The Dance Studio Podcast
The Dance Studio Podcast
Dance Dreams and Innovations at Kennedy Center's Reach: From Jane Raleigh to Brown Ballerinas
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a revered institution like Kennedy Center’s Reach expansion campus? Today's episode pulls back the curtain, as we're joined by Jane Raleigh, a visionary who climbed the ranks from intern to director of dance programming at the Kennedy Center. She'll give us a backstage pass to the world of dance and her work with the Brown Ballerinas' Dream Big Intensive program. Jane reveals the art of collaboration and the relentless dedication needed to amplify local talents and empower community leaders.
Whisking us into the realm of the young and talented, we're thrilled to have 13-year-old Dior Brown, the United States Ambassador of Brown Ballerinas. Dior shares how her passion for dance sparked dreams of performing on Broadway, and the transformative lessons she's learned about self-confidence, creativity, and thoughtful practice during her journey in the Kennedy Center's intensive program. But the dance floor extends beyond the United States. Paula Brown, founder and artistic director of the Paula Brown Performing Arts Center, takes us on an inspiring cultural journey between the United States and South Africa - a testament to the remarkable growth and empowerment dance can spark across continents.
Our journey continues as we meet Hope Dimmons, the South African Ambassador for the Brown Ballerinas Dream. This 15-year-old dancer unveils her experiences, dreams, and challenges from her time at the Kennedy Center's Dream Big Intensive. Her stories of mastering attention to detail, regular practice, and her aspirations of pursuing theater underscore the truly international language of dance. This episode is a testament to the power of dance, the resilience it nurtures, and the unity it fosters across borders. Join us for an episode filled with passion, dreams, and the beauty of dance.
Original music and audio production provided by Jarrett Nicolay at Mixtape Studios. www.mynewmixtape.com
Welcome to the second season of the Dance Studio podcast. This podcast is for dancers, teachers, dance moms and especially dance studio owners. In the first season, we covered topics like scoliosis, eating disorders and point shoe readiness, along with several episodes on different dance career paths and awesome dance programs for you and your dance students. In the second season, you can count on hearing from Tony Award winners, american Ballet Theater teachers, competition judges and so much more. The Dance Studio podcast fans are loving the information this podcast provides. Take it from season one guest.
Speaker 2:Jennifer Moleto. My name is Jen Moleto and I am a former student of Sally's, now dancing professionally at Disney. As well as teaching dance as a college professor, sally has been my mentor through my entire dance career. What I love about her and her podcast is that she is not only willing to be completely open about everything that she has learned in her career, but she is also so curious about what others have learned in their unique experience, and she wants to share all of it with her listeners. There is a reason why I have stuck with Sally all of these years she is committed to advocating for the success of the dance community. If you are a studio owner, teacher, dancer or aspiring to be any of those things, do not miss this podcast.
Speaker 1:And now we kick off season two with a special episode recorded on site in Washington DC at the Kennedy Center, with several fabulous dancers and dance teachers. Hello, dance teachers. We are here at the Kennedy Center today with Jane Raleigh and she's the director of dance programming here at the Reach and she's going to talk to us about the Reach and Brown Ballerina's dream big, intensive. Welcome, jane.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me, sally.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're welcome. Thank you for doing this with us today. Can we start with a little bit about you and how you got your job here at the Reach as a director of dance programming?
Speaker 3:Yeah, sure. So my name is Jane Raleigh. I'm the director of dance programming for the Kennedy Center. I've worked at the Center almost 10 years now, starting as an intern many years ago in our social impact office, which at the time was called Performing Arts for Everyone. So I got my start in that team, spent about a year in our group sales office and then moved over to dance programming, working on logistics and project management to bring dance companies to the Kennedy Center and present them on our stages, and in 2022 I received the role of director of dance programming and in that role, I have the curatorial responsibility for our ballet series at the Kennedy Center and I work with my team of three full-time staff to fully produce and execute all of our dance and ballet offerings at the Center.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I hope all the young people are listening and heard the intern part. Can we start talking about that a little bit? What would you say helped you to stand out as an intern and continue to get hired and move up the ranks?
Speaker 3:Great question.
Speaker 3:I think when I came to the Kennedy Center as an intern, I did not understand what arts administration was, what the actual nuts and bolts of doing the work looked like behind the scenes.
Speaker 3:I had grown up as a dancer myself and was always on stage, but definitely did not realize the depth of work and time and effort that was going in on the administrative side to make all the shows happen at the end of the day. So when I came here as an intern, my eyes were open to all of that behind the scenes work and it was just really exciting to me. So I think, honestly, what made me stand out was my nerdiness and love for dance and I realized for the first time that all of the stuff I was doing artists I was following on Instagram videos, I was watching behind the scenes in my off time dance classes, I was taking articles, I was reading all of that suddenly was professional job knowledge that I just thought was things I liked to do for fun and that has continued to drive me in my work here. I love that. The things that I love in my life are also the things that contribute to my work.
Speaker 1:Again, that is so interesting and everything that I believe in that somebody might tell you you're wasting your time following all these dancers and reading everything. Nobody ever did that to you. When we're allowed to do exactly what we enjoy, whether anyone thinks it's important or not, it so often turns into a career and that's so fun when it does.
Speaker 3:I always say that everyone who works at the Kennedy Center has a secret art that they practice or that they follow or that they love behind the scenes, which just contributes to a really generative and passionate group of employees here at the Center.
Speaker 1:That's great. Let's start with talking to us about the reach, so tell us everything you can about how it started and why it's here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the reach is the Kennedy Center's expansion campus. We opened it in September of 2019, right before the pandemic shut us down for a little while but it really was opened and created and designed as a way for us to peel back the curtain on the formality of the Kennedy Center, to let audiences see what process looks like, to let audiences and general public understand that the work of the artist doesn't start when they step on the stage. It starts many, many months years before when they enter the studio or the classroom or that working space for meetings. So everything in the reach is designed to be process centered and there's basically very little privacy here. Everything is built with beautiful glass windows, so there's lots of opportunity for people wandering through to look in on the studio and see artists at all levels at work.
Speaker 1:Why don't you talk to us about the Brown Ballerinas dream, big, intensive that's happening this week.
Speaker 3:Yes, we've been so delighted to work with Paula Brown and the Brown Ballerinas Through our social impact program.
Speaker 3:Here at the Kennedy Center we have a program called the Community Partnerships Program and each genre of programming myself leading the dance program we have a community partner and this year the dance community partner is Paula Brown and the Brown Ballerinas and so we've been working with Paula this entire season on what she would like to do with the Kennedy Center to amplify her own work with the Brown Ballerinas and she brought forward this idea of the intensive. So this week, monday through Friday, we are hosting the Brown Ballerinas as part of our social impact office hours residency program. So it's a five day residency, monday through Friday in Studio F at the Reach. They get 10 am to 6 pm in the studio to work and dance together. And this week has been really special because Paula has brought us some of her local Brown Ballerinas students and also a group of South African students who have come for an international exchange with the Brown Ballerinas. So the classes and intensive this week is a blending and a cultural exchange between DC dancers and South African dancers.
Speaker 1:That's great. I actually just found out. I didn't realize this, but from my dance studio that I just sold, we have her name's Heavenly. She's here. Oh wonderful, I'm so happy about that. Tell us what you mean when you say social impact.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the Kennedy Center has a social impact department, but we also think of social impact as a set of ideas. We often refer to it as a pedagogy which is a word I'm sure dance teachers know well a social impact pedagogy that underlies all of the work that we do here at the center. So a lot of the work of our social impact team and our pedagogy is about empowering community members and community leaders who are already doing the work here in DC, giving them opportunities, resources, pathways for them to take their own power and show the Kennedy Center community what they're doing in their parts of the DC arts world. So that's really what the community partnership is really about is having the Kennedy Center identify leaders that we see already doing excellent work in the community and helping amplify that work here on our campus.
Speaker 1:It's just reminding me of why I started this podcast, because when I was a young dancer, young dance teacher, all of these things seemed a little intimidating to me, and it's so nice to just be sitting here at the Kennedy Center and realize that your goal is to reach out to the community and to empower them and amplify their strengths. And sometimes people are so intimidated by the Kennedy Center they wouldn't know how to work with you. So I'm glad we're highlighting this so that people can see that this exists and that you have the goal of helping them.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I think one of the cool things I've noticed this week with Paula Brown is we often, through the Kennedy Center, have opportunities for young dancers to participate in the Nutcracker or other story ballets throughout the year and I've seen and met some of her students when they come to audition, because Paula sends her students to the audition. So as I was checking girls in on the first day of this intensive, I noticed some students that I recognized and who've been in our casts before. So it's moments like that where I realize we're doing a nice job of having that cycle where we're now able to pour resources into the Brown Ballerinas and support Paula's work and then, as a result, paula continues that cycle of sending her talented dancers to us To amplify our productions on the stages here.
Speaker 1:So beautiful. Yeah, thank you so much, jane. It was such a pleasure talking today about the reach.
Speaker 3:Yes, thanks for coming to the reach and talking to some of our artists.
Speaker 1:I'm so happy to be here. All right, thank you. Hello dance teachers and dance studio owners, we're here today with Dior Brown, and she's the United States Ambassador of Brown Ballerinas. Welcome, dior, thank you. It's so great to be here. Thank you so much for being here. Tell us how old you are, dior.
Speaker 4:I am 13 years old.
Speaker 1:You're 13 years. Looks so mature and gorgeous. I would have guessed you were much older than that.
Speaker 4:Thank you, I get that a lot, you do.
Speaker 1:So how long have you been dancing, dior?
Speaker 4:I've been dancing since I was seven and that's exactly how long I have been at Ms Paula's studio. Ms Paula was my first ballet teacher and I remember being in class on Saturday from 10 to 12 in ballet in the studio and it was just amazing because I had been dancing.
Speaker 1:That's what I wanted to do so when you were seven and you took your first class from Ms Paula on Saturday morning. Tell me how that felt.
Speaker 4:So I don't Really remember my first class. I just remember being in class on Saturdays. But I remember being at the bar and I would always have my hand on the lower one because I was shorter than and my pink leotard and my pink little cover-up for dance and my tiara and my bun, because it was always mandatory for us in our uniform to have a tiara in our bun.
Speaker 1:And you like that.
Speaker 4:I do. I still have my tiara to this day.
Speaker 1:So you had a good experience.
Speaker 4:I did, I did, it was nice.
Speaker 1:And so you've been dancing for several years now. What do you like most about dance?
Speaker 4:I think it's just a way for me to express myself and just be me, like put my personality into. I guess steps or movement that will be my career later on, because I do want to become a professional dancer. So dance has always been like a pathway for me to express the creative side of what I have to offer.
Speaker 1:What is one of your big dreams?
Speaker 4:I think one of my big dreams just to be in the entertainment industry. But I feel like dance is going to be one of the pathways to be in there. Like I would love to be on Broadway, hopefully in the Lion King. I know they're playing here at the Kennedy Center now, so hopefully I'll be able to have the chance to come back here and perform.
Speaker 1:Wow, and do you do other things besides dance?
Speaker 4:Yes, so I am really big on musical theater as well. I did a show for my school two years in a row the first year was frozen and I was Elsa, and this year was the Adams family and I was Morticia.
Speaker 1:And what is your school?
Speaker 4:I go to St Stephen, st Agnes School in Alexandria, virginia.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a wonderful school it is. So tell us about this experience here at the Kennedy Center. Is this your first time ever participating in an intensive or a workshop at the Kennedy Center?
Speaker 4:It is not my first time participating in a workshop for the Kennedy Center, because I did a workshop with my friends from the studio a few months back when Alvin Ailey was here. Yeah, and we learned weight in the water. I've been beauts, all kind of their revelations dances, signature dances and I'd liked it here at the Kennedy Center. I think it's nice.
Speaker 1:It's like you're home away from home now, yes, okay, so tell me about the Brown Ballerinas Dream Big program and what you're learning this week.
Speaker 4:So this week Brown Ballerinas Dream Big. It is focused on classical ballet and brown and black girls focusing on classical ballet and help building their technique. I have had the chance to be taught by Ms Nardiabadoo and Mr Troy Brown. They are both amazing teachers. Mr Troy was my first point teacher, so I've known him for a while.
Speaker 1:Oh, so what is your favorite thing that you've learned this week?
Speaker 4:All of it. It's definitely nice to go back to the basics and start from, I guess, where you've started, just to make sure you have a really good grasp of the understanding. Now that you're older, you're able to put your own spin on it or give a bit more personality, but still kind of find the foundation of what you need to do to dance.
Speaker 1:I know exactly what you mean. It's very important to go backwards and do it with a mature mind. What have you learned this week that you think you'll take with you back to your own studio?
Speaker 4:I think just practicing more and making sure that every time that you are dancing, you're always constantly thinking about what needs to happen. Does this need to rotate? Does this need to straighten and just training your mind and your body to conform to how you need to dance or how it needs to work to make moves look better or good?
Speaker 1:For all that to come together and work seamlessly right. Yes, yes.
Speaker 4:Yes, and I'll definitely find many more things to stay when I do dance.
Speaker 1:That's right. Does being here help you to feel like your dreams of being on Broadway or in the entertainment business? Does it feel more possible after?
Speaker 4:this week. Oh, definitely, I feel like I'm one step closer to being in a company a ballet company, contemporary ballet company just to kind of get the training from people who have been in companies, who do have that experience.
Speaker 1:So it's serving its purpose.
Speaker 4:It is, it is.
Speaker 1:I know St Stephen, st Agnes, is an excellent school, and what grade are you in?
Speaker 4:I am a rising freshman.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're going into high school. How many days a week do you dance at the?
Speaker 4:studio. So I'm at the studio Monday through Thursday, probably at least two hours a day, and I know the school day ends at three o'clock and I don't get home till five because I ride the bus.
Speaker 1:So and then what time do your classes start at the studio?
Speaker 4:Monday they start at 7.15, kind of end around nine-ish, eight-thirty-ish. Tuesday they start at six and end at eight-thirty, maybe nine, and then Wednesday and Thursday they're from seven to nine.
Speaker 1:Where do you fit in your homework and how do you balance your schoolwork, and what kind of student are you?
Speaker 4:So I like to try and balance homework with kind of being social, like during lunch breaks, maybe just study breaks we have during the day. I'll try and get as much knocked out as I can and because I'm on the bus for a while in the morning and the afternoon, I like to try and get it done then. And yes, I still have a lot of homework to do when I get home, but it's not as much as it would have been.
Speaker 1:Do you think that your dance discipline helps you to be able to zone in on your studies when you're on the bus? I mean because that would be very distracting to a lot of people.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think so. I think it's also the motivation of I don't want to be too overwhelmed when I wake up, or when, I go home so that I can just go home and rest. So doing it on the bus and having that motivation of going to dance and having fun, I think that that kind of pushes me to keep on going with what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:Do your parents say that if your grades slip, you won't be allowed to dance? Do they give you any ultimatums like that?
Speaker 4:No, my parents definitely encourage me to do my best, and if my best is what happened or that grade, I mean they'll just say, okay, maybe we can help you. Let's find a way to help you and see what you need to work on.
Speaker 1:So you have fantastic parents. I do I do, and a fantastic school and a fantastic dance studio. Yes, and so you're able to balance all of these things, it sounds like, because you enjoy them and you want to make sure that they work, so you fit them in.
Speaker 4:I do, I do, I enjoy what I do. I mean sometimes in school it's not always do zero breeze, but I mean I love to learn and I love where I'm learning. So I think that trying to fit that with what I love to do period or what I want to do when I grow up, it's a bit better to fit those things together because it's what I want to do, it's what I like to do.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. I got some news from your dance teacher that you have so many awards in school and in dance and competitions. You seem to be very modest, but I love it if you'd share some of those awards with us and let people know how fabulous you are.
Speaker 4:Yes, so at the end of the year, every year, my school does awards. I only know this for the middle school One of the kind of citizenship awards are just contributing to the school and a better place to it. I won it two years in a row.
Speaker 2:So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 4:And then this year I was, I guess, the first student to represent the Paula Brown Performing Arts Center in the Brown Ballerinas in a competition, Universal Ballet competition, and I won third place and on top of that, they gave out scholarships and I got a 50% tuition scholarship to Ballet Hispanico. Wow, so I will be leaving in a week.
Speaker 1:Real congratulations. Thank you, that's fantastic. How long is the intensive?
Speaker 4:So the intensive is three weeks, but I decided to go the last two. I think they do kind of a culmination after every week because there's so many students coming in and out, because you're not required to go just for three weeks.
Speaker 1:That's great. I like that they give you the option. Sometimes they don't, so that's wonderful. So you got to do all of you got to do Alvin A Lee. You got to do Brown Ballerinas Dream Big at the Kennedy Center. You're going off to Ballet Hispanico and I am going to predict that you're going to have other awards and other successes in your life, because you seem like a very driven and enthusiastic, hardworking young woman. Well, thank you. Well, thank you so much for being with us, dior. It was a pleasure having you on our podcast.
Speaker 4:Thank you for having me. I enjoyed being on a podcast.
Speaker 1:I wish you all the luck in the future. I thank you.
Speaker 1:Our studio uses Akeda software and we absolutely love it. If you want to take control of everything from employees to parents, costume ordering to registration, try Akeda today. If you don't love it, they won't charge you a thing. Go to akadasoftwarecom. Akada Softwarecom to inquire about your free trial today. Welcome Dance Studio owners and dance teachers. We are here at the Kennedy Center today for the week of Brown Ballerina's Dream Big Intensive, and I am fortunate enough to be sitting here with Paula Brown and I'm also with Susanda Bandezi and Zee Ezentil. I probably didn't pronounce those perfectly, but I hope you'll forgive me and let you can pronounce them yourself when you introduce yourself. How about you go first, zee, and why don't you give us your name and tell us just a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 7:My name is Zinke. I'm the owner of the School of Dance in South Africa. I started dancing when I was very young. We attended school in Ferrena-Keng School of Ballet, so that's where I did my teachers course as well and I opened the school in Pretoria, south Africa, along with my sister she's gonna tell her story as well and we have over 200 students up to date and we do ballet, we do lyrical, we do contemporary and we do hip-hop and we give music classes as well.
Speaker 1:What age range are your students From? Three years.
Speaker 7:We start from three years.
Speaker 1:And how old do they go?
Speaker 7:We start from three years up to 27.
Speaker 1:You have all the way up to 27? Yes, and you have 200 students. Yes, wonderful. Okay, and Susanda Bandezi, why don't you say your name and tell us a little bit about yourself, please?
Speaker 5:Oh, hi everyone. My name is Susanda Bandezi. I'm the co-founder of A's in the School of Dance in South Africa. My sister studied at the school. She opened the school. I was working at that time In fact, I had lost my job, my first job and then she called me when she opened the studio. She was like okay, sis, I want to do this with you. Can you come? Because I was home in the Eastern Cape yes, in the rural areas, my parents home. So she called me to come to the city with her to help her with the studio. And then we just rent the studio together. We've been running it since 2015. It's been going good. We are here today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's very exciting, you guys are a long way from home. We have already had a great interview with Paula Brown, but why don't you just reintroduce yourself, in case people haven't heard your episode?
Speaker 8:Yes, thank you, sally. I am Paula Brown, founder and artistic director of the Paula Brown Performing Arts Center, home of the Brown Ballerinas, and we are in Prince George's County, maryland.
Speaker 1:Why don't you talk to us about how you met these lovely women from South Africa, how you got connected?
Speaker 8:Yes, I met Susanda and Ezyncle on Instagram. Susanda found me, she went to my Brown Ballerinas page and she sent me a DM and she said she would be interested in having a conversation with me regarding their girls in South Africa, as they were looking for some type of a connection with getting more technique for their dancers and we started the relationship. This was during COVID and we had Zoom calls. We were faithful weekly meeting on Zoom and I would just share with them different things about classical ballet and diversity and inclusion in classical ballet and some of the things we go through in America as ballet dancers and just some of the things that they could do, develop some tools to start getting their girls trained classically. And it became a mentoring relationship.
Speaker 8:I mentored them for over two and a half years and here we are, almost three years later. They are in America, usa, for the first time. Everything was just aligned. God aligned everything from the Kennedy Center offering me the residency, with the social impact program that they have, and then knowing these ladies in South Africa. So I feel like this is a true social impact and using classical ballet as the tool to bring us all together, and so we now have this cultural exchange between South Africa and America, and I have the Brown Ballerinas USA and now we're talking about developing Brown Ballerinas South Africa.
Speaker 1:I love how you met on Instagram and one of my big reasons for having this podcast is to help people not be afraid and just that reach out right. I'll bet you were a little nervous to make it, but you did it because you wanted to. You had some desire to learn something and you connected. And who knew that? That one message would lead you three years later to this country and the Kennedy Center? I mean, I just think that's so fascinating and I hope that young people hear it and it helps them get over those little hurdles of fear and try to do things that they're maybe hesitant to reach out, like who cares? If the person doesn't answer you, you know, but if they do, it could be something amazing that you never dreamed of.
Speaker 7:I remember when my sister called me saying I found this lady on Instagram, and she responded you know. So we need to talk about finding a way, if we can meet her, take our kids to the United States. I was like how do we know it's?
Speaker 1:legit. What if?
Speaker 7:it's a scam. What if it's human trafficking? You know, and then until we we googled her. We went on Google and we like no, this person is actually big and she's doing a good work. And then we started to do the online. She was mentoring us and then trust that it there. And then everything we hear now.
Speaker 1:So what's your experience been here? What's been the most surprising thing that you've encountered since you've been here?
Speaker 5:Well, it's a culture shock, mostly because the things that are like even in the side of dense it's not like ours in.
Speaker 6:South.
Speaker 5:Africa. So we are learning a lot. We are learning a lot when it comes to techniques, when it comes to discipline. Yeah, we are learning.
Speaker 1:Tell me what is so different in the technique and the discipline.
Speaker 5:Yeah, because with us we were doing a different, like ballet and a regi. Yes, and now, when we come here and now we have to learn the techniques and veganova.
Speaker 7:So it's like that and the discipline as well.
Speaker 5:Oh, our dancers, I have to just say it like they are not disciplined, now they are learning. They learn a lot to be, disciplined in class because when it comes to like, okay, now you have to sit like this, now you have to not stand like this. You know to walk like this, to have a posture, you know things like that because all the dancers they just they are dancers in the studio when they get inside out of the studio there's no posture anymore.
Speaker 7:You can walk like that you cannot say that's a ballerina outside only when they are inside.
Speaker 1:How do they like the discipline? I'll bet some are a little shocked and maybe not loving it, and I'll bet some are really eating it up.
Speaker 7:That's my guess the first week was very tough for them.
Speaker 1:It was hard they were crying.
Speaker 7:Oh yeah, yeah it was hard for them but after the show on Friday they were so happy it paid off. Their hard work really paid off, because with us in South Africa, if you can't do it, then you know you get to be in a comfort zone. You don't force yourself. And then here you, you have to do it, you gotta do it like they are very, very straight when it comes to techniques, and we are even shocked that our dancers can do this.
Speaker 1:So you're learning that your dancers can do more than you thought they could do yes, even the parents back at home.
Speaker 7:When they see the videos they are like are you sure, south African dancers, are they?
Speaker 5:Are you?
Speaker 7:sure they are part of the group because they thought they're going to be able to identify them on stage, that oh, we can see those ones from South Africa just by the way they are dancing. But now they have changed a lot in just two weeks. That's fantastic. In just two weeks.
Speaker 1:So at first they were crying, they probably felt overwhelmed, yes, but then it sounds like they got empowered and they realized what they actually can do. So that is going to help them to know that they can do even more than they think they can, right now.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that's true, because when they came they were on the phone because me I came later. The first week I was not here. I came on the second week, so they called me. Some of the dancers like I don't think these people they love us yeah.
Speaker 2:They love us Please.
Speaker 5:They are so harsh. You know things like that. I was like when I came, I was like OK, guys, I think you need to just relax, do what you are told to do and then we'll see. But now, after they show, when they saw themselves on stage, they were like wow we are so happy we are so happy. We've worked so hard.
Speaker 1:And they realized that there are other ways to be loved. When you empower somebody to go past their comfort zone and you're a little tough on them that's the best kind of love in my opinion it's the best.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it was the best.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask you what you learned from this program, from your students, but I think you already told me yeah, how about it, Yves? But what about you, Paula? What are you learning from all of the students?
Speaker 8:I am learning the importance of how technique and training can make any dancer and all dancers become one. As they said they came here, of course it was a cultural shock. Of course when we go there it's going to be the same, but it's one thing about dance and its universal language and its tool and its teaching it allows every dancer to become one. Like they said, when they look at the videos you can't differentiate an American from a South African. They all look the same and they did that. They're speaking of the first intensive, which was in Prince George's County, maryland. They're speaking of that opportunity and that intensive.
Speaker 8:And so we had some of the best teachers, from dance moms, anthony Burrell to Alvin Ailey, company member Christopher Huggins to an aerialist that was with Universal Soul Circus, and just a lot of different backgrounds, top tier, high level professionals. And so the cultural shock to them was, of course, like they said, the discipline, because dance requires that level of discipline if you want to achieve and be where you see yourself dreaming to be Hence Brown Ballerina's dream big. Because I always believe, as dancers, that there's something inside of a child that they dream about seeing themselves. They don't have to be the next Misty Copeland. But they may just see themselves on stage or see themselves in a sparkly tutu, or see themselves in a tiara or see themselves on Broadway. They could see themselves anywhere. That's why I developed Brown Ballerina's dream big, because I wanted to allow them to have that dream come to life. And then, with the South African girls as well, they get a double portion they get dance and USA experience.
Speaker 1:How did Brown Ballerina's dream big and you coming to this country get started and why did you think it was an important program to have?
Speaker 8:For myself in being in America, and especially during COVID, we were dealing with a lot of systemic racism and diversity and inclusion, and so that just became really big during COVID because of some of our American social issues that were happening. So within that it was just a good time. As a black woman only being trained in classical ballet, that's all I know, that's all I ever did. I just thought the timing was just so perfect to get the message out there that we, as blacks and African-Americans, we want to study classical ballet. We have been, but how can we get the support? How can we get people to understand that we love the art as well? And so having Susanda and her nickname is Z coming from South Africa, it just really added to the whole vision of creating Brown Ballerina's dream big Wanting to have these girls. I mean, you can't get any more socially diverse by having them come from South Africa and then coming here over to America. And they're beautiful girls, they have beautiful aesthetics, their bodies, everything about them lines up with this classical ballet technique. And so having those girls and then my American girls and just the cultural exchange and then, more importantly, definitely not the least, but on the top, the Kennedy Center, Jane. Just somehow in her heart, she had sent me an email Because this had been something that had been going on in me for a long time. I almost feel like I'm in tears right now because this has been like five, six years.
Speaker 8:I grew up at the Kennedy Center. I danced with New York City Ballet at 10 years old. I auditioned with hundreds of little girls. I was one of two black girls that got to dance with New York City Ballet mid-summer night's dream. I did dance theater of Harlem Did Suzanne Ferrell's workshops here, and so I always said that I would love to have a program here, Because I see I dance with the ALE company, I see them come here and do programs, I see Arthur Mitchell doing programs.
Speaker 8:I said one day I want to have a program here and Jane had reached out to me and just wanted to know what are some of the things you want to do? What's going on with you? And I opened up and I shared with her. I said I want to have a ballet program here one day. And here we are this day, not even knowing the extent or the privilege of having these girls come from South Africa.
Speaker 8:The Kennedy Center, it all tied in, but it definitely had a lot to do with the timing of where we are in the world today. The door just opened so freely and I'll have to tell you the Kennedy Center, just the support and the love and everything that the Kennedy Center has been giving me and the girls with this program has been great. I wouldn't expect anything less but it really really has been like top notch, just wonderful and it's just so rewarding and I'm just so happy to be a part at this time and I feel very honored and privileged to be able to share my vision and dream at this time with Brown Ballerina's Dream Big at the Kennedy Center. It's pretty fantastic.
Speaker 1:It's awesome, it really is. Speaking of social issues, would you guys like to talk about the social issues that are happening right now in South Africa and how they compare to what's happening in our country?
Speaker 7:I can say in South Africa the only thing we are experiencing as dancers there is racism still exist in South Africa and especially in the dance industry and the black community.
Speaker 7:So there are people who are professional, who can actually give techniques to our kids, but because when they hear it's a black owned company and then nobody is showing interest, you know Like it's happening. It's happening, there are good people and then there are those who are like unfortunately, there's nothing I can do, I can't help. And then when the same person who is not a black person wants the same help, and then they give it to them just like that. So that is why me and my sister we're like we can, actually you can get the help, but it doesn't mean like you can't just relax just because you cannot get the help in your own country. There are people out there who can actually help you, because when you need help you do. We've been, especially after she found Miss Paula and she saw what she's doing on her page and then we saw her dancers and everything and we're like we don't have to really focus here.
Speaker 1:You had something you wanted and you weren't going to take no for an answer, whether you had to go to a different country. However, you had to get it. You clearly are great teachers because you want the best for your students no matter where you have to go to get that. Unfortunately, you had to go far, but you are obviously changing things everywhere because your students are going to become the next teachers in South Africa and the next dancers.
Speaker 1:This will spread. I mean, look at what has happened in a short amount of time. Imagine what will happen in the next five to 10 years. I really applaud you for reaching out and making the efforts on behalf of your students to give them the very best. Yes, that's pretty awesome, thank you. What do you think your students have gained that they will take back?
Speaker 7:Apart from the techniques and discipline, I can add self-confidence, yes, and believing that the name Brown Palerinas, it's very meaningful, it has a very big meaning. Believing that you can do it, yeah, I think that that's what they are going to learn as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you've shown them. Don't let anything stop you.
Speaker 5:Yes, Even coming here at the Kennedy Center. Kennedy Center is big.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 5:It's big, it's like a dream.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is.
Speaker 5:Also for them as well. I'm sure they will never forget this experience.
Speaker 2:No, they will never.
Speaker 5:Yeah, Definitely. And again, just being here, it shows them that you can go anyway everywhere. You can knock to any door. As long as you are standing up for yourself, you will get whatever you want. Nobody knew that you will be here at the Kennedy Center. We've never went in the biggest theaters in South Africa, but now we are at the Kennedy Center. That is like big, it's really big, it is huge.
Speaker 1:Now that you've been connected and you've been working together, you're talking about having the Brown Palerinas become part of the South Africa program. Why don't you talk more about that and how that can work?
Speaker 8:Just by the ladies being here, as they said, it's been so empowering. So many doors have opened, so many people have come to them. It's just been phenomenal. And so we decided that, as we look towards the future and me having the Brown Palerinas trademark and brand here, we decided that we would have the Brown Palerinas South Africa, and so what that would look like is having the opportunity. Of course, as the girls came here this summer, we will go there for their summer, and so summer intensive here and summer intensive there, and so their summer is in January. So our next summer intensive will be in January in South Africa. And just seeing how, in time like you said, five to 10 years of just expanding this, putting together a six Americans and six South African girls as a touring company for people to see these girls and in what they have to offer.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for talking to us today on the Dance Studio podcast. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 7:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. This episode is brought to you by Mix Tape Studios, a full service recording studio online at mynewmixtapecom, a one stop shop for all your recital and competition music editing needs. Welcome Dance Studio owners and dance teachers. We are here with Hope Dimmons, and she is the ambassador from South Africa for the Brown Ballerinas Dream. Big Welcome, hope. Thank you, can you tell us, hope, how old are you?
Speaker 6:I'm 15. I'm turning 16 next month.
Speaker 1:Next month you're going to be 16. And you're here at the Kennedy Center participating in the Brown Ballerinas Dream Big Intensive. Can you tell us how that's been going and what you like about it?
Speaker 6:It's been going well, pretty intense.
Speaker 1:That's why they call it an intensive.
Speaker 6:Actually they've been some ups and downs.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 6:It's definitely outside of my comfort zone, but what I love is that I've learned so much from the intensive Thank you for being so honest about the ups and downs.
Speaker 1:Let's start with the ups. Tell us the best things.
Speaker 6:So the ups have been meeting all the different teachers, meeting all the different students, learning different dance styles and working together and learning new things.
Speaker 1:What have the challenges been?
Speaker 6:Sometimes it is difficult for me to keep up with the choreographies and I'm also kind of a little bit sensitive. So too much criticism, I get a bit emotional.
Speaker 1:I understand that's a big hurdle for a lot of dancers, especially when they're not used to it. And I was talking to the teachers of your studio when you weren't here and we were saying how it's really a gift when somebody is hard on a student because they're empowering them to be stronger, and sometimes it's hard to see that when everybody's been gentle to you so far, and especially if you're sensitive. So have you seen that gift or are you still kind of figuring that out?
Speaker 6:So far I have, I've been able to adjust. It's getting better, like every day.
Speaker 1:Do you feel empowered?
Speaker 6:Sometimes I do really feel empowered.
Speaker 1:Do you feel that your teachers are trying to give you something?
Speaker 6:Yes, that definitely.
Speaker 1:And do you appreciate that?
Speaker 6:I do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good, good, because nobody ever is being hard. Well, that's not true. Some people are just mean, but mostly good. Dance teachers are hard on their students because they want so badly for them to do what they know they can do.
Speaker 6:Yes, that is true, yeah.
Speaker 1:What do you think you've learned here that you're going to take back with you?
Speaker 6:It's OK to make mistakes and I've gotten more stronger, so I'm definitely taking that strength with me when I go back home. And also how to retain different choreographies quicker.
Speaker 1:I've learned how to retain everything much quicker than I usually do Tell me how to do that, because I'm not real great at that.
Speaker 6:So the most important thing is paying attention to detail. The more detail you can pick up, the better it is when you're retaining and also practicing. Practicing makes permanent.
Speaker 1:So watching closely not daydreaming while you're being taught and then practicing a lot. Yes, and you're stronger. How do you think you got stronger?
Speaker 6:From them being hard on me.
Speaker 1:And how will you keep that strength up?
Speaker 6:Remembering that it's criticism. It's meant to help me, it's not personal.
Speaker 1:Right. So you're going to go back and you're going to have to be hard on yourself? Yes, and there's a way to be hard and tough on yourself, but you also need to be kind to yourself. Some people go too far and they just beat themselves up over and over again, where you have to be strong with yourself but also very kind. Does that make sense? Yes, I hope that you'll stay kind as you're being tougher on yourself in the future. Am I making any sense? No, I understand Good. So this is called Brown Ballerina's Dream Big. What dreams did you have when you were little about your future?
Speaker 6:When I was younger, I really wanted to do theater like acting, dancing, singing, everything and I feel like I'm getting a step closer towards that dream.
Speaker 1:Does this program feel like it's helped? You see that that's more possible.
Speaker 6:Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1:So what path were you shown that now you will take, that you didn't know about before?
Speaker 6:From this part of speaking to us, and the different teachers that you brought to us, who have already accomplished my dream. It was yeah.
Speaker 1:When you see someone else that has done it, you realize oh they did it, I can do it if it's been done right. And when you do something that nobody else has ever done, then you make that possible for other people. So how long have you been dancing?
Speaker 6:I've been dancing since 2014, but I joined as in Go School of Dance in 2016.
Speaker 1:And what kind of dance have you been doing and what is your favorite?
Speaker 6:My favorite is jazz, mainly jazz. After that comes ballet and contemporary, but I've sort of been swapping through those genres through the years and you see how much ballet helps.
Speaker 1:Jazz, yes, ballet is a must.
Speaker 5:Right.
Speaker 1:So when you hear the title, brown Ballerina's Dream Big and I understand it's going to be coming to South Africa what does that mean to you? How does that make you feel?
Speaker 6:It makes me feel excited because it opens a lot of doors and opportunities to young black girls who want to dance.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much Hope for being with us today. It was really a pleasure having you on our podcast.
Speaker 6:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening and don't forget. Please rate and review this show and share it with a friend.