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17. Making it as a Freelance Dancer in NYC with Rian Wood
88 Plays2 months ago
Rian Wood is a professional dancer based in New York City and currently performing in the Medora Musical in Medora, North Dakota.
At just 25, Rian is wise and experienced beyond her years. We talk all about how Rian makes her freelance dance career work and how she’s finding artistic fulfillment and balance. We also chat about Rian’s experience in career mentorship and some of the hurdles she was able to overcome during our time working together. If you’ve ever been curious about pursuing a dance career in NYC, this is the episode for you!
Key Moments:
- Early training [1:34]
- Attending college for dance during a global pandemic [2:18]
- Moving to NYC to pursue dance as a fresh college grad [4:32]
- Finding balance between side gigs and dancing in the city [10:38]
- Rian’s first dance gig in NYC [12:23]
- How she ended up dancing in North Dakota for the summer [12:50]
- Rian’s experience dancing on cruise ships [18:16]
- What’s next for Rian and how she makes a freelance career work [22:15]
- Their biggest piece of advice for dancers who want to move to NYC and pursue a career [25:14]
- The power of community and asking for help in the dance world [28:20]
Connect with Rian:
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/rian.wood
Links and Resources:
Get your copy of The Ultimate Audition Guide
1-1 Career Mentoring: book your complimentary career call
Let’s connect!
My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.com
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerina
Questions/comments? Email me at [email protected]
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Transcript
Caitlin on Dance Career Uncertainty
00:00:01
Speaker
No one knows what's going on. I don't think anybody actually feels like, ah, yes, I understand this crazy career. Nobody feels that way at all. And it's scary, especially like at the beginning, but then making peace with that. And then, like you said, in turn, trying to help other people who like are still in that place, because it is scary.
00:00:27
Speaker
I'm Caitlin, a former professional ballerina turned dance educator and career mentor. And this is the brand new ballerina podcast. I am here for the aspiring professional ballerina who wants to learn what it really takes to build a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry. I'm peeling back the curtain of professional dance world with open and honest conversations about the realities of becoming a professional dancer. Come along to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need succeed in a dance career on your terms.
Introducing Ryan Wood
00:01:02
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Brainy Valorina podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Sloan, and I am joined today by Ryan Wood. Ryan is a professional dancer based in New York City and currently for performing in the Medora musical in Medora, North Dakota. I've had the honor of working with Ryan as a career mentor and I just
Ryan's Dance Journey Begins
00:01:20
Speaker
adore her. Ryan, thank you so much for joining me today.
00:01:23
Speaker
Thanks so much for having me. I'm really excited. Of course, I'm so excited to chat with you and catch up. To start, I would love to hear, why did you take your very first dance class? I was pretty little, I think three. My mom taught at the dance studio that I ended up training at most of my childhood. So it was pretty much just a natural thing. And I never tried anything else. I just did the one thing and stuff with it.
00:01:44
Speaker
What was your training like growing up? I trained in a lot of different styles of dance. I did ballet, jazz, did hip hop, did lyrical, did contemporary, did modern, point, like all of that, acro, like I feel like I tried everything under the sun. I ended up going to a performing arts middle school and a performing arts high school where we did ballet and modern and sometimes jazz and sometimes point two. And then I got my BFA from Florida State and there a lot of the training was primarily ballet and How did you decide to go to college
Education's Role in Dance Career
00:02:17
Speaker
for dance? So in Florida, we have this really nice program called Bright Futures, where if you get like a certain GPA and a certain SAT score and everything, they'll either pay your tuition in large part, or they'll pay the whole thing. And so for me, like I ended up being able to go to college
00:02:36
Speaker
for free. I knew that that was something that I was always going to want to do eventually. I always wanted to really continue my education in a formal way like that. So it made sense for me. Did you always plan on going to college for dance? Or did you think you would major in something else?
00:02:51
Speaker
Oh, I had no idea. I knew I would dance, but I was kind of like nerdy in school. like I liked taking the s SATs is weird. I think I'm the only person on the face of the earth that liked that. Even up until my senior year, like I didn't know. I loved dance so much that I just couldn't really justify not continuing my training and not continuing to study it, especially since I had already been studying it for so long and knew that I wanted that to be a part of my life. I do think when I'm older, if I got my master's, I would want it to be in something different just to like explore other sides and learn new things. But it just came from a place that I wasn't ready to like let go and not be in dance class every day anymore.
Transition to NYC During Pandemic
00:03:33
Speaker
What year did you graduate college? I graduated 2021.
00:03:38
Speaker
full COVID. Okay, that's what I thought. So what was it like being in college for dance during a global pandemic? It was crazy. 2020 that spring was like, of course, when everybody went home and thought that it was just going to be like a week long thing. And then at least in my program, we stayed home the entire next year. Like I think they did end up letting us into the studio space.
00:04:01
Speaker
eventually but they had the squares taped on the floor and we were still taking class on Zoom. Only a small handful of us that like really wanted to be in the studio were in the studio. Like one of my professors was Suzanne Farrell. She was a guest professor and she would teach us like a couple times every semester and I was like taking a Suzanne Farrell ballet class in my living room in my college apartment and I was like this I don't think this experience is ever gonna happen to me again you know. but Seriously, and then you graduated and you moved to New York City. Yeah, that was kind of not impulsive, to be honest. So my school, their senior year, the seniors had always done a semester in New York City. It's optional, but it was like this big thing that I feel like it would help you because we were going to school in Florida and so much of dance is in New
Navigating NYC Dance Scene
00:04:52
Speaker
York City. It was kind of intended
00:04:54
Speaker
to like help you understand that dance scene and help you with like a post-graduation transition if that is the place that you wanted to live. So it was just this program that I really looked forward to doing. And then with COVID, it didn't feel safe to do. So I think, honestly, most of my class, like a good handful of us,
00:05:11
Speaker
ended up just kind of moving there post-graduation anyway. I had been up there for summer intensives before and I had had friends that I was going to move with and I knew that part but it was kind of a weird time. I don't think anybody honestly knew what to do post-graduation in the pandemic. Like flying for auditions didn't feel as safe as it normally would have like that kind of thing so I just kind of ended up there and I'm still there. I guess I just leave a lot.
00:05:36
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you're coming straight out of college. You're moving to New York, still during a global pandemic. Can you talk more about what that transition was like for you? Yeah, it was crazy. I was thinking about this the other day. Some of my first dance classes that I was taking, like, at Steps on Broadway were, like, in a mask still. Like, it was still, like, at that point in time. And so it was very different from how things are now. I was really grateful to have, like, my small little group of friends that I was there with. I think it would have been a lot more scary. But in terms of professionally,
00:06:06
Speaker
I was going to class, I was going to auditions when I saw them, but I just, I didn't know really how to do
Defining Dance Career Goals
00:06:10
Speaker
that. And that's when I ended up finding you and you helped me get a lot more organized and get a lot better of a plan. So that was really nice. That's what I was going to say. So that's about the time that you reached out to me. So what made you decide that you needed more support?
00:06:27
Speaker
with my school, they had that program that you would spend like a few months in New York with your professors and with mentors. And then that wasn't able to happen due to the pandemic. So then I was like, okay, I'm going to go on my own. I mean, I had just turned 22 when I moved. For me, that was still young and I still felt like Okay. I know I want to dance. Everyone said come to New York, but how do I make that happen? Especially like post pan, well, mid pandemic when nothing is like normal. Also for me, since I was talking about before, like I grew up training in so many different types of dance. Like I remember we talked about this where it was like.
00:07:00
Speaker
I knew I wanted to dance and I knew like I had certain criteria for like a company like a work environment that I wanted to be in. I knew like what kind of place I felt like I would do better but I didn't know in terms of like style which I don't think a lot of dancers end up with that sort of struggle but that was mine where I was like but I love jazz and I love ballet and I love contemporary and like that was something that I needed help narrowing down to so.
00:07:25
Speaker
Yeah, we had a lot of conversations about that and trying to figure out what you really wanted out of your career. Yeah. Style of dance and also location were a few things that you were pretty open on. You were like, I don't really know exactly what style I want to do. I've done so much. I love it all. And you also were pretty open to moving different places to dance. You weren't necessarily stuck in being in one place, but you were really certain on what kind of work environment you wanted, what kind of person you wanted to work for, the atmosphere that you wanted to be in.
00:07:55
Speaker
And you had your values that were very strong to you. So even though some things were pretty fluid, like the style of dance in the location, you always knew what you really wanted out of an environment, which is important. Yeah. I mean, now I'm in North Dakota so far from New York City, like, it's ending completely different.
00:08:14
Speaker
Yeah, to your point, it was like something that I knew I wanted to be treated well. I mean, I had a pretty good experience. There's a lot of more like an old school mentality that it's like, okay, we break a dancer down like for their benefit. I think I was pretty lucky that I didn't have that as harshly as I've seen some other people, but then going to college taught me that I'm allowed to have my own values in a workspace. So I think they gave me a good sense of, okay, if I don't feel like I'm being treated well,
00:08:42
Speaker
then like this is not the place for me. And you can be treated like an actual thriving person and like you can still dance. like You don't have to get treated poorly. But I mean, again, I think I had a pretty good experience, but it was just having that sense of you can actually walk away
Varied Dance Career Benefits
00:08:55
Speaker
from something. It's okay if that's not for you. And then in terms of style, it's like I'm here and I'm doing musical now, which is like theater jazz or like theater dance, I guess I would say. And I'm so happy doing it. And I've always wanted to try this type of dancing. Even as I'm here doing the same show,
00:09:10
Speaker
I'm like, oh, I kind of miss, like, contemporary and I want to go take a ballet class. Like, I think I'm always going to crave the variety. And Ryan, I love that you have created for yourself a career that has allowed you to do that because for a while, like we were saying, that was uncertain and you were kind of fighting against the idea that you wanted that. You know, you felt like, I need to pick something. I need to stay in one lane. And you really were like, maybe I want to do a concert dance company or have a full-time contract. But that wouldn't have really fulfilled your desire for variety and to get to do different things and be constantly challenged in new ways. That's such a big part of you. So I just love that you figured out a way to make this all happen.
00:09:45
Speaker
Yeah, it has ended up working out, especially because I just want to try so many different things. There's more commercial dance space. I found works more contract to contract, which has been nice too, because it's still, especially if you can find like a longer contract. This one I'm here from May.
00:10:01
Speaker
through the first week of September. So it's still a good chunk of time. And I also found that in this space, there is a lot more performing happening. Like I have friends that are in companies and they'll do shows and they'll do tours, but there's also large chunks of time that they're only in the studio. Whereas for us, it's been at least six shows per week. A lot of times more for this whole time, I found that I really loved being on stage in that aspect of it. And so the contract situation allowed me to be on stage a lot more too.
00:10:28
Speaker
Yeah, totally. One of the biggest things we also worked on was trying to balance your side gigs with your dancing yeah because you're constantly in this battle between, ah I need to work to pay my rent, but I moved to New York to dance, but I'm not making it into class because I'm working so many hours in my ps side gigs. What progress have you made in that area over the past three years? Oh, so much better.
00:10:55
Speaker
much better it took so much time but we got there. I think I was so stressed being in New York and like it's such an expensive city and I was just scared I was like okay I have all these like really big bills and I don't know how I'm gonna pay them and like and then I would get scared about that and then I'd look up and I hadn't taken to dance class all week because I was scared and I was just picking up shifts doing side gigs.
00:11:16
Speaker
You know, I'm grateful for them, but they weren't the reason that I moved across the country So now it's really nice now that I'm on contract. I don't have to do anything else Which is really nice to just focus in the cast like we'll give each other dance class that kind of thing But it's also nice to just have this time to focus on just performing and then I can like update my resume and do all that during the day But then back in the city, I finally found a side job that worked really well for me I'll wait tables when I'm in the city. I work at like a steakhouse and It ended up being a good fit for me because financially being at like a nicer place like that, let me work fewer hours and still be okay. And so then I can make it to dance class more often.
Landing Contracts and Taking Risks
00:11:58
Speaker
I can make it to auditions. Like I found something that made sense and didn't take as much of my time and let me do what I wanted to do and what I needed to do to keep dancing.
00:12:08
Speaker
Yeah, that's really key. I'm curious, what was your first paid dancing gig in New York? So I moved into New York, I want to say mid-September of 2021. And I was in the Halloween parade in New York. I was like walking around a float, like they had people on the float and then they had a bunch of people around the float. And I was around the float and they gave me a beach ball.
00:12:35
Speaker
And we learned to dance on the spot to Dancing Queen and some others, I think, but we had a beach ball and we would spin around with the beach ball and walk through New York City. I got paid $100. Amazing. And then what has been your favorite gig that you've done since you started your professional career?
00:12:53
Speaker
I think my favorite one is honestly this one that I'm doing right now. I'm having so much fun. I love the choreography in this show. It's such a dance-heavy show, which is really, really nice. The cast that I'm with is lovely. Everybody in this part of the country is so kind. You're from the Midwest too, right? Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. yeah and There's just like this Midwest kindness that is just like really amazing. And I am just having a great time here. So this is probably my favorite.
00:13:20
Speaker
Yeah, I'd like to hear more about this. How did you find yourself in North Dakota and how did you get this contract? It's through this production company, RWS. I did a couple of years ago an audition, just an open call for RWS. I think in Orlando, I was home visiting family in Florida. And I just happened to go to this open call. It was so last minute, I got a hotel by myself. I was like, you know, we'll just see how it goes. And I left the audition and I called my mom and I was like, if I don't book anything, like,
00:13:48
Speaker
that's okay but like I can honestly say I felt like really good coming out of this audit audition like I'd never had that feeling before where I was like I don't honestly care if they reach out to me because I know I had a fun time and for what it was worth just the experience of itself was good for me I found out within like a week or two I got two different emails from actually like two different casting directors that both worked for the company and I guess had watched the audition and so the first one she worked at sea so I ended up taking the cruise ship opportunity that she offered me first which was so much fun and I got to travel to so many places and that was like the first gig that I had done with them and then coming back to the city my apartment in New York is only a couple stops away on the train from RWS's studios in New York so I had messaged both of those
00:14:33
Speaker
casting directors and said if you have any like workshops or developing shows, I would love to be a part of them and I would love to like come to the studios every day. I just wanted to see the behind the scenes and also like I live so close. And then I ended up joining the workshop, the development workshop for the Midori musical through the other casting director who had offered me a different land-based job at the time, but I ended up taking the cruise ship job. I had such a fun time in the workshop. Everybody was so nice.
00:15:00
Speaker
and The choreography was so much fun. So when they asked us if we'd like to stay on, I was like, oh, I'd love to be considered to stay on. And then they ended up bringing most of us. from the workshop here. Does the mere thought of a audition season make your palms start to sweat? Do you feel completely overwhelmed with getting everything together on top of your regular dancing schedule? I've been there and I totally get it. As dancers, we spend hundreds of hours honing our technique and artistry. But when it comes to figuring out how to put together a resume or what to expect in a professional audition, we're often left to figure it out ourselves. That's why I put together the ultimate audition guide.
00:15:39
Speaker
This is your one-stop shop for everything you need to tackle professional company auditions with ease. No more spending hours Googling and trying to piece together a somewhat coherent audition package. With this guide, you'll be ready to conquer audition season like a true professional. We're talking resumes, head shots, dance photos, dance reels, plus info on how to find auditions, what to wear, what to expect, how to budget, mindset tips, you name it, it is in this guide.
00:16:09
Speaker
You are ready for this moment. Head to the show notes, grab your copy of the Altima Audition Guide, and empower yourself with the knowledge to approach audition season like a true professional. What a great lesson for dancers. And just a reminder that it's not going to come to you. Nobody's going to come bang down your door to give you a job. You have to send the email. You have to go to the audition. You have to put yourself out there. And anything could happen. You never know what you'll get out of it, but you have to try and just be a little bit brave sometimes and put yourself out there.
00:16:42
Speaker
Yeah, it was scary. Yeah. I'm like proofreading the email like 30,000 times and I'm like making other people hit send for me. But like, it worked out. So I was laughing. And I'm so glad you said that because it is scary and signs you just have to do it scared and remind yourself What's the worst that can happen? The worst that can happen is they say no and you don't have a job, but that's the same exact result you would have gotten if you didn't do it at all. I feel like I still, at this point in my career, experienced that where it's a little bit scary to send an email or reach out to somebody or apply for a job I want, even though I've had a career in the industry for a long time.
00:17:23
Speaker
Honestly, that's one of my biggest jobs as a career mentor is being that hype person and being the person who says go to the audition, send the email. Just being the person in your corner is going to keep you accountable. Yeah, it feels so vulnerable. You're right, like the worst that can happen is either they don't answer and they lose the email in a thousand emails, which is what it is, or like they do answer and they're like, oh, we don't have anything for you right now. Okay, thanks. The risk is really low, but it feels really high. That's so, so true. Yes, it feels really, really high. And because we don't want to be rejected, rejection feels really hard, but the actual risk is truly low.
00:17:59
Speaker
and the potential reward is so high. You could be getting the job of your dreams.
Cruise Ship Dance Experiences
00:18:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's a skill like anything else. It's just scary. Yup, exactly. I want to go back a little bit and I'd love to hear about your experience dancing on cruise ships. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I could not have known less about it. I'll never forget, she emailed me probably 10 a.m. and by 1 p.m. I had been like, yes, do you know that?
00:18:28
Speaker
right? What are you doing? You don't know anything about this. This was my first time leaving the country. I'm flying to Abu Dhabi. Like if we had gone to like Spain, I took high school Spanish, you know, it was just such a different place to go for the first time. and It was so cool. Like it was Really a fun experience. I could not have known less about what I was doing while I was doing it if I had tried It was crazy, but it was really cool. We did three shows So we worked six days a week and it was two shows per day and we would do like two days of the first show and two days of the second show, two days of the third show, and then a day off, which was really nice and fun trying to get to do like three different things. Yeah, you can just find different things in the choreography and different things. And you know me, I like variety, so I had a good time. I don't know what else to say. What do you want to know? I'm curious about the workload because you said you're doing 12 shows a week, which feels like a lot. Was that manageable for you? How did you feel about that?
00:19:22
Speaker
It was nice. What was cool about my experience was we didn't have any other responsibilities a lot of times and my mom did cruise ships too and she said that the dancers are also in charge of like certain elements of like safety protocols because you are part of the crew. I don't really know much about it because I never had to do it but there's like water safety training and like the lifeboats like if something happens like you're in charge of a lifeboat sometimes or something like that. I don't know much about it so that could be completely wrong.
00:19:49
Speaker
but i just know that like there's other responsibilities that a lot of dancers on ships will have but for us we would just had to worry about the shows so we had all day we could go into whatever court city and then we could get back just in time to like do the performances so that was really fun i liked doing that many shows per week i will say 12 a week is a lot 12 week is probably the most that my body could handle but in terms of like cross training. Here now I go to the gym as often as I can and just knowing in your body like okay.
00:20:24
Speaker
I have a really flexible back, but it's not as strong as it needs to be. So I need to like work on my back strength and work on my glutes and work on my core to like balance that out and be able to support doing the shows for the ship that much, really just taking care of your body. Yeah, exactly. Trying to balance performing that many shows a week, keeping your body healthy, keeping your mind healthy, and then getting to enjoy the travel aspect and actually getting to explore and see the world.
00:20:50
Speaker
Totally. Especially I'd never been anywhere. So I'm like, of course I want to see everyone. What was the coolest place you visited? We started out, we flew to Abu Dhabi. We did that part of the world for like the first couple weeks. So we did Oman. We were also in install, which is like the equivalent of tech while we were over there. Definitely did Oman, did Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, and then I want to say we did the crossing so there was a time that we were like out at sea for like two full weeks. It was a long time and then we came over to Europe. We basically went in a loop the rest of the time which was nice. We did Barcelona on Friday. Saturday was in Marseille, France. Sunday was in Genoa in Italy. Monday was in Naples.
00:21:35
Speaker
Tuesday was in Sicily, Wednesday was in Malta, and then Thursday was our day to BSC and get back to Spain. So we went into circle. What a cool experience, Ryan. That's amazing. Yeah. It
Future Plans and Career Reflections
00:21:48
Speaker
was really fun. You are on this current contract now through September.
00:21:52
Speaker
And then yeah, what's next for you? So it'll be September. I'm actually, I'm going on vacation. I'm going to go meet my friend. She's backpacking. So I'm going to go overseas and meet her. And then I'm going to go spend some time with my family, kind of just regrouping after being away for so long. And then I'll be back in the city. I think by like mid-October and I'll be auditioning then. I know a lot of people will do like while they're here, they're auditioning and they want to just go like contract to contract, but I found it was kind of hard to find time with my family and see my friends in New York. I'll do like gig work in New York too. It's just not full-time the way a contract is. I work with this company. I'll like guest perform for them and I'll do those sometimes and then there's a contemporary company that I'll join that's part-time. So it's kind of a scattered answer, but hopefully just get back to New York, do those New York things that I've been doing and then I'll start looking for another contract.
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah, I just love that you have figured out how to make this career your own. And for a time, coming back to what we talked about before, you almost thought you had to decide to do one style of dance. And you've gotten to this place where you're getting so many different styles of work and you're getting to really have balance in your life, do other things you care about. And it really just, I can hear the happiness in your voice when you talk about everything that you're doing. It's just very cool.
00:23:09
Speaker
Yeah, especially because I grew up doing so much. I trained in a lot of different styles, but I always thought that I wanted to do concert dance pretty much exclusively. That's what I thought that I wanted to do. I wanted to join like.
00:23:20
Speaker
Paul Taylor or like a big company like that and then I realized I think I would be happy doing that kind of thing but it's just you're right like there's something nice for me about always being able to do something different because now I'm like here and I think he said it before but I'm like I miss ballet class like I want to go to like take a ballet class and I'm like maybe the next contract will be a little more ballet based or like depending on whatever show it is yeah there's something nice about it It's scary sometimes because like I don't know exactly what the next contract is going to look like. I also like the life that I have for myself in New York. like I have good friends there now. They're still dancing. It's just not full time. It's not every day. But it's still you know there's class. That's where training is. So I like that life enough that I don't... I'm not pressed in the same way to like get to the next one because it's just a bonus instead of like something that I feel like I need.
00:24:09
Speaker
And seeing that mindset shift in you is really amazing because it wasn't always like that for you. There used to be a lot more stress about what you were going to do with your life and is this going to happen for me and how am I going to make this happen? And being able to let go and have trust at the right opportunity is going to come along is really powerful and very exciting to see you getting to that point in your career.
00:24:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean it happens to dancers that do have a more consistent company job too where it's like sometimes your contract doesn't get renewed or like sometimes the company folds. It feels more certain but like it's still kind of uncertain in that way too so it's like making peace with that uncertainty rather than trying to fight it because I think as long as you dance it's going to be uncertain to some
Embracing Uncertainty and Growth
00:24:56
Speaker
degree. Yeah, that's very true.
00:24:58
Speaker
Ryan, why would you tell a dancer who wants to move to New York City and pursue a dance career? Just knowing that it's going to be OK. I think that everybody has their own path. It feels really scary. Like, it's so uncertain in the beginning. And people said to me, like, it's going to be fine. Like, 22 is just the beginning. Like, you know, it's such a young age. And I mean, I'm only 25 now. I just turned 25. But so much has happened in that time. There's so much trust.
00:25:26
Speaker
you have to trust in your training and trust in your ability to like continue and persevere and also like some people they get there and that's not for them and that's okay too that having the like the peace within myself that if one day i wake up and i don't want to do this anymore like that's okay too makes it a lot less scary i think a lot of times dance is such a such an identity for us that like it's really hard if you haven't booked it's hard because you're like well this is my identity this is who i am and I'm not doing it but that's okay like you're still a whole person you're still a dancer or even if you're not that's still okay too like even if you just want to do something else completely different that's also fine I think I had so much fear around like when am I gonna dance next it will happen just chill and if it doesn't that's also okay
00:26:17
Speaker
I remember another thing that we talked about quite a bit was the idea of perfectionism and you would say things to me like, well, I need to get to class. I haven't been to a dance class in a few weeks, but I'm not really my best right now because I've been working my side gigs a lot. I feel like I'm getting out of shape. My technique is slipping. So I don't want to go to class because what if I look bad or what if a choreographer sees me and then I'm not doing my best. I get passed over for a job. So you'd be stuck in this perfectionism spiral. And I can see now how much confidence you've gained in yourself. And I'm curious, do you feel like gaining the confidence first is what helped you start booking gigs? Or did you start to book gigs? And then that gave you a boost of confidence. What one came first?
00:27:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's actually a really good point. I remember back when we were working together a lot, I was just so in my head. I was like, I can't go to class and not be like the best I've ever been. What? Of course you have to. Like, what? Crazy. But I definitely did calm down a lot once I started booking things, even the part time in the city things that I was doing that weren't full time contracts.
00:27:28
Speaker
That definitely helped a lot. And then I think just, just getting older, just growing, growing up and like seeing other people's journeys and like trying not to compare, but instead be inspired by other people. You can feel so behind, you know, if you're like, Oh, this person's like done XYZ. And like, I haven't. And that's a really easy trap to fall into. But just instead being like, Oh, they did XYZ. And like, that's so cool. I would love to do that. I'm sure my own path is coming. or looking at someone and being like, oh my gosh, I would love to do that. How did they do that? And learning from that. Yeah, depending on who it is, like you can ask people like, that's
Fostering Supportive Dance Community
00:28:05
Speaker
the coolest thing. Like there's two dancers that are in this cast right now that are 35. They've been working for so long now. It's just so cool that like, for even as much of a jump as you were saying, the difference in my mentality when I was younger and now like, for them, it's just even it's tenfold because they just have so much more
00:28:23
Speaker
experience and so much more patience and it's really cool to see and then they're like oh well i'm in this christmas show and they reached out to me you guys are really talented like here's the email send your application in there's no like competitiveness it's like oh well i have this like come with and that's so inspiring and so cool to see yeah i love that because i do think that's how most dancers are and there's the stigma that dance is so cut throats and that people will like put glass in someone's point shoes or all these horror stories you hear. And yeah, dance is intense. But the reality is that we just really want to help each other. And the more we can support other dancers, the more we're going to elevate the art form completely. Like it's not a zero sum game. There's room for all of us to succeed. And if we do, we're just going to bring everything up to a higher level. There's just really no downside here.
00:29:16
Speaker
Exactly. Is that like how you came to be the brainy ballerina? Yeah. I mean, that's just a huge part of my mission is. asking for help. And I feel like when I was younger and I was starting my career, I felt like everyone around me knew what they were doing. And I didn't know what I was doing, but I felt like I had just to fake it till I made it basically because I didn't want to seem weak or stupid or like I wasn't prepared to be a true professional. So I really felt like I had to put on this
00:29:53
Speaker
free face and just go it alone. But then I was in the industry for a while and I realized that no one knows what they're doing. We're all just pretending. And I really want to normalize asking for help and asking questions and admitting you don't know things because that's how you learn and how you grow stronger as a dancer. So I really have found my place in the dance world at this point in being that support system for dancers and being the person that you can go to with their questions or to talk about things and being a safe place for them where they feel comfortable talking about things and not feeling scared that they're gonna look stupid.
Caitlin's Mission and Closing
00:30:34
Speaker
Yeah, that's big. Everything you said just is like so true where it's like
00:30:38
Speaker
No one knows what's going on. I don't think anybody actually feels like, ah, yes, I understand this crazy career. Nobody feels that way at all. It's scary, especially like at the beginning, but then making peace with that and then, like you said, in turn trying to help other people who like are still in that place because it is scary. Yeah, it is. and you just coming on here and telling your story in the podcast is going to impact a dance dancer's life hearing the things you've done. So just anything we can do to help each other out is huge. I've been really into the Olympics, of course, and watching the gymnastics has been one of my favorites. And I have just loved seeing the team aspect to it. And of course, like you have your
00:31:24
Speaker
countries team but then they're still competing their individual events so there's times that they are competing against each other but they are still so supportive of each other they are there for each other they are cheering each other on they are so excited when the other person wins everyone just is so confident in their own skills and what they bring to the table that they're able to be excited for other people. And I just think that is the coolest thing to see and a great example for us to bring into the dance world of realizing that we all have our own skills that we bring to the table that we are good at. And we can be confident in our abilities and also be excited for our friends, be excited for our peers when they achieve something great too.
00:32:06
Speaker
Yeah, that's what they say. There's room for everyone at the top. They say, lift as you climb, all of those things. They're just, they're so true though. If you're the dancer, that is like, oh, well, like I want this opportunity and I'm gonna push this person out of it. The person who's giving you the opportunity, like also sees that you are putting glass in other people's shoes. Like there's no point in being that way. Like it doesn't, I don't, I don't actually know like what you would hope to gain from that.
00:32:33
Speaker
I know I have no idea but it's so funny those quotes you were saying to remind me of those like cheesy cat posters that were in your chemistry classroom in high school and yeah they are so cheesy and maybe cliche but they're actually true and it really does make a difference and like you were saying before you got an email from someone that you're on a cast with inviting you to send your materials in for another gig and yeah they sent that to you because they saw that you're talented and a beautiful dancer, but also because they enjoyed working with you, because you were a great teammate, and because you brought Joj the rehearsal studio, and because you had good work at ethic, and you show up, and you're there for them, and you are ready to go, and your reputation truly does precede you, and your character is so important, and it's gonna make a difference in your career longevity. Yeah, and I think, to your point, I think most people are kind. It's like you were saying before,
00:33:28
Speaker
very rare that you find someone that actually is malicious in that way, but it's just something always to keep at the front. Yep, exactly. Ryan, it has been so ah fun catching up with you and hearing about all the cool things that you're doing. I am just really love this conversation. Could you tell us how we can connect with you, share your socials, whatever is the best way for anyone to reach out to you if they have any questions or would like to connect? Oh yeah. So I'm on Instagram at Ryan, R-I-A-N dot wood, W-O-O-D. I'm on TikTok too, but I haven't posted as much there. So definitely Instagram.
00:34:04
Speaker
Okay, perfect. Thank you so much Ryan. I really appreciate your time and I loved talking with you today. Yeah. Thanks so much. It's great catching up
00:34:15
Speaker
Thank you for tuning into the Brainy Ballerina podcast. If you found this episode insightful, entertaining, or maybe a bit of both, I would so appreciate you taking a moment to leave a rating and hit subscribe. By subscribing, you'll never miss an episode. And you'll join our community of dancers passionate about building a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry. Plus, your ratings help others discover the show too. I'll be back with a new episode next week. In the meantime, be sure to follow along on Instagram at The Brainy Valorina for your daily dose of dance career guidance.