38. from Dandruff Danny on Hannah Montana to dancing at the McKittrick Hotel with Jack Taylor

38. from Dandruff Danny on Hannah Montana to dancing at the McKittrick Hotel with Jack Taylor

This episode wrecked me a little, in the best way. I went into this conversation thinking I was catching up with someone whose childhood I half remember from Disney Channel, and I came out of it talking about identity, injury, and what it actually means to rebuild yourself twice. Jack Taylor played Dandruff Danny on Hannah Montana before most of us even knew what a career in entertainment could look like, and somehow that is the smallest part of his story. He trained at Debbie Allen Dance Academy, danced his way through a kinesiology degree, and eventually ended up dancing at the McKittrick Hotel, the building behind Sleep No More, performing in a late night immersive show most people have never even heard of. We have known each other for years and this still felt like meeting him for the first time. What we actually get into is harder than any of that. Jack has broken his body twice now, once years ago and once very recently, and both times it forced the same terrifying question. Who are you when the thing you built your whole identity around stops working. We talk about stripping his ego away from his art, what his kinesiology background taught him that his own injuries still humbled him on, and why musical theater is pulling him back in ways contemporary dance never did. If you have ever tied your worth to one title, one role, one version of yourself, and felt the floor disappear when it shifted, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me 👇🏼🤍 Instagram: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby TikTok: @potentiallygabby Find Jack here👇🏼 Instagram: @jackatac TikTok: @officialdandruffdanny

37. early career moves, dance companies & being a part time New Yorker: how to make a dance career work without burning out with Erzsi Bernath

This episode felt less like recording a podcast and more like exactly what it is. Two WMU alums who haven't had a real sit-down in way too long, finally doing it on mic. If you haven't met Erzsi yet, she's the kind of person who stayed at her studio alone through her entire junior and senior year of high school when everyone else quit, paid off her student loans in months by taking a second job on the cruise ship, and somehow still shows up with more self-awareness than most people twice her age. She's danced everywhere from Royal Caribbean to Odyssey Dance Theater to Bridgerton, and she currently splits her time between Chicago and New York while running 13 convention weekends a year with West Coast Dance Explosion. We get into what the cruise ship world actually looks like from the inside, and why she thinks it might be one of the smartest financial moves a dancer can make right out of college. We talk about what it means to build a career that doesn't look like everyone else's, and why she stopped being ashamed of that. We talk about the all-or-nothing mentality that dance trains into you and how hard it is to shake. And then we get into the heavier stuff. Health challenges that have put her plans on hold in ways she didn't see coming, watching the Tonies recaps from her couch, and grieving the career you thought you'd have while still showing up for the one you do. Her reframe on that is one I haven't stopped thinking about. If you're a dancer trying to figure out what it looks like to keep going when the timeline you planned stopped working, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me 🤍 Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby Find Erzsi here 🤍 Instagram: @erzsi_bernath

36. Rockettes, confidence & why not me: round 02 with Alli Bollinger

In today's episode, my first ever repeat guest is back and honestly, it felt less like recording a podcast and more like exactly what it is.In today's episode, my first ever repeat guest is back and it felt less like recording a podcast and more like exactly what it is. Two best friends who used to train side by side in New York, sitting down and actually telling the truth. If you haven't met Alli yet, Episode 14 is waiting for you. But if you're already a fan, you know she's one of those people who just makes you feel like everything is going to be okay. Not in a toxic positivity way, but in a "we're taking it month by month" kind of way that actually sticks. We get into what it actually felt like to move to New York City with nothing guaranteed. The money stress, the comparison trap, the fear underneath the fear that had nothing to do with dance and everything to do with just wanting to be happy. We talk about the class culture in NYC and why taking less class might actually be the thing that made both of us better. We talk about body changes and strength training as a dancer, and why your goal being to feel good is always going to beat your goal being to look a certain way. And then we get into the audition room. Imposter syndrome, confidence, and the reframe that I haven't stopped thinking about since we stopped recording: confidence is a choice, not a feeling. You don't wait until you feel it. You decide. If you're chasing something right now and you're not sure if it's going to work out, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me 👇🏼🤍 Instagram: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby TikTok: @potentiallygabby Find Alli here 👇🏼 Instagram & TikTok: @your_spoonful

35. the dancer who got a PhD instead of staying in one box with Dr. Chloe Roberts

In today's episode, I sit down with Dr. Chloe Roberts; dancer, choreographer, Steps on Broadway faculty, Cooper Union professor, and the only person I know who holds a PhD in the history of witchcraft AND just sold out an evening-length dance show in New York City. She grew up in Houston (yes, another Roberts from Texas), trained at North Harris Performing Arts Academy, and built a career that refuses to fit in one box... and she did it completely on purpose. We talk about what it was like growing up with a Broadway production stage manager dad and a dancer mom, watching Mickey Rooney in the wings as a little kid, and how she accidentally fell back in love with dance through a college club audition. We get into her dissertation "The Demonological Republic of Letters: Judges, Lawyers, and Demonologists in Early Modern Europe" and exactly how studying the judicial persecution of women in 16th century France is directly connected to the choreography she is making right now. We talk about her Fulbright year in France, her marriage falling apart while she was there alone, and why she ran to a ballet studio six days a week to survive it. Chloe opens up about the year she turned 30 and how dance was the only thing that held her together. She talks about her sold-out NYC premiere PEOPLE, how her PhD literally made her a better choreographer, why she will never ask a dancer to work for free, and what it feels like to be 34, at the peak of your career, and still auditioning for Broadway. If you are someone who has ever been told you are too much of one thing and not enough of another, or who has had to build something out of a year that tried to break you, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me 👇🏼🤍 Instagram: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby TikTok: @potentiallygabby Episode requests: kickingitrealpod@gmail.com Find Chloe here 👇🏼 Instagram: @chloerobertsdance TikTok: @chloerobertsdance Website: chloerobertsdance.com

34. the reality of auditioning, ED recovery & life on a National Tour with Lariscy Navera

In today's episode, I sit down with Lariscy Navera, a classically trained performer and national touring artist currently on the road with Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Got the Moves, to talk about what the journey of a working professional dancer actually looks like. Lariscy opens up about being diagnosed with anorexia at 13 after a single comment from a dance teacher, and what it looked like to navigate disordered eating through her teens and early 20s while trying to build a career. She talks about leaving home at 17 to train with Orlando Ballet, burning out, buying a one-way ticket to New York City, and starting completely over in a new style with no voice training and zero musical theatre experience. We get into her Royal Caribbean days, what it actually takes to close a skill gap, how her height went from obstacle to her biggest asset, and the Sesame Street story, the park in New Zealand where she let herself cry about it, and the phone call months later that changed everything. We also talk about what a great audition season looks like even when you don't book anything, having goals outside of performing, and why your journey doesn't have to look like anyone else's. If you're a dancer, a performer, or anyone who has ever had to fight for the thing they love most... this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me 👇🏼🤍 Instagram: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby TikTok: @potentiallygabby Episode requests: kickingitrealpod@gmail.com Find Lariscy here 👇🏼 Instagram: @lariscynavera TikTok: @lariscynavera