The Background Dancer
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© 2024 The Background Dancer
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The Background Dancer sheds light on critical aspects underpinning the dance and performing arts industry through topics ranging from management, entrepreneurship, education, technology, fashion, choreography, politics, interdisciplinarity, media and wellness. Host Jason Yap details fascinating and useful information to help deepen your knowledge of all things offstage, while exploring and preparing together for a post-performance career. Listen in for a bi-weekly conversation with dance lovers from across Asia, Europe and the US, sharing experiences and practices that are both intimate and insightful. Jason is a dance artist, multidisciplinary producer and psychology graduate himself. Despite not pursuing it vocationally, he has still adopted many of psychology's approaches throughout his professional life - the concept of multiplicity and the performing arts as a 'whole that is bigger than the sum of its parts' ecosystem. Ready to talk all things dance? Join us as we begin to foreground Dance in the Background!
60 Episodes
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Have you ever suffered a catastrophic injury? How does one recover and regain peak condition following damage to the anatomy? Amidst the many inherent challenges within the dance sphere — a beacon of hope shines at the NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital through the presence of the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries. Beyond their exceptional array of services encompassing physical therapy and injury prevention programs, they also provide comprehensive educational offerings, both online and in per...
What exactly is Dance Science? What are the main foundations that constitute its rich and detailed history? Given dance's unique position at the intersection of arts and sports, it was inevitable that this field would eventually enter the mainstream. One pioneering institution that played a crucial role in this transformation was the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, with one individual standing out as a driving force behind this revolution – Professor Emma Redding.Professor Emm...
What does it take to stand out as a podcaster anyways? Is the craze for this new medium truly justified for the world of dance? Like in every other sector, the field of dance-related podcasts is now beyond saturated. Yet, that didn’t discourage me from starting a show, completing a full season and then embarking on a whole new one right after! It starts with your message and the value it brings to listeners who are looking to learn something from you which they cannot do elsewhere - which I d...
Is journalism dead? What is the most trusted form of media today? While there isn’t a definitive answer, one company comes admirably close. Dance Media Publications is a multi-varied media platform that covers dance like no other and has been consistently delivering engaging content to the most dancers, dance professionals and dance lovers globally. Among its many satellite publications, the Dance Edit podcast stands out as a prominent voice for daily news and updates revolving around the wor...
What does it mean to be a leader in the arts? Have you ever dreamt of heading an international platform which boasts both historical and current prestige? As far as dance goes dance, very few are like The Jacob's Pillow. Established on a treasured 220-acre national landmark, it is one of the oldest running dance festivals and home to the USA's most influential dance icons, including the man who started it all, Ted Shawn.In 2016, Pamela Tatge was announced as the new Director of The Pillow aft...
What does it take to stage a dance festival? Have you ever wanted to initiate an international platform with long-term sustainability? Despite the overwhelming number of contemporary dance festivals around today, very few have peaked at the level of a Deltebre Dansa, ImPulsTanz or Jacob's Pillow. However, B12 has managed to achieve such status in an even shorter time, which makes their story doubly more remarkable. And the secret to all of this? A stellar management team of course! Johannes W...
Are you compromising your art for more exposure, followers and following on social media? What do artists really need? Simply, we need to be discovered by people who are interested in what we have to share. Just think about it. Instagram is not a search engine like Google or YouTube where you can easily type, for example – ‘dancers’ – choose style of dancing, and you get a list of 100 000 dancers around the world with which you can filter out and identify exactly what you want. In the end, yo...
Is the overall environment on social media just absurd? Is it appropriate to place art next to irrelevant content such as pets, pranks and political correctness? But that herein lies the problem we face when squaring up to mass content on platforms that treat us not as the content itself, but the product in which to profit off from. The reality is, we cannot expect social media to change. We need to assume accountability and build a new one that is designed for art and artists with conditions...
Does social media actually downgrade your creativity? What are the obvious disadvantages of constantly churning out content for such platforms? A lot has changed from their humble beginnings and who knows how much more is changing as we speak. Even photographers who once upon a time came flocking over to Instagram, are now finding themselves leaving along with their dreams. Still think this doesn't concern you? Think again. Welcome to a brand new mini series covering our proposed launch of an...
Is social media suitable for artists? What are some of the challenges posed by Facebook or Instagram for artists and creators looking to build sustainable careers? While it might have been a great avenue to promote and network with fellow peers initially, much of social media has regressed over the years. Nowadays, we are seeing an increased aversion towards its application especially upon the creative industries. But all of this isn't new, is it? And where are the solutions, if any at all?We...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In our final entry of this special series, we go back to basics. As conventional wisdom goes: Failure is the first step to success, the cliché prevails. The question is, is it that much of a cliché at all? Sometimes, on...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In Round 9, business is the bedrock of modern society - providing the tools for all supply and demand be it in the arts, or otherwise. As artists however, we are often our own businesses and the bedrock of the gig econo...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In Round 8, we were once called the Avant Garde of society as artists. That’s because it was our jobs to always be prescient in the perception of our futures, of innovations that could be brought forth, of bravely chart...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In Round 7, we explore the mysteries of dance and its many crossovers with neighboring and distant disciplines, especially with regards to why one should even consider engaging in interdisciplinary collaboration in the ...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In Round 6, dancing isn’t always about belonging to the art form, it also comes with a community and support system. How can we build more communities and strengthen existing ones in dance? For this session, we were joi...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In Round 5, Dance and Education, perhaps the most fundamental element in a dancer’s journey from their first steps in the studio, all the way through their first steps into full fledged professional life. At the end of ...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In Round 4, how does dance and philosophy intertwine as an art form? Is dance a philosophy itself? Much of dance has evolved from a performative act into the universal thought process and stream of consciousness that ha...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In Round 3, we dived into the complex and imminent world of dance technology, from the perspective of resistance, acceptance and prescience of different innovations within dance and the performing arts. From disabilitie...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. Round 2 posited why dance is a great avenue to develop and apply leadership skills. It is complex, consists of a diverse population and is relatively low stakes. What else could one ask for as training wheels to one day...
Welcome to a whole new wave of specials, featuring a roundtable version of the show alongside two new co-hosts in Jacob Caldwell and Joshua Sailo. Throughout this 10 episode series, we present extracts from our Clubhouse sessions on the Why Dance? by J-Cast clubroom. In this debut entry, we discussed how different schemas, mindsets and social upbringings have influenced the way we approach dance, perceive the world and vice versa. Knowledge is vast and timeless, constantly everchang...
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I am very impressed by the way Jason curates the podcast. He posits dance in context to give audience a bigger picture of how performing arts relates with the real world. Despite this web of relationships is such a vast and complicated one, I am able to follow along under Jason's well organized topics and his clear articulation of thoughts. Highly recommended!
What I enjoy most about The Background Dancer Podcast is that it is incredibly unique. I have yet to find any podcast that fully encompasses the world of performance art—and more exclusively, dance! Jason also has a bona fide talent for podcasting. His voice is clear, distinct, and intuitive. The Background Dancer brings the topic and discussion of dance into the foreground!