Lawyer by day, dancer by night... it's Stephanie Law, everyone! Okay, well, maybe she's still in college right now, but that's her current career dream. Stephanie grew up in California and danced her whole life but recently cut back on her 40-hours-a-week dance schedule to focus on her majors at LMU - Political Science and African American Studies. Stephanie is very busy with school but is great at time management and always makes time for friends, family, dance, and sleep, surprisingly! Stephanie may seem quiet in class, so it was fun to get to know the other sides of her as she shares on the podcast. Hope you all will take a watch or listen and get to know Stephanie, who is truly beautiful, inside and out!

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@TracyinLA

@DanceJourneyPodcast

If you don't already know this gorgeous dancer, meet Finn! Finn has had a passion for dance her whole life and is currently majoring in it in college. Learn what it's like to juggle gen ed classes, school dance classes, and studio dance classes... all while choreographing and directing her own piece. And she sews all the costumes too! We also discuss physics, jobs, Harry Potter, and our true feelings about New York. :) Listen or watch today!

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@finleybergg

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Catherine Engberg was in town from the Bay Area, and I was so happy to be able to grab some of her time for the podcast! Catherine and I took lots of Zoom classes together from Broadway Dance Center during the pandemic. (The New York time zone was perfect for us Californians to take class before work!) But now we're both back to in-person dancing, and Catherine shares what it's like juggling dance with being an attorney!

She grew up doing musical theater but eventually got busy with college and starting a family. But once her kids were more self-sufficient, she remembered how much she loved dance, so she started exploring it again. Her favorite styles are hip hop and jazz funk, and she's recently started her ballet journey as well. Catherine enjoys her dance vacations in LA and New York, and it was so much fun taking ballet with her at Westside in Santa Monica.

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@cath__ce

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Many of you already know and love her, but this week we get to know Angel Hass a little better. Angel is a dancer, dance teacher, and actress, and she moved to LA from Germany five years ago! Tune in to this episode to learn more about Angel's background, interests, and teaching style; and hear us chat about priorities, time management, and the importance of taking a break sometimes. Angel teaches Street Jazz at The C Spot in LA on Mondays at 6:45pm. Check it out!

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@anghass

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Introducing... Navi Lee! She's new to LA but not new to dance. Her main styles are acrobatics, silks, pole, and lyra (aerial hoop), but she also takes contemporary and ballet, and she is a beautiful dancer! Tune in to the full episode to learn more interesting facts about Navi, like how she grew up in the "circus scene," how she does high school online, and why she moved to LA. Navi also opens up about progressive hearing loss and what it's like for her to feel the music. Navi's story is truly inspiring, and I hope you'll check it out this holiday season!

It's time to get to know Sophia Moritz! I met her in a parking lot of a ballet we were both going to see, but that 20-minute chat wasn't enough. I also barely knew she was a dancer at the time because she was so focused on hyping up her dancer friends and their amazing projects. Sophia is humble and super supportive and encouraging to others, so I couldn't wait to get the chance to hear about her own dance life, which, wow, does not disappoint. From working with USC's dance department during the day, to playing Jo in LA's Little Women Ballet and co-founding ChoCoLA (Choreographer Collection Los Angeles), Sophia's whole life is dance dance dance! Plus, she's a beautiful ballet and modern dancer, which I got to witness as an audience member and fellow classmate! Tune in to her podcast episode to hear more about why Sophia's life is so full of joy and learn about the events that got her to where she is today.

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@SophiaMoritz

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Melissa Briggs became a serious ballet dancer at age 8, knowing without a doubt that's what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. From New York to Rhode Island to Massachusetts to Florida and then back to New York and then finally in California, her parents always made sure there was a good ballet studio so she could get the training she needs to do the thing she was called to do. And it worked! Melissa is now a professional ballet dancer with The Realm Company as well as a movement therapist. She loves what she does, but sometimes it's hard to juggle all her dance classes, rehearsals and performances with her clients and all the hours she needs to build for therapy. She's doing it though! And still (usually) finds time to take a rest on Sunday—sleeping in, making matcha, taking long walks, and watching movies. :) Learn more about Melissa's dance journey and dance dreams on this week's episode.

I'm sure you've seen her around at C Spot, LA DanceFit, or FlowMotion Dance Studio (to name a few), but now it's time to get to KNOW this dedicated dancer, Kristen Shaffer! Kristen and I love to take dance classes constantly, and we both post all the videos to our dance diaries (aka Instagram). So we have that in common, but it was even better to chat with her for an hour because she's so fun and easy to talk to! From the struggle of the LA commute, to being "older" dancers, to our journeys with improv and freestyle, we cover a lot of topics in this one. We just love dance, and Kristen is especially grateful for this season of life where she can be a "lady of leisure" with no day job and only dance classes! (I miss those days.) Tune in to learn more about why Kristen dances so much and why she recommends it!

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Who even knows when I very first met Sarah Chan, we've taken so many classes together! From ballet at Westside to Jazz at Millennium to Contemporary at C Spot, we both love to run around the city trying all the different studios. Lately Sarah's been focusing on ballet, contemporary / modern, and heels, and she's in two dance companies! (And if you thought that was a lot, she also works as a dietitian, which she also loves.) It was so encouraging to hear Sarah's story about how she pursued dance her whole life but then took time to reflect on who she was and what she really wanted to do for a career. Cut to years later, and she's now figured out how to do it all in a balanced and sustainable way so she can keep growing and enjoying life. It was crazy to hear how all the puzzle pieces came together in a schedule that suits her so well! I love keeping up with Sarah's dance life in person and online, and it was so fun to take my very first heels class with her at Eighty Eight Studios! What an adventure that was, lol.

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@s.chan23

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@TracyinLA

I'm sooooo glad I got to interview Talyssa Cruz before she moved far, far away to Northern California! Talyssa and I first took class together at Athletic Garage, but then we didn't see each other for a while because I was mostly on the west side, and she was injured for a bit from rock climbing! We followed each other on IG, but it was so nice to start taking jazz and contemporary classes together again a few months ago. Talyssa's been training more and more at AG and other studios - Movement Lifestyle, Ruts, etc., and her technique and musicality are lookin' good! And she's been getting even more good training up in NorCal. I feel like she wasn't even up there a week before she tried the dance studios, and they look amazing! Check out her IG stories for that content, but anyways, I miss taking class with her. We were film buddies and cheered each other on; but alas, now we must cheer each other on virtually. And hopefully we'll get to see each other perform somehow too! (Something we've both been wanting to do again.)

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@TalyssaJanae

@DanceJourneyPodcast

@TracyinLA