Derryl Yeager, Founder and Artistic Director of Odyssey Dance Theatre Shares his Journey through Dance in Stage, Film and TV

DERRYL YEAGER

Founder and Artistic Director of Odyssey Dance Theatre

As a professional dancer for over two decades, Derryl Yeager has had experience in every style and medium. He received his BFA and MFA degrees at the University of Utah while becoming a principal dancer with Ballet West. He then went on to perform in the Broadway Shows A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, and Cats and has appeared in numerous TV and Film projects that include Staying Alive, She’s Having a Baby, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, A More Perfect Union, Moonlighting, The Tracy Ullman Show, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital.

As a Choreographer and Director he has worked professionally from Ballet to Broadway, Film, Music Videos, and numerous Television Shows. He has taught at two major universities and was Artistic Director of the BYU Theatre Ballet for 2 years. He has choreographed numerous successful ballets for several professional companies and has been the production choreographer for the Utah Shakespeare Festival - winner of the Tony Award for best regional theatre in the year 2000—as well as Director/Choreographer of many Tuacahn productions.

As Founder and Artistic Director of Odyssey Dance Theatre, he brings all of his talents and experience to bear to create an exciting, innovative, and entertaining company that produces works that range from the timely to the timeless.

Training: 

BFA (Magna Cum Laude), MFA (Summa Cum Laude)- University of Utah, American Conservatory Theatre - San Francisco, ABC Television Actor’s Workshop & Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop - LA, Voice - Seth Riggs, Ballet West Principal Dancer - 6 yrs, 25 years as professional Singer/Dancer/Actor 

Performer: 

Film - A More Perfect Union, She’s Having A Baby, Staying Alive, When the Heat Hits the Street, How Rare a Possession, The Lamb of God, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Limit Up 

Television - Touched by An Angel, Crossroads, Boys of Twighlight, Fame, Days of Our Lives, Tracy Ullman Show, Coach, Moonlighting, For the Love of My Daughter, The Young and the Restless, The Stand, Hardcastle & McCormick, General Hospital, A Whole Lot Of Fun, Soup to Nuts, The Music of Your Life, Rodney Dangerfield Special, Country Jamboree, Steppin’ Out, Universal Studios Grand Opening Celebration, The Rose Parade

Broadway Theatre - A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, Cats, Shenendoah, Oklahoma!, Cinderella 

Nightclub - Mary Hart, Carol Lawrence, The Horn, Gardenia, Carlos and Charlies, The Saraha, The Mint, The Golden Nugget, The Desert Inn

Industrial - LA Gear World Tour with Jennifer Love Hewitt, Dominos Pizza, Ford, Dihatsu, Reebok, Kohler, Fila, Levis, Novell 

Commercials - Broadway, Rogaine with Karl Malone

Director/Choreographer:

Coca-Cola - 2002 Olympics, The Dance, Tahitian Noni Industrial, USANA Convention, Tuacahn Amphitheatre: Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2x), Oklahoma!, Hairspray, Little Mermaid

Choreographer:

Television - The Stand, Young and the Restless, The Bold and The Beautiful, Steppin’ Out, Country Jamboree, Touched by An Angel

Film - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, The Great American West, When the Heat Hits the Street 

Music Video - Stevie Nicks, Julio Iglesias, Paul Anka, I Don’t Like Peanuts 

Ballet - Promenades, Punch & Judy, Enya Variations, Saxon Suite, Flight of Icarus, Fresh Aire, Catfish Row, Windchimes, Jelly Roll Blues, Reebach Revival, Dreamtime USA, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Alice in Wonderland, Carnival of the Animals, Sarah’s Letter, Prayer of the Children, Three Preludes 

Contemporary - Vision of Love, Move-Dance-Be Born, Thriller, Joy to the World, Let It Be, Sledgehammer, Deep Forest, Staying Alive,

Thank you for listening to The TuTu thin Podcast

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Thank you to Matt Miller @ Smacky Media Group

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:49

Welcome to the Two Tooth In Podcast. Uh, my name is Dawn Smith Theodore, and today I'm so happy to have Daryl Yeager here with us from the Odyssey Dance Company in Draper, Utah. And he's had an amazing career. So I'm gonna let him tell you a lot about his career and his dance, and now about his company. So, Daryl, thank you. Welcome.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

You bet. Well, thanks for having me. I mean, uh, yeah, I'm Daryl Yeager. I'm the founder and artistic director of Odyssey Dance Theater. Uh, we began about over 30 years ago, you know, which I just saw there was a bunch of talent here in Utah that uh there were a bunch of dancers who didn't want to necessarily go to New York or LA. And uh I I thought, you know, we have we had Ballet West, you know, over here, and you had RDT and Ryrie Woodbury over there. And I felt that was this big hole in the middle, you know, in terms of a uh more of a contemporary slash jazz ballet company that uh might be able to be put together. And so we got some dancers together and and uh you know I wanted to create an opportunity for those dancers who were, you know, had spent years becoming really, really good, but now we're just teaching, you know what I mean? And and and teaching is a wonderful thing, but when you've trained all these years and haven't really had a performing career, it it seems wasteful in my mind. And so I felt like we we should we should create something and create a a new company, and that's where Odyssey Dance Theater was was born. We uh try to um uh choose to create a professional opportunity so they didn't have to move to New York or LA, you know, uh to have a professional career. And I I'd been there in in New York and LA, and I just knew what it was like, and I just thought, you know, let's let's try to do something homegrown here that would uh be uh exceptional for those dancers. We um I kind of patterned it after Hubbard Street uh out of Chicago uh because you know they had a very successful jazz company there. Um it's kind of gone more modern, contemporary over the last few years, but in its in its roots, it was a very jazz-oriented. And so we felt we felt that was kind of the um the modus that we want to use, you know, and to put together the company. And since then we've uh we started out with like you know, three or four performances at the at the University of Utah and just kind of see what it felt like, you know. Does this thing have legs? You know, is this something we won't want to want to pursue? And and uh, you know, the audience response was really, really strong. And we thought, okay, this is this is cool, you know, let's let's give this a try. And so uh we started out that just kind of like Mickey Rooney and you know, uh wanted this, let's do a show, you know, let's get together and do a show. And and uh since then, you know, we started off. I mean, we were kind of the new kids on the block, you know, when we started the company, and so it was very hard to get any funding from anybody, you know. They just said, Well, well, who who are you? You know, everybody else has been around 30 years. What what do you think you want to do? But now I've been around for 30 years, so this is good. But uh, one of the things we felt we needed to create was uh kind of like a nutcracker uh type of show that would bring in a lot of money, you know, that that would help fund the company. And so I didn't want to do the nutcracker because I'd done that for years. I was in Ballet West for many, many years uh back in the day. And uh so we thought about we looked around in Halloween, was like, no, there's not not much going on in Halloween. That's and I thought, let's let's do a full-length Dracula, that would be cool, you know. And so we thought we thought, well, let's let's put that together. But I had no money, you know, and and if you were if you're gonna do a uh a Dracula, you gotta have big sets and costumes and all kinds of things, you know, and and uh I just didn't have anything like that. And so one of my board members at the time suggested, well, why don't you do some some vignettes or something, you know? And I so we started finally acquiesced and I said, okay, fine, I'll give that a try. And so we started putting together a show we call Thriller, which was basically Thriller was the opening number, you know, because many years ago uh Michael Jackson decided that zombies love to dance, and so we we took that, but then we built all these different vignettes, you know. We have tap dancing skeletons, we have uh Jason Jam, which is three Jasons who uh dance with ice picks and machetes and eventually chainsaws. Um we we had uh uh Salem's Mass, which was based on you know kind of on the witches and things of that sort. Um Frankenstein dancing with the bride of Frankenstein. We had uh the curse of the mummy, you know. So we kind of put together all these vignettes and you know, we thought, well, let's let's give this a try. So we we uh booked the Kingsbury Hall here at the University of Utah for four performances. And about a week before we opened that, the guy who runs the theater called me in and said, you know, you've only sold like 50 tickets to this thing, maybe you should cancel. And I was like, oh man. You know, we I knew there was something special about what we were doing in the studio, and I said, you know what? If if we're if we're gonna go down in flames, let's just do it. You know, I think we can just go ahead and give it a try and see what the word of mouth would be. And you know, we did we did the first four performances, maybe 300 people showed up, I don't know, but but the response was huge. They they really, really loved what we were doing, and so we uh continued that, and within three years we were selling out, and now you know, 30 years later, well, 26 years later, we're we do 39 performances all over the state of Utah, all of them sold out, and uh it provides the funds that we need to do the rest of our season, you know, which I mean 80 to 90 percent of our budget comes from ticket sales, which is really unusual as far as arts organizations are concerned. And so, you know, we just we put that together and uh, you know, we've we've been lucky to get on uh a European tour um for 17 years. We've gone to Europe um on tours. Uh it's been amazing to do that. We also also present three seasons here in Salt Lake. We have the thriller season, we have the a Christmas show. Um, we've just did a brand new Christmas show this last year called the Christmas Spectacular Spectacular, and uh and it that was very, very successful. We actually did the same kind of format where we just did lots of different vignettes, you know, of of Christmas things, you know, the Grinch you stole Christmas, the Christmas story, a Christmas Carol, you know, I mean, all those different things. So you it's a one-stop shop to uh to get your Christmas performances in without having to go to all these different performances, you know, throughout the season. Um, and that was very successful. And then we do a spring repertory season, which is called Shut Up and Dance. And um, we just finished that a couple of weeks ago, and it's just uh, you know, it's where we really go stretch the choreographic boundaries and do do new stuff and world premiere works and things of that sort. And that's uh that was very successful. And uh, you know, we've been doing it for over 30 years now, and uh been been very successful at uh bringing in audiences and funding the company that way. So it's been it's been really a remarkable ride.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

That's amazing, that's an amazing story. 50 tickets to 30 years later, you know. I know or 300 tickets to 30 years later, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Um the hardest thing was when he said maybe you should cancel, you know, and he was right, you know, I probably should have, but I just felt we there was something special about what we were doing, and I thought, well, let's give it a try. And um, you know, you kind of go with your gut and then those instances and it paid off. So that's all that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Have has the because Halloween's such a huge thing in our country that it's like I would think that people would love that. Are you do you have you switched it up in the 30 years, or is it like I love the dancing skeletons and all those things? That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

What's interesting is about there are staple pieces that we created that very first year that are still in the show, and every year we also always do something a little different. Like we this last year, we we I did a new piece called the COVID cotillion, which was based on so and and because I I figured we could finally laugh about this, and so it and it turned out great, it was awesome. So every year we're we we always throw in some new things, but what's interesting is that a lot of those staples that we started the very first year are still the favorites, and I can't I can't take them out, you know, of the show because they're so popular, and um, so that really I don't know speaks to the strength of the material that we were putting together, you know, that's uh uh survived for so long. But but every year we do something new and different, you know, it's uh um along with the staples.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Do you perform always at the University of Utah? Because I know they have an amazing dance program.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

So oh, they have a great, great dance program there. I mean, uh I had gone there uh right I'm from Texas originally. I was born in uh Lubbock, Texas, and raised in Amarilla, Amarillo, Texas, and uh I came to the University of Utah because I thought at that time uh the University of Utah was the official school for Ballet West. And so I was kind of a ballet boy. I was and at that time when you come in and and you're a guy willing to wear tights, you know, they just like, okay, come on over. So they I immediately started working with Ballet West, uh, you know, as an apprentice, worked my way up through, you know, a core soloist and eventually a principal dancer in the company, and uh had a you know a great career there with ballet west. And and then uh, you know, I also was a singer, you know, back in back in the day. And uh I was able to get into a chorus line, Dream Girls and Cats, uh, the the major ballet, I mean the major uh Broadway shows, um, and had a great career there, and then kind of settled down, settled down in LA and did about 10 years in LA uh doing all kinds of uh back in those days, they had all kinds of uh variety shows, you know, and so you know, dancers were in uh in a lot of those shows, and I did a lot of those at that time, but then that kind of all dried up, and all of a sudden it was all about uh ethnicity, you know, ethnics uh uh doing music videos and things of that sort. And uh so the the the work kind of dried up, and I decided to move back here to Utah. Uh and it was uh, and that's when I came upon that idea of like, you know, maybe maybe let's give do give a new a new company a shot, you know what I mean? Uh and what's amazing is it's been very, very well supported here in Utah. And we have such amazing studios that teach uh, you know, that train these great, great kids. And, you know, a lot of them will go off to New York and LA and and do great work there, but but there's a lot of them that don't want to go there, you know, they want to stay, stay here close to home. And and I think a lot of uh one of the reasons we have so many dancers coming out of Utah is that the families are extremely supportive. You know, it's a very expensive and very long-term commitment to create a dancer, you know, somewhere between 10 and 15 years it takes to create a really good dancer. And uh you have to have some really strong family support to make that happen. And you know, we're lucky we were here in in Utah where those families do give that support, and uh and I'm the lucky guy that gets to work with all these amazing dancers.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Um, it's true. I you know, it's like I always I had a dancing school for 25 years in LA and I and I grew up in a dancing school in Ohio, so you know, but I know that it takes parents who are willing to drive your kid, spend the money, do the things that need to happen. It's an expensive um experience.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Yes, it's an expensive proposition. But you know, if you have if your if your child has that drive, you know, it uh it's you can't deny them, you know what I mean? Uh, because dancers aren't aren't it it's a lot of work and you have to have the passion for it to get through all the really tough times. And I mean, I remember when I couldn't even do a double parolette, you know. I mean, uh back back when I first went to the University of Utah, but uh worked and worked and worked and worked and you know eventually became a principal dancer in the ballet company. So, you know, it's it's possible, but it takes a lot of a lot of work and a lot of support from the families.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

And I also think a lot of times people who have the gift that's just given to them in dance, right? They don't work as hard as the people who have to work hard to get the double pirouette or the triple pirouette. And so, you know, it's it's it's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

It's uh you're you're you're very, very right. The people who are super, super talented sometimes don't have a very good work ethic. And uh, you know, and I I personally I think it's it's better to work with someone who maybe maybe not be s as talented, but has a great work ethic because you know they're gonna get it eventually. And that's that's what's amazing to those are the kind of people you really want to work with.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yeah. How did you start dancing? So you came from Lubbock and Yeah. Why not some something that most people are dancing in Lubbock as I know.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Well, I was, you know, I I played uh, you know, football and baseball and hockey, and I mean I played all these sports when I was when I was young, and and uh I I auditioned and got into the high school musical. Uh I wanted to play Lancelot in uh Camelot, right? And and I thought I was perfect for it, but I hadn't really had much training, and so I wound up being Dap, which is his squire, you know, which still upset me because the guy they chose to do Lancelot couldn't sing very well, and that that he was a good actor, but he didn't couldn't sing very well, so that kind of upset me. But but because I was, you know, kind of a secondary character, I wound up being in the dance numbers, and so you know, I started doing some dancing stuff, and it's well this this is kind of fun, you know. It's kind of you know, I I seemed to have an aptitude for it. And the guy who was director there at the high school also had his own dance studio, and he says, She won't you come out and maybe you should come out and take some classes, you know. And I so I went, I went out there and I saw this class with like 28 girls and no guys. And I thought, man, I kind of like these odds. This is kind of this is kind of great, you know. And I started taking some classes, and I'll never forget the first time I'm standing at the bar and I lift my leg up and it's like shaking, and I'm going, what the heck is this? This is hard. And the thing that drew me to it was not only the girls, but also, but also it was the it was hard, it was challenging, you know, because not only was dance hard physically, but it was also very challenging artistically, you know, to to go out and do a performance. You could never, you could always do something a little better. And it was the challenge of that that really drew me to it. And so I I started taking, you know, uh lessons every day. I had to kind of clean the studio to pay for my lessons and stuff, and then and then uh uh I auditioned and got into the summer program at the San Francisco School of Ballet. Um, went there for a summer. On my way, I went through Salt Lake City to kind of check out Ballet West that was here, and then also um the University of Utah, and I decided, okay, this is this is where I want to come back to. So after that summer program, I came back to the University of Utah, and then the rest is history. I I became a uh dancer in a ballet company, you know, which is which was pretty amazing. I met my wife there uh in ballet west. She was this shy little lass in the corner, and uh I went up to her and asked her for a date, and she said, I said, You want to go see the exorcist? And she says, And she says, uh, no. And I'm like, What what? And then I kind of tucked my tail and went in the corner and I thought about it. So wait a minute, maybe it's not me, maybe it's the movie. Let me go back and ask her again. I said, You want to go out for dinner? She says, Okay, I'll go out to dinner with you. And so we went out to dinner and we sat and talked and talked and talked and talked. And I knew right then and there she was the one I was gonna marry, you know, right there. And so we have uh five children, 14 grandchildren, uh 15th one is on the way. Um, you know, we've had a wonderful life here together, and uh, you know, she she does all the costumes for the company, so we're kind of a mom and pop operation in that regard. And she she does an amazing job because uh when she retired, when she got pregnant, she retired and started working in the costume shop there at Ballet West and developed all those skills and stuff to uh to make costumes, and you know, that kind of works out for us, you know. We we work together all the time. There a lot of couples can't work together, right? You know, but we're we're very, very fortunate that uh that we work well together and uh and it's been an amazing Odyssey, if you will, uh over the years that to uh to work together and provide this amazing opportunity for these dancers.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

I I am you remind me of uh Patrick Swayze and uh his wife Lisa, you know, like they worked together for years. Yeah. Not not in the same capacity, but you know, yes.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

I mean, I it it is very unusual, but I think when you have when you have a shared passion that it makes it it makes all the difference in the world. Because there's you know, there's been lots of lots of times that we weren't sure we were gonna make it to the next performance or not, you know, just from funding is concerned. And you know, it's been it's been a rough, a rough go all these years, but uh, you know, we we uh we survived, you know, and here we are 30 are 30 years in, and we we're we're doing very, very well, actually. And so um with all of our ticket sales and stuff like that in such a way that you know I don't necessarily have to have outside funding. That's amazing. Which is which is really see, it's kind of a catch-22 though, because a lot of times you you know put in these applications and they say, Well, you're okay, you have money, you don't need you don't need us, you know. And I'm like, Yeah, but I could pay the dancers better, you know, I could get some health care or something like that for them if I had more funding, you know, we could do more programs and stuff. It you know, so we're we're still trying to build that part of the business in terms of the board and stuff like that, so that we have more sponsors, you know, uh better support from the community as far as funding is concerned, so that eventually here in the next five to ten years, we might be able to turn it over to somebody else and it'll still be good. You know what I mean? It'll still it'll be up and running and and uh worth keeping because we found that we created a really nice a really nice niche in the comp in the in the dance world here in Utah, and it's just been it's been awesome to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

You were talking about going to the um to the conference and that the name you I asked you about the name, and you had said somebody came up to you and said, Well, you're not a contemporary company, or it sounds like you're modern company.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Right, right. And they they don't like to book modern companies, they like to book, you know, something new and fresh, which we are, you know, and were. And so uh that when we saw that uh sign there at the Odyssey Cafe, it said a journey filled with notable experiences. You know, I thought, well, we that's what we do. We we take an audience on a on a journey, you know, uh, through these different styles. So, you know, if you don't like tap, you know, it's not gonna be there that long. We'll we'll be moving into a hip-hop piece, and then from there we'll do a contemporary piece, and from there we'll do like a Broadway show kind of a piece, you know. So, you know, I think I think it's it's actually hit a very, very solid niche in in the sense that today's audiences are very, very their attention span is very short, right? And so um to sit through a whole evening of modern would be very difficult for them. But uh, you know, we have we we get this comment all the time from guys who who get drugged to dance performances, you know. They say, you know, I don't like dance, but that was cool, you know. You know, they're like, okay, I I got that. I didn't have to read the program to figure out what was going on, and uh, and I enjoyed it. The one of the things about our thriller performance is that there's a lot of humor in it. And in today's dance world, there's not a lot of humor out there, you know, it's it's a lot of it is uh, you know, because we're kind of making fun of all these all these different uh Halloween scary characters, and uh and the humor is what people really, really respond to. Uh, you know, most most dances are like, oh, woe is me, and I'm working out my demons on stage, and you know, uh I'm trying to be a better person or whatever. And it's you know, well, why don't why don't we just entertain somebody and just have fun? You know what I mean? And so uh so I think that's the thing that people that why Thriller has been so successful.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

I want to come see Thriller. It sounds amazing. Um, it also sounds like you do a lot like um it's almost like a Radio City show. Uh you know, like your Christmas show is a lot like it sounds like you do lots of different things. Sure. So it's almost like a radio city show.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Yeah, yeah. I mean, we just we we just did our spring repertory season, which is called Shut Up and Dance, and we we did a a really solid contemporary piece, we did a hip-hop piece, and we did kind of a balletic piece. I did I did a new work to uh Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, which was a beautiful piece of music, and uh, and then to close the show, we did the Can Can Club, which is based on the movie Moulin Rouge, you know. So, you know, you kind of have this wellspring of of all these different styles and just having a blast, you know what I mean? And like um, I think you can bring audiences along with some of the contemporary stuff, the modern stuff, if you give them other things too. You know what I mean? You give them you give them choices and say, you know, uh uh that that piece wasn't my cup of tea, but this other one was cool, you know what I mean? And and I think that's the thing that really really makes the company unique. First of all, I don't think there's any other company in the world that does all these different styles like we do, you know. It's really unusual, you know, and so when we go to Europe, it's amazing because we have these the audiences there are so different in the sense that they love the company so much that they will clap and clap and clap and clap and clap, stomp their feet. We have to add like five or six bows, then we have to add an encore, and then we have to bow five or six times after that. And I mean, literally it's like 15 minutes of extra bowing and stuff at the end of the show that that you know you don't normally see happen here in the States. Does that make sense? Yeah, I mean, I mean, you get good responses, but you know, most of them are picking up their coats and ready to go at the end of the show, right? And so um for me, going going on the European tours is such a wonderful icing on the cake for the dancers because it's a very strong affirmation of their work, you know, that their work is good and it means something and and the audiences get it, you know, even in Europe, and they just they just love the company over there. So it's been a bossom. Do you go to the same places every year, or do you like what some of the places, some of the places we've gone to almost every year, but but uh we we lucked into a situation with a producer there in Europe that uh loves the company, brings us back year after year, which is really unusual, you know, as far as dance companies maybe go on a European tour once or twice in 10 every 10 years or something like that. I mean, we just keep going back, and he he books us, you know, all through Germany, Switzerland, and you know, Luxembourg and all those areas there. And uh and a lot of a lot of the places keep asking us back, you know, because they they love the company so much. And so, um, but it's it's a it's a wonderful opportunity for the dancers to really show off what they can do and to get that affirmation from the audiences in such a way that they their eyes just light up when you know, because when we we set these bows and stuff like that in rehearsal, and the ones who've never been there don't really they they look at me like, yeah, they're gonna be clapping this long. Come on, you know, give me a break. And then when it happens, they're like, Whoa. And they're just and they just love it, you know, and it just really it's it's a great icing on the cake for the end of a season for them, you know, to uh to feel that affirmation and the um the joy that they bring to audiences there. It's it's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

When do you go, like in the summer?

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Uh usually in the spring. Uh next year we're planning on we'll be going in March for a few weeks in March, and then um, and then we'll come back here to Utah to do our spring rep here. Um we're gonna do our version of uh Romeo and Juliet, which is is a really, really fun contemporary version of Romeo and Juliet. It's it instead of the Monty Monty Gues and the Capulets. Capulets. We created the Caputans and the Monty Cru. And the Monty Crew is a hip-hop gang, and the capulets are a Latin gang, and therefore it kind of sets up a natural uh conflict, you know, but between these two stereotypes, you know, in terms of uh uh the dance styles, and uh and you know, the story is told by using contemporary music, you know. We have like like Christina Aguilera and and all these contemporary artists, we use that music to tell the story, and uh it it just it just turned out amazing and and audiences just love it.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

It does sound like you are doing something that most dance companies aren't doing, because most dance companies are ballet or they're contemporary, you know, and and you're encompassing it all. I when I looked at your website and saw you have auditions in May, I think, or coming up, and when I saw it, you know, ballet, tap, which that's unusual, uh jazz, ballroom, hip-hop, contemporary, it's like great, because that's the all-rounded dancer.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Yes, you know, and in today's in today's world, it's very, I mean, there are very limited number of ballet companies out there and modern companies. You know, there's just very few, there's not that many out there. And uh, you know, if you want to have a career in dance, it's best that you have all these different styles at your fingertips, because then you can do anything, right? We've had nine dancers from our company be finalists on So You Think You Can Dance.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 30:17

You know, and it's mainly because they just stand out because they already they've already experienced all these different styles. It's not new to them, you know what I mean, and therefore they stand out, you know. Mary Murphy always says, Oh, the Odyssey dancers are just brilliant, you know, and when anytime they show up, they really they really have all those tools at their disposal. And so, you know, you know, we have several dancers on Broadway. We have several when one of our dancers was on Taylor Swift's tour. Uh, you know, it's it's really, really heartwarming to see them do so well out there in the the real world, you know, that uh, you know, that they spent some time with us and got Brandon Armstrong, who almost won the Dancing with the Stars this last year. He's from our company, you know. Um, he he got kind of screwed, I thought. But anyway, but he but uh he's doing amazing, you know, on Dancing with the Stars. And and uh, you know, we just have all these people that that are out there that are doing great things out in the dance world, you know, and so I think I think we're very, very proud of that too, you know.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Yeah, yeah, it's very it's very special. Um, you know, and I had my dance student, I used to tell people the more the more tools you have in your toolbox, the better you're gonna be out in the world. Because if you can do acrobatics, some people can't. If you can tap, some people can't. So you need to be able to do it all.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

Right, right. And and you know, and that's kind of my always my my pitch to young dancers is to, you know, you need to you need to get yourself into classes. You know, it's like uh an orchestra member who plays different instruments, you know. Well, they they're gonna work a lot more because they can play these different instruments, right? Right. And uh, you know, you don't want to go to a dentist who who didn't decide he decided he didn't like molars, you know what I mean? And he doesn't want to do molars, but he'll do everything else, but not molars. Well, you don't want to go to somebody like that, you know, you don't want to hire someone. And and then today, especially in Broadway, they don't have the budget to buy to get a singing chorus and a dancing chorus. They used to, but they don't anymore. You have to be able to do it all. And so when dancers go to uh to Broadway, you know, to New York, they stand out because they've already got these tools at their disposal. I always tell them to work on their singing, work on their acting, get all that stuff together so that when the opportunity comes, you don't get passed over because you didn't, you know, you didn't like molars. You know what I mean? And you know, uh, I just want to do this, I just want to do this style of dance or whatever. And and um the more marketable you make yourself, the more success you're going to have.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Very true. What do you look for in your dancers? Do they all come from Utah? Or how how do you how do you get your dancers and what do you look for?

SPEAKER_02 33:21

Well, we we uh in our auditions, we um we have auditions in May. Uh May 31st is our auditions here in Utah. Um we we look for first of all the well-roundedness, you know what I mean? Because we're our audition process is about seven hours long, and we'll do we'll do a ballet combination, we'll do a jazz combination, we'll do a uh tap, you know, tap, we'll do a hip-hop, we'll do a ballroom and a contemporary. So we we actually do all of those styles within an audition to see, and I usually don't cut people like after everything, I usually keep them through the entire process because you know they might not be great at ballet, but they might be amazing hip-hop dancers or whatever, you know what I mean? And a lot of it's for me to see, okay, what's where are their weak spots, what's their potential in those weak spots, and uh, you know, so I I like to see if they have a particular style that they actually shine in, you know what I mean? And uh, and that's kind of the process. So it's it's a long day when we when we do our auditions. After we do our auditions here, if we feel like we need some other some more up people to look at, then we'll go to go to New York and LA and uh and do auditions there, um, which we have done in the past uh quite a few times. And I'll get in touch with all the agents there in New York and LA. I usually like to just let the agents know because they they've already vetted, you know, the dancers to a certain point. Right. The worst thing is to go into an audition, have like 600 people, and there's you know, maybe 30 that are really good, you know what I mean? And have to weed through why have to weed through that. I I like to let the agents help me out in that regard, but uh, but it's it's amazing how many dancers there are in New York that are not very good. You know, I I've uh directed and choreographed lots of shows down at Tuacon, you know, musicals and stuff like that down at Tuacon in St. George for years. And we would go to New York and I'd do an audition, and I'd have, you know, 200 ladies show up for the for the open call. And I have to take him, you know, the studios there are so small, and and I'd have to take him in like 50 at a time, and I'd just do an across the floor, you know, to see if they have any some, you know, some basic technique, you know, a little bot ma, uh pirouette, you know, uh jump, you know, and stuff like that. Just do something really short and quick. And it's amazing out of each group of 50, I might be able to keep five to eight of them. You know what I mean? And uh, I would just be there at the end of the room and as they do the combination towards me, I'll just look at them, go, thank you for coming, thank you for coming, thank you for coming. You stay, you know what I mean? And uh, but you know, out of hundreds of dancers, I'd wind up with maybe 50 that that were worth looking at, you know, and then we'd bring then we'd do more uh more intense choreography at at that point in time and and see what else they can do. But uh it always just amazed me, you know, because somebody gets into their high school musical and think they're all that and they moved to New York and they haven't really trained, you know what I mean? They haven't really spent the uh the time to actually learn their craft. And I think that's that's the thing that I really appreciate, and that's what I look for in dancers is those that have trained and have have their craft, you know what I mean, and and then have a personality. The other thing I look for, because we always do we always do interviews after the audition with those that we're interested in. And the interviews tell us a lot because you know sometimes you like you said, you'll you'll find a really, really, really good dancer, but just just kind of an asshole, you know what I mean? You might have to bleep that, I don't know, but but I mean, but uh you can tell in the interview what type of people they are. And for me, it's really important to to keep because you know, you get one bad apple in in a company, and boy, it could just really mess things up. And I've been I've been through it so many times, I really try to weed those people out. And uh, and I look for those that may not be so talented, but really have the heart. And and they'll usually have a real spark in their performance. You know, there's there's a there's something about them that really touches me, you know, in terms of okay, this person really wants to be on stage and has an ability to communicate, you know, not just do the steps, but can communicate what the steps mean in their performance. And those are the things we look for, and and that's how we conduct our auditions.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

And do most people come from Utah?

SPEAKER_02 38:27

I mean, I know you said about 80% of the company comes from Utah.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

Wow, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_02 38:36

And then and then if we, you know, like usually it's hard to find uh male dancers, uh, you know, uh, and so we might need to go to New York and LA to look for some more male possibilities. But, you know, all the dancers that we've brought in here at the company, um, you know, they they gotta be good people, you know what I mean? Um, as a director, you just know that it's not a good thing to bring someone in who who thinks they're all that and not willing to work with with and being an ensemble player, you know, because I I think the think of the company as an ensemble, not not so much a here's my principles, here's my soloist, here's my you know, all the different hierarchy that you see in most companies. I I I look at them as a as an ensemble. And if you can't work as an ensemble where one piece you might have a standout uh moment, and then the other piece you're you're in the background, you know what I mean, uh supporting something else. And you need to be able to do that and have the the courage and the humility to do that, you know what I mean? A lot of a lot of people who get into like American Ballet Theater or something like that. I mean, they work so hard and they're so gifted, and they wound up, you know, holding a spear in the back, you know. And uh, you know, there comes a time when they're like, ha, why did I spend all those years doing doing this? I could have held the spear when I was you know 15 years older and hadn't hadn't had any classes, you know. So uh so I look at the company as more of an ensemble, you know, and I think I think that creates a more family type atmosphere. And the the dancers just love each other and they support each other. And when someone does something good, they'll scream and yell for each other, you know, and and to me that's that's really, really important and and something I'm very proud of in terms of the atmosphere that we create in the company, um, so that they're they're they're supporting each other, you know, and not you know, sitting on the side going, I should have done that, you know, I should have had that part or whatever, you know.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

I love that because I think you know when I had my dancing school, it was always about like it was like a family. I wanted it to be like when you come in, it's like I know everybody, you know, it's like that's an important piece, and I don't think you get that everywhere. So I love that. That's a really special.

SPEAKER_02 41:17

I tell the dancers when they first come in, I said, This is your sanctuary, this is where you come to be who you are and have be supported and loved, you know, as as a person as well as an artist, and uh, because you know, all of the dancers to get to that point have gone through a lot of troubles and a lot of a lot of heartache, a lot of uh hard work to get to that point. And you know, there's a there some of them just have some really serious family issues or things of that sort going on in their lives, and they they look forward to coming there because that is their sanctuary, that's their place where they are doing what they love to do and and are getting paid for it, and what an amazing thing that is, you know what I mean? So it's a special opportunity, I think, for those dancers who really need that opportunity. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

How do you do they work like I don't know, 36 weeks or how how does it work for you?

SPEAKER_02 42:24

Our our our season is around 30, 32 weeks for the entire season. Um it it takes you know qu obviously a lot of rehearsal to get to each of the performance weeks and stuff like that. But um, you know, they're paid a salary, you know. We we start around $400 a week and up to eight, nine hundred a week. So it's not bad. Could be better, but it's not bad. You know, it's better than slinging burgers, you know, and uh and but they're loving what they what they do, you know, and so uh they're on salary, which you know, a lot of them are like, wow, I'm not having to fork out hundreds of dollars for a competition. What's what's what's up with that? You know what I mean? So it's it's quite a it's quite a switch and paradigm shift for them, yeah in terms of okay, this is what it what the company's about, you know, this is how you this is how a company works, you know. We take class every day for an hour and a half, you know, three days a week we do ballet, twice a week we do jazz, and then you know, we'll throw in a you know a hip-hop or a ballroom class every once in a while and stuff like that. You know, it's just it just depends on what we're working on, you know, as far as the repertoire is concerned. But uh it's so it's so heartwarming to see them open their eyes, you know. Um, I've had a couple of dancers that uh came from modern companies, and they they I asked them, I said, Well, what's what's the difference here as opposed to there? She goes, I've I found my love for dance again, you know, and that just really moved me. I thought, isn't that wonderful? I said, Well, what was different there? She goes, it was so pretentious, you know, in the modern company. And I thought, well, isn't that sad that that that's that's what she got from it, you know what I mean? Uh and and I just loved her response of like, I've I've grown to love dance again. When when it before it wasn't that it was just she was good at it, but she didn't quite like it. You know, deep down in her heart, she said, This is not the atmosphere or whatever, this is not something that I like. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 44:45

It's really hard, you know. Uh you know what I do. I I mean I'm a former But I work with dancers with eating disorders, and I've had several dancers who have gone to really good companies, but they have lost their love of dance. And, you know, and just decided that they're going to leave dance when I'm like, oh, there's a place for everybody, like look for something else, you know, because that's sad when you've worked that hard. And then all of a sudden it's like because you're in the back or you're not being used, or you lose that love of dance.

SPEAKER_02 45:22

You know, and that to me, to me, that's the ultimate uh tragedy, you know, is to see dancers who have trained so long and so hard and devoted themselves to their art form just no longer want to do it. You know what I mean? And to me, that's creating that atmosphere is I think the most uh the thing I'm most proud of as far as the company is concerned, where they they come, it's their sanctuary, it's their place of work, yes, but they don't think of it as work. They just love coming every day to see their friends and work with them and and dance with them. And and that to me, that's what it's all about, you know, to create that atmosphere. And I think uh, you know, I I it it makes me feel bad that they have such bad experiences in other places because I've gone through that too. You know what I mean? I've I've been I've been through those things and I know exactly what they're talking about in terms of boy, this gig is tough, you know what I mean? And and uh the people I'm working with are not really people I like to hang out with, you know what I mean? And um, so that was one of the reasons I felt like I I could do something different, you know, in the dance world, but to create that that type of atmosphere for the dancers. And you know, the audiences in in notice that, you know, in Europe, our our agent in Europe, he he came to me one day and he goes, What is so different about this group? He goes, I don't understand what what it is. They just they have this spark of life that's just so amazing. And I'm like, Well, yeah, we're from Utah. You know, it's it's a it's a great group of people, and and it's it's it's mostly because of the atmosphere that we create in the company.

SPEAKER_00 47:10

Yeah, it does seem like you've really done a great job of creating an atmosphere where somebody they like to come to work. Not only do they love what they do, but they like to come to work. And you know, when I work with dancers with eating disorders, it's like they love what they do, but they feel like they have to be a certain way in order for somebody to accept them. And um, which is just like, no, there's a place for everybody in dance. You have to find the right place for you.

SPEAKER_02 47:39

Right. You know, and I I know there's lots of companies that will do like weigh-ins and stuff like that. And boy, you you know, you when you start doing stuff like that, you just mess with kids' heads so badly, and uh they get such a warped sense of self, you know, that uh, you know, they they spend all their time trying to fit a certain mold. And for me, I'm letting the dancers be their own mold, you know, their their own, you know, I I really don't have on a large scale any any of those kind of issues, you know, because I don't really talk about it, you know. I I just let them come in, you know, and if if someone's having troubles, you know, I like to talk to them about it. We we've had that in the past where someone was really bad, and you know, we just say, you need help, you know, uh, and I'm not the one to give it, you know what I mean? But I'm not but I'm not here to try to fix you, you need to fix you. You know what I mean? Uh all I can do is create the atmosphere where you'll be accepted for whoever or whatever you are, you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

That's exactly what needs to happen. I mean, I um the Australia Ballet, uh Australian ballet, I interviewed them and they have put together a whole program for eating disorders, educating people, and nobody loses their job because they have this whole protocol in place of like what to do if you have a concern about somebody. And it's I'm like, could you come to the United States and talk to some of our ballet companies? Because you know, that's what we need. We need people who are willing to say, you need some help, and I'm willing to help you, you know, and or I can't help you, but I will find, you know, I will lead you in the right direction.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

Right, right. We have we have a good sponsor. Uh uh, you know, we have some people who who take care of the dancers, do, you know, physical therapy and things for them and stuff like that, and it's all free, which is great, you know, because we we want them to be taken care of. Because dancers tend to not take care of themselves, you know what I mean? They they if they get an injury or or have something that's chronic, they they'll hide it as much as they can because they don't want to lose a part or this or that, right? You know what I mean? And and a lot of times that that psyche makes them not take care of themselves like they should. And so we have we have kind of a proactive situation where we say, these people are here to help you with whatever you need. You know, you go to them, you work on stuff, they you know, they'll do all the all the physical therapy things that they need, they'll give you advice if if there's something that that needs to go to a doctor, we have workmen's comp. We can take care of that, you know, we can we can have you uh taken care of, you know, so that you're not they're not trying to hide, but they're trying to keep themselves strong enough to do the performances, you know what I mean, and and be able to perform. And that's that to me is is very, very paramount in terms of them taking care of themselves because you have to kind of fight that battle within them and say, listen, you need to go fix this, go talk to these people, go work with them. It's okay, you know. I'm not getting rid of you just because you know you have a bunion or something like that, you know what I mean? Right, right, you know, right, and so and and I think I think, well, the ballet world's probably the worst as far as that kind of stuff is concerned, as far as you know, uh weighing people in and stuff like that, and I don't I don't know. Well, you know, it's just because the standards are so different in that regard. And I think we're we're kind of uh, you know, if you fit, you fit, you know. And and if you're if you're a great dancer, we're gonna give you those opportunities, you know what I mean? And and it's it's it's a little more open, I think, than than you have to be five foot six and weigh 30 pounds, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 52:06

Yeah. Daryl, I love what you're doing. It's like um it's a breath of fresh air. I'm so glad you're in your 30th year and continuing to go. Um, I feel like you're bringing something to dance, and I'm coming to Utah to see your performance. Um that would be awesome. Yeah, I uh I love it. So I just want to thank you for what you do for the dance world, for the dancers, uh, and for being on the podcast. My pleasure.

SPEAKER_02 52:38

Thank you. Well, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 52:40

Okay. All right. So to the so again, it's um Dance Odyssey Theater, correct?

SPEAKER_02 52:49

Odyssey Dance Theater.

SPEAKER_00 52:50

Oh, Odyssey Dance Theater. And if they want to reach you, what's the best way to reach you?

SPEAKER_02 52:55

If you go to Odysseydance.com, okay, it's right there, it's right there. All the information is right there about the auditions and stuff of that sort. It's uh you know, it's we're kind of an open book here, and it's something we and people can even, if they can't make it to the audition, they can actually submit videos, but we we give them combinations that they need to video and send to us, you know, you have to kind of work hard to get to get seen. Does that make sense? A lot of times the people, yeah, people don't you you can weed them out very quickly when you say, Okay, send me videos of you doing these combinations, and then you can tell right then whether they're willing to do the work. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 53:35

Right, right. Anyway, so that's how you reach Daryl. And for the listeners, thank you for listening. And as always, you can reach me through dontheodore.com, tutothin.com, or mothermenandme.com. Thank you for being a listener and have a great day.