Dance Matters Podcast

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Sarah Alice Burns is a professional dancer, model and artist development coach who grew up in Australia.  After several years of working overseas as a dancer, Sarah took a leap of faith and moved to Los Angeles. After several setbacks and countless no's, she soon became accustomed to understanding that the LA dance industry was not for the faint of heart. Sarah's fierce determination for success and extreme passion meant that she didn’t give up. After landing her first job as a dancer  for Usher at the 2010 American Music Awards her career skyrocketed. 

She landed the Dream  job dancing for Beyoncé for 4 years. Sarah performed with Beyoncé at Super Bowl, various award shows, feature films, multiple world tours, music videos and the worldwide IVY PARK campaign. She has also worked with musical icons: Brandy, Jay-Z, DJ Khaled, Meek Mill, Drake, Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, Kelly Rowland, Usher and Ne-Yo.

In 2019, Sarah created Industry LA; a professional dance program designed to educate professional dancers from all over the world on how to understand, navigate and gain success in the highly competitive LA dance scene.

In this chat we don’t just touch on the highs but we dig deep into the biggest challenges and setbacks that Sarah has faced. It’s one you don’t want to miss. 

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Tara Bajan is an incredible dancer known for her amazing turns and phenomenal leaps. Her flexibility and strength are insane. Today I find out all about the person behind the dancer. We have a fun chat about her favourite song, movie and even her least favorite food. 
Make sure you check out Tara’s full interview in episode 76 of Dance Matters Podcast. 

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Tara Bajan is a young woman with the world at her feet. She first strapped her dancing shoes on at the age of 4 and hasn’t looked back since. Tara has won countless titles and championships at various competitions in and around Australia. She has been crowned:Miss Rainbow Australia, Miss Starpower Australia, Follow your Dreams National Champion and GTB Overall Highest Scoring Teen. Tara has also worked in Singapore with Get The Beat and performed in the 2019 Dream Junior show, as well as Dream Junior Australia. She has travelled around the world assisting Rebecca Davies on her Radar Technique Tours. Tara is renowned for her incredible turns and leaps. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.
This episode is proudly bought to you by Studio7 Dancewear.  Check them out at  https://studio7dancewear.com 

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Matthew Gode is an artist renowned for his unique and creative choreography. Growing up Matthew struggled with the idea that he never quite fit into the predesigned model of what people thought a dancer should be. Instead of letting that defeat him he used it to his advantage. Through that experience he decided to embrace his individuality and create an iconic style. Heavily influenced by the world of fashion Gode’s choreography is cutting edge and always pushes the boundaries. We chat all about the challenges he faced and the person he became because of them. Matthew continues to choreograph for television , corporate functions, charity events, music videos and live performances both nationally and internationally. He works extensively in the fashion and performing arts industries and continues to bring his individual style to everything he works on.

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Mitchell Jackson grew up training in Ontario Canada in jazz, ballet, hip-hop, contemporary, and musical theatre. Within two years as a competitive dancer, he had won multiple awards. He then went on to train in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. As a dancer, he has appeared in multiple television shows and music videos by leading artists. In Los Angeles, he taught at the Millennium Dance Complex. His students have gone on to perform with music stars like Carly Rae Jepsen and Justin Bieber and appear on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Mitchell continues to work with dance studios and competitions across North America as a choreographer, teacher, and adjudicator. He has also created his own dance competition OTF – The Ultimate Dance Experience and is the director of Intrepid Dance Company. Mitchell works closely with Briar Nolet and even choreographed for her on World of Dance and when she toured with Jennifer Lopez. 

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Holly Robinson is a dedicated and passionate young lady with the world at her feet. At ten years of age she already has a number of national and international titles to her name. Holly has been crowned Dancer of the year twice, won Get the Beat national champion  and Dancelife Unite national champion. She has also competed overseas and was awarded KAR Miss USA. Holly is an assistant for Rebecca Davies Radar Technique which has given her the opportunity to travel around the world. She has also been selected as a Bloch young artist and is an ambassador for a number of dance companies. This young hardworking dancer has many ambitions and is one to keep your eye out for in the future. 
Don’t forget to listen for the link to follow for your chance to win a Bloch Australia gift voucher. 

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Jessica McGaugh and Roma Sur are two film makers who have been brought together through their mutual love of storytelling. 

Jessica McGaugh is an award-winning independent film director, cinematographer and editor. Her work has been screened internationally including the Mumbai International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, NDTV and Rocky Mountain PBS. Jessica received an MFA in Film from Syracuse University and is currently teaching in the Film & Television Program at the University of Colorado Denver.

Roma Sur is a filmmaker and faculty member at the Film and Television program at the University of Colorado, Denver. Her feature documentary, "The Golden Hour" won the Best Documentary Award at the Indian Film Festival of Houston, 2013, and was broadcast nationally on NDTV, India in 2015. She recently completed co-editing her feature documentary titled Changing Tides about a paraplegic swimmer reclaiming his life.

Together they have created a new film celebrating the way people connect through the performing arts. Three Worlds, One Stage tells the story of three immigrant artists from three regions of the world who have made Colorado their second home. It captures their journey of staying connected with their roots via performing arts. The film is set to be released this month, February 2021.

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Growing up in New York City Monica Delehanty started training in dance at age 3. She danced competitively for a number of years winning numerous regional and national competitions. She was also named as Dancer's Inc.'s "Dancer of the Year". Monica also achieved Onstage New York's Top Scoring Senior Soloist for her solo where she was then scouted by an agency.

Monica went on to train at The Joffrey Ballet School in NYC under their Jazz & Contemporary Trainee Program. She danced at Broadway Dance Center and became a member of Team Capezio. From there she moved to Los Angeles to follow her career in Commercial Dance. She attended Studio School LA and has since been seen on Modern Family, Comedy Central, and Big Little Lies. Monica continues to dance, model, choreograph and teach.

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Amy Tasker is the founder and owner of Groove Nation. Groove Nation is a company she founded to deliver quality, engaging dance programs to schools. 

A dancer all her life, Amy knew the benefits that dance could bring to every child if it was taught in the right manner. Growing up training in all styles, Amy completed full time ballet training before later going on to complete a bachelor of science majoring in psychology and nutrition. She also later completed a bachelor of primary teaching.

Amy now spends her time sharing her passion of dance through her groove nation company. A company designed to support teachers, foster student diversity and inspire creativity and confidence.

If you are looking for a way to engage and inspire children through dance make sure you head to https://www.groovenation.com.au/ to check them out. 

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Growing up in Queensland, Michaeljon headed over to the United States after winning the Australian dancer of the year and a full scholarship to attend American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis school. From there he became the first Australian to be accepted into the prestigious Juilliard school in New York. 

In 2009 MJ made his debut on Broadway as the dance captain on West Side story. He continued working on Broadway in productions such as Billy Elliot, How to Succeed in Business without really Trying, Evita, Matilda and Hello Dolly.

During that time he performed with people such as; Daniel Radcliffe, Ricky Martin and Bette Midler. 

Since shifting his career to focus on choreography MJ has worked on many successful Broadway shows including Mrs Doubtfire.

Listen in to discover what it is truly like to work on Broadway in New York. Don’t forget to check out our profile of MJ in episode 4 of Chatting with Charlie.