Ep. 1 Welcome to Lights, Lines, and Leadership

Hosted by: Kelli Woodruff

Welcome to the very first episode of Lights, Lines, & Leadership! In this introductory episode, I share the story behind the podcast, the experiences that shaped my career, and my vision for creating a place where the dance/drill team community can learn, connect, and grow together.

Whether you're a director, dancer, parent, judge, or industry professional, my hope is that you'll leave each episode with practical ideas, fresh perspectives, and encouragement for the journey ahead.

In This Episode

•  Why I created Lights, Lines, & Leadership
•  The mission and vision behind the podcast 
•  Who this podcast is for—and how it serves everyone who makes the dance/drill team community stronger 
•  What you can expect from future episodes and guests 
•  My vision for building a stronger, more connected dance/drill team community 

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Instagram: @LightsLinesLeadershipPodcast

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to the very first episode of Lights, Lines, and Leadership. I'm Kelly Woodruff, and I'm so glad you're here. This podcast has been on my heart for a very long time. After more than 30 years in the dance and drill team world, as a dancer, performer, director, judge, teacher, and now counselor, I realized there are so many conversations I wanted our community to have more often. I decided to create a place for them. The dance and drill team profession is incredible. It's exciting, it's rewarding, it's creative, it's also a little exhausting. As directors, we wear so many hats. We're dance teachers, choreographers, event planners, counselors, costume designers, fundraising coordinators, travel agents, mentors, and somewhere in the middle of all of that, we're trying to create experiences that students will remember long after they leave our programs. Because many directors are the only dance educator on their campus, I've always believed there's a tremendous value in having a community, a place where people can share ideas, celebrate successes, ask questions, encourage one another, and continue learning together. That's really the heart of this podcast. I wanted to create a landing place for everyone who loves the dance and drill team world directors, assistant directors, JV directors, dancers, officers, parents, administrators, alumni judges, vendors, anyone who believes in what this activity can do for young people. Because while every team is unique, we all share a common purpose, helping young people grow into confident leaders while creating memories they'll carry for the rest of their lives. That's why this podcast exists, to bring our community together, learn from one another, and share ideas that make all of us better. Before we start those conversations, before we welcome our first guest, I thought it might be helpful for you to know a little about the person behind the microphone. I started dancing at a local studio in Houston, Texas when I was three years old. And here's the funny part. I cried through my entire first recital. Thankfully, something must have clicked because I fell in love with dance and never looked back. When I was 10 years old, I began training at Houston Ballet Academy, where I developed a strong technical foundation and learned the discipline that would serve me throughout my career. Drill Team actually entered my life almost by accident. During my freshman year of high school, an upperclassman made me a deal. She said she'd drive me to ballet if I'd try out for Drill Team. So I did. I made the team, went to summer camp, and suddenly I discovered this strange style called military, where your fingers had to stay glued together and every angle had to be perfectly precise. Coming from ballet, I thought it was a little strange at first. But it didn't take long before I fell in love with military high kick, palm, and all the traditions that make drill teams so special. After high school, I attended Texas Christian University. Originally, I thought I was going to major in dance and eventually go to medical school. God had different plans. After changing majors a couple of times, I graduated with a degree in business administration while also having the privilege of spending four incredible years as a TCU showgirl and serving as captain my senior year. During those college years, I spent my summers teaching dance camps with MA Dance. Those experiences helped me discover how much I loved teaching and mentoring young dancers. I've also had the privilege of judging throughout the years with both MA Dance and Crowdpleasers. Along my own dance journey, I was fortunate to continue performing with Boulder Ballet, Contemporary Dance Fort Worth, and in 42nd Street with Casa Mignana. Those experiences stretched me artistically and deepened my appreciation for the many different ways dance can tell a story. Eventually, after completing my graduate work and dance teacher certification, my dream of directing my own team became a reality. I spent three years directing at Haltham High School and 12 years at Colleyball Heritage High School. Those 15 years taught me so much. Yes, they taught me about choreography, contest preparation, football games, fundraising, and all the countless responsibilities that come with directing a team. But more importantly, they showed me what this profession is really about, the relationships we build, the confidence we help young people discover, the privilege of walking alongside students during some of the most important years of their lives. For the past 11 years, I've also had the privilege of serving as a high school counselor. That role has only reinforced what I first learned as a dance director. What we do goes far beyond dance. It changes lives. People matter more than trophies, relationships matter more than routines, and leadership matters long after the fun of performance is over. My hope is that lights, lines, and leadership becomes a place where our community can come together to share ideas, stories, lessons learned, practical strategies, and laugh together over some of the crazy antics that only dance directors truly understand. One of the things I'm most excited about is that this first season is going to follow the rhythm of the dance and drill team year. My hope is that each episode meets you right where you are and gives you something that's helpful in the season you're currently navigating. We'll begin with building culture, setting expectations, football season, and all the excitement that comes with the start of a new year. Then we'll move into choreography, cleaning, game day traditions, fundraising, parent support, and everything that happens beyond halftime. As the season progresses, we'll talk about keeping practices fresh, preventing burnout, motivating dancers, and maintaining a healthy team culture when everyone starts getting tired. When contest season arrives, we'll dive deeper into cleaning dances, performance quality, showmanship, judges' perspective, understanding score sheets, and surviving those long contest weekends. Then we'll wrap up the year by talking about team and officer tryouts, spring shows, spring training, leadership traditions, preparing for summer camp, and getting ready to do it all over again. And if you're already thinking, I hope she talks about, don't worry, if we don't cover it this season, it's probably already on my list for a future episode. What I'm looking forward to most is the opportunity to sit down and have conversations with some incredible people. You'll hear from directors, assistant directors, JV directors, dancers, officers, parents, judges, choreographers, vendors, alumni, and other guests who all bring different experiences and perspectives to this activity. I truly believe we all have something to learn from one another. Before we wrap up each episode, it's time for Kick Line Quick Fire. These two questions I'll ask every guest who joins me on the podcast. Since today it's just me, I'll go first. Question one, what's your favorite style of dance and why? Mine is definitely lyrical. I love that it's grounded in strong ballet technique while still allowing dancers to tell a story and create an emotional connection with the audience. Contemporary would definitely be a close second. Question two, what's one thing about the dance and drill team world that still makes you smile? That's an easy one. If you ask any of my former Panteras, they'll probably tell you it was my Starbucks coffee. For years I showed up to morning rehearsals with a cup in hand. Then one day, I accidentally kicked over the entire cup during rehearsal. Coffee went everywhere, the team roared in laughter, and the scene even made it into the annual senior mom's dance. Now, before we wrap up this very first episode, I want to say thank you. Thank you for spending a little bit of your day with me. If you enjoyed today's episode, I'd love for you to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if there's a topic you'd like us to cover, or a guest you'd love to hear on the podcast, I'd love to hear from you. Together, I hope we'll continue building a community where we can learn from one another, encourage one another, and celebrate this incredible activity we all love. Keep making a difference, keep building leaders, keep creating memories that will last a lifetime. Because at the end of the day, people matter more than trophies, relationships matter more than routines, and leadership matters long after the final performance is over.