S2E5 - What's the Deal with Dancing?

In this episode, Mr. B sits down to talk with Harper Weaver and Kendall Kirby about their favorite hobby, dancing. They provide information on what type of dancing they do, where they started, the different competitions, and how to get started in dancing. We hope you enjoy this podcast, and please don't forget to embrace your inner weirdo this holiday season!

Episode Transcript

(00:09):
So here's the problem with getting episodesout faster. It kind of raises expectations,
you know what I'm saying, Likepeople start thinking, oh, well,
he's going to be able to turnthese episodes out once a week.
Again, No, not happening,but just so happens. I had some
other people lined up so I'm ableto get a new episode to you that

(00:29):
much quicker. Welcome in, everybodyto the number one GT podcast in the
state of Arkansas, the only podcast that has the nerve, the audacity,
and the unmitigated goal to just comeright down and ask, hey,

(00:49):
what's your deal. My name isMichael Bridges. I am the GT and
the AP coordinator here at the AlmaSchool District in Alma, Arkansas, and
I want to welcome you to ournext episode, which again I've turned around
rather quickly, released one on Monday, releasing one today on Friday. I
wish I could turn these down alot quicker. It's just kind of hard

(01:11):
with my schedule. You know,it's a one man show. So I'm
trying to do everything I can toget these episodes out as quickly as I
can to you. Not a lotof updates to give you, just remember
we've got AGIT coming up in February. Definitely parents, you know, if
you're looking for a group to joinAGIT, if you've got gifted kids and

(01:32):
you're in the state of Arkansas,AGOT is a great organization for you to
join. They've got tons of resources, they do webinars all the time,
and they're getting ready to do thisconference in Hot Springs, of which again
I will be presenting on philosophy,teaching philosophy to elementary school students, and
I'm also running for Region three directorthere. So hey, you know,
if you stop by the conference inHot Springs in early February and you want

(01:57):
to kind of you know, giveme a vote, appreciate it. Great
to be back with you again.I have two young ladies on this podcast
episode for you, and they wantto come on and talk to you about
dancing and how long they've been doingit, why they do it, the
competitions, the different things involved,and just give you some information on some

(02:20):
of their interests. Again, I'mhoping that as you're coming and you're listening
to these podcasts, you know,and listening to these GT students or GT
involved people as it were, thatI invite on the show that you are
getting a better grasp what it meansto be GT and everything that goes along
with it. So again, Ihave two guests, Harper Weaver and Kendall

(02:43):
Kirby, and they are here totell you exactly what their deal is.
Enjoy all right, So we arehere with Kendall Kirby and Harper Weaver.
Ladies, how are you doing today? I'm doing great? Yeah, same,
I'm doing pretty good. You're doinggood. Hey, you're missing class,
so that's like a good thing,right, Yeah, totally might be

(03:05):
missing your poll out here in justa little bit though, So yeah,
that's okay. We can we canget you back in time though, or
at least maybe a little bit later. So why don't you go ahead and
tell the audience a little bit aboutyourself? So, Kendall, why don't
you tell us a little something aboutyourself. My name is Kendall Kirby,
and I have been a Spelling Beefinalist two years in a row. Two
years in a row. That's right. You were Spelling be finalists in third

(03:28):
grade, right, yes, anda Spelling B finalist this year. So
you will be competing next week inthe school wide spelling be Yeah. Very
good speller, very good speller,very true. Harper Weaver, why don't
you tell us a little bit aboutyourself? Okay, I'm Reallyanda ruviks q
Ye. Yes, I went withyou last year. That is true.

(03:51):
Harper was one of the few youngladies that went with us last year.
As a matter of fact, shewas only one of two people that went
in third grade. She was graveenough to come in and try out and
stand in front of me and haveto solve a Rubik's cube while I sat
there and stared at her. Wereyou nervous? Kind of yeah? I
have that effect on people at sometimes. All right, ladies, I don't

(04:12):
think we came to talk about spellingbees and Rubik's cubes today, So why
don't you inform the listening audience whatis your deal? Ladies? Today?
We plan on talking about dancing,dancing, square dancing, no, not
not square dancing, break dancing kindof but not exclusively breakdancing, not exclusive,

(04:34):
exclusively different categories. Do you,guys clog? You don't even know
what clogging is, do you?Okay? Never mind, that's that's like
kind of goes with square dancing andstuff, but probably not clogging. Okay,
So dancing, How when did youguys start dancing? I started dancing

(04:56):
like at my house. Huh.It was two and then my mom saw
me and she's me up for classeswhen I was three, and I've been
dancing ever since. Okay, okay, So how many years would that be?
Like seven? Seven or eight years? Okay? All right, Harper?
How about you? When did youstart? I started dancing about like
when I was like three years old? Uh huh. I really enjoyed dancing

(05:19):
at my house and I tried danceclasses and I really enjoyed it. Okay.
So and this is this is kindof off topic, off the off
the script, but like, isthere any particular music you like dancing to
more than others? I like dance, honestly, I don't have a specific

(05:40):
type of music I like dancing to, like dancing to a lot. Yeah,
how about you, Harper, anyanything that you like specifically like dancing
to? Not really? I reallylike all the categories, all the categories.
So, like, I mean,do you not like like even classical
stuff? Do you guys do thatlike? Or is it more like hip

(06:00):
hop beat that kind of stuff wedo? Like class by classic will do
me? Like slow piano stuff likethat, okay, and then we do
do like hip hop and stuff hiphop with beats and stuff like that,
different dance moves. Okay. Sowhy why do you guys dance? I

(06:21):
honestly really really enjoy it. Mh. It's it's like one of to
me, like the smile. It'sone of my most like my one of
the top sports that I most enjoy. Okay. Do you play a lot
of sports like two or three?Maybe like four? Okay, but dancing

(06:42):
is probably your favorite thing that you'reinvolved in. Would you say, yeah,
kind of yeah, kind of kindof okay. So, Kenda,
why do you dance? I dancebecause it's a way for me to like
express my emotions and it's a wayfor me to make friends. H huh.
So have you made a lot offriends dancing? Did you guys become
friends because you danced? Me becamefriend friends because we were classmates in first

(07:05):
grade? Okay, And we've likewe've talked to each other and really like
became friends and we just stuck togetherthe rest of Are we bonded kind of
have a lot in common? Yes, Well, you're both weird, so
you know you've got that in commonimentyou should, you should, you know,

(07:25):
coming from me, that's always acompliment. So, okay, we
talked about hip hop, We talkeda little bit about classical. What kind
of other dances do you do?I mean, are there like different types
of dances that you do or there'slike lyrical hip hop, creepy, there's
like a lot of creepy dance.Creepy dance. Are we talking like Michael

(07:48):
Jackson thriller stuff here or what?What? What's creepy dance? Like stalkers?
Yeah, we do like stalkers clownor like dolls? Yes, what
like horror dance? I have neverheard of this this So is it like

(08:09):
specifically like Halloween kind of or doyou is it like it's really like kind
of random stuff like dolls? Yeah, just really like we want to impress
the judgment, uh huh on howlike little we are and how we can
do stuff like that, right,I want to let the judges say,

(08:31):
like something that they've never seen.Of course. Yeah, I think that's
I think that's a big thing forjust about everything you kind of you kind
of do. So there are differentcompetitions in everything, right, Yes,
So where do you guys, Like, when you compete, for the most
part, where do you compete?Do you compete here locally or do you
go There are a lot of differentplaces where we can compete, Like we

(08:52):
competed in Tulsa. Have you evencompeted in Branson? Okay? So when
you compete, do you oh,do you compete as individuals or do you
compete with like your dance troup?Dance team? I've never had a solo
so with like okay, okay?And are you both involved in the same

(09:13):
troop? Yeah, on the sameteam? Okay. Yeah, there's the
there's a lot of different dances anda lot of those dances have a different
amount of people in it, sosometimes we're not in the same dance okay,
but most of the times are thesame dances. So have either of
you ever done like solo competition ordo you always do like with the with

(09:35):
the partner or with a group.I'm always with a group. Do you
have the option of doing solo ifyou wanted to? You they get to
pick what you do, like ifyou audition and then they choose if you're
I wouldn't say good enough okay,but but it's kind of like it's kind
of like acting. They kind ofpick you for the role that you would
be best at, like, Okay, this person would be good with another

(09:56):
ensemble, and this person's really goodwhen they're they're by themselves and doing their
thing, yes, okay, allright. They kind of go by like
who you are, similar to uhhuh that dance? Okay, all right,
good deal. So when you compete, how do you compete? How
has it scored? Exactly? Thejudges mainly score you on like how well

(10:18):
you're dancing and how like clean itis, Like they don't want you to
be sloppy because your dance teachers giveyou that core or like they choreograph that
dance for you because they think you'llbe good at it, Like you don't
they you don't want to, likehow do I put that? You don't
want to like go on stage andlike lose it, Like you don't want

(10:39):
to be a total be a totalslob and not not coordinated. So like
they're judging your movements like yeah,I mean is it down? Is it
down intricately enough to where it's likethey're looking where your hands go and everything
like that and making sure you knowyour your motions are fluid. If you
guys can't see it, I'm dancing. I'm just putting on this show right
now. So they also like scoreon how our acting is and how we're

(11:05):
playing our character that like facial expressionsthings like that. So but if you're
not doing anything, they're gonna scoreit lower than they could have. Okay,
it's kind of like reading with expression, Like you don't like to keep
it what you want to like jazzit up a little bit. Okay,
So do you guys get nervous whenyou compete sometimes? But once you like

(11:30):
so like this is my third yearor like with competitive dancing, and like
once you've done it for a while, you won't be as nervous as Okay,
how about you kindle the same thing? Oh yeah, pretty much.
I feel the same way she does. Yeah, I think, like I
know that, Like my job's publicspeaking half the time, so I used

(11:50):
to. I still get really nervous, but it's like a good nervous energy
like kind of propels me to dobetter and actually kind of makes me better.
Is that kind of what you guyshave? You get a little nervous,
but it like helps helps a littlebit. Yeah, Like you go
on stage and you're like freaking outright, and then you go and you
come off stage and you're like Iwant to do that again. Oh yeah,

(12:11):
yeah yeah, you kind of getthat rush. Yeah, absolutely so
I did already ask what's your favoritetype of dance? So there isn't one
in particular you like more than another, or one style that you like,
Like what's what's maybe? How aboutthis? What's your favorite thing you've ever
performed in? Like your favorite dancethat you've ever done. There was this

(12:35):
dance. There was this dance inmy first year. It was my trio
with three people. Kindle was alsoin it, so it was me,
Kindle, one other persona and itwas called The Nanny and it was based
off the show called The Nance.I remember The Nanny. Yeah, so

(12:56):
I really enjoyed that. It waslike a jazzy and like I can t
I could tell people really enjoyed itand it was really funny. Yeah,
so so it was like a humorouswhen it wasn't a creeptastic horror, no
nasty little dancing clown thing. Right, Okay, how about you, Kendall,
would you say that was your favoritetoo? Or did you have a
different one? I think my favoritewould have been a dance I performed last

(13:20):
year called Pirates of the Night.Uh huh. It's kind of one of
those creepy dances. Okay, Sodid you like dress up as like a
pirate? Yeah, we had likeour we had our clothes riped, dumb.
It was super so you got yougot like So for these different competitions
or they're like costumes and everything youhave to put on and your dance teachers

(13:41):
decide which costume fits best for thisdance. Uh huh. And sometimes your
costumes are the same and sometimes they'redifferent. Okay. For the Nanny,
I had to wear a whole wigbecause I was the nanny. You were
the nanny. Yeah, my hairwas like not even close to the color,
so I had to wear a wig. Nice. Nice. So oh,
I forgot what I was gonna say. So, is there is there

(14:05):
like lighting and stuff when you guysdance, they have like light shows or
do you just kind of get upthere on the stage and it's up to
you to just perform. Well,they mainly like put the light. They
at competitions they set the lighting toa certain setting. Okay, but sometimes
at recitals they your dance teachers cantell the person that's running the lighting,

(14:28):
Hey, when these people come on, I want you to put this certain
lighting on. Okay, okay,Kendall, basically same thing. Okay,
all right, So here's here's aquestion for you, Kendell. You can
answer this one. First. Let'ssay there's a girl out there and she's
listening right now, and she likelikes what you guys are saying, is
like, hey, I might wantto dance. What what kind of advice

(14:48):
can you give her? What doesshe what does she need to do?
Uh uh for before you like,audition for something like watch videos, practice
at home for you go an auditionmm hm, and make sure you have
fun while you do it. Okay, all right, Harper, how about
you anything any advice you could givethe Like a young lady that's out there

(15:11):
and maybe decides she wants to trydancing, What could she do? I
would tell her to try once thisyear and if she makes the team,
good job. And if she doesn't, maybe if she wanted to, she
could try again next year. Butif she didn't, if she hadn't made
the team that year, then shedidn't have to try out again. That
was just for her to try andif she did make the team, I

(15:31):
would hope that she enjoys the restof this yearon Okay, all right,
So yeah, and another thing isI guess you guys could recommend the studio
that you're a part of. Couldyou give people the name of the studio
that you guys? Dance with me? Dance at the Artist Stream movement right
next to the Old Harps also knownas I'm Collective. Oh yeah, okay,
and same for you, Harper.That's that's where you're at as well,

(15:52):
dancing together. Okay, all right, cool deal, Well, thank
you, ladies. I appreciate allthat information. So now, as I
told you, you have to doif you come on the show, you
have to do a shout out.So this is kind of something where you
want to be. You want tothank the people that have kind of helped
you get to where you are,maybe somebody who's helped you through something.
So I think you've got a coupleof people, right, Do you have
the same people or different people?I'm okay, okay, So Kendall,

(16:18):
let's let let's let you go first. Who are the people that you have
that you want to give a shoutout to? And why I want to
give a shout out to my wholefamily, Miss Kelly and miss Bree.
Okay, Miss Kelly and miss Burry. Okay, who are Miss Kelly and
Miss Bree? They are. MissKelly is the studio owner and she helps
me a lot. Okay, samewith Miss Bree. She helps me a
lot. Okay, good deal?All right? So your family and Miss

(16:41):
Kelly and miss Burrie Harper. Yes, I would like to thank my family,
Miss Kelly and Miss Brey, becausewithout them I would not be here
doing this place. Okay, allright, so we're both thinking family and
miss Kelly and miss Bree. Correct. All right, So everybody, this
shout out is for you. Shoutout there we go. It's not it's
not as impressive. We'll give themanother shout out there, shout out.

(17:03):
It's a little a little, alittle bit better than just going out on
that one time. All right,ladies, anything else that you'd like to
maybe tell us about dance? Isthere anything that we left off? I
think we kind of hit it right. Yeah, didn't exactly ask us what
our favorite type of dance was.You just asked us what our favorite type
of music to dance was. Oh, Okay, so what is your favorite

(17:26):
type of dance. I really likethe category of contemporary m m, yes,
I really like that, okay.And contemporary dance is like more modern
music, hip hop type stuff,kind of kind of like it's kind of
like classical, but not like it'smore sad. Yeah, it's more sad.

(17:51):
It's sad, it's emotional. Idon't know why I like it,
but like, I just okay,it's easier for me to dance, okay,
kindle. I like hip hop andjazz. Hip hop and jazz.
Yeah, hip hop's pretty cool.I've got some former students that do hip
hop, and like these quiet littlegirls that I never would have suspected get
out there and start dancing, andI'm like, oh my gosh, where

(18:14):
did they learn about like that?It's pretty impressive that hip hop is definitely
definitely impressive. All right, ladies, Well, I definitely appreciate you coming
on and telling people about dance,and who knows, you might have influenced
some young lady to start dancing.She might be your competition next time.
You didn't think about that, didyou? I know? The plot thickens?

(18:40):
All right, Well, I don'twant to keep you from learning any
more than we already have, soI'm gonna go ahead and get you back
to class. So thank you somuch for showing up today. Ladies, come get