August 2, 2023 • 49 mins
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a revered institution like Kennedy Center’s Reach expansion campus? Today's episode pulls back the curtain, as we're joined by Jane Raleigh, a visionary who climbed the ranks from intern to director of dance programming at the Kennedy Center. She'll give us a backstage pass to the world of dance and her work with the Brown Ballerinas' Dream Big Intensive program. Jane reveals the art of collaboration and the relentless dedication needed to amplify local talents and empower community leaders.
Whisking us into the realm of the young and talented, we're thrilled to have 13-year-old Dior Brown, the United States Ambassador of Brown Ballerinas. Dior shares how her passion for dance sparked dreams of performing on Broadway, and the transformative lessons she's learned about self-confidence, creativity, and thoughtful practice during her journey in the Kennedy Center's intensive program. But the dance floor extends beyond the United States. Paula Brown, founder and artistic director of the Paula Brown Performing Arts Center, takes us on an inspiring cultural journey between the United States and South Africa - a testament to the remarkable growth and empowerment dance can spark across continents.
Our journey continues as we meet Hope Dimmons, the South African Ambassador for the Brown Ballerinas Dream. This 15-year-old dancer unveils her experiences, dreams, and challenges from her time at the Kennedy Center's Dream Big Intensive. Her stories of mastering attention to detail, regular practice, and her aspirations of pursuing theater underscore the truly international language of dance. This episode is a testament to the power of dance, the resilience it nurtures, and the unity it fosters across borders. Join us for an episode filled with passion, dreams, and the beauty of dance.
Original music and audio production provided by Jarrett Nicolay at Mixtape Studios. www.mynewmixtape.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the second season of the Dance Studio
podcast.
This podcast is for dancers,teachers, dance moms and
especially dance studio owners.
In the first season, we coveredtopics like scoliosis, eating
disorders and point shoereadiness, along with several
episodes on different dancecareer paths and awesome dance
(00:21):
programs for you and your dancestudents.
In the second season, you cancount on hearing from Tony Award
winners, american BalletTheater teachers, competition
judges and so much more.
The Dance Studio podcast fansare loving the information this
podcast provides.
Take it from season one guest.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Jennifer Moleto.
My name is Jen Moleto and I ama former student of Sally's, now
dancing professionally atDisney.
As well as teaching dance as acollege professor, sally has
been my mentor through my entiredance career.
What I love about her and herpodcast is that she is not only
willing to be completely openabout everything that she has
(01:00):
learned in her career, but sheis also so curious about what
others have learned in theirunique experience, and she wants
to share all of it with herlisteners.
There is a reason why I havestuck with Sally all of these
years she is committed toadvocating for the success of
the dance community.
If you are a studio owner,teacher, dancer or aspiring to
(01:23):
be any of those things, do notmiss this podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
And now we kick off season two with a special
episode recorded on site inWashington DC at the Kennedy
Center, with several fabulousdancers and dance teachers.
Hello, dance teachers.
We are here at the KennedyCenter today with Jane Raleigh
and she's the director of danceprogramming here at the Reach
(01:48):
and she's going to talk to usabout the Reach and Brown
Ballerina's dream big, intensive.
Welcome, jane.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Thank you so much for having me, sally.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Oh, you're welcome.
Thank you for doing this withus today.
Can we start with a little bitabout you and how you got your
job here at the Reach as adirector of dance programming?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, sure.
So my name is Jane Raleigh.
I'm the director of danceprogramming for the Kennedy
Center.
I've worked at the Centeralmost 10 years now, starting as
an intern many years ago in oursocial impact office, which at
the time was called PerformingArts for Everyone.
So I got my start in that team,spent about a year in our group
sales office and then movedover to dance programming,
(02:30):
working on logistics and projectmanagement to bring dance
companies to the Kennedy Centerand present them on our stages,
and in 2022 I received the roleof director of dance programming
and in that role, I have thecuratorial responsibility for
our ballet series at the KennedyCenter and I work with my team
(02:52):
of three full-time staff tofully produce and execute all of
our dance and ballet offeringsat the Center.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
That's amazing.
I hope all the young people arelistening and heard the intern
part.
Can we start talking about thata little bit?
What would you say helped youto stand out as an intern and
continue to get hired and moveup the ranks?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Great question.
I think when I came to theKennedy Center as an intern, I
did not understand what artsadministration was, what the
actual nuts and bolts of doingthe work looked like behind the
scenes.
I had grown up as a dancermyself and was always on stage,
but definitely did not realizethe depth of work and time and
effort that was going in on theadministrative side to make all
(03:39):
the shows happen at the end ofthe day.
So when I came here as anintern, my eyes were open to all
of that behind the scenes workand it was just really exciting
to me.
So I think, honestly, what mademe stand out was my nerdiness
and love for dance and Irealized for the first time that
all of the stuff I was doingartists I was following on
Instagram videos, I was watchingbehind the scenes in my off
(04:02):
time dance classes, I was takingarticles, I was reading all of
that suddenly was professionaljob knowledge that I just
thought was things I liked to dofor fun and that has continued
to drive me in my work here.
I love that.
The things that I love in mylife are also the things that
contribute to my work.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Again, that is so interesting and everything that
I believe in that somebody mighttell you you're wasting your
time following all these dancersand reading everything.
Nobody ever did that to you.
When we're allowed to doexactly what we enjoy, whether
anyone thinks it's important ornot, it so often turns into a
career and that's so fun when itdoes.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
I always say that everyone who works at the
Kennedy Center has a secret artthat they practice or that they
follow or that they love behindthe scenes, which just
contributes to a reallygenerative and passionate group
of employees here at the Center.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
That's great.
Let's start with talking to usabout the reach, so tell us
everything you can about how itstarted and why it's here.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, the reach is the Kennedy Center's expansion
campus.
We opened it in September of2019, right before the pandemic
shut us down for a little whilebut it really was opened and
created and designed as a wayfor us to peel back the curtain
on the formality of the KennedyCenter, to let audiences see
what process looks like, to letaudiences and general public
(05:31):
understand that the work of theartist doesn't start when they
step on the stage.
It starts many, many monthsyears before when they enter the
studio or the classroom or thatworking space for meetings.
So everything in the reach isdesigned to be process centered
and there's basically verylittle privacy here.
Everything is built withbeautiful glass windows, so
(05:53):
there's lots of opportunity forpeople wandering through to look
in on the studio and seeartists at all levels at work.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Why don't you talk to us about the Brown Ballerinas
dream, big, intensive that'shappening this week.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yes, we've been so delighted to work with Paula
Brown and the Brown BallerinasThrough our social impact
program.
Here at the Kennedy Center wehave a program called the
Community Partnerships Programand each genre of programming
myself leading the dance programwe have a community partner and
this year the dance communitypartner is Paula Brown and the
(06:27):
Brown Ballerinas and so we'vebeen working with Paula this
entire season on what she wouldlike to do with the Kennedy
Center to amplify her own workwith the Brown Ballerinas and
she brought forward this idea ofthe intensive.
So this week, monday throughFriday, we are hosting the Brown
Ballerinas as part of oursocial impact office hours
(06:48):
residency program.
So it's a five day residency,monday through Friday in Studio
F at the Reach.
They get 10 am to 6 pm in thestudio to work and dance
together.
And this week has been reallyspecial because Paula has
brought us some of her localBrown Ballerinas students and
also a group of South Africanstudents who have come for an
(07:11):
international exchange with theBrown Ballerinas.
So the classes and intensivethis week is a blending and a
cultural exchange between DCdancers and South African
dancers.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's great.
I actually just found out.
I didn't realize this, but frommy dance studio that I just
sold, we have her name'sHeavenly.
She's here.
Oh wonderful, I'm so happyabout that.
Tell us what you mean when yousay social impact.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yeah, the Kennedy Center has a social impact
department, but we also think ofsocial impact as a set of ideas
.
We often refer to it as apedagogy which is a word I'm
sure dance teachers know well asocial impact pedagogy that
underlies all of the work thatwe do here at the center.
So a lot of the work of oursocial impact team and our
(07:57):
pedagogy is about empoweringcommunity members and community
leaders who are already doingthe work here in DC, giving them
opportunities, resources,pathways for them to take their
own power and show the KennedyCenter community what they're
doing in their parts of the DCarts world.
So that's really what thecommunity partnership is really
(08:19):
about is having the KennedyCenter identify leaders that we
see already doing excellent workin the community and helping
amplify that work here on ourcampus.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
It's just reminding me of why I started this podcast
, because when I was a youngdancer, young dance teacher, all
of these things seemed a littleintimidating to me, and it's so
nice to just be sitting here atthe Kennedy Center and realize
that your goal is to reach outto the community and to empower
them and amplify their strengths.
(08:51):
And sometimes people are sointimidated by the Kennedy
Center they wouldn't know how towork with you.
So I'm glad we're highlightingthis so that people can see that
this exists and that you havethe goal of helping them.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Absolutely.
I think one of the cool thingsI've noticed this week with
Paula Brown is we often, throughthe Kennedy Center, have
opportunities for young dancersto participate in the Nutcracker
or other story balletsthroughout the year and I've
seen and met some of herstudents when they come to
audition, because Paula sendsher students to the audition.
So as I was checking girls inon the first day of this
(09:29):
intensive, I noticed somestudents that I recognized and
who've been in our casts before.
So it's moments like that whereI realize we're doing a nice
job of having that cycle wherewe're now able to pour resources
into the Brown Ballerinas andsupport Paula's work and then,
as a result, paula continuesthat cycle of sending her
talented dancers to us Toamplify our productions on the
(09:51):
stages here.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
So beautiful.
Yeah, thank you so much, jane.
It was such a pleasure talkingtoday about the reach.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yes, thanks for coming to the reach and talking
to some of our artists.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
I'm so happy to be here.
All right, thank you.
Hello dance teachers and dancestudio owners, we're here today
with Dior Brown, and she's theUnited States Ambassador of
Brown Ballerinas.
Welcome, dior, thank you.
It's so great to be here.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Tell us how old you are, dior.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I am 13 years old.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
You're 13 years.
Looks so mature and gorgeous.
I would have guessed you weremuch older than that.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Thank you, I get that a lot, you do.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
So how long have you been dancing, dior?
Speaker 4 (10:36):
I've been dancing since I was seven and that's
exactly how long I have been atMs Paula's studio.
Ms Paula was my first balletteacher and I remember being in
class on Saturday from 10 to 12in ballet in the studio and it
was just amazing because I hadbeen dancing.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
That's what I wanted to do so when you were seven and
you took your first class fromMs Paula on Saturday morning.
Tell me how that felt.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
So I don't Really remember my first class.
I just remember being in classon Saturdays.
But I remember being at the barand I would always have my hand
on the lower one because I wasshorter than and my pink leotard
and my pink little cover-up fordance and my tiara and my bun,
because it was always mandatoryfor us in our uniform to have a
(11:23):
tiara in our bun.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
And you like that.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I do.
I still have my tiara to thisday.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So you had a good experience.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
I did, I did, it was nice.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And so you've been dancing for several years now.
What do you like most aboutdance?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
I think it's just a way for me to express myself and
just be me, like put mypersonality into.
I guess steps or movement thatwill be my career later on,
because I do want to become aprofessional dancer.
So dance has always been like apathway for me to express the
creative side of what I have tooffer.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
What is one of your big dreams?
Speaker 4 (12:03):
I think one of my big dreams just to be in the
entertainment industry.
But I feel like dance is goingto be one of the pathways to be
in there.
Like I would love to be onBroadway, hopefully in the Lion
King.
I know they're playing here atthe Kennedy Center now, so
hopefully I'll be able to havethe chance to come back here and
perform.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Wow, and do you do other things besides dance?
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Yes, so I am really big on musical theater as well.
I did a show for my school twoyears in a row the first year
was frozen and I was Elsa, andthis year was the Adams family
and I was Morticia.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
And what is your school?
Speaker 4 (12:42):
I go to St Stephen, st Agnes School in Alexandria,
virginia.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Oh, that's a wonderful school it is.
So tell us about thisexperience here at the Kennedy
Center.
Is this your first time everparticipating in an intensive or
a workshop at the KennedyCenter?
Speaker 4 (12:59):
It is not my first time participating in a workshop
for the Kennedy Center, becauseI did a workshop with my
friends from the studio a fewmonths back when Alvin Ailey was
here.
Yeah, and we learned weight inthe water.
I've been beauts, all kind oftheir revelations dances,
signature dances and I'd likedit here at the Kennedy Center.
(13:20):
I think it's nice.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
It's like you're home away from home now, yes, okay,
so tell me about the BrownBallerinas Dream Big program and
what you're learning this week.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So this week Brown Ballerinas Dream Big.
It is focused on classicalballet and brown and black girls
focusing on classical balletand help building their
technique.
I have had the chance to betaught by Ms Nardiabadoo and Mr
Troy Brown.
They are both amazing teachers.
(13:52):
Mr Troy was my first pointteacher, so I've known him for a
while.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Oh, so what is your favorite thing that you've
learned this week?
Speaker 4 (14:02):
All of it.
It's definitely nice to go backto the basics and start from, I
guess, where you've started,just to make sure you have a
really good grasp of theunderstanding.
Now that you're older, you'reable to put your own spin on it
or give a bit more personality,but still kind of find the
foundation of what you need todo to dance.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I know exactly what you mean.
It's very important to gobackwards and do it with a
mature mind.
What have you learned this weekthat you think you'll take with
you back to your own studio?
Speaker 4 (14:34):
I think just practicing more and making sure
that every time that you aredancing, you're always
constantly thinking about whatneeds to happen.
Does this need to rotate?
Does this need to straightenand just training your mind and
your body to conform to how youneed to dance or how it needs to
work to make moves look betteror good?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
For all that to come together and work seamlessly
right.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Yes, and I'll definitely find many more things
to stay when I do dance.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
That's right.
Does being here help you tofeel like your dreams of being
on Broadway or in theentertainment business?
Does it feel more possibleafter?
Speaker 4 (15:16):
this week.
Oh, definitely, I feel like I'mone step closer to being in a
company a ballet company,contemporary ballet company just
to kind of get the trainingfrom people who have been in
companies, who do have thatexperience.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
So it's serving its purpose.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
It is, it is.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I know St Stephen, st Agnes, is an excellent school,
and what grade are you in?
Speaker 4 (15:37):
I am a rising freshman.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Okay, so you're going into high school.
How many days a week do youdance at the?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
studio.
So I'm at the studio Mondaythrough Thursday, probably at
least two hours a day, and Iknow the school day ends at
three o'clock and I don't gethome till five because I ride
the bus.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
So and then what time do your classes start at the
studio?
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Monday they start at 7.15, kind of end around
nine-ish, eight-thirty-ish.
Tuesday they start at six andend at eight-thirty, maybe nine,
and then Wednesday and Thursdaythey're from seven to nine.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Where do you fit in your homework and how do you
balance your schoolwork, andwhat kind of student are you?
Speaker 4 (16:24):
So I like to try and balance homework with kind of
being social, like during lunchbreaks, maybe just study breaks
we have during the day.
I'll try and get as muchknocked out as I can and because
I'm on the bus for a while inthe morning and the afternoon, I
like to try and get it donethen.
And yes, I still have a lot ofhomework to do when I get home,
(16:45):
but it's not as much as it wouldhave been.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Do you think that your dance discipline helps you
to be able to zone in on yourstudies when you're on the bus?
I mean because that would bevery distracting to a lot of
people.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Yeah, I think so.
I think it's also themotivation of I don't want to be
too overwhelmed when I wake up,or when, I go home so that I
can just go home and rest.
So doing it on the bus andhaving that motivation of going
to dance and having fun, I thinkthat that kind of pushes me to
keep on going with what I'mdoing.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Do your parents say that if your grades slip, you
won't be allowed to dance?
Do they give you any ultimatumslike that?
Speaker 4 (17:27):
No, my parents definitely encourage me to do my
best, and if my best is whathappened or that grade, I mean
they'll just say, okay, maybe wecan help you.
Let's find a way to help youand see what you need to work on
.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So you have fantastic parents.
I do I do, and a fantasticschool and a fantastic dance
studio.
Yes, and so you're able tobalance all of these things, it
sounds like, because you enjoythem and you want to make sure
that they work, so you fit themin.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
I do, I do, I enjoy what I do.
I mean sometimes in school it'snot always do zero breeze, but
I mean I love to learn and Ilove where I'm learning.
So I think that trying to fitthat with what I love to do
period or what I want to do whenI grow up, it's a bit better to
fit those things togetherbecause it's what I want to do,
(18:19):
it's what I like to do.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
That's fantastic.
I got some news from your danceteacher that you have so many
awards in school and in danceand competitions.
You seem to be very modest, butI love it if you'd share some
of those awards with us and letpeople know how fabulous you are
.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Yes, so at the end of the year, every year, my school
does awards.
I only know this for the middleschool One of the kind of
citizenship awards are justcontributing to the school and a
better place to it.
I won it two years in a row.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
And then this year I was, I guess, the first student
to represent the Paula BrownPerforming Arts Center in the
Brown Ballerinas in acompetition, Universal Ballet
competition, and I won thirdplace and on top of that, they
gave out scholarships and I gota 50% tuition scholarship to
Ballet Hispanico.
Wow, so I will be leaving in aweek.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Real congratulations.
Thank you, that's fantastic.
How long is the intensive?
Speaker 4 (19:25):
So the intensive is three weeks, but I decided to go
the last two.
I think they do kind of aculmination after every week
because there's so many studentscoming in and out, because
you're not required to go justfor three weeks.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
That's great.
I like that they give you theoption.
Sometimes they don't, so that'swonderful.
So you got to do all of you gotto do Alvin A Lee.
You got to do Brown BallerinasDream Big at the Kennedy Center.
You're going off to BalletHispanico and I am going to
predict that you're going tohave other awards and other
successes in your life, becauseyou seem like a very driven and
(20:04):
enthusiastic, hardworking youngwoman.
Well, thank you.
Well, thank you so much forbeing with us, dior.
It was a pleasure having you onour podcast.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
Thank you for having me.
I enjoyed being on a podcast.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I wish you all the luck in the future.
I thank you.
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(20:39):
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Welcome Dance Studio owners anddance teachers.
We are here at the KennedyCenter today for the week of
Brown Ballerina's Dream BigIntensive, and I am fortunate
(21:03):
enough to be sitting here withPaula Brown and I'm also with
Susanda Bandezi and Zee Ezentil.
I probably didn't pronouncethose perfectly, but I hope
you'll forgive me and let youcan pronounce them yourself when
you introduce yourself.
How about you go first, zee,and why don't you give us your
(21:24):
name and tell us just a littlebit about yourself?
Speaker 7 (21:27):
My name is Zinke.
I'm the owner of the School ofDance in South Africa.
I started dancing when I wasvery young.
We attended school inFerrena-Keng School of Ballet,
so that's where I did myteachers course as well and I
(21:48):
opened the school in Pretoria,south Africa, along with my
sister she's gonna tell herstory as well and we have over
200 students up to date and wedo ballet, we do lyrical, we do
contemporary and we do hip-hopand we give music classes as
(22:09):
well.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
What age range are your students From?
Three years.
Speaker 7 (22:14):
We start from three years.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
And how old do they go?
Speaker 7 (22:17):
We start from three years up to 27.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
You have all the way up to 27?
Yes, and you have 200 students.
Yes, wonderful.
Okay, and Susanda Bandezi, whydon't you say your name and tell
us a little bit about yourself,please?
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Oh, hi everyone.
My name is Susanda Bandezi.
I'm the co-founder of A's inthe School of Dance in South
Africa.
My sister studied at the school.
She opened the school.
I was working at that time Infact, I had lost my job, my
first job and then she called mewhen she opened the studio.
(22:52):
She was like okay, sis, I wantto do this with you.
Can you come?
Because I was home in theEastern Cape yes, in the rural
areas, my parents home.
So she called me to come to thecity with her to help her with
the studio.
And then we just rent thestudio together.
(23:15):
We've been running it since2015.
It's been going good.
We are here today.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, that's very exciting, you guys are a long
way from home.
We have already had a greatinterview with Paula Brown, but
why don't you just reintroduceyourself, in case people haven't
heard your episode?
Speaker 8 (23:34):
Yes, thank you, sally .
I am Paula Brown, founder andartistic director of the Paula
Brown Performing Arts Center,home of the Brown Ballerinas,
and we are in Prince George'sCounty, maryland.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Why don't you talk to us about how you met these
lovely women from South Africa,how you got connected?
Speaker 8 (23:53):
Yes, I met Susanda and Ezyncle on Instagram.
Susanda found me, she went tomy Brown Ballerinas page and she
sent me a DM and she said shewould be interested in having a
conversation with me regardingtheir girls in South Africa, as
they were looking for some typeof a connection with getting
(24:15):
more technique for their dancersand we started the relationship
.
This was during COVID and wehad Zoom calls.
We were faithful weekly meetingon Zoom and I would just share
with them different things aboutclassical ballet and diversity
and inclusion in classicalballet and some of the things we
(24:35):
go through in America as balletdancers and just some of the
things that they could do,develop some tools to start
getting their girls trainedclassically.
And it became a mentoringrelationship.
I mentored them for over two anda half years and here we are,
almost three years later.
They are in America, usa, forthe first time.
(24:59):
Everything was just aligned.
God aligned everything from theKennedy Center offering me the
residency, with the socialimpact program that they have,
and then knowing these ladies inSouth Africa.
So I feel like this is a truesocial impact and using
classical ballet as the tool tobring us all together, and so we
(25:19):
now have this cultural exchangebetween South Africa and
America, and I have the BrownBallerinas USA and now we're
talking about developing BrownBallerinas South Africa.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I love how you met on Instagram and one of my big
reasons for having this podcastis to help people not be afraid
and just that reach out right.
I'll bet you were a littlenervous to make it, but you did
it because you wanted to.
You had some desire to learnsomething and you connected.
(25:52):
And who knew that?
That one message would lead youthree years later to this
country and the Kennedy Center?
I mean, I just think that's sofascinating and I hope that
young people hear it and ithelps them get over those little
hurdles of fear and try to dothings that they're maybe
(26:13):
hesitant to reach out, like whocares?
If the person doesn't answeryou, you know, but if they do,
it could be something amazingthat you never dreamed of.
Speaker 7 (26:26):
I remember when my sister called me saying I found
this lady on Instagram, and sheresponded you know.
So we need to talk aboutfinding a way, if we can meet
her, take our kids to the UnitedStates.
I was like how do we know it's?
Speaker 1 (26:44):
legit.
What if?
Speaker 7 (26:44):
it's a scam.
What if it's human trafficking?
You know, and then until we wegoogled her.
We went on Google and we likeno, this person is actually big
and she's doing a good work.
And then we started to do theonline.
She was mentoring us and thentrust that it there.
(27:07):
And then everything we hear now.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
So what's your experience been here?
What's been the most surprisingthing that you've encountered
since you've been here?
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Well, it's a culture shock, mostly because the things
that are like even in the sideof dense it's not like ours in.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
South.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
Africa.
So we are learning a lot.
We are learning a lot when itcomes to techniques, when it
comes to discipline.
Yeah, we are learning.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Tell me what is so different in the technique and
the discipline.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
Yeah, because with us we were doing a different, like
ballet and a regi.
Yes, and now, when we come hereand now we have to learn the
techniques and veganova.
Speaker 7 (28:01):
So it's like that and the discipline as well.
Speaker 5 (28:07):
Oh, our dancers, I have to just say it like they
are not disciplined, now theyare learning.
They learn a lot to be,disciplined in class because
when it comes to like, okay, nowyou have to sit like this, now
you have to not stand like this.
You know to walk like this, tohave a posture, you know things
(28:30):
like that because all thedancers they just they are
dancers in the studio when theyget inside out of the studio
there's no posture anymore.
Speaker 7 (28:38):
You can walk like that you cannot say that's a
ballerina outside only when theyare inside.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
How do they like the discipline?
I'll bet some are a littleshocked and maybe not loving it,
and I'll bet some are reallyeating it up.
Speaker 7 (28:54):
That's my guess the first week was very tough for
them.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
It was hard they were crying.
Speaker 7 (28:59):
Oh yeah, yeah it was hard for them but after the show
on Friday they were so happy itpaid off.
Their hard work really paid off, because with us in South
Africa, if you can't do it, thenyou know you get to be in a
comfort zone.
You don't force yourself.
(29:19):
And then here you, you have todo it, you gotta do it like they
are very, very straight when itcomes to techniques, and we are
even shocked that our dancerscan do this.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
So you're learning that your dancers can do more
than you thought they could doyes, even the parents back at
home.
Speaker 7 (29:40):
When they see the videos they are like are you
sure, south African dancers, arethey?
Speaker 5 (29:45):
Are you?
Speaker 7 (29:47):
sure they are part of the group because they thought
they're going to be able toidentify them on stage, that oh,
we can see those ones fromSouth Africa just by the way
they are dancing.
But now they have changed a lotin just two weeks.
That's fantastic.
In just two weeks.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
So at first they were crying, they probably felt
overwhelmed, yes, but then itsounds like they got empowered
and they realized what theyactually can do.
So that is going to help themto know that they can do even
more than they think they can,right now.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Yeah, that's true, because when they came they were
on the phone because me I camelater.
The first week I was not here.
I came on the second week, sothey called me.
Some of the dancers like Idon't think these people they
love us yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
They love us Please.
Speaker 5 (30:39):
They are so harsh.
You know things like that.
I was like when I came, I waslike OK, guys, I think you need
to just relax, do what you aretold to do and then we'll see.
But now, after they show, whenthey saw themselves on stage,
they were like wow we are sohappy we are so happy.
We've worked so hard.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
And they realized that there are other ways to be
loved.
When you empower somebody to gopast their comfort zone and
you're a little tough on themthat's the best kind of love in
my opinion it's the best.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
Yeah, it was the best .
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I was going to ask you what you learned from this
program, from your students, butI think you already told me
yeah, how about it, Yves?
But what about you, Paula?
What are you learning from allof the students?
Speaker 8 (31:28):
I am learning the importance of how technique and
training can make any dancer andall dancers become one.
As they said they came here, ofcourse it was a cultural shock.
Of course when we go there it'sgoing to be the same, but it's
(31:50):
one thing about dance and itsuniversal language and its tool
and its teaching it allows everydancer to become one.
Like they said, when they lookat the videos you can't
differentiate an American from aSouth African.
They all look the same and theydid that.
(32:10):
They're speaking of the firstintensive, which was in Prince
George's County, maryland.
They're speaking of thatopportunity and that intensive.
And so we had some of the bestteachers, from dance moms,
anthony Burrell to Alvin Ailey,company member Christopher
Huggins to an aerialist that waswith Universal Soul Circus, and
(32:32):
just a lot of differentbackgrounds, top tier, high
level professionals.
And so the cultural shock tothem was, of course, like they
said, the discipline, becausedance requires that level of
discipline if you want toachieve and be where you see
yourself dreaming to be HenceBrown Ballerina's dream big.
(32:54):
Because I always believe, asdancers, that there's something
inside of a child that theydream about seeing themselves.
They don't have to be the nextMisty Copeland.
But they may just seethemselves on stage or see
themselves in a sparkly tutu, orsee themselves in a tiara or
see themselves on Broadway.
They could see themselvesanywhere.
(33:15):
That's why I developed BrownBallerina's dream big, because I
wanted to allow them to havethat dream come to life.
And then, with the SouthAfrican girls as well, they get
a double portion they get danceand USA experience.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
How did Brown Ballerina's dream big and you
coming to this country getstarted and why did you think it
was an important program tohave?
Speaker 8 (33:42):
For myself in being in America, and especially
during COVID, we were dealingwith a lot of systemic racism
and diversity and inclusion, andso that just became really big
during COVID because of some ofour American social issues that
were happening.
So within that it was just agood time.
(34:05):
As a black woman only beingtrained in classical ballet,
that's all I know, that's all Iever did.
I just thought the timing wasjust so perfect to get the
message out there that we, asblacks and African-Americans, we
want to study classical ballet.
We have been, but how can weget the support?
(34:28):
How can we get people tounderstand that we love the art
as well?
And so having Susanda and hernickname is Z coming from South
Africa, it just really added tothe whole vision of creating
Brown Ballerina's dream bigWanting to have these girls.
I mean, you can't get any moresocially diverse by having them
(34:53):
come from South Africa and thencoming here over to America.
And they're beautiful girls,they have beautiful aesthetics,
their bodies, everything aboutthem lines up with this
classical ballet technique.
And so having those girls andthen my American girls and just
the cultural exchange and then,more importantly, definitely not
(35:16):
the least, but on the top, theKennedy Center, Jane.
Just somehow in her heart, shehad sent me an email Because
this had been something that hadbeen going on in me for a long
time.
I almost feel like I'm in tearsright now because this has been
like five, six years.
I grew up at the Kennedy Center.
I danced with New York CityBallet at 10 years old.
I auditioned with hundreds oflittle girls.
(35:37):
I was one of two black girlsthat got to dance with New York
City Ballet mid-summer night'sdream.
I did dance theater of HarlemDid Suzanne Ferrell's workshops
here, and so I always said thatI would love to have a program
here, Because I see I dance withthe ALE company, I see them
come here and do programs, I seeArthur Mitchell doing programs.
(35:58):
I said one day I want to have aprogram here and Jane had
reached out to me and justwanted to know what are some of
the things you want to do?
What's going on with you?
And I opened up and I sharedwith her.
I said I want to have a balletprogram here one day.
And here we are this day, noteven knowing the extent or the
privilege of having these girlscome from South Africa.
(36:20):
The Kennedy Center, it all tiedin, but it definitely had a lot
to do with the timing of wherewe are in the world today.
The door just opened so freelyand I'll have to tell you the
Kennedy Center, just the supportand the love and everything
that the Kennedy Center has beengiving me and the girls with
(36:40):
this program has been great.
I wouldn't expect anything lessbut it really really has been
like top notch, just wonderfuland it's just so rewarding and
I'm just so happy to be a partat this time and I feel very
honored and privileged to beable to share my vision and
(37:01):
dream at this time with BrownBallerina's Dream Big at the
Kennedy Center.
It's pretty fantastic.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
It's awesome, it really is.
Speaking of social issues,would you guys like to talk
about the social issues that arehappening right now in South
Africa and how they compare towhat's happening in our country?
Speaker 7 (37:21):
I can say in South Africa the only thing we are
experiencing as dancers there isracism still exist in South
Africa and especially in thedance industry and the black
community.
So there are people who areprofessional, who can actually
(37:45):
give techniques to our kids, butbecause when they hear it's a
black owned company and thennobody is showing interest, you
know Like it's happening.
It's happening, there are goodpeople and then there are those
who are like unfortunately,there's nothing I can do, I
can't help.
And then when the same personwho is not a black person wants
(38:09):
the same help, and then theygive it to them just like that.
So that is why me and my sisterwe're like we can, actually you
can get the help, but itdoesn't mean like you can't just
relax just because you cannotget the help in your own country
.
There are people out there whocan actually help you, because
(38:32):
when you need help you do.
We've been, especially aftershe found Miss Paula and she saw
what she's doing on her pageand then we saw her dancers and
everything and we're like wedon't have to really focus here.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
You had something you wanted and you weren't going to
take no for an answer, whetheryou had to go to a different
country.
However, you had to get it.
You clearly are great teachersbecause you want the best for
your students no matter whereyou have to go to get that.
Unfortunately, you had to gofar, but you are obviously
(39:12):
changing things everywherebecause your students are going
to become the next teachers inSouth Africa and the next
dancers.
This will spread.
I mean, look at what hashappened in a short amount of
time.
Imagine what will happen in thenext five to 10 years.
I really applaud you forreaching out and making the
(39:34):
efforts on behalf of yourstudents to give them the very
best.
Yes, that's pretty awesome,thank you.
What do you think your studentshave gained that they will take
back?
Speaker 7 (39:46):
Apart from the techniques and discipline, I can
add self-confidence, yes, andbelieving that the name Brown
Palerinas, it's very meaningful,it has a very big meaning.
Believing that you can do it,yeah, I think that that's what
(40:06):
they are going to learn as well.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
Yeah, and you've shown them.
Don't let anything stop you.
Speaker 5 (40:13):
Yes, Even coming here at the Kennedy Center.
Kennedy Center is big.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (40:18):
It's big, it's like a dream.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 5 (40:22):
Also for them as well .
I'm sure they will never forgetthis experience.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
No, they will never.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
Yeah, Definitely.
And again, just being here, itshows them that you can go
anyway everywhere.
You can knock to any door.
As long as you are standing upfor yourself, you will get
whatever you want.
Nobody knew that you will behere at the Kennedy Center.
We've never went in the biggesttheaters in South Africa, but
(40:53):
now we are at the Kennedy Center.
That is like big, it's reallybig, it is huge.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
Now that you've been connected and you've been
working together, you're talkingabout having the Brown
Palerinas become part of theSouth Africa program.
Why don't you talk more aboutthat and how that can work?
Speaker 8 (41:13):
Just by the ladies being here, as they said, it's
been so empowering.
So many doors have opened, somany people have come to them.
It's just been phenomenal.
And so we decided that, as welook towards the future and me
having the Brown Palerinastrademark and brand here, we
(41:37):
decided that we would have theBrown Palerinas South Africa,
and so what that would look likeis having the opportunity.
Of course, as the girls camehere this summer, we will go
there for their summer, and sosummer intensive here and summer
intensive there, and so theirsummer is in January.
(41:59):
So our next summer intensivewill be in January in South
Africa.
And just seeing how, in timelike you said, five to 10 years
of just expanding this, puttingtogether a six Americans and six
South African girls as atouring company for people to
see these girls and in what theyhave to offer.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
Thank you so much for talking to us today on the
Dance Studio podcast.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (42:27):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Thank you so much.
This episode is brought to youby Mix Tape Studios, a full
service recording studio onlineat mynewmixtapecom, a one stop
shop for all your recital andcompetition music editing needs.
Welcome Dance Studio owners anddance teachers.
(42:51):
We are here with Hope Dimmons,and she is the ambassador from
South Africa for the BrownBallerinas Dream.
Big Welcome, hope.
Thank you, can you tell us,hope, how old are you?
Speaker 6 (43:06):
I'm 15.
I'm turning 16 next month.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
Next month you're going to be 16.
And you're here at the KennedyCenter participating in the
Brown Ballerinas Dream BigIntensive.
Can you tell us how that's beengoing and what you like about
it?
Speaker 6 (43:20):
It's been going well, pretty intense.
Speaker 1 (43:24):
That's why they call it an intensive.
Speaker 6 (43:27):
Actually they've been some ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (43:29):
It's definitely outside of my comfort zone, but
what I love is that I've learnedso much from the intensive
Thank you for being so honestabout the ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
Let's start with the ups.
Tell us the best things.
Speaker 6 (43:42):
So the ups have been meeting all the different
teachers, meeting all thedifferent students, learning
different dance styles andworking together and learning
new things.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
What have the challenges been?
Speaker 6 (43:55):
Sometimes it is difficult for me to keep up with
the choreographies and I'm alsokind of a little bit sensitive.
So too much criticism, I get abit emotional.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
I understand that's a big hurdle for a lot of dancers
, especially when they're notused to it.
And I was talking to theteachers of your studio when you
weren't here and we were sayinghow it's really a gift when
somebody is hard on a studentbecause they're empowering them
to be stronger, and sometimesit's hard to see that when
(44:31):
everybody's been gentle to youso far, and especially if you're
sensitive.
So have you seen that gift orare you still kind of figuring
that out?
Speaker 6 (44:41):
So far I have, I've been able to adjust.
It's getting better, like everyday.
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Do you feel empowered ?
Speaker 6 (44:49):
Sometimes I do really feel empowered.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Do you feel that your teachers are trying to give you
something?
Speaker 6 (44:56):
Yes, that definitely.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
And do you appreciate that?
Speaker 6 (45:01):
I do.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Yeah, good, good, because nobody ever is being
hard.
Well, that's not true.
Some people are just mean, butmostly good.
Dance teachers are hard ontheir students because they want
so badly for them to do whatthey know they can do.
Speaker 6 (45:19):
Yes, that is true, yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
What do you think you've learned here that you're
going to take back with you?
Speaker 6 (45:27):
It's OK to make mistakes and I've gotten more
stronger, so I'm definitelytaking that strength with me
when I go back home.
And also how to retaindifferent choreographies quicker
.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
I've learned how to retain everything much quicker
than I usually do Tell me how todo that, because I'm not real
great at that.
Speaker 6 (45:53):
So the most important thing is paying attention to
detail.
The more detail you can pick up, the better it is when you're
retaining and also practicing.
Practicing makes permanent.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
So watching closely not daydreaming while you're
being taught and then practicinga lot.
Yes, and you're stronger.
How do you think you gotstronger?
Speaker 6 (46:17):
From them being hard on me.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
And how will you keep that strength up?
Speaker 6 (46:22):
Remembering that it's criticism.
It's meant to help me, it's notpersonal.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
Right.
So you're going to go back andyou're going to have to be hard
on yourself?
Yes, and there's a way to behard and tough on yourself, but
you also need to be kind toyourself.
Some people go too far and theyjust beat themselves up over
and over again, where you haveto be strong with yourself but
(46:51):
also very kind.
Does that make sense?
Yes, I hope that you'll staykind as you're being tougher on
yourself in the future.
Am I making any sense?
No, I understand Good.
So this is called BrownBallerina's Dream Big.
What dreams did you have whenyou were little about your
(47:14):
future?
Speaker 6 (47:15):
When I was younger, I really wanted to do theater
like acting, dancing, singing,everything and I feel like I'm
getting a step closer towardsthat dream.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
Does this program feel like it's helped?
You see that that's morepossible.
Speaker 6 (47:31):
Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
So what path were you shown that now you will take,
that you didn't know aboutbefore?
Speaker 6 (47:38):
From this part of speaking to us, and the
different teachers that youbrought to us, who have already
accomplished my dream.
It was yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
When you see someone else that has done it, you
realize oh they did it, I can doit if it's been done right.
And when you do something thatnobody else has ever done, then
you make that possible for otherpeople.
So how long have you beendancing?
Speaker 6 (48:06):
I've been dancing since 2014, but I joined as in
Go School of Dance in 2016.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
And what kind of dance have you been doing and
what is your favorite?
Speaker 6 (48:17):
My favorite is jazz, mainly jazz.
After that comes ballet andcontemporary, but I've sort of
been swapping through thosegenres through the years and you
see how much ballet helps.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
Jazz, yes, ballet is a must.
Speaker 5 (48:36):
Right.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
So when you hear the title, brown Ballerina's Dream
Big and I understand it's goingto be coming to South Africa
what does that mean to you?
How does that make you feel?
Speaker 6 (48:47):
It makes me feel excited because it opens a lot
of doors and opportunities toyoung black girls who want to
dance.
Speaker 1 (48:55):
Thank you so much Hope for being with us today.
It was really a pleasure havingyou on our podcast.
Speaker 6 (49:00):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
Thanks for listening and don't forget.
Please rate and review thisshow and share it with a friend.
Welcome to the second season of the Dance Studio
podcast.
This podcast is for dancers,teachers, dance moms and
especially dance studio owners.
In the first season, we coveredtopics like scoliosis, eating
disorders and point shoereadiness, along with several
episodes on different dancecareer paths and awesome dance
(00:21):
programs for you and your dancestudents.
In the second season, you cancount on hearing from Tony Award
winners, american BalletTheater teachers, competition
judges and so much more.
The Dance Studio podcast fansare loving the information this
podcast provides.
Take it from season one guest.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Jennifer Moleto.
My name is Jen Moleto and I ama former student of Sally's, now
dancing professionally atDisney.
As well as teaching dance as acollege professor, sally has
been my mentor through my entiredance career.
What I love about her and herpodcast is that she is not only
willing to be completely openabout everything that she has
(01:00):
learned in her career, but sheis also so curious about what
others have learned in theirunique experience, and she wants
to share all of it with herlisteners.
There is a reason why I havestuck with Sally all of these
years she is committed toadvocating for the success of
the dance community.
If you are a studio owner,teacher, dancer or aspiring to
(01:23):
be any of those things, do notmiss this podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
And now we kick off season two with a special
episode recorded on site inWashington DC at the Kennedy
Center, with several fabulousdancers and dance teachers.
Hello, dance teachers.
We are here at the KennedyCenter today with Jane Raleigh
and she's the director of danceprogramming here at the Reach
(01:48):
and she's going to talk to usabout the Reach and Brown
Ballerina's dream big, intensive.
Welcome, jane.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Thank you so much for having me, sally.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Oh, you're welcome.
Thank you for doing this withus today.
Can we start with a little bitabout you and how you got your
job here at the Reach as adirector of dance programming?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, sure.
So my name is Jane Raleigh.
I'm the director of danceprogramming for the Kennedy
Center.
I've worked at the Centeralmost 10 years now, starting as
an intern many years ago in oursocial impact office, which at
the time was called PerformingArts for Everyone.
So I got my start in that team,spent about a year in our group
sales office and then movedover to dance programming,
(02:30):
working on logistics and projectmanagement to bring dance
companies to the Kennedy Centerand present them on our stages,
and in 2022 I received the roleof director of dance programming
and in that role, I have thecuratorial responsibility for
our ballet series at the KennedyCenter and I work with my team
(02:52):
of three full-time staff tofully produce and execute all of
our dance and ballet offeringsat the Center.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
That's amazing.
I hope all the young people arelistening and heard the intern
part.
Can we start talking about thata little bit?
What would you say helped youto stand out as an intern and
continue to get hired and moveup the ranks?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Great question.
I think when I came to theKennedy Center as an intern, I
did not understand what artsadministration was, what the
actual nuts and bolts of doingthe work looked like behind the
scenes.
I had grown up as a dancermyself and was always on stage,
but definitely did not realizethe depth of work and time and
effort that was going in on theadministrative side to make all
(03:39):
the shows happen at the end ofthe day.
So when I came here as anintern, my eyes were open to all
of that behind the scenes workand it was just really exciting
to me.
So I think, honestly, what mademe stand out was my nerdiness
and love for dance and Irealized for the first time that
all of the stuff I was doingartists I was following on
Instagram videos, I was watchingbehind the scenes in my off
(04:02):
time dance classes, I was takingarticles, I was reading all of
that suddenly was professionaljob knowledge that I just
thought was things I liked to dofor fun and that has continued
to drive me in my work here.
I love that.
The things that I love in mylife are also the things that
contribute to my work.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Again, that is so interesting and everything that
I believe in that somebody mighttell you you're wasting your
time following all these dancersand reading everything.
Nobody ever did that to you.
When we're allowed to doexactly what we enjoy, whether
anyone thinks it's important ornot, it so often turns into a
career and that's so fun when itdoes.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
I always say that everyone who works at the
Kennedy Center has a secret artthat they practice or that they
follow or that they love behindthe scenes, which just
contributes to a reallygenerative and passionate group
of employees here at the Center.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
That's great.
Let's start with talking to usabout the reach, so tell us
everything you can about how itstarted and why it's here.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, the reach is the Kennedy Center's expansion
campus.
We opened it in September of2019, right before the pandemic
shut us down for a little whilebut it really was opened and
created and designed as a wayfor us to peel back the curtain
on the formality of the KennedyCenter, to let audiences see
what process looks like, to letaudiences and general public
(05:31):
understand that the work of theartist doesn't start when they
step on the stage.
It starts many, many monthsyears before when they enter the
studio or the classroom or thatworking space for meetings.
So everything in the reach isdesigned to be process centered
and there's basically verylittle privacy here.
Everything is built withbeautiful glass windows, so
(05:53):
there's lots of opportunity forpeople wandering through to look
in on the studio and seeartists at all levels at work.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Why don't you talk to us about the Brown Ballerinas
dream, big, intensive that'shappening this week.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yes, we've been so delighted to work with Paula
Brown and the Brown BallerinasThrough our social impact
program.
Here at the Kennedy Center wehave a program called the
Community Partnerships Programand each genre of programming
myself leading the dance programwe have a community partner and
this year the dance communitypartner is Paula Brown and the
(06:27):
Brown Ballerinas and so we'vebeen working with Paula this
entire season on what she wouldlike to do with the Kennedy
Center to amplify her own workwith the Brown Ballerinas and
she brought forward this idea ofthe intensive.
So this week, monday throughFriday, we are hosting the Brown
Ballerinas as part of oursocial impact office hours
(06:48):
residency program.
So it's a five day residency,monday through Friday in Studio
F at the Reach.
They get 10 am to 6 pm in thestudio to work and dance
together.
And this week has been reallyspecial because Paula has
brought us some of her localBrown Ballerinas students and
also a group of South Africanstudents who have come for an
(07:11):
international exchange with theBrown Ballerinas.
So the classes and intensivethis week is a blending and a
cultural exchange between DCdancers and South African
dancers.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's great.
I actually just found out.
I didn't realize this, but frommy dance studio that I just
sold, we have her name'sHeavenly.
She's here.
Oh wonderful, I'm so happyabout that.
Tell us what you mean when yousay social impact.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yeah, the Kennedy Center has a social impact
department, but we also think ofsocial impact as a set of ideas
.
We often refer to it as apedagogy which is a word I'm
sure dance teachers know well asocial impact pedagogy that
underlies all of the work thatwe do here at the center.
So a lot of the work of oursocial impact team and our
(07:57):
pedagogy is about empoweringcommunity members and community
leaders who are already doingthe work here in DC, giving them
opportunities, resources,pathways for them to take their
own power and show the KennedyCenter community what they're
doing in their parts of the DCarts world.
So that's really what thecommunity partnership is really
(08:19):
about is having the KennedyCenter identify leaders that we
see already doing excellent workin the community and helping
amplify that work here on ourcampus.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
It's just reminding me of why I started this podcast
, because when I was a youngdancer, young dance teacher, all
of these things seemed a littleintimidating to me, and it's so
nice to just be sitting here atthe Kennedy Center and realize
that your goal is to reach outto the community and to empower
them and amplify their strengths.
(08:51):
And sometimes people are sointimidated by the Kennedy
Center they wouldn't know how towork with you.
So I'm glad we're highlightingthis so that people can see that
this exists and that you havethe goal of helping them.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Absolutely.
I think one of the cool thingsI've noticed this week with
Paula Brown is we often, throughthe Kennedy Center, have
opportunities for young dancersto participate in the Nutcracker
or other story balletsthroughout the year and I've
seen and met some of herstudents when they come to
audition, because Paula sendsher students to the audition.
So as I was checking girls inon the first day of this
(09:29):
intensive, I noticed somestudents that I recognized and
who've been in our casts before.
So it's moments like that whereI realize we're doing a nice
job of having that cycle wherewe're now able to pour resources
into the Brown Ballerinas andsupport Paula's work and then,
as a result, paula continuesthat cycle of sending her
talented dancers to us Toamplify our productions on the
(09:51):
stages here.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
So beautiful.
Yeah, thank you so much, jane.
It was such a pleasure talkingtoday about the reach.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yes, thanks for coming to the reach and talking
to some of our artists.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
I'm so happy to be here.
All right, thank you.
Hello dance teachers and dancestudio owners, we're here today
with Dior Brown, and she's theUnited States Ambassador of
Brown Ballerinas.
Welcome, dior, thank you.
It's so great to be here.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Tell us how old you are, dior.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I am 13 years old.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
You're 13 years.
Looks so mature and gorgeous.
I would have guessed you weremuch older than that.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Thank you, I get that a lot, you do.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
So how long have you been dancing, dior?
Speaker 4 (10:36):
I've been dancing since I was seven and that's
exactly how long I have been atMs Paula's studio.
Ms Paula was my first balletteacher and I remember being in
class on Saturday from 10 to 12in ballet in the studio and it
was just amazing because I hadbeen dancing.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
That's what I wanted to do so when you were seven and
you took your first class fromMs Paula on Saturday morning.
Tell me how that felt.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
So I don't Really remember my first class.
I just remember being in classon Saturdays.
But I remember being at the barand I would always have my hand
on the lower one because I wasshorter than and my pink leotard
and my pink little cover-up fordance and my tiara and my bun,
because it was always mandatoryfor us in our uniform to have a
(11:23):
tiara in our bun.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
And you like that.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I do.
I still have my tiara to thisday.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So you had a good experience.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
I did, I did, it was nice.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And so you've been dancing for several years now.
What do you like most aboutdance?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
I think it's just a way for me to express myself and
just be me, like put mypersonality into.
I guess steps or movement thatwill be my career later on,
because I do want to become aprofessional dancer.
So dance has always been like apathway for me to express the
creative side of what I have tooffer.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
What is one of your big dreams?
Speaker 4 (12:03):
I think one of my big dreams just to be in the
entertainment industry.
But I feel like dance is goingto be one of the pathways to be
in there.
Like I would love to be onBroadway, hopefully in the Lion
King.
I know they're playing here atthe Kennedy Center now, so
hopefully I'll be able to havethe chance to come back here and
perform.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Wow, and do you do other things besides dance?
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Yes, so I am really big on musical theater as well.
I did a show for my school twoyears in a row the first year
was frozen and I was Elsa, andthis year was the Adams family
and I was Morticia.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
And what is your school?
Speaker 4 (12:42):
I go to St Stephen, st Agnes School in Alexandria,
virginia.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Oh, that's a wonderful school it is.
So tell us about thisexperience here at the Kennedy
Center.
Is this your first time everparticipating in an intensive or
a workshop at the KennedyCenter?
Speaker 4 (12:59):
It is not my first time participating in a workshop
for the Kennedy Center, becauseI did a workshop with my
friends from the studio a fewmonths back when Alvin Ailey was
here.
Yeah, and we learned weight inthe water.
I've been beauts, all kind oftheir revelations dances,
signature dances and I'd likedit here at the Kennedy Center.
(13:20):
I think it's nice.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
It's like you're home away from home now, yes, okay,
so tell me about the BrownBallerinas Dream Big program and
what you're learning this week.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So this week Brown Ballerinas Dream Big.
It is focused on classicalballet and brown and black girls
focusing on classical balletand help building their
technique.
I have had the chance to betaught by Ms Nardiabadoo and Mr
Troy Brown.
They are both amazing teachers.
(13:52):
Mr Troy was my first pointteacher, so I've known him for a
while.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Oh, so what is your favorite thing that you've
learned this week?
Speaker 4 (14:02):
All of it.
It's definitely nice to go backto the basics and start from, I
guess, where you've started,just to make sure you have a
really good grasp of theunderstanding.
Now that you're older, you'reable to put your own spin on it
or give a bit more personality,but still kind of find the
foundation of what you need todo to dance.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I know exactly what you mean.
It's very important to gobackwards and do it with a
mature mind.
What have you learned this weekthat you think you'll take with
you back to your own studio?
Speaker 4 (14:34):
I think just practicing more and making sure
that every time that you aredancing, you're always
constantly thinking about whatneeds to happen.
Does this need to rotate?
Does this need to straightenand just training your mind and
your body to conform to how youneed to dance or how it needs to
work to make moves look betteror good?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
For all that to come together and work seamlessly
right.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Yes, and I'll definitely find many more things
to stay when I do dance.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
That's right.
Does being here help you tofeel like your dreams of being
on Broadway or in theentertainment business?
Does it feel more possibleafter?
Speaker 4 (15:16):
this week.
Oh, definitely, I feel like I'mone step closer to being in a
company a ballet company,contemporary ballet company just
to kind of get the trainingfrom people who have been in
companies, who do have thatexperience.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
So it's serving its purpose.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
It is, it is.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I know St Stephen, st Agnes, is an excellent school,
and what grade are you in?
Speaker 4 (15:37):
I am a rising freshman.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Okay, so you're going into high school.
How many days a week do youdance at the?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
studio.
So I'm at the studio Mondaythrough Thursday, probably at
least two hours a day, and Iknow the school day ends at
three o'clock and I don't gethome till five because I ride
the bus.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
So and then what time do your classes start at the
studio?
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Monday they start at 7.15, kind of end around
nine-ish, eight-thirty-ish.
Tuesday they start at six andend at eight-thirty, maybe nine,
and then Wednesday and Thursdaythey're from seven to nine.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Where do you fit in your homework and how do you
balance your schoolwork, andwhat kind of student are you?
Speaker 4 (16:24):
So I like to try and balance homework with kind of
being social, like during lunchbreaks, maybe just study breaks
we have during the day.
I'll try and get as muchknocked out as I can and because
I'm on the bus for a while inthe morning and the afternoon, I
like to try and get it donethen.
And yes, I still have a lot ofhomework to do when I get home,
(16:45):
but it's not as much as it wouldhave been.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Do you think that your dance discipline helps you
to be able to zone in on yourstudies when you're on the bus?
I mean because that would bevery distracting to a lot of
people.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Yeah, I think so.
I think it's also themotivation of I don't want to be
too overwhelmed when I wake up,or when, I go home so that I
can just go home and rest.
So doing it on the bus andhaving that motivation of going
to dance and having fun, I thinkthat that kind of pushes me to
keep on going with what I'mdoing.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Do your parents say that if your grades slip, you
won't be allowed to dance?
Do they give you any ultimatumslike that?
Speaker 4 (17:27):
No, my parents definitely encourage me to do my
best, and if my best is whathappened or that grade, I mean
they'll just say, okay, maybe wecan help you.
Let's find a way to help youand see what you need to work on
.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So you have fantastic parents.
I do I do, and a fantasticschool and a fantastic dance
studio.
Yes, and so you're able tobalance all of these things, it
sounds like, because you enjoythem and you want to make sure
that they work, so you fit themin.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
I do, I do, I enjoy what I do.
I mean sometimes in school it'snot always do zero breeze, but
I mean I love to learn and Ilove where I'm learning.
So I think that trying to fitthat with what I love to do
period or what I want to do whenI grow up, it's a bit better to
fit those things togetherbecause it's what I want to do,
(18:19):
it's what I like to do.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
That's fantastic.
I got some news from your danceteacher that you have so many
awards in school and in danceand competitions.
You seem to be very modest, butI love it if you'd share some
of those awards with us and letpeople know how fabulous you are
.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Yes, so at the end of the year, every year, my school
does awards.
I only know this for the middleschool One of the kind of
citizenship awards are justcontributing to the school and a
better place to it.
I won it two years in a row.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
And then this year I was, I guess, the first student
to represent the Paula BrownPerforming Arts Center in the
Brown Ballerinas in acompetition, Universal Ballet
competition, and I won thirdplace and on top of that, they
gave out scholarships and I gota 50% tuition scholarship to
Ballet Hispanico.
Wow, so I will be leaving in aweek.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Real congratulations.
Thank you, that's fantastic.
How long is the intensive?
Speaker 4 (19:25):
So the intensive is three weeks, but I decided to go
the last two.
I think they do kind of aculmination after every week
because there's so many studentscoming in and out, because
you're not required to go justfor three weeks.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
That's great.
I like that they give you theoption.
Sometimes they don't, so that'swonderful.
So you got to do all of you gotto do Alvin A Lee.
You got to do Brown BallerinasDream Big at the Kennedy Center.
You're going off to BalletHispanico and I am going to
predict that you're going tohave other awards and other
successes in your life, becauseyou seem like a very driven and
(20:04):
enthusiastic, hardworking youngwoman.
Well, thank you.
Well, thank you so much forbeing with us, dior.
It was a pleasure having you onour podcast.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
Thank you for having me.
I enjoyed being on a podcast.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I wish you all the luck in the future.
I thank you.
Our studio uses Akeda softwareand we absolutely love it.
If you want to take control ofeverything from employees to
parents, costume ordering toregistration, try Akeda today.
If you don't love it, theywon't charge you a thing.
(20:39):
Go to akadasoftwarecom.
Akada Softwarecom to inquireabout your free trial today.
Welcome Dance Studio owners anddance teachers.
We are here at the KennedyCenter today for the week of
Brown Ballerina's Dream BigIntensive, and I am fortunate
(21:03):
enough to be sitting here withPaula Brown and I'm also with
Susanda Bandezi and Zee Ezentil.
I probably didn't pronouncethose perfectly, but I hope
you'll forgive me and let youcan pronounce them yourself when
you introduce yourself.
How about you go first, zee,and why don't you give us your
(21:24):
name and tell us just a littlebit about yourself?
Speaker 7 (21:27):
My name is Zinke.
I'm the owner of the School ofDance in South Africa.
I started dancing when I wasvery young.
We attended school inFerrena-Keng School of Ballet,
so that's where I did myteachers course as well and I
(21:48):
opened the school in Pretoria,south Africa, along with my
sister she's gonna tell herstory as well and we have over
200 students up to date and wedo ballet, we do lyrical, we do
contemporary and we do hip-hopand we give music classes as
(22:09):
well.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
What age range are your students From?
Three years.
Speaker 7 (22:14):
We start from three years.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
And how old do they go?
Speaker 7 (22:17):
We start from three years up to 27.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
You have all the way up to 27?
Yes, and you have 200 students.
Yes, wonderful.
Okay, and Susanda Bandezi, whydon't you say your name and tell
us a little bit about yourself,please?
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Oh, hi everyone.
My name is Susanda Bandezi.
I'm the co-founder of A's inthe School of Dance in South
Africa.
My sister studied at the school.
She opened the school.
I was working at that time Infact, I had lost my job, my
first job and then she called mewhen she opened the studio.
(22:52):
She was like okay, sis, I wantto do this with you.
Can you come?
Because I was home in theEastern Cape yes, in the rural
areas, my parents home.
So she called me to come to thecity with her to help her with
the studio.
And then we just rent thestudio together.
(23:15):
We've been running it since2015.
It's been going good.
We are here today.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, that's very exciting, you guys are a long
way from home.
We have already had a greatinterview with Paula Brown, but
why don't you just reintroduceyourself, in case people haven't
heard your episode?
Speaker 8 (23:34):
Yes, thank you, sally .
I am Paula Brown, founder andartistic director of the Paula
Brown Performing Arts Center,home of the Brown Ballerinas,
and we are in Prince George'sCounty, maryland.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Why don't you talk to us about how you met these
lovely women from South Africa,how you got connected?
Speaker 8 (23:53):
Yes, I met Susanda and Ezyncle on Instagram.
Susanda found me, she went tomy Brown Ballerinas page and she
sent me a DM and she said shewould be interested in having a
conversation with me regardingtheir girls in South Africa, as
they were looking for some typeof a connection with getting
(24:15):
more technique for their dancersand we started the relationship
.
This was during COVID and wehad Zoom calls.
We were faithful weekly meetingon Zoom and I would just share
with them different things aboutclassical ballet and diversity
and inclusion in classicalballet and some of the things we
(24:35):
go through in America as balletdancers and just some of the
things that they could do,develop some tools to start
getting their girls trainedclassically.
And it became a mentoringrelationship.
I mentored them for over two anda half years and here we are,
almost three years later.
They are in America, usa, forthe first time.
(24:59):
Everything was just aligned.
God aligned everything from theKennedy Center offering me the
residency, with the socialimpact program that they have,
and then knowing these ladies inSouth Africa.
So I feel like this is a truesocial impact and using
classical ballet as the tool tobring us all together, and so we
(25:19):
now have this cultural exchangebetween South Africa and
America, and I have the BrownBallerinas USA and now we're
talking about developing BrownBallerinas South Africa.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I love how you met on Instagram and one of my big
reasons for having this podcastis to help people not be afraid
and just that reach out right.
I'll bet you were a littlenervous to make it, but you did
it because you wanted to.
You had some desire to learnsomething and you connected.
(25:52):
And who knew that?
That one message would lead youthree years later to this
country and the Kennedy Center?
I mean, I just think that's sofascinating and I hope that
young people hear it and ithelps them get over those little
hurdles of fear and try to dothings that they're maybe
(26:13):
hesitant to reach out, like whocares?
If the person doesn't answeryou, you know, but if they do,
it could be something amazingthat you never dreamed of.
Speaker 7 (26:26):
I remember when my sister called me saying I found
this lady on Instagram, and sheresponded you know.
So we need to talk aboutfinding a way, if we can meet
her, take our kids to the UnitedStates.
I was like how do we know it's?
Speaker 1 (26:44):
legit.
What if?
Speaker 7 (26:44):
it's a scam.
What if it's human trafficking?
You know, and then until we wegoogled her.
We went on Google and we likeno, this person is actually big
and she's doing a good work.
And then we started to do theonline.
She was mentoring us and thentrust that it there.
(27:07):
And then everything we hear now.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
So what's your experience been here?
What's been the most surprisingthing that you've encountered
since you've been here?
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Well, it's a culture shock, mostly because the things
that are like even in the sideof dense it's not like ours in.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
South.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
Africa.
So we are learning a lot.
We are learning a lot when itcomes to techniques, when it
comes to discipline.
Yeah, we are learning.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Tell me what is so different in the technique and
the discipline.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
Yeah, because with us we were doing a different, like
ballet and a regi.
Yes, and now, when we come hereand now we have to learn the
techniques and veganova.
Speaker 7 (28:01):
So it's like that and the discipline as well.
Speaker 5 (28:07):
Oh, our dancers, I have to just say it like they
are not disciplined, now theyare learning.
They learn a lot to be,disciplined in class because
when it comes to like, okay, nowyou have to sit like this, now
you have to not stand like this.
You know to walk like this, tohave a posture, you know things
(28:30):
like that because all thedancers they just they are
dancers in the studio when theyget inside out of the studio
there's no posture anymore.
Speaker 7 (28:38):
You can walk like that you cannot say that's a
ballerina outside only when theyare inside.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
How do they like the discipline?
I'll bet some are a littleshocked and maybe not loving it,
and I'll bet some are reallyeating it up.
Speaker 7 (28:54):
That's my guess the first week was very tough for
them.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
It was hard they were crying.
Speaker 7 (28:59):
Oh yeah, yeah it was hard for them but after the show
on Friday they were so happy itpaid off.
Their hard work really paid off, because with us in South
Africa, if you can't do it, thenyou know you get to be in a
comfort zone.
You don't force yourself.
(29:19):
And then here you, you have todo it, you gotta do it like they
are very, very straight when itcomes to techniques, and we are
even shocked that our dancerscan do this.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
So you're learning that your dancers can do more
than you thought they could doyes, even the parents back at
home.
Speaker 7 (29:40):
When they see the videos they are like are you
sure, south African dancers, arethey?
Speaker 5 (29:45):
Are you?
Speaker 7 (29:47):
sure they are part of the group because they thought
they're going to be able toidentify them on stage, that oh,
we can see those ones fromSouth Africa just by the way
they are dancing.
But now they have changed a lotin just two weeks.
That's fantastic.
In just two weeks.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
So at first they were crying, they probably felt
overwhelmed, yes, but then itsounds like they got empowered
and they realized what theyactually can do.
So that is going to help themto know that they can do even
more than they think they can,right now.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Yeah, that's true, because when they came they were
on the phone because me I camelater.
The first week I was not here.
I came on the second week, sothey called me.
Some of the dancers like Idon't think these people they
love us yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
They love us Please.
Speaker 5 (30:39):
They are so harsh.
You know things like that.
I was like when I came, I waslike OK, guys, I think you need
to just relax, do what you aretold to do and then we'll see.
But now, after they show, whenthey saw themselves on stage,
they were like wow we are sohappy we are so happy.
We've worked so hard.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
And they realized that there are other ways to be
loved.
When you empower somebody to gopast their comfort zone and
you're a little tough on themthat's the best kind of love in
my opinion it's the best.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
Yeah, it was the best .
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I was going to ask you what you learned from this
program, from your students, butI think you already told me
yeah, how about it, Yves?
But what about you, Paula?
What are you learning from allof the students?
Speaker 8 (31:28):
I am learning the importance of how technique and
training can make any dancer andall dancers become one.
As they said they came here, ofcourse it was a cultural shock.
Of course when we go there it'sgoing to be the same, but it's
(31:50):
one thing about dance and itsuniversal language and its tool
and its teaching it allows everydancer to become one.
Like they said, when they lookat the videos you can't
differentiate an American from aSouth African.
They all look the same and theydid that.
(32:10):
They're speaking of the firstintensive, which was in Prince
George's County, maryland.
They're speaking of thatopportunity and that intensive.
And so we had some of the bestteachers, from dance moms,
anthony Burrell to Alvin Ailey,company member Christopher
Huggins to an aerialist that waswith Universal Soul Circus, and
(32:32):
just a lot of differentbackgrounds, top tier, high
level professionals.
And so the cultural shock tothem was, of course, like they
said, the discipline, becausedance requires that level of
discipline if you want toachieve and be where you see
yourself dreaming to be HenceBrown Ballerina's dream big.
(32:54):
Because I always believe, asdancers, that there's something
inside of a child that theydream about seeing themselves.
They don't have to be the nextMisty Copeland.
But they may just seethemselves on stage or see
themselves in a sparkly tutu, orsee themselves in a tiara or
see themselves on Broadway.
They could see themselvesanywhere.
(33:15):
That's why I developed BrownBallerina's dream big, because I
wanted to allow them to havethat dream come to life.
And then, with the SouthAfrican girls as well, they get
a double portion they get danceand USA experience.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
How did Brown Ballerina's dream big and you
coming to this country getstarted and why did you think it
was an important program tohave?
Speaker 8 (33:42):
For myself in being in America, and especially
during COVID, we were dealingwith a lot of systemic racism
and diversity and inclusion, andso that just became really big
during COVID because of some ofour American social issues that
were happening.
So within that it was just agood time.
(34:05):
As a black woman only beingtrained in classical ballet,
that's all I know, that's all Iever did.
I just thought the timing wasjust so perfect to get the
message out there that we, asblacks and African-Americans, we
want to study classical ballet.
We have been, but how can weget the support?
(34:28):
How can we get people tounderstand that we love the art
as well?
And so having Susanda and hernickname is Z coming from South
Africa, it just really added tothe whole vision of creating
Brown Ballerina's dream bigWanting to have these girls.
I mean, you can't get any moresocially diverse by having them
(34:53):
come from South Africa and thencoming here over to America.
And they're beautiful girls,they have beautiful aesthetics,
their bodies, everything aboutthem lines up with this
classical ballet technique.
And so having those girls andthen my American girls and just
the cultural exchange and then,more importantly, definitely not
(35:16):
the least, but on the top, theKennedy Center, Jane.
Just somehow in her heart, shehad sent me an email Because
this had been something that hadbeen going on in me for a long
time.
I almost feel like I'm in tearsright now because this has been
like five, six years.
I grew up at the Kennedy Center.
I danced with New York CityBallet at 10 years old.
I auditioned with hundreds oflittle girls.
(35:37):
I was one of two black girlsthat got to dance with New York
City Ballet mid-summer night'sdream.
I did dance theater of HarlemDid Suzanne Ferrell's workshops
here, and so I always said thatI would love to have a program
here, Because I see I dance withthe ALE company, I see them
come here and do programs, I seeArthur Mitchell doing programs.
(35:58):
I said one day I want to have aprogram here and Jane had
reached out to me and justwanted to know what are some of
the things you want to do?
What's going on with you?
And I opened up and I sharedwith her.
I said I want to have a balletprogram here one day.
And here we are this day, noteven knowing the extent or the
privilege of having these girlscome from South Africa.
(36:20):
The Kennedy Center, it all tiedin, but it definitely had a lot
to do with the timing of wherewe are in the world today.
The door just opened so freelyand I'll have to tell you the
Kennedy Center, just the supportand the love and everything
that the Kennedy Center has beengiving me and the girls with
(36:40):
this program has been great.
I wouldn't expect anything lessbut it really really has been
like top notch, just wonderfuland it's just so rewarding and
I'm just so happy to be a partat this time and I feel very
honored and privileged to beable to share my vision and
(37:01):
dream at this time with BrownBallerina's Dream Big at the
Kennedy Center.
It's pretty fantastic.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
It's awesome, it really is.
Speaking of social issues,would you guys like to talk
about the social issues that arehappening right now in South
Africa and how they compare towhat's happening in our country?
Speaker 7 (37:21):
I can say in South Africa the only thing we are
experiencing as dancers there isracism still exist in South
Africa and especially in thedance industry and the black
community.
So there are people who areprofessional, who can actually
(37:45):
give techniques to our kids, butbecause when they hear it's a
black owned company and thennobody is showing interest, you
know Like it's happening.
It's happening, there are goodpeople and then there are those
who are like unfortunately,there's nothing I can do, I
can't help.
And then when the same personwho is not a black person wants
(38:09):
the same help, and then theygive it to them just like that.
So that is why me and my sisterwe're like we can, actually you
can get the help, but itdoesn't mean like you can't just
relax just because you cannotget the help in your own country
.
There are people out there whocan actually help you, because
(38:32):
when you need help you do.
We've been, especially aftershe found Miss Paula and she saw
what she's doing on her pageand then we saw her dancers and
everything and we're like wedon't have to really focus here.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
You had something you wanted and you weren't going to
take no for an answer, whetheryou had to go to a different
country.
However, you had to get it.
You clearly are great teachersbecause you want the best for
your students no matter whereyou have to go to get that.
Unfortunately, you had to gofar, but you are obviously
(39:12):
changing things everywherebecause your students are going
to become the next teachers inSouth Africa and the next
dancers.
This will spread.
I mean, look at what hashappened in a short amount of
time.
Imagine what will happen in thenext five to 10 years.
I really applaud you forreaching out and making the
(39:34):
efforts on behalf of yourstudents to give them the very
best.
Yes, that's pretty awesome,thank you.
What do you think your studentshave gained that they will take
back?
Speaker 7 (39:46):
Apart from the techniques and discipline, I can
add self-confidence, yes, andbelieving that the name Brown
Palerinas, it's very meaningful,it has a very big meaning.
Believing that you can do it,yeah, I think that that's what
(40:06):
they are going to learn as well.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
Yeah, and you've shown them.
Don't let anything stop you.
Speaker 5 (40:13):
Yes, Even coming here at the Kennedy Center.
Kennedy Center is big.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (40:18):
It's big, it's like a dream.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 5 (40:22):
Also for them as well .
I'm sure they will never forgetthis experience.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
No, they will never.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
Yeah, Definitely.
And again, just being here, itshows them that you can go
anyway everywhere.
You can knock to any door.
As long as you are standing upfor yourself, you will get
whatever you want.
Nobody knew that you will behere at the Kennedy Center.
We've never went in the biggesttheaters in South Africa, but
(40:53):
now we are at the Kennedy Center.
That is like big, it's reallybig, it is huge.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
Now that you've been connected and you've been
working together, you're talkingabout having the Brown
Palerinas become part of theSouth Africa program.
Why don't you talk more aboutthat and how that can work?
Speaker 8 (41:13):
Just by the ladies being here, as they said, it's
been so empowering.
So many doors have opened, somany people have come to them.
It's just been phenomenal.
And so we decided that, as welook towards the future and me
having the Brown Palerinastrademark and brand here, we
(41:37):
decided that we would have theBrown Palerinas South Africa,
and so what that would look likeis having the opportunity.
Of course, as the girls camehere this summer, we will go
there for their summer, and sosummer intensive here and summer
intensive there, and so theirsummer is in January.
(41:59):
So our next summer intensivewill be in January in South
Africa.
And just seeing how, in timelike you said, five to 10 years
of just expanding this, puttingtogether a six Americans and six
South African girls as atouring company for people to
see these girls and in what theyhave to offer.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
Thank you so much for talking to us today on the
Dance Studio podcast.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (42:27):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Thank you so much.
This episode is brought to youby Mix Tape Studios, a full
service recording studio onlineat mynewmixtapecom, a one stop
shop for all your recital andcompetition music editing needs.
Welcome Dance Studio owners anddance teachers.
(42:51):
We are here with Hope Dimmons,and she is the ambassador from
South Africa for the BrownBallerinas Dream.
Big Welcome, hope.
Thank you, can you tell us,hope, how old are you?
Speaker 6 (43:06):
I'm 15.
I'm turning 16 next month.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
Next month you're going to be 16.
And you're here at the KennedyCenter participating in the
Brown Ballerinas Dream BigIntensive.
Can you tell us how that's beengoing and what you like about
it?
Speaker 6 (43:20):
It's been going well, pretty intense.
Speaker 1 (43:24):
That's why they call it an intensive.
Speaker 6 (43:27):
Actually they've been some ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (43:29):
It's definitely outside of my comfort zone, but
what I love is that I've learnedso much from the intensive
Thank you for being so honestabout the ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
Let's start with the ups.
Tell us the best things.
Speaker 6 (43:42):
So the ups have been meeting all the different
teachers, meeting all thedifferent students, learning
different dance styles andworking together and learning
new things.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
What have the challenges been?
Speaker 6 (43:55):
Sometimes it is difficult for me to keep up with
the choreographies and I'm alsokind of a little bit sensitive.
So too much criticism, I get abit emotional.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
I understand that's a big hurdle for a lot of dancers
, especially when they're notused to it.
And I was talking to theteachers of your studio when you
weren't here and we were sayinghow it's really a gift when
somebody is hard on a studentbecause they're empowering them
to be stronger, and sometimesit's hard to see that when
(44:31):
everybody's been gentle to youso far, and especially if you're
sensitive.
So have you seen that gift orare you still kind of figuring
that out?
Speaker 6 (44:41):
So far I have, I've been able to adjust.
It's getting better, like everyday.
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Do you feel empowered ?
Speaker 6 (44:49):
Sometimes I do really feel empowered.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Do you feel that your teachers are trying to give you
something?
Speaker 6 (44:56):
Yes, that definitely.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
And do you appreciate that?
Speaker 6 (45:01):
I do.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Yeah, good, good, because nobody ever is being
hard.
Well, that's not true.
Some people are just mean, butmostly good.
Dance teachers are hard ontheir students because they want
so badly for them to do whatthey know they can do.
Speaker 6 (45:19):
Yes, that is true, yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
What do you think you've learned here that you're
going to take back with you?
Speaker 6 (45:27):
It's OK to make mistakes and I've gotten more
stronger, so I'm definitelytaking that strength with me
when I go back home.
And also how to retaindifferent choreographies quicker
.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
I've learned how to retain everything much quicker
than I usually do Tell me how todo that, because I'm not real
great at that.
Speaker 6 (45:53):
So the most important thing is paying attention to
detail.
The more detail you can pick up, the better it is when you're
retaining and also practicing.
Practicing makes permanent.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
So watching closely not daydreaming while you're
being taught and then practicinga lot.
Yes, and you're stronger.
How do you think you gotstronger?
Speaker 6 (46:17):
From them being hard on me.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
And how will you keep that strength up?
Speaker 6 (46:22):
Remembering that it's criticism.
It's meant to help me, it's notpersonal.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
Right.
So you're going to go back andyou're going to have to be hard
on yourself?
Yes, and there's a way to behard and tough on yourself, but
you also need to be kind toyourself.
Some people go too far and theyjust beat themselves up over
and over again, where you haveto be strong with yourself but
(46:51):
also very kind.
Does that make sense?
Yes, I hope that you'll staykind as you're being tougher on
yourself in the future.
Am I making any sense?
No, I understand Good.
So this is called BrownBallerina's Dream Big.
What dreams did you have whenyou were little about your
(47:14):
future?
Speaker 6 (47:15):
When I was younger, I really wanted to do theater
like acting, dancing, singing,everything and I feel like I'm
getting a step closer towardsthat dream.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
Does this program feel like it's helped?
You see that that's morepossible.
Speaker 6 (47:31):
Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
So what path were you shown that now you will take,
that you didn't know aboutbefore?
Speaker 6 (47:38):
From this part of speaking to us, and the
different teachers that youbrought to us, who have already
accomplished my dream.
It was yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
When you see someone else that has done it, you
realize oh they did it, I can doit if it's been done right.
And when you do something thatnobody else has ever done, then
you make that possible for otherpeople.
So how long have you beendancing?
Speaker 6 (48:06):
I've been dancing since 2014, but I joined as in
Go School of Dance in 2016.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
And what kind of dance have you been doing and
what is your favorite?
Speaker 6 (48:17):
My favorite is jazz, mainly jazz.
After that comes ballet andcontemporary, but I've sort of
been swapping through thosegenres through the years and you
see how much ballet helps.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
Jazz, yes, ballet is a must.
Speaker 5 (48:36):
Right.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
So when you hear the title, brown Ballerina's Dream
Big and I understand it's goingto be coming to South Africa
what does that mean to you?
How does that make you feel?
Speaker 6 (48:47):
It makes me feel excited because it opens a lot
of doors and opportunities toyoung black girls who want to
dance.
Speaker 1 (48:55):
Thank you so much Hope for being with us today.
It was really a pleasure havingyou on our podcast.
Speaker 6 (49:00):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
Thanks for listening and don't forget.
Please rate and review thisshow and share it with a friend.
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