Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: When I'm dancing, I'm acting with. Okay, here we go. Here it is.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Here we go. Take two.
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Yeah. When I'm dancing, I'm acting with. Wow. Why can't I get there?
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Take three.
[00:00:14] Speaker A: Take three.
[00:00:18] Speaker C: Oh, my God. My friends, welcome to Words that Move Me. I'm Dana. This is the podcast. And today we are joined by not one, but, but two very old, very dear. Not very old, like age wise, but longtime friends Harry Shum and Shelby Ribara. Two brilliant dancers plus dancers, plus parents, dancers plus actors, dancers plus voice actors and recently dancers plus authors. You're gonna get a full dish on all the things. But first, celebrating a win. Today I'm celebrating that the Words that Move Me podcast is like this close to being monetizable on YouTube. So as I am talking, whether you are watching or listening, please, after you're done with this episode, go on over to YouTube if you love the podcast. I mean, I ask a lot from the people who love me a lot. I ask a little from the people who love me a little. So if you love me a little, go over to Dana Daners on YouTube. Is that what it is, what my channel is called? And I have a playlist made entirely out of Words that Move Me podcast episodes. Turn on the playlist and let it roll through.
I mean, bonus if you keep the volume on, but you could even mute it and just let that play all the live long day while you're at work, while you're on set. It would help me tremendously because I love doing the podcast and I would love for the podcast to be doing money. So think about it. If you're loving the pod, head over to the playlist. Let that shit play through all the live long day. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. That's what I'm celebrating. We're like that close. We're so close. Okay, now you go. What's going well in your world? What are you very close to monetizing?
Congratulations. I'm so glad that you're winning and I'm so glad to have the the husband wife duo that is Harry and Shelby here on the podcast today. They are an absolute treasure to the dance community and an inspiration to parents, to creative types. This episode is about learning. It's about technique. It's about finding your style. It's about continuing persevering even when you're afraid.
So this episode is for you, no matter who you are. I know that that's the stuff that we're up against. So without any further ado, Please enjoy the two and only Harry and Shelby.
That was her move and his move. Shelby, Harry. I just did it wrong.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: There we go. There's the laugh.
[00:03:09] Speaker C: We're doing great. Welcome to the podcast. Yes. Thank you so much for having me, you guys. Actually, Shelby, I met you before I moved to la. Yeah. You are one of my. Yeah. One of my longest known people here working in the industry. I don't remember what year it was, but it must have been like 2004, I think.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: So the shoot. Yes.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: We participated in, like, an extracurricular summer intensive that was honestly way ahead of its time.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:36] Speaker C: Because we were essentially making concept videos, like kind of full length, like a. How long was it? 20 minutes.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: It was like a full on short film.
[00:03:45] Speaker C: Short film.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: In la.
[00:03:46] Speaker C: Yeah, in la. D. Casper Ramitz. I think at the time it was like early jump days.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:53] Speaker C: And it was a part of jumps summer intensive kind of programming. And that was the first time we met. You were featured in one of these segments. I am trying so hard to find it. I swear to you, I have somewhere.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: Because I don't have it.
[00:04:07] Speaker C: I have it.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Okay. Amazing. Because I don't think I've actually even seen it, to be honest with you.
[00:04:11] Speaker C: Oh, I've seen it. And she is stunning. You're like, front and center and in the back there's like slides or ladders or some structure, like very contemporary art dance.
[00:04:23] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:04:24] Speaker C: And, yeah, that was when we met Harry. We didn't meet until years and years later.
Okay. So I'm ahead of myself already. Introduce yourselves. Tell us anything you want us to know about you. And by us, I mean, like, the listeners, which is a wide range of people, mostly creatives, a lot of aspiring dancers and choreographers. So, yeah, anything you want us. Them to know about you, you go first.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Hi, everybody. My name is Shelby Ribara. I'm married to this guy, so sometimes I go by Shum.
[00:04:54] Speaker C: Okay. I was wondering.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Yeah, professionally, Shelby Ribara. But, you know, when we're married and when, you know, we pick up our.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: Kids to not confuse people, just like sham.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: But Rebara.
[00:05:06] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: So, so nice.
[00:05:08] Speaker C: And I was. I'm glad you've said it now eight times because I was curious about how to pronounce it. I would think I've been doing it wrong.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, Rabara, sometimes, you.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Know, Shun, obviously when I saw it, I was like Santa Barbara.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Santa Barbara without the R. But Rabara, it's very Filipino. You could roll the R's if you want.
[00:05:25] Speaker C: Optional.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: Your first Rabara Your first ribara I've ever met.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Really?
[00:05:28] Speaker C: Yeah. I don't know a rabara. That's why I didn't know how to pronounce it.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: I feel so sorry.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: I don't really know that actually. I don't even know if I know another rabara.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: I don't run into a lot of rabaras, honest with you.
[00:05:37] Speaker C: So you're singular.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: I am singular.
[00:05:39] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: I mean, strong start. Yeah, strong start. And yeah, I've been dancing since I was like four and a half and I've choreographed here and there things I do. I did cartoon voices for a long time. So I was on a show called Steven Universe. I played a character named Peridot, who's my fav. And I got to do the tap dancing choreography for all the episodes as well as the movie Steven Universe. The movie. Which was super. Really fun. Really, really fun.
[00:06:06] Speaker C: Jealous.
[00:06:06] Speaker B: It was so fun.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: And it's like in the book. In the book that they sell, right? Yeah.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah. And Harry has helped me actually with a few, like, duets on there. And we didn't even know it was going to be like published into the book.
[00:06:15] Speaker A: I didn't do much. I was just floating. But she's the one who did it.
[00:06:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: I mean, it's fun. It's fun to like dance with Harry on a professional level, but also too. We can't salsa dance. Just want to get that clear. Anybody asks us to dance together in my dreams.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: I'm really good at it. It's a disservice that I know some of the best in the world because then I really like have imposter syndrome complex around it. I think I'm really bad at it. I think you guys can't be bad.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: No, no. But no, I am. At least maybe she's not. But like, you know, I started with like part like when I first started dancing or like not dancing, but I was introduced to dance west coast swing, which is kind of different. I mean, it is different. But then I just. I don't know why salsa is so intimidating.
[00:07:01] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Even though I came from a Latin culture. Okay, so my name is Harry. So we skip. My name is Harry Shum Jr.
I'm married to this one right here.
And I started off as my ambitions were just to kind of. Of survival of like learning things. When I moved to America. I was born in Costa Rica. Moved to America.
[00:07:23] Speaker C: How old were you when you.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: I was six years old. Okay. Just learning about American culture. I attribute to my affinity or to move from wrestling. Wwf.
[00:07:36] Speaker C: Shut up.
[00:07:37] Speaker A: At the time. Yeah. Wcw. I love watching it. I would be in a living room recreating the moves, recreating the choreography, trying to mimic everything I did, even with, like. Even with, like, action figures. And I would redo the moves, and then I'd do it over and over, and I'd do it again. Jump off, do, like, suplex.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Could you imagine little Harry doing, like, a little suplex on, I don't know.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: All my stuffed animals? Yeah. Jimmy Snuka, like, do the, you know, pile drive and off the ropes. Jump down. Like, then I started to, like, you know, get comfortable with my body. And then, you know, when I got to dance during. I went to theater in seventh grade, and I remember we got introduced to west coast dance. No, not West.
[00:08:20] Speaker C: West coast swing.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: And I was like, oh, I like this. And I was able to. One of the few boys who was able to get it quickly.
[00:08:28] Speaker C: Funky.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: It's so funky. So fun.
[00:08:30] Speaker C: So funky.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: And you just like. And I was like, oh, okay, cool. And then I stopped. And then high school, I got dared to audition for dance team. And then the rest was history. I just fell in love with dance. And now, you know, trying to. Trying to get back into dancing because I stopped for a while.
[00:08:46] Speaker C: I have. First of all, I've never heard on this podcast, and I ask everybody, like, how did you find dance? What was your early dance experience? Never, ever heard through wrestling. That is a first. It's like.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: I mean, they're dead.
[00:08:59] Speaker C: They're danced or music videos or whatever. Whatever. But it is choreographed.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: And improv, too. There's improv and choreography. Yeah. And you're in your. In a weird way, you're listening because you're like. You're physically listening to, like, each other. And then you listen to the crowd. It is theater. It is. It's theater.
[00:09:18] Speaker C: Here's something interesting. Just I'm kind of like, thinking of for the very first time when I watch it, I experience it physically. When I watch dance, I don't. When I watch dance, I'm like, look at you. Like, you, me, separate. But when I watch wrestling, it's like, it's happening to me. It's like a really internal experience to watch it. And maybe that's just because I am terrified of being injured. Like, hate thinking about being hurt. But it is, like, a really visceral experience to watch wrestling.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:49] Speaker C: I can see how it spoke to you as a young person. I don't think I ever laid eyes on it until, like, being a teenager.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, as like, a Boy, that was. I mean, you just see, like, young teenage boys just, like, on the side, you know, watching. And there's. I guess there's this, like, language. It was my dad always like, it's fake. I'm like, no, it's not. It's fake. No, it's not. And we just have massive arguments. I really stood by until I remember watching a special where, like, oh, my God, it's fake.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: I mean, I definitely cried when the Undertaker. Oh, yeah. I had a little. An older brother, and I cried when the undertaker took the ultimate warrior and put him in a coffin. And I cried because I really thought the ultimate warrior was going to die, who was also my favorite. But what I loved about it was, like, the selling of it. And, like, I think that's, like, what? Also the showmanship. The showmanship.
[00:10:37] Speaker C: But that's at 12. It's exactly 12 years.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:10:41] Speaker C: Musical theater.
[00:10:42] Speaker B: Totally. And that's what I think. Like, there's a parallel between, like, wrestlers and dancers. Right. We're both using our bodies as, like, physical vessels to portray stories. Yeah, right. And then I think of the Rock. I mean, the Rock started off as a wrestler, and look at him now as John Cena. Right.
[00:10:58] Speaker C: Did either of you get into stunts or anything like that?
[00:11:03] Speaker A: I did some movies where it was heavily. You know, I did a lot of my own stunts and then worked with a lot of stunt team, which was so cool, because I think it's very similar to, like, dance community. They have a stunt community where everyone, you know, you're just supporting each other, just making sure one you get. Because at the end day, when you look at stunts or you look at fight choreography, you know, Michelle Yeoh talks about this a lot. And, you know, I remember watching Interview before I got to, like, get. Get into it, was she's like, you can't punch the way you would punch in a movie as you would punch a person in real life at the end of the day, if the camera doesn't read it. And also, the way you punch in real life is different than how you would punch, whether towards a camera. And. And you have to almost telegraph. Like, in real fight, you don't want to telegraph and let someone know that you're gonna punch them. Yeah. But you need to see that whole motion for it to be believable, to sell it. So there's that difference between that. So, you know, there's a whole language that they have. And especially with dance, the same thing with. With dance in different ways. Right. You have on stage is different than on film.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: And I don't know if people know this, but Michelle Yeoh was a ballerina.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: I've had a whole conversation. I don't know that she was a ballerina. She trained, if I'm remembering correctly, in Paris and London.
[00:12:21] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I might have to double check that. But I remember having a conversation. She's a ballerina growing up.
[00:12:27] Speaker C: And so totally, totally makes sense.
Technique, my friends. Ooh.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Technique is everything.
[00:12:33] Speaker C: Go a long way in everything.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Yeah, it can. It can. It can help you with everything.
[00:12:38] Speaker C: Yes, you'll get to this point. But the last question I ask, all of my guests becomes separated from this interview, and we use it as a mashup episode at the end of the season. Every single guest from the whole season answers the same question. And the first season I did this, my question was, what is the difference between technique and style?
And it got no, obviously no two answers are the same. That's why I ask it. But almost always metaphor. Almost always technique is like the car. Style is like the journey. You know, it's always.
We're. We never really answered the question. Very few people did. Anyways. One of my favorite metaphor answers was this idea that technique is like gloves. You use different techniques for different things. Like your dentist wears a certain kind of glove. That's different than the gardener wears, that's different than the welder wears. Right. The technique helps you get a specific job done, but the style is like your fingerprint, the artist's signature. And sometimes technique can cover up the style of the person. You get too technical and it feels sterile or like the humanness removed.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:55] Speaker C: And I love, in art, especially humanness, it doesn't mean an absence of technique, but I love a hefty fingerprint. But I love technique. I love technical thinkers and technical people.
I have fancied myself a technician before, although the older I get and the more I learn about and the more I have these conversations, the more I learn, I know nothing. I know this many techniques, this many ways to get things done, and it's a little bit intimidating, right? Because now I'm like, I feel a career segue. I should be doing stunts, but then again, I should not because I'm terrified of being injured. Although I did have a guest on the podcast. His name is Gary Take on. Do you know this name?
[00:14:37] Speaker B: Gary Taykon.
[00:14:38] Speaker C: Gary Taycon. He is a. He considers himself a movement analyst, but he was for a long time a stuntman. He's a yoga teacher. He was the movement analyst for the Irishman for Robert De Niro Alucino and Joe Pesci.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: Yeah, Joe Pesci.
[00:14:55] Speaker C: Because in this film, they needed to look 30. And these men are 75 plus. Like, they're so. So it was his job to help with physicality.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: Right. Wow.
[00:15:04] Speaker C: And he explained. Sorry, long winded way of doing this.
He said, they're not daredevils, they are technicians.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: They are technicians.
[00:15:15] Speaker C: And there shouldn't be an element of like, no dare. Do I dare? It's like, how do I. I do this? We put the camera here, we hide this, that there. We have this there, you know, everything.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Like, there's that Ryan Gosling film that captures it really well because it was made by stunt.
[00:15:32] Speaker C: I haven't seen it yet. Riley was just talking about it.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: It's so funny. It's wonderful. But I think it's just a good insight into how that works. You're right. That quote is like, you know, obviously you do need to have some cojones. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, like, but being able to know step by step exactly what's happening. And you're right, it is a technician, because also, you're not just thinking about how to do the stunt or execute the stunt. You're also, how do I move? Like the actor that I'm portraying. And so when they're, like, around you, they're watching how you move, they're watching which shoulder is higher than the other, their character says, you know, and then how you move your neck. And. And so all that's missing in the element is like, then they just add, if they're able to add the dialogue, add the charisma, which they all have, then they become the actor.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: Well, that's essentially their style. Right? That's essentially their style. Like, I'm coming more from a technical, trained, dancing perspective. And, you know, you learn how to do point, and point is not just as easy as throwing on some pointe shoes made out of wood.
[00:16:37] Speaker C: We know this because our favorite Instagram account is models doing ballet.
[00:16:41] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. My favorite. Yes.
[00:16:42] Speaker C: Obsess.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: Obsession.
[00:16:43] Speaker C: Obsessed. Obsessed.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: And so that's the thing. It's like, you know, you just can't throw somebody who hasn't had any ballet training and throw them on some pointe shoes because they are going to pop their ankle. They will be injured. Done.
[00:16:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: And so, you know, when you're talking about stunt guys and, you know, the training, as far as, like, the movement training that goes along, I feel like so much of the technique that ballet and technical dancers have, as well as, like hip hop dancers, like, you know, like the street train. That is also technique. These B boys, they know how to not crack their head open. There is a technique that they have trained and rehearsed and practiced time and time again. You can't ask a ballerina to do 32 fouettes on Pointe shoes if they haven't had years of training. So the technique is the basis of the foundation. And then when you're able to let go of that technique, once it's inside of you, then you could put the style. You could throw in an Alsa cone in there if you want. But I feel like technique is what I used. When I'm super tired, I always go back to my technique. And then the style for me is when I shut my brain off and I'm just Shelby Ribara completely coasting. Exactly. Exactly.
[00:17:53] Speaker A: It's like muscle memory, really.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: Yes. For sure.
[00:17:56] Speaker C: It has to be that deeply ingrained.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: That you can turn that part on auto. Not be focused on what muscles are turning out or if I'm spotting or not. That's like a given. And we can now project or go inside to be emotional or like. Or articulate the story, embellish and things like that. I love this idea, that technique. Another answer to this question is technique is the what? Like, what is my body doing? And style is the so what?
[00:18:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:25] Speaker C: Why do I care?
[00:18:25] Speaker A: What's the point?
[00:18:26] Speaker C: What's the. I got so many good answers to this question. I love. I'll link to that episode. It's great.
Pat's cell phone back.
This is a good segue, though, because I'm so curious. Neither of you are primarily dancing anymore, but I'm certain that your dance training has helped you in the things that you're doing now. So I'm curious to hear how dance has prepared you for what you're doing now. If it has or how it maybe has not how you feel maybe set up. Set up for failure.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: You know, for myself, it's.
I didn't really understand how much dance has influence almost in everything that I do.
We're talking about, like, just even acting wise. It's just given me this uniqueness that I think a lot of actors don't have just coming from a dance background, but not just that. Also industry seeing the types of characters that, you know, we see every single day and the way they move. And that's beyond technique. That's like style, right. Its style. It's something that. That you. You can't learn at a school. You just have to be around it because their. Their style is beyond, you know, where you. Beyond, like, even, you know, that. That. That artists are trying to replicate, you know, which they do. You know, a lot of the styles come from dancers, you know, when you look at all the biggest. Biggest music artists that are out there. So for. But for me, this quote is kind of, like. Feels kind of corny, but there's no other way I can, like, explain it.
[00:20:02] Speaker C: Bring it if I need it so much.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: When I'm dancing, I'm acting with. Okay, here we go.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: Here it is. Here we go. Take two.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: Yeah. When I'm dancing, I'm acting with. Wow. Why can't I get there?
[00:20:18] Speaker B: Take three.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Take three. When I'm acting, you got this, babe. I'm dancing with my emotions. When I'm dancing, I'm acting through movement.
[00:20:29] Speaker C: Yeah, I can understand how you got that twisted. I want you to say one second.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Yeah, sorry. Yeah, yeah, totally. When I'm dancing, I'm acting.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Is it.
[00:20:37] Speaker A: When I'm acting.
When I'm acting, I'm dancing with my emotions, and when I'm dancing, I'm acting through movement.
[00:20:44] Speaker C: This is beautiful.
[00:20:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:45] Speaker A: So like, that to me, when I started to realize that, I was like, oh, I can use this skill set, and kind of. It's really interchangeable in a lot.
[00:20:52] Speaker C: Dancing is acting, acting is dancing.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: It's all the same. At the end of the day, it's just a matter of technique. Which way do you use it? Right. And when I started, you know, like, when you're putting character together, just, like, everything. Body movement and just, like, posture and the way you move your head, being completely aware of that, I thought that was just normal for people to be able to do that. And, you know, you meet a lot of actors, like, they're taking these classes because they just don't understand that communication between mind and body and just the simplicity of just kind of gliding without, like, fully dancing is just feels like, oh, I can do that. And, you know, it is a skill set that completely 100% comes from having a dance background. And I'm just so grateful and thankful for that. But just even honestly, through life, you just. There's. There's a different way of moving. There's a rhythm that I think is not.
Is something that us dancers, we understand. But when you're looking at editing, when you're looking at, you know, that. The way you use you having a conversation, you can start to feel like, oh, something's off rhythm here. Yeah.
[00:21:56] Speaker C: Partnering. All of it is all of that.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:01] Speaker C: Thank you for that. I. One of My favorite books. I've talked about it a thousand times on the podcast. Sorry, if you're bored.
Is called the Art of Learning. It's by a guy called Josh Waitzkin, who was a child prodigy chess player. The movie Finding Bobby Fischer was about this guy. And I think at 12, he became a world champion chess player. And then they made this movie. He became a star. A lot of attention, it fucked with his game. So he stepped away from chess for a while and began learning the art of Tai Chi. Push hands, the combative Tai chi. Became a world champion at tai chi. And so now I'm like a guy that's a world champion at two completely different disciplines is writing a book on how to learn. I'm reading it. And his whole shtick is that chess made his Tai Chi game better, and tai chi made his chess game better. And learning a craft is the same as learning a different, different craft. You just have to apply what you've learned. Dance lessons are life lessons. Chess lessons are Tai Chi lessons. All of it is learning, and all of it can be turned into technique, but you really do need to put it into practice.
[00:23:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:04] Speaker C: In order to refine the technique and make it yours. I had a great acting teacher who also was a podcast guest, Gary Imhoff, who really believes that technique is whatever works.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:23:16] Speaker C: That's it.
[00:23:16] Speaker A: Yeah. That is the technique for whatever works for you.
[00:23:19] Speaker C: That's what it is. If, while I'm doing fuete turns, I need to think about a spring in my left ankle and a pulley system out of the top of my head and a tornado behind my right hamstring. If that's how I do forte turns fierce, you can't tell me that's wrong.
[00:23:33] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:23:34] Speaker C: So I don't know. I love this idea that all of it is fair game. Right.
Thinking about yourself as a wrestler while you're dancing.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:44] Speaker C: Thinking about, you know, I. Or thinking of yourself as a dancer while you're writing a children's book. We'll get there.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:50] Speaker C: It's all connected. And if you use it can be turned into your own personal technique.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:23:57] Speaker C: So many different ways to get things done, but without any technique is really not the way.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: Well, also too, you know, being a dancer, I always believe, like, once a dancer, always a dancer. Whether you're, like, studio trained or whether you just like to dance while making some scrambled eggs, you know, there is this unsaid happiness. It opens that. That mind body connection. Just the endorphins that are released when you're moving.
You Know, instead of being static and dancing, for me, has really been a vehicle of discipline for me. I've really been able to excel, you know, when I was younger in school, but also, you know, while I was a professional dancer, I also went to UCLA and I studied world arts and cultures and was a Laker girl and auditioning for, you know, professional jobs. And so I. Dancing really taught me to be fearless.
[00:24:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:48] Speaker B: It taught me, once you step in, to learning, like a shuffle step or buffaloes or, you know, whatever that may be, like, developes in center. During adagio, there's always a moment where you're like, I'm scared to do this. I'm so scared. I'm so scared. And then you're like, you just do it. You just keep going every single week, whether or not you can do adagio. You're like, I'm going to try again. I'm going to try again. And as a dancer, saying to myself, I'm gonna try again has really afforded me this life and this career of mine, you know, and now I'm, like, writing my own script.
[00:25:22] Speaker C: Say it.
[00:25:23] Speaker B: I don't know. Can I do it? I'm gonna try again. And I just kept doing it. I want to direct. Yeah, I'm gonna do it again. I got nothing to lose. I got nothing to lose. It's so important to us. And as a dancer, it's like, you really got nothing to lose.
[00:25:37] Speaker C: And you're going to be seen. People are going to see you do it. People are going to see you maybe mess up. It might physically hurt. Like a lot of other disciplines, failure is more, like, on the inside, like, oh, bummed. But, like, it might physically go wrong. It's going to publicly go wrong, probably. And yet you pick up and you try it again. You make a little micro adjustment. You try again. And I think dance is very rewarding when it feels good. It feels so good.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:02] Speaker C: So you keep going even through the fumbles and things. But I think accomplishing something that you have wanted to do always feels good, even if there are no endorphins involved.
Like, finishing a script will probably be less of a physical high, but no less, like, rewarding. It's gonna be amazing. I'm so excited for you.
[00:26:23] Speaker B: Thank you. I mean, yeah, as dancers, we grow up with teachers. You know, it's like, okay, you say jump, and we say, how high? We ask how high? And I finally feel I'm at a point in my life which feels really good. I'm like, okay, come through aging fine, like wine, asking Myself now, you know, I'm asking myself, how high can I jump now? Now, Instead of, like, trying to look for, like, other validation from others in this weird way as a dancer, and now, I mean, I feel way more confident freestyling in the middle of a room. When you would have asked me that five years ago, and I was like, eek. Oh, these dancers are so good. And now I'm like, ooh, I'm just living my life.
[00:27:02] Speaker C: Let me feel myself real quick.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: Yes, you're welcome.
[00:27:04] Speaker C: You can watch. Exactly.
[00:27:06] Speaker B: And I don't know where that's. Which happened. Like, I don't know if it's, like, having a kid or I don't know, like, what that was. And now I'm just grooving at the.
[00:27:12] Speaker A: Grocery store next to oj Being comfortable. Just being comfortable in your body. Like, even though we were comfortable in the sense of, like, you tell me what to do, it's exactly what saying. But it's like, now I feel comfortable doing what I want to do. And I think that is the big shift in, like, just, you know, honestly, you know, growing up.
[00:27:30] Speaker C: Yeah, that's really what it is.
[00:27:32] Speaker A: It's growing up. And, you know, you. We think about that, like, of. Of our parents or people that are, you know, the previous generation, they were growing up too, and we didn't have that insight of thing. Like, we thought, you hit this age, and you're like, you should know everything.
[00:27:47] Speaker C: You know, everything.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: Like, what's wrong with you? And then you hit that age, you're just like, oh, my God, I don't know anything.
[00:27:52] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. My mom was younger than me when she had me, and for my whole life.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: She was younger than you when she had you. Wait, what? That's crazy.
[00:28:00] Speaker C: My mom was younger than I am now when she had me, and I imagine, like, myself being a parent of three kids.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:09] Speaker C: The heck? They were figuring it out. My dad is 75. Still figuring it out. Yeah, yeah. It's amazing. I love this, like, lifelong being learning idea. I also want to lean back into the fearlessness thing because specifically, it ties into your latest joint effort. Is it your latest joint effort?
[00:28:27] Speaker B: It is. It's actually our first collaborative thing that. I mean, we've worked together before on things. Like, I've assisted Harry and, you know, we've. But this is our first actual, like, physical thing that we've both worked on, our first artistic adventure together as a couple.
[00:28:45] Speaker C: Love it. Marty dares to dance. Let's talk about it. You have it? Do you have it right over there. Yeah. Grab it.
This is my second book review on the podcast. The first one required a lot more reading. This one I mapped out in an evening because it is a children's book. I am stoked, and it's delightful. Talk a little bit about it, and then I have some questions.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: Yeah. It's called Marty Dares to Dance. And, you know, this is Marty, and he's a little Filipino boy who is afraid to dance, essentially because he doesn't want to dance again. Because he got embarrassed. He was embarrassed. He got made fun of.
[00:29:24] Speaker C: Because it can be frightening.
[00:29:26] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:29:27] Speaker C: One laugh and he had a bad experience.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: He had one bad experience experience. And so now he deflects telling his Lola or grandma that he doesn't want to go to the school dance because he has a planet presentation to work on. But that planet presentation is really. I'm too embarrassed to go to the dance.
[00:29:43] Speaker C: There's always an excuse. There's always something that you could work on instead of the thing that you love. Yes.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: You're afraid of.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: True story.
[00:29:49] Speaker C: Me and laundry and cleaning the floors and doing all. I will do all manner of mundane tasks instead of the thing that I actually love. That just scares me a bit.
[00:29:59] Speaker A: Procrastination. Procrastination. It hits at any age. Thrill hits at any age.
[00:30:03] Speaker C: No one is impervious yet.
Okay. Yeah.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: And so he goes, you know, his grandma's like, sleep on it, sweetheart. And he's like, all right. And then he ends up having this insane dream where he meets an unexpected friend, his Martian friend. Obsessed. Which is interesting because Harry and I have been talking deeper about this, and this Martian has become, like, the subconscious, that voice inside your head that tells you you can do it, but then you're not, like, you kind of quiet that voice down, and then this voice is like, you know, just like, go ahead and try. And here's. Let me show you, like, some moves that we found on Saturn. Like, swirl. Swirl.
[00:30:40] Speaker C: This I'm obsessed with.
Do you mind if we step into this real quick?
[00:30:44] Speaker B: No, let's step into.
[00:30:47] Speaker C: The spaceship is driven. Riz.
The spaceship is driven by movement. The spaceship just responds differently when the moves happening inside are different. Oh, spaceship driven by dance. I was losing it in bed as I had a face mask on. And I was. I wasn't reading. I was reading.
But that. The thought of that is so imaginative. I feel like most stories that I hear these days have been told. And that component, first of all, his little hat turning into a spaceship. There's all sorts of elements of magic here. That just feel so new and first time. But that part of it reminded me of, like, a Kurt Vonnegut. It felt like sci fi cool and not. I didn't really didn't expect it from a children's book. So applaud you and your imaginations because that was. I really felt like receiving a very cool permission as I was reading it. Like, yeah, yeah, what if. Well, yeah, what if that. And it was just like a cool path to turn down.
I'm crying now.
I also want to talk about Lola and that she's a style icon. Can you find one of these? Who did the illustrations, by the way?
[00:32:04] Speaker A: Bianca Austria, who's just a wonderful. It's her second picture book, I believe. And she just. We. We had these conversations. This whole book felt like just like going into a room, a dance studio, and just building.
[00:32:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:19] Speaker A: Oh, how about this move?
[00:32:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: And someone's like, oh, yeah, let's do that. And then you just. You end up, like, you have, like, you know, 28 counts, and you're like, oh, my God, how do we do this?
[00:32:26] Speaker C: How did that happen?
[00:32:26] Speaker A: Yeah, there's Lola right there.
[00:32:28] Speaker C: She's an exquisite. I also want to shout you out as dancers. The way you explained a move, it said, like, her hands, figure 8 and something. And I was like, that's a butterfly. And then she said, you. You know, the butterfly. And I was like, thank you, dancers, for writing about dance, because I actually could see what you were talking about. Which. Which brings me to the next thing I'm excited about. Okay, what is it? Swish, swish.
[00:32:55] Speaker A: A swirl.
[00:32:55] Speaker B: Swirl, swirl. Dodge, dodge.
[00:32:58] Speaker C: Hot, hot, hot.
[00:33:01] Speaker B: And then dance, dance.
[00:33:03] Speaker C: So my question is, is that, in your minds, choreographed? Do you see that as, like an eight count? And will you do it?
[00:33:11] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
[00:33:13] Speaker A: We'll definitely do it.
[00:33:14] Speaker B: And absolutely.
[00:33:15] Speaker C: Do you want to. Do you want to see what I think it is?
[00:33:17] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: That's awesome.
I love that.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: So swirl, five, six, seven, eight. Swirl, swirl, dodge, dodge, Whoosh.
[00:33:32] Speaker C: Whoosh.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: Hot, hot.
[00:33:36] Speaker C: Dance, dance, dance.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: Oh, you pose. Whatever. Pose, dance. Yes.
[00:33:45] Speaker B: So good.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: I really like that interpretation. Swirl, swirl, dodge, dodge, Whoosh, whoosh. Hot, hot.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Dance, dance, dance.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: Oh, okay, now, now it's so funny now that it's like. There's no, like, actually what it is. I mean, did you see. We did see it. That we, you know, we. We've performed it, but now looking at it, it's like you've performed it.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: We. Yeah, well, we.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: We've done readings. We've done readings for the illustration for the kids no, for that and for the. You know, for some readings with the kids, they would do.
[00:34:21] Speaker C: Okay. I feel like.
[00:34:22] Speaker A: Wow. Like, dodge.
[00:34:23] Speaker C: I feel like I really got dodged.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: I mean, you.
[00:34:26] Speaker A: You did get dodged.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: You did get dodge. I mean, we. We.
[00:34:29] Speaker A: I really like that version too.
So do you want to do it? You want me to do it here?
[00:34:34] Speaker B: Do you want to do it together?
[00:34:35] Speaker C: Yes, of course.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God. Yes.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: Woo. Dodge, get it.
[00:34:43] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
[00:34:47] Speaker B: That's a yes a day.
[00:34:50] Speaker C: Yes.
I love that so much, you guys.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: That was so cool.
[00:34:58] Speaker C: With angle does it. Okay. That is fantastic.
[00:35:01] Speaker A: That's your next dance.
[00:35:02] Speaker C: Dance. I really like that. Hot takes two counts. Even though the word is one syllable, Right? Hot.
[00:35:07] Speaker B: Hot. Yeah.
[00:35:08] Speaker C: That feels so good. Ooh, I love it. You know, thank you for writing a children's book.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Well, thank you.
[00:35:13] Speaker C: Letting the dance literally drive the story, but also drive the freaking spaceship.
Ah, so cool.
[00:35:22] Speaker B: We just wanted to, like, get kids dancing again, you know, like, I see when I go to the playground with our daughter Zia, and she was a big inspiration for writing this book. She's the lover of space, actually. So she was actually helping us write this book.
[00:35:34] Speaker A: Yeah. She would give us the facts and.
[00:35:36] Speaker C: We'Re like, about Saturn and rock.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: Saturn, 146 moons and all that.
[00:35:40] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: I wouldn't have known that without her, to be honest with you.
[00:35:43] Speaker B: No, she's like, did you know mom? And I'm like, oh, my gosh. We were taking her these planetariums for her passion project on space. But, you know, when I was going to these playgrounds, I noticed, you know, these kids on iPads, and I'm like, we're at the playground. We should be screen free, maybe. Yes, screen free. And so Harry and I were like, let's write a children's book. Because we want to encourage kids to dance along with their parents, along with their grandparents.
[00:36:06] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:36:06] Speaker B: You know, our aunts and uncles. We just wanted kids to kind of.
[00:36:10] Speaker C: Be like kids and adults. I think we all could be dancing more.
[00:36:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:13] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely.
[00:36:14] Speaker C: I'm wondering if there is, for either of you, a slightly autobiographical component where either of you embarrassed to dance early on in life. Did you have a embarrassing encounter with it that made you fearful from getting into it again?
[00:36:28] Speaker A: I was dared to dance or dare to audition for the dance team? I was actually dared to audition in high school. Yeah, it was, you know, there weren't many boys dancing in it, and it was just all, you know, all girls. And one of my buddies was just, we're watching them perform and then he's like, oh, it's cool. Dare you to audition. He didn't sound like that, but. But, you know, it kind of felt that way.
[00:36:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:36:56] Speaker A: And.
And then we auditioned and we made it and we just didn't know what we were doing. You know, we were like, okay, like, sit over, stand here. Learn this dance. We were basically, you know, part. The part doing partners with the girl. And we're just kind of. Just a set piece.
[00:37:13] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:37:13] Speaker A: You know, essentially. And then. And then there was like a boys dance. They're just like, well, there's always traditional, like a boys dance. And we're like, oh my God. We need to watch music videos and mimic them and do all this.
And it was awesome. And then you hear people scream. You're just like, what is this feeling that people like what I'm doing right now at this moment? Yeah, yeah.
[00:37:35] Speaker C: Like, feeling is real.
[00:37:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, praise the body roll. The body roll is just. It gets everyone. Just like.
[00:37:42] Speaker B: That's why I married him. This body roll, I did a body roll.
[00:37:45] Speaker C: Do you think has the best body roll? Oh, I have Very, very easy.
[00:37:50] Speaker A: I have a pretty sweet answer. You have a pretty sweet.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: No, I think you win the body roll challenge. I mean, I just like, you're making.
[00:37:56] Speaker C: It between you two. I mean, like, globally.
[00:37:58] Speaker A: Globally.
[00:37:59] Speaker C: Best body roll you've ever seen.
[00:38:00] Speaker A: But also genuine. I mean, come on. Like genuine. That's.
[00:38:05] Speaker C: That's a good point. That's a really good point.
[00:38:07] Speaker B: Oh, body roll.
[00:38:08] Speaker A: Shakira is pretty good. Oh, but that's a different. It's not really a body roller.
[00:38:11] Speaker C: You know who my answer is?
Brian Tanaka.
[00:38:17] Speaker A: He does have a great body roll.
[00:38:18] Speaker C: Because body roll is like, woof, for sure. I. I look all these years later, I remember it like it was yesterday.
[00:38:25] Speaker B: I can see it. Yeah. He.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: I remember when you have a memorable body roll. Yeah. It stays with you.
[00:38:29] Speaker C: Tanaka, he has a signature body roll. There's a technique.
There you go. Brian.
[00:38:34] Speaker A: We need a meme. We need a Tanaka meme.
[00:38:36] Speaker B: Tanaka body roll meme.
[00:38:37] Speaker C: Yeah, it's coming. It's coming.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: That's what you're promoting.
[00:38:41] Speaker C: Okay, I want to talk. You talked a little bit about an audition. The first time you had to audition for a thing was for a dare. How do you audition for things now? Is it. Do people just call you. Do you have a thing that just happens or are you always still pursuing work kind of the way that we did when we were young dancers early on?
[00:39:01] Speaker A: What are you talking about?
[00:39:02] Speaker C: Dance, period, acting, dance, all of it. Oh, actually, I'm gonna back up before you have an opportunity to answer that. Bad host. It's fine. I'm not actually a podcast host. I'm a choreographer in Dancer.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: You're killing it. You are killing it, Damon.
[00:39:17] Speaker A: Moonlighting here.
[00:39:18] Speaker C: My question, because I think anybody who's been on set is a dancer. Somewhere in the back of their mind is secretly hoping for somebody to be like. And then you say, blah, blah, blah, blah, and we're like, pen gonna be an actor. Big break.
And so, Shelby, I know that you were a part of Glee in the.
[00:39:42] Speaker A: She was the first.
[00:39:43] Speaker B: Yeah, I did the pilot. Yeah.
[00:39:45] Speaker C: I was like, skeleton crew is the only thing I could think of. So you were part of Glee in the pilot, Harry, you were a dancer on the show, and then you became a series regular. You became a character. How did that happen? Was it like, you, dancer boy, say this, and then you, like, did good, and then they asked you to say more or was there. It was audition or.
[00:40:03] Speaker A: It was still a very unique situation because she did the pilot, and she. She did this just like, it's Ryan Murphy doing this, like, musical show on tv.
[00:40:11] Speaker B: Well, I said. I actually said this. I said, hey, I just booked Glee. The pilot was Zack Woodley. Big shout out to Zack Woodley. Love you so much. Love you.
[00:40:19] Speaker A: Love Zach Woodley.
[00:40:20] Speaker C: Big fan. Also, I was never on the show, and I was bummed about that and still am, so Zach.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: So not shout out.
[00:40:28] Speaker C: So I'm just saying, just whatever's next, just give me a call. Even though that was a long time ago.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: No hard feelings, forgive, forget, carry on.
This is so funny.
[00:40:40] Speaker A: This is why you do a podcast.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: This is why you never hired me and call ins.
[00:40:47] Speaker C: You should be a guest. No, for real. I'm a big fan of Zach.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: Love him.
[00:40:51] Speaker C: I don't think anything like that has been on TV since then.
[00:40:55] Speaker B: I agree. I agree.
[00:40:57] Speaker C: It was truly a one of my.
[00:40:58] Speaker A: With that level of dance, let me tell you.
[00:41:01] Speaker B: Let me tell you, that was probably the hardest dance job I've ever had. I mean, I, like, the bar was high, crazy high.
[00:41:09] Speaker C: The dancing was insane.
[00:41:09] Speaker B: Yeah. People were going to the hospital. You know, Vivian was getting hit in the head with a Steadicam. Had to be rushed off. Brooke had to come in and dance for Vivian because she was getting.
[00:41:19] Speaker C: Brooke Lipton was.
[00:41:20] Speaker B: Yes, Brooke Lipton assistant. But it was crazy. Like, you know, the rehearsals were insane. It was probably the hardest dance job, the hardest 12 hours of rehearsal, then scrapping the whole thing. Let's change this, change that. Yeah, it was really intense. So anyways, one day during rehearsal, Ryan Murphy comes up to me. He's like, so Shelby? And I'm like, oh, hey, Mr. Murphy.
[00:41:42] Speaker A: Am I fired?
[00:41:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I wanna be here. All right. And he's like, yeah, So I hear your boyfriend Harry is gonna audition for me. And he's like, do you think I should hire him? I'm like, oh, yeah, for sure. You should totally hire him. He's a great actor, an amazing dancer. And, yeah, you should hire him. I legit. I remember being under a tree and feeling all the eyes on me, being like, why shall I be talking to Ryan Murphy? And me just being like, yes, Mr. Murphy. Really funny experience. And then, yeah, Harry's like, yeah, well.
[00:42:11] Speaker A: I got a call from my agent saying, like, hey, there's an audition for Glee for this character. They're adding two dancers on there as, like, you know, co stars or guest stars, whatever. And. But because, you know, most of the actors don't have any dance background in musical theater, but they don't really dance, which is why, you know, the dancing is just so, like.
[00:42:33] Speaker C: Right.
[00:42:34] Speaker A: And also intimidating for the actors. Just like, we can't do that. So they needed two dancers to kind of fill the space and cut aways when they needed to cut away and all those things. And. And just to also bring, you know, help. Help. It's funny. Funny enough, like, kind of stand in the front, too, so they can follow, too, because you can't have the choreographers do.
[00:42:54] Speaker C: Because it was hard for 85 hours.
[00:42:57] Speaker A: To the defense of a lot of the actors, they were able to dance, but it's just. You learn it so fast you can't retain it. And we were churning them out, like, every episode. Yeah. We're doing, like, three or four musical numbers. Musical numbers in such a short period of time. So I auditioned on a Sunday, and I read one of the other characters lines that were there, and I auditioned, and a couple of. I mean, actually, like, a week later, I booked it. Didn't know what I was about to do because I didn't have a character then. They're like, this is your character name? Mike Chang. And I was like, okay. And didn't speak for a while.
[00:43:33] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:43:34] Speaker A: And my first line was, I can pop and lock.
[00:43:40] Speaker B: Oh, no.
Oh, no.
[00:43:43] Speaker A: And I couldn't correct it because you're the new guy. I'm the new guy. I'm not gonna say I.
But, you know, it's so funny because, like, they're all about, you know, it just funnier when you say pop and log, it's like, I can pop. It's like, okay, there's nothing fun about that. Even though that was like, oh, God, I'm gonna have literally a dance community be like, oh, me raising my hand.
[00:44:07] Speaker C: And doing the internal dialogue while you're delivering that line.
[00:44:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. And one line. How do I make this, like, kind of work but not work? Yeah, yeah. That's the first line ever had on Glee I can pop in. But it's so funny because, like, you know, the only way I was able to say, okay, well, a kid doesn't know this 16 year old.
[00:44:26] Speaker C: And where does it. Where does take place?
[00:44:28] Speaker A: Ohio.
[00:44:28] Speaker C: Mid Pop and lock.
[00:44:31] Speaker A: He could pop.
[00:44:31] Speaker C: Your character. He could pop.
[00:44:33] Speaker A: And then he realized halfway, it's like.
[00:44:35] Speaker C: Oh, oh, I'm crying again. That's amazing.
[00:44:38] Speaker A: So, yeah, that's how that happened. And then over time, you know, you just kind of, you. You try and prove yourself constantly. I was just, as a dancer, just trying to prove myself. But then at the same time, like, also prove that I can also say some lines. Yeah.
[00:44:52] Speaker C: Really act.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: Yeah, act. And, you know, Ryan did give a lot of opportunities for me to have a musical number and to have some musical numbers and have a storyline which, you know, is a dream for any performer to have.
[00:45:07] Speaker B: And also, like, you know, as dancers, when you spend so much time with a dancer on set, you really get to know their true vulnerable self. You really get to see dancers and just anybody. If you spend that much time with somebody a day, every day, touring, you know, on set. Those people, you really know those people. And like, that's, I think, what's neat about dancers in general. I think dancers can go into any room and know how to say, okay, that person's cool. I might not necessarily get along with that person, but I'll do two, eight counts of choreography and be cool.
[00:45:42] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:45:43] Speaker B: You know, and that's a life skill. There's a lot of people that. That dancers have a certain threshold is basically what I'm saying. We have a pain threshold. We have an emotional threshold that we're really.
[00:45:53] Speaker C: A personality tolerance.
[00:45:55] Speaker B: Personality, tolerance threshold. Absolutely. You know, talking about Glee, you basically grew up with you and your cast. And I was also a part of a couple seasons as a dancer, and I had a few guest spot or at a guest spot. But it was interesting, like when you.
You're really just your true vulnerable self. Like, skin off, no mask on. When you're there for that many hours and yeah, you know, get the job done. Yes.
[00:46:19] Speaker C: Just trying to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
[00:46:21] Speaker B: Also to, like, trying to pay some rent, you know what I mean? Like, as dancers, we know we're like, oh, yeah, our ankles, our ankle's broken. But yeah, I'll do it again.
[00:46:30] Speaker C: It sucks. I'm really trying to work on that. I'm really trying to rewrite that. There's some rebranding I'm working on in the dance choreography spaces. That's one of them. Working through, pushing through injuries. I just don't think it's worth it. I really encourage people working for me. Have a seat. It is not worth it. This blip of a commercial of a One shot of a music video of a. Yeah. Is not worth it. Sit down. It's fine. It's fine. And. But no matter how much you say it's hard to rewire the brain, which is scarcity. Scarcity. Make the most of this moment.
[00:47:01] Speaker A: I'm not gonna work again with this person.
[00:47:04] Speaker C: It's hard to talk someone out of that in the moment, But I'm trying to normalize.
[00:47:08] Speaker A: It's good. That's good that you're doing that because I also think speaking to kind of being in the room and the connection. I just hope this next generation of dancers really, the connection aspect of dance is, you know, I've seen it's, you know, just with digital, with the phones, we're losing that. Some. Even the social skills aspect of it, because I think dance is beyond just like, oh, you're a good dancer. It's like there's a social aspect, there's a connection, seeing each other, connection, you know, which I think it's so wonderful you doing this podcast because not very many people talk about dance, you know, when you get around people.
[00:47:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I work.
[00:47:49] Speaker C: I could talk about it all forever. I mean, these won't allow me to do it forever.
[00:47:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:53] Speaker C: But, yeah, I love talking about dancing. I love talking about dance. I love talking about dance with you guys. Thank you so much for being here.
[00:47:59] Speaker B: Oh, of course, of course.
[00:48:01] Speaker C: We've got a little rapid fire burnout round. You ready for this?
[00:48:03] Speaker B: Yeah, let's do it.
[00:48:04] Speaker C: Okay. I thought it would be fun for you to answer for each other. So, Shelby, tell me you think what you think Harry's answers are, and vice versa. Okay, ready?
[00:48:13] Speaker B: Ready.
[00:48:13] Speaker C: We're gonna start very easy, and then it gets a little more complicated. Coffee or tea?
[00:48:18] Speaker A: Coffee.
[00:48:19] Speaker B: Tea.
[00:48:19] Speaker C: Okay. Dog or cat?
[00:48:22] Speaker B: Dog.
[00:48:23] Speaker A: Cat. You had cats?
[00:48:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I did, but now I'm more of a dog, so you got that one wrong.
[00:48:30] Speaker A: Oh, this is The. This is the present.
[00:48:32] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah.
[00:48:32] Speaker A: This is the present. We didn't reiterate that.
[00:48:36] Speaker C: If you could sing like any recording artist, who would it be? Or if they could sing like any recording artist.
Your voice is so remarkable.
[00:48:45] Speaker A: She can.
[00:48:45] Speaker C: I'm sure you can.
[00:48:46] Speaker B: No, I mean, I can sing in cartoon voices.
[00:48:49] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:48:50] Speaker B: Not as Shelby.
[00:48:50] Speaker C: So would you want to sing like Mavis Staples or something? Or like Janis Joplin? Like somebody would.
[00:48:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, give me.
[00:48:58] Speaker C: Forget that I answered for you.
[00:48:59] Speaker B: Yeah. No. Brandon Flowers.
[00:49:01] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, right.
[00:49:02] Speaker B: Was it right?
[00:49:05] Speaker A: Love. Love. I mean, Beyonce.
[00:49:09] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow.
[00:49:12] Speaker A: Wow.
Could you imagine one day if you woke up and you just had a Beyonce voice?
[00:49:18] Speaker C: All of a sudden I'd be like, unstoppable. It would be hard to tolerate you. I don't know.
[00:49:23] Speaker A: You just have a. Just a tear would just fall on people's eyes.
[00:49:27] Speaker B: But I would go. I would arrive. If I had a voice like Beyonce, I would arrive on a silver coated horse.
[00:49:33] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:49:33] Speaker B: Everywhere I went.
[00:49:34] Speaker C: Correct. Yes, correct. We'd have to mount it on top of the vehicle. And you would just ride everywhere.
[00:49:39] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:49:39] Speaker C: Okay, great. Yes. Also, if I could sing, I would. People wouldn't like me. I would be obnoxious.
Favorite move for each of you. Favorite move.
[00:49:49] Speaker B: Your knee move. I call it the shum knee move. You know, that you go like.
[00:49:54] Speaker A: You know, haven't even done that in years.
[00:49:57] Speaker C: Because knees. Because knee turns out non renewable resources.
[00:50:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you even the word knee, you.
[00:50:04] Speaker B: Need that cartilage in there.
[00:50:05] Speaker C: What is the word? Me? It does sound like knee.
[00:50:11] Speaker A: I think it's the snap.
Any snap for any version. With a nice.
[00:50:17] Speaker C: Oh, a hip wiggle in a snap.
[00:50:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:50:19] Speaker C: Wow. Okay. Okay. Good answers. Least favorite move for each of you.
It's funny, Shelby, you already mentioned mine today.
[00:50:28] Speaker A: You know mine. You know what I. To make fun of all the time.
[00:50:32] Speaker B: Is it this?
[00:50:33] Speaker A: Oh, no, I don't make fun of that.
[00:50:34] Speaker B: Which one is it?
[00:50:35] Speaker C: That is so remarkable. That step is the most right. Nominated.
[00:50:41] Speaker B: Wait, a step? A step that I don't like. A move.
[00:50:44] Speaker A: It's the.
[00:50:46] Speaker B: Oh, oh, the lyrical.
[00:50:48] Speaker C: Contemporary. The contemporary.
[00:50:50] Speaker A: I'm sorry. I know people do it.
[00:50:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:50:53] Speaker A: But, you know, thank you for.
[00:50:54] Speaker C: Thank you for bringing forward. I just don't understand.
[00:50:58] Speaker A: I just don't understand.
[00:50:59] Speaker C: There's another one that I don't understand. It happening less often, but there's a contemporary claw that kind of like does this.
[00:51:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:06] Speaker C: And it says both stop and also come here.
[00:51:11] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:51:11] Speaker C: And I don't know what it means. Contradictory I. It really sends a hugely mixed signal for me. So I don't like it.
I'm so glad we're having this conversation.
Each of your hidden talent.
[00:51:25] Speaker B: Hidden talent? I mean. Yes, he's a really good cook. Ooh, he's a really good cook. Oh, that's a. That's a. That's a talent that people don't know. I mean, do or do they?
[00:51:36] Speaker A: Do they? I don't.
[00:51:37] Speaker C: I wouldn't have, like, I wouldn't have guessed that.
[00:51:39] Speaker B: Like, he could open up the fridge and make a full on meal where I'm like, you're an artist.
Yeah. And he'll just whip up this amazing meal and I'm like, this is delicious. I don't know what's in it, but this is delicious.
[00:51:51] Speaker C: I would open a fridge and be like, ah, there's no food in here. Open it and do the same. Create like a three course tasting with a. Yeah, you know, something smoky, something umami, something. I'm like, where did those even come from? Those flavors? There was nothing in there.
[00:52:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:52:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:52:06] Speaker C: Okay. Coming back kind of to this idea of technique, I think a technician can turn basic technical components, right? Acid, fat, salt. Right. The flavor things, those are basic components. And you can speak with them like you can make a thing. Like, when I watch, one of my favorite lockers is this guy Joshua from Ghetto Funk Collective. He speaks fluent locking. He's not, you know, Dr. Seuss. Like C Spot Run is how some people lock. And this guy is Homer. He's create. He is like, he's so communicative. He's still using the same words we use, but the structure is not the same. The. The significance is not the same. And I think it sounds like that's what you can do with food. If I look and I see like all we have is bread and butter. But you could make French toast with a this, that and this.
[00:53:03] Speaker A: Like, I just, I can't even call. It's so fun when you're talking about that. It's like the. There's so. I don't even think like the word salt. It's just, it's just, it's like a flavor. It's already in my back of my. I just feel it. And then you start putting things together and. And you know, you have that skill set too. You have that skills. We have a lot of, you know, similar, similar skill sets.
Her and, and it's a weird. People don't talk about this enough as a skill set, but her multitasking while still being calm about it. Is insane thresholds.
[00:53:36] Speaker C: Like, she has to be able to operate while emergencies are happening and fires need to be put out. And you're just still able to continue.
[00:53:44] Speaker A: Doing your things at a high level. Not just, like, being able to do these things at the same time, but, like, all of them at a high level.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: But honestly, that's my dance training, to be completely honest with you. That's. I need to get my hair. I need to do my own hair, my own makeup. I need to make sure my costumes are prepped for a quick change. I need to make sure and check all my props. Exactly. I need to make sure that I don't die on the edge of the stage where there's pyro that's about to go off.
[00:54:07] Speaker C: Correct. I need to warm up my body for this day.
[00:54:09] Speaker B: Exactly. And I also need to know that, like, I'm injured here, and I need to tell my partner that, hey, I'm injured. Can you just make sure. And then also to, like, kind of multitask. And also, like, while you're partnering, you're like, my shoulder. Cool, cool, cool. And hit. You know what I mean? Like, that fire.
[00:54:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:27] Speaker B: I mean, as a mom, it's crazy because then I'm like, oh, I only have three minutes. Boiled egg. Toast. Get in the car, kid.
[00:54:33] Speaker C: Boom.
[00:54:34] Speaker B: You might have not brushed your teeth. Okay. But, you know, but that level of just. It's all for my dancing. Honestly, it's from.
[00:54:40] Speaker A: Just really impressive.
[00:54:41] Speaker B: All the jobs. Incredible.
[00:54:42] Speaker C: That's a special hidden talent, the ability to multitask and not get thrown.
[00:54:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:54:48] Speaker A: That's the thing.
[00:54:49] Speaker C: That's huge.
[00:54:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:54:49] Speaker C: Okay. Love that animal likeness. What animal are you most like? Are each other most? Like.
[00:54:56] Speaker B: I think Harry's a lion.
[00:54:59] Speaker A: Just eat everything.
[00:54:59] Speaker B: Yeah, no, no, like, just, like, stoic, you know, stoic and just, like, fierce, but quiet. Yes, Quiet.
[00:55:07] Speaker A: I think a dolphin.
[00:55:08] Speaker B: Oh, yes.
[00:55:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:55:11] Speaker A: Very, very intelligent, too.
[00:55:13] Speaker B: Oh, thank you.
[00:55:14] Speaker C: What do each of you think is the best sound that there is?
Mine is so easy. Champagne bottle.
Favorite sound.
[00:55:24] Speaker B: Are you. Are we. Are we answering for each other?
[00:55:25] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:55:26] Speaker B: Okay.
You want to go first, or you want me to go for you?
[00:55:29] Speaker A: Do you know?
[00:55:30] Speaker B: I know.
[00:55:30] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:55:30] Speaker B: I'd say Zia's laugh for you. Yeah. Our daughters laugh.
[00:55:35] Speaker A: Yeah. It is the best.
[00:55:36] Speaker B: It is the best.
[00:55:38] Speaker C: You're laughing, just thinking, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:55:41] Speaker A: I melt for you.
It's similar to this. Like the porn.
[00:55:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:55:47] Speaker C: Oh, my God. Come on.
[00:55:48] Speaker A: It's the best.
[00:55:49] Speaker B: Celebration.
[00:55:50] Speaker A: Celebration.
[00:55:51] Speaker C: Celebration sounds.
[00:55:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:55:53] Speaker C: I'm with you. I'm so with you. Celebration. What's the best smell?
[00:55:57] Speaker A: Hmm.
[00:55:58] Speaker C: It's funny. Simultaneously, I just got bacon and chocolate chip cookies.
[00:56:01] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:56:05] Speaker A: The jasmine.
[00:56:06] Speaker B: Yeah, the jasmine. That for me. And I'd say for you, like, Zia's smell on top of her head. Sorry. It all goes back to my daughter. I'm always like. Like, after, like, you know, I know.
[00:56:18] Speaker A: I know a lot of answers that would go back to. See, I'm just trying to answer things that would go outside. Like, we're obsessed with our daughter.
[00:56:24] Speaker B: We kind of are.
[00:56:25] Speaker A: We are.
[00:56:26] Speaker C: I get it. She might be my favorite smell. And she smells, like weird chips.
[00:56:29] Speaker B: Yeah, weird chips. It's weird Frito lays. Right?
[00:56:32] Speaker C: Explain it. I take big, big, giant whiffs of her.
[00:56:35] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:56:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:56:35] Speaker B: It's like the pheromone thing.
[00:56:37] Speaker C: Or.
[00:56:37] Speaker B: I was gonna say, like, some really good, like, food.
[00:56:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: They would say, like, you know, like, bow or like, your mom's cooking.
[00:56:44] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah.
[00:56:45] Speaker B: A house.
[00:56:46] Speaker A: Like, Christmas.
[00:56:47] Speaker C: A Thanksgiving house.
[00:56:48] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:56:48] Speaker C: Like my aunt's house on Thanksgiving.
[00:56:51] Speaker A: Cinnamon.
[00:56:53] Speaker C: Okay. A couple more Desert island album. What is it? You only get to bring one.
[00:56:59] Speaker A: For you. We're all thinking for ourselves. For me, for you, probably be Adele.
[00:57:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Right on. I was gonna say. Yeah. Adele for me, is something that I could listen to from, like, beginning to end. All albums and just like.
[00:57:14] Speaker C: Do you have a favorite album? 21 for me.
[00:57:17] Speaker B: 21.
[00:57:18] Speaker A: She was a dancer in her first music video, Chasing Pavement.
[00:57:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Chasing Pavements. Yeah.
[00:57:24] Speaker A: That's when you got introduced to her, right? You didn't even know who she was.
[00:57:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I got introduced to her. Marguerite Derricks choreographed the film. And it was interesting because years later, I met the director, and he's like, you know, we wanted to use you as, like, the main girl, but we couldn't because you were Filipino. And I was like, okay. Like, I didn't really like, you know. You know. You know what I mean? Like, welcome to Hollywood.
[00:57:45] Speaker A: Welcome to Hollywood.
[00:57:45] Speaker B: Welcome to Hollywood. Lovely gentleman. But I met Adele there. There's, like, a whole acting. Mandy, beautiful dancer. She's, like, on the floor, and it's all the shadow work.
[00:57:54] Speaker C: I remember that.
[00:57:55] Speaker B: Cameras above. Yeah, yeah. And then we were, like, doing, like, partnering lift. And I never talked that Adele meeting Adele. I was just like, you are going to blow people's minds. And she was, like, eating in and out, and she's like, oh, this is so good. And I remember just being like, this girl. Wait till people hear this girl.
[00:58:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:58:14] Speaker B: And it was. She did. Yeah. And it's just. And I not want to watch that happen. So fun from the sidelines.
[00:58:20] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:58:21] Speaker C: To have the. To have, like, the advance schedule for how people are going to lose their mind and to be on the inside for that.
[00:58:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:58:28] Speaker C: That's very cool.
[00:58:29] Speaker B: I don't know what your album would be. I would say either, like, a lot.
[00:58:34] Speaker A: That's why.
[00:58:34] Speaker B: Yeah. I would say good.
[00:58:37] Speaker A: Oasis.
[00:58:38] Speaker B: Yeah, Oasis is good.
[00:58:40] Speaker A: Morning glory.
[00:58:40] Speaker B: I was gonna say.
[00:58:41] Speaker C: What.
[00:58:42] Speaker B: What's your rich man?
[00:58:44] Speaker A: Oh, Darrell Hall. Yeah.
[00:58:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Were either of you. Were either of you in 100 Days of Summer, that opening sequence?
[00:58:54] Speaker A: I wasn't 500 Days of Summer.
[00:58:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: No.
[00:58:57] Speaker C: Thank you. Did I say that wrong?
[00:58:58] Speaker A: 100 days? Yeah. Yeah.
[00:59:00] Speaker C: I was like. Did I say years? I can't remember. Yes. Michael Rooney choreographed it. And that's another one that I'm so swole that I'm not in because I.
[00:59:08] Speaker A: Love that so much. Yeah. It was such a happy. It just seemed like something that there's just no stress.
[00:59:14] Speaker C: No stress at all.
[00:59:15] Speaker A: Just have fun.
[00:59:16] Speaker C: I love it so much. Okay, that brings us to final question. Because this podcast is called Words that Move Me. I'm curious if there is a quote, a guiding principle, other than the quote that you already gave us four times?
[00:59:29] Speaker A: Corny quote.
[00:59:32] Speaker C: A guiding principle, a mantra, an affirmation, or just words that move you.
[00:59:36] Speaker B: Words that move me, which has been a journey with this one for me, but I think I'm really leaning into this now, in my 40s and as a mom and as just a creative being, is trust your instinct. Because I think our society with like, social media and everything, there's so much stimuli and you're always. So there's always something in your face.
[00:59:59] Speaker C: Yes, A lot of input.
[01:00:00] Speaker B: Yeah, a lot of input. Telling you things in your ear subconsciously on billboards, you know, whether that be beauty or how you're supposed to be, or branding, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so that voice in our head has been really quieted, I feel like, specifically, maybe. And then I think this goes out to, like, a lot of the young dancers out there. You know, obviously there's advice out there and definitely take it, you know, with a grain of salt if it works for you. Again, like, not all technique is gonna work for you. Right. But I think you have to really listen to your instinct because that's really going to be your compass. And your true north is if you really allow yourself to listen to that instinct and open up your third eye and really trust that gut feeling. Because I think a lot of us, or at least for me, there was a part of My life kind of going away from professional dancing where I was like, am I doing the right thing? But something silently was pushing me. And then now coming back to dance, it's been this come, you know, come to moment where I'm like, dance is awesome. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel all these things.
[01:01:04] Speaker A: Without all the pressure.
[01:01:05] Speaker B: Without all the pressure. Exactly. And I don't think I would have gotten here if I didn't listen to my instinct. So nice.
[01:01:10] Speaker C: Thank you for that. That's such a good reminder.
[01:01:12] Speaker A: It's so beautiful to know that these things sometimes come a little later. Right. And like amazing if you were able to get it at that early age. Good, like wonderful. But to a little bit of piggyback off that is like, you know, I know words that move you, we're talking about things that move you. But I think be comfortable also with be being still in stillness and in quiet moments. And you know, because our brains are constantly going, you know, people aren't getting enough sleep, people are moving too much sometimes and non stop, which our world is doing. But like, the more you can find that balance of being comfortable with stillness is just going to give you so much more to be able to do the thing you want to actually do and not. And then, you know, put the, put the other voices aside and again to be able to listen. Because, you know, sometimes when it's like, well, I'm listening to my gut, it was like, are you actually. Or is it something else that you think is your gut? Right, right. So I think you can have to be in stillness to be able to do, you know what she's saying. And, and I just think that comes with time, unfortunately and practice also, like.
[01:02:22] Speaker C: There'S a discipline there to coming back to stillness or coming back to breath or coming back to being present in the moment. It's a practice.
[01:02:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Like being like sitting down. We have to have this conversation sitting down. Like we were dancing nonstop. Which you could, but you're just.
Yeah, there you go.
Which is fun to watch.
[01:02:41] Speaker C: All right, I thank you for that reminder to stillness. If you're listening, watching while you're on the move, great reminder to just like for one second, just for a little while, be exactly where you are.
Let some of that sink in. Thank you guys, again, thank you so much for, and for being so. For shining such a light for future performers. I love the way you're sharing. I love the book. Thank you so much for that. Please. Even if you do not have a child in your life, you have a child in your life. Get him this book. Everybody has a child in their life. It's delightful. Lola is my style icon.
[01:03:14] Speaker A: Thank you.
[01:03:15] Speaker C: I cannot wait to be Alola to my nieces.
[01:03:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:03:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:03:19] Speaker C: I kind of already am. Actually. I sort of think I am. Yeah.
[01:03:21] Speaker B: No.
[01:03:22] Speaker C: You want me to DJ your school dance?
[01:03:24] Speaker A: Yes.
[01:03:24] Speaker B: You know you love my sick beats.
[01:03:27] Speaker A: I know. Our editor was like, I don't think that's not the right Grandma's like, no, no.
[01:03:33] Speaker B: And I was like, people are gonna get it. People are gonna get it.
[01:03:35] Speaker A: You know you like my sick beats.
[01:03:36] Speaker C: Oh, I felt it so good.
Thank you for listening, watching. Thank you guys for being here.
[01:03:40] Speaker A: Thank you.
[01:03:40] Speaker B: Thank you.
[01:03:41] Speaker C: Click subscribe, smash the likes, leave a review or a rating and keep it funky.
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 Bri Reitz. 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 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 if you're simply curious to know more about me and the work I do outside of this podcast, visit thedanawilson.com.
