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DANCE +

DANCE +

Hosted by Dana Wilson

BusinessArtsEducation
WebsiteRSS feedInstagramYouTube

Episodes

284

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The dance podcast where movers and shakers like you get the information and inspiration you need to navigate your creative career with clarity and confidence. Master mover, Dana Wilson, taps into 20 years of industry experience, and talks to some of the best in the entertainment biz, who have been there and done that so that you don’t have to… do it alone.

Listen to episodes

60 recent
August 12, 202616 min

276. DANCE + FANTASY NIGHT

This is DANCE + Fantasy Night Coming to you LIVEish from CLI Conservatory, with a story I NEED to tell you while it’s still fresh in my mind.  It's a tribute to my acting teacher Gary Imhoff, whose class taught me that losing can be winning, and that the greatest gift we can give is to support each other in the pursuit of our wildest dreams. We explore: How Gary's class and this once-a-year tradition rewired my relationship to failure and gave me the confidence to finally call myself a choreographer The three rules of my Fantasy Night Party: no bystanders, you can't perform the thing you're known for, and everyone gets a standing ovation. What it felt like on the other side of singing all five verses of "Fast Car" in front of my friends…. I almost threw up. This one's for anyone who desires to express themself in a way they haven’t yet… Consider this your permission slip. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

August 5, 202632 min

275.5. DANCE + NICK DRAGO

This is DANCE + Nick Drago Nick Drago holds the honor of being this podcast's very first guest — Episode 0.5, the audition episode, back when I wasn't even sure this whole thing would work. A dancer, writer, and producer with 20+ years in the industry (think La La Land, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, and about a hundred more), Nick is a walking case study in "just do stuff," imposter syndrome be damned. We sat down to talk about banter as a survival skill, the many different ways to "make the sausage," and why sometimes you just have to try the thing even if it might suck. We explore: Was it false or REAL confidence that kept me going for 270+ episodes The bicep-flex technique nobody asked for, but everybody needed What Michael Rooney, Mandy Moore, and Kat Burns taught Nick about building choreography, and the attitude that keeps him in the game no matter who is calling the shots   This one's for anyone who needs a reminder that "just do stuff" is a mantra, not a mistake. Watch the full episode on YouTube Show Notes: Connect with Nick on IG  Learn more about The Seaweed Sisters Show “Weed Oh No” Listen to their episode  Listen to Mandy’s episode  Listen to Kat’s episode For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

July 22, 20261 hr 4 min

275.DANCE + MARIE SPIELDENNER

Marie Spieldenner is a self-proclaimed “substitue that stays”. She's assisted and/ or danced for todays biggest artists/ directors/ campaigns and she is a brilliant example of how supporting others can fuel support of yourself.  We sat down to talk about support systems, psychology, and all about the gig that made her unshakable on set (spoiler, it’s almost certainly not the gig you think it is). We explore: What it took to save a shot with a 40-person cast at 6 am The reward system of the entertainment industry The big-sister-little-brother dynamic with Robbie Blue that taught her the difference between feeling ready and BEING ready. This one's for anyone who needs to be reminded of their worth. Watch the episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Marie on IG  Learn more about The Seaweed Sisters Show “Weed Oh No” Listen to their episode  Learn more about Fostering Dreams Listen to Diana’s episode  Listen to Meisha’s episode  Listen to Taya’s episode For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

July 15, 202629 min

274. DANCE + THE SEAWEED SISTERS LIVE Q&A

This is DANCE + WEED OH NO! The live Q&A Most companies build a show. The Seaweed Sisters built a whole world — a language, a color-coded family, a cloud that pops out babies — and then invited an audience into their room to ask about it. Jillian Meyers, Megan Lawson and myself were joined by our Executive Producer, live at the LA Theater Center on the closing weekend of Weed Oh No! for an open Q&A with the very audience that just watched them do it — thirteen years of Blue, Pink, and Green distilled into 80 minutes of Swinglish, upcycled sets, and a cloud rig that had to be talked down from an emotional breakdown it couldn't physically perform. We explore: Why "Seaweed mode" isn't a switch any one of them can flip alone — it only exists when three sensibilities collide The luxury and terror of a year-long timeline after thirteen years of built-on-a-deadline shorties How two days of pre-tech taught them the difference between a 16-foot ladder and a 12-foot one, and saved a scene they'd already built an emotional ending around This one's for anyone who's ever wanted to invite people into their room and just play. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Donate to WEED OH NO! Watch our past episodes: Ep #15  Ep. #266 Watch Emily’s episode Watch all the Seaweed Sister’s shorties For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

July 8, 20261 hr 12 min

273. DANCE + ALAIN HURRIKANE

This is DANCE + Hurrikane Most dancers battle to win. Alain aka “Hurrikane” Lauture battles because he is in love— deeply in love— with the music, with dance, and with the practice of acceptance. Listen in on his journey from being a kid from Port-au-Prince who only danced alone, to sharing stages with Madonna, MTV, Samsung, and winning battles like Juste Debout, Hip Hop Internationals, and Summer Dance Forever. Hurrikane joined me this week to talk about stillness as dialogue, how Maya Angelou changed his mind about judgement, and why he is NOT Locking… We explore: Why he refuses to call it a battle — it's a game, it's play, it's "with" not "against" How stillness is a real-time negotiation with his own insecurities Why it took years to understand an early conversation with Don Campbellock This one's for the love of all dance, and the context that makes it sticky for generations to come. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Hurrikane on IG Listen to Toni’s episode For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

July 1, 202653 min

272. DANCE + DANIEL “CLOUD” CAMPOS: Breathing Life Into Your Work

This is DANCE + DANIEL “CLOUD” CAMPOS Most people find one creative medium and stay. Cloud Campos found dance — then learned stop-motion, animation, PLUS directing because he refused to let a story outrun his tools. He joined me this week to talk about premiering unreleased work at CLOUDFEST, real budgets, and the dog slide that had an entire room convinced it was rotoscoped. Spoiler: it wasn't. It was muscle memory. We explore: The festival Cloud built himself and WHY Why freestyle dance is the perfect training for stop-motion + why every filmmaker SHOULD learn stop-motion Emotionally, mentally, + physically what it costs to create Cloud’s worlds This one's for the makers who hide their fingerprints in the details, hoping someone will find them. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Cloud on IG Watch “Macho Man” Watch “Into The Cosmos” Watch “Hey” Watch “Todays The Day” Read “Figure It Out!” Try out “Magic Poser” For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

June 24, 202624 min

271. DANCE + REBRANDING: Know When to Pivot

This is DANCE + REBRANDING. This episode is a masterclass in when and HOW to pivot using our very own podcast as the case study. I'm telling you why, why NOW, and HOW I moved from “Words That Move Me” to DANCE +  Here’s what you can expect from our pivot: Same great content, new name, logo, iconography, and then some!  Spoiler: Rebrands are as much MIND MANAGEMENT as they are BRAND MANAGEMENT. Pivots aren’t just about new directions; they are an exercise in negotiating where you put your weight.  They're a conversation with self (inward) and a statement of self (outward) that can expose a TON of unwanted feelings.  Get ready for all the juicy details: The moment I KNEW beyond a doubt that I needed to change the name of the podcast. How Toni Basil influenced the new title.  Why I decided to SHIFT, not STOP. 271 episodes in. We're just getting (re)started. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Show Notes: Hire Bree Reetz for your Brand Design! Listen to DANCE + Will Loftis Listen to DANCE + Toni Basil For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

June 10, 202658 min

270. Bret Easterling: In J.O.D. We Trust

Bret Easterling has spent his entire life (even pre-birth!) dancing, and his entire career building worlds on stage, on screen, and inside the communities that make dance possible. A producer, Juilliard-trained and award winning choreographer, former Batsheva performer, founder of LGBTQ+ nonprofit BEMOVING, and one half of the creative duo EICHTERLING, Bret joined me this week to talk about what it actually takes to make a dance film, why the logistics always threaten to swallow the artistry, and what happens when you let something be easy. We explore: Bret’s new film “True Love Will Find You in the End”. WATCH IT HERE The Clown Car Theory of a creative process What gets cut and why, finding the ending no one planned, and what that says about following ease. Teaching as space-making: Why Bret is never really in the business of telling people what to do, and how the most important thing a teacher can do is make someone feel capable of discovering something new. This episode is for anyone who's ever let logistics push the love of the work to the back seat, and those who need a reminder that the Joy of Dance is always there, waiting. Watch the full episode here.  Show Notes: Connect with Bret on IG Watch “True Love Will Find You In the End” For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

May 27, 202654 min

269: Tali: Representation, Range, and the Right Job for You

Tali has spent 20+ years at every level of the dance world, with credits ranging from Rihanna and P!nk to the West End production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She joined me this week to talk about what it really means to advocate for choreographers, why freestyle is one of the most advanced skills in the room, and how a single conversation got one of her clients double the offer. Spoiler: Productions will lowball until someone teaches them not to. Tali's decided that's part of her job too. We explore: Can we just be storytellers? Tali on representing Black and Brown choreographers in an industry that too often boxes them into Black and Brown stories, and why the chance to choreograph a fantastical world, post-COVID, felt like a gift. The pros and cons of freestylers showing up in more traditionally "choreographed" spaces. Production not batting an eye when she asked for double the rate for one of her clients: What that says about bottom-line culture, and why asking is always worth it. This episode is for anyone who's ever watched an artist undercharge, underestimate themselves, or wait for permission to take up more space. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Tali on IG  Join Tali’s Programme: “identity/ideas/industry” Read the Choreographer’s Guild Handbook Read The Choreographer’s Handbook For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

May 13, 202658 min

268.Karen Chuang: Follow the Spark

Karen Chuang is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer based in Los Angeles who has toured with Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, taught across nine countries, and built a career that moves fluidly between the commercial and contemporary dance worlds. Spoiler: Excellence alone won't get you (and *keep* you) the gig! We explore: The Jack Johnson T-shirt moment. A moment when the most important lesson of your career arrives in a phone call you never expected. “Wherever you go, there you are.” The quote Karen has carried with her for years — and what it actually means to embrace a circumstance that isn't your ideal one, reframe it with intention, and then decide whether to stay or move yourself somewhere new. Financial literacy for dancers. What Karen wishes dancers knew earlier about money, and how her approach to educating at conventions like Hollywood Vibe has shifted from when she first started, and why that evolution matters for the next generation coming up. Being the cool auntie (or not). Karen reflects on what it means to be connected to her nephews not as a career success story, but just as family. This episode is for every dancer who has ever been told to pick a style, a lane, or a world, and needed one person to show them what's possible when you don't. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Karen on IG  Learn more about Hollywood Vibe Learn more about Pathways in Motion For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

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