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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.
Breaking the Wall Podcast
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 Pittsburgh where Elisa took ous out and let us crash on her couch for the night. Years later she would invite me to teach at her FireWall Dance Theater Summer Intensive and we.d be friends ever since.
In our conversation we touch on the importance of community, building your own opportunities, and the blur of a work/life balance and why we love it!
More about Elisa:
Elisa-Marie Alaio is a native of Brooklyn, NY and a graduate of Point Park University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in dance with a primary focus in modern/jazz. Elisa is the founder and owner of fireWALL Dance Theater, currently operating as a drop in dance studio in Pittsburgh. fireWALL was established in 2013 as a modern/contemporary dance company, known for their ability to story-tell in an abstract and theatrical way. fireWALL currently has a resident professional dance company along with a team of young, aspiring dancers that perform and compete nationally. Over the years Elisa has curated and choreographed over twenty full length productions, many that have toured throughout the east coast and have been recognized in magazines, newspapers and critics. Elisa is currently a faculty member at Point Park University and Seton Hill University!
Connect with Elisa!
Instagram: @elisa_alaio | @firewalldancetheater
www.firewalldance.com
Send Brandon a text with your questions or thoughts!
Interested in working with Brandon? He works with pre-professional and early career artist to help them book and build fulfilling work. You can learn more about his coaching HERE
Join the PROS Spring 2025 waitlist HERE: https://brandoncolemandance.aweb.page/p/7b09d56e-cc15-4df4-b8e5-b946aa20a35f
Connect with Brandon!
Join his Email List: HERE
Instagram: @itsBrandonColeman | @BreakingTheWallPodcast
Website: www.BrandonColemanDance.com/BTWP