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DANCE +

Dana Wilson

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.

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  • 27 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 48 min
  • English

Episodes 27

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  • Wednesday · 1 hr 13 min

    281. DANCE + DANI VITALE

    THIS IS DANCE + WHAT WE OWE EACH OTHER Dani Vitale is a Choreographer, Creative Director, + Movement Coach who by September of this year had already wrapped four films and two tours. But what stuck with me in this conversation wasn't the résumé, it was her definition of loyalty: to the dancers she leads, to the truth about hard jobs, and to the people she loves through loss. What do we actually owe the people around us, and what happens when we pay up? Here's what we're exploring: The one thing

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  • September 23 · 18 min

    280. DANCE + CONFLICT AND TEAM DYNAMICS

    This is DANCE + CONFLICT AND TEAM DYNAMICS I've been sitting with this idea that wherever you put art, money, a deadline, and a hierarchy in the same room, conflict is coming. That's not a flaw in the system, it's actually a good thing! What I want to answer with this conversation is this:  How do we navigate inevitable conflicts and criticisms in a way that neither the people or the product suffer?!  Here’s what we’re exploring: Why art, money, deadlines, and hierarchy each carry their own bui

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  • September 16 · 1 hr 4 min

    279. DANCE + MAKENZIE & PHILLIP CHBEEB

    This is DANCE + Makenzie & Phillip Chbeeb Makenzie and Phillip Chbeeb are the dynamic duo behind the new Netflix coming-of-age dance comedy movie, “Best of the Best” (Premiering September 18, 2026). In this episode, we unpack what it means to choreograph across cultures, across dialogue, and three weeks postpartum. If you’re into being impressed, this episode is for YOU! Three weeks after welcoming their first child into the world, they walked straight into their first pre-production meeting of

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  • September 9 · 1 hr 8 min

    278. DANCE + NATHAN KIM

    This is DANCE + Nathan Kim The choreographer behind the newest Spider-Man, on how dance found him almost by accident. Nathan Kim didn't grow up dreaming of being a choreographer. His meet-cute with dance happened almost by chance, with an open slot in an Afro Brazilian dance class, and one impossible-to-mark movement across the floor that cracked something open in him. From there, dance became the throughline of a career that's taken him behind the camera and back, from his early days shaping mo

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  • August 19 · 34 min

    277. DANCE + TEDDY FORANCE

    This is DANCE + Teddy Forance Coming to you LIVE-ish from CLI Conservatory, with the guy who built the place he wishes existed when he was 17 and googling "which college has a dance program for me." Teddy Forance didn't set out to become a studio owner. He set out to dance, and he did, big: Madonna, Lady Gaga, Cirque du Soleil, the Oscars stage. But underneath all of it was a gut feeling that never went away. That there wasn't a space built for dancers like him. So with his brother Jonny, he bui

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  • August 12 · 16 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 choreogr

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  • August 5 · 32 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

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  • July 22 · 1 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 en

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  • July 15 · 29 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 dist

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  • July 8 · 1 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

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  • July 1 · 53 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

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  • June 24 · 24 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.

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  • June 10 · 58 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, an

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  • May 27 · 54 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 jo

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  • May 13 · 58 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

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  • May 6 · 47 min

    267. Jackie Sleight: Your Favorite Dance Teachers’ Favorite Dance Teacher

    Jackie Sleight is a choreographer, founder of LA Dance Magic, and founder and co-director of LA Jazz Company, and an example of what happens when a woman decides NOT TO STOP! Spoiler: Your favorite dance teachers’ favorite dance teacher didn't get there by playing it safe. We explore: Nine recessions and still standing. Why Jackie believes that choosing to do something else isn't failure; it's moving forward, and what it actually takes to stay in the dance industry through every economic wave t

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  • April 15 · 1 hr

    266. WEED OH NO! The Making of The Seaweed Sisters’ first LIVE SHOW!

    WEED OH NO! The Seaweed Sisters' first-ever live show, premiering this June at the Los Angeles Theater Center with @latinotheaterco. TICKETS ARE ON SALE HERE  This week, special guest host Emily Wanserski — executive producer of the show — brings @TheSeaweedSisters together to pull back the curtain on how it all gets made. What the show actually is, what it feels like, and what you can expect when you walk into their bubble. We explore:   What WEED OH NO! actually is: A magical show-and-tell.

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  • April 1 · 54 min

    265.Marissa Labog: The Art of Hitting the Ground

    This is my episode on what happens when someone makes falling off buildings look like an art form. Marissa Labog is a dancer, stunt performer, filmmaker, and mom, and she joined me this week to talk about something I didn't expect: how stunts and dance are actually the same conversation, just with better padding. Spoiler: the scariest part of doing something dangerous isn't the danger. It's skipping a step. We explore: The stunt that had no rehearsal. What happened when Marissa landed in Mexico

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  • March 25 · 23 min

    264. The Feeling That Feels Like the End

    This is my episode on the pattern that lives between your worst feeling and your best one. I'm going solo this week to talk about something I discovered mid-move — four steps up a staircase, a king-size mattress, and a full emotional spiral that somehow led to one of my favorite realizations yet. Spoiler: your worst feeling isn't the end. It's actually the beginning. We explore: The mattress that broke me (and then didn't). What happened when Riley and I couldn't muscle a king-size mattress up

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  • March 18 · 1 hr 2 min

    263. Jamal Sims & Will Bell: Titles and Credit for Choreography Teams

    This is my episode on Credits, Collaboration, and the Industry Conversations We've Been Waiting to Have I sit down with choreographer Jamal Sims and associate choreographer Will Bell to talk about what it actually looks like when the dance industry takes care of its own — and what happens when it doesn't. Spoiler: the best collaborations aren't built on titles. They're built on trust. We explore: The meet-cute that almost didn't happen. How juggling Beauty and the Beast and Encanto at the Holly

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Showing 1–20 of 27 episodes