Advertise on podcast: Words That Move Me with Dana Wilson

THIS IS DANCE + CHARISSA KROEGER Charissa Kroeger is a director, creative movement director, choreographer, and costume designer whose work spans from luxury fashion & cosmetic campaigns to the biggest stars of our time, with credits on Emmy-, Oscar-, and Grammy-nominated projects alongside Paul Thomas Anderson, Nicole Kidman, Francis Ford Coppola, Harmony Korine, and Olivia Wilde. But what stayed with me wasn’t a credit; it was a way of working: treating everything as research. What happens when you stop defining the work and start discovering what is next for you through the work! Here’s what we exploring: Why “between spaces” is her happy place, and how curiosity keeps play at the forefront without lowering the stakes BURN. OUT. (and what happens after) Being a muse to men in creative spaces The making of SPAGHETTI, her Cannes Lion-winning film: many bodies en masse, human gesture over choreography, and a cast that included her parents and her grandma Embodiment as the “command center,” and choosing which part of you leads in your creative life (and work) This one’s for anyone who’s ever felt more at home in the in-between. Charissa’s answer: stay curious, lead with the body, and let the research take you somewhere new. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Show Notes: Connect with Charissa on IG Go to Charissa's new installation “FISH”  Listen to our episode with Toni  Listen to our rebrand episode  Listen to our episode with Tony  Watch the trailer for “SPAGHETTI” For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

THIS IS DANCE + RACHAEL MARKARIAN Rachael Markarian is a dancer, actor, choreographer, and author whose résumé runs from two Super Bowl Halftime Shows and world tours with Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Chayanne to Captain America: Brave New World, Top Gun: Maverick, and Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias. But the story that stayed with me wasn’t a credit, it was what happens when you’re at the top of one field and have to start over at the bottom of another. What does it take to build the room you aren’t being invited into, and what do you do when the door finally opens two days before the shoot? Here’s what we’re exploring: The transition from in-demand pro dancer to actor, and the humbling reality that “because I said so” belief only gets you so far A booking story that nearly slipped away How she wrote The Dancer’s Edge, from a little student workbook to a four-act guide on mindset This one’s for anyone who’s ever had to start over, or been told “we’ll get the next one” and kept going anyway. Rachael’s answer: advocate for yourself, create the opportunity if nobody hands it to you, and be ready for the “yes” before it arrives. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Rachael on IG Buy Rachael's book: The Dancer’s Edge Listen to Joe’s episode Listen to Nick’s episode Listen to Liana’s episode For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

THIS IS DANCE + BOBBY AMAMIZU Bobby Amamizu is a dancer, educator, and choreographer whose résumé runs from Cirque du Soleil's original Viva Elvis cast to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Etoile, But the story that stayed with me wasn't a credit, it was a 17-year-old at an open call getting stopped mid-combo and asked, "Who are you?" What does it actually take to get kept in the room, and what do you owe the people standing next to you once you're in it? Here's what we're exploring: The Fame audition where Marguerite Derricks stopped the music, called Bobby out by name, and told him she couldn't hire him if he kept dancing like a soloist, "so I can't hire you if you're gonna dance like that" A case study in Networking that is literally money in the bank What it meant to be trusted with a 5am ballet class before an 8am call, part of the job of keeping a company of dancers ready to be as authentic as the story asked them to be This one's for anyone who's ever had to prove they could be trusted with more than their own moment. Bobby's answer: show up exact, show up for the people beside you, and let the work speak before you do. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Show Notes: Connect with Bobby on IG For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

THIS IS DANCE + WHAT WE OWE EACH OTHER Dani Vitale is a Choreographer, Creative Director, + Movement Coach who by September of this year had already wrapped four films and two tours. But what stuck with me in this conversation wasn't the résumé, it was her definition of loyalty: to the dancers she leads, to the truth about hard jobs, and to the people she loves through loss. What do we actually owe the people around us, and what happens when we pay up? Here's what we're exploring: The one thing Dani never bent on when she started choreographing: dancer rates and conditions, because "once you lose the support from dancers... you can't gain that back" Why she pushes back on "choreographer vs. dancer" and thinks of it instead as one team doing one job: movement The gap between what happens on a brutal set and what gets posted after, and why she'd rather "report the facts" than romanticize the process This one's for anyone who's ever had to decide what they're actually willing to bend on, at work, on a team, or at home. Dani's answer is the same in every direction: tell the truth, and show up. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Dani on IG Learn more about Dancers Alliance For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + CONFLICT AND TEAM DYNAMICS I've been sitting with this idea that wherever you put art, money, a deadline, and a hierarchy in the same room, conflict is coming. That's not a flaw in the system, it's actually a good thing! What I want to answer with this conversation is this:  How do we navigate inevitable conflicts and criticisms in a way that neither the people or the product suffer?!  Here’s what we’re exploring: Why art, money, deadlines, and hierarchy each carry their own built-in opportunity for conflict, and why that center overlap is where teams actually fracture The trap of "it should be different" and how it quietly drains my empathy out of a room full of talented people A simple mental tool I use to get unstuck: asking whether the opposite of my assumption is just as likely to be true The best teammates know how to do two things: Give constructive criticism +  receive constructive criticism This one's for anyone who's ever felt small on set, or big on set, and let that feeling run the show. Empathy isn't the soft option here. It's the thing that turns conflict into better work. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Show Notes: For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + Makenzie & Phillip Chbeeb Makenzie and Phillip Chbeeb are the dynamic duo behind the new Netflix coming-of-age dance comedy movie, “Best of the Best” (Premiering September 18, 2026). In this episode, we unpack what it means to choreograph across cultures, across dialogue, and three weeks postpartum. If you’re into being impressed, this episode is for YOU! Three weeks after welcoming their first child into the world, they walked straight into their first pre-production meeting of their  on Best of the Best, a film that asked them to hold two things at once: honor the specificity of Western hip hop and South Asian dance forms like Kathak, and build choreography that could survive dialogue, alt takes, and lines that changed on the spot. What they found, again and again, was that the tightest constraints produced the most original ideas. We explore: The shoes-on, shoes-off problem between Chicago footwork and Kathak, and the jump-out-of-your-sneakers solution that turned a limitation into one of the film's best moments How they built "cushion" choreography, loop-able movement with matching in-and-out points, so a scene could breathe as long as a director needed and the music could be solved in post Making a Netflix film three weeks postpartum, and the very literal system they invented for handling a body and mind that felt, in Makenzie's words, "scrambled" This one's for anyone who thinks creative limits are the enemy of good work. For Phillip and Makenzie, the limits were the work. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Mckenzie on IG Connect with Phillip on IG Listen to Phillip’s episode  Listen to How Do Dancers Make Money? Learn more about Feybl For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + Nathan Kim The choreographer behind the newest Spider-Man, on how dance found him almost by accident. Nathan Kim didn't grow up dreaming of being a choreographer. His meet-cute with dance happened almost by chance, with an open slot in an Afro Brazilian dance class, and one impossible-to-mark movement across the floor that cracked something open in him. From there, dance became the throughline of a career that's taken him behind the camera and back, from his early days shaping movement for Charli XCX, to leading the choreography team on Spider-Man: Brand New Day. We explore: The happy accident that got him into that first dance class, and the moment mid-warmup when he stopped holding back The wild logistics of choreographing Spider-Man's biggest movement sequences, in-ears, hand cues, counts, and dancers who can't see what's coming from behind them Why "kill your darlings" hits different at a blockbuster budget, and how the ideas that get cut still ripple through everything that survives This one's for anyone who thinks their path has to be a straight line. Nathan's wasn't, and it swung him to Spider-Man. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Show Notes: Connect with Nathan on IG Listen to our episode with Miquel Zarate For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + Teddy Forance Coming to you LIVE-ish from CLI Conservatory, with the guy who built the place he wishes existed when he was 17 and googling "which college has a dance program for me." Teddy Forance didn't set out to become a studio owner. He set out to dance, and he did, big: Madonna, Lady Gaga, Cirque du Soleil, the Oscars stage. But underneath all of it was a gut feeling that never went away. That there wasn't a space built for dancers like him. So with his brother Jonny, he built one. Literally, twenty seconds down the road from their mom's studio in Southampton, Massachusetts. We explore: My new position at CLI: Director of Professional Development  Why Teddy skipped college for a career that found him at 17, at NYCDA Nationals The "Costco math” behind 100 guest choreographers and a fraction of the cost The budget-and-schedule advice Teddy gives every dancer terrified to move to a big city What it feels like to watch five conservatory years soak into the walls of a building you built from nothing This one's for anyone chasing a career nobody handed them a map for. Teddy didn't find the space that fit him, so he built it. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Show Notes: Connect with Teddy on IG Learn more about CLI For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + Fantasy Night Coming to you LIVEish from CLI Conservatory, with a story I NEED to tell you while it’s still fresh in my mind.  It's a tribute to my acting teacher Gary Imhoff, whose class taught me that losing can be winning, and that the greatest gift we can give is to support each other in the pursuit of our wildest dreams. We explore: How Gary's class and this once-a-year tradition rewired my relationship to failure and gave me the confidence to finally call myself a choreographer The three rules of my Fantasy Night Party: no bystanders, you can't perform the thing you're known for, and everyone gets a standing ovation. What it felt like on the other side of singing all five verses of "Fast Car" in front of my friends…. I almost threw up. This one's for anyone who desires to express themself in a way they haven’t yet… Consider this your permission slip. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + Nick Drago Nick Drago holds the honor of being this podcast's very first guest — Episode 0.5, the audition episode, back when I wasn't even sure this whole thing would work. A dancer, writer, and producer with 20+ years in the industry (think La La Land, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, and about a hundred more), Nick is a walking case study in "just do stuff," imposter syndrome be damned. We sat down to talk about banter as a survival skill, the many different ways to "make the sausage," and why sometimes you just have to try the thing even if it might suck. We explore: Was it false or REAL confidence that kept me going for 270+ episodes The bicep-flex technique nobody asked for, but everybody needed What Michael Rooney, Mandy Moore, and Kat Burns taught Nick about building choreography, and the attitude that keeps him in the game no matter who is calling the shots   This one's for anyone who needs a reminder that "just do stuff" is a mantra, not a mistake. Watch the full episode on YouTube Show Notes: Connect with Nick on IG  Learn more about The Seaweed Sisters Show “Weed Oh No” Listen to their episode  Listen to Mandy’s episode  Listen to Kat’s episode For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

Marie Spieldenner is a self-proclaimed “substitue that stays”. She's assisted and/ or danced for todays biggest artists/ directors/ campaigns and she is a brilliant example of how supporting others can fuel support of yourself.  We sat down to talk about support systems, psychology, and all about the gig that made her unshakable on set (spoiler, it’s almost certainly not the gig you think it is). We explore: What it took to save a shot with a 40-person cast at 6 am The reward system of the entertainment industry The big-sister-little-brother dynamic with Robbie Blue that taught her the difference between feeling ready and BEING ready. This one's for anyone who needs to be reminded of their worth. Watch the episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Marie on IG  Learn more about The Seaweed Sisters Show “Weed Oh No” Listen to their episode  Learn more about Fostering Dreams Listen to Diana’s episode  Listen to Meisha’s episode  Listen to Taya’s episode For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + WEED OH NO! The live Q&A Most companies build a show. The Seaweed Sisters built a whole world — a language, a color-coded family, a cloud that pops out babies — and then invited an audience into their room to ask about it. Jillian Meyers, Megan Lawson and myself were joined by our Executive Producer, live at the LA Theater Center on the closing weekend of Weed Oh No! for an open Q&A with the very audience that just watched them do it — thirteen years of Blue, Pink, and Green distilled into 80 minutes of Swinglish, upcycled sets, and a cloud rig that had to be talked down from an emotional breakdown it couldn't physically perform. We explore: Why "Seaweed mode" isn't a switch any one of them can flip alone — it only exists when three sensibilities collide The luxury and terror of a year-long timeline after thirteen years of built-on-a-deadline shorties How two days of pre-tech taught them the difference between a 16-foot ladder and a 12-foot one, and saved a scene they'd already built an emotional ending around This one's for anyone who's ever wanted to invite people into their room and just play. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Donate to WEED OH NO! Watch our past episodes: Ep #15  Ep. #266 Watch Emily’s episode Watch all the Seaweed Sister’s shorties For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + Hurrikane Most dancers battle to win. Alain aka “Hurrikane” Lauture battles because he is in love— deeply in love— with the music, with dance, and with the practice of acceptance. Listen in on his journey from being a kid from Port-au-Prince who only danced alone, to sharing stages with Madonna, MTV, Samsung, and winning battles like Juste Debout, Hip Hop Internationals, and Summer Dance Forever. Hurrikane joined me this week to talk about stillness as dialogue, how Maya Angelou changed his mind about judgement, and why he is NOT Locking… We explore: Why he refuses to call it a battle — it's a game, it's play, it's "with" not "against" How stillness is a real-time negotiation with his own insecurities Why it took years to understand an early conversation with Don Campbellock This one's for the love of all dance, and the context that makes it sticky for generations to come. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Hurrikane on IG Listen to Toni’s episode For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + DANIEL “CLOUD” CAMPOS Most people find one creative medium and stay. Cloud Campos found dance — then learned stop-motion, animation, PLUS directing because he refused to let a story outrun his tools. He joined me this week to talk about premiering unreleased work at CLOUDFEST, real budgets, and the dog slide that had an entire room convinced it was rotoscoped. Spoiler: it wasn't. It was muscle memory. We explore: The festival Cloud built himself and WHY Why freestyle dance is the perfect training for stop-motion + why every filmmaker SHOULD learn stop-motion Emotionally, mentally, + physically what it costs to create Cloud’s worlds This one's for the makers who hide their fingerprints in the details, hoping someone will find them. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Cloud on IG Watch “Macho Man” Watch “Into The Cosmos” Watch “Hey” Watch “Todays The Day” Read “Figure It Out!” Try out “Magic Poser” For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is DANCE + REBRANDING. This episode is a masterclass in when and HOW to pivot using our very own podcast as the case study. I'm telling you why, why NOW, and HOW I moved from “Words That Move Me” to DANCE +  Here’s what you can expect from our pivot: Same great content, new name, logo, iconography, and then some!  Spoiler: Rebrands are as much MIND MANAGEMENT as they are BRAND MANAGEMENT. Pivots aren’t just about new directions; they are an exercise in negotiating where you put your weight.  They're a conversation with self (inward) and a statement of self (outward) that can expose a TON of unwanted feelings.  Get ready for all the juicy details: The moment I KNEW beyond a doubt that I needed to change the name of the podcast. How Toni Basil influenced the new title.  Why I decided to SHIFT, not STOP. 271 episodes in. We're just getting (re)started. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Show Notes: Hire Bree Reetz for your Brand Design! Listen to DANCE + Will Loftis Listen to DANCE + Toni Basil For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok