Misty Lown is a dance powerhouse and entrepreneurial force. Misty Lown is the founder, president and energized force behind More Than Just Great Dancing™ - A licensed dance studio affiliation program that has a positive impact on over 60,000 dance students around the globe each week. She is also the founder of MoreThanDancers.com, an online lifestyle magazine for young people that has over 35,000 visitors each month.
Her dance studio, Misty’s Dance Unlimited, founded in 1998 and named a “Top 50 Studios in the Nation” by Dance Spirit Magazine has provided $225,000 in scholarship for dancers. Misty has been a speaker at the PULSE Teachers Convention, Hollywood Connection, Dance Teacher Web, Dance Teacher Summit, and the DanceLife Conference. She has also been the keynote speaker for the Australian Teachers of Dancing Convention. Misty is on the staff of Dance Revolution Convention, a faith based dance convention, and has authored over 40 industry articles.
She is a sought after speaker and recently shared her business methods as a guest blogger on SUCCESS.com and as a speaker at IF:Gathering Local and the US Army Garrison Woman’s Equality Day. She has been recognized as “Teacher of the Year” by Eclipse, "Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year" by the YWCA and awarded the “Pope John XXIII Award for Distinguished Service” by Viterbo University and the “Philanthropy Award” from the Red Cross.
Misty is an entrepreneur at heart. In addition to her dance studio and licensing program, she owns a dancewear store, a dance competition and a self-storage business. She is the author of One Small Yes and creator the One Small Yes podcast.
A Canadian native and original member of the pioneering dance group Streetscape, Bradley relocated to the U.S. after winning a Canadian Talent Search and top honors at The IMTA Awards in New York and L.A. Choreography honors include an Ovation Award, World Dance Award, and multiple NAACP Awards. Other credits include; La La Land, The Goofy Movie, and World of Dance. Bradley currently serves as Creative Director at Cantinas Arts, is happily married and has three beautiful children.
Bradley has a deep desire to share the spirit, freedom, and power behind street dance culture with the world. As the founder of The Groovaloos, Groove Theory, and Groove Mindset, he uses his dynamic life experiences and powerful analogies from the art form to break people free from self-doubt, anxiety, disconnectedness, and fear. Bradley believes it’s crucial for people to step into who they are designed to be and to bring that authenticity into the circle.
Initially from an academic background, Bradley dramatically switched gears and dove into twenty-five years of street dance culture. He pioneered a movement in Los Angeles that ignited the community, launched countless artists, and positively impacted the landscape for hip hop and freestyle dance in culture and media. Bradley went on to perform and choreograph at the highest levels in the industry from L.A.’s commercial world to New York’s Broadway stages, orchestrating complex multi-layered theatre productions while creating a curriculum and teaching at universities and conferences internationally. His collaborations include the likes of the directors of Hamilton and Jesus Christ Superstar, to orchestrating the story of his crew in their own Off-Broadway show and leading them onto So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars, Superstars of Dance, The Wayne Brady Show and Ellen.
From winning the world ballet competition Prix de Lausanne, to hitting the stages with ABT, Miami City Ballet, SYTYCD, and Broadway’s Newsies Alex Wong has crossed over from ballet companies to tv, film, and live theatre. Alex speaks about his resistance to dance at a young age because “only girls dance” to being instrumental in the Boys Dance Too viral movement. He shares how his teachers were the most critical part of his ballet success as well as the multiple, often public, injuries that shaped his career and defined how he moves through life as a person, dancer and artist.
Alex can be seen in multiple roles starting in 2011 including the TV series "Smash" directed by Steven Spielberg, "Glee," and as a semi-finalist on "American Idol." On Broadway, he portrayed Sniper in the original cast of "Newsies" and later in "The King and I." In 2014/2015 he landed roles in NBC's "Peter Pan Live!", "Ted 2" and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and a co-starring role in the Starz series "Flesh and Bone." Alex also continues to return every season as a reoccurring All-Star on "So You Think You Can Dance."
This week Lauren speaks to what she has learned from her studies focusing on Mental Skills Training. From the responsibilities we hold as dance educators to building and executing goals to creating and standing for the dance community we desire. Lauren is in the hot seat with guest host, Julianna Bootsman, asking the deep questions about values, intentions and, of course, a few laughs along the way!
Josh is a New York based choreographer and performer. Throughout Josh's career, he has worked some of the most respected jobs in the industry including Broadway, national tours, national commercials, film and television. He has performed in major venues across the world including United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
Some of his recent choreographic work includes New York Fashion Week, Audi Ottawa, a commercial for Modos Furniture, Mary Poppins at Arrow Rocks Lyceum Theater and the world premiere of Medicine the Musical, which ran in New York City, Off-Broadway. He was the associate choreographer for the Saturday Night Fever National Tour as well as Kiss me Kate at the Summer Theater of New Canaan. This summer Josh will be returning to the Lyceum Theater to choreograph their season opening, Cinderella.
As a performer, some of his favorite credits include Disney's 1st National Tour of Newsies (asst. Dance Captain), Neleus in Mary Poppins on Broadway and the 1st National Tour, Baby John in West Side story (Stratford Festival), Wizard Of Oz National Tour (Troika), and dancing on NBC's Saturday Night Live with Jimmy Fallon. Josh has been featured in Dance Spirit Magazine, Dance Canada Quarterly, Industry Dance Magazine and Dance Plug Los Angeles. He has taught at Edge Performing Arts Center and is currently on faculty at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City where he has been a guest choreographer for many of their events.
Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Christina studied in the professional division of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. She went on to graduate from the Juilliard School in New York City in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Upon graduation, Christina launched her professional career dancing with the Koresh Dance Company in Philadelphia for two seasons. In 2007, Christina returned to Canada to join Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (BJM Danse), with which she toured the world for eight seasons. In 2015, Christina relocated to Los Angeles to join BODYTRAFFIC. In addition to her concert dance career, she has performed in television productions and special events for organizations such as Cirque du Soleil, L'Oreal, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Radio Canada.
Christina is also passionate about teaching and choreographing. She is currently on dance faculty at Loyola Marymount University, Windward School and Marat Daukayev School of Ballet. Christina teaches master classes nationally and has been on guest faculty for the University of Southern California, Regional Dance America, Francisco Gella Dance Works, Idyllwild Arts Academy, Long Beach Ballet, Los Angeles Theater Center and Greater Washington Dance Center. Christina also enjoys rehearsal directing, and in 2017, she was invited by choreographer Barak Marshall to stage his work Monger on the dancers at the University of Southern California’s prestigious Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Christina’s love of teaching extends beyond dance. In 2015, Christina completed her yoga teacher training through Yogaworks, and she enjoys incorporating yoga into her dance classes.
Dr. Justin is fascinated by movement and is committed to a practice of personal and collective growth. With a passion for continual learning and sharing, he thrives off of cultivating experiences and evidence informed knowledge surrounding movement, self-development, and life optimization.
Graduating with a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine (D.C). Justin received the Palmer West Clinical Excellence and Virgil V. Strang Chiropractic Philosophy awards. Accolades which are distinguishing honours reflecting his commitment to delivering a result orientated treatment, optimal client experience, with a focus on community and client engagement and education.
Justin innovated Rollax, a movement therapy system that engages and optimizes the brain-body connection. He is a movement and health legacy ambassador for Lululemon Athletica and Clear Float Spa, is a privileged Instructor for the movement company, Rocktape.
Sarah Rodenhouse is the Founder/Movement Leader of Moved LA *and* Artistic Director of MashUp Contemporary Dance Company. Between these two entities, she is quickly becoming a mover and shaker in the LA dance scene. Through Moved LA, she brings movement workshops to working professionals in businesses such as Pinterest - and hosts wellness retreats. Via MashUp, Sarah choreographs with professional dancers and presents performances all of LA including the A+D Museum, Glendale Brand Library, and multiple festivals. www.thedancepodcast.com
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Marissa Labog, nicknamed "Mighty" by her peers, is committed to her strong belief in the transformative power of storytelling. Indicated by her nickname, as an actor, dancer, and stunt woman, Marissa is fearless and powerful in her pursuit for creative adventure earning her awards such as the Lester Horton Award for Outstanding Performer, the Solo Award, and an Ovation Award Nomination.
Commercially, she has worked with artists such as Tina Turner, Christina Aguillera, Justin Timberlake, and Toni Basil. She has also appeared in countless commercials for Nike, iPod, Coke, and T-Mobile. Her TV and film credits include: MTV Movie Awards, the Emmys, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Wolverine,
Dancing nationally and internationally with PCB Ballet and Inland Pacific Ballet, Marissa was urged by her loving mother to take up martial arts to learn to "defend" herself while traveling abroad. Enrolling her in Karate, Marissa excelled and furthered her study with capoeira, and Tae Kwon Do. Curious of her training and its connection to her growing desire to tell stories, Marissa went on to Scripps College where she graduated with a BA in both Dance and English and the coveted Lucille Morrison Scholarship. After graduation, Marissa performed as a principle dancer across the United States, Japan, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, China, Holland, Belgium, and England.
Internationally Recognized Choreographer & Director Jeff Dimitriou’s artistic projects include creating for film, television, world ceremonies, theatre, live events, and art installations. He is the creator and founder of JDX Creative, an entertainment production house.
He has created 6 original theatrical stage presentations that are currently playing worldwide.
Jeff has the rare privilege of working in many different genres of the arts and entertainment industry. From world touring theatre productions, to choreographing and directing for mass ceremonies such as The Pan American Games (Head Choreographer), Parapan Games (Head Choreographer) and FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremonies (Choreographer) to such esteemed organizations as Cirque du Soleil, NHL, MLB, and Mirvish Productions. He also also directed and staged the opening sequence for the 2018 NHL Classic, broadcast across North America.
Choreographing the new film version of Anne of Green Gables, choreography that was featured on the Netflix hit Degrassi, choreographer of Footloose and Mamma Mia, a national art installation campaign for BMO & Cineplex, A Middle Eastern Tour of the stage musical Cinderella, and also choreographed the Opening Piece for the 2016 Cultural Architect Awards.www.thedancepodcast.com
During his teenage years, Mark met a man named Luther Brown (choreographer/judge of So You Think You Can Dance Canada), who was soon to be his mentor, partner and close friend for many years to come. Luther invited Mark to be a part of Canada's first ever Hip-Hop/R&B Dance Agency – Do Dat Entertainment. While dancing for Do Dat, Mark performed with countless Canadian artists, such as Jully Black, Shawn Desman, Maestro Fresh Wes, Victoria Duffield and Nelly Furtado to name a few. He has also performed at some of the industries top stellar events, such as the Juno Awards, The MMVA’s, Canadian Idol, Canada's Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance Canada.
Mark decided to make his next major move: to become a dancer in U.S. He had the opportunity to work with the some of America's biggest choreographers such as Fatima Robinson, Laurie-Ann Gibson, Sho-Tyme and Hi Hat. During his U.S. journey, he danced for artists like Cam’ron, Mariah Carey, Nivea, Missy Elliott, Mary J Blige, Olivia, Kelis and Mario to name a few.
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Genevieve Carson is the artistic director of L.A. Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC). Genevieve’s work as a director, choreographer, and performer has spanned across North America, the Philippines, Argentina, Sweden, and New Zealand. Genevieve’s work is often focused on the human condition. Genevieve has been a guest artist and instructor at Chapman University, Cal Arts, Cal State Long Beach, University of Auckland, and University of the Philippines. She is on faculty at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), where she teaches an array of classes and directs concerts. Genevieve graduated cum laude with a BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University.www.thedancepodcast.com
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Ben Johnson is currently the Director of Performing Arts for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. In this position he is tasked with relaunching the Performing Arts Division of the City of Los Angeles, which includes overseeing six city-owned theaters, relaunching a festival platform for the city, developing cultural exchange programs with venues and artists in LA, and advocating on behalf of LA artists on a national and international level. Previously, he was the Program Manager at the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP-UCLA) in Los Angeles, considered one of the top contemporary performing arts institutions in the country, and where he produced significant contemporary performing arts events throughout Los Angeles. Also previously he was the Director of Programs at United States Artists (LA) which awarded 50, 50K awards to artists in all disciplines. www.thedancepodcast.com
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Lam was born in Marin County, California. Born from immigrant parents from Vietnam, Lam found his passion for life in dance at age 4. Training at Marin Ballet, Lam formed vital relationships that would mold his career and was coached by renowned Svetlana Afanasieva, Cynthia Lucas, and Mikko Nissinen. In 200, Lam began his tenure with Canada's National Ballet School under the directorship of Mavis Staines. Coached by famous Sergiu Stefanschi, Lam developed a foundation that would launch his career in 2003 with the invitation from Mikko Nissinen to join Boston Ballet. www.thedancepodcast.com
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Jen and Kyla - two performing artists from Toronto and New York join Lauren for some big Podcasting chats! On their podcast, Tits and Teeth, they have a blast interviewing their peers in show biz, unveiling their secrets about balancing this crazy unconventional life, and debating issues in the arts. They play games and ask insightful questions, all while sipping on their guests favourite drink! www.thedancepodcast.com
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Colette began her dance training under Evelyn Kreason at Michigan Ballet Theatre. Eventually, she completed her Independent Study at the Alvin Ailey School and began choreographing, performing and teaching in NYC, LA and London. She pursued her MFA Choreography Degree at Roehampton University and co-founded the LA Follies, a company of phenomenal dancers, acrobats, synchronized swimmers, roller skaters, poppers, breakers, ballerinas, tappers, aerialists, fire dancers, ice skaters, aerialists (and sometimes mermaids) that bring arena size magic to Hollywood and Los Angeles events. www.thedancepodcast.com
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Colette began her dance training under Evelyn Kreason at Michigan Ballet Theatre. Eventually, she completed her Independent Study at the Alvin Ailey School and began choreographing, performing and teaching in NYC, LA and London. She pursued her MFA Choreography Degree at Roehampton University and co-founded the LA Follies, a company of phenomenal dancers, acrobats, synchronized swimmers, roller skaters, poppers, breakers, ballerinas, tappers, aerialists, fire dancers, ice skaters, aerialists (and sometimes mermaids) that bring arena size magic to Hollywood and Los Angeles events. www.thedancepodcast.com
insta: @thedancepodcast
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Dominique Kelley has been named one of the most promising up and coming choreographers of his generation. An avid tapper and percussionist, Dominique tries to fuse rhythm patterns with classical movement to create a visual and aural experience.
"Black and Blue" was his first Broadway tour at age 12, and then “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk national tour at 15, and ever since he has had a love of performing, choreographing, and movement coaching.
No stranger to stage and live performance, he has collaborated with recording artists such as Beyonce’, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani, Chris Martin, Queen Latifah, Taylor Swift, FKA Twigs, Miley Cyrus, Frank Ocean, Nelly, Cee Lo Green, B.o.B, and Flo Rida,. Not leaving out sports entertainment, he has been one of the main choreographers for such sports teams as the San Francisco 49ers, San Diego Chargers, Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics, LA Clippers, and many teams around the country. Dominique’s goal and endeavor is to bring movement and dance artistry to every facet of the entertainment industry.
insta: @thedancepodcast
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Joey Arrigo is an dancer, aerialist and choreographer. He was “the trickster” in Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA and part of Shaping Sound Dance Company’s first national tour. He was also a Top 20 dancer on So You Think You Can Dance Canada and a choreographer’s assistant to Mia Michaels during Seasons 1–3. Joey holds multiple titles from Dance Masters of America and was the 2010 Senior National VIP for JUMP. He has choreographed and taught in Canada, the US, Europe, and Australia, including teaching with Break The Floor’s conventions, JUMP, NUVO and 24/7. Currently, Joey plays the lead role of “Waz” in Cirque du Soleil’s VOLTA.
thedancepodcast.com
insta: @thedancepodcast
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Expectations, recognition and awareness. In this Season finale Lauren closes with personal relefections and exercise that will set up 2019 for a year of gratitude and clarity.
Deirdre Barnes started her career performing in Las Vegas with world renowned entertainment company: Cirque du Soleil in their show Criss Angel “Believe” then went onto to tour the world with some of the most iconic pop stars, like Britney Spears and Justin Bieber. Deirdre opens up about what that initial transition into the professional world was like for her, what she learned from reowned choreographer Wade Robson, and the best thing she took away from both her stage and touring experiences. Since moving to Los Angeles Deirdre has worked extensively in film and TV. She has been featured on Dancing With The Stars, Disney: Descendants, the Ellen Show, Glee, Shake it Up, The Voice, Black Eyed Peas, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and multiple award shows. She has also danced alongside artists such as: Nicki Minaj, David Guetta, Nick Jonas, Gwen Stefani, Backstreet Boys, Incubus, Pitbull, Jlo and Gloria Estefan. Deirdre has toured the globe alongside Justin Bieber and was featured in his “Believe” film and dance instructional DVD. Most recently, Deirdre completed a 2 year residency performing alongside Britney Spears in her hit show: “Piece Of Me.”
Are you hustling hard? Do you feel like there are a million thing to do, directions to go, things on your bucket list that are screaming at you to get done? Lauren knows all about the hustle of doing- and it hasn’t always felt great or worked well. This week, Lauren introduces the concept- Be more to Do more.
Mariah-Jane has been a dance educator for over 30 years, presenting around the world with conferences like IADMS, Healthy Dance Canada and Dance Science and Somatics Conference. We cover topics like the Brain Gym and how it helps Mariah-Jane prime and ready dancers for more powerful learning. We explore how to come back from stress states to perform at our best and changing the state of your brain as you train.