January 07, 2022

Conversation with Nancy Ferraro-Paradis

53 minutes

Nancy Paradis is currently the artistic director of the LA Dance Moves, a very unique dance, music, art, and media company. Nancy Paradis began her career on the East Coast performing with the Washington Ballet, Richmond Ballet, and Louisville ballet. As a principal and soloist, she's danced roles ranging from classical, neoclassical, and modern ballets. In L.A, Nancy performed and choreographed in a commercial world, including NBC Must-See TV, A&E Promo, Fox Fit TV, the Hollywood Bowl, and MTV Movie Awards. She choreographed and performed as a Madonna impersonator in a Month-Long China Tour. Nancy also worked in the fitness market and appeared in over 60 episodes of The Method Show on Fox TV, a Pilates, Yoga, and dance-based fitness show. She appeared in power core yoga videos and crunch fitness, and she was a guest speaker on Fox 11 News titled Posture.

You can also see her dancing in the current Netflix promo, We Watched It All 2020. She also is an adjunct professor at UC Irvine, Loyola Marymount University, and currently Moorpark College, where she prepares dancers for a commercial career in the performing arts. In addition, she's an instructor, choreographer, and co-producer of concerts. She also mentors young artists by collaborating with the music, theater, and film departments. She's returning to her home company, Richmond Ballet, in 2022 to choreograph a new work world premiere on the company that gave her so many opportunities as an inspiring dancer and artist.

In this episode, Nancy narrates her first experience being a professional dancer. She then shares her journey to creating LA Dance Moves, what it took to heal from her love-hate relationship with ballet, and how she applies this to her teaching techniques with her dance students at L.A Dance Moves. Nancy also shares from her multi-faceted skill set and past experiences of how she ensures dancers' wellness. She speaks on the importance of individual and corporate growth through collaboration with fellow companies and creatives.

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