00:09:34] Speaker B: First acting thing ever.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: First acting gig ever.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Can you tell me how that came to be? Because I think I know, but I don't know if you know, first and.
[00:09:41] Speaker A: Foremost just felt super. I always say this, but I felt so super duper, duper, duper blessed and privileged that that was my first. Because your first can be, of all things, can be anything, you know, and can be any kind of experience. And I have a firm belief that everything teaches you. So, you know, whether in the moment, it's like a struggle or it's an incredible experience, and you're like, I love this. Yeah. You get value from all of it. But luckily for me, that first experience was, to date, still one of the most beautiful experiences in my life of not just work, just like in my life. Like, I think. I mean, tops.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: It's tops. I'm working on the morning show off and on right now.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: I love that show.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: And Nelson Coates is on it, and so good.
There's magic happening on set. Right. I understand there's a lot going on, but when he and I meet, there are fireworks.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: Fireworks.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: And the fireworks exist because of that shared art, baby, that we helped to raise. And I am so grateful for every single person, yourself included. It's. Yep. That's a bond that cannot be broken. That was a special one.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And it was right before COVID It was just like, such a. You know, you can't recreate that time. There was before and after, for sure.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Are you guys out there getting fomo? Do you feel left out? This is probably not the coolest way for us to engage in this conversation, just being like, oh, my God, isn't our family and our project the best? And you can't get in on it because it's in the past.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: Yes. Let's get to the information of how it happened.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: The information of how it happened. Number one, is good, but also, I think it's cool to aspire to be part of teams and projects that are one of a kind and one of a time, but in a way, all of them are. None of this gets repeated. None of this will ever happen again. This very specific recipe of people and story and time and place that we are all a part of every day. Every day, every single day.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: So it just so happens that that one lasted, you know, two months of pre production, three months of shooting, and then because of the delay of COVID the release was a year and a half later. So it felt like it lasted a.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Long time, and we bonded through all.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: Of those, all of the ups and downs. Yeah, it definitely stands out to me as well.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: The intention was always pure. There was always pure intention, and there was always, like, like, two things. We always, you dance types always talk about push and pull and give and take, you know, the big forces of life. And I think it's so important in a collaborative setting and creative settings to be open to that, like, the ability to give and to receive. And I felt that from everyone, especially from my perspective of it being a first for me in a really new space, and if the stakes for me being so high and, like, being nervous, but also in wonder and, like, you know, I knew I was gonna say a bunch of stuff that probably sounded like a kid in Disneyland, but it was just like, you can't, you know, you can't avoid that you're a student.
[00:12:52] Speaker B: Being new when you're new, that's just what it is.
[00:12:54] Speaker A: It's just what's gonna happen. And I was also, like, in that place in my life where I did feel like Nina, like I was younger, and it's perfect casting, but it was met with so much generosity of knowledge, so much, so much patience, so much. And then also so much, like, curiosity of, like, hey, like, what are you experiencing right now? And, like, how you see this? And, like, yeah. Even though from John, for example, like, in our read throughs, he was always curious about how we saw things, even though he's, you know, the director, the.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: One with the vision wasn't a. To the person who's supposed to know the answers, wasn't afraid to ask questions. Boom. Yes, I adore that about him. I also loved his willingness, sometimes almost blind trust, but his willingness to trust the people that he put into decision making positions.
I recall several times asking, john, what do you think of this or that? And he'd say, what do you think? And I'd say that, and he'd say, do it, do it. And I'm like, that was fast. Yeah.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: Cause you can't make every decision I can imagine.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: Like, no, the decision was putting us in the place to make the decisions. Boom. And that was just. I saw that happen a few times, and I only needed to see it a few times to be reminded of that power. It's so. Such a flex.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Major flex.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: I love that sort of leadership, and.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: It makes everyone also feel autonomous and proud of the value they're bringing to this thing. And so you take more.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: You're more invested in that. Yeah.
[00:14:29] Speaker A: You walk with a little bit more integrity with the choices that you're making, because someone, you know, I don't want to say above you, because he didn't make us feel that way at all, but, like, the person that you would naturally look to for an answer is like, nah, nah, nah. You got it.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Right?
[00:14:42] Speaker A: You know, when you really got. When they really feel like you got it. Yes. And if you really have a question, he's just like, yeah, look, I kind of see it like this.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: You know?
[00:14:51] Speaker B: Yeah. I. So riveting.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: That was the culture on that set. That was the culture.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: That was the air that we were breathing. That was how days went. Even that. Even the tough ones, even the sticky ones, even, like, the scary ones. That's how that was always there.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:08] Speaker B: I love. Oh, my God. Could talk about it all day.
[00:15:10] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: I want to talk specifically about your relationship to dance in that project.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: How much dance experience did you have coming into it?
[00:15:18] Speaker A: Oh, well, so with cultural dance, being dominican, like, salsa and merengue and, like, tropical dance growing up. Yes. And it is like, a language that we speak that's instinctual but never any training.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Yep. And never dialed into eight counts.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: Yeah. And never, like, mambo, you know what I mean? Like, we weren't dancing that kind of salsa. So, you know, your girl was stressed. She was stressed, remember? I do remember she was stressed. And I personally, I have this thing with tests and, like, time tests, anything that is, like, by this time, you're gonna have to have it, turn it.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: In, no matter what?
[00:16:01] Speaker A: Even if I'm capable, it would make me, like. I would never finish my time test in school and all these things, and it's a mental thing. I'm a person. My tempo and pace is slower. I know that about myself now as an adult, and I've learned to make friends with that and understand why. But in that scenario, where I know this prep time is gonna end, you know what I mean?
[00:16:22] Speaker B: This is our last day of rehearsal for the club.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: And then we shoot it, and I either have it or I don't.
[00:16:28] Speaker A: I was so frustrated because I'm like.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: I know I can get this. I know it.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: And to the very last moment, it was so hard.
And I was very self critical of myself at that time.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: I'm like, you know, we all are in different ways. But, like, at that time, I was really. I know. Cause I trusted you a lot, and you were really, again, curious, as you always are. But I was very, very hard on myself and hard on not accepting that if you're a student at something, you're gonna mess up. You know what I mean? I was very hard on myself at the dance like that.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: Okay, so if time constraint made it hard for you, do you remember what, if anything, made those days easy?
[00:17:08] Speaker A: I think our conversations while we rehearsed physically.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Helped just being real humans and real humans.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Real humans helped the group element. And seeing other people struggle and having permission to struggle.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: You know what I mean? I think that's just thing in life.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Having permission to look crazy and be a mess and be finding it.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: I remember we even did a private session afterwards, after we finished shooting and everything, and I was, at that time, was really having a hard time with the idea of, like, yo, it not looking pretty when you're learning something or when you're doing something for the first time and all that. I had a really perfectionistic, you know, approach to, like, showing up. You know, if I can't show up at my best, and I shouldn't. I shouldn't show up at all, if I can't do this, then I shouldn't. I'm disqualified already. You know what I mean? I shouldn't be in this room. And you had such a beautiful way of, like, speaking to that and, like, softening those boundaries by just saying, like, let's do the most embarrassing thing right now, and I'm gonna make. And I.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: Yes, I remember this. Yeah. Let's start by the craziest you will ever look so that that's done so that, you know, you're not like nothing for the rest of this hour and a half is gonna look as bad as how we are starting. Yes. I have an exercise that call it dead bug.
I remember that wish. You just, like, pretend to be a cockroach on the ground dying a terrible. Maybe it's, like, by blowtorch, or maybe it's by bb guns, and you just are a cockroach dying, and there's nothing that you could do on your two legs that's gonna look worse than that. That's a good icebreaker.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: Even then, I really struggle with.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: To give yourself permission to go there, there.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Yeah. But it softened my boundaries that someone would challenge me to that. You know what I mean? And be like, it's safe for you to be not right now. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so that that kind of approach for me definitely stretched me and planted the seed in my mind of like, yeah, bro, you're gonna fuck up.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: Give yourself the time to mess up. Yeah. When you do, you make it much more quickly to the not being messing.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: Up anymore instead of resisting the mess up, and then you just get stuck on it.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
I wish that there was a class for that. Actually. There is. Gillian Myers, my best friend. She teaches. She teaches a class called rhythmic tendencies, which is designed with very clear musical, rhythmical prompts.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: It's like, dance at this, that on this time or clap at this time, but move on this time, or I'm not doing a good job of explaining.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: Like, polyrhythms kind of.
[00:19:53] Speaker B: Definitely poly rhythms are present, but she'll give a prompt to which there is no right answer.
Like, when we talk about an eight count from the club scene of in the heights, there's a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: Right.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: In Jillian's class, there is a prompt and no right way to do it. So you embark on this solo journey. Cause there's no unison or not. No. But rarely is there unison clearly defined. We do this on one, we do this on two. It's like, this is the rhythm. Clap on this time, snap on this time, and you get so much more, like, in conversation with ideas versus results.
[00:20:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:20:38] Speaker B: And being in process like that. And being. Knowing that failure will happen in there, because especially on a first pass, like, you're a very capable dancer. I'm a very capable dancer. And we are failing up in there because part of the process, she designs it to be really challenging on purpose. So, yeah, I want to be normalizing, not getting it.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: You did such a great job at normalizing.
[00:21:00] Speaker B: Nice. Okay, cool. I remember also that there was a thing that worked about Nina and you, which was a nervousness. And I remember a couple times you asking, what do I do? What do I do with my hands?
[00:21:15] Speaker A: My hands is always the guys.
It's always the one.
[00:21:20] Speaker B: Which is great because I think she.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: Also was in that space.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: I didn't know where to put these pants.
[00:21:25] Speaker A: She was uncomfortable.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Which p's we're going to talk about pants. A special segment coming up.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:21:31] Speaker B: But I answered that question for you and for Nina professionally with the same answer that I give myself when I'm nervous, which is touch something.
[00:21:45] Speaker A: Touch things. Yeah.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: When I'm nervous walking into an audition audition, which is kind of like an audition, but it's a supplemental audition. It's an audition audition. When I'm heading into, like, you know, something I care about.
[00:22:02] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: You will see me whether they need to be tied or not. I will bend over and tie my shoe. Wow. I will undo a shoe so that I can tie it up because having a task that I've done a thousand times is familiar. I know these laces.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: Certainty.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: I'm looking at my foot and I'm looking at the floor underneath my foot. Really helpful grounding. And I remember similarly to you, it was like, touch your hair. Touch your purse. What's in your purse? Touch the fence. Do something that really puts you in.
[00:22:31] Speaker A: The place and that it creates new thoughts, too. It's like, it steeps you in the moment.
[00:22:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:36] Speaker A: Like, in your body.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: The tactile literally puts you in the body. Effective. Good.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: But that was another thing, too, that I think really helped that you did really well, like, especially with Corey and I because we spent a lot of time, the three of us, working together, which was so awesome.
Really encourage, like, just use it all. Like, what do you feel? What does this make you feel?
[00:22:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: Okay. Use that. You know, I mean, oh, you're nervous right now. Use that.
[00:23:01] Speaker B: Bring it incorporated in a relationship. It's, God, it's gorgeous.
Like a crush feeling a nervous. I mean, who can't relate to that? So relatable. And there's such a desire to get rid of that because we want to perform. Yeah. We wanted opposite of what we're supposed to do.
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Incorporate it all. It textures your performance. Now that I've, you know, it was my first time, but now that I've been learning.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: You've been working?
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Yeah, we've been working. We've been doing the work and, like, you know, learning about craft and learning what it is really about to act. It's really about incorporating life, incorporating the atmosphere, incorporating what that sparks in you and not shutting it out. You know, the more that you resist the things that are already there, they actually inhibit and put a wall in between what you're supposed to let flow through you and the contradictions of what you think in your brain are supposed to be that moment and what you might be feeling in that moment from something that else had happened in your day or that doesn't have to do with your performance at that point in time or your character. It might add a color that is just exactly what. The unpredictability of what you want, what people want to see in that moment.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Trying to avoid those things or resist those.
We'll call them unwanted feelings. Right. Like nervousness or fear of being judged or being imperfect. Like, resisting those things blocks other things as well. It blocks potential. My acting teacher had a very good way of saying it. He said, whatever is knocking, let it in.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: That's so good.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: Or else it will go find Meryl Streep, and she will let it in. And so that for some reason, putting it that way made me feel like, oh, no, no, no, I. She's got plenty I want. Come on in. Every. Anyone. Anyone who's here.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: Oh. Oh, listen to you. Oh. Oh, that's fun. That's new. That was not part of the plan, but let's go with it.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: But let's go with that.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: Let's go with it.
[00:25:01] Speaker A: Yes, and yes.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: And do you improv? Do you have any training?
[00:25:05] Speaker A: So this last year, too, my coach, who I've worked with, overdose some years now before even moving out here, must be like seven plus years now. Tom Draper. Shout out Tom Draper. He's the bomb.
He's had these classes, group classes forever. And I never had the courage to do.
To be honest, world, I never had the courage to join up. We always did privates, but I never had the courage until a couple gigs in to do a group class, and he kept inviting me and kept reminding me, he's like, I really think that you would really take a lot from this class. And I have. There's a couple classes during the week. I joined in on a check off technique class that was. Wasn't an improv class, but everything that you learned from the class would be practiced in improv scenarios. And that was the first time that I ever. I mean, I didn't. I went straight into singing from high school, so I never did, like, acting school or anything like that, or college or anything, just acting in high school. Yeah. And so, one, the group element was really cool, but also, like, learning the value of being in the moment in any space and getting a circumstance in that moment and, you know, applying that, letting that affect you in the moment with another person, it's just like, it's a muscle that you don't learn in any other way.
[00:26:22] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm gonna say something very obvious, but it's coming to me for the first time, because maybe I have a simple mind, and maybe that's a strength. But what I'm learning or what I'm realizing about improv is that a group improv, when you see other people support your. Yes, it's so much easier to go. And when you're alone, you can doubt your choice. You'd be like, was that the funniest thing? But if I do a thing and the whole group's like, yes, that thing, then you're like, okay. It's kind of like what we were talking about with John, where if he says yes to your idea, the idea goes and you back it up. And when you're acting alone or improvising a scene by yourself and you don't have that group, yes, it can be maybe a little bit harder to trust.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: Yeah, it really helps.
I think you just put words to, like, the biggest value that I learned from class along with creative. You know, surrounding yourself with a creative community and, like, really feeling empowered by that and supported and feeling like you can support other people in their own craft journey.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:32] Speaker A: Think one of the biggest things was, like, I learned. I knew I was always, like, a person that needed feedback. Like, I invite notes. I invite on, like, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me. I needed that and less for it's, yes. Validation for validation sake. But also for, like, I want the information. Like, you love doing work. Yeah, I love working.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: You love a note, and you're quick to take a note. You're very good. You take a note. Thank you.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: I received that from you. Thank you very much. You get very good notes. But I really love, like, I love that. I love that collaborative aspect of receiving information that I don't know, that I'm not aware of. And, like, that's helped to me and what I want to do in my job. But aside from that in class, I think also the element of, like, learning your. If your instincts are on, you know, we all need an audience to, like, at the end of the day, the performance is for. To make someone outside of yourself or many ones outside of yourself, feel something that you're feeling here, and you want it to land in a place.
[00:28:32] Speaker B: So to know if that's effective.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:28:34] Speaker B: Like, hey, is. What. Is what I'm. What I am trying to do is blah. Is that what's happening?
[00:28:39] Speaker A: Is that. Yes?
[00:28:40] Speaker B: If not, how can we fix it?
[00:28:42] Speaker A: Or did it make you feel. Ha. Or, like. You know what I mean?
[00:28:45] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: Like, that's not what I was going for, but that's. That's. That's. That's cool, too. I didn't know. Okay, maybe my approach.
[00:28:51] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: You know, so it teaches you a lot about what you're inside.
What are the results of your instinct of saying yes to your instincts, too, and then trusting them.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: Yeah. That type of refining of, like, getting good at. Okay. What I think is gonna happen is this check in with you. What do you think? Oh, that habit I wasn't even planning on, but that's great. Okay. I'm gonna try to recreate that. It's that muscle that gets so strong in that environment.
[00:29:17] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:29:18] Speaker B: So strong.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: I have a question for you. Does that happen? Do you feel like that happens in a. In a similar or different way in class? In dance class with dance types?
[00:29:28] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. I have had, you know, not always, but most of the time that I dance, I have a desired result.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: Hmm.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: I either want to feel a certain way myself.
[00:29:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:40] Speaker B: Or evoke a certain feeling from someone else. And it happens less often now, regretfully, because I have stopped getting notes. The older you get and the more you ascend into positions of leadership, people tell you that they love whatever you just did. Notes are less common now. Strange things.
Yes. But I will ask if I'm in class. Hey, I was really going for in the moment, visceral, had a plan, ditched it. Did I look spontaneous? Did I look too noodley? Because I was really focusing on being super loose. So all. Yeah, I will. Absolutely.
[00:30:23] Speaker A: It's so interesting, the point that you just made.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:26] Speaker A: Of just, like, as you ascend and, like, you know, get good at, you know, and so in a lot of ways, at your craft and our places of leadership, that. That circle of.
That feedback loop gets small. Either small, smaller as you ascend, and then also you, the opposite happens. It's like you start to trust it less because it's like some people will say, based off of where I'm at.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:51] Speaker A: Like, even if it didn't evoke what I was trying to evoke.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: And so can I trust this know, can I take that in? And we all have the need to receive real criticisms.
[00:31:01] Speaker B: Real.
[00:31:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Destructive criticism. Like, we all long for that and want feedback because we all long to grow. Continue to grow. It doesn't matter how. Wherever you're at in the journey.
[00:31:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:11] Speaker A: At different levels there, everyone's just like, yeah. Like, I've really, like, you could just get stuck in your own echo chamber.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: Of your style and you really could, which is for. It's not the worst thing that could happen. Right. Because I think most of us are our own hardest critic. Like, I don't need a whole lot of other people to be hard on me, doing great job myself.
But this conversation is a great reminder that you, person, anyone at any level, could be empowered to ask for feedback from anyone. And I do think there's something interesting asking people who, in your view, have already done it and been there and have ascended to heights that you only dream of, but also asking a layperson who knows absolutely nothing. Nothing. Hey, friend, what do you think about this?
[00:31:59] Speaker A: How does make it.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: Yeah, what an interesting litmus test.
[00:32:04] Speaker A: Litmus test. Yes, that's right.
[00:32:07] Speaker B: Okay. Love that. I love thinking about receiving notes. I do that and tapes and stuff. Yeah, I'll ask.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: I'll send them to my mom.
[00:32:15] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: I'll send them to my cousin. Also knowing what to think of notes from who. Depending on who you get what notes from.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: Right, right. Do you have a process for filtration, or does it just kind of happen where you think, okay, I'm gonna take that for a grain of salt, but I'm gonna really care about that.
[00:32:33] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: How does that work for you?
[00:32:35] Speaker A: I do. For example, one of my good friends who's also a director, he said something that stuck with me, and I was just like, oh, so great. He's like, if you ever show a song to the friend that likes, like, every one of their favorite songs is a top 40 song, and then you show that same song to a friend that's, like an elitist or, like, just, like, listens to, basically, instrumentals all day long. You have to gauge, you know, where that note is coming from, that person, and put it on a scale, depending on what you intended for that piece of art that you're sharing with them, you know.
[00:33:11] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:33:12] Speaker A: So if the song is a top 40 song and top 40 song friend loves it, it's like, all right. That was hitting exactly what it's supposed to hit.
[00:33:24] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: You know, if the lo fi beat listening to friend hates it, it's like, yeah, you were probably gonna hate it.
[00:33:33] Speaker B: Both useful feedback.
[00:33:35] Speaker A: Both useful feedback. If both love, that's a bonus. You know what I mean?
[00:33:39] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:33:39] Speaker A: But, like, taking the full context of notes, too, based off of where someone might be coming from and their exposure to the kinds of things that you're sharing.
[00:33:49] Speaker B: As I'm saying these things out loud, I'm like, when was the last time I asked for feedback on a piece? It was probably the last seaweed sisters work where we have a practice also of, like, sharing internally first, knowing that, I mean, because we shoot on such a tight budget, there's no, like, once we have an edit, it's not pretty locked. I mean, we can nudge things forward or back.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: It's really just for you to know.
[00:34:11] Speaker B: It's really just kind of for us to know. But I so value those exchanges, and we always learn so much from them, but I don't. It's not part of my all the time practice to be asking for feedback.
[00:34:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't always ask for feedback.
[00:34:24] Speaker B: Either, but because sometimes, you know.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: Yeah, sometimes you just feel it. It's like, I don't want to hear anything about this. This is what it is. And that's it. Yeah.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: Shall we sidestep and talk about pants for a second?
[00:34:32] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:34:33] Speaker B: Sisterhood of the traveling pants, right now. How was it. How was it discovered that we both have an affinity for, like, a state statement pant? Do you remember? How did it happen?
[00:34:44] Speaker A: So I just go right over to the pants.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: Go to the pants pouch. Let's pull it out.
[00:34:49] Speaker A: Let's go to the pants. Tote. So the first pair of pants is what started at all. And you won't be audience. They're a little wrinkled. I'm very sorry.
[00:34:58] Speaker B: Are they nikes?
[00:34:59] Speaker A: I just grabbed them.
[00:35:00] Speaker B: They're your rehearsal pants.
[00:35:02] Speaker A: And they include the green.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:04] Speaker A: That you're wearing right now.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: Yes, I sure they do. What?
[00:35:06] Speaker A: You know what? You know what it is? Sitting a very important fundamental for a good pant.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: Pockets.
[00:35:13] Speaker A: Pockets.
[00:35:14] Speaker B: Essential. My God, those are good.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: I haven't worn them maybe, maybe, maybe four times since that summer. And every time I wear them, I think of you.
[00:35:26] Speaker B: Pants.
[00:35:26] Speaker A: It was packed.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: That's why pants have to have pockets.
[00:35:29] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:35:29] Speaker B: To put the memories in.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:32] Speaker B: Okay, so these are. These are your inner, probably in the heights rehearsal pants. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. If there was a treasure in the pocket, what a bonus.
[00:35:39] Speaker A: That would be amazing.
[00:35:41] Speaker B: Shut up. Is that underwear?
[00:35:47] Speaker A: Definitely a pair of cows.
[00:35:49] Speaker B: Prepared, prepared.
[00:35:51] Speaker A: Always prepared.
[00:35:52] Speaker B: Always. You've always.
Rehearsal pants. You need to, you know, they were.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: And there were multiple layers you know what it was?
[00:35:59] Speaker B: I do. That is riveting. God, Leslie, you are the best for that.
[00:36:02] Speaker A: Yeah. So should we start it all? Dana came over to me. I remember feeling so cool. Cause I love Dana, and I'm a teacher's pet, too. So at this time, I was just.
[00:36:11] Speaker B: I just got a compliment. She likes my pants.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: I was so happy.
[00:36:15] Speaker B: I especially rehearsal stuff. I can. I've got ideas about t shirts. I'm very particular about t shirts. Yeah, but pants are, like, first when I also. I was just talking to my dear friend, do you know, did you ever meet Andy Blankenbuehler?
[00:36:31] Speaker A: I don't think so.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: He choreographed the first in the height, the Broadway in the heights, and I think he did the off Broadway. I think he was. I think he was in that mix from the beginning, choreographed Hamilton as well. Brilliant choreographer. I just had breakfast with him a couple days ago because we've known each other for a very long time. He. I don't remember what got us on the subject. And he was like, oh, this is my third costume of the day. And I was like, excuse me. He was like, no, I needed to look grown up right now in rehearsal. Sometimes I need to look youthful and like a kid, but it's my grown up block of time. It's like a brunch in a meeting, and I have to meet with my riding partner. And he was like, so I wore blue, and it's a button up. It makes me look light or feel light and look professional. And I was like, it does.
[00:37:11] Speaker A: It really is giving.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: He is in so many places also.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: Dance types are so great at the shift of, like, throughout the day.
[00:37:19] Speaker B: Exactly. Nighttime.
[00:37:20] Speaker A: Yes. It's like, I need the fit that's.
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Gonna get fresh, gritty, like, what is the feeling that I'm going for? And also, what are the moves I'm gonna be dancing? Do I need a low crotch? Does it need to be a high crotch? Does there have to be a gusset?
Does it stretch? Is it too tight?
[00:37:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: Is it gonna fall off? What underwear do I need to wear with these pants.
[00:37:39] Speaker A: With these pants, which is not gonna impede my movement.
[00:37:43] Speaker B: It's very important, this question. Okay, so now I know where I'm.
[00:37:46] Speaker A: Going from and silhouette too. Am I gonna give the. The shape? The shapes need a shape. Give it to me. Give it to me.
Yes.
[00:37:56] Speaker B: This is.
[00:37:57] Speaker A: Do the buttons?
[00:37:59] Speaker B: Do the buttons. So, oddly enough, both of my sisterhood of the traveling pants. Pants today have mad buttons on them. It's not a requirement for me that we have to have buttons, but they just happen to. Both of these do happen to have buttons. They don't go all the way up, but I think maybe they used to. So here's the story. These are my Super bowl pants. I wore these for the JT Super bowl halftime show. 2020.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: Legendary.
[00:38:29] Speaker B: I don't remember, but. So they're special because it's rare that you get to keep those gems. You know this when you do big tv stuff or big artist stuff. 2018. Thank you. Fact check.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: That was quick.
[00:38:41] Speaker B: She's so quick. She's fast. I saw these on a hanger, and I was like, you, me, let's fuck up the Super bowl. And then it wound up going, and the outfit was fresh. Have you ever had to wear something that you really didn't like, that you really hated?
[00:38:57] Speaker A: Oh, a number of times. For sure.
[00:38:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. Most times, what you're wearing is also dependent upon what the budget is and, you know, how much time. Some things that are out of everybody's control. So you just kind of, like, gotta make it work. At the end of the day, it is you. So you want to look right, but.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: What gets you through those moments is there. Is there something that you.
[00:39:19] Speaker A: I just say, like, it's out of your. It really is out of your control at a certain point.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: So make the best and focus on what you can control.
[00:39:26] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. Like, now you know that you're gonna be wearing this. Explain all the things that make this hard for you if nothing can be done, you know, at that point, then you just focus on what your job is that you can't control.
[00:39:40] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:39:40] Speaker A: You know, and then it's a good.
[00:39:41] Speaker B: Redirection of energy, because you can ruminate on, like, how bad is and this is awful. Or you can focus on, like, okay, here's what I can control. I don't love the way that this shirt makes my arms feel.
[00:39:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:55] Speaker B: But I can direct your eye towards my feet, because these shoes are fresh, and I know my footwork is clean. Okay. So I was gonna do this upper body thing on this accent, and now I'm gonna make it a little bit more about feet.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: Like, that's a big note too. It's like, sometimes what you're wearing informs how you. How you move. I mean, all the time.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: It's such a big deal.
[00:40:14] Speaker A: Could also, like, in a positive way, like, if you're uncomfortable with something, but that discomfort, if you can use it, find a way that it makes your performance better. You know?
[00:40:26] Speaker B: Like, I really wanted to wear these pants, but if I had ended up in a skirt, you better believe I would have been, like, propping that, making that a prop.
[00:40:35] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[00:40:36] Speaker B: Wardrobe is kind of prop for dance types. It's. It's especially. It's what we work with. It's our tools. Yeah. My. My ex used to say this all the time because I have apologized for my closet before it overfloweth. Yeah. And I had never criticized him for having too many tools, like hammers and screwdrivers and.
[00:40:56] Speaker A: Right.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: Laser cutters and things. And he never criticizes me for having too many shoes or pants.
[00:41:01] Speaker A: There you go. Because those are your tools.
[00:41:02] Speaker B: They're my tools. This is how I get the job done.
[00:41:04] Speaker A: That's exactly right. I love that. Love that all perspective shift. Okay, next pair of pants. These are very much a staple. Very much a fav. If you are friends with me or.
[00:41:17] Speaker B: Know me, we've seen these in action.
[00:41:19] Speaker A: Seen these, and I. If I could wear them. These are a low rise.
[00:41:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:23] Speaker A: You found one that are, like, baggy enough, depending on, you know, where I'm at in my life, how much I'm eating.
[00:41:28] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: But they always work.
[00:41:32] Speaker B: Those are great.
[00:41:33] Speaker A: And they got the pockets and they got the style and. But I have to gauge how much I use them because, you know, they're very.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: They're a statement piece, and you can't wear a statement piece every day.
[00:41:42] Speaker A: Every day. I wish, I wish, I wish.
[00:41:43] Speaker B: Well, actually, it's funny. I have a favorite Nickelodeon shirt that all of you have probably seen because I wear all the time.
[00:41:49] Speaker A: I think I know what shirt you're talking about.
[00:41:50] Speaker B: It's a blue tie dye shirt. It's got, like, mad Nickelodeon characters on it. I. And it's so funny that as kids, we never thought twice about the fact that they all wear the same outfit every day. Like, everyone from, hey, Arnold. Yeah, Helga is wearing that pink dress uniform. That's their uniform. And it wasn't weird, but we loved it. But repeating an outfit at school was like this no, no thing.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: We're gonna die.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: Like, actually, I changed shirts today. Cause I was like, Riley, did I wear this on the podcast already? And she's like, yeah, let's match. Yeah, it's so funny.
[00:42:20] Speaker A: What's up with that?
[00:42:21] Speaker B: This is another great permission that I. That I was given recently.
A long, long time ago, I did a video a day on Instagram. This idea of newness and small bites and, like, just make a thing all the time.
[00:42:35] Speaker A: I think I remember this.
[00:42:36] Speaker B: Somebody had to give me permission to say, you know, you can, like, do one idea 27 times.
And I was like, wait, say more. And he was like, well, for example, John Baldassari, famous artist, did dots for a long time. It's just dots on faces. A whole arrow, something. Dots forever. That was the big idea, was dots. And meanwhile, I'm, like, knocking myself out.
[00:42:59] Speaker A: To find a new idea.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: Just. It's okay to do one idea, to refine deeply. It's okay to do one pair of pants, go to town of them deeply, which we are doing.
[00:43:09] Speaker A: Yes, we.
[00:43:10] Speaker B: It's funny. Also the order in which we are going and the style.
[00:43:14] Speaker A: Yes. I had a feeling you would.
[00:43:16] Speaker B: You would.
[00:43:17] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:43:17] Speaker B: Oh, did I just kick my dog?
[00:43:20] Speaker A: You kicked my dog.
[00:43:22] Speaker B: You felt the Jerky boys.
How do you know the Jerky boys? I thought you would be too young for that, for sure.
[00:43:27] Speaker A: No, definitely not. That was.
[00:43:30] Speaker B: You kicked my dog, and now he needs operation. I. It's inappropriate.
[00:43:35] Speaker A: Yeah, but it's so good. Come on, now. Y'all know this video. Don't come for us. Y'all know this video. And it was great. It brought us all joy.
[00:43:42] Speaker B: Okay, so these pants.
[00:43:44] Speaker A: Oh, I see the buttons.
[00:43:46] Speaker B: I see this very low rise, very big. But a cinched ankle, which is interesting.
[00:43:52] Speaker A: Difference to the wet.
[00:43:53] Speaker B: Okay. It's also button fly, which is love it or hate it? It is what it is. I have replaced buttons, actually. Let's count the number. So I've got these on my first tour in London. So that puts us at, like, 2007. So good. It's now 2024, and I still wear these bad boys. I love them. They're, like, paper thin now, which is my favorite.
[00:44:16] Speaker A: Yeah, they're worn.
[00:44:16] Speaker B: Don't even know the brand. I've never thought to look.
[00:44:20] Speaker A: Yeah, same for me with pants boy Garo Trevor.
[00:44:24] Speaker B: Boy on Garro Trevor.
[00:44:25] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:44:27] Speaker B: Don't know. Cool stitching. We love. We're here for it. But let's count the number of buttons I have replaced. One. No, sorry. One.
[00:44:33] Speaker A: Two over time. Three to salvage them.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: Four or five. Five buttons.
[00:44:38] Speaker A: Worth it.
[00:44:39] Speaker B: So many lives, and I get so many compliments because they're kind of unusual.
[00:44:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:44:44] Speaker B: These buttons do come undone, so we can be serving a whole lot of inner thigh if we should choose. What's the point of that for someone such as myself?
[00:44:55] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:44:56] Speaker B: We don't know. Someone such as myself, we don't know. But it's an option, and a girl's got to have options.
Also, you might want to wear, like.
[00:45:05] Speaker A: A legging or some kind of color.
[00:45:08] Speaker B: Like, I might like. I might like. I might want to with exactly a layer. You know, these are way too large to be going under this. But we do. An option to layer is so important.
[00:45:19] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:45:19] Speaker B: Also, as we addressed before, pockets, critical zipper pockets over. Because I have important things. Yeah. Not only do I have things, I have important things and I move. I go upside down sometimes. I don't like being upside down, but I do occasionally. When we were building that fucking dude is the last thing that we shot.
When the sun.
[00:45:44] Speaker A: When the sun goes down, why did.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: I want to say comes up?
That's not right.
[00:45:48] Speaker A: Because when the sun goes down, we finish.
[00:45:50] Speaker B: That's exactly right. That was, it was a late day.
[00:45:53] Speaker A: It was late.
[00:45:53] Speaker B: Oh, my God. But yeah, we were upside down. We were sideways. Not enough time, but yet we did it.
[00:45:59] Speaker A: We did it.
[00:45:59] Speaker B: We pulled it off. We did it.
[00:46:01] Speaker A: Talk about time crunch. And we did that. That's one of the things that was most proud of all of us.
[00:46:07] Speaker B: Talk about having a big appetite and getting it done with trust and with patience and kindness. That really felt like an everest of a scene. And we started working on that scene early like, it was one of the first things that we did and the last things that we shot. I. So we got a lot of R.
[00:46:24] Speaker A: And D. You guys started with like a table, like a plow.
[00:46:26] Speaker B: Oh, my God. I will add a picture of tables on their sides, ladders flat on the floor, chairs on their backs. We're just like pretending to be upright.
[00:46:39] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: On a fire escape. We're laying a horizontal.
[00:46:42] Speaker A: Most rewarding.
[00:46:44] Speaker B: Really crying hard in the theater for that one piece.
[00:46:46] Speaker A: For me, in my experience, for sure.
[00:46:48] Speaker B: Was it a more so than. Than the club?
[00:46:52] Speaker A: Wow, that was pretty good, too. But you know what? I think it was. Cause, like, you know, we all had to pull through in that moment. But it was really on performance wise on Corey and I for that moment. You're right.
We don't know. We spent a lot of time on the club, all these big numbers with everyone. But, like, that one was.
[00:47:11] Speaker B: We didn't have the moving until like the day before.
[00:47:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:17] Speaker B: Woof. Yeah. So we had mockups in a studio. It was on our brains. We were like noodling with it. But actually being in practice with the thing, very short amount of time and.
[00:47:28] Speaker A: The music, that instrumental part where we're doing all of those leapings and things and it was one of those ones that you couldn't choreograph fully until you had the piece.
[00:47:41] Speaker B: We had the wall. We had to know how long it took to do the things. Get chicken or egg. That was a really chicken egg piece. Like, we can't do that until we have this.
[00:47:49] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:47:49] Speaker B: We can't do that until we have this.
Oh, man, that was a lot.
[00:47:52] Speaker A: Shout out to y'all. For real. Shout out to us. We did it.
[00:47:55] Speaker B: We did it. We did it. Are you ready to do our final segment, or do you have one more pants? Let's bring it. Bring it.
[00:48:02] Speaker A: Well, these are special for me because they're actually talking about two thousands pants.
[00:48:09] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: Stand the test of time, and you want it. And you want to preserve friends with those pants.
[00:48:14] Speaker B: These pants are in the same music video as those pants.
[00:48:18] Speaker A: Yo, y'all see why we're. You see? You see?
[00:48:22] Speaker B: You understand?
[00:48:22] Speaker A: Now it's all we're speaking through telepathically.
[00:48:26] Speaker B: There have been posted comments on your work on Instagram where the only word I say is pants. Pants. You're literally. It's looks and it's this, that, and it's your pride, your work. And I'm just like, pants, pants, pants.
[00:48:38] Speaker A: Pants. This is us.
[00:48:40] Speaker B: Yes. We align there.
[00:48:41] Speaker A: And I live for it every time.
[00:48:42] Speaker B: Where did these come from? Are they project pants? Are they personal pants?
[00:48:45] Speaker A: Yeah, they're project pants, but they're not my project pants. So my sister, my older sister, Annexie. Shout out to annex. Love you, sis. Who you got to meet. She came to set that exact shoot day.
[00:48:54] Speaker B: Yep, yep.
[00:48:55] Speaker A: She used to model. And, you know, she is my co oldest sister, so I would want to take all her stuff, but I was too young to wear it at that time. But I remember this was one of the. One of the keeps, the coveted items.
[00:49:08] Speaker B: That you really like.
[00:49:09] Speaker A: This. And another.
Another skirt that's like camo but was like green and gray camo. And I still have that.
[00:49:18] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:49:18] Speaker A: But these pants, let me tell you, tell me the moment that something happens, I'm gonna try and preserve them as best I can.
[00:49:24] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:49:25] Speaker A: I've been wearing them for, like, since I was, like 16 now. 29.
[00:49:30] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:49:30] Speaker A: You know what I mean?
One button has. She probably doesn't even remember that I have these pants.
[00:49:36] Speaker B: Those pants are worn.
[00:49:37] Speaker A: They're so good. I would definitely try to replace the one button that's gone. It's somewhere. Somewhere over here. But they're just so good. They're just so good. And I'm very grateful for them.
[00:49:47] Speaker B: Shout out to hand me down. That's.
[00:49:49] Speaker A: And they're a hand me down. Yes. They are very comfy. They fit just right. They're one of the tighter pants that I would wear and feel comfortable.
[00:49:58] Speaker B: It's got to be a specific fit.
[00:50:00] Speaker A: Lots of nights out dancing.
[00:50:01] Speaker B: Nice, my friend.
[00:50:03] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:50:03] Speaker B: We're gonna head into wrist roll with it. Our rapid fire burnout round. Are you ready for this, Leslie?
[00:50:07] Speaker A: I suck at these, but I'm ready.
[00:50:09] Speaker B: You're gonna be great.
[00:50:09] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:50:10] Speaker B: Coffee or tea?
[00:50:11] Speaker A: Coffee.
[00:50:11] Speaker B: Dog or damn.
[00:50:13] Speaker A: See? Both. I do both every day, but coffee was coffee.
[00:50:16] Speaker B: That was it. That was it. Dogs or cats?
[00:50:19] Speaker A: Dogs.
[00:50:20] Speaker B: If you could sing like anyone in the world, who would it be?
[00:50:22] Speaker A: Whitney.
[00:50:23] Speaker B: Same.
[00:50:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:50:24] Speaker B: What's the last song you belted?
[00:50:26] Speaker A: Ooh, what was the last song I belted?
Zang.
Probably Whitney. Greatest love of all.
[00:50:37] Speaker B: Classic. It's so good. It's so good. All right, favorite move.
[00:50:42] Speaker A: Favorite move. The two step.
[00:50:43] Speaker B: Done. Least favorite move.
[00:50:45] Speaker A: Ooh. Least favorite move. I like it when you ask people this. I've been seeing the series.
[00:50:49] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:50:53] Speaker A: I don't know. I don't have the least favorite move.
I don't know.
[00:50:57] Speaker B: Was there one from. Was there one from in the heights that was really hard to you? Whoa.
[00:51:01] Speaker A: Assault is my least favorite move.
[00:51:03] Speaker B: I hate that move. I hate that move. That's intense, but I hate that move.
[00:51:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Don't come up on somebody that doesn't know you coming up on them unless it's invited.
[00:51:12] Speaker B: Thank you. Yeah, we're very much consent. Yeah, I'm approaching. I'm approaching. Yeah, I'm approaching with dance. Dance is coming to. And dance has arrived. Are you. Are we.
[00:51:24] Speaker A: Are we saying yes?
[00:51:24] Speaker B: Can we. Excellent.
[00:51:26] Speaker A: Great.
[00:51:26] Speaker B: Who. What is your animal likeness? What would you say is like. Like an animal that I like. Yeah.
[00:51:33] Speaker A: I get to raff a lot.
[00:51:34] Speaker B: You do have a really long neck and kind of a peaceful walk.
[00:51:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I have. I have a friend that calls me Lil Fawn, too, because my limbs clumsy. Little situation. Like. Like bammy. Like baby bam. Yeah, that's.
[00:51:51] Speaker B: I see it.
[00:51:52] Speaker A: Similar.
[00:51:52] Speaker B: I see it. What do you think is the best sound?
[00:51:57] Speaker A: The best sound?
People's laughs.
[00:52:00] Speaker B: Mm hmm.
[00:52:00] Speaker A: I love people's laughs.
[00:52:02] Speaker B: Is there one that stands out to you right now? Like, somebody who's got a really good laugh? Good laugh.
[00:52:05] Speaker A: She has a great laugh. Yeah.
[00:52:07] Speaker B: Nice. What is it? What is, like, a favorite smell? Hmm.
[00:52:13] Speaker A: You always smell really nice, Dana. We talk about this too, buddies, because.
[00:52:19] Speaker B: Are you wearing it right now?
[00:52:20] Speaker A: I'm wearing it right now. It's never changing.
[00:52:22] Speaker B: Another 13.
[00:52:23] Speaker A: Another 13.
[00:52:24] Speaker B: Lalabo. I also am wearing it right now, but for a while, I was on this aesop roll on.
[00:52:30] Speaker A: I know, you told me. And it's so good.
[00:52:31] Speaker B: Called marrakesh. It's insane.
[00:52:32] Speaker A: I low key it.
[00:52:33] Speaker B: Almost so good. It's really insane.
Good. Yes. Okay. Taste buds. We're taste buds.
[00:52:38] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:52:39] Speaker B: Really? Hypothetical, but try to put yourself there. Really? Only allowed to listen to one album for the rest of the time. I am sorry to do that to you, but what is it?
[00:52:49] Speaker A: Forever.
[00:52:52] Speaker B: Forever.
Yeah.
[00:52:55] Speaker A: Lovers rock.
Chade.
Yeah, I think that would be it.
[00:53:00] Speaker B: And when you say that, it's not so bad.
[00:53:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:05] Speaker B: Okay. If you could have any superhero ability, what do you think it would be?
[00:53:09] Speaker A: Dang.
[00:53:10] Speaker B: I know. Ooh.
[00:53:12] Speaker A: Speed. Teleportation.
[00:53:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:53:15] Speaker A: Teleportation.
[00:53:15] Speaker B: You travel a lot. It would just be nice if that could just be. Right. Done.
[00:53:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:19] Speaker B: What is your actual superhero power?
[00:53:22] Speaker A: Ooh.
[00:53:22] Speaker B: Like, what is something you're, like, really good at? Hmm.
[00:53:27] Speaker A: I feel a lot of people in my life have told me that I have the gift of exhortation, like, motivating, encouraging people. Yes. I get joy from that. Sometimes I have to. As an adult, I've learned to observe this about myself. It's like when I'm getting too excited, I start to interrupt people, because I just want to say how much I get them. And it's just like, I don't let people finish thoughts.
[00:53:56] Speaker B: Listening to myself on the podcast is murder. I just did it to you. I can't because I'm always.
[00:54:01] Speaker A: No, but it's just. But if you're speaking the same language, it's. You know what I mean? That's why we. That's why. That's why we're able to do this.
[00:54:08] Speaker B: I definitely do that.
[00:54:09] Speaker A: And we see it in each other. But, dude. Yeah.
[00:54:13] Speaker B: Okay. But you're an encourager, you're a coach, you're a cheerleader, and you do it.
[00:54:16] Speaker A: I love cheering people on. I love cheering people on.
[00:54:18] Speaker B: Yeah, it's the. Yes. And it's the improv team.
[00:54:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:54:22] Speaker B: Because I think, yeah. We are very good at cheering on others and less good at cheering on ourselves. So putting ourselves in places where we can be better supported is probably advantageous for us. Yes. Let's do more of that.
[00:54:34] Speaker A: Let's do more of that.
[00:54:35] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:54:36] Speaker A: I accept that invitation.
[00:54:38] Speaker B: Okay. Words that move me is the podcast. I'm looking to you for a quote or actual words, a guiding principle, a mantra, something that moves you.
[00:54:48] Speaker A: I got the one, and it gets deeper the older I get, and it works better. I just had a crying session because I got it from another life lesson recently, even deeper than I've gotten it before, which I didn't think that was.
[00:55:02] Speaker B: Even possible, but here you are.
[00:55:04] Speaker A: But that's the case with a lot of these things that we know, and then we keep relearning. Yeah. It's like an onion layer. Grace is sufficient.
Grace is sufficient.
[00:55:15] Speaker B: Talk about simple and effective.
[00:55:17] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, you know, Grace. Yeah. Your grace is sufficient. I like, you know, I'm a believer of being. Be honest. So it's. It's the word. It's like, your grace is sufficient. But I am learning as an adult more and more, and it's connected to all the things that we've already talked about, especially self criticism.
If you're not able to, like, receive grace to the degree where it's like, there is a limit, where you just are not gonna get something. That's the thing about not getting.
[00:55:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:55:44] Speaker A: Not meeting the mark. It's like you might not even be aware of what you're not getting in life and that. And somehow we're still here, you know? So. But if you can't go inward in some space and give that to yourself or receive that from a greater source, then it makes it really hard to give that to other people, especially when they're not aware that they're missing the mark, which is usually the case.
[00:56:08] Speaker B: You know, it's hysterical.
[00:56:10] Speaker A: What?
[00:56:10] Speaker B: As you were just saying, like, right before you said missing the mark, I was closing my eyes and trying to tap my finger to my nose, and I missed the mark. You're gonna see it. It's there slightly off the tip of my nose because I was at my eyes. Yes. Yo, that was so fun. That's deep. I'm sorry, but yes.
[00:56:30] Speaker A: Yes, we all miss him. We're all susceptible to missing the mark.
[00:56:33] Speaker B: When that's the theme of this episode. And what to do, how to continue when that has happened, except that.
[00:56:41] Speaker A: How to wrestle with. Okay, I am missing the mark with.
[00:56:45] Speaker B: Grace, literally, with grace.
[00:56:48] Speaker A: And then.
[00:56:49] Speaker B: And that. That's enough for right now, for this moment. Grace is it. That's the bar.
[00:56:53] Speaker A: And it allows you to move. Knowing that allows you to move forward to where you do hit the mark. Yes, my friend, most of the time.
[00:56:58] Speaker B: Oh, thank you for that. Thank you. And thank you for accepting this invitation. This has been a treat and a treasure. Could talk to you forever, literally. We'll do our next one over meal.
[00:57:07] Speaker A: Yes, we will. At Bakari or Bakari or Bakarai or curry. Bakari, right?
[00:57:16] Speaker B: I don't know, but I still don't know who you are. They're so great. They're actually, I was talking about them with a friend the other night. Really personable. Great menu.
[00:57:25] Speaker A: Yes. Great service, great food, great ambiance, great drinks.
[00:57:28] Speaker B: Drinks.
[00:57:29] Speaker A: That watermelon drink they got look, the baquerita.
[00:57:33] Speaker B: Let's talk about it, actually. So I'm trying new segments on the show. Yeah, pants is great. We could do like a flight from bakkery. Like do a, like a Tapas review. We do a tasting. Yeah. Oh, it's great. Be sure to tune back in later. Yeah, we're touring with the podcast and it's a food podcast and fashion, words and flavors and looks that move us.
[00:57:55] Speaker A: So we got move, you know what I mean?
[00:57:57] Speaker B: Thank you, Leslie.
[00:57:58] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:57:59] Speaker B: Thank you, friends for listening, watching. Be sure to click subscribe. Like, leave a review, leave a rating, and oh, watch the playlist all the way through. 220 plus episodes. And we are in our very early days of being monetizable on YouTube, so every hour helps. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for being here. Keep it funky, everybody.
Yeah.
[00:58:22] Speaker A: Let's go.
[00:58:24] Speaker B: 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 Reid, thumbnails and marketing by Fiona Small. You can make your tax deductible donations towards 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 wordsthatmoveme.com dot. If you're simply curious to know more about me and the work I do outside of this podcast, visit thedanawilson.com.
