Monthly Archives: May 2015

The Importance of Mentors in the Performing Arts

Posted in Dance by

mentorYou can’t make it in this world alone, and the more mentors, supporters, and trustworthy people by your side the more success will follow. In every stage of my life I have had people to look up to and strive to be like. When your kid, those people are your parents (who will always be you biggest cheerleaders and mentors), but as you get older, develop interests, those role models become people in your field.

In undergraduate school I had so many teachers that I could look to in the dance world for guidance, but there was one professor that stood out, Bill Evans. He wasn’t only an internationally known choreographer, dancer, and teacher, but he was someone who truly believed in his students, worked with them on their weakness, pushed them to be better whether it was technique or rep classes or even performances. He taught his students to dig deeper, be more then what people saw on stage, and to never put bounders on yourself. He believed that I could make it in the dance world and was there to support me when I decided I wanted to go to graduate school.

Another mentor I had was the person who gave me my first real job after college, Natalie Rogers-Cropper. You may recall me talking about her in my post ‘My First Job at a Dance Company.’ Natalie was the best mentor a recent dancer graduate could have since she was a graduate of Juilliard, dance professionally all over the world, and was/ is the Assistant Rehearsal Director and the Director of Garth Fagan Dance School. When she hired me she took a strong interest in my life and job goals. At the time, I wanted to start my own dance company so she helped provide me with the tools to connect me closer with the Company by working with the development and marketing departments, as well as allowed me to take classes at the school for free during the year and during the intensive summer program. She helped me strive at the company, pushed me to new levels, and when I was ready to move to my next level by going to graduate school she supported that as well by providing recommendations.

Being out of the dance world for the last few years (besides teaching ballet) showed me that I still need to be apart of it in someway. Now that my dreams have grown, and my interests have led me towards artist relations and tour organization and management, I have spent the last three years understanding how working with multiple types of artists at various career levels, as well as with various programming departments.  It is important to have a team that can be trustworthy and have your back. So, how do you find these people and know they are the right fit for you? I think it is about intuition. When I went to college, I did research and looked at the instructors. When I applied for an internship at Garth Fagan Dance I had my own reasons and goals for applying.  In both cases getting accepted into college and getting hired as an employee the organization had their reason for taking me on as a challenge.  Knowing where you stand with people and where they stand with you is important with any kind of relationship if there is going to be trust.  With that trust, a bond is form, and those kind of people become the most important people in your life because they help to pave a path for you to succeed.

Interested in finding out more about Natalie Rogers-Cropper or Bill Evans?  Click on the name links!

Band Spotlight – From Cherri Bomb to Hey Violet

Posted in Bands & Music Artists, Songs by

I have been following Cherri Bomb since coming across their first album “This is the End of Control” in 2012.  They had an epic punk rock sound, power house voices, perfect harmonies, and professional musicianship at such a young age.  Granted I’m not a musican, but I know a great sound when I hear one, and their songs were an edge that I hadn’t heard by an all girl group since the Runways.  In the music world, at least of girl artists, you mostly hear pop music; needless to say it was refreshing to hear this band.

These teenage girls were signed to Disney’s Hollywood Records on June 2011, opened for mega rock bands such as the Foo Fighters and the Smashing Pumpkins, and played festivals all over the world such as South by Southwest, Leeds, Reading, Soundwave, and Vans Warp Tour.  The band was represented by Samantha Maloney.  Maloney, who is an American musician and drummer opened numerous doors for these girls.  Unfortunately once they broke up, their manager and label bowed out as well.

When Hi or Hey Records (run by the pop band 5 Seconds of Summer in conjunction with Capital Reocrds) announced their first band signing Hey Violet, I knew I reconginzed the three girls from Cherri Bomb.  Of course being a stalker of music I had to figure out what happen.  I don’t think the fans will ever know what went down with Julia Pierce, Miranda Miller, Nia Lovelis, and Rena Lovelis.  There are interviews saying that Pierce was forced out, and there are others saying that she left on her own.

Either way, there is now a new group Hey Violet that has formed and bringing in a new sound of pop punk instead of punk rock.  Formed in Los Angeles, California this new group of Miranda Miller, Nia Lovelis, Rena Lovelis, And Casey Moreta are currently opening for 5 Seconds of Summer on their world tour.  This is giving Hey Violet a fresh start.  I know many people are upset about this change and with Pierce no longer being a part of the group, but if you listen to their sound they are on longer Cherri Bomb.  Their first released song “This is Why” sounds more mainstream.  Even though there are still guitars flooding the air waves they sounds more like All Time Low then The Runaways or Pretty and Reckless.

For old fans it’s going to take sometime to adjust to the changes that have been made, Pierce leaving, new members, and sounds changes, and new fans are going have to accept the comparison being made.  Change is good, and needs to happen to continue to have success and move forward.  In this case, we can anticipate Pierce putting out new music and putting together a new band, as well as Hey Violet’s up and coming album as the first group signed to Hi or Hey Records.

Life Lessons in Oz

Posted in Film, Songs by

I’m willing to admit I was a weird child. I talked too much and became obsessed with things I liked. Let’s take the film The Wizard of Oz. To this day my older brother cannot watch this movie. Why do you ask? Well, I became so obsessed with it as a kid that was pretty much all I ever wanted to watch, and to get a four year old to shut up, you just re-watch the same movie over and over again. I feel like parents now a days probably feel this way about Frozen. I am sorry for the scars I left on my older brother for making him watch this movie multiple times in a row, but in the end I know he still loves me.

The whole reason I bring up this Wizard of Oz obsession is because let’s be serious I haven’t out grown it. Not to toot my own horn, I think I must have been a really smart child because I liked all these movies with deeper meanings, like Peter Pan, and of course, The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz is about feeling inadequate, such as not smart enough, lack of love, or the inability to feel fearless. There is also the obvious lesson of good always triumphs over evil, but where is the fun in the obvious.

Old movies and classic stories have the ability to teach children lessons about life. Now, I am not talking about a knight on a white horse saves the princess, because I think those stories don’t do much of anything besides fill little girls heads with the idea that they need to be saved by a man. I’m talking about the stories that bring people together, who help one another achieve their goals, like the tin man, scarecrow, and cowardly lion rescuing Dorothy after she is taken by the wicked witch. What about those strong women who ultimately have the ability to help out her friends or save themselves? Dorothy threw a bucket of water to save the scarecrow from burning, she always had the power to go home through the ruby slippers (silver shoes in the book), and she defeated the wicked witch by accident, but her willingness and quick thinking to help her friend erased her fear of her trapped situation.

Granted no four year old is looking at the deeper meaning of a movie. I’m sure the music in the movie was what drew me in as a kid. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is my “Let It Go”. It taught me to dream big and that anything is possible if you truly believe it will happen. So, I dedicate this post to my realistic thinking little bro. If you dream big it will happen. You just have to find that inner child to just believe that there is something over that rainbow.

Charlie Puth – The Boy with a Unique Voice

Posted in Bands & Music Artists by

I have been a Charlie Puth fan since 2011 when I first stumbled across his duet cover on YouTube of Adele’s “Someone Like You” with Emily Luther.  After this cover I was hooked.  He also did a cover of Pink’s “Give Me A Reason” with Daphne Khoo which is one of my favorites.  His voice has a unique high quality and range giving him the ability to cover female artist with a twist.

Puth is currently blowing up on the air waves because of his vocals, writing contribution, and production skills on Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again”.  His soulful voice and piano playing on the chorus as he sings, “It’s been a long day without you, my friend and I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again (I see you again).”  Digging deeper into understanding the song, I found in an interview with MTV that Puth’s inspirations behind the song was that he also lost a friend to a tragic car accident and that the song came from a very real place.  Puth has a soulful emotion and R&B sound that connects with an audience, and this song in particular I think hits close to home with anyone who has lost someone who was important in their life, which is why it has soared on the charts.  When music connects on a personal level it becomes a piece of your life in a way.  You connect a person, a memory, or a relationship to that song which can be a powerful thing when you hear it out of the blue.

Last week on May 1, 2015, Puth released his first official EP Some Type of Love.  The EP has an R&B and soul type feel.  The first single from the EP was a duet with Meghan Trainer titled “Marvin Gaye.”  Personally I thought the song was lacking.  It had a nice 50s doo-wop feel that Meghan Trainer does so well, but the lyrics didn’t really connect with me.  I feel like the lyrical concept had been done in other songs before and the fact that Marvin Gaye has a song “Let’s Get It On” which understand is the basis but really?!  The last song on the EP “Suffer” reminds me of Alicia Key’s “Fallin.”  The musical styling these two songs seem similar to me, from the start of the piano to the singing of desperation, to the soul and blues inspiration that are engulfed within the music.  Next single off the album is “I Won’t Tell A Soul.”  I love the simplicity of this song.  It begins with a high sultry voice, low snap like sound, and soft electric guitar, and as the next verse comes in drums are added with background vocals in harmony to draw you in.

Charlie Puth is just taking off as an artist, and it has been amazing to see him grow from a young Berklee College student at The Red Room (Cafe 939) in Boston, to reading about him in Billboard magazine.  My favorite original song so far has to be “Break Again” with Emily Luther.  Granted there are no bells and whistles, but you and Luther had some magic when you sang together and it is what brought me to you from the beginning.

Check out Charlie Puth’s new EP on Spotify here as well as my favorite song “Break Again” below.