Real Dance Chat: Listener Questions

Welcome back to The Real Dance Chat! Today, I'm answering your questions—the ones you've been sending in about dance training, mindset, confidence, teaching, performing, and everything in between. These episodes are always some of my favourites because they're driven by you, our dance community. Let's get into it!

Transcript

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Hey guys, and welcome back to the podcast The Real Dance Chat here with Amy. So today's episode is a solo episode, and it is all about you guys asking me questions. So I've got a lot of questions here from my advanced and senior dancers at my dance school, and then I also put it out on my Instagram, and I've got some questions from there as well. So let's get started. So the questions from my dancers are on paper, um, and they folded them up, and I haven't opened them yet, so I have no idea what is inside. So, first question: what's your favourite venue or place you or the dance school have performed at? Okay, so number one was definitely um in Blackpool, Blackpool Tower. That is just an amazing venue, and the atmosphere in there is amazing. And then the second one is definitely the Albert Hall. I'll perform there and the dance school to perform there. Um, and it's just next level, and the size of that stage is enormous. So if you're ever performing on that size stage, make sure you've done your cardio because you feel like you're running a marathon. Um, next question How did you get into dancing? Um, like most children, probably like just ask my mum when I was little, like wouldn't stop dancing around the house. So my mum got me into the local dance school. Although I did start and then I had to stop because I was quite a sickly, had really bad asthma. Um, and then once that was under control, I went back properly. Uh, next question: what was your first ever dance class you taught at your dance school? Um, so when we first started, I only did freestyle, which is like nowadays it's like our version of commercial jazz. So it was a freestyle class for ages like four to eight, and then after that, there's another freestyle class like eight to twelve years old, and that's all I did for ages, just two classes. I still got a little heart on. What made you want to start the dance school? Um, a few reasons. Um, I'd already been teaching at the dance school that I went to and really enjoyed it, and then I had to stop just because um I was still studying my degree and I couldn't get back from um university in time, it just didn't work out. So I stopped teaching for a while and I really missed it, and I really wanted to do something where I could just be creative and teach whatever I wanted, like whatever styles, whatever routines, whatever choreography. Um, so yeah, I just thought I'll do it myself if I can't do it at another dance school. Um, how does Becky feel about you using her music? Right, this has got a bit of a backstory. So, for those of you that don't know, um, Becky is the school manager at my dance school, and we were doing a recital, and she played a song to me and was really excited. She's like, I'm gonna use this for my jazz group, um, listen to this song, it's so cool. And I was like, Oh, yeah, it's really nice. I'll be honest, I was like, Yeah, that's nice. I wasn't really paying that much attention, if I'm completely honest. And then anyway, I watched Wednesday Addams, the series, and there was a really cool song in it, and I was like, Oh, I'm gonna use that for my advanced jazz. And then anyway, when Becky saw my choreography, she was like, You've used the same track, and obviously, you can't really use the same track as another dance teacher because those dances are gonna be in the show, and you don't want like multiple songs to the same track. Um, and she was like, I bags in it first, I even played it to you, but in my defence, I didn't realise it was the same song, I honestly didn't. Um, but it worked out in the end because I did my advance to it, and then her seniors came on, and it was a nice little collaboration, but yeah, she's still holding that grudge against me, so much so that in the team WhatsApp now, people like Bagsy Bagsy, Bagsy tracks and like put their tracks in and tell me not to use them, so yeah, that's uh a bit of a sore point in the team. I'm gonna cough. Okay, what is your favourite style of dance to teach? Probably ballet, just because I like teaching ballet at all ages, like little ones are super cute, and then I think at each stage of ballet there's just always something new to try. Um and it it's just such a core subject, and I think there's so much you can you can do with ballet, so I will forever be a fan of ballet. Okay, next question. Oh, this is small handwriting. If you were to restart the dance school, what would you do different? So I wouldn't really do much different because I think like everything happens for a reason, but I would definitely get a team sooner and not like do everything by myself. Um, the dance school has grown a lot quicker, we can offer a lot more to the dancers, um, and it just means it isn't so lonely from my point of view. So, definitely having a team would be what I'd do quicker. How do I get better at spotting? I can spot, but then I get dizzy. Okay, so this is for when you're doing your turns. Um, so obviously practice. Um, and then before you start trying to do it with the natural turn, just stand in a mirror, put like a like a spot or something on the mirror piece of paper, and then just do it in front of the mirror. So just shuffle your feet around, whip that head round and keep spotting at the um object on the mirror, so your body gets used to that, and then build it up. So maybe try like two or three turns from the corner and then take a break, and so on, and so on. A lot of people, why they get dizzy, they're like, Oh, I am spotting, but still get dizzy, is actually because they're not actually spotting, they think they are, but they they're not actually focusing on one precise thing in the corner or wherever you're traveling to. Um, so you really need to get good at looking at something and literally not taking your eyes off it even for a split second. Okay, a few more questions from my senior and advanced. So this one says, What inspired you to make a podcast? Um, well, I'm a huge fan of podcasts, I listen to them all the time, and I realised there weren't really that many dance ones, and I love talking about dance. So here I am. What's your favourite show the dance school has ever done? Um, it was probably Blackpool Tower. Um, but then I also loved it when we danced at um Sadlas Wales, that was really good. Um, and then I like the one where we it was called World Dance or Love World Dance, and it was like a round the world theme. That was super cool. I really enjoyed that one. Um, what is a good way to help with strength? So, with strength is strength training. So, back when I was little, if I'd said I was going to go to the gym, my dance teacher would have been like, No, you don't. Um, but now there's so much benefit about actually training your body. So going to the gym, lifting weights, or doing some kind of HIIT training will definitely help you with that. What is your favourite age to teach? But I actually don't have one. I don't because the little ones are super cute and super funny, but then when you get a bit older, you can do more stuff and have more banter, and then I like it when they're advanced because you can really go into more depth with the choreography, so I actually don't have a favourite one. Um, what is something you have learned from your first dance teacher that will always stick with you? Um, I think my dance teacher was all about technique and about getting it perfect and really looking at the finer details, and I think that is something that was really ingrained in me. So good technique and really perfecting it over tricks, um, and I stand by that even today. So now I'm gonna move to our Instagram questions. Do you think technique or performance quality is more important? So everyone needs technique like standard, but you could have the perfect technique, but if you've got no performance quality, you're just not gonna stand out. So I it's really difficult. I think you you need both, you definitely need both. What's the funniest thing that's ever happened in a class you've been in or teaching? Um there's just so many things, and I like I can't think of them off the top of my head. It's normally in a Diddy class, like they'll just say something really funny. Like, I remember one Diddy asking me if I was a fairy or a real human because I was so little. Um, for those people that don't know me, I'm very short. Um, so yeah, it's normally with the little ones that something funny goes go happens. Um a funny thing that did happen at one show is I um all the genius came off and I drilled them that you come off from cheerleading, you throw your pom-poms down, and you run to the other side of the stage and you get ready for your acro dance, and they were so drilled in it that they didn't even notice that I'd stepped back and fell onto the gym mat, and they were just throwing their pom-poms on top of me, and like literally everyone was like, Every time I went to stand up, someone knew threw a pom-pom at me, so that that was quite funny. Um, if you could master one dance style, which would you choose? Ballet 100%, because that would just lend to any other dance style. Um, how does someone dance professionally? What do you have to do to get there? Um, so first of all, take as many dance classes as you can with as many different people and in a range of dance styles. Then you need to look at college, degree, or theatre school, and then it's about exposure. So now getting yourself online on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, go into open auditions, go in, getting yourself into closed auditions, just getting yourself out there, getting yourself known, and unfortunately, it is going to be about being consistent and persevering. You probably will get quite a lot of no's before you get yeses, so it's about building that resilience and just keep going. How do you recover if you forget choreography in a performance or exam? So if it really goes pear-shaped, I would just take a moment and then join back in, but just try to make it part of the routine. Like a lot of a lot of times, the audience or whoever's watching you doesn't know the choreography, so they actually probably wouldn't notice. I think one of the biggest things is when people make a mistake, they show it on their face, they look disappointed, they look like annoyed. So if you can just keep your facial expressions like the same all the way through, then I think that will really help. And then in your eyes, what is the one thing that makes a great dancer? I would say their expression, like like I said earlier, you can have amazing technique, but if there's no expression, there's no connection with the audience, you're not going to stand out, it's not going to mean anything. Um, so yeah, definitely expression, passion, linking it to the music. What is one thing you wished every dancer understood earlier in the training? That stretching is important, and I think this is one of the things I didn't really realise when I was younger that I worked so hard on my technique, I forgot about flexibility, and I didn't, you know, you don't always have time to do it in class, so that should be really something you're thinking about at home to do all the time every week. Right, we've got two more questions to finish. What's the biggest mistake you see dancers making and how can they fix it? Um, probably the biggest mistake is not practicing facial expressions in class and trying to wait until you perform. You're gonna be nervous when you perform, and facial expressions are, I always say they're like the cherry on top of a cake. They make the routine, they connect you to the audience. And when you're nervous, you're not suddenly gonna pull out the bag all these new facial expressions that you haven't practiced in class. And if you think about it, using your face in a routine, your face is full of muscles, and you need to build that muscle memory. Um, and if you've never done that before and you're gonna try and do it on the day of a performance, it's just not gonna happen. Um, so really working on your facial expressions as well as your technique and the choreography and all of that in class, really practicing those because that will really help you nail that performance. And what made you not want to do dance competitions? So, I I am not hating dance competitions, like I know lots of schools that do them, and the schools are amazing and the kids love it. One, I just don't think we have the type of children at our school that would enjoy it. Two, it takes up a lot of your free time, and selfishly, now I'm a mum, I want to spend that time with my daughter. Um, they're very, very expensive. Um, and also I dance because I love it, because I'm passionate about it. I don't actually care if I have a trophy or not, and that's just my ethos. So obviously, that has trickled down and filtered into the dance school. Now I'm not saying that's right, I'm not saying it's wrong, that's just my personal opinion. Um, we did do one um just to see what it was like, and I'll be honest, I just didn't I just didn't enjoy it. Like all the events we do, it's a real like collaborative thing, and all the dance schools are cheering each other on. And when you go into competition world, you do have to be a little bit selfish and think about what you're gonna do over your competitors, and that's fine because that's the nature of competing, um, but it's just it's just not for me, so yeah. Um, so that is the podcast today. Very um off the cuff and very um led by my dancers and the people who follow me on Instagram. So I hope you've enjoyed it. If you have any other questions that you want to um ask, then head over and follow the podcast on Instagram and you can DM me there. And have a brilliant rest of your week, and I will see you next week.