Kicking It Real

Years before she ever thought she'd actually play her, Deanna Cudjoe performed Cassie's monologue in a college acting class and texted her old teacher the day she booked the real thing. Deanna is the middle of five kids born to Ghanaian immigrant parents, found ballet through a random beginner book she pulled out of her basement at ten years old, trained for eight years at Still Point Ball...

This episode felt like getting a download from someone a few steps further down a road I'm just starting to walk myself. Andrew Norlen is a Boston Conservatory grad who wrote the book that gathered over two hundred Broadway letters during the shutdown, founded a nonprofit working to open the first wellness and community space for performers in Manhattan, and somehow does all of that while serv...

This episode wrecked me a little, in the best way. I went into this conversation thinking I was catching up with someone whose childhood I half remember from Disney Channel, and I came out of it talking about identity, injury, and what it actually means to rebuild yourself twice. Jack Taylor played Dandruff Danny on Hannah Montana before most of us even knew what a career in entertainment could lo...

This episode felt less like recording a podcast and more like exactly what it is. Two WMU alums who haven't had a real sit-down in way too long, finally doing it on mic. If you haven't met Erzsi yet, she's the kind of person who stayed at her studio alone through her entire junior and senior year of high school when everyone else quit, paid off her student loans in months by taking a s...

In today's episode, my first ever repeat guest is back and honestly, it felt less like recording a podcast and more like exactly what it is. In today's episode, my first ever repeat guest is back and it felt less like recording a podcast and more like exactly what it is. Two best friends who used to train side by side in New York, sitting down and actually telling the truth. If you haven&#...

In today's episode, I sit down with Dr. Chloe Roberts; dancer, choreographer, Steps on Broadway faculty, Cooper Union professor, and the only person I know who holds a PhD in the history of witchcraft AND just sold out an evening-length dance show in New York City. She grew up in Houston (yes, another Roberts from Texas), trained at North Harris Performing Arts Academy, and built a career that...

In today's episode, I sit down with Lariscy Navera, a classically trained performer and national touring artist currently on the road with Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Got the Moves, to talk about what the journey of a working professional dancer actually looks like. Lariscy opens up about being diagnosed with anorexia at 13 after a single comment from a dance teacher, and what it looked lik...

Shanna Vanderwerker has one of the most full-circle careers in musical theater: swing in the Broadway company of Wicked, Dance Captain of the First National Tour for nearly five years, Jeff-nominated choreographer, and now a professor at Roosevelt University training the next generation. But the story behind those credits is anything but straight. In this episode, Shanna takes us through the rejec...

This week I'm sitting down with Laura June Ness: Canadian dancer, aerialist, actress, and content creator who packed up her life and moved to London with no job lined up, no guarantee, and a whole lot of belief that it was possible. She's now in the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at London's Palace Theatre on the West End. We get into her full journey from competition dance...

In today's episode, I sit down with Kathryn Morgan, former soloist at New York City Ballet, YouTube powerhouse, and CEO of Kathryn Morgan Inc., to talk about what it actually looks like when your body becomes the thing working against you in a career that is entirely dependent on it. Kathryn shares her journey from booking NYCB at 17 and being promoted to soloist at 21, to gaining 40 pounds wh...

This week I'm sitting down with Jason Pickett, dance educator, mentor, speaker, and the founder of No Starving Artists, to talk about the business side of dance that most people are too scared to touch. Jason breaks down why the "starving artist" identity is quietly keeping dancers broke, what private equity is actually doing to the competitive dance world, and why transparency and c...

What if the thing holding you back isn't your technique, but something else entirely? This week I'm sitting down with Kirsten Kemp, high-performance mindset coach and founder of The Confident Dancer, to talk about the mental side of performance that almost no one in the dance world is actually teaching. Kirsten breaks down the difference between a high-standards environment and a toxic one, why "j...

This week, I am joined by Goldie Walberg, a former professional ballet dancer with BalletMet and Kansas City Ballet who is now a teacher, content creator, and the founder of the Lazy Ballerina Club, a platform redefining what it means to be a dancer beyond the stage. We talk about the reality of pursuing a professional ballet career, from the outside expectations to what it actually feels like ins...

What does it actually take to build a career in this industry, the parts that never make it onto a resume? In today's episode, I sit down with Benji Rivera, Broadway performer and NYC-based photographer, to talk about what it actually takes. Benji is an original cast member of Moulin Rouge!, a show that won 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and he's on the Grammy-winning cast recordin...

In today's episode, I’m sitting down with Kelsey Lewinski, a former professional dancer turned Pilates studio owner, teacher, and choreographer. We talk about her journey from growing up in dance to performing professionally, and ultimately making the decision to step away from performing to pursue something that felt more aligned. This conversation dives into identity, burnout, and what it lo...

This week’s episode is for the dancer preparing for a high-pressure audition, especially if you are heading into the Radio City Rockettes audition and feeling like everything is on the line. I share the four things I would focus on in the week leading up to a big audition, based on my experience auditioning for and becoming a Rockette. I talk about why this is not the time to push harder, but inst...

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Gena Brady; a fellow WMU alum, freelance dancer, and aerialist who has truly built a career on her own terms. From dancing in Chicago to performing on cruise ships and now navigating freelance work, Gena shares what it actually looks like to create a sustainable life in dance without following just one path. We talk about the transition out of college, the re...

This episode was inspired by one of my most talked-about posts, and probably one of my most controversial takes as a dancer. I’m diving deeper into what I actually mean when I say “put your eggs in one basket,” because it’s not about limiting yourself… it’s about being intentional. There’s a difference between being versatile and being unclear, and I think a lot of dancers get stuck right in the m...

In this episode of Kicking It Real, I’m sitting down with performer, choreographer, and educator Morgan DiFonzo. Morgan has performed in productions like Frozen, The Music Man, and Matilda, and now works as a freelance performer while also teaching and choreographing in Chicago. We start by going all the way back to Morgan’s training and what it was like growing up in a very ballet-focused studio...

Audition season can bring up a lot of pressure, anxiety, and overthinking... but what if the key to standing out actually has less to do with what you do in the room and more to do with the energy you bring into it? In this Monday Morning Motivation episode, I’m sharing a mindset shift that completely changed the way I approached auditions, especially the year I booked Rockettes. We talk about the...

In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Winkler, currently on the First National Tour of & Juliet as a swing and the tour’s social media captain, to talk about what it really takes to build a sustainable career in the performing arts. From growing up in a small town in Texas to navigating the competitive audition scene in New York City, Ryan shares what resilience actually looks like. We talk ab...

Have you ever ended the day feeling like you got nothing done… even though you technically did a lot? In this Monday Morning Motivation episode, I’m talking about something I’ve had to really learn over the past few years: how to redefine productivity. Coming from the dance world, I was so used to feeling physically exhausted at the end of the day that if I didn’t feel that same level of depletion...

In this episode of Kicking It Real, I sit down with Broadway performer and former Hamilton Dance Captain, Tyler McKenzie. Tyler has spent over eight years inside the Hamilton universe, from original company member to Universal Swing to Dance Captain, and shares what it actually takes to sustain a career at that level. We talk about starting “late” in dance, building triple threat skills intentiona...

In this Monday Morning Motivation, I’m breaking down what embodiment actually means and how it helped me manifest becoming a Rockette — without it being overly “woo woo.” If you want a dream job, a dance contract, a new level of confidence, or a completely different life than the one you’re currently living, you cannot keep operating as the version of you who doesn’t have it yet. If you’ve ever fe...

Come hang with us as I sit down with my college roommate and best friend Grace to talk about what it was really like building a dance career in New York City. We dive into moving to NYC fresh out of college with no savings, working multiple jobs to survive, navigating the contemporary dance world, and what it actually takes to make it in a small, interconnected industry. Grace shares how traveling...