Dance Stories: From Student to Teacher

In todays episode we get an insight into how Ellie and Caitlin progressed from students to teachers as well as some behind the scenes look at what it was like to go from student and teacher to part of the same team x 

Transcript

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Hi everyone, welcome back to Dan Sync Diaries. I'm Ellie and I'm Caitlyn. And on today's episode, we're gonna be talking about how I transitioned from student into teacher. Yeah. Long time. Long time. Long time, 11 years. Aha. Because I can't remember who you did your interview with, but you talked a little bit about it was Logan I did it with a little bit about how like Ellie joined. And like when I tell you guys, she was literally rapping down the door to be like, Can I do more classes? Like in the best. Yeah, I remember that because I started with hip hop. I remember I came with my gran, we're like, Oh, can we join? Yeah. And the reason I joined dancing is because the next step, and I love telling everyone. Is that right? TV show the next step. So my gran was like, so I was interested. So she like Googled dance studios, dancing came up, came down, and we're like, Oh, what class have you got? And there's only one available class at the time, and it was hip hop on a Monday, straight after school. And then from there, there was obviously more classes after that, and I just walked to join everything. One everything was the only one with available spaces at that point, and every week it was like, it's a space yet. And I was like, This girl is keen, but you're still here. I'm still here, I'm still cooking, yeah. Still cutting about, and clearly it's worked. Yeah. Because then you went on to do obviously all the classes. I can't remember, were you ten? I think you were ten. Yeah. So a couple of years on a mandate and then moved up to seniors again doing everything. And yeah, what was your favourite style? Back then, not now. I feel like back then I don't know. I feel like when I was leaving, I would say contemporary commercial was my favourite, but now I would say jazz is my favourite. Oh really? Jazz were I do heels at college, so those are my favourite. I would definitely say. Interesting. I don't know. Because I would always frame Ellie as like the contemporary queen. Like if anyone has not witnessed Ellie improvise, I've not improved since I never do it. I remember in my audition, they asked us to improvise, and I was like, Oh my god, like I don't I what are you even asking me to do? Like, just had no clue. So then the minute I became a teacher, I was like, Everyone's gonna improvise every week, like get them out of their comfort zone because then I had to do it loads at college. Yeah, did you think I had to do it loads at college and I was so terrified of it. So now in all my classes, I'm like, right. Honestly, it's so helpful because at college we do like more auditions, and you obviously have to improv yeah at the start of a um choreo or at the end. So it did like give me that confidence, and it's not like I walked in blind, like I knew what I had to do. You just you just move, you just have to move. Yeah, there's literally no wrong answer in improvisation, but that's why I was like so Yeah. I mean, you all hated me for it, but but it helped, but genuinely, like I would I was always. Well, I think I loved it at the time we did it. I think I I loved it. Ellie was very, very good at it. Like it genuinely I could just sit and watch it improvise for days. It was so beautiful. There's definitely if you scroll back on socials, there's definitely videos of you just improving and then like cutting them out. Maybe maybe we'll just shove you on stage. Just wait, see what music comes on, see what happens. Put it cart solo, yeah. Ellie, but it had to be done, yeah. I would do it. Okay, guys, just heard it here first. This is an exclusive Ellie should be every 30 seconds music changes. What a great idea. What a great idea for content as well. Yeah, like on because Logan and Amy, shout out to our TikTok channel, but Logan and Amy did that one a couple of times. Oh, yeah. Uh do we can't do the same and it was like just different things. I should just do that for you to see how you improv. Interesting, interesting. Okay, so yeah, we kind of went off in a tangent there. But so did senior classes, and then what was the point where you were like, right, I want to make this a career? Well, I think I like knew since I was like 12. Like I feel like I don't remember a time where I was like, I don't want to do a dance, so it just was kind of always there, I always want to do it. Like, I don't know, I just never had a doubt in my mind that this wasn't gonna be my career. Dream believe achievement. Dream believe dream believe. This is a dream believe achievement in real life, guys. But yeah, that's so interesting because I think obviously a lot of a lot of kids come here and for them it's just fun and it's a hobby, which is amazing. But then I feel like this year, especially there's quite a lot of people going on to like further education, like there's quite a few of the advanced and that as well that are just like really making that a career. I think it's just so interesting that it seems more normalized now. Yeah, and like to just go ahead and do it. Only mean Abby, yeah. Like from my 10 years of being here. Abby was only other person that I knew that went on to study dance after school. Yeah, it's so interesting. And now there's I think there's like three or before that. There's three from the advanced class, yeah, and obviously five in total got on to like further education, which is like so sick. Yeah, so sick. Like, I'm just so excited, and I just think it just shows that dance dance is a proper career. Not to get preachy, but it is, and I think then obviously you went from dancing here into the advanced class as well, went through all the eras in the advanced class. I was Ellie's teacher at the time, my little star. And then you joined Dancing Studio Centre, yeah, and then you had your transition into being a teacher. So, what do you think was like predominant for you in that transition between being a student to being a teacher? Yeah, I think if I wasn't a class assistant, I wouldn't have like known how to teach a class. Like looking back, like yeah, watching like what's it called? It's like shadowing. Yeah, like if I didn't shadow Amy or Karen, because those were the classes helped in, I wouldn't I would have walked into that class like blind because you think you know how to teach a class, but you don't realise the little things and stuff like that. 100%. So definitely being a class assistant, I think I was like a year and a half really helped like a lot. And that's such an interesting point, actually, because I think you can do all the teachers' qualifications in the world, but unless you're actually in the class and seeing how it runs, and obviously every dance school, every school, every place in the world will have its own little quirks and things that you do. So it's like so I'm trying to grow that up. It's like when you we literally actually spoke about this earlier on today. It's like when you learn to drive a car, and then once you pass your test, it's like completely different. Yeah, it's like that sort of thing, or like riding a bike, like you don't actually doing is always better, yeah. So having that class assistant experience that definitely helped. Definitely helped, and then now obviously you're finishing up college, teaching a bit more. What's going on? Tell us about it. What's happen what's happening at college though? Well, um obviously my last year of college, um, it's been this year has been mental, like uh non-stop. Like I thought the last two years were non-stop. This year I I don't even know what's happened this year. It's literally went so fast, so much has happened. I've had so many opportunities um to perform and teaching wise. Obviously, I took over Bears End Saturday classes in the past year, so that has been more of my plate. Um, but it's what I want. Like more teaching opportunities the better. Um, but yeah, now I'm graduating in like eight weeks or something, which is mad. I don't know where the last like three years I went. I feel like I just got there. No, but you know what? Like it makes me feel dead old because I'm like, you walked in here when you were 10 and I can remember it so clearly, and like here we are 11 years later, you're like ready to graduate college, like just being a big adult. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to go in the adult world. I don't know how I don't know how this happens. I honestly I don't know. It's scary, but so exciting. No, I think I'm like ready. Yeah, and tell us about like because like a lot of people have this opinion of dance college where it's like you go and you do a ballet class and you go home, but like you're saying that there you've got some many opportunities and performances, like tell us about that. So this year alone I've had we do our two shows, we do summer show and Christmas show, so we have them every year, and then um I've also been invited to do CYD, Move It, and Go Dance, which is coming up next week. And they're like big events than dance but eventually. Yeah, like Move It's the biggest dance convention ever. Insane if he's ever got a chance to go to Move It. It's so simulate, yeah, it's the only way, but like in the best way, because it's like so many people with the same interest, the same passion. It's such like Yeah, I don't even know how to explain the atmosphere. If he's notable when you go to a dance convention, typically, because like I went to Super Weekend or that in November as well, and it's very similar, like there's loads of different classes all going on at the same time. Right? So you're in this like big, huge convention hall, and it's basically just curtains that you back around classes, so there's like maybe like five classes going on, so you can hear the teachers, you can hear different music, there's performances happening on a stage, but there's also like loads of stalls, there's maybe like little mini stages throughout it, and it's all happening at the exact same time. It is super overstimulating, yeah, uh just crazy. And I'm one of those people like before I go on stage, don't talk to me. Like, I can't talk. Like, um a principal's got a video of me with my headphones on, and I'm not talking, and everyone's like, guys, let's go, we've got this. I just sat in the middle, just like like ah, like see before we went on stage, remove it. I was so nervous because that's like the biggest intervention. I was literally, I thought I was gonna burst into tears before I went on. I was so nervous, but then like I got on and it was the best had the best time. Like, I love performing so much, which is so like before I went to college, I was so set on teaching, I was like, Yep, teaching, and then obviously dancing provided opportunities for me, and I was like, yes, I'm getting there, I'm making my goals and stuff like that. And I'm so grateful for teaching that I love teaching, but my passion for like performing is like I love that it's really developed. What's like the dream if you could like perform for anyone or at anywhere? I think well, I just saw Cabaret when I was in London last month, and that oh really Moulin Rouge. I just saw Moulin Rouge like two days. It's so never seen that before. Have you not? No, I saw it two years ago. It was so good. So like Cabaret, Moulin Rouge. Because she's the jazz queen, jazz queen, jazz queen, yeah. I just want to be a showgirl, I would love that in a showgirl role. So interesting. So yeah, when Ellie's in the Moulin Rouge and Cabernet, we'll all get tickets, go see, we'll book out as a dancing. Yeah, go and see it. Yeah, it's just so funny, and I think like for us as well, our relationships like totally changed over the years. Yeah. So obviously, when Ellie came in, she was she was a baby and she was coming in doing classes, then obviously I became your teacher and now you're on the team. And that's actually happened with quite a few. Like really. Like, well, you've got like Eva and Amelie this year as well. I'm still their teacher at the same time, and then obviously, like Logan, Abby have like done the same as you like came through it. It's just so interesting to like it's all the different dynamics as well of being in a team, and actually, we're um we're filming content today, so all the team are in this, like, never happened. Yeah, it happens like twice a year. Literally, we see each other at shows, training days. We had a Zoom meeting a couple of weeks ago, but obviously, like people are sitting in their jammies in their house, but like we just never all get a chance to come and like chat, hang out. I know, say so. That is nice, it's exciting. Um, but yeah, let's start waffling on. That was that was very cute. Hopefully, he's got a little bit of an insight there. Um, and yeah, we will we'll chat to you soon. We'll see you on the next episode. Bye guys. Bye guys.