DANCE +

By Dana WilsonBusiness Education Arts Performing Arts Careers

DANCE + episodes

March 18263. 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 Hollywood Bowl simultaneously led Jamal to one phone call, one name, and a partnership that just worked, and what that says about the power of the right person in the room.
Assistant choreographer ≠ personal assistant of the choreographer. Why the industry still confuses the two, what it cost Will when someone called him "difficult" for knowing his own job description, and why having a choreographer's handbook on standby might not be the worst idea.
The credit problem nobody wants to talk about. How the line between assistant and associate can define someone's entire career trajectory, and why giving people their proper title isn't just courtesy, it's how they get their next job.
This episode is for every dancer, choreographer, and creative who has ever done the work and watched someone else get the credit.
Because being an assistant isn't a life sentence. And “Associate” isn't just a title.
So, are you willing to advocate for the people in your room?
Watch the full episode here.
Show Notes:
Connect with Jamal on IG
Connect with Will on IG
Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
Watch the Beauty & The Beast: The 30th Anniversary Special
Watch the Encanto Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Read the Choreographers Guild Handbook
Listen to our episode with Julie
Listen to our In The Heights Episode
Listen to our episode with Kai
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
1 hr 3 min
March 11262. Offset Med: The Collaborative Approach to Getting Better
This is my episode on Healing, Collaboration, and the Care You Didn't Know You Were Missing
In this episode, I sit down with the team at Offset Med, the referral-only practice that's quietly taking care of some of the hardest-working bodies in the industry, to talk about what it actually looks like when healthcare meets you where you are.
Spoiler: the best care isn't a diagnosis. It's a discovery process.
We explore:
Activity-based care vs. cookie-cutter treatment. Why your ankle sprain and your friend's ankle sprain are not the same injury and why the best providers know that your history, your habits, and how you live are just as important as what's actually hurting.
The couch that broke the camel's back. How a three-day travel stretch, a night out with friends, and one heavy piece of furniture combined into the injury I thought was just the couch, and what that taught me about how bodies actually break down.
Referral culture as a business model. Why Offset Med skipped the client avatars and the marketing funnels and built something real instead by solving real problems for real people and letting the snowball do the rest.
This episode is for every dancer, performer, and human who has ever walked out of a provider's office feeling like a diagnosis instead of a person.
Because you're not going to get fixed in one session. And that's okay.
So, are you willing to trust the journey?
Watch the full episode here!
Show Notes:
Connect with Offset Med on IG
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
48 min
March 04261. The Confidence Episode
This is my episode on Confidence and what’s keeping you from feeling it!
In this solo episode, Dana (movement director, artist developer, and your unofficial confidence coach) breaks down the one thing her students, pop stars, and actors keep asking for, and why they've been thinking about it all wrong.
Spoiler: confidence isn't a skill you build. It's a feeling you're willing to have.
We explore:
Task-based confidence vs. self-confidence. Why the version of confidence most of us are chasing is actually the smallest slice of the pie, and what the rest of the grocery store looks like when you finally walk in.
The milk metaphor that started it all. From shaking toddler hands to one-handed, foot-on-the-door pouring, and why crying over spilled milk is actually the origin story of every performer who's ever said, "I just need more confidence."
Willingness as the real currency. How walking into a room of 500 phenomenal dancers with zero world tour credits on your resume can still look like you've done it before, and the single mindset shift that makes that possible.
This episode is the one her student asked for, the one she thought she'd already made, and the one that might permanently change the way you think about what it means to be unflappable.
So, are you willing to feel your least favorite feeling?
Watch the full episode here.
Show Notes:
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
22 min
February 25260. Paul Turner: Reality (TV) is My Life
This is Paul Turner on Feedback, Family, and Finding Your People in Unfamiliar Territory
In this episode, Performer, Reality Star, “Production Fairy” and Producer, Paul Turner, shares his perspective on compassion, improvisation, and building creative community in spaces that demand instant connection. From competing on Survivor Europe with two weeks' notice and a rainbow tank top to launching Where's My Phone Productions, Paul reveals what it means to give feedback that builds people up instead of breaking them down. We explore:
Criticism with compassion over criticism with a period. How stern feedback creates a full stop that erases all the good someone just did, and what it means to remember performers are on hour nine of day 65 before you open your mouth.
The journey from being on reality TV to making it! The found family that comes from it and how Paul developed an improvisational nature.
From purple-haired Alaskan dancers to production company founders. The origin story of Where's My Phone Productions (yes, it's named after a very drunk Vegas photo), why partnering with choreographer Brittany Riddle to tell stories about people who don't fit the Alaska stereotype matters, and what happens when they capture those lightning-in-a-bottle moments of forced intimacy and creative survival.
This conversation reveals what happens when you lead with empathy instead of authority, when you say yes to opportunities that scare you (even if you don't speak the language), and when you realize the most interesting stories come from the people who never quite fit the expected mold.
Watch the full episode here.
Show Notes:
Connect with Paul on IG
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
52 min
December 22, 2025259. Celebrating FIVE years of WTMM!
Celebrate FIVE years of Words That Move Me with Producer & Host, Dana Wilson, joined by Executive Assistant & Editor Riley Higgins!

This episode is a wild ride including:
Friends drinking adult hot cocoa
A trip down memory lane of the last five years of the podcast!
How we handled grit vs grace this year
Our essential travel items
PLUS a story that will have your heart beating out of your chest!

Thank you listener/viewer for FIVE WHOLE YEARS! We couldn’t do it without you. Here’s to five more!

Watch the full episode here.
Show Notes:
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
1 hr 1 min
December 17, 2025 258. When Are You The Most Yourself? Our 2025 Question of the Year!
46 min
December 10, 2025257. Sienna Lyons: Strength,Sensuality, Specialization
This is Sienna Lyons on Sensuality, Specialization, and the Strength to Sustain

In this episode, Choreographer, Educator, and Dancer Sienna Lyons shares her perspective on power, versatility, and longevity in an industry that often demands everything at once. From backup dancing for JLo and Taylor Swift to choreographing for Gwen Stefani and The Masked Singer, Sienna reveals what it means to command attention without giving everything away. We explore:
The art of the tease over the reveal. Why she gravitates toward the "don't look at me, but look at me" approach to sensuality, how different opacities of sexy—from the subtle smirk to what she calls "the yeast infection"—shape character choices, and what it means to keep certain elements as a privilege rather than a given.
The generalist advantage in a specialist world. How training in everything from tap to commercial hip hop since age three became her secret weapon, why being fluent in both technical and commercial languages opens doors across choreographic camps, and the radical notion that "of course" having multiple skill sets works in your favor.
Prehab over rehab at 36. The lightbulb moment when she realized PT isn't just for when you're hurting, why consistency matters more than intensity as the body ages, and what happens when you're still in great shape but gravity and years of abnormal physicality start sending reminders.

This conversation reveals what happens when you refuse to perform easiness as a character trait, when you embrace being many things instead of one singular thing, and when you learn that maintaining your instrument is just as important as mastering your craft.
Watch the full episode here.
Show Notes:
Connect with Sienna on IG
Listen to Tony’s episode
Listen to Dominique’s episode
Listed to Jillian’s episode
Listen to Slay’s episode
Listen to Mimi’s episode
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
54 min
December 03, 2025 256. Tracy Phillips: Humility, Hollywood, and The Roosevelt Hotel
59 min
November 26, 2025255. Notes on Leadership for Leaders with Dr. Arnel Calvario Ripkens
This is Dr. Arnel Calvario Ripkens on conscious leadership, cultural stewardship, and the dance program that says “yes” when others say “no”.
In this episode, dancer, leader, and Doctor of Occupational Therapy Arnel Calvario Ripkens shares three decades of wisdom on building community, honoring roots, and creating space for everybody. We explore:
The antidote to lonely leadership. Why "you're not alone" is the first thing every leader needs to hear, the power of reciprocal mentorship relationships, and how mission statements become your compass when organizations grow and evolve.
Conscious cultural participation. What it means to be a guest in black-created art forms, how Culture Shock LA showed up for the communities whose culture shaped their choreography, and why knowledge of where dance comes from strengthens the power of what we do.
Awesome Shock and neurodivergent dancers. The parents who shared that studios turned their kids away, the grant-funded after-school program that became a full dance troupe, and how 27 dancers ages 6 to 28 proved that diversity includes neurodiversity.
Plus, more insights on being the best leader you can be!
This conversation reveals what happens when you lead with a mission first, when you honor the heritage of the art forms you practice, and when you create programs that affirm every dancer—especially those who've been told they learn differently.
Watch the full episode here.
Show Notes:
Connect with Arnel
Listen to our first episode with Arnel
Arnel’s Leadership Tools for the Dance Leader
Learn more about Culture Shock LA
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
51 min
November 19, 2025254. Will Johnston: Originality, Influence and the Proofread Process
This is Will Johnston on new projects, originality, and the moment in a lunge that changed everything.
In this episode, choreographer and director Will Johnston discusses his creative process, artistic influence, and the evolution of his work, from competitive dance beginnings to directing music videos for major artists. We explore:
The choreography of numbness through cathartic movement. How his film "Pepper" explores over-consumption and paralysis, when the body holds chaos and vibration even when it can't move, and what happens to our vessels when the stimulation stops.
Originality, influence, and the proofread process. Whether truly original thoughts exist, how dancers physicalize and remanifest what they see, and the idea of adding a "proofreading" step to creative work
The lunge that sparked everything. That pivotal seventh-grade moment when recreation became serious, when "I should work hard" became a defining thought, and how weight-bearing holds can catalyze life-changing realizations.
Plus, insights on evolving from dancer to director, working with DPs, and bringing technical precision to artistic vision.
This conversation reveals what emerges when we examine our influences honestly, when we create space between inspiration and imitation, and when a single moment of clarity in class becomes the foundation for a global career.
Watch the full episode here.
Show Notes:
Connect with Will on IG
Watch “Pepper”
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
54 min

About DANCE +

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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…