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Breaking the Wall Podcast
Hosted by NYC based dancer, teacher, and career coach Brandon Coleman, this podcast provides tools to help pre-professional and early career dancers navigate a professional career in the arts. Breaking the Wall is about demystifying the dance industry and taking real action to make our life long dreams come true. As dancers, we spend hours a day and years of our lives honing our craft, but as we step into our careers we need to ask ourselves what we truly want from this life. How is the dance industry changing? Where do I start my career? How can I enjoy the work I'm doing every day? Through stories of success and lessons learned from some epic failures, we will get honest about what we bring to the dance world and what we want our lives to look like in it.
Episodes
131 episodes
130. 6 Lessons from 6 Years in Sleep No More
I'd say that a professional dancer might have one or two "big" jobs in their career. While a dance career is fluttered with many different kind of jobs, its rare for a dancer to have one that checks so many of their desires off their list. Slee...
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129. Ask BTWP: "I'm 34. Is it too late for me?"
Theres a new place to ask Brandon your questions and it's right here in the show notes!In this episode, Brandon talks about starting your career in your 30s. The question reads: "I am starting from square 1 at the age of 34, ...
128. Get Better at Dance Auditions
The truth is, auditions are set up for magic to happen, not necessarily to show someone at their best. If they were, every audition would be multiple days to show growth and consistency. Unfortunately, the time and money to make that happen jus...
127. Big Ideas for the Future of Dance with Omri Drumleviuch
I love this episode with my friend Omri Drumlevich. Omri and I worked together in Sleep No More for many years. While in the show, I could always count on him for good conversation in the dressing room. While we spent a good portion of our time...
126. The Proactive Dancer Replay
In this episode, Brandon is sharing his FREE workshop: The Proactive Dancer where he breaks down EXACTLY what he would do if he was starting his over career TODAY.-- No credits-- No connectionsIn the workshop Brandon breaks ...
125. Don't Let College Casting Define Your Value
I see it time and time again. It's not unusual for a dancer be snubbed from an audition for their schools shows. Is it right? I don't think so. However, it is what it is. Some schools look at it as a reality of the industry and in a way their r...
124. Thoughts, Reflections, and Lessons from my 5 years of Teaching Tours
My first teaching tour was a road trip across the US and I spent more money then I made. I'd like to say the next year was a complete 180 but if anything, it wasn't monetarily much better. However, little did I realize the positive benefits of ...
123. How to Make $1000 this Week Virtually
As professional dancers, were in this industry for the love of it. HOWEVER, we also want to be able to make money to support this love as well.In this episode, Brandon shares three ideas on how to make $1000 this week. This money could ...
122. Managing Expectations + Setting Intentions Around Summer Intensives
When you're looking at summer intensives, it's important that you get specific about what you're looking to gain from them.Are the expectations you set for the intensive the same ones their offering you?In this episode, Brandon ...
121. Live Interview with Brandon Cournay and the UNCSA Summer Dance Professional Studies Students
For our first LIVE podcast interview, I got to chat with my friend and fellow UNCSA Summer Workshop teacher Brandon Cournay.In our #Brandon2Brandon conversation, we dive into the benefits of networking early on, what to look for in a da...
120. 30 Days of Reels Challenge - 3K in 30 Days
In June, my sister Jill invited me to do a 30 days of reels challenge with her. These days, Instagram is showing more reels to non-followers and she thought it would be fun to see what could come of it. I agreed.In this episode, I'll ta...
119. The #1 Video You Need to Put On Instagram
I'm out here at UNCSA for the week and having a blast. I actually use to come out here every summer when I was a kid so I'm feeling some nostalgia this week.I'm working with dancers from the age of 16-23 in both technique classes and cr...
118. Inspiring Employers and Profiting from Rejection with Claude "CJ" Johnson
CJ and I met back in 2016 while working with Shannon Gillen at Springboard. I was a year into my career and CJ was navigating the end of his college experience. As many dancer are in their early 20's, CJ was full of curiosity, drive, and ambiti...
117. Trusting Timelines and Telling Your Story with Paige Fraser Hoffman
The when is really out of our control when it comes to achieving the career goals we set for ourselves. Over the years we have to pivot, engage with new ideas, and much of the time learn on the job. When I first joined Visceral in 2015, Paige F...
116. Tackling the Dance World with Artistic Director, Joshua Blake Carter
I remember talking to JBC for the first time in 2015 when I was considering a position with Giordano Dance Chicago. He is the definition of charisma and Mr. Chicago Dance World if you ask me! It wasn't until the following year that I got to per...
115. Building Your Own Success with Founder of FireWALL Dance Theater, Elisa Alaio
Although many dancers dream of making larger cities like NYC or LA their homes, this isn't the case for our Guest on todays episode. Elisa and I met back in 2018 when I took a road trip across the country with my friend Owen. We made a stop in ...
114. Prioritizing Quality over Quantity in Our Training
"Please stop expecting superior results from mediocre effort." -- Dr. Shante CofieldThis quote really hit me this morning as I was drinking my coffee and made me think about how...
113. Navigating an Early NYC Dance Career with Hannah Weinmaster
A lot of the time on this podcast, I speak with artists who are established or moved onto other aspects of their career. I'm excited to have Hannah on the podcast today because she is approaching her three year anniversary of NYC living.
112. When I Will STILL Work For Free
In our community, there is a lot of talk about working for free, valuing our talent, and being paid what we deserve for the work we do so well. A lot of advice around working for free revolves around early-career artists and the hoops they have...
111. What No One Tells You About Setting Your Rate
It's that time of year again! Summer teaching and choreographing is how a lot of dancer's support themselves over the slower performing months. However, when we set our rate, no one ever tells us what the "right amount" is.In this episo...
110. Become a Multi-Hyphen Artist
Dancer's are no longer just one thing. They never really have been. But these days, dancers are simultaneously making their own work, teaching classes, setting other peoples work, and taking on additional skills/responsibilities.In this...
109. Make Decisions. Make Mistakes. Take Responsibility.
As a mentor, I want to offer only the best tools and resources for the dancers I work with. However, what they do with that information is up to them.In this episode, Brandon shares why decision making is such an important factor in a s...
108. Three Ideas to Abandon ASAP
As we start our careers, we create an idea of what it will look like. We build up stories and images in our minds about what it will be like to have success, and set goals around finding stability. More than that, we can feel like we have a gra...
107. Building a Fulfilling Career w/ Alicia Delgadillo
I'm so excited to share this conversation with Ali with you. We dive into her careers, knowing when to transition, and what it takes to book work + build a fulfilling career today.Alicia Delgadillo began her career with Hubbard Street 2...