251. Mel Mah: Dance as Energy, Not Identity

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Hello. [00:00:05] Speaker B: Hello. Welcome. I'm Dana. This is Words that move me. I'm stoked about this episode, you guys, because my guest today changed my mind about cats. I'm just gonna let that. I'm gonna leave it right there with one sentence. This person changed my mind about cats. And that. I told you I was going to leave it there, and I really am. I'm not going to tell you anything else. Melma is a wellness mindfulness meditation and yoga educator. She is a dancer. She is a director. She is an editor. She is a writer. She is a mama. She is a wife. She is a glorious friend. I am so honored and proud to call her one of mine and so excited to share some of her stories with you today. But before we do it, we're doing wins. Quick, quick, quick. Think of a win. What is going on? Oh, my God. I'm taking a trip to Vegas this weekend, and it's not for what you think it might be for. I'm also going to leave that right there. This episode is all about suspense, my friends. That's what's going well for me. Now you go. What's going well in your world? Yay. [00:01:27] Speaker A: Great. [00:01:28] Speaker B: Congratulations. Excellent. Phenomenal. Totally rad. I'm glad that you're winning. And even if you didn't say a win out loud, I want you to know that you do have one. [00:01:42] Speaker A: And. [00:01:42] Speaker B: You should say it out loud. Okay, enough about me. Let's talk about Mil Ma. Let's talk with Milma, y'. All. This is it. This is as good as it gets in in terms of humans. Enjoy the one and only Melma. Wow. That felt really good. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Yo, I need some lip gloss on the go. [00:02:15] Speaker B: Rolling, rolling, rolling. Keep those prices rolling, right? Okay. You know what's funny? I sometimes unintentionally, like, channel my. [00:02:27] Speaker A: What up, Riz? [00:02:28] Speaker B: What up, Riz? I sometimes channel my guests when I'm getting ready. Yes, it evolved, but at first, I looked like such a director. I was wearing a black T shirt, black pants, and a black hat, and I was like, you're trying too hard. Relax, Wilson. [00:02:42] Speaker A: It's so funny when I think about, like, director outfits, because, yeah, now it's evolved. Like, I just want to be comfy on set. [00:02:48] Speaker B: So what does that mean sometimes? [00:02:49] Speaker A: Like, black tank top, baggy pants. [00:02:51] Speaker B: Baggy pants. [00:02:52] Speaker A: That's. That's it. And sneakers. The same sneakers every day, you know? [00:02:56] Speaker B: And are they those? [00:02:57] Speaker A: Yes. [00:02:58] Speaker B: Okay, so I just got a new sneaker, and I've been looking. Listen, listen. Camera 1, 2, and 3. Anyone out there who specifically is a dancer and has found the dream sneaker. Please hit me. Please hit me up. I need to know what that is because it's hard. [00:03:16] Speaker A: But it's hard because I feel like it depends on your foot, because I have really flat feet, and so I feel like these. Like, for me, a shoe with a bit of an arch is actually nice. It gives me, like, fake support. [00:03:25] Speaker B: Yes, fake support. So that you're not fully rolling in on your ankle. [00:03:28] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly, exactly. [00:03:30] Speaker B: Just got these Pumas. Cat burns. I love you so much. She ordered this pair of sneakers that didn't fit her. She gave them to me. I. I love them. Now I have two pairs. I got my own. [00:03:39] Speaker A: Wow. [00:03:40] Speaker B: I'm going to show them to you. [00:03:41] Speaker A: Puma. I would honestly never think of Puma. Pumas. [00:03:45] Speaker B: They're Pumas. And they're cute as. And they fit and they arch for sure. [00:03:50] Speaker A: Seriously. [00:03:51] Speaker B: So they're like my workout shoe and my dance shoe and my onset shoe. Like, I really think I've cracked the code, but I don't know. I did buy a pair of. What are those horrendously ugly ones? Hokas. [00:04:05] Speaker A: Hokas. [00:04:05] Speaker B: I hate dancing in them, but they're great for long days on set. [00:04:08] Speaker A: Okay. I actually haven't gotten to the Hoka scene. I'm like a Nike girl. [00:04:11] Speaker B: Just wait until you're 90. That's the right time. No offense, Isaac. Ravi Shankar. He's the first person that I know to wear hogas. And this was like, probably 15 years ago before it was cool. But anyways, thanks for being on the podcast, Mel. [00:04:26] Speaker A: Thanks for having me, Dana. [00:04:28] Speaker B: Okay, so welcome to the podcast again, because you technically have been on the show before. Yes, Mel was a guest in my parents roundtable conversation. Came out just a handful of weeks ago. Please, please, immediately after this, you will want to go get more Melma and parents. But it was so wonderful to have you. I wanted to go deeper. Cause we go back. We go back quite a ways. [00:04:50] Speaker A: We go back. [00:04:50] Speaker B: I love your point of view. I love your way. I love everything that you have to say, including one thing in particular that really rocked me to my core once. I don't know if you'll remember, but about cats. Yep. I knew. [00:05:03] Speaker A: Is my dharma, my life's purpose to change people's minds about cats? [00:05:07] Speaker B: Well, you nailed it. You knocked it out of the park. I am changed forever from that moment. But we're gonna cliffhanger that one. I'm gonna throw to you and ask you to just introduce yourself, tell us anything you want us to know about you. [00:05:20] Speaker A: Oh, man. [00:05:21] Speaker B: Good luck. [00:05:22] Speaker A: These intros are always so hard. Like, how do you encapsulate yourself into an introduction? But here we go. [00:05:27] Speaker B: Today. [00:05:28] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:28] Speaker B: Right. [00:05:29] Speaker A: My name is Mel. I am a Canadian, born and raised in Toronto. Proud of that. Proud dancer. Started dancing at 5, moved here for dance, did so youo Think youk Dance in Canada. That's right. You know, did a bunch of tours and. Yeah, that was about 10 years ago now. And since then, I've transitioned into other things, like teaching mindfulness, yoga, and meditation. I work for an app called Calm and. And then I've also transitioned into filmmaking, into directing, writing, and producing. But what I found the most is that in transitioning into all these other things, me as a dancer still stays so central to who I am. And dance is really just this energy that kind of bleeds into every container that I do. So that. That has been so beautiful to realize that I never really left dance. It just kind of transitioned into other things. [00:06:25] Speaker B: Oh, thank you for that point of view. I had kind of echoes of that, of a similar sentiment with a friend recently who was telling me, they're older now. Older. What is, you know, relative to most dancers? [00:06:37] Speaker A: Like, 50s. Yeah. [00:06:39] Speaker B: And they were like, I don't know where I fit in dance anymore. And I said, dance fits in you. [00:06:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:47] Speaker B: Like, you're the container of dance. Your body has stored memory of dance. Your body has information of being dancing still in it. Like, we are the containers of dance, and it shows up in our lives, wherever our lives go. [00:07:02] Speaker A: Exactly. Like, I guess we just have to ask ourselves, like, what does dance really mean to us? Right. For me, it's rhythm, it's emotional expression, it's storytelling, it's guiding energy. All those things come through in the other passions that I found, like teaching, directing, writing. And then it's really looking at it not so with such a myopic view of, like, this is dance. This is this in these boxes. But, like, okay, how do I get that same feeling from other things? Right. Because there's so much purpose that all of us chose dance, and it. It almost feels like dance chose us. Right. And so it's like, okay, that's something that continues and carries on even if you don't necessarily pursue it professionally anymore, if that's your distinct physical career. [00:07:46] Speaker B: Right, right. Where do I want to go? [00:07:52] Speaker A: Just like, marinade on that one. [00:07:54] Speaker B: I could go eight different directions. If dance is people moving, which arguably non or inanimate objects definitely can dance. We've all seen a pussy willow. Why That I don't know. But we, you know, birds dance and animals dance and grass can dance and whatnot. But when we talk about practicing dance, having dance as a profession or something other than a hobby, something other than natural. Whoa. Cause dance gets unnatural the deeper into it you get, especially some classical forms. But, like, you know, I think there's a lot of discipline, there's a lot of grit, there's a lot of other components that will make you successful in other. Other areas of your life, especially where moving people is concerned. So I think if you are a great dancer, you will make a great director, you will make a great anything activist, you will make a great. So many different things that require that degree of discipline, grit, communion with yourself and your body, but also bodies of people. Like, I just think I obviously has a dance podcast. I think the world of dancers, and I really get jacked on dancers who parlay their strengths into different avenues. So, Jack, to talk about what you're working on now and how you're mostly working now. But before that, can we talk about your training? Because I'm a big fan of dawn and Elite Dance Works. [00:09:35] Speaker A: Oh, my God. I will shout out Dawn Rapid. Elite Dance Works literally every day. [00:09:41] Speaker B: I am wearing my home studio, Michelle Admir Dance Academy Swag right now. Swag, swag. [00:09:47] Speaker A: Tomato, tomato. [00:09:49] Speaker B: Because I also. I'm so home studio proud and proud to be a studio kid. I think I would. I'd absolutely not be here if not for Michelle Adamer in my studio training. [00:09:59] Speaker A: Same, same. [00:10:00] Speaker B: So Elite Dance Works. Makes Elite dancers. [00:10:04] Speaker A: Yes, that works. [00:10:05] Speaker B: P.S. [00:10:05] Speaker A: Yes. [00:10:06] Speaker B: Tell me a little bit about what your regimen was in your, like, last five years of training. What were you doing there? [00:10:12] Speaker A: Well, what was interesting, too, is what Elite is now was not. I mean, we were always good, but not to the same caliber that Elite danceworks is known as today in the competition scene. And it was really exciting and really inspiring to be under dawn in that period where she was still in that hustle mode of getting her studio to that place and seeing, like, an entrepreneur that saw the vision for what she wanted for her studio and for her students and for us and see her achieve that. You know, it was only in my last couple years at Elite that really we started being the top at competition. [00:10:49] Speaker B: So getting some recognition. [00:10:51] Speaker A: Yeah. And for me, the thing I always tell people and that I take into my own work as a teacher is you're always teaching the human first. And she raised us as that. It wasn't just about our technique. Of course, those things are important. But she was concerned as to how we hold ourselves in a room. How do you respond to feedback? How are you encouraging your other teammates, especially when they beat you and when you've lost? [00:11:18] Speaker B: Whoa. [00:11:18] Speaker A: It was like those life lessons that she really instilled in us and that she actually focused on way more than the other stuff. And it's interesting how when you focus on the human aspect of things, all the other technical stuff kind of just falls into place more effortlessly. Yeah. She was such an amazing leader in that way. Like, I 100% say all the things that I do now in terms of, you know, what I do as a leader teacher. It really is so much of what I learned from her cool human first. [00:11:46] Speaker B: Love, that perspective, and it totally shows. [00:11:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And. And, you know, to your question about the regimen, I mean, you know, lots of ballet. Lots of ballet. Yeah. We were very, very. It was critical that we were in ballet always. Like, she would 100% rather us spend more time in ballet class and be late for our choreography or our jazz classes. We had a lot of strength and cond. But she also. It was the first place where I was experiencing Shavasana and meditations. Dawn started implementing some yoga elements into our stretch classes. Like, we would have five minutes at the end of class where we would lie in Shavasana in the dark, listening to iron and wine. [00:12:26] Speaker B: Yes. [00:12:26] Speaker A: And we were just like. I was like, oh, my God, this is amazing. [00:12:28] Speaker B: And you're like this. I'm keeping this forever. [00:12:30] Speaker A: Yes. And I remember being, like, 15, 16 at the time, and I just remember that having such an impact on me. So, yeah, there's so many things that I'm sure I'm not even remembering about our regimen that just instilled so much discipline, but also so much belief. I also, when I went to Dawn, I was not the best technical dancer. I was always the most unflexible. I could not do any acro tricks, and it was like kind of a. [00:12:54] Speaker B: Joke in our studio. [00:12:56] Speaker A: But she believed in my heart and my passion. So much so. I think one of the most important things that I took away from dawn is that if you have the hard work and the passion for something, the talent will catch up. Those things are teachable, and I look for that in people, too. If you have the heart for something, that's what matters way more. [00:13:16] Speaker B: There's a quote. I'm gonna botch it, but I think the guy who made McDonald's sponsorship, Ray Kroc is his name, and he says nothing is more common than talent That's a good one. And then it goes on and on and on and on and on. But I. I'm like, yeah. Especially at this stage. Right. Where if you're still in it, everyone's talented, everyone's good. [00:13:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:44] Speaker B: What is it? What else? [00:13:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:46] Speaker B: What humanness do you bring? [00:13:48] Speaker A: Totally. [00:13:48] Speaker B: That is why we call you first or is why you're still, you know, being asked back and things like that. [00:13:54] Speaker A: Yes. [00:13:55] Speaker B: Dawn makes good humans, so thank you for that peek into the elite world. [00:13:59] Speaker A: Yeah. And exactly that. Like, if you're focused on your humanness, then you're essentially focused on what makes you unique as a human. And that's essentially what being an artist is. Finding what your individual spark is and then expressing that. [00:14:12] Speaker B: Melma, did you just, in one sentence, tell us what being an artist is? I love it. It's so funny. On, like, nine out of ten episodes, it comes back to like, but what is art really? And what does it mean? And you could have that conversation forever. [00:14:26] Speaker A: You can. [00:14:27] Speaker B: But that's so beautifully said. [00:14:29] Speaker A: I mean, there's so many definitions for it, too. Right. Like, I think that's what's so amazing about being an artist is it's subjective. It's. [00:14:36] Speaker B: Do you want to know my favorite one? [00:14:37] Speaker A: What is it? [00:14:38] Speaker B: Well, it's not about being an artist, but about art, I think. Okay, he might have even been tighter than your sentence was. Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings. [00:14:53] Speaker A: Ooh. [00:14:54] Speaker B: Come on. John Baldessari. This is the guy that put dots on faces and just did that for, like, a decade. It was like black and white and dots. Like, that was what he did. Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings. And I'm tearing up. No big deal. [00:15:09] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm curious. Why does that make you tear up? Like, what, What? What? [00:15:12] Speaker B: Oh, word economy, number one. Like, I love when you can, man. We're just on quotes right now. There's another one my ex used to say all the time, I. I think it's like a proverb of some sort, but, like, shallow minds will make the water muddy so that you can't see to the bottom, and you can't see what they don't know. Real sharp people make muddy water clear. They said, let me show you, actually, what's going on here. [00:15:44] Speaker A: Yes. [00:15:44] Speaker B: I think he is such. Oh, an artist that he can explain something very, very complicated in a very simple and clear way. And to me, is the mark of a fucking expert. Totally. [00:15:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:57] Speaker B: Versus convoluting it with all this extra. Making it so exclusive that only the real Ones could get like, fuck you. No, explain it to my dad. Explain it to my dog. That I think is what he did. And that's also what I love to talk. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. The word clarity comes in so hard for me. Right. Because I've also been really practicing in my own work, especially with filmmaking, how creativity and artistry is like being a channel. Right. And so just like, what you were talking about, the muddiness. If there's muddiness and there's. Which is the opposite of clarity, then it's hard to access that channel and to see. Stay open to creativity flowing through you. Right. [00:16:37] Speaker B: The tube is all congested. [00:16:39] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. [00:16:40] Speaker B: Tube, funnel, pathway, portal. Anything could have been better than tube. Which leads me to another funny, funny memory. We're just here to tell stories. By the way, I have no game plan for this episode. I just wanted to talk about this. [00:16:55] Speaker A: I love it. Yes. [00:16:56] Speaker B: I was home for the summer with my sister, my nieces and her husband, my mom. I was home for summer and we were. My niece. My eldest niece just finished reading hunger games. She's 11, by the way. I'm like, that's kind of like heavy shit. We've been watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy since she was literally born. So she is pretty tough. She gets it. And we were watching Hunger Games. Now that I have built this story up for, like, three minutes, it's not that funny at all. But there's a moment where there's, like, a cutaway from Lenny Kravitz's character, whose name I can't remember right now, and he's, like, preparing her to go out into the games and. [00:17:37] Speaker A: Wait, Lenny Kravitz is in Hunger Games? [00:17:39] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Yes. He plays her. Her stylist. [00:17:43] Speaker A: Hilarious. Genius. Also genius. Did he have a guitar while he was doing it? [00:17:50] Speaker B: No. Yes. In my mind, like, he always invisible, but yet he's. He is perfect in it. Anyways, we cut from them literal Jennifer Lawrence and Lenny Kravitz. Awesome, kinetic, amazing scene. And then cut away to a lovely woman. I'm gonna get hate for this. Who? I don't know. Right. She has a line in this film, and she's in the control ab center or whatever. And her line is, they're in the tubes. And that is it. My nieces and I, we looked at each other. We were like. She just say. Did she just say that? What? I think she said, she said, did she just say they're in their tubes? And we just fell out. And for the rest of summer, it was all about Tubes. [00:18:39] Speaker A: They're in the tubes. [00:18:40] Speaker B: Are you in the. Have you seen my. Have you. Have you taken a look? They're in the tubes. [00:18:45] Speaker A: Hey, where's. [00:18:46] Speaker B: Where's my backpack? Have you checked the tube? They might be in the tube. Anyway. [00:18:49] Speaker A: True. True artists speak. [00:18:50] Speaker B: Yes. Okay. Sorry for that. Gian Sidestep. I loved it. Can we talk about filmmaking? [00:18:57] Speaker A: Yeah, please. [00:18:58] Speaker B: Okay. I'm gonna segue into talking about this by asking or telling another really cool thing. You asked me for feedback on your latest film. [00:19:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:07] Speaker B: And I was so honored and flattered to be asked. And also. Oh, man, that's tough, right? [00:19:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:15] Speaker B: Especially when, like, I don't know. Here's my question. At what point in your creative process for a film, let's say, do you ask for that feedback is before edit is locked? Is it before you're done? Like, shoot, you still have the opportunity maybe to reshoot stuff. Like, what point is it that you open the tubes for feedback? And have you always worked like that? Is this a part of your practice? Tell me everything about that. [00:19:47] Speaker A: Yeah, so it's. It's a bit different for everybody. For me, when it comes to feedback, I am ready to share it when I feel it's ready. It's. I very much so view it as like, you know, birthing a child. Right. Like, you need to. Any. Any work of art that you're creating, you have to kind of incubate it for a period of time before you get outside opinions. [00:20:08] Speaker B: It's not like, everybody come over. No, just got home. [00:20:11] Speaker A: I'm. I also advocate, you know, for any idea, don't share it right away. Like, there's something in sharing it that kind of takes it away from you and you really nurturing it to the place that you want it to be before it's ready. But to the point, you know, more technically, in filmmaking, it is usually when you have the edit in a place where you feel like, okay, we've worked this enough and now we need some outside opinions to maybe show us what we're not seeing. [00:20:35] Speaker B: Right. [00:20:36] Speaker A: Because that's almost one of the biggest challenges of filmmaking is you become so close with the material that you can't separate it and try to get in the position of someone who's watching it for the first time. I was talking to another director friend of mine yesterday, and we were saying it's almost impossible if you're also the writer of this as well. Yeah. [00:20:54] Speaker B: How do you do that? [00:20:55] Speaker A: It's a whole practice. It's actually a deep meditation of detaching of Observing as a witness and not being so consumed in it and watching every frame as, oh, that was my choice. I wish I'd done this and not getting so much ego involved in it. Just really trying to have more. More of an object, objective standpoint. But, yeah, even at the studio level, like, when I was working on studio features, feedback is like a part of post production. You know, you do test screenings and, you know, we get, like, piles and piles of feedback from different cities, different demographics. Like, you want to test in the south, you want to test in the big cities, you want to test in a foreign country just to see how people are taking it. Yeah. [00:21:32] Speaker B: Okay, so how did people take it? [00:21:35] Speaker A: I got. Yeah, I got really positive feedback. I. I feel like now that I've been doing it for about a decade, I know, like, I know when I've created something that I'm like, okay, I think this is going to land. And one where I'm, like, not sure about it. [00:21:47] Speaker B: Okay. [00:21:48] Speaker A: And this one, I felt. I felt really proud of and confident with and. And. And most proud of my performers. Like, my actress in it, she just killed it. And, yeah, I. I had so much faith in how she would move people. [00:22:01] Speaker B: Yeah, she's phenomenal. [00:22:03] Speaker A: She is. [00:22:03] Speaker B: Oh, she's phenomenal. It's short, too. How long was it? [00:22:06] Speaker A: It was seven. Yeah. 17 minutes, which is technically not long, but they say the sweet spot for short films is actually 13 to 15 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. [00:22:18] Speaker B: I wonder what the sweet spot for a podcast is. [00:22:21] Speaker A: I'm still looking, but it's like a podcast. Like, maybe there's like a general sweet spot, but at the end of the day, it's like, depends on the content. Exactly, exactly. [00:22:30] Speaker B: So I. In 17 minutes, I did laugh and I did cry. [00:22:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:36] Speaker B: And that's you being economical again. That's. That's you saying a lot with a little bit of time. [00:22:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:44] Speaker B: And I was rocked by it. So congratulations and thank you for inviting me to be part of Feedback. I know that part of the process is so important and can hurt. Oh, yeah, I know, man. Our dear friend Mimi was involved in a process where the edit just kept going and going and going and. Yeah. How do you step far enough away to see yet another version of it? And how. How much endurance does that take to stick with a thing? And. And then even more importantly, how do you know? No. [00:23:19] Speaker A: When it's done, the word detachment and letting go just keeps coming up. The words. Those words keep coming up. Detachment and letting go. And that's all a meditation practice. And actually something That I feel like I really started cultivating in my dance career was. I mean, in everything. Even in freestyle, learning how to fully let go into the music, into the moment, and not get the mind involved and really understand what it means to surrender into the moment. Like those are all things. Even if we can't articulate it, we're doing that as dancers. [00:23:52] Speaker B: Totally. [00:23:52] Speaker A: And good point. I really bring that into filmmaking with every single moment. I'm like, okay, detach from how you thought about the edit yesterday or what a person said in a feedback session. What do you feel right now? What intuitively is this moment telling you? Go with that. [00:24:08] Speaker B: Nice. [00:24:08] Speaker A: And that's, that's why I actually love filmmaking, is it's such a practice of deep presence every single moment, Whether you're on set, whether you're in post looking at the edit, you have to be so available to the now. So you can channel your intuition through a tube and, and, and, and apply it into what's here in physical reality. Yeah. [00:24:28] Speaker B: And be that source for other departments. [00:24:32] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:24:33] Speaker B: If you're receiving, are you kind of. What I'm picking up is your kind of a Julia Cameron approach, which is art or inspiration comes from outside of you and strikes you. And you, you are the funnel, you're the conduit for the art idea, we'll call it. And then it moves through you and becomes like an art product that's out in the world. [00:24:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I do believe that. I mean, if we want to get really deeply spiritual, I also believe, you know, the universe, creativity and source is not outside of us. It's inside of us too. So, you know, that's a very linear approach in the way our physical minds can deduce that process. But I think in so many ways in other realms, it's not that linear. It's like moving this way, but also moving outwardly as well in every direction. And the channel just comes from. From everywhere. Okay, right. [00:25:22] Speaker B: I like that more. [00:25:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:23] Speaker B: Thank you. I struggled with the artist's way, and I've been talking. It's come up in conversation a lot. I've talked about it. [00:25:29] Speaker A: I've talked to a lot of dancers who are reading it too. [00:25:31] Speaker B: It's, it's, it's the thing. [00:25:33] Speaker A: I've read it. I've read it a few times, and I actually use it a lot in my programs too. [00:25:36] Speaker B: So there are rules from it that I really like. [00:25:38] Speaker A: Yes. [00:25:39] Speaker B: But I am actually an artist way dropout. I did not complete the 12 weeks. I think it was like week nine, and I was Talking to my partner at the. The time and was like, I hate this. And he was like, stop. And I was like, I can't. I can't stop. What do you mean stop? And he was like, there are enough books in the world about art and making. [00:26:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:01] Speaker B: That you are literally wasting time if you know this doesn't resonate with you and that you're. That you've gotten some things out of it and you're like not enjoying your experience, go find something else. And I was like, oh, yeah, Yeah, I guess. Yeah, it's true. Like, there's so many other places. [00:26:17] Speaker A: Okay. So many. [00:26:18] Speaker B: But she explains the source whether you're. She calls it God throughout the book, but she explains early on, not necessarily the divine creator, but God for me, maybe the universe, a tree or whatever. But I like this multi directional kind of amoeba idea instead of linear. It's very cool. [00:26:41] Speaker A: And to be honest, like, that's what we feel when we dance. [00:26:44] Speaker B: I realized, you know, non linear all the time. Ask my arabesque. Non linear experience for me. [00:26:53] Speaker A: Me too, definitely. [00:26:54] Speaker B: It's so hard. So maybe the only thing harder than air. What's harder than an arabesque? [00:26:59] Speaker A: The middle splits. [00:27:04] Speaker B: You think so? I don't know if you're very supported by the ground. [00:27:07] Speaker A: I was a mountain. I still probably am a mountain in the middle spl. I've never been able to get down even like as disciplined as I am every night. I was able to do right and left every night, few minutes. Wow. Mountain. [00:27:19] Speaker B: I'm so moved by that. And was there a point at which you were like, this is not important to me anymore. [00:27:25] Speaker A: I'm going to stop trying, you know, because I was growing up in the competition phase where like, side tilts were a big thing. Remember those? [00:27:33] Speaker B: Oh, do I. [00:27:34] Speaker A: But the slow step of pain with. [00:27:37] Speaker B: The arms down and with a supporting leg that cranks way past first position to get you up there, you like step into a crank, Literally. [00:27:48] Speaker A: Or I'm talking about like the contemporary ones where you slowly fold the arms down. Yeah. [00:27:54] Speaker B: Okay. [00:27:55] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:27:55] Speaker B: That's different. That's. [00:27:58] Speaker A: I tried for so many years to do that shit. That was a process of letting go. Yeah. Of like, I'm going to let go of this and this is not going to define me. [00:28:05] Speaker B: No. Oh, my God. That's funny. [00:28:08] Speaker A: Yes. But what I was saying about just the whole process of feeling into source and universe, like we do that as kids without realizing we're doing it. And I think that's why so many people who Dance were able to move into meditation or yoga, because we're doing that already. Right. It's just you use different words. Yeah. [00:28:30] Speaker B: Thinking about, thinking, being with your mind, communicating mind to body and then leaving the mind. [00:28:37] Speaker A: That's the, you know. Yeah. You know how we all say, like, oh, that performance was the best because I just blacked out, you know, because you did. You lost your mind. You weren't. You weren't so attached to our thoughts. And that's the very thing that keeps up. It keeps us imprisoned from that place. Right. It's the tool that gets us there. But then you have to let go of it once you get there. Nice. [00:28:59] Speaker B: Would you say that meditation plays a daily role or like, I mean, it sounds like you're moment to moment meditating all of the time in your art making still, or. Yeah. Tell me a little bit more about the role. First of all, how you found. [00:29:17] Speaker A: Your. [00:29:17] Speaker B: Practice and how often you're using it. [00:29:21] Speaker A: Yeah, every day I practice yoga and meditation, hopefully. Hopefully in the morning. But I have a toddler, so that time sometimes changes. But my yoga journey began here in la. And I always thank dance because if I hadn't moved here to LA to pursue my dance dreams, I don't think I really would have found this passion and this home in yoga that I did. And also, too, we all know dance is hard, the industry is hard, and yoga was my place to just process all that and land back in myself. So it was in that period where I was really pursuing dance that I also was cultivating this deep love for yoga and practice. I started at Core Power in Sherman Oaks when there were only two Core Power studios in la. [00:30:04] Speaker B: The one next to Paquito Mas. [00:30:05] Speaker A: Yes. That was one of the OG ones in la. The group of teachers there were incredible. Like, they were so inspiring. I had an incredible mentor there who was actually a former Ailey dancer. Cool. So I had someone from a young age, in my early 20s this year, badass, like black woman, shaved head, former Ailey dancer doing, you know, dancer, but also yoga teacher. And that was really always my, like, wow, I really want to be that. [00:30:34] Speaker B: That's an example of something I can do. [00:30:35] Speaker A: Yeah, that looks awesome. Exactly. And then I did my first yoga teacher training and I actually had no intention of teaching. I actually wanted to just learn more from my own practice. And then, gosh, I'm just remembering this. Laura Quinn, ballet teacher at Millennium. She knew. [00:30:51] Speaker B: She's a friend. [00:30:52] Speaker A: Yes. She knew that I had done my teacher training because I would take her ballet class all the time and Millennium, this is back in 2012, they were wanting to start a yoga program. And so Laura put my name forward and they reached out to me and I said, no. I was like, you know what? I really just want to focus on dance. Thank you, but no thanks. And they said, well, you'll get free dance classes because you'll be on Millennium faculty. So we were like, yeah, maybe I should. And that's honestly why I started teaching yoga, was because I was going to get free dance classes. [00:31:22] Speaker B: Interesting. [00:31:23] Speaker A: Yes. But also. [00:31:24] Speaker B: Totally makes sense. [00:31:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And then I started teaching in the. What did they call it? The old millennium. [00:31:29] Speaker B: The loft. [00:31:30] Speaker A: No, the loft. Yes, the loft. Which was really an attic. [00:31:33] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. [00:31:34] Speaker A: A lopsided, like, wooden floor upstairs. Absolutely. Every of that space, though. [00:31:39] Speaker B: That's where we rehearsed for Suit and Tie. [00:31:41] Speaker A: Okay. [00:31:41] Speaker B: Nice. [00:31:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like there's so many memories in that little lofty space. [00:31:46] Speaker B: That's why I love dance studios. [00:31:48] Speaker A: Yeah. No, it was. It was such a great little. Little area. And that's honestly that loft space up in the old Millennium on Lankershim, that was where I developed my passion for teaching. 11am Sundays, I would have a small group, maybe five or six, but I just. It was this feeling of, whoa, there's a. There's an opportunity here to lead and to make an impact in a way that I'd never experienced before. And it also felt like so much of what I love doing was being fused into this role. [00:32:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:19] Speaker A: And it also started transitioning me out of dance because the. That I was missing from dance was being able to use my voice, and as I was teaching that, my physical voice. Right, yeah. [00:32:30] Speaker B: When it's podcast. [00:32:31] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. No, and all of us have different gifts and different purposes, but when you feel like this is part of it, dance can only fulfill that up to a certain degree. Right. And yoga was the thing that started making me see, like, okay, I love dancing, but maybe there's something else that incorporates the. This energy but allows me to use this as well. [00:32:54] Speaker B: Tight. Was that before or after you toured with Janet? [00:32:58] Speaker A: Right, I did, yeah. [00:32:59] Speaker B: Was that before or after? [00:33:00] Speaker A: Before. So I was. And I always think about this because when I first moved to la, I really wanted to book a tour right away, and I got so close to so many of them, but I was always in, like, the last 10, but never quite got it. And Janet was actually really the only big world tour that I did. But when I did that tour, I had actually already decided that I was going to move into Directing. And that's when I got the tour release. Right. And attachment, like we were talking about. But I realize now all those years that I did spend in la, waiting for the tour, getting frustrated over not getting the tour, feeling rejected. I was teaching yoga and I was developing that. And I think if I just gone on tours right away, would I have really cultivated that passion? I wouldn't have been available to start teaching at Millennium in that little loft and really feel that this calling into this whole new path and that that whole experience just really showed me the divine timing of everything, that you can't have it planned out, but you just have to trust that this is leading you somewhere. And if you just let go a little bit and let go of what you think should happen, you'll probably land up more where you want to be. [00:34:05] Speaker B: Oh, please help us, Mel. Please help us with planning, because, well, I. I'm of the school that, like, the way you're thinking is the reason why you get the results that you get. [00:34:19] Speaker A: 100. [00:34:20] Speaker B: So if you're a person who's thinking, I need a plan and I don't have one, then you're gonna feel friction in your life. [00:34:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:26] Speaker B: And if you're a person who's like, I don't have a plan, and that's fine. [00:34:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:29] Speaker B: Then you also feel fine. [00:34:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:32] Speaker B: I am a person who wants all of it. I want to have a plan that is so tight that I can throw it away and be fine. [00:34:41] Speaker A: Yes. [00:34:42] Speaker B: This is my biggest. It's my. Well, I've found that that thought works for me, that I can plan within an inch of my life and be so prepared for the plan that the plan can change. [00:34:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:56] Speaker B: Is there anything in your guiding rules or principles or tools and tricks that you've used because you're a mom with a toddler and a filmmaker? How do you plan and still have freedom and flexibility in your life? [00:35:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Are there. [00:35:15] Speaker B: Are there? Give us the cheat code. [00:35:18] Speaker A: I mean, it's a lot of trial and error, you know, which also is dance. Yes, absolutely. I would say, you know, hearing you talk about planning, planning and preparing and then just letting it all go, it reminds me of tour. How many weeks of rehearsals are you doing? And prepping. Prepping. Prepping before you get on stage. And you just gotta let it all. [00:35:39] Speaker B: All go. [00:35:39] Speaker A: Right. You let it all go by trusting that all that preparation is there. Yes. And I think that's the thing to remember is that if you've done the preparation, the rehearsing, the training, you're not actually Letting it go. You're letting that move you. Right. You are actually fully preparing yourself to not be kind of, like, floundering out there, but to be supported by all this preparation that you've done prior to that moment. [00:36:05] Speaker B: Nice. [00:36:05] Speaker A: And that comes into everything for me, whether it's parenting, whether it's filmmaking. It's like, okay, if I can do the work to prepare and to be present with what my needs might be, then when I get there, then I can fully let go, because I have all the tools that I need. [00:36:22] Speaker B: Nice. That makes me think about directionality and the idea of there being an outside source or the direction of flow through the tubes of life. And in that version, I was just going to see how many times. [00:36:35] Speaker A: So you can get that hashtag tubes in this podcast episode. [00:36:39] Speaker B: In that version. Right. The preparation, the hard work, the plan is behind you. Right. That all happened retro. And you're allowing that. What I'm hearing you say is you're allowing that to come move you instead of reaching back for it. [00:36:56] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:57] Speaker B: Turning your eyes away from what's ahead of you, to look behind you and reach behind you and pull instead of pulling you. Just like all your. All you need to be aware of is ahead. [00:37:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:08] Speaker B: And it shows up and supports you. I love that idea of directional flow. [00:37:13] Speaker A: Yes. [00:37:13] Speaker B: Like, I don't need to turn and pull. I need to, like, just be present and be moved. [00:37:21] Speaker A: Absolutely. It kind of reminds me of partner work, you know, and it was on partner. [00:37:26] Speaker B: Admittedly, we need it. I just don't have tons of practice. [00:37:28] Speaker A: Yes. But I also realize this, you know, in. Upon Reflection, because on so youo Think youk Can Dance, I had a mambo number, and I was. I was learning how to partner, and Gustavo Vargas was our choreographer, and he was saying, like, oh, you're not letting him lead. And I was like, yeah, I am. And he was like, no, you're not. Like, you're pulling back. And so it's such. No, it's such a lesson in life. Because if you're doing this all the time, well, you're just gonna stay stuck in one place. If you just let go a little bit and let something else take you. Now, you can flow with it, but you're not. Sometimes we think letting go is like giving up. You're like, okay, but you look at. [00:38:08] Speaker B: You have to have something. [00:38:09] Speaker A: You have something. You still. You watch. Like, you watch any partner work, anyone that's, like, really letting go into it. Like, they are adding something else to it. By letting go, it creates the full Picture. There's always this balance of, you know, movement and letting go, but also effort and ease, and they have to come into perfect balance. Right. So I think that's important when we talk about preparation, because some people in their process are also very different. Like my husband, who's also a director. He's so much more spontaneous, and that's how he works. So maybe it's like a little more preparation, a little less preparation into more ability to just be free, whereas I'm a bit more opposite. I love preparation. So when I get in the spontaneous moment, I do feel supported. So it's just really like knowing yourself, Knowing yourself and knowing what works for your process. [00:38:58] Speaker B: Easy, guys, easy. Just know yourself. [00:39:02] Speaker A: That's where meditation. [00:39:03] Speaker B: I remember exactly. [00:39:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:06] Speaker B: Being with yourself. Like, being. Okay. Being with yourself. I remember that feeling as a young person training, whenever somebody said that, I was so confused. Be yourself. Just bring yourself. [00:39:19] Speaker A: Just. It was like, the. [00:39:21] Speaker B: What? I'm. I am. We. I'm here. Like, I. I had such a hard time understanding what that meant. [00:39:28] Speaker A: Well, that makes sense why you had such a hard time, because you're so rooted in your individuality, and you are so Dana. And so you. That for someone to say be yourself, you're like, obviously, you know, I think for you, it's very. I think that's part of it, you. [00:39:40] Speaker B: Know, I hope that's part of it. [00:39:42] Speaker A: I think so. [00:39:42] Speaker B: In there also. I don't know anybody else. Huge people pleasers out there, of course, where I just wanted them to tell me, like, what. No, what do you want? I'll bring that thing that you want and bring yourself. I'm like, I don't know. There's kind of a lot. [00:40:02] Speaker A: Sure. You want to see myself. [00:40:03] Speaker B: This, like, gobstopper of, like, color and shape and texture and sound and shit. And. And. And yeah, I was intimidated and confused by that. And now it's always such a relief when somebody's like, do you. [00:40:18] Speaker A: I'm like, oh, yeah. Seriously? Yeah. I think, you know, it's interesting having a child, too, because I think as we get older, we more and more want this, like, freedom to just be ourselves. But when we're younger, all we want to do is, like, be like people and be grown up and, you know, and. And. And it's like we're looking ahead at what we don't have right now. And then when we're older, we're looking back at what we used to have, you know? [00:40:44] Speaker B: Okay, okay. Okay. Here's a fun game. Okay. What do you have right now that you want to, like, really be taken advantage of so that older Melma is, like, super proud of you. [00:40:55] Speaker A: I mean, the first thing that comes up is motherhood. [00:40:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:58] Speaker B: Like spend all the time with Damien. [00:41:00] Speaker A: Yeah. But, you know, I'm realizing motherhood is not just all the classical ways we'd think about it, like, spending time, of course that's important, but also me really creating the work that I want to create. Because I've noticed in this last movie, you know, I'd sit there sometimes and he'd come up and he'd sit on my lap and watch the movie, and I'm like, wow, the things that I make are going to be part of his legacy, part of the way he thinks, part of the way he understands. [00:41:25] Speaker B: Me, part of who he becomes. [00:41:28] Speaker A: Exactly. And for my journey as a mother, creating work is really important to me. That's not for everybody, you know, and there's obviously not one way to do it. There's so many ways to be a mother. But for my definition of it and what feels good to my soul is to say, being also a good mother to him is creating work that's really intentional and that is fully an expression of myself because that, in a way, serves as a guidebook even after I'm gone. Right. And here's this thing that you can be remembered by that he can pass on to if he decides to have children or other family that he gets involved with. That, to me, is such a beautiful part of being a parent and ushering your voice into the world for your child. [00:42:06] Speaker B: This reminds me of. This reminds me of a Donna Summer documentary. I'm laughing because I'm big on watching documentaries on planes lately, and I found this documentary I'm obsessed with. It's called Disco's Revenge, and it's, as far as I can tell, only on United Airlines. You can't stream. It's not on YouTube. So I've watched it, like, three different flights because I fucking. I'm obsessed with this. And then when I watched Disco's Revenge three times and have. Have it memorized now, I decided to switch to this Donna Summer documentary. And there's a lot of conversations with her children, and they're talking about not knowing her very well or knowing her through her art. [00:42:49] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:42:50] Speaker B: And so that's. I. I think you're the type of parent who knows themself and is so comfortable in their skin and is so excited to be vulnerable, unzipped, and your full self with Damien. But another interesting reason to be making work is to leave behind so that your kids. Their kids. Kids. Kids. Kids know you. [00:43:14] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:43:15] Speaker B: They know your values, your tastes, your sense of humor. They see this art product. I'll say that word again, that you made and will know you a little better for it. I think that's so cool. [00:43:27] Speaker A: Yeah. There's something really purposeful for me specifically in that. And look, it's a balance. Balance. It's not easy. You know, as much as those are my intentions. There's this constant dance of, you know, how much time do you spend on work and then parenting? You know, I think just 24 hours in a day. Yeah. [00:43:46] Speaker B: You gotta figure it out somehow. [00:43:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And I. And I don't think that you ever, like, get it perfect. You know, there's gonna be mistakes, and there's gonna be times where maybe you, like, forgot to do some work or there's times where you miss a deadline. Yeah, exactly. And you just have to flow with it and just say, all this is part of the whole messy chaos of life, too. [00:44:07] Speaker B: Messy chaos of life, AKA finding balance and learning. [00:44:10] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:44:11] Speaker B: Like, yeah. Dance lessons are life lessons. And for me, balance, when we're talking about a plan, when you're talking about how much of this, how much of that in dance, you try, you fall, you make minor adjustments, and you try again. [00:44:23] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:44:24] Speaker B: And that's. Yeah, it's. Dance is life. Come on, friends. [00:44:26] Speaker A: It really is. [00:44:27] Speaker B: Come on, friends. [00:44:28] Speaker A: I reflect so often, especially on my days at elite. Like, you know, the younger years. I mean, all of it, but the younger years, for sure. I just remember so many different lessons coming up, and maybe because when we're younger, we're not as conscious of them, you know? So now when I reflect on. Oh, yeah. Like, you know, not getting first place all the time in my teens, only until I was late, was so huge for me, just being able to work for what I'm passionate about without the reward. [00:44:53] Speaker B: How many tours did you audition for before you booked one? If you. [00:44:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:57] Speaker B: If you didn't know how to be disappointed and continue. [00:45:01] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:45:01] Speaker B: Or feel rejection and still show up for yourself. [00:45:05] Speaker A: Yes. Well, now I take that into filmmaking, because even more so, filmmaking can take years before you see a reward. Right. You know, like, I've been developing my feature for about four years, and that's still early. [00:45:16] Speaker B: Right. [00:45:17] Speaker A: These days, like, it's average, like, seven years to get an indie made. So that's you, Riz. [00:45:24] Speaker B: Somebody's been moving you this whole time. You're a film. We didn't know anything. [00:45:29] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:45:30] Speaker B: So seven. Okay, so what is the what's your plan for this film? And tell us where the good people can find it? Because I. It was. It took everything in me to not be like, riley, watch this. Seaweed Sisters. Have you seen this? [00:45:43] Speaker A: So sweet. [00:45:44] Speaker B: It's so fucking good. It's so smart. It's so well done. And you know what? I think it also does very well. And I struggle with this in my own work is I'm gonna give another kind of, you know, binary concept on the nose and abstract. Obviously, there are 4 million shades of in between, but for me, I. I like work that's accessible. I don't like for people. My dad. To have to try so hard to figure out what it's about. [00:46:20] Speaker A: Agreed, Agreed. [00:46:21] Speaker B: And I think what it did really well is hid these little art signals that's like. Like, this is art. [00:46:27] Speaker A: Yes. [00:46:28] Speaker B: And also, it's clear I know what it's about. Takeaways are, like, crystal clear. So it wasn't too on the nose, but it is what it is. But it also has these hidden artist signatures in it where I'm like, yeah, yeah, somebody real fucking smart made that. Aw. So I. Flowers. I will give you flowers all day long. I'm a very big fan, but of this film in particular, what's your dream for it? What's its destination? Where can people find it? [00:46:57] Speaker A: Well, my dream for it is to definitely go to a big film festival like Sundance or South by Southwest or tiff. That's always been a dream of mine. I am developing it into a feature. So that's also a dream. Yes. [00:47:09] Speaker B: I wanted more. [00:47:10] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's actually a lot of the feedback that I got, you know, especially from one of my mentors, George Tillman Jr. Who I assisted for many years. He was like, you need to make a feature out of this. It also just is. So my voice hearing you say that, how it bridges both kind of this commercial accessibility, but also the more artistic, abstract side. That's how I felt as a dancer. I was a contemporary dancer that came here and started doing tours. And you're the same, you know, and it's like, bridge, baby, bridge. And not putting us in these boxes of, like, oh, you do contemporary. You only do that, you know? And it's interesting how, again, as I said earlier, everything we do in dance comes into other things. Right. Like the way you describe that is how I would have described myself as a dancer. Too cool. But now it's happening in film, right? [00:47:54] Speaker B: Yes. [00:47:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:55] Speaker B: Gorgeous parlay of, like, strengths and identity and. [00:47:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:48:00] Speaker B: But honestly, what is this one called I'm Dremeling. [00:48:02] Speaker A: It's called. And that's the way the Cookie Crumbles. Yes. [00:48:05] Speaker B: You've got to find out why. [00:48:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:07] Speaker B: Either way, you gotta find out. Oh, my God, it is so clever. [00:48:11] Speaker A: Oh, thank you. No, it was. It was a real joy to create. And there was this moment on set where the actress Dia was saying this whole monologue that actually didn't make it into the film. We shot two versions of that moment where she ends the livestream. There's this whole monologue where she talks about presence and what it means to actually be here. And, like, is us being so stressed and rushing around and being so concerned about our identities and social media and what we're posting. Is it all really worth it when you're about to die? And we decided not to keep the monologue because we did a version, which is in the movie, where she just is silent and processes all those thoughts internally, gives the monologue internally, and then says, goodbye, everyone. But when she did it on set, the monologue, I was so moved because it was this crazy, spiritual, trippy realization how words that I had written are not mine. I wrote this, but I realized this is another person's story too. Like, someone else is feeling this exact same thing. There's something so specific that I wrote about a yoga teacher who's a multitasker whose. Her whole life is in shambles because of that. Like, very personal. It somehow is universal. [00:49:23] Speaker B: Totally the. More personal. [00:49:25] Speaker A: Exactly. And it was so moving to realize that. And I think we can take that into dance as well. Like, how do you get more and more specific with your voice and what you add to something, like a piece of choreography? And how does that make it more accessible? Yeah, Right. [00:49:39] Speaker B: How can you speak to more people? By being more yourself. [00:49:42] Speaker A: Yes. More true to yourself. See, little Dana knows little Dana. [00:49:46] Speaker B: She got lots of practice. [00:49:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:48] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. That's awesome. Okay, so people will see it after it has premiered at one of those. [00:49:56] Speaker A: Festivals you just mentioned. Yeah, it'll. The way the short film world works is that typically festivals ask for priority when it comes to premieres, so you have to wait to premiere your film online until you've done a festival run. [00:50:09] Speaker B: The Seaweed sisters know all about that because we have a work that's premiering at the San Francisco Dance film festival on November 5th. [00:50:14] Speaker A: Congratulations. [00:50:15] Speaker B: At November 5th at 7:30, but who's counting? I'm so excited. I know. It's super jacked. [00:50:22] Speaker A: Oh, also, I connected with Allison, who shot. [00:50:25] Speaker B: Yeah, she shot this still Got it is what it's called. And by the time you guys are watching. No, it'll be close, but no, it won't be out yet. Still got it. Allison is a G. Yes. And Logan and the sheep and the goats and the Pacific Northwest factor heavily into this work. But it is our Seaweed Sisters directorial debut. [00:50:49] Speaker A: Yes. [00:50:49] Speaker B: It's the first project that we self directed and Al was our DP and crushed it. We had a very small but very mighty team. And I'm super proud of this one. But yes, when you were talking about the edit, I edited this as well. And I can definitely relate to being too far in it to be able to zoom out. And yeah, there was a point. It definitely helps to have three of us. We ping pong values and ideas and what ifs beautifully. Like 99.999% of the time. And the rest of the time it's like a democracy and we just raise our hand and vote and we just. Three is a lucky number. [00:51:29] Speaker A: But yeah, but there's pros and cons to everything. And there's so many pros to editing your own work. Like things that you were so involved with. I mean, think about some of the best directors, like Chloe Zhao and Sean B. They all edit their own stuff, right? [00:51:44] Speaker B: Yep. [00:51:44] Speaker A: And because you're really making the story there, so. [00:51:48] Speaker B: Especially something musical. [00:51:50] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. [00:51:51] Speaker B: Really wish it was more customary to have choreographers involved in the edit process. [00:51:55] Speaker A: Totally. [00:51:55] Speaker B: Because, man. [00:51:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:51:57] Speaker B: I've seen some things that I'm just, I guess, fully not on beat. Yeah, it's not on. It's not on beat. It's not on beat, everyone. Oh, my God. Riley sent me a meme recently. It was like when. When you die, it's the people that you leave behind who feel the pain of your death. The same is true for dancing offbeat other people that feel that pain. [00:52:20] Speaker A: So true. [00:52:21] Speaker B: I'm scagged. Okay, I do want to talk about very quickly. And then we'll get to the wrist roll with it. Rapid fire portion. [00:52:27] Speaker A: Yes. [00:52:28] Speaker B: The thing you said to me about cats in Mexico for our dear friend Mimi Cave's birthday. Also previous podcast guest. Get into it. [00:52:37] Speaker A: She was on the podcast. [00:52:38] Speaker B: She was a long time ago, before we were in video format. So she's got to come back because she's very good looking. [00:52:42] Speaker A: Yeah, she's very good. [00:52:43] Speaker B: So we were in Mexico celebrating Mimi's birthday and there were these cats everywhere. Right. Because we're in. There's cats everywhere. [00:52:51] Speaker A: Yes. [00:52:52] Speaker B: And I was taking pictures of one cat in particular and it was like folded, crumpled. And the cat was like not having me or something. The cat did something. And I was like, ah, asshole. All cats are assholes. And you were like, if I may, voice of reason from out from the other side of the Gigantor dining table cat Mom, I don't even know if I knew you were there, but your voice just said if I may present an alternative or can I make. Can I make an offering? And I was like, sure, yeah, of course. And you said. Do you remember what you said? [00:53:28] Speaker A: Vaguely, but you say you'll probably say it better. [00:53:31] Speaker B: You said the same people that think all cats are assholes are the people who think all women are bitchy. [00:53:38] Speaker A: That is what I said. That's bold. Damn, I was pregnant back then too. [00:53:43] Speaker B: Word economy. Melma, you said a lot with a little. And I was like, well, shit, there it is. I have changed my mind about cats in that sentence. [00:53:56] Speaker A: Well, because it's interesting. I can, I can deduce the meaning of that. But what do you take from that? What did that. Why did that hit so much? [00:54:04] Speaker B: Don't make a monolith out of all cats, right? All women are not all bitchy and all cats are not all assholes, period. Like you can say this cat is being an. Yeah, you can even say that 90 of cats can be. Yes, but like it is not true that all cats are assholes. It's not a fact. Yes, but what I had to then wrap my brain around is like there are cats that act like dogs and I like them. But that's like only by making a cat a dog will I like it. That's fucked. Like, let's talk about how fucked that is. So anyways, it hugely and because I love women and I've self identified feminist over here, although I'm not a great feminist. I need to do more reading. I need more rehearsal. I need more rehearsals. But I was like, oh, def. Easy. Yeah, easy. Done. Rewired. That's great. I don't think that anymore. [00:54:54] Speaker A: And to me, because I think, look, I love both cats and dogs. And dogs are so easily lovable because. Because dogs aren't as. Not always. I mean you said it, not me. But you see women and men. JK Half kidding. [00:55:12] Speaker B: But. [00:55:15] Speaker A: But I think dogs are just so unconditionally loving and wanting to please you without. Without really caring so much how you act to them. Cats are very sensitive and really are emotionally intuitive. And I do not want to gender this at all, but a lot of the time, traditionally women are able to be more Emotionally intuitive because we have these things that can birth life. We have these uteruses. It's like I feel like we're equipped with that. That, you know. And so that's where I feel like there's a similarity between the way we can judge cats and the way we just deem women. I'm like, maybe she's just really sensitive and intuitive and tuning into something that we can't necessarily see, Right? Yes. [00:55:58] Speaker B: Maybe she's just not as simple. [00:56:01] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. [00:56:02] Speaker B: This is my simple baby dog. [00:56:04] Speaker A: She's a cat. [00:56:06] Speaker B: She's cozy. I gave her belly rubs. [00:56:08] Speaker A: She's so sweet. [00:56:09] Speaker B: Are you ready for wrist roll with it? It's our rapid fire round. [00:56:12] Speaker A: Yes. Let's do it. [00:56:12] Speaker B: Okay, so I know the first one. Dogs or cats? [00:56:15] Speaker A: Cats. [00:56:16] Speaker B: Coffee or tea? [00:56:17] Speaker A: Tea. [00:56:18] Speaker B: Favorite song you ever did a solo to Chasing Cars. [00:56:21] Speaker A: Nice. The Natasha Bedingfield cover. [00:56:23] Speaker B: Oh, dang. She opened for us on tour with jt. My first tour with him, our European leg. And I would go out to watch her sing Wild Horses every night. [00:56:32] Speaker A: Know her voice. Yeah. [00:56:36] Speaker B: Favorite dance move. [00:56:37] Speaker A: Oh, gosh, that's hard. Oh, oh, oh. Plie. A plie feels really nice. I still do grand plies every now and then. I love a grand plie. [00:56:48] Speaker B: Demi, demi grand. [00:56:49] Speaker A: And it's also the first thing you start with in ballet. There's something so like, here we go, you know? Yeah, yeah. [00:56:57] Speaker B: Shout out to Spencer Thieberg, who taught me the concept of plies being infinite. Just like your multi directional flow. A plie is not up, down 100%. [00:57:07] Speaker A: I love that. [00:57:09] Speaker B: How about the words that move you, Mama? Do you have a guiding principle or mantra or poem proverb? [00:57:17] Speaker A: It's funny because this is the line that's repeated a lot in my film. You can do anything when you remain present. But it's true. And that's the whole satire of it all is that I make fun of it in the film. But it's true. You can just. [00:57:32] Speaker B: It's her tagline and it's. It's your tagline. It really is true. [00:57:38] Speaker A: It's true. It is. If you're just in the moment, you'll have everything you need. Like, I'll never forget this book, the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle that I read. It was one of the first spiritual books that I read and just blew my mind in terms of thinking that life only happens in the now. Like, if you ever think about it. Have you ever actually experienced something in the past? No. You're thinking about it, right? [00:57:58] Speaker B: It's a memory. [00:57:59] Speaker A: Have you ever experienced the future? No. You're thinking about it. You're only experiencing the now. So what happens if you're just more and more. More present all the time? [00:58:08] Speaker B: More experience. [00:58:09] Speaker A: More experience more life. Right. Maybe everything, everything comes to you from the present moment. So yeah, that's the tagline that's moving me as of the moment. [00:58:19] Speaker B: I love that. I can't think of a better place to end it than there. Thank you for encouraging us all to be more present. Go be presently listening to the Parents Forum episode that Mel is also a guest on on. I'll be sure to link to your calm as well so that people can go get more of your voice and your guided meditation. Because I could listen you talk all day long. [00:58:42] Speaker A: There's a lot of sleep stuff there too. So if you're having trouble sleeping, calm's definitely a good source for that. Me neither. [00:58:49] Speaker B: I've got other problems, but falling asleep is actually usually not one of them. Sometimes I. Yeah, I go in and out. [00:58:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:54] Speaker B: Thank you for that. Thank you for you and the example that you set for dancers and women everywhere. I love you big time. [00:58:59] Speaker A: I love you. [00:59:00] Speaker B: I love you too. Listener Viewer get out into the world. Leave a Review, Leave a Rating Subscribe Click the bell for notifications and keep it very 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 Fiona Small, with additional support from Ori Vajrares. Our music is by Max Winnie, logo and brand design by Bri Reitz. And if you're digging the podcast, leave a review and rating and please share. Also, if you want to connect 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 that I do outside of this podcast, visit thedanawilson. [00:59:42] Speaker A: Com.