Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: So I fell in love with ballet.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: Yeah. How did that happen?
[00:00:03] Speaker A: So after a few years.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Not my attitude.
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: What were you thinking?
[00:00:08] Speaker A: I know, right?
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Hey, I'm talking to you. Who am I talking to?
Okay, great. Hi, I'm Dana. This is Dance Plus. I'm super excited about my conversation today.
I'm meeting with Bobby Amamizu, a person I've been an admirer of for a very long time. A cool, calm, collected hand. Whether he is in a support role on a choreography team or leading the room himself, or educating, I am just a big fan of all that this person has to offer. And I'm very, very grateful for the stories and lessons that they have shared today. You're in for a very big treat, my friends. If you are interested in working in TV and film, if you're interested in assisting, and if you are interested in navigating a full professional life with grace and with determination and immaculate technique, this episode is for you.
And even if you are not interested in those things, if you're just interested in laughing, because I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of on point in this episode. I said some funny things. Is it too much to say that maybe we should cut it because now your expectations are set high? One of the things we talk about in this episode is having high expectations and meeting them. So thrilled about Bobby. But first, we're going to do some wins. Today, I am celebrating being almost ready to depart for Southampton, Massachusetts, where I will begin my role as Director of Professional Development. I leave on Saturday. Today is Thursday. Friday. Nobody can really be sure what day it is right now. As a matter of fact, by the
[00:01:41] Speaker A: time this comes out, you will have
[00:01:42] Speaker B: done your month there, though. Oh, my goodness.
In the future, I'll be done with my first season or with my first block, my first work block at cli. So thrilled to be embarking on that and very excited. Celebrating a future win.
Of letting you know how my first four weeks goes out of cli. That's me. What about you? What are you prepared for and excited about?
It's so funny. Like, I feel like you might not participate in this.
If you don't participate. You're really missing out on the whole point of the podcast, actually, which is to be celebrating our wins.
So if you don't do wins, I just stuck my tongue out at you.
Okay, great job. Thank you for participating in wins. That was important. You did it. I'm proud of you. Nice. Let's get into this conversation with Bobby Amizu. Shall we? Get ready oh, God.
Try to do a pirouette on the rug, Idiot. Cheers, Bobby. Welcome to the podcast.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: Thank you for being here and for listening. You listen to the podcast?
[00:03:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Big fan.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: I'm always so surprised. People will, like, send me a note, like, I heard this episode where you're talking about this, and I'm like, you listen.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Like, they listen.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: The people are listening.
Thank you for listening, of course. And for being a fan of the pod and for being a fan of me and championing me. Bobby is partially responsible for me looking as good as I did. If we can say that I looked good. Tap dancing, like, really, we were hoofing.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Yeah. That.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: The audition was very hard. The audition was harder than the gig wound up being. But for Happy Socks with Pedro Pesto Pascal.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: A handful of years ago now.
[00:03:47] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: But it was a dancing ass audition. And I remember really looking to you being like, like, bobby, help me out, dog. And you were such a thorough teacher, such a supportive piece of the choreography team in an assistant role on that one. But you serve in many different roles on choreo teams, and whenever I see your name on a choreo team, I just know that that gig will be cool, calm, collected.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: And. And even in spaces where things will get crunchy and hot, intense and, you know, whatever, when you're on the team, I know that at least part of it will be cool and calm.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Well, thank you so much.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Yes. I'm a big fan of yours.
[00:04:28] Speaker A: And I mean, that was, you know, Michael Rooney, the brilliant Michael Rooney's job. And yes, he's such a visionary, you know, and I noticed, because you had him as a. Yes. Nick Drago. Yeah, Recently.
[00:04:39] Speaker B: Right, yeah.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: And you talked about Michael Rooney, but yes. He is such a building block kind of person. Right, Totally.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Yes. He builds in, in, like, step by
[00:04:50] Speaker A: step by step, arm by arm, feet by feet, head by detail. Like, I remember, even for Happy Socks, like, when we were prepping, we'd have one eight count.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Yeah. What was that?
[00:04:59] Speaker A: Like, we had like 26 versions of every eight count, you know, and then usually he goes back to the version one or two he loved.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: But he likes to try all the options, all possibilities.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: You need to know, what is it, what it isn't.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: And I respect it because that's how I feel. Like he's been around for a long time.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: And you see his work from, you know, it's so. So quiet and today. And it's always been a masterpiece in one kind of way.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: And I think it's because that's how he creates.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: You know, I think you're right. So I respect that.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: I think you're right. It's not for everyone, but the process, it can be. Yeah, it's. It can be.
It can push your bandwidth. Wait, what version of what part of this? That. And we're still. Oh, yep. And that's what it is. And sometimes that's what it is.
My first time working for Michael Rooney was on Shrek in 2000.
No, I was still in high school.
I love you for that, though. 2006, maybe.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Was that the get your groove thing?
[00:06:03] Speaker B: Yeah, amazing. Shake your groove thing 2. I think the pipe pipe piper came and did a thing and. And there's this big epic.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Like very disco inspired dance number with a Busby Berkeley moment. And they came out in 2004. Shrek number one came out in 2004,
[00:06:20] Speaker A: but there was a later one, I believe. No.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: Or maybe it was Shrek 3. There's been like 12.
So look up Shrek. Shake your groove thing
[00:06:32] Speaker A: came out in 2006. 7.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Is that more what you're thinking? Oh, yeah, that's. Yeah, that's better. And I remember just being really nervous because his bar is so high.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: He is truly one of the greats of our time and has high expectations from his dancers. But the. But what brought. What I wasn't expecting is what brought us to his high bar was exactly what you said, his vision.
[00:07:00] Speaker A: Right.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: We walked into the room and he painted for us the scene of what we were going to be doing. And he did it so grand and he made it so, like, noble that our pursuit of this epic thing for Disney was it DreamWorks.
You know, he painted a world that was big. And so we met the expectations which were high.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Right.
[00:07:26] Speaker B: So I guess I.
I think it would be one thing to have to do the brick by brick with no vision, with no understanding of the greater world. If all you're looking at is the bricks. But you are going brick by brick in a world that he has painted. The walls, the ceiling, the. You know, he is so good at world building, at making a scene that you're like, okay, yeah, and I fall into place on the yellow brick road. And here we go. One brick at a time. Yeah.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think you never have to question what his vision is, like you said, because he does explain it to his cast or an assistant or whoever.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: You know, whoever's in front of him, what he wants, what he sees. It's just all about delivering what he wants.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, totally. Once he's made the world giant, I'm like, okay, I'll try.
I remember on that gig specifically, there was like, a lot of partnering, and I don't have a ton of partnering experience.
Oh. I would way rather tap by myself than need to partner with someone else.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: For sure. Well, tap was kind of my first love, actually. I.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: And that was my first love.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Was it really?
[00:08:34] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: Okay. I want to know all about your first loves.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: Within a professional context for viewers.
But maybe first we'll have you introduce yourself. You know the podcast, you know the rules.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: What would you like the good people out there to know about you?
[00:08:49] Speaker A: So, hi, my name is Bob Mimizu. I'm a dancer, assistant, associate choreographer, choreographer, dance educator. Yes, Husband. That's true. And I'm an only child, so I'm a son.
Yeah. And a mover.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: And a former dog.
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Former dog, maybe.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: Former dog, maybe. We're not. It cannot be confirmed, but Riz, my daughter, had a deep connection with Bobby upon entering the home. It's not always that way. Riz is a lover. She, like, loves a lot of people, but there was a connection and. And Bobby confided in me, which I'm now confiding in you world, that maybe in a past life you were adopt. You feel a kinship. Yeah. With the canines.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: I just like having love for them. I don't know, it's just very comfortable.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: I. I have this feeling.
I know that money makes the world go round, but my belief is it's actually dogs.
My belief is that actually the reason why anyone's able to function these days is because someone has a dog and is being filled their love cup.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: They are our best friend.
Yeah.
[00:09:56] Speaker B: Riley and I almost canceled the day because Riz was being so cute.
We were like, there's no way we can do anything but focus on her because she's perfect.
[00:10:06] Speaker A: I love that.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: Do you. Listener, viewer, understand? Could you. Could we just take a brief second and ask the listener, viewer to flood our DMs with photos of your dogs or videos? I'll take short clips, less than 30 seconds.
Okay, so husband, dog, fan, former dog, assistant, associate choreographer, educator, and I would like to also add heartful technician. Oh, thank you. I. When I think of you, I think synonymously with immaculate technique, but not sterile. So I want to talk a little bit about how you and dance met each other. I want to know about love and loving tap, but I want to know how you and technique Technique came to be so tight because it looks like y' all just like.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Well, thank you.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: Really tight.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: I appreciate that.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Well, I appreciate that about you, but I. What I really am curious about is how you seem to infuse that with feeling without compromising any of that solid structure.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: Yeah. So first of all, I started dancing because I was that kid, you know, when music comes on.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: I just bop.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Ice cream truck drives by, bopping, you know, And I started with. I had a lot of energy, but I was very shy, so I didn't like to be in front of a lot of people.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: So I think, you know, one day I was just dancing. My mom was like, huh? Do you want to dance? And I said, yeah.
So a friend of my mom's just found a local dance studio.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: And I'm from Orange County. It's my home, so. In Irvine, it was called Irvine Dance Academy.
And I was five at the time.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Oh, man. Five year old mom. Yeah.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: With a bowl cut, of course.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: For sure.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: And so when we stopped by, you know, we asked the owner of the studio, hey, he's five, what can he do, Right?
[00:11:52] Speaker B: Yeah. What exists for this age?
[00:11:55] Speaker A: And you know, this is in the 90s, right?
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Different time.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: A little different time.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: Yo, five year olds these days. Oh, some unreasonable things happening in the five year old.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: And I want to talk about that later. I know we're both on the convention circuit too, so what we see in today's world is.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: Yeah, let's talk about that. We'll put that in parking.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: But so we asked, you know, what can you do? And they were like, oh, at 5, I think tap is available because it was either tap or ballet. And I was like, no, not ballet.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: I was that guy that was like, it's too slow for me.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: Yeah, you want to make noise. You want to move your body.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: Yeah. So I joined tap. Fell in love with it for sure. But I think I didn't have a lot of talent. Like, I was not made to be a dancer.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: But you have a lot of passion.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: But I had a lot of passion and I had good musicality and I was able to pick up choreography quickly. So those were my strength.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Mm. But even from a young age, those things were.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Those were easy for me.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: You know, like being on the music, remembering, retaining. Like looking back at my recital video on the vhs, you know, we're gonna need. I was commanding the people to move into their lives. It was bad, but I realized I was like, instructing the girls to, like, you're Supposed to be in the line.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: You're doing it wrong.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: You know, I mean, I was bossy, but, yeah, I was good at those things. I was not flexible.
[00:13:17] Speaker B: Huh.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: No technique, like, those things were not happening.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: That's fine.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Yeah. But, yeah. Searched the tapping, Fell in love with it. Second year, I just took, like, four tap classes.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: A week. And then just followed my friend to a jazz class.
And then it was a competition team class.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: So I was like, I want to do that. And the teacher allowed me to take that one class. And she was like, do you want to join the class? And that's how I got my friend in the competition world, too.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: When I was six years old.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: I remember back then, it was rare for younger dancers to compete that young.
Know, we didn't have the minis category back then as much.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: We certainly weren't sitting through hours of mini solos.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: No. Well, in the solos, I didn't have my first solo Till I was 10. Because I think back then it was like graduating seniors.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: Or teachers invited you if they felt like you were ready.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Yo, yo. Not everybody was just having solos.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: Right.
[00:14:14] Speaker B: That was a.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: It was.
[00:14:15] Speaker B: That was a privilege.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Yes, it was. So, you know, but growing up, from when I was 10 till 16 is when I graduated high school, so it was a little earlier, but I did tap solos all my years, and that was, like, the one solo I did.
And then, you know, going through my teen years and all that, so I fell in love with ballet.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: Yeah. How did that happen?
[00:14:36] Speaker A: So after a few years, my attitude.
Yeah.
[00:14:40] Speaker B: What were you thinking?
[00:14:41] Speaker A: I know, right?
[00:14:43] Speaker B: So it's just. That's just my experience of it. Ballet was tough for me. I still grip my hip flexors. Anything above 45,
[00:14:53] Speaker A: that's okay, because you're amazing at a lot of things.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:14:57] Speaker A: You are.
[00:14:57] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:14:57] Speaker A: I appreciate it.
I think the right teachers at the right time helped for sure. I had a male ballet teacher as my first ballet teacher, and I was eight, maybe nine. Eight or nine.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: So they're modeling for you like this is possible.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: This is a thing.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: And they didn't require me to wear ballet black tights.
[00:15:18] Speaker B: Did not right away.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: No.
[00:15:19] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:15:20] Speaker A: I chose to do it later on.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: See that it. See, if it was a choice, then
[00:15:27] Speaker A: you stick with it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: I'm just trying to think of the choice to not use my hip flexors.
And I can't make that choice as, like, something that is override mode. Quads, take over. We're back to you and your tights.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: Let's. No. So, like, you know, I wore biker shorts or like basketball shorts so they can see my lines. But.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: But you got to a point, you know, really young, where you were like, no, I want to do this for
[00:15:52] Speaker A: real, like within six months. I said, oh, I'm gonna wear tights because I.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: You love the disciplines.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: You know, I love the discipline of like, it's either right or wrong. I kind of like that.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: I'm a math guy.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:16:07] Speaker A: So I like answers, black and white, not the gray matter.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:16:12] Speaker A: So I think that was appealing to me totally.
And yeah, he just never forced it. And he was just kind of like, you know, do this if you want. When you're ready, wear the tires. He just gave my timeline.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: So it was easier for me to adapt to that. And after a couple of years, you know, he said, I see that you're more into it. What about going to a ballet conservatory?
Not that he was trying to recruit me to other schools.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: He said, this is an option for you.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: So I did both. I went to a concert studio and started doing ballet conservatory at the same time.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: Yeah, that.
I can see that.
[00:16:44] Speaker A: You know. And so I went from one hour to two hours of ballet into about seven to eight hours of ballet a week. Wow. And I was around 12. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: And did you see that same kind of exponential growth, A big growth.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: Came more in my high school years, I think.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: Because I think when you're younger, you're still trying to figure out your body.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: Totally. And your body can't meet you where your brain is at. Your bones aren't even all there yet.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: Right. You're maturing. Right, Right.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: When do we get all our bones?
There's some, I remember reading somewhere about, like, specifically, the bones in your feet are some of the last to develop. And you're still like, really?
[00:17:22] Speaker A: I'm learning.
[00:17:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Yo. It's a real thing. And then also, like physical strength, like, you can do all the push ups in the world when you're an eight year old boy. Humans reach their final adult count of 206 bones by their mid-20s.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: Wow.
Together.
[00:17:38] Speaker B: Right. Like when you're a tiny tot, you don't even have all your bones.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: That's wild.
[00:17:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And you can, like what I was trying to say, you can do all the push ups in the world As a 9 year old kid, but you're not going to be able to lift your same nine year old counterpart over your head.
[00:17:54] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:54] Speaker B: There's just some like, physical, developmental timeline stuff that Isn't there?
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Right, right. And I feel like I'm jumping out of place a little bit.
[00:18:01] Speaker B: But you're good, you're good.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: No, I'm. I. So I went to dance competitions, studio ballet, and I also went to arts middle school, high school. Oh, you were in it called osha. I don't know if you've heard of it before.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Orange County. It was High School of the Arts at the time at Los Alamitos, but they moved to Santa Ana and created their middle school in the year 2000.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Oh, cool.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: So I entered in 2000.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: And you were the first class.
[00:18:24] Speaker A: Yeah, six years. And it was funny because that's the year I was in fifth grade and I went to my principal and said, I really want to go to school. Can I skip sixth grade?
And he said, sure.
So I jumped from fifth to seventh grade.
[00:18:36] Speaker B: That's like my biggest dream as a kid, to be like, hey, principal, can I not do this for a year? And then be like, yeah, I don't know.
[00:18:44] Speaker A: That happened.
[00:18:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: I don't know how that happened.
[00:18:46] Speaker B: You're very persuasive.
[00:18:47] Speaker A: But I remember, maybe I remember doing half of my courses with the sixth graders already.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: So he kind of like gave me an option of if it's too hard for you, come back.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: And the door's always open, reasonable, and if you feel like you're okay, go for it. And I. So I never graduated from elementary school. I just went straight to middle school.
And Yeah. I was a 10 year old in middle school with 12 and 13 year old. And that gap was huge.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: At that age. Maturity wise.
[00:19:17] Speaker B: Yes. And socially.
[00:19:18] Speaker A: Oh, socially everything. Right. They looked at me like I was a little kid.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: I mean, who wants to hang out with a 10 year old and shiny tattoos? But yeah. So I was dancing like 30 plus hours a week. Wow. For a long, long time. About six years, I would say.
So. But going back to the ballet, you know, I felt like ballet was my weakest still.
[00:19:39] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:19:40] Speaker A: All the way through my high school years, even though I was proficient at it.
And so when I was choosing college because I went to college, afterwards, I went to UC Irvine.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: And I chose that school because I was 16 turning.
You're not ready to be. Yeah. I mean, my dream would have been Juilliard.
At one point I applied for it, but something told me when the audition came, I'm not gonna go. I got kind of scared.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:20:08] Speaker A: Maturity wise. Like I wasn't ready because I was yo 15 when I was applying I'm
[00:20:12] Speaker B: 40, and I'm scared of what auditioning for Juilliard would be like.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: So no judgment.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, you know, that was, like, one of my goals, but it just pivoted the other way. And I chose to stay local by home at UC Irvine, where it's my comfort level. Totally.
You know, And I chose that school because there was a lot of great ballet reviews.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: Professors, too. That's when Jody Gates was the new teacher there. Professor there. I had a teacher that I grew up with, Molly lynch, who was the director of my ballet conservatory at the time. All these people that I knew of that were great, and I knew I was gonna get good training, so I chose to go there to perfect my ballet side.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Because I knew I can take outside schools for my commercial styles.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: Okay. Which was always an interest to you, or was ballet your North Star? You're imagining you're on companies. Like, what was the future focus? Or was it pretty training centered? Was training up front?
It sounds like training was up front.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: Yeah, training was up front. And I think I was deep into both worlds in my mind.
[00:21:19] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: So I was open to any opportunity that comes up, whether that was a ballet company route or if it was a tour or film. Whatever it was, I was happy.
[00:21:32] Speaker B: So that work was existed in your realm. Like, you knew that that stuff was an option for you, for sure. And you chose to lean into the weakness that was you wanted to finalize and polish this ballet technique.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:21:44] Speaker B: So chose UC Irvine. The directors are people you know and trust. And you're like, okay, this is a known thing.
I want it to be a strength.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: I know I can supplement my training, like, nearby.
And that's what you did for four years?
[00:21:58] Speaker A: Well, graduated, yes and no. So I did for three years.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Okay. And then you graduated early. You talked to the principal.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I tried that. Didn't work quite as well.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Can I just get out of here early with the thing and the hat with the. Can I just. One year. Yeah, I'm sorry.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I tried that. Didn't work. It was my plan originally to graduate in three years, but.
So my third year, right before I auditioned for the movie Fame, the remake in 2009, and Marguerite juries was the choreographer for that.
And I went to the open call. It was at Screenland Studios.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I was there. I auditioned.
[00:22:36] Speaker A: Oh, were you there?
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Typecast.
[00:22:37] Speaker A: Typecast.
[00:22:38] Speaker B: Typecast.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: And I don't know how I got kept for that, but she never met me. I never met her. It was an open Call that Clear sent me on at the time.
And I just showed up. And I remember. Okay. So I don't know if she remembers this, but it was Black and Gold. We were doing the choreography to Black and Gold.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: Iconic. Iconic. I did the group. She stopped the music. She made everybody go off. And she pointed at me and she said, who are you? What's your name? And I said, I'm Bobby from Orange County.
It's my first time meeting you. I'm so honored to be in this room. Blah, blah.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: I'm Craig.
[00:23:17] Speaker A: She goes. But she goes, so I can't hire you if you're gonna dance like that because you're a soloist.
Right. And I. And in my mind at the time, and I remember this, my mentor, Moni Adamson. I don't know if you know Moni Adamson, but she was a resident crafter for MADtv.
[00:23:35] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:23:36] Speaker A: When that show was happening.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: Oh, I think now it might be placing face with names.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: But she was my teacher from when I was like 6 till all my years.
So she taught me because I was short. I'm a small dancer.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: Huh?
[00:23:50] Speaker A: You have to dance big.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: Huh?
[00:23:52] Speaker A: Don't let anyone out dance you. Oh, and you know, competition convention. Oh, yeah.
Lives. Yeah. So that's what I was doing.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: Dancing big.
[00:24:03] Speaker A: I was understanding professional world.
I was showing off. Right.
And so when she said, I'm gonna let you do it by yourself, I'm gonna let you and do that. If you don't do it the way I showed it or the way I
[00:24:19] Speaker B: like it, my skin is hot.
[00:24:21] Speaker A: You are allowed to leave.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: Tearing up. Did you. Were you on the verge of tears?
[00:24:26] Speaker A: I think I was more stunned. I didn't really process.
[00:24:29] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: What was happening.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: Okay. So you're receiving, you're hearing. You're in a vortex, Marguerite.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: And she's like, you get to do it again. And you're like, yes, I do.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: Because I was only 17 when I auditioned.
Turning 18, like a month later.
[00:24:40] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: So I was like, okay, I'm gonna do my best. And I remember just trying to be as exact with the positions.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: Details.
[00:24:51] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:51] Speaker A: And not worry about extra energy.
[00:24:53] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:54] Speaker A: And so she stops music like, you can stay.
I got to stay.
[00:24:59] Speaker B: And that was stay on the edge of your seat for the next four hours.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:25:05] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was my first audition, and it was like three days long. And that was like hour three of the three day long process. So I experienced that right away, and I kept getting through and kept till the very, very end. And that was my first movie that I booked.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Amazing.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: So good. It's so good, actually. Thank you for begging. A rewatch. I need to revisit.
Okay. So what happened with school and how
[00:25:31] Speaker A: did so that happened? That kind of took me off my three year plan I had.
Because I couldn't take the classes that were offered in the fall that I had to take.
[00:25:40] Speaker B: Oh, yes.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: Had to wait till the fall. But then later that year, I also auditioned for Cirque du Soleil called. It was called Nothing at the time, but it was for Elvis Presley, which I know you work closely with his movement.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: I. I did, but not for the Cirque version, but for the Baz Luhrmann for the Austin Butler version. Yeah, yeah. So, so satisfying. Yeah. The music and the movement. Oh, my God.
[00:26:04] Speaker A: So cool. It's very human, right? Like it's animal. It's dancing. It's. Yeah. It's not a technique. It's just like your body moving.
[00:26:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: But it was directed by Vincent Patterson.
[00:26:14] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: Another legend.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: Yep. Podcast guest as well.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Choreographer was Bonnie Story at the time. And so it was at Millennium's dome.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: Audition and stuff. The historical dome.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Auditioning in that room is insane. Yeah. Several times I got to audition in that room. And it's like the sound and the way it bounces and the bot. The amount of people that could fit in that room. The energy is insane.
[00:26:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:42] Speaker B: And the parking lot energy also. It was insane.
[00:26:44] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:26:45] Speaker B: Okay. So that came right after.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Well, so going back just a little bit, I also competed at a ballet concert called ygp.
Right. And so I never really won. I went to finals twice. I was invited to go to the finals twice. Never really won because I was more of a. In their eye, contemporary dancer.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: Totally not classical.
By the books. Very high level, very intense competition.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: And the talent scout happened to be at the finals, so I didn't get into war, but he was interested.
[00:27:15] Speaker B: Oh, cool.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: The scout for Elvis, for Cirque in general.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: Okay, cool, cool.
[00:27:19] Speaker A: The company. His name is Rick Tia.
And he reached out to me a month after finals, said, we liked your solo. We would like to invite you to be in our database.
And he was in charge of running the audition for Elvis. So he reached out to me and said, hey, this guy Vincent Patterson is holding an audition and I really think you would be right for the show. Can you show up?
So I went. He was there. So he was a big advocate for me.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: Because at the time, I didn't really know Bonnie or Vincent at the time.
[00:27:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:51] Speaker A: I Knew them. But yeah, they didn't know who I
[00:27:52] Speaker B: was and they weren't teaching. There wasn't a way to really access them.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: And so he put a really good like nice word in for me.
And I remember we did ballet across the floor.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: Uh huh.
[00:28:05] Speaker A: That was our first cut.
Ballet across the foot progressions like, like what? Like pirouette, pirouette, arabesque, torgite, leap across like, like full on grand allegro.
[00:28:18] Speaker B: Grand allegro takes me out. I will petite all day.
All day. Petite allegro. But man, you asked me to do big jumps. I, I big leave I big bow out.
But that was your thing. You felt like confidence in a ballet.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So in the ballet space, I feel like I can shine there.
[00:28:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:37] Speaker A: So I did that. Made the cut. Then Bonnie taught us like a minute and a half long contemporary combo.
[00:28:42] Speaker B: Oh, that was a. Let's go.
[00:28:44] Speaker A: And she's a storyteller.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: Quite long.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: She's a big storyteller. Bonnie is. So that was very important for her. So like it was like setting the mood. Who's her character? Since the same way.
[00:28:54] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. I was just gonna say the, the two of them really, really championing character dancers who can act story.
[00:29:02] Speaker A: Yes.
So did that. We got kept.
Then we had to learn a jive piece because there was a. There was gonna be a big jives like social dance number in the show.
[00:29:13] Speaker B: Period.
[00:29:14] Speaker A: That tracks got kept. How to switch partners to dance with someone new. Yeah, did that.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: That's always Rocky.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: Got cat.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: Wow. Getting partnered up at an audition, y', all, that is a very real tension. Yeah. Everybody's like.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: Because you got to trust them. Are you got to trust each other? Yeah.
[00:29:32] Speaker B: Are you going to make me look good?
Am I going to make you look good?
[00:29:37] Speaker A: That's the real question.
[00:29:38] Speaker B: Are you going to get me this job? Are you going to cost me this job? Like those are real sentences that you're allowed to think in that moment.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: I bet.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Neither one of those are useful. I'm just setting you up. When those thoughts show up, you can go ahead and next those There are better ways to.
[00:29:51] Speaker A: But it's very real, I think.
[00:29:53] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
[00:29:53] Speaker A: And I think for me, when I do partner at an audition, I'm more worried about the other person than me getting the job at the time. Because I was like, I don't want to be the reason why they got cut.
Like, I don't care if I get cut because of myself. Yeah. But when it affects somebody else's chance. Yeah, that's scary.
[00:30:11] Speaker B: I hear that.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: Yeah. But I think what made them remember me at Cirque is they asked me a real question, which was, have you heard of us?
And I never lied. And I said, I've never heard of you guys before.
[00:30:23] Speaker B: I love that.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: And they started cracking up.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: I love.
[00:30:28] Speaker A: And they started listing all the shows they had in Vegas and stuff.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: And you were like, yep.
[00:30:33] Speaker A: You know, mysterious. I was like, yeah. Don't know what you're like.
[00:30:37] Speaker B: I am literally 17.
I grew up in Orange County. You want to talk about. I know. I know. Disney. Like, I know.
Yeah. But that is such a sir thing to do, by the way.
[00:30:50] Speaker A: But, you know, I could have lied.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: You heard of us. I could have lied my French accent.
Sorry. They just. They're, like, famous for being.
I won't say pretentious, but prestige. Like, part of their prestige is baked in the company culture. So that's why I'm saying this does not shock me. Wow.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and I could have said something and said, yeah, of course. Because they weren't gonna ask me more than that.
But I said, no, I really haven't.
But, you know, that also told me need to research, huh?
[00:31:19] Speaker B: Yep. I will know more tomorrow. Should you have me back?
[00:31:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
So, you know, I got to have that interview. They all laughed. They all. Well. And never heard back.
[00:31:31] Speaker B: Uhhuh.
[00:31:31] Speaker A: That's how they are, though. I was told that with Cir, you
[00:31:34] Speaker B: know, you go into another database.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And you may never hear back.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: Or you may hear back six years later. They're doing a different job. They very good at that. It's just. Yes.
[00:31:43] Speaker A: Yes.
So I had no clue. Audition was, I think September also.
I think fame and that, like, was like a week late after each other.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: It was, like, very close to each other.
And one day after Ballet five at UC Irvine, I had a voicemail like, five months later.
Hey, this is Cirque du Soleil and we would like to hire you for the new show for Elvis Presley.
[00:32:06] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: The Phinney would be next month. Are you available?
Montreal, Quebec.
And so I'm in Ballet five, listening to his voicemail. And, you know, I'm ecstatic. Of course I'm excited. I think it was my. One of my first big, big jobs.
It was a two and a half year commitment.
[00:32:23] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: Because it was.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: Because it was creation.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: And then correct creation for about six months.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: Mm.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: And they wanted, you know, people to be in the show for about two years because they don't want to find a new cast. Yep.
And I was debating about not doing it because at the time I had this really, like, a path of ballet company, I was offered, like a possible studio company position with the ballet company during that summer.
So it was like a deciding factor of do I want to do classical.
[00:32:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:57] Speaker A: Or do I want to do. I don't know if circus commercial, really, but, like, more in that world, it's
[00:33:04] Speaker B: giant corporate is what it is. So.
[00:33:06] Speaker A: Yeah. But it's definitely not ballet company route.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:33:10] Speaker A: You know.
[00:33:10] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:33:11] Speaker A: And I was putting my attention a lot on the ballet side, so it was hard for me to decide.
But I, you know, I talked to my mom and, you know, at first I didn't even consider taking it because of school.
[00:33:23] Speaker B: Were you still living at home or were you able to.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: Yes, Yeah, I was still living because school was literally around.
So I was like, maybe I won't take this job just so I can finish school. And she was like, that is the dumbest thing I ever heard you do.
[00:33:38] Speaker B: I love your mom because, I mean, I. Listen, we all make our decisions based on what we have, but man, oh, man, I just am such a fan of getting into the workforce early and learning on the job.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: And, you know, my major was dance. Right. So she said, isn't this what you're going to school for?
I said, yeah. And she's like, school, always be there.
And my dad was also a big supporter of me. Like, he was at every dance competition, never missed a show. Like, you know, he was also an artist as well, in a way. He's a chef. But he also loved dancing himself.
He was a swimmer when he was younger. Like, he was a gymnast. Like, he did. He was very athletic.
[00:34:23] Speaker B: That's epic. But an artist in his own right.
[00:34:24] Speaker A: And supported you on your mom, too. She took ballet in her college years. She was a professional pianist.
[00:34:30] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:34:31] Speaker A: You know, so she was into music.
[00:34:33] Speaker B: She was.
[00:34:33] Speaker A: So they were both artsy.
[00:34:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: So I think that was the saving grace for me, too. Because,
[00:34:39] Speaker B: you know, nobody was ever telling you that you can't.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: Right. And not to put culture really, but Asian families typically, education, education, education.
What's your real job?
[00:34:52] Speaker B: How are you going to provide for your family?
[00:34:54] Speaker A: What's your backup plan?
[00:34:55] Speaker B: What's your backup plan?
[00:34:56] Speaker A: And it's funny because all my parents. Family used to ask my parents, what's his backup plan?
[00:35:00] Speaker B: And they fielded that question and they
[00:35:02] Speaker A: said, we don't care as long as he loves what he does.
And so my support for family was always there. So I think that was the one thing I never had to fight for or struggle totally. Because I know that's not for everyone. Right. Everyone's case.
So my mom gave me the push to go do Cirque. I did Cirque for two and a half years.
[00:35:23] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:35:24] Speaker A: And after that was over, I felt like I had done 960 shows. You know, it was just.
Yeah.
[00:35:33] Speaker B: Yesterday I was just bragging about 153. I was like, yeah, I did 153 like I love yous.
I probably did like more thousands, but. But how many shows?
[00:35:46] Speaker A: The contract was 960.
I think I did miss like 10 days of work through the two years because of injury or sickness and stuff like that. But I did 900, like 40 shows during that time.
Yeah.
But learned a lot about myself. Totally about what I enjoy about that job and not enjoy about that job.
[00:36:10] Speaker B: And you grew up, you kind of became an adult on that, on that contract and you lived in Vegas and you lived in Montreal and. Yeah. So cool.
[00:36:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: And then after that hit back, hitting the ground running and doing the gigging,
[00:36:22] Speaker A: it was in my.
[00:36:23] Speaker B: From where I'm seated, you have not stopped.
[00:36:26] Speaker A: Is it.
[00:36:27] Speaker B: Is that how it feels from the inside of your career? Or have you had major goes and major lows?
[00:36:33] Speaker A: Oh, Lowe's for sure. I think so. After college I, you know, I lived in Orange county because I went back to UC Irvine. Right. But at that time I already moved out of my parents house, of course, and all that, got my own apartment.
So I lived in Irvine, tried to do the LA thing.
[00:36:52] Speaker B: Commuting.
[00:36:53] Speaker A: Commuting, right. Auditions, all that kind of stuff.
It was hard because it was hard for me to drive two hours for sometimes a casting that last two minutes and then have to drive back two hours again because of rush hour and not get a phone call. And that went back and forth for about a year and a half.
And you know, you book gigs here and there that we always post about. We didn't post back then because we didn't have Instagram, but you know, we just talk about the wins, not the. I don't want to say losses, but the. But the no's.
And I kind of fell into this whole. I'm just teaching a lot.
And so I kind of. For a year and a half I stopped dancing myself as much and got into. Stuck into studio teaching schedule.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:37:41] Speaker A: Because that made my ends meet.
[00:37:43] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:37:44] Speaker A: And I gained a lot of weight that year.
I felt like. And I was only 23, 24. Should be our prime, like getting started.
[00:37:53] Speaker B: Listen, my weight gain lose cycle seems to answer to no one.
[00:37:57] Speaker A: Yeah, it does.
[00:37:58] Speaker B: Certainly I don't know. I.
The body thing is a very interesting conversation, and it's interesting to hear about it from a male perspective, because from a female perspective, it's like, I don't ever, even when I was 11, remember being thin. Like, my experience of my body has always been, like, I don't look like everyone else. And the bodies I'm comparing myself to obviously are majority other dancer bodies.
But I went on tour at 21 and still feel like I had baby fat at 21 years old.
So, Yeah, I don't know. I do know right now that I'm coming into 40 stronger than I have ever been in my life.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: That's amazing.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: With a different relationship to my body thanks to weight training versus constantly trying to do cardio to lose fat. So I. I'm.
Different seasons, for sure. But interesting to hear that when you thought you should have been your fittest, you felt like you were not.
[00:38:58] Speaker A: Yeah. And that might be because I got into the ballet world, which is. Which is talked more about.
And I think you said it was interesting that a male figure is talking about this.
[00:39:10] Speaker B: Yeah, please. Yes.
[00:39:11] Speaker A: I think it's because I have a perception of, you can't talk about weight to women.
[00:39:16] Speaker B: Ah.
[00:39:17] Speaker A: But to guys, it should be easier to talk about. And, hey, you need to lose weight. And so my. My parents were lovely, but one thing they did do to me a lot was, I think you're a little bit too thick.
Like, you look better doing those moves if you were.
[00:39:33] Speaker B: Wow. Yeah.
[00:39:34] Speaker A: And my mom wouldn't be afraid to say that to me. So growing up, she's like, you should lose more weight. Blah, blah, blah. And then when I'm right, right. Weight. Quote, quote.
[00:39:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:42] Speaker A: She's like. She wouldn't say anything.
So I think that was the one thing my parents accidentally. Without totally, you know, purposefully doing it.
[00:39:51] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:39:52] Speaker A: Have said about body image. And it was not looked as so negative back then compared to nowadays.
[00:39:58] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. It was normal. It was loving for them to weigh in on that. No pun intended.
[00:40:05] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: I have. I have dance moms who have used far sharper words to say the same thing. So. Yeah.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: And so when I felt like I was, you know, gaining weight, and I'm not saying five pounds, like I've gained a lot, I was like, I need to change my lifestyle.
Something.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: Something's gotta shift.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: Right. So then I happened to get a Facebook message from a friend of mine from college saying, hey, a friend of mine's trying to, like, start a residence ballet company in Houston.
It's a startup. It's nothing big, but they're looking for dancers. Do you want to audition for them? I jumped on it, flew. They flew me out, which was so much.
[00:40:46] Speaker B: To audition.
[00:40:47] Speaker A: To audition, work, normalize that. I wish. Right?
[00:40:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:52] Speaker A: Usually you have to pay for everything.
[00:40:53] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:40:53] Speaker A: They put me up.
It was a two day process. They put me up at their house, like, you know, the guest house.
I auditioned for them, they wanted me.
The pay was horrible.
You know, it was pennies compared to what I was making. But this was my change.
So I packed my bags, moved to Houston and joined the company for a year and a half. I'll tell you why it's a year and a half, but I did it for a year, full season. I lost £20 during that year.
[00:41:21] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:41:22] Speaker A: Just because I was taking class Monday through Friday.
[00:41:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:25] Speaker A: And rehearsing.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:27] Speaker A: I was dancing six hours again every day.
[00:41:29] Speaker B: Right.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: And I just naturally lost weight and I was back in my shape that I remembered my dad got sick.
He got cancer.
So that brought me back home and I just. That's when I actually moved to la.
First time ever.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: Because I was like, do I move back to Orange county and get back in this routine that I had where I probably will call out of auditions because I'm too lazy. Didn't want to drive or make excuses for myself, not show up.
So I was like, let's move to la.
That's when I moved to la.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Let's be closer to family than Houston, but let's be closer to work than Orange County.
[00:42:09] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:42:09] Speaker B: And you found yourself the. The version that satisfies both.
Okay.
[00:42:15] Speaker A: And so I moved to LA. I think that was 2014. Okay.
Unfortunately, my dad passed away about nine months later from colon cancer.
Yeah. That was hard. That's when I was 25. My mom had a heart attack that same year.
Twice.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness.
[00:42:34] Speaker A: She went to the St Joseph Hospital in Burbank.
You know, my. At the time.
Maybe you want to cut this part out, but I'm gonna share with you.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
My girlfriend at the time, we were together four and a half years. We broke up because of. She wanted family. I was ready to get married. All those things.
[00:42:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: So we decided to go away from, you know.
[00:42:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:56] Speaker A: Separate ways. But that all happened within like six months.
[00:42:59] Speaker B: Bobby.
[00:43:00] Speaker A: My bam, bam, bam. Like cancer, my mom, heart attack.
Long relationship, going away.
That was probably my low of the lowest.
[00:43:09] Speaker B: Big curveballs there.
I talk a lot when I'm like career coaching or when I'm life coaching.
Looking at big picture strategy. Anything. I. I like to imagine our life as a bell curve.
And in terms of positive experiences and negative experiences, there will be a few very negative experiences. A lot of kind of less good, sort of bad, kind of bad. Pretty good, very good, less good. Really, really good. Like that we will have a natural distribution, a perfect bell curve. It sounds like you had some of those very rare, very negative in the same year.
Like those hit you on a pretty, pretty tight time.
[00:43:53] Speaker A: Yeah. And people say when it rains, it pours. And it really did that when it was positive. Positively too, but negative.
[00:44:00] Speaker B: Oh, interesting. So kind of an extreme life cycle moment.
[00:44:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: How did you find yourself talking to yourself in that chapter? And what was it that transitioned you out?
[00:44:14] Speaker A: I mean, it was really tough.
I'm very good at keeping things and emotions to myself, so, you know, not a lot of people knew I was going through this.
You know, to add to that, my dad ended up moving to Japan because he wanted to visit his family for the last time, quote, unquote. And my mom was supposed to go with him.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: Oh.
[00:44:36] Speaker A: But ended up not being able to go because of other family issues.
So she moved in with me.
[00:44:42] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:44:43] Speaker A: In a one bedroom apartment.
And she ended up living with me for four years. And I had to take care of her because she's never worked in her life because she was a stay home mom and raised me.
[00:44:53] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:44:54] Speaker A: And I'm an only child. I think I said that earlier in the podcast, but.
So that's what I had to do. I was 25 now, financially.
[00:45:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:03] Speaker A: Responsible for myself and for my mom.
[00:45:05] Speaker B: Yeah. You had a dependent, the person you depended on.
[00:45:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:09] Speaker B: What an interesting flip flop. And this is like, this, this is like a normal trajectory. Right. We usually wind up taking care of our parents, of course, but that was again, a tighter timeline than what people usually see for themselves.
[00:45:22] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was tough. I don't, I mean, to be very, very honest, I don't know how I really got out of it.
[00:45:30] Speaker B: Well, circumstances changed, so your thinking changed and then your life changed.
[00:45:34] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:45:34] Speaker B: But do you remember at all, like, the way that you talked to yourself that made those days manageable?
[00:45:42] Speaker A: You know, I think I was so good at flipping the switch in my head of when I'm working, I was able to really be working.
And the minute I walk out, then I get to be human again. But I'm very good at that.
[00:45:55] Speaker B: Like the compartmentalization.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: Yeah. So I think I made myself very busy with work and I know. No, that's ignoring the I don't know if that's healthy, Elsie, necessarily.
[00:46:09] Speaker B: But that was how you did it. That was a coping. It is a total, total coping mechanism.
[00:46:13] Speaker A: I totally get it. Yeah.
[00:46:15] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:46:15] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:46:16] Speaker B: That's okay. That's okay to not know. I'm so curious and I'm finding a lot more of people my age finding themselves taking care of their folks already and just wondering, wanting to offer perspectives that I haven't experienced yet. So I'm curious and gel on this and if things come up, you can.
We can have a fully dedicated podcast to just this. But I do think it's so interesting the. The entertainment lifestyle that enter art and entertainment lifestyle that we've chosen doesn't abide by most rules. Number one, the healthcare and retirement rule that says you and yours are taken care of.
[00:46:58] Speaker A: Right.
[00:46:59] Speaker B: That's not a given for us. Number two, our hours are not traditional nine to five.
Some of us are lucky to have jobs that are that engaging.
[00:47:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:47:10] Speaker B: Most of us are. Are seeking something quite that regular. But there's a lot of, A lot of unusual in our world. And when you have an unusual at home life also having unusual work life can be.
Can maybe feel double destabilized.
Two negatives not making a positive. But it sounds like what you were able to do for yourself is double down on work, provide for mom and have that be okay for you.
[00:47:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And I don't know if that was the healthiest choice, but it was the.
[00:47:40] Speaker B: It is the choice control. It was the thing. Yes, it was the thing that happened. And here you are right now. So I think it was just fine.
[00:47:47] Speaker A: Thank you. And I think, you know, that's actually when I actually started to work for Michael a little bit. Michael Rooney.
[00:47:54] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:47:54] Speaker A: At that time, yeah, way back when he gave me my first job when I was nine years old.
I. I didn't talk about that, but so when I was nine, I auditioned for him at the Dome as well. Amazing Fiona Apple music video Paper bag.
[00:48:10] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:48:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:12] Speaker B: Deep cut.
[00:48:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:13] Speaker B: Amazing.
[00:48:14] Speaker A: And that's my first professional job.
[00:48:16] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:48:17] Speaker A: And I didn't. I've been trying to get in front of him for 15 years after that.
[00:48:22] Speaker B: Okay, and when you did, did he recognize you?
[00:48:24] Speaker A: No, but that's okay. So funny, you know, but what I
[00:48:28] Speaker B: did was I am constantly reintroducing myself to people also, I'm certain the next time I see Michael Rooney, I'll be like, it's Dana, remember?
[00:48:35] Speaker A: No, he knows you.
But, you know, he was teaching three master classes, which really happened at the time. He didn't do that. I showed up to every single one.
[00:48:45] Speaker B: Yes, you did.
[00:48:46] Speaker A: The third one, I remember him saying, hey, just so you know, I recognize
[00:48:50] Speaker B: you now from the last class.
[00:48:54] Speaker A: You know, like, he just came up to me.
[00:48:55] Speaker B: He means he remembers from when you were a kiddo.
[00:48:58] Speaker A: No, no, no, no, no. For those classes.
[00:48:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. That's what it is.
[00:49:00] Speaker A: For those classes. Yeah, yeah. From those classes. And I was like, okay, I'm finally being seen. And it's crazy to think that that's. We have to. But we have to do that sometimes
[00:49:09] Speaker B: that is what it takes.
[00:49:10] Speaker A: Right.
[00:49:11] Speaker B: Because he sees a lot of people and he does a lot of gigs, and he's worked with a lot of the kids and.
[00:49:15] Speaker A: Yeah, but, like, that's where my, like, relationship with Michael started for about four years until really the pandemic.
[00:49:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:22] Speaker A: I was pretty close with, like, working with him.
[00:49:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:25] Speaker A: With a lot of projects, which I'm thankful for because I learned so much from him.
And then, you know, Marguerite also kind of came in my picture, actually, during CLI pandemic.
[00:49:36] Speaker B: Oh, get out of here. Because she was teaching for CLI and you assisted her. Her virtual classes.
[00:49:43] Speaker A: And this is what's beautiful also, which I hope people take away from this. Yeah. I messaged Marguerite on Instagram.
[00:49:51] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:49:52] Speaker A: And just said, I hope you're safe through this hard time.
Hope to see you in the near future. Take care. Something along those lines.
A minute later, she messaged me, hey, I'm teaching six or maybe six or
[00:50:07] Speaker B: eight something or maybe 800
[00:50:11] Speaker A: CLI classes virtually. Yeah. Are you available? We were, of course available. Right. We're locked down.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: You said, hold on, let me check.
[00:50:18] Speaker A: Yes. And since in July. And I said, absolutely. And that's how I got my foot back in the door with her.
[00:50:24] Speaker B: Amazing.
[00:50:25] Speaker A: Because I never worked with her since fame.
[00:50:28] Speaker B: Amazing.
[00:50:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:50:30] Speaker B: You know what I want to say to her, to her credit, really fast? What she did for you in that audition, I have seen her do for others. I've seen her do in class.
And I feel like educators have gotten very cautious in calling people out.
There are different norms and different standards today than there have been in the past. And I think sometimes that's not for the best.
Most times it is. But I think I've never seen someone so masterfully call out with specificity, with compassion, with humility, and without humiliation.
[00:51:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:51:16] Speaker B: But will make a lesson stick.
[00:51:19] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:51:19] Speaker B: And that lesson wasn't just for you. It was for everyone in that room.
[00:51:23] Speaker A: Right.
[00:51:24] Speaker B: You were the hot seat.
But I've seen Marguerite do this once or twice outside of the story that you just mentioned. And every time I've seen it happen, I get my pen out and I'm like, oh, that is how you make a change.
[00:51:36] Speaker A: Right.
[00:51:37] Speaker B: In. In the ecosystem.
[00:51:38] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:51:39] Speaker B: She made a change in your life for sure. But I've been in the rooms and I'm like, oh, I'm listening. And. And she did one@nycda nationals. Okay. You were assisting her.
[00:51:48] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:51:48] Speaker B: I don't know if you remember this, but she was teaching our senior, I think, outstanding dancer audition.
[00:51:55] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:51:55] Speaker B: So this score was part of a composite score with other auditions and their solos. And a lot of things get math together, but a lot of people come in, teach a combo, the faculty comes, we, blah, blah, blah. She was in high teacher mode. And she said, I hire. I hire people a lot, skill level wise. There are a lot of people in this room that I would like to hire. But there's also something, something happening in this room that I have to tell you when I see it.
It's an immediate no. I will cut immediately if you are doing this thing. I don't think she phrased. I don't think she teed it up that way.
[00:52:36] Speaker A: Right.
[00:52:36] Speaker B: But what she was saying, she was talking about this trend at the moment, which she called fish mouth.
[00:52:42] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:52:44] Speaker B: And it was like a breathe. I think people were doing it to breathe.
[00:52:46] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:52:47] Speaker B: But it, it also telegraphed as being performant, like feeling like.
Like I'm so feeling that I have to chew with my mouth open. I don't know. I don't know. It was a trend.
[00:53:00] Speaker A: Right.
[00:53:00] Speaker B: It was a, A habit for a lot of people simply weren't aware of it. And I do think she touched on that too. She didn't call any one person out. This was a room. She was addressing the room and she said, I see this thing happening. I don't know if you're aware of it or if you aren't, but you should know that I will not hire people who do that.
And the whole room all of a sudden became aware of the thing that nobody was thinking about because they were all thinking about all the rest of their bodies. But. But if you.
She works in TV and film.
[00:53:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:35] Speaker B: So often the shot is here, and if you are not in control of your freaking face. And she was like, you must control this thing. You must be in the cockpit piloting your own face. Please be more conscious of how you are using your face, because I can't hire that.
[00:53:53] Speaker A: Right.
[00:53:54] Speaker B: And she said it in front of the entire faculty. We were all in there. And we all thought we were just talking about everybody's solos or we all thought we were just talking to the outstanding dancers. But her vision was so far beyond that. She's wanting these people to go into the workforce. She's wanting to hire people.
[00:54:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:54:12] Speaker B: And the real cool thing about that and why I love her for saying that and in front of all of us is that when I'm judging now on panels or when I'm in audition rooms and I see people doing that, I will say, I don't know if you know Marguerite Derricks, but I want to give you a heads up so that you find yourself.
So that if you find yourself in a room with her, you are prepared.
What you are doing with your face is a full stop for Marguerite.
And I think it probably always will be. I hope it doesn't turn into something that she loves.
[00:54:46] Speaker A: But. Right.
[00:54:47] Speaker B: I love when people make their full stops known. Because if it's that easy for me to make it with you and if it's that easy to break it, like I want to know, I want to have a fighting chance.
[00:55:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:55:04] Speaker B: Because it would be such a shame for these dancers training their whole lives to get to a point where ability wise, they're able. But there's this unintentional quirk happening that you can absolutely attend to and refine or fix if we want to use that word. But I just, I really love how particular she is.
I love how accessible she is.
She said, you know how to reach me. I am in the world. I believe she even told the story of how you reached out to her. And it's so funny, a lot of people assume that mad dancers are just banging down Marguerite's doors. She said, you would be shocked at how few people reached out to see if I was okay during that time.
And she said, this young man reached out and asked if I was okay. And that made an imprint on her.
And so thank you for sharing this story. It's so important to remember that these heroes, these titans in our world who have a lot of power.
[00:56:06] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: Are still simply humans.
[00:56:09] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:56:10] Speaker B: With families with needs, with demands on them. And. And so you saw her humanity and she saw your superhuman humanity. And what a great team.
[00:56:21] Speaker A: And I do. People can tell when you reach out during those times.
[00:56:26] Speaker B: Keep talking.
[00:56:27] Speaker A: If they're thinking about just opportunities.
[00:56:30] Speaker B: Hey, Marguerite, I'm starving.
[00:56:32] Speaker A: Versus how are you actually genuinely asking as a human being?
[00:56:35] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:56:36] Speaker A: Because, you know, we can always reach out to people. Right. And like happy New Year. And like there's Always an intention. Maybe book me on the next job versus actually just asking. Right.
[00:56:47] Speaker B: That's so interesting. I.
Yeah. She's. She is so legendary.
I know what it means to be in a support role. I know that that can be challenging, but I know that it can be also be liberating. Just tell me really quickly a few of your favorite things about being in a support role on a choreography team and what you love most about leading yourself.
[00:57:13] Speaker A: Oh, well, okay. So I'm going to go with Etoile, obviously, because that was like my last huge, huge thing I've done with her.
[00:57:21] Speaker B: I haven't finished it yet, so don't give any spoilers.
[00:57:24] Speaker A: Yeah. But that was actually my first time assisting Marguerite in that scale.
[00:57:29] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:57:31] Speaker A: I never worked on a show with her from beginning to end.
[00:57:34] Speaker B: Were you in Maisel, but not assisting her on it or what was.
[00:57:37] Speaker A: I was only in Maisel for one episode, and it was the same episode I actually assisted on for one of the numbers.
[00:57:43] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:57:44] Speaker A: But see, I've always helped her with a number.
[00:57:46] Speaker B: Got it.
[00:57:47] Speaker A: Versus never a show.
[00:57:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:57:49] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was a big going to school day for me. Totally going to school.
But I think being on that Etoile show and being able to be by her side. Yeah. And see the world. Paris, New York, like, I mean, what a.
Like, what an incredible experience that was.
[00:58:12] Speaker B: What a dream.
[00:58:13] Speaker A: And we hired, like, so many dancers. True ballet dancers.
[00:58:18] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Yes. Tyler Peck. Yes. Speaking lines.
[00:58:22] Speaker A: Yes. Yes.
That was special to me because one, I got to go back to, like, the ballet world that I haven't been in for a long time.
So I got to revisit that.
And, you know, dance more, too, because we also were into Amy Sherman Palladino.
[00:58:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:58:41] Speaker A: Was so about keeping the dance creator. Yeah. Dancers in shape.
So we had to have class every single day.
[00:58:48] Speaker B: Right. Because if all of these company dancers stop their lives to make a TV show.
[00:58:53] Speaker A: Right.
[00:58:54] Speaker B: They would. They wouldn't be able to continue their
[00:58:56] Speaker A: lives as dancers, and they wouldn't be able to perform what we were asking for because we were trying to be as authentic.
[00:59:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:59:01] Speaker A: For the show as well.
[00:59:03] Speaker B: Were you guys having class every day? We did before.
[00:59:05] Speaker A: Before even shoot days. So as an assistant, I was.
Part of my job was to give class.
[00:59:13] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:59:14] Speaker A: And sometimes the 5am class
[00:59:17] Speaker B: for that 8am hair and makeup call.
[00:59:19] Speaker A: Yeah. What? Yeah. So I remember getting picked up, you
[00:59:23] Speaker B: know, was that factored into their shoot time?
So that was part of their 12 hour day, technically.
[00:59:28] Speaker A: Oh. And then in. In Europe, it's 10 hour day.
[00:59:31] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:59:31] Speaker A: Yeah, usually or 60 hours a week kind of a thing.
[00:59:34] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:59:36] Speaker A: Right.
[00:59:36] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:59:38] Speaker A: But no, because we said, do you want class? And most of them said yes.
[00:59:43] Speaker B: Interesting. So I guess that's true. Like Anna. Interesting.
It wasn't required.
[00:59:49] Speaker A: No. Okay. Cuz some people would skip.
[00:59:51] Speaker B: Yeah. I think if I. Yeah. There are shoot days where I wake up early to go to the gym because I need my body to feel okay for the day. Wow, that's cool.
[00:59:59] Speaker A: But it was every day. We were.
[01:00:02] Speaker B: Wow.
[01:00:02] Speaker A: Yeah. So that was discipline. Yeah, the discipline. You know, And I respect that because I think that is the one thing I really do take away from the ballet side is that work ethic.
[01:00:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:00:14] Speaker A: You know, that's the culture.
[01:00:15] Speaker B: And there is no substitute for discipline. And you can't cram for a technique test. Like, there's no way that the night before I can meet you where you've been getting for the last 10 years.
[01:00:27] Speaker A: Right.
[01:00:27] Speaker B: Like there's just. You can't fake it.
[01:00:29] Speaker A: But I feel like that's with everything. Right. Even like, for example, hip hop.
[01:00:32] Speaker B: Well, there's always foundation and style. Genre wise. 100%.
[01:00:37] Speaker A: Right.
[01:00:37] Speaker B: But I do think.
I mean, I have gotten away with not having perfect technique because I have other strengths.
[01:00:47] Speaker A: Right.
[01:00:48] Speaker B: But if we are measuring technique, you just can't fake it. Like, I can distract you with other things.
[01:00:55] Speaker A: Right.
[01:00:56] Speaker B: To hide my technique. But if we're just looking at technique, there's nothing that you can do to hide where you're at.
[01:01:03] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[01:01:04] Speaker B: Okay. We've got one more question for you, Bobby. You ready for it?
[01:01:06] Speaker A: Yeah, sure.
[01:01:07] Speaker B: I mean, I could definitely talk to you forever, but I will be respectful of your time.
Instead of doing Rapid Fire Burnout round, I'm taking a question from whitamcom, which is my coaching community.
And today we want to know, as a person who values discipline but also values a full life and understands that our trajectories are not always straight, but sometimes out and in and around.
How do you find yourself coming back to an embodied practice and a love of dance and a grit for dance if you've been away for some time,
[01:01:43] Speaker A: you know, I think there's no right answer. Right. Hopefully. But for me, when I.
I've never thankfully fallen out of love from dance. But there's obviously challenges we go through. Right.
So what I tend to do is surround myself with music. I love music. Yeah. And because the music is the reason why I was boppy in the first place when I was little.
[01:02:08] Speaker B: Boppy, Right. I love boppy. That's Your new nickname.
[01:02:13] Speaker A: So, like, to me, when I hear music that I love naturally in my mind, it starts to work, like, with movements and visuals in my head, and that transforms into movement to me.
So I don't know if that's the answer that I should give. But to me, what inspires me to always go back to dancing. Is music beautiful. It speaks to me.
[01:02:36] Speaker B: Beautiful.
[01:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:02:38] Speaker B: I. That's a wonderful reminder. Just the other day, I was like, wow. I haven't, like, I'm having a book on tape moment. I do a lot of driving these days, but I'm like, booksing because I want to read books.
[01:02:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:02:53] Speaker B: I'm always so tired at night, so I fall asleep as soon as I crack the book. So I've been doing the books on tape thing, and it was just a couple days ago that I was like, I haven't, like, blasted music in my car in a while. While. Turn on Kelly Clarkson.
And it was the best. I was like, alive. It was incredible. You're right. Let's not forget, friends, you have a life source just a button away.
[01:03:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:03:18] Speaker B: Just a quick. But what was your favorite thing to listen to right now?
[01:03:21] Speaker A: I don't have a song genre. I'm an old soul.
[01:03:25] Speaker B: Do it. What you got?
[01:03:26] Speaker A: Motown and stuff. Nice. And like, power ballads. Like Luther Van Ross when he's like, I'm an oldie. Yeah. And I. Then I also love Prince. And of course, why not, right? Prince, Michael Jackson, all those things.
[01:03:38] Speaker B: Yeah. If you don't love Prince, I don't really have a whole lot of space for you.
[01:03:43] Speaker A: I'll be very honest. I probably am terrible with current artists.
[01:03:47] Speaker B: I'm not so good.
[01:03:50] Speaker A: Like, I'm always looking at the past music. And that's because I feel like that's what I grew up with.
[01:03:55] Speaker B: I feel you.
[01:03:56] Speaker A: And that's what, first of all, made me want to dance. Right. Those MTV days.
[01:04:01] Speaker B: God.
[01:04:02] Speaker A: So, like, those music videos were films.
[01:04:04] Speaker B: Amazing.
[01:04:04] Speaker A: They weren't music videos.
[01:04:05] Speaker B: It's true.
[01:04:06] Speaker A: Short films.
[01:04:07] Speaker B: What are you gonna listen to on the way home?
[01:04:09] Speaker A: I just. I had the greatest hits of Luther Vandross on my.
On my Spotify.
[01:04:14] Speaker B: Phenomenal. Oh, thank you for that.
[01:04:16] Speaker A: So it'll probably be one of those
[01:04:17] Speaker B: songs like, oh, the sun is coming out. It's kind of an overcast kind of day. It feels like a great day to be soulful and.
[01:04:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:04:24] Speaker B: Well, Bobby, thank you for. For simmering and sharing.
[01:04:28] Speaker A: Thank you.
[01:04:28] Speaker B: Really just think the world of you and always will. I'm grateful for your time, and I'm
[01:04:32] Speaker A: a huge fan of the podcast, so thank you for having me.
[01:04:34] Speaker B: Thank you so much for being here. Thank you listener viewer for being here. Like click the bell for notifications, Leave a Review a rating, subscribe, tell a friend, and of course get out into the world and keep it very funky.
[01:04:47] Speaker A: Bye Bye.
[01:04:49] Speaker B: 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 design by Bri 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.
