275.5. DANCE + NICK DRAGO

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome to dance, my friend. That was sharp. Welcome to dance. Who says that? All right, my friend. Welcome to Dance Plus. This is Dana. Today, the plus in Dance plus is Dance plus lifelong friendship. Today, I'm joined by the one and only Nick Drago, who happens to be words that move me. Podcast guest number one. Nick Draco was my guest before I decided to really commit to doing a podcast. It was my audition episode. We call it episode 0.5. You can go listen to that episode right now, and I suggest that you do, because so much has changed, and so much is exactly the same as it was 270 some episodes ago. So I'm stoked that Nick came back, graced us with his presence, his humor, and his physique you're about to see in this episode. Ow. Now I'm injured. Nick and I talk about a lot of many things. Our favorite gigs, our favorite people, our favorite gym techniques and supplements. So you don't want to miss this episode. Please don't go anywhere. But first, we're doing wins. Today I am celebrating being an associate choreographer for the first time in a long time and loving the freedom that that affords, loving the challenge of working in a new team, loving the music and the work itself, and loving my friend, Will Loftus. I cannot wa tell you more about this some later time, but for now, you go tell me what's going well in your world. [00:01:43] Speaker B: Great. [00:01:43] Speaker A: Good job. Great job. Actually. Proud of you. So glad that you're winning. Let's get into this episode, shall we? Nick Drago, podcast guest number one, Longtime friend. At least top ten. I mean, no offense, Nick Drago, but, like, Jillian and Megan have got to be in there in the top. So you're not one or two, Nick, but you are 0.5. Enjoy this conversation with the one and only Nick Drago. Welcome to the podcast, Nick Drago. We're back. We. For a second, as we were setting up, we were toying with finding our. Finding our angles and finding our looks. And then Nick coached me through the actual way, the actual pose of a bicep flex. Could you tell us tell the good people what we're doing wrong with our flex? [00:02:36] Speaker B: Yeah. My friend Ally is a fitness posing coach. [00:02:39] Speaker A: Wow. First of all, what you did with your chest just now, when you sat up straight, you were like, I saw your whole self buff. [00:02:46] Speaker B: Okay. [00:02:46] Speaker A: And then. Okay, back to you. [00:02:48] Speaker B: So you don't want to bring it all the way in because it shortens [00:02:50] Speaker A: everything, which is exactly what I did when I was trying to show you my Bicep, but you. [00:02:53] Speaker B: But it still looks good. But then when you bring it out so, you know, it kind of creates that space. [00:02:57] Speaker A: That space between bicep and elbow pit. [00:03:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. An elbow pit. [00:03:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:01] Speaker B: Oh, that's what it's called. [00:03:02] Speaker A: It is. It must be. [00:03:03] Speaker B: I'm. And I'm probably not even pitching it. Right. She's probably gonna watch this and be like, that is wrong. But, you know, there's a whole art to it. [00:03:09] Speaker A: Right. It's felt right. I want to know all of the posing secrets that bodybuilders have. [00:03:15] Speaker B: Well, okay. [00:03:17] Speaker A: Now we're really in it. [00:03:18] Speaker B: Okay. [00:03:19] Speaker A: Okay. So here's what the good people of America don't know about you, Nick Drago, is that you're my first podcast guest ever. Nick holds the coveted spot of episode 05. This was the audition episode where I was finding out if I could even do this, and I was like, you know who would be a great audition episode is somebody that I enjoy talking to, somebody that also could talk unsolicited on their own for a long time. You made it very easy for me, and you might have even given me a little false confidence that I could really do this. But then it turned out I can actually do this, and I have been doing this for 270 some episodes since then. [00:04:09] Speaker B: Oh, it's incredible. [00:04:10] Speaker A: Is incredible. [00:04:11] Speaker B: But I also knew, like, you're. You're kind of the queen of banter. Like, anytime I'm in a conversation with you, I don't ever worry that, like, oh, it's gonna get awkward. [00:04:18] Speaker A: It's not gonna fall flat. Well, it is gonna get awkward for sure. Awkward. It's not gonna fall flat. [00:04:22] Speaker B: Yeah, but we're not. Neither of us are gonna be like, I don't know what to say next, because we're like, we're on that. Yes. And Tip. You know what I'm saying that. [00:04:28] Speaker A: Yes. [00:04:29] Speaker B: And I think you've done a great job because, you know, I think a lot of people. We get scared as artists, I think. And this is something that I wanted to talk to you about, is that, like, a lot of us, you know, we'll go, I have that. And a lot of people have the. I can't focus either because you're so cute. Tiny. [00:04:44] Speaker A: Come. [00:04:45] Speaker B: Because the imposter syndrome. Right. We think I'm going to try something new, and then what? What's going to happen if it sucks? [00:04:52] Speaker A: Yes. [00:04:52] Speaker B: And the fact of the matter is, sometimes it does suck. [00:04:55] Speaker A: Sometimes it does. [00:04:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:56] Speaker A: Enter learning. [00:04:57] Speaker B: Interlearning. [00:04:58] Speaker A: Enter sucking less. [00:05:00] Speaker B: Right. [00:05:00] Speaker A: Enter eventually becoming good at a thing. [00:05:02] Speaker B: Yes. And you did it in. That's. That's all you can do, is just try to do stuff. And now that I'm back in la, I'm like, I'm just gonna do stuff. That's my mantra now. Yeah, just do stuff. [00:05:11] Speaker A: Just do stuff. Yeah. Not just do it, but just do stuff. [00:05:15] Speaker B: Just do stuff. [00:05:16] Speaker A: Any variety of stuff. What kind of stuff you doing these days? [00:05:18] Speaker B: Oh, just like all kinds of stuff I'm doing. I'm in, you know, I'm doing fitness stuff. [00:05:24] Speaker A: Yeah, you are. [00:05:25] Speaker B: I'm writing. Writing with Scott Hislop and Mike Riccio. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:05:29] Speaker A: And Mike. [00:05:30] Speaker B: And Mike Reach. He's back, baby. So back. [00:05:34] Speaker A: So glad to hear this. [00:05:35] Speaker B: Yeah, man. And I'm acting. I got an acting manager. I'm like, I'm training, I'm filming, I'm shooting stuff. [00:05:40] Speaker A: I'm bunch of stuff. [00:05:41] Speaker B: I say yes to everything. I go see shows. [00:05:43] Speaker A: Yep. [00:05:44] Speaker B: I didn't do that before you came [00:05:45] Speaker A: and saw the Seaweed sister show. [00:05:46] Speaker B: Oh, you know why I'm wearing the shirt, right? [00:05:49] Speaker A: What? [00:05:50] Speaker B: Cuz blue. [00:05:53] Speaker A: Nick, you're really showing up for team blue. [00:05:56] Speaker B: Team blue. Even though you're real mean. [00:05:58] Speaker A: You know? You know, it's funny. I was super mean to Green and that's not cool. But it just. Because I as a middle was trying to assert my power. [00:06:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:06] Speaker A: And I can only do that when pink isn't there. Because pink has the power. [00:06:09] Speaker B: Right. And also pink didn't. Yeah. But Pink, I feel like she should have done something about this. [00:06:15] Speaker A: She. [00:06:16] Speaker B: She know. Yeah, she knows. [00:06:17] Speaker A: Yeah, that is fully true. Which knows a lot, but usually is wrong. [00:06:21] Speaker B: She knows a lot. [00:06:22] Speaker A: She's wrong a lot also. [00:06:23] Speaker B: Well, that's. That's what I like about the dynamic of it. And I think the show. [00:06:26] Speaker A: None of us know anything except for green. Ironically, Green knows a lot. Green is always. Green's finger is firmly on the pulse of what is going on, which is [00:06:35] Speaker B: perhaps why she's most sensitive. [00:06:36] Speaker A: 100. [00:06:37] Speaker B: So that's what I loved about the show is that I thought there was texture, there's layers. I especially. I always love watching you perform. I always love watching you for all. All you guys together have great chemistry. But you know, we've been on set together. [00:06:49] Speaker A: Yes. [00:06:50] Speaker B: Three times. We've done movies. I looked this up. [00:06:51] Speaker A: What movies have we done? [00:06:52] Speaker B: We've done oh La La Land, Vice and Yo, Valley Girl. [00:07:00] Speaker A: God bless Valley Girl. [00:07:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:07:03] Speaker A: Yo. That was a tough. That was tough. [00:07:05] Speaker B: That was a tough one. [00:07:06] Speaker A: It was A tough one. Mandy crushed it. But the. But the odds were stacked against that project, unfortunately. I think when you're remaking a thing that's as coveted as Valley Girl, the original Valley Girl, Nicholas Cage. [00:07:20] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you know. And I think so. Those three films are all completely different. [00:07:25] Speaker A: Totally. That's true. And so we are pretty versatile a [00:07:27] Speaker B: lot, you and I. Yeah, 100%. [00:07:29] Speaker A: Is it a lot if there's only two? [00:07:30] Speaker B: Heyo. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Pretty versatile duo. [00:07:32] Speaker B: I say we are. I like that. [00:07:34] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think that that's the. I think that that's the most important thing that I want to just highlight is that, like, we. The two of us are different dancers, but we all. We adjust to what comes up. Right. [00:07:47] Speaker A: The needs of the gig. [00:07:48] Speaker B: Needs of the gig. It's the nuance. And that's one thing I noticed you did in the show is like. I noticed a lot of your nuanced characterizations. I was like, oh, that was dope. That was a great choice because we know that you know this. We know that it is not the choreography, it is the story. That's it. [00:08:04] Speaker A: That's interesting you should say that, Nick, because story was not in the room with us when we made this show. [00:08:10] Speaker B: Oh, interesting. [00:08:11] Speaker A: Yeah. We deliberately chose against a narrative linear structure when building the show because we weren't sure what it would become or where it would go. And we wanted it to be kind of modular in that we could lift sections out and they could be freestanding and totally make sense. Like, we could take out the smoothie section. We could do tickle trunks somewhere. We could do a funny bit with the fridge. We could just do the last three numbers of the show and it wouldn't feel like it needed explaining. So we don't have a beginning, middle, end, but the bits conflict, setting, but our characters are clear. And so if you put clear characters in any circumstance, it kind of Story happens. Story happens. Even though story wasn't our North Star. [00:08:57] Speaker B: Well, but also your. The bits all had beginning, middle and end. [00:09:00] Speaker A: That's true. [00:09:00] Speaker B: So, you know, because that's, you know, that's how it naturally. How it works. And I think that you guys really achieved that. And it's also, like, fun. Like, I'm a kind of guy that's like. I'm also looking at the audience too, because. [00:09:10] Speaker A: What did you learn from the audience? [00:09:11] Speaker B: Oh, I just. I loved it. I saw, like, grown men, like, geeky. Yeah. Like, looking like crazy idiots. And it was. Which is the point, right? Like, to be, like. [00:09:19] Speaker A: To make grown men idiots. Yes. That was it. That was our North Star. [00:09:22] Speaker B: Right. And I. And look, I'm not judging anybody. I watch pro wrestling, so I have to suspend my disbelief quite a bit as well. So. I love stuff like this because it's. It's for everyone. And I like that it was clean. I liked it. There wasn't like, yeah, these easy, cheap jokes. [00:09:36] Speaker A: Well, except for the fart section. Well. [00:09:37] Speaker B: But yeah, you know, throw one in there. You know, it was like six minutes long. [00:09:44] Speaker A: We, you know, it's funny. Farts specifically. We. Yeah, we didn't want to do a lot of low hanging fruit stuff, but we also, you know, we can't ignore what's funny and what's human. And even though we. We have positioned the Seaweed sisters as something other than human, we definitely position ourselves as being relatable. So if. If you don't think farts are funny, I don't. I can't relate. [00:10:11] Speaker B: Right. Yeah, well, exactly. And. Well, and also, I mean, your character, I think, really lended itself to, like, the big sister that's like, take my shoe off for me. I'm gonna do it. You know, that kind of thing. I think there's. Since there's three of you, everybody can kind of relate to one of us [00:10:25] Speaker A: at any given moment. [00:10:26] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we've all had friendships like that, too. [00:10:30] Speaker A: Somebody told us they were like, you made a show about friendship and your friendship is so exposed in it. So vulnerable. To do that to. To show people your friendship and your creative work together. Ship. Whoa. Yeah, it is. That was a brave. It was a. It was a brave. Brave that we did. [00:10:50] Speaker B: Well, dude, 100. And also, it is hard to put a show together. [00:10:53] Speaker A: That part. [00:10:54] Speaker B: It's easy to, like, armchair quarterback it on Monday or Monday morning quarterback and be like, this could happen. This should happen. But like, dude, try to put a show together. [00:11:01] Speaker A: Go for it. Go. Yeah, go for it. Go. Take on 80 minutes in the role of directors, co producers and choreographers and the talent. That was an epic lift. Thank you for acknowledging that. I do. It was. It's hard to make anything. It's hard to make an Instagram reel that has the right caption at the right moment and the right. You know, it's hard to make stuff. It's not cheap to make stuff. I'm very proud that we did it and I'm very grateful to have people like you in the audience and champions like you like, cheering us on, on from every step of the way. You've been. [00:11:38] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:11:38] Speaker A: You've been fans of the three of us. And I'm very. [00:11:40] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Well, it's my pleasure. I mean, like. Well, I mean, look, I've d you. You're an incredible dancer, incredible performer. And when. When I. Oh, stop, stop. [00:11:47] Speaker A: Keep going. [00:11:48] Speaker B: Yeah, keep going. But, you know, when I. When I'm on set and I get to look over and I see a Dana Wilson, I see a Tracy Phillips, I see a Scott Hislop, I'm like, dude, I can't believe that I'm here. These are my friends. Like, my friends are so. I have the most talented friends on earth. [00:12:03] Speaker A: Feel the same, dude. [00:12:04] Speaker B: Doesn't it make you just emotional? Like, I get emotional when I look around, and I'm like, these are my people. What? Yeah, like my. And when we did La La Land, like, Carol Connors, the woman who taught everyone how to use style, like, she is dancing next to me. [00:12:17] Speaker A: Cool. [00:12:18] Speaker B: What? [00:12:18] Speaker A: What? [00:12:19] Speaker B: Dude, it's not real. [00:12:20] Speaker A: Okay, so first of all, we've kind of abandoned the format of Words that Move Me episodes because you haven't introduced yourself. So I introduce yourself. Tell the listener, viewer, what you want us to know about you. And then I want to hear a couple other, like, career defining moments that you've had on set. Being like, what is this? My life with. [00:12:36] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, what's up, everybody? [00:12:37] Speaker A: Hi. [00:12:38] Speaker B: This camera. [00:12:38] Speaker A: Sure. [00:12:39] Speaker B: Okay. [00:12:39] Speaker A: All right. And flex while you do it. [00:12:44] Speaker B: These are my profiles. [00:12:45] Speaker A: These are my interior deltoids. [00:12:49] Speaker B: Okay, what's up, everybody? My name is Nick Drago. I'm a dancer, and I'm a writer. I'm a producer, and I'm a doer of stuff. [00:12:56] Speaker A: Doer of stuff. Stuff. Doer of stuff. Doer. [00:12:59] Speaker B: Yeah. And what. What is the other question? What do I need to do? [00:13:01] Speaker A: Just what. What you want people to know about you getting into this conversation? [00:13:04] Speaker B: Oh, man. Well, I've just. I've been a dancer my entire career. I' lucky enough to not have, like, a real job ever. You know, I think being on television and being in film is, like, kind of a dream that I always had. And it's a dream that's still going, and I can't. I just can't believe it. You know, I love telling stories. I love training. I love, like, appreciating the moment. [00:13:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:27] Speaker B: You know, and that's the kind of performer I am. I've never been the kind of guy. It's like I could do, like, five pirouettes, and I can jump the high. I mean, I can jump, I can turn, I can do all that. So Anyway, so, yeah, so I don't know. I've worked in television and film my entire career and, you know, some of the things that, you know, we talked about. La La Land. I was most notably Theodore and Alvin and the Chipmunks in the first one. [00:13:45] Speaker A: That's correct. [00:13:46] Speaker B: Just his dance moves. And then worked a lot of Glee. [00:13:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:50] Speaker B: I've worked with, you know, My Chemical Romance. I did the, the video. I just watched Tracy's episode and I was in that, which was awesome. [00:13:58] Speaker A: I need to rewatch that immediately. [00:14:00] Speaker B: You'll see my. My sideburns, my chops. [00:14:03] Speaker A: How many of the gigs that you have done were also Michael Rooney gigs? [00:14:08] Speaker B: Many. [00:14:08] Speaker A: Many. [00:14:09] Speaker B: Right. [00:14:09] Speaker A: You're kind of a Michael Rooney. [00:14:11] Speaker B: I was a Michael Rooney guy. [00:14:12] Speaker A: Is that who you would say is the person you've worked for the most? Maybe Mandy. Huh? [00:14:16] Speaker B: Yeah, Mandy, Michael and. And Cat Burns now. [00:14:19] Speaker A: Nice. [00:14:19] Speaker B: Yeah, those are kind of my. [00:14:20] Speaker A: Oh, that's a nice. That trifecta. [00:14:22] Speaker B: Dude. Dude, I. Anytime I get to work with any of them, I'm just, I am in absolute awe. And you know, and Rooney's interesting because his approach to creation, he'll. I remember being in rehearsals, it was for the pilot for Crazy Ex Girlfriend. [00:14:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:36] Speaker B: Is before Kat took over. So he's stepped. He's took a step. Skeleton proof. [00:14:41] Speaker A: No, no left foot. No, no, no right foot. Oh, that's it. [00:14:46] Speaker B: You know, and you're just like, my God. [00:14:48] Speaker A: Every step belabored. [00:14:50] Speaker B: Every step. And dude, I'm like, what are we doing? And then how are we going to [00:14:54] Speaker A: get through this day? [00:14:55] Speaker B: But then we did. And you just, you realize he builds it brick by brick. [00:14:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:59] Speaker B: And I, I respect that about him. Some people don't, you know, some people don't think like that. [00:15:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:05] Speaker B: But. And I. That's a challenge of. [00:15:07] Speaker A: There's so many different ways to make the sausage friends. [00:15:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:09] Speaker A: Some people paint with broad strokes first. These are brick by brick. It's very cool. Yeah. Art. I love, I love our time. And when we came up, the way we. The, the, the, the time and place that we were training and the time and place that we were like getting in the workforce. [00:15:25] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:15:26] Speaker A: I think we have a good experience of the. The old school way, the Michael Rooney way, the brick by brick way, and this bridge of the new way today, which is hard and fast and sometimes exactly what it needs to be. Nothing more, nothing less. Yeah. I don't know if that. There's no point to what I'm saying. [00:15:46] Speaker B: But there is a point because also, like, then you look at, like, Kat Burns, and she's very story driven. She's like, what's the bit? Yeah, let's find it. Yeah, let's find. And it's funny. [00:15:53] Speaker A: Where's the funny? What's the. What's the most important thing? [00:15:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:15:56] Speaker A: And that makes the rest fall out 100%. [00:15:59] Speaker B: And then you got Mandy, who already kind of like, comes in with this vision. You're just like. Do you just step back and let her do her thing? [00:16:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:04] Speaker B: You know what I'm saying? So I think there's. There's merit to all approaches. And in being a versatile dancer, you just have to be like, okay, I just got to prepare myself for whatever. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:13] Speaker B: Because, you know, you just. [00:16:14] Speaker A: We get to. This is. [00:16:15] Speaker B: I can't believe. Is our job. [00:16:17] Speaker A: Isn't that cool? [00:16:17] Speaker B: I cannot believe. [00:16:19] Speaker A: Yo, this is fucked. It's so fucked. [00:16:21] Speaker B: It's crazy, dude. So I will dress up like a hot dog and dance around like, what's [00:16:26] Speaker A: your favorite character that you've ever played? Have you ever hot dogged? Are you fireman? And copped? A thousand times. [00:16:32] Speaker B: I'm a cop. I am a construction worker. [00:16:34] Speaker A: Yeah, you are. [00:16:34] Speaker B: I am, dude. I'm. I've been a cowboy. A lot of cowboys. I'm a lot of blue collar, like, rough and gritty kind of guys. And I'll take it because those guys never do, like, floor work. [00:16:44] Speaker A: Take it and run. You know what? I remember the day I went from being a Disney kid to a mom. Young mom. But I'll take young mom all the way to the bank. [00:16:53] Speaker B: All the way. [00:16:54] Speaker A: Go, young moms. [00:16:56] Speaker B: I. I remember that. That too. I had the same moment because it was during Glee. I said to Brooke, I go, rook, why have you called me on Glee lately? You know, what's up? You know, she was like, brother, you [00:17:05] Speaker A: look like you're in college now. [00:17:06] Speaker B: Yeah, bro. I was like, oh, damn. [00:17:07] Speaker A: Really? [00:17:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So then I started using snail serum. [00:17:10] Speaker A: So we're good now, right on. You on the mucin? [00:17:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:13] Speaker A: Yes. Me too. [00:17:13] Speaker B: It works. I think it works. [00:17:15] Speaker A: Are you. How old are you? [00:17:16] Speaker B: I'm like 40 something. [00:17:17] Speaker A: Don't you dare. [00:17:18] Speaker B: 45 or so. [00:17:19] Speaker A: You do look good. [00:17:20] Speaker B: Thanks. [00:17:20] Speaker A: You look really good. [00:17:21] Speaker B: I'm trying. [00:17:21] Speaker A: You do, but you feel good, and that's the more important part. [00:17:24] Speaker B: I feel great, dude. I lost. Last year. I lost £55. You believe that? Yeah. Yeah, Dude, I was getting big, man. [00:17:28] Speaker A: Whoa. [00:17:29] Speaker B: I was getting big. [00:17:30] Speaker A: Okay, talk to me. Talk to me about. Okay, you're in la, you're doing cool Gigs. And then what happens? You move. I didn't. [00:17:38] Speaker B: I was. You know, I took a little side quest. [00:17:40] Speaker A: Side quest? [00:17:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Took a little side quest. And. And we moved to Oklahoma City, built a house, did all that. And it was. [00:17:49] Speaker A: Wait, what? So you play a construction worker on tv and also you built. [00:17:52] Speaker B: And I build my house. I just sent the emails on this one. I just. We didn't. I didn't actually build it. [00:17:57] Speaker A: Okay, got it. But I could just send the email. [00:18:00] Speaker B: I just sent the emails on what to do. Not like the measurements and stuff, but, you know, not like Nathan Prevost over here. So I went there and, you know, just to get out of the bubble, because I was really in a bad. I had been out in LA for 20 years, and I was in a bad headspace. Just kind of bitter, you know, you can get. And just, why am I not working? This and that and the other thing. It was after Covid and so. [00:18:22] Speaker A: And the answer is, because nobody is working. [00:18:24] Speaker B: Right? [00:18:25] Speaker A: I mean, sometimes. But also there. There are other factors. [00:18:28] Speaker B: And I struggle with that because it's like. It's like a. What have you done for me lately? Business. And if you and I. I put my value in my resume at that time and I shouldn't have. You know, And I'm okay saying that because I think we all tend to want to, like, feel like my stock is up. Right. I'm still worth of something. Yes, but our worth doesn't come from that. Our worth comes from, like, living a real life that we can put into art when. When the time comes. Right. So got out of the bubble. I loved it in Oklahoma City, I became the alumni advisor at my old fraternity. It was dope. I loved. And they were all like, actors and dancers. [00:19:02] Speaker A: Amazing. [00:19:02] Speaker B: So I got to be like, so they were jacked. They were jacked. [00:19:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:05] Speaker B: And I am like, I am Joe Lambda Kai. Like, I'm the guy shout out to my boys at Oklahoma City University. What's up? They're the best. And they were with me because soon after I moved down there, I went through a pretty big life change, and I needed them. And here I am. And I've said this to them before, but here I am thinking I'm gonna come in and help them. Turns out I needed them more than they needed me. These 18 to 23 year old guys were like, drago, we're here for you, bro. [00:19:30] Speaker A: Rocked your world, dude. [00:19:31] Speaker B: It was amazing. [00:19:32] Speaker A: Showed you unconditional love. [00:19:33] Speaker B: Unconditional love. [00:19:34] Speaker A: And you were like, oh, copy that. Copy. Paste onto self onto Self. I can do that. Yeah. Yeah. [00:19:39] Speaker B: I need. And so at the time, like, I was doing a few films down there, I was still flying back and forth, working like Mass Singer and a few. Few other jobs, but I loved being outside the bubble, and it was amazing. [00:19:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:50] Speaker B: And during that time, I. I got healthy. I got in. And I'm okay to say it. Like, you know, dudes need to go get your testosterone checked when you hit, you know, 30. Say it, dude. [00:20:00] Speaker A: I would have never said that ever, on this podcast. [00:20:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Thank you for saying that. [00:20:03] Speaker B: All. All of my guys out there that watch the dancers, especially athletes, you know, we, you know, females that talk about their hormones all the time. We should. We should do that too. [00:20:11] Speaker A: Go for it. [00:20:12] Speaker B: You know? And as you get older, you got to do body maintenance. [00:20:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:14] Speaker B: You know, we got to take the creatine like we were talking about before the show. You got to. You have to take care of yourself. And I. I caught the bug and I just started being kinder to myself, being healthy. And now I'm where I'm at today, and I feel so good. [00:20:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:27] Speaker B: And then a couple of months ago, I woke up and I was like, I got to get out of here. [00:20:30] Speaker A: I'm. I'm. And was that I'm coming back. Yeah. Or did you just know you needed to get out? [00:20:35] Speaker B: I knew. Well, I knew I need to get out. And then Deirdre Barnes posted this thing, you know Deirdre? Yeah. [00:20:39] Speaker A: In the Cirque show that I assisted Wade Robson on in 2009. [00:20:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:20:44] Speaker A: She was maybe 18. Oh, like fresh 18. [00:20:47] Speaker B: First gig, amazing human. [00:20:49] Speaker A: Sweetest, sweetest pee. [00:20:50] Speaker B: She was like, I'm going on tour. J. Balvin. Can somebody look out for my cat? I'm like, I'll be a cat guy. [00:20:55] Speaker A: So I was like, for you, Deirdre. Yeah. I'd be a cat lady, too. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I know. Oh, I know it. I know. So I threw a duffel bag and a bottle of tequila in my car and just drove on out. [00:21:06] Speaker A: Amazing. [00:21:06] Speaker B: And now I'm here. [00:21:07] Speaker A: Amazing. [00:21:08] Speaker B: I didn't bring anything. [00:21:09] Speaker A: When does your. When does your timeline expire at Deirdre's place? [00:21:12] Speaker B: It already has. I just moved down the. [00:21:15] Speaker A: Down the street. [00:21:15] Speaker B: Yeah, well, like, I stayed in the same apartment complex. I was like, I like it here. I think I'm just going to move here. [00:21:19] Speaker A: Amazing. [00:21:19] Speaker B: Cuz whatever. [00:21:21] Speaker A: Find it. It works. It's. It's fine. [00:21:22] Speaker B: I have a bed and a folding table and a folding chair. That's it. And I love it. [00:21:27] Speaker A: Wow. [00:21:27] Speaker B: I'm in my 20s again. [00:21:28] Speaker A: Yo, you are. I was just saying, like, keep it extended. You are having your. A new honeymoon phase with la. It's your, like, it's your. My sister used to call it the cookie phase. The Oreo. Like in a new relationship, the get to know you is really fun. It's like the cookie phase. Yeah. Nice. And then there's a not so fun phase that comes. [00:21:51] Speaker B: I never get to that phase. [00:21:53] Speaker A: That's true. Your life is pretty fun. Yeah. I mean, you make fun. [00:21:57] Speaker B: Oh, dude, I. Well, I'm trying. It's not always easy. I think, I think that's the thing that we don't ever talk about too, is like, it's sometimes there's some dark days here in la. Yeah, it's hard. [00:22:06] Speaker A: I think we do talk about those. Do you know? [00:22:08] Speaker B: Okay. [00:22:08] Speaker A: I don't. [00:22:08] Speaker B: I'm learning to. [00:22:09] Speaker A: Okay, cool, cool, cool. Yeah, Yeah. I think I. Rejection happened before I even got here and I knew that was just the tip of the iceberg because I. Because I was experiencing it. I was like, oh, okay. Yeah, there was a. I. I grew up with Tony Testa, Misha Gabriel, Randy Kemper. Oh. And we were kind of this quad fector. [00:22:36] Speaker B: Well, you, [00:22:39] Speaker A: Testa, Misha, Randy and myself. The four of us, like, we, we were kind of inseparable for, for like the last two years. Like junior, senior year in high school. And then Brian Friedman was choreographing Aaron Carter's world tour. [00:22:55] Speaker B: Oh. [00:22:56] Speaker A: And hired Tony, Misha, Randy and a different white, brunette, curly headed lady. I. That was before I decided to move to la. Had this example of, you're not good enough, you are not the one. And it's not a look thing. [00:23:15] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:16] Speaker A: Because she looked like me. [00:23:17] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:18] Speaker A: So that was tough. But I felt singular in my vision and purpose and destination. It couldn't be rattled. Knew that rejection would come and knew what it felt like because I felt it early. So I don't know. There was definitely. The darkness came in several forms after that. Like, there's definitely projects that I really thought I was right for that I really didn't get or that I had and lost. But I think the bigger heartbreaks in my life have been personal relationships and friendships. And those will happen anywhere no matter what you choose to do. Yeah. You're gonna have a life half of the time and you're gonna have a great life half the time. So if that's the bargain, if, if it's gonna be 50, 50, I want to at least be doing stuff that lights me up. [00:24:10] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. [00:24:11] Speaker A: Well, while I'm at it. [00:24:12] Speaker B: So here I stay here, you know, and that's. That's that. That would be one thing I would, you know, warn my younger self about is. Is heartbreak, because. Yeah, but, but, but I will say, like, all this life stuff that we're talking about, it goes into what we do. We're able to. [00:24:26] Speaker A: There's a ingest it, there's a destination. [00:24:29] Speaker B: There's a destination for it. And that's it. That's the exciting thing, man. And, you know, we talk about all these. The training that we've had and all these people. Like, we're not unique in the sense that we've had heartbreak or we've had rejection or we've had all these people before us, you know, that we talk about the Nathan Prevost, like the Jerry Evans, like these guys that you see on set that are still working and they're like, you know, a little older than us. Yeah, I won't say how much older, but they're still working, you know? And I don't know, man, we just have such a great community. Like, I love. Now that I'm back, I'm just like, oh, my God, Mrs. Community so much, you know? And I feel that. I mean, dude, to be around like the caliber of people, like, like, man, that's. That's what dance is all about. It's much more than just the steps. [00:25:10] Speaker A: Yeah. It's people. [00:25:11] Speaker B: It's people. [00:25:12] Speaker A: It's relationships, it's stories. It's our. It does come back to story in this case. Our histories. Our dancing would be. Might as well be those robots if. If it weren't for all the history that we bring to it. [00:25:26] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:25:26] Speaker A: And the humanity. And I do think that is your superpower. Whether you're playing a cop or a fireman or a construction worker. [00:25:33] Speaker B: Human. You. [00:25:34] Speaker A: You bring humanity. [00:25:35] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:25:36] Speaker A: Right? You were never. You were never cast as like, like some steely, non feeler, automaton type. No. You are fucking heart embodied. [00:25:47] Speaker B: Thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. [00:25:49] Speaker A: I back that up. 10 toes down. [00:25:51] Speaker B: Oh, 10 toes. [00:25:52] Speaker A: Yeah, 10 toes. [00:25:52] Speaker B: Amazing, dude. [00:25:53] Speaker A: And rizzes. [00:25:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:55] Speaker A: Wrist roll with it. You ready? [00:25:56] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:25:56] Speaker A: Rapid fire. [00:25:57] Speaker B: I don't have. Is this the question? Oh, is a rapid fire. [00:25:59] Speaker A: Rapid fire. Rapid fire. [00:26:00] Speaker B: Okay. [00:26:01] Speaker A: What is it? Yes. Coffee or tea? [00:26:02] Speaker B: Coffee. Black. [00:26:04] Speaker A: No way. [00:26:04] Speaker B: I do a little collagen protein in there, too. [00:26:07] Speaker A: Flavored or not flavored? Collagen. [00:26:09] Speaker B: Chocolate. [00:26:10] Speaker A: Chocolate, yeah. That's great. Will you send me a photo of whatever you use I'm going to send you my stack. I want to be on what you're on. [00:26:17] Speaker B: Let's go. [00:26:19] Speaker A: Dogs or cats? [00:26:19] Speaker B: Dogs, obviously. Except for Deirdre's cat. I love Mila. [00:26:23] Speaker A: Morning rehearsal or nighttime rehearsal? [00:26:25] Speaker B: Oh, morning. Let's get it out of the way. [00:26:26] Speaker A: Okay. Legs day or upper body? [00:26:28] Speaker B: Upper body all day long. I don't do legs. [00:26:30] Speaker A: You're one of those. Well, they're skinny. Ass, calves. [00:26:33] Speaker B: No, girl, you want to see him? [00:26:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. Okay. Oh, do a releve. [00:26:39] Speaker B: Get that. What's up, bro? [00:26:44] Speaker A: Hasn't taken a ballet class in a while. Oh, that's the pose. Good job. Oh, shit. Come on. What was your friend's name again? Lindsay. [00:26:51] Speaker B: Lindsey? [00:26:52] Speaker A: Ally. Okay, so great. What's your favorite exercise to do at the gym? [00:26:59] Speaker B: Oh, favorite exercise. Right. Well, right now I'm into drag curls for biceps, where you stand up and you just do it. You get the easy curl bar and you just drag it straight up your body. [00:27:07] Speaker A: Cool. [00:27:08] Speaker B: Gives you that nice little round thing. Cool situation there. Yeah. [00:27:11] Speaker A: Drag curls, curls. [00:27:13] Speaker B: Does it straight up. [00:27:14] Speaker A: I mean, honestly, that is an oxymoron. If you're dragging it, it feels linear, but you're dragging. And then eventually you're in a curl. Oof. Stranded on a desert island. You get one album. What is it? [00:27:28] Speaker B: One album? [00:27:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:31] Speaker B: I don't know how to answer that. The first album that came to mind was Guns N Roses, Appetite for Destruction, [00:27:36] Speaker A: and that is very on brand. That makes a lot of sense. [00:27:40] Speaker B: Love rock and roll, dude. [00:27:41] Speaker A: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Is there a music video that you really, really wish you were in? [00:27:46] Speaker B: Oh, that you wish I was in and I wasn't? Yeah. God, this. This is. This is a real hard one, because I honestly have done. I'm happy with the music videos I've done, which has been great. Okay. But if I had to choose one more. Oh, you know, of any era. [00:28:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:01] Speaker B: You know what? I wish I would have. [00:28:03] Speaker A: Could have been in Smooth Criminal. [00:28:04] Speaker B: Rhythm Nation. [00:28:05] Speaker A: Oh, God. [00:28:06] Speaker B: And I know there's like, a thousand. Oh, Smooth Criminal would have been a dope. [00:28:10] Speaker A: You would have been in it. [00:28:11] Speaker B: Oh, dude. [00:28:12] Speaker A: You would have been in Smooth Criminal. [00:28:13] Speaker B: I think I gotta switch to Smooth Criminal. That would have been amazing. [00:28:15] Speaker A: The suits. The. It just really would suit you. [00:28:18] Speaker B: Hurt me, dude. [00:28:19] Speaker A: Yeah, hurt me. Okay, favorite move. [00:28:21] Speaker B: If I like to act like you're stretching, but then you really put. [00:28:28] Speaker A: I meant dance move. But that is a good one. [00:28:30] Speaker B: I mean, I'm a big fan of a shuffle off the Buffalo. [00:28:37] Speaker A: Can we circle back to the. You're stretching with them. That's a good move. You know what my favorite move is? Moving into the HOV lane on the 134. [00:28:45] Speaker B: Oh, that's a good one. [00:28:47] Speaker A: Yeah, don't cross after the 101 when the 101 turns into the 134 if you go left, left, left, left, hov all the way to Pasadena. Love that. What about a move that shows up on a job that you're like, no, [00:28:59] Speaker B: no, no, no, no. Oh, anything with like extensions, like legs, like, I, I, I don't really, I don't really bought my past 90 degrees anymore. [00:29:08] Speaker A: So. [00:29:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't want that. [00:29:09] Speaker A: Got that. [00:29:10] Speaker B: I don't need anything. [00:29:10] Speaker A: But relevant is obviously not an issue for you. Yeah. [00:29:13] Speaker B: These shoes on this furry rug. Yeah. [00:29:16] Speaker A: Three dimensional service that wasn't set up. Sorry about that. Final question. [00:29:20] Speaker B: Okay. [00:29:21] Speaker A: Words that move you. A quote, a mantra, a North star guiding principle man. [00:29:27] Speaker B: Henley writes this, wrote this poem. Invictus. Out of the dark that covers me, black as a pit from pole to pole. I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. You know, the master of my own fate. That poem. [00:29:40] Speaker A: Why do I know that so well? [00:29:42] Speaker B: Captain of my. I'm the captain of my soul. Captain of my fate. [00:29:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Why do. Is it, what, what film is this? Like the, the. I feel like I know this and I don't know this. [00:29:52] Speaker B: I don't know exactly where it's from. I just know it as a poem. [00:29:55] Speaker A: Okay. [00:29:55] Speaker B: And when I'm going through kind of [00:29:56] Speaker A: like the pledge of Allegiance a little bit, like, I know that, like it feels like a part of my life. [00:30:01] Speaker B: It talks about how we're going to go through rough waters and, and we are going to be covered by night and. But out of our night comes our unconquerable soul. Like I am the master of my fate, you know? And, and no matter what happens, we will be. We will be okay. You know, And I think that's something that always, like, I, I have to constantly remind myself because, hey, man, I'm at a certain age and I just moved back out to la. I'm like, I don't really exactly know what the plan is. I'm just doing it. And so that poem to me, helps me find the ground. [00:30:35] Speaker A: Nice. [00:30:35] Speaker B: And maybe, maybe, just maybe, it'll be okay. [00:30:38] Speaker A: Okay. [00:30:39] Speaker B: You know? [00:30:39] Speaker A: O. Thank you so much for sharing, my friend. Thank you for sharing all of this. Dude, I. There's never enough time to chat with you. [00:30:45] Speaker B: There's never enough time. [00:30:46] Speaker A: I just said chat with you, which is talk. [00:30:49] Speaker B: It's so nice to chat with you too. [00:30:50] Speaker A: Chatting with you, Draco, thank you for being here. [00:30:53] Speaker B: You're amazing. Dana, listen, whatever you choose to do in your life, you're going to be great at it because you have the drive. And I want to just say thank you for supplying the dance community in the world with insight into our business. Because when we're gone, we will be forgotten. [00:31:09] Speaker A: Yeah, unless it's on camera. [00:31:11] Speaker B: And at least it's on camera. But these behind the scenes stories, man, that's what it's all about. [00:31:15] Speaker A: So true. [00:31:16] Speaker B: And I just, I love to be a thank you for having me. I don't take it for granted. I love our community. [00:31:20] Speaker A: My absolute pleasure. [00:31:22] Speaker B: So we end it with flexes. [00:31:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:24] Speaker B: Okay. [00:31:25] Speaker A: All right, listener, viewer, that's all for me and Nick Drago over here. You get out there into the world. Lift. Heavy. Click the bell for notifications. Leave a comment Review Rating Share the podcast with somebody you love and of course, get out there in the world and keep it really, really funky. Yeah, I'm shaking. Cue music. Dance plus is produced by me with the help of many big, big, big, big. Love to our executive assistant and editor, Riley Higgins. Music is by Max Winnie Logo and brand new designed by Bree Reitz. Our communications team consists of Ori Vajadares and Sydney Richardson. And we've got extra help from LMU intern Carly Clayton. If you're digging the podcast, please leave a review or rating. Also, if you want to connect with me and the many marvelous members of the Words that Move me community, visit danceplus podcast.com if you're curious to know more about me and all the stuff I do outside of the podcast, visit thedanawilson.com.