The Background Dancer

How could we identify and solidify personal style as a creator in such an overwhelmingly saturated world? Ever wondered why Urban/LA Choreography has grown into the cultural (TikTok) phenomenon it is today? While choreography works differently according to specific genres, creative capacity runs parallel across all choreographers. Obviously, the only way to find out is by diving deep into the mind of one!

Adam Tan is a dancer, choreographer and instructor based in Brooklyn, USA. Beginning his journey as a pole dancer in Malaysia, he has evolved into an internationally touring performer dancing alongside the likes of Shaun Evaristo, Bam Martin and Aye Hasegawa. Currently, he trains and performs with Southern Sole and Hood Nation. 

Concluding the month of Choreography, this episode explores the differences in choreographic styles between genres, as well as tips to keep evolving as a creator. Ready to think like a choreographer? Join us as we foreground dance in the background!

• Adam Tan
• YouTube Archive
• TikTok vs. Hip Hop

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

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How does a piece of choreography extend its lifespan and visibility beyond the point of creation? Why have both music and the visual arts speared ahead with copyright and licensing frameworks while dance lags far behind? Choreography Online is the world's first online choreography marketplace, paving the way for creators to not only license and sell their works to a global audience, but also others to purchase rights to a work of genius on demand!

Rick Tjia is a choreographer, composer, coach, and currently the co-founder/CEO of Choreography Online. Besides working for the Cirque du Soleil, he is also Patron of Phoenix Associates and I-PATH in the UK. As a dancer, he has performed for the likes of Twyla Tharp, Joe Layton and La La La Human Steps. 

Kickstarting the month of Choreography, this episode explores the potential for selling and purchasing choreography through the digital terrain, while emphasizing the crucial necessity to establish more anti-plagiarism laws for dance. Ready to view choreography in a completely different light? Join us as we foreground dance in the background!

• Choreography Online
• Rick Tjia
• I-PATH
• JaQuel Knight makes history

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

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Love to both dance and act? Maybe you don't need to choose one over the other after all. But what exactly is the connection between dance and theatre in contemporary times? From the heydays of DV8 Physical Theatre, Pina Bausch, Ultima Vez and currently the likes of Punchdrunk or Gecko Theatre, dance and theatre are forever inextricable both as art forms as well as physical entities.

Ho Ying Fung is a theatre director, playwright, designer and producer based in Hong Kong whose work focuses on applied theatre and arts for education and cultural studies. He is also the founder and director of Ho Bit Goon (何必。館), a cultural hub for arts and body-mind centering practices.

Concluding the month of Interdisciplinarity, this episode explores the intersection between dance and theatre in contemporary contexts. Ready to learn more about the ins and outs of this truly fascinating crossover? Join us as we foreground cross-disciplinarity of arts in the background!

• Ho Bit Goon

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

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How does dance and philosophy intertwine as an art form? Is dance a philosophy itself? Much of dance has evolved from a performative act into the universal thought process and stream of consciousness that has shaped the world around us. Behind every text spoken is movement as a communicative language. Behind the aesthetics of dance is also humans' basic need to share and connect beyond the ring of philosophical fire that has made art what it is today.

Henry Lai is a  lecturer in Complementary Studies and Liberal Arts at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). Prior to his current tenure, he worked at Silicon Valley for more than 10 years managing international education programmes and is a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering graduate from Purdue University, USA. 

Kickstarting the month of Interdisciplinarity, this episode explores the intersection between two often complex yet fulfilling topics of discussion - dance and philosophy. Yearning for a deeper understanding of dance aesthetics and intellectual rigour? Join us as we foreground cross-disciplinarity of arts in the background!

• Henry Lai
• The Philosophy of Dance
• Philosophers of Dance

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

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A much postponed episode and one a long time coming. This week, I write a little poem for you as a means of a sharing some very new and exciting updates about the podcast and my life! After successfully acquiring funding to expand the team, we will be launching a few new features to the platform including blog posts, a Clubhouse room and even a YouTube channel! All this is coming soon and arriving at your doorstep across October, so stay tuned for more in what's also the month of Interdisciplinarity. In fact, you could always start here...


"It's finally that time of the year,
when the ships arrive and the cargos clear.
I pinch myself awake for light to appear,
remembering all the things held unto so dear."

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

Support the show

Like our offers? 

• S2 Summer SALE!
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Like what we do? Help us grow by

• Visiting The Background Dancer
• YouTube Channel
• Rate and review here 
• Email me at [email protected]
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• Join the Facebook group and introduce yourself as a member of our community

How does modelling help dancers perform better? And does one necessarily have to be 'beautiful' to pursue such a career? The fashion industry has progressed massively from the days of archetypal body types and facial features, where the one size fits all model loomed by and large. Nowadays, it is about compatibility and authenticity. Find the right agency or project, and a model is potentially born.

Ema Steindl is a student at the Academy for Performing Arts in Bratislava pursing her Bachelor's degree, but is also a professional model currently tied to three different international agencies. While she did not qualify fully as a model early on, she was discovered serendipitously on a bus and given the opportunity to realize her unique gifts in both fashion and dance.

Concluding the month of Dance Fashion, this episode explores life as both a dancer and fashion model, offering insights as to what these two industries entail when interweaved. Interested in joining a casting session soon? Consider picking up a move or two and surprise your panel! 

• Ema Steindl
• Agencies

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

Support the show

Like our offers? 

• S2 Summer SALE!
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How much does fashion influence dance and vice versa? Does dance photography differ from commercial fashion photography? The truth is, the dancer and the dancing body offers a model unlike any other, as the physical architecture and visual awareness potentially render a photographical experience something beyond just the image. 

Szabina Biro is a UK based freelance photographer whose portfolio ranges from audition shoots, dance classes, theatre performances and lifestyle or fashion shoots. While she dreamt of becoming a dancer when still a child, she now realizes her dreams through her lenses, dancing through life shot by shot, image by image, dancer by dancer.

Kickstarting the month of Dance Fashion, this episode shares insights into a dance photographer's life and how a cameraman helps fulfill a dancer's potential. Szabina is not the only photographer around, but she certainly is one who truly cares about her dancer.

"I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."  -  Georgia O'Keeffe

• Szabina Biro
• Dancing Through Life Photography

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

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Like our offers? 

• S2 Summer SALE!
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What is the hardest question to ask in dance or as a dancer? Regardless of one being a dancer, or wanting to become a dancer, there are questions that are always incredibly difficult to communicate such as salary, goals, aesthetics etc. Join All House Dance Collective director Jacob Caldwell and artists Elsea Mayes Brown as well as Megan Schneider to talk all things dance. 

Concluding the month of Bonus Content, this episode explores some of the most difficult questions within the industry through the first roundtable discussion involving guests of the Sol Fest 2021 virtual arts festival held in June. What is YOUR hardest question to ask? 

• Jacob | Elsea | Megan
• All House Dance Collective
• Sol Fest 2021

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

Support the show

Like our offers? 

• S2 Summer SALE!
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Like what we do? Help us grow by

• Visiting The Background Dancer
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Are you happy with your career? A certain Chris Rock once joked: "there are people who have jobs, and there are those who have careers." We spend so much time in the workplace and often neglect the all important question - Is this the right profession for me? Jonathan Collaton is a student affairs coordinator at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and creator of the Career Crossroads Podcast, a platform investigating career transitions and lifelong professional development.

Kickstarting the month of Bonus Content, this episode explores the understanding of careers as the bedrock of human society, Jonathan's path to his current position and what it means to run the podcast.

"In order to find yourself, you have to lose yourself." -David Brooks.

• Jonathan Collaton
• Career Crossroads Podcast

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

Support the show

Like our offers? 

• S2 Summer SALE!
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Like what we do? Help us grow by

• Visiting The Background Dancer
• YouTube Channel
• Rate and review here 
• Email me at [email protected]
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How often have you engaged with technology and shirked? Is it something that annoys or even intrudes you? Love it or hate it, technology is the FUTURE. Maybe consider how it could enhance your livelihood instead, and suddenly it is more friend than foe. 

Concluding the month of Dance Technology, this episode introduces the FIVE must have apps as an artist or creative in today's age. Knowing technology is never enough anymore, we have to master it and...Trust it!

• Magisto
• Link in Bio
• Shazam
• Marquee TV
• Buymeacoffee

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly

Support the show

Like our offers? 

• S2 Summer SALE!
• Check out our new Dance Masterclass YouTube review
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• Choreographing Your Dance Career by Janaea Rose Lyn
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Like what we do? Help us grow by

• Visiting The Background Dancer
• YouTube Channel
• Rate and review here 
• Email me at [email protected]
• Answer a survey 
• Sign up here to receive future updates 
• Leave a thought on Facebook and Instagram
• Join the Facebook group and introduce yourself as a member of our community