How to lead
A Dance Team
How to Make the Dance Team
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hello everyone welcome to today's
episode of candy kaya
today I have professional dancer an NBA
cheerleader Kayla here and we're going
to be talking about how you can make the
dance team stay tuned solo Kayla hello
thank you so much for coming on today's
episode can you start with letting the
viewers know a little bit about yourself
sure so I'm 26 years old I was born and
raised in Milwaukee Wisconsin I spent
all my summers in LA so I claim Callie
sometimes and I attended Spelman College
and have my degree in economics and
currently now I'm freshly dancing so
Kayla can you tell us just a little bit
about your dance background sure okay so
my dance background is really extensive
I started when I was 2 years old because
some of my professional cousin dancers
they told my mom that I need to start
dancing at one so I'm trained in ballet
jazz modern hip-hop lyrical contemporary
all of that and beyond
I trained at Debbie Allen so shout out
to those downtown babies I also danced
at Milwaukee ballet so I have done cheer
and dance competitively as well as in
college I danced for the mahogany
emotion so hey all hey mahogany and now
I currently am a four-year veteran
dancer with an NBA team ok all right so
basically you were Nia from Dance Moms
got that vision
ok great all right hey Leslie just tell
us why do you love it so much
honestly you know at first people used
to think that it was something that my
parents used to make me do because it
was an activity to keep me busy but it
has really been my safe haven you know
is something that I'm extremely
passionate about it keeps me healthy
keeps me motivated I enjoy being able to
express myself with my body and be able
to communicate with so many different
people through dance so that's why I
love to halo in your opinion what
qualities make a good dancer okay so I
believe that there are two types of
dancers I believe that there are people
who train you know for a very long time
to be dancers and then there's people
where dance is just a part of who you
are so I believe anyone can be a dancer
but I believe that a great dancer is
dedicated they are determined and
they're also disciplined so in order to
be a really good dance so you have to be
dedicated
because dancers are really athletes you
know a lot of people don't recognize us
as athletes but we are you know we train
10 hours a day sometimes 21 hours a day
sometimes a whole day you might have to
have practice from 9:00 in the morning
until the next day you have to be
disciplined because if you're not going
to be disciplined within you know you're
practicing then you're not going to
perform well as well as determined you
have to have that determination about it
so in order to be determine you have to
really love what you do you have to
really love performing you have to love
being passionate about your art form and
really take it seriously so I think
those three things make you a good
dancer so how important is it to have a
dance background if trying out for dance
to you well it definitely depends on
what level you are auditioning for if
you are auditioning for let's say a pro
NBA team having a strong dance
background is very important as well as
having too strong to your background you
know typically they provide what level
they would like you to be yet but
experience is not completely necessary
as I was touching on like having that
passion a lot of times if you really
have a strong passion for dance and that
you know shows through how you perform
and your personality then a lot of teams
will still take you and they will mold
you know is that's where that
determination and that dedication will
come in if you seem as though you have a
really strong work ethic people will
still take you on a team however I will
encourage you all to you know it roll
classes contact a local dance studio you
know if you're not already at a dance
studio you can always go on YouTube you
know we're socially savvy now it's
embraced into you bro they have how-to
videos on how to do the splits how to do
a pirouette
they have how-to videos on just routines
that you can learn offline as well as if
you have a friend already at a dance
studio
you can always say hey girl you know
come over my house can you teach me that
routine you learn well but there's so
many different things that you can do to
prepare yourself if you are not
technically trained already gotcha okay
alright so Kayla get to the good stuff
what are your tips to making the high
school or competition team one thing I
will say is do your research understand
the type of team that you are
auditioning for if it is a very
competitive high school team or just a
competitive dance team in general you
definitely want to know what they are
looking for so if they are looking for
dancers who can do triples and backflips
and things of that nature and that is
not where you are
I would definitely make sure that you
you know work very hard to get to that
level that's one thing too you always
want to go into any audition prepared as
though you are already on the team you
know I always tell girls that when
they're looking to audition for NBA
dance teams now of what I'm doing and I
always say welcome my addition like you
belong on the team because if they can
see you and and visualize you on the
team already then you already you know
across one big hurdle they already can
see that you look like you belong on the
team lastly I would just say practice
practice practice make sure you are in
the mirror make sure you have a presence
about yourself make sure that you know
you are bringing your best view and
finally we have fun you know because I
think the day if you don't make a dance
team try try try again you know as a
working professional dancer I don't
every audition that I audition for you
know I don't get every gig that I go out
for but I still go home and I practice
practice practice and make sure that I
have fun at everything that I do would
you say the same tips were the same for
polish teams college teams also vary if
you're auditioning for a band dancing
you know auxilary program I would
definitely say look at the different
type of your program you are auditioning
for for example in mahogany emotion we
are not the typical you know big d1
school dance team you know so each
school has their different style of
dance so mahogany were very classy and
very like sexy style you know we're very
technically I'm technical on the field
whereas another school they might be
really big and they might get
down so if you can't get down you're not
making the team you know so I would only
say to your research as far as college
teams a lot of college teams audition
process can be their processes I should
say can be very strenuous so they also
have the physical aspect of it so make
sure you're eating healthy make sure you
are working out so that your stamina is
up to par you know so that you're not
passing out during the audition process
make sure that you know you are getting
that physical which a lot of dance teams
to require you to have also on college
make sure your academics are up to par
right amen because of your academics are
not up to par then you cannot make a
college dance team because they do
consider you student athletes and
ambassadors of the school that you are
representing so you know keep your
grades up guys all right
alright so Kayla what are your five best
tips to being the best dancer you can be
okay so my five best tips include having
a mentor you know any artists period is
gonna tell you to have a mentor whether
that's a teacher a friend a sister or
anyone who you know supports your dream
and understands how do you feel about
what you were doing which is dancing
that they can motivate you and mentor
you through that process
secondly you definitely need to be very
healthy conscious not just you know
eating right but also working out you
know dance is very grueling it can take
a toll on the body so if you're not
taking care of your body and you know by
putting correct Foods in there you know
fueling your body with good foods as
well as you know understanding how to
manage your energy um your body will
break down if you're not taking care of
it
thirdly replenishing your soul I read a
lot I meditate I pray I go to church I
do a lot of different things that feed
my soul because like I said dancing is
exhausting and so if you're not doing
something to just feed yourself and you
know give more to yourself while you're
giving so much output you can truly have
a breakdown you know mentally you just
won't be there and that can affect your
because we're given performance and your
day you know especially it's going to
team and you have somebody and you're
having a bad day sir place yourself she
can say something that really wasn't
offensive but you take all your anger
out on your teammate and that's not a
good teammate really um fourthly you
need a practice you know your craft is
who you are so if you're gonna take your
craft seriously if dance is what you
want to do then you really need to
practice practice practice go to class
you know work with other people always
be a student you know is always good to
have that student mentality
and this for the fifth one I would say
work on your brand you know every dancer
needs to have a brand I believe that in
this industry alone it's good to just
know who you are and who you want to
represent and we want to be because it
makes it easy for people to identify
with you you know for me just outside
wives and other appearance people know
me as you know the girl with blind big
hair you know that's who I am you know
my mom told me something really
interesting today she said you know you
could never change your hair Kayla
because people won't even know who you
are anymore but just even how you are if
you're a bubbly person show that you
know through your dancing if you're
sassy show that through your dancing
because then you're being true to
yourself so those are the five things I
believe you need all right perfect
okay so what are your three best tips to
making the dance team three best tips
know who you are auditioning for Julia
research research is important because
if you don't do your research you won't
be prepared you know so poor preparation
equates to poor performance and you
don't want to do that right always have
fun you know if you're not having fun
then there's no purpose in doing it I
love dancing I'm passionate about
dancing so I'm always having fun when
I'm dancing lastly have confidence go in
there like you own it even if you can't
do that split do that split and act like
you did the best thing ever in life yeah
like if like if nakiya decided she wants
to audition for MV a dance team I would
tell her those three things and she
would go in there and own it so those
are the things you need to have all
right perfect
okay Kayla so I do have a question so
for those who really enjoy dance and
they want to be involved in dance maybe
they don't have the finances or aren't
able to do all the awesome dance classes
and learn all the fancy technique as
some other students what advice would
you give them well I would definitely
say keep trying you know there's a lot
of self-talk
out there you know a lot of people on So
You Think You Can Dance are self-taught
dancers and they just go out there and
they go for it you know if you thought
though dance is on your heart and that's
what you were destined to do then you
will make away and you will find a way
so Kayla what's your best piece of
advice for those who are about to try
out for bestie
okay so like I asked me so many
questions today about did giving you all
different tips so make sure you hold on
to those but most importantly make sure
you bring your positive attitude you
know and a fire personality you know
make all of that pop out at your
audition so that people can you know
truly see you are and so you can have a
lot of fun and meet a lot of different
people you know if you're bringing a
positive attitude no matter the outcome
no matter what's gonna happen you will
automatically do your best we know
because you're bringing your best self
so bring your best self
perfect alright everyone so we just
heard from Kayla Kayla question and it's
a finish my sentence question when I
dance I feel when I dance I feel
empowered so thank you everyone so much
for tuning in if you have any questions
or comments for Kayla or myself just
leave them below we'll make sure that
they get answered so Kayla told me not
to say good luck with you trying off
with the advance team but break a leg
alright so great that like y'all and
keep us posted on your success we'll see
you again next time
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