Mike Williams' Dance Journey

I’m so excited to introduce you all to one of my fave dance teachers, Mike Williams! Mike teaches and choreographs for the kids at Solid Gold Dance in Moorpark. And fortunately for us, he also teaches the adult ballet, contemporary, and jazz classes there, which are so fun and have helped my technique tremendously. Mike grew up in Southern California and started dancing at age 11. His first class was a tap class, and according to his mom, he asked her to sign him up for everything after that! He ended up competing with that studio in his first year and got signed with an agent at age 13. He was dancing professionally as a teenager, studied dance and choreography in college, and then moved to New York where he trained and performed with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. He then came back to California where he did the scholarship program at Edge, was dancing frequently for Ryan Heffington, and then his teaching career really took off. Mike was teaching at four different studios and three high schools, choreographing hundreds of dances, and he did this for over a decade! He then stepped away from dance for a year and a half to take a break and focus on nature and photography. The silence and reflection time helped him to realize how much he still wanted to dance, but this time he was not going to just say yes to everything. He got back into taking classes in LA and eventually started teaching at a competition studio as well as various high schools. Unfortunately, two and a half years ago, he got into a car accident because another driver ran a red light and crashed directly into him, injuring the entire left side of his body. Multiple surgeries later, Mike is back to teaching and loving it, feeling so grateful to be alive. Much of his body is healed now, but we are believing for complete and total healing, as he would love to fully dance and maybe even perform again! Follow our dance journeys on Instagram: @mikeanese  @DanceJourneyPodcast @TracyinLA ​_______Thank you for supporting my podcasts! Donate @TracyinLA on Venmo. Any amount is sooooooo greatly appreciated!!

Chippy Wassung is in the business of dance education, but how did she get there? She started taking ballet at two years old because a doctor said it could help with her "knock knees." Then at three, she performed a surprising dance for her preschool class, and her teacher quickly recommended she be put into more serious dance training. Chippy took ballet six days a week after school and joined a pre-professional company from nine years old through high school. She then became a dance major at UCLA, where she got to explore more jazz and contemporary styles and truly found her movement voice. Chippy loved performing, but because she dislocated her knee her sophomore year, she focused on classes in dance history and pedagogy. This is when she developed a strong interest in teaching dance, but she thought the interest would fade once she was healed. It did not! She went on to get her master's in Dance Education at NYU and has had a fulfilling career ever since. Check out the full episode to hear more about Chippy's career journey and what her life looks like now as the Dance Department Chair of an arts-focused K-12 private school.Follow our dance journeys on Instagram: @by.chippy@DanceJourneyPodcast@TracyinLA

If you take class at Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica, you probably know Evan King! Evan trained there for years as an adult, taking multiple classes a day, and he made it a point to really connect with people. In the beginning, his main goal was to get physically fit, and he enjoyed classical music and ballet moves more than the gym. But soon he was inspired by the many amazing dancers around him, and his goal changed. He wanted to become as professional as possible! Besides taking class in LA, he also got accepted into various summer programs, including the Royal Danish Ballet Summer School in Denmark and the American Ballet Theatre Collegiate Summer Intensive. Through all this training, Evan became more curious about the history of ballet and why the moves and positions are the way they are. He started to have a strong interest in really understanding it and also being able to explain or teach it. This led him to the ABT Ballet Pedagogy Program in New York! Evan lives in New York now and is working hard every day with ABT as well as NYU, in order to achieve his ABT certificate and Master of Arts in Teaching Dance. Listen to the full episode to hear all the details, and may your faith be encouraged to go after your dance dreams as well!Follow our dance journeys on Instagram:@real_evan_king@DanceJourneyPodcast@TracyinLA

Erika Alexx just moved to LA from Arizona this past November, and I feel so blessed to have met her! Erika is authentic, vulnerable, funny, a hard worker, and a great dancer. She especially loves contemporary and reggaeton, but she trains in many styles including hip hop and jazz funk; and she takes class almost every day, sometimes multiple! Erika enjoys using social media as a tool for showcasing her skills and personality, along with finding auditions and dance opportunities, and this has served her well. She was part of two modern companies in Arizona, booked a movie, and danced in many festivals there. Now in LA, she's already performing in multiple shows as well as choreographing! Erika's life is definitely headed in the direction of her dreams, but this hasn't been without certain challenges, internally and externally. She has openly shared on social media as well as this podcast, and it's truly inspiring and refreshing to hear such honesty. Erika discusses her dance dreams and how she's been inspired by other dancers' lives and careers. She also values meaningful work, committed dancers, and kindness. Can't wait for you to hear this one!Follow our dance journeys on Instagram: @xerika.alexx@DanceJourneyPodcast@TracyinLA

Leica Marie does all kinds of dance, from Latin ballroom to aerial to jazz funk, but she got her professional start dancing for the NBA and NFL! That set the standard for excellence in training and performance as well as being a role model to kids. She was also encouraged to have a job outside of dance and pursue other interests with the same level of effort. Leica has done this her whole life, growing up with a strong commitment to flute, marching band, piano, and pit orchestra. She was always dancing too, but in eighth grade, her mom signed her up for jazz and modern classes. Then in high school, she decided to audition to be a dancer in her school's performance of Cabaret. She was only a freshman and got cast as a Kit Kat Girl alongside juniors and seniors! This was a dream for Leica, as she always loved watching Broadway shows since she was a kid growing up outside New York. She ended up becoming a cheerleader, continued dancing in musicals, and joined her high school's Pom dance team that were D1A county champions her senior year, winning all seven of their competitions! Though Leica experienced many wins in dance, there were also times that she didn't get what she thought she wanted for her dance career. But through a series of events, including the pandemic, she ended up moving to LA where she continues to dance professionally while also focusing on her education. She now has her master's in psychology and is working at getting her Doctorate of Education. Check out the full episode to learn more about her continued hopes and dreams for dance and for school, and even how they intertwine!Follow our dance journeys on Instagram: @boomshakaleica@DanceJourneyPodcast@T​racyinLA

We've been talking about LA Unbound on the podcast for so many episodes, but now we get to chat with Betsy Colombo, one of the co-founders, and learn how it all began! Betsy got her start "late" in ballet at age 12. She loved it and was so dedicated, taking 4 to 5 classes a week and going on pointe by age 14. She danced with her studio's pre-professional company but never felt like her technique was good enough to make it a career. She studied communications at college with a dance minor and was part of the dance company there. But after graduating, she moved to LA to work in the music industry, not knowing dance was about to become a huge part of her life's work! Betsy has now been co-running LA Unbound since 2007 and opened her own kids studio (Unbound Dance Studio) in 2018. Catch the full episode to hear how it all came about and how Betsy persevered through the hardship of the January 2025 wildfires that affected her studio in Altadena. Betsy is passionate to give dance opportunities to all ages and levels of dancers, and her ability to bring these visions to life is quite the inspiration.Follow our dance journeys on Instagram: @BetsyUhler@DanceJourneyPodcast@TracyinLA

This week we are chatting with Ailish Hill! You probably know her as host of the One Movement community dance classes that happen 2nd and 4th Fridays at Evolution Studios in North Hollywood (for free!). But did you know she moved to LA at 18 to pursue the dance industry? She did the Millennium summer intensive before that and was so grateful a door opened right away for her to move here officially. She was also so grateful for Millennium's unlimited monthly membership at $99 a month! She got signed soon after and was performing and going on auditions. But through a series of events including moving away for a bit and coming back, God led her to a new way of dancing: with her church, One LA. Ailish knew nothing of "dance ministry" and never would have thought she'd end up leading one. But now, here she is, 10+ years later, heading up One Movement where she choreographs for church performances and classes. She also brings in amazing teachers and encourages so many people to grow in their dance abilities as well as their faith. Tune in to the full episode to hear all the details along with what Ailish is still hoping for in her life and dance journey.Follow our dance journeys on Instagram:@geturgruvon@DanceJourneyPodcast@TracyinLA

Meet Brittni Miller, everyone! Interior designer by day, dancer by night and weekend. Brittni is a very talented dancer and choreographer, but according to her, she didn’t start out that way. It wasn’t until her freshman year of high school when she made it for the JV dance team, that her coaches really started to see her potential and invest in training her well. It was also her love for dance that drove her to practice diligently and work hard on her own, which led her to make the varsity team her sophomore year. Brittni grew up doing ballet, tap, and jazz, but her main focus in high school was jazz and pom. She even thought about pursuing cheerleading professionally! But she considers herself more of a calculated-risk type of person and wanted to have a more stable job rather than solely relying on dance for money. Even so, she got into UC Irvine by auditioning and being accepted into their competitive dance program. She ended up majoring in social ecology but still took dance classes there and performed in many dance pieces, often contemporary. (Sidenote: She also studied abroad and learned ballroom while in the UK!) Since college, she takes classes at various studios around LA and performs regularly with LA Unbound and NACHMO, among others. She’s choreographed multiple pieces, where she loves to use dance to tell a story of relationships and connection, often with her signature whirling contemporary style. Brittni is so passionate about dance and finding good dance teachers, as she recognizes the life-changing influence they can have. She also loves teaching herself and hopes to one day have a regular class where she can do the same for others.Follow our dance journeys on Instagram:@brittnimillerryo    @DanceJourneyPodcast@TracyinLA

Julianna Bravo takes dance classes all over LA, always popping up at different studios and working so hard. She started her dance training as an adult and says it's just a hobby, but she is a high school dance teacher and continues to grow in her skills and take opportunities as they come. After college, Bravo worked as a Covid safety manager on tour with "Hamilton," traveling to 37 cities and ending up in Oklahoma for a while. It was there that she got a job as an adaptive PE curriculum developer for an organization that works with kids with disabilities. That's also when she started taking dance classes and ended up auditioning for the hip hop crew for NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. Her high energy and performance quality led to her getting booked on their hype squad during their championship season! Then she moved back to LA and booked the hype squad for the LA Clippers! Bravo loves to go for every opportunity that comes her way, even if it may seem "delusional,"  and that's why she's currently living her best life, doing what she loves and spreading joy to others. Follow our dance journeys on Instagram:@JuliannaBravoOfficial@DanceJourneyPodcast@TracyinLA

You probably know him from his funny videos in ballet class, but now we're gonna get to know the real Matthew Bejarano, or "Matica," as his amazing and hilarious teacher refers to him. Matthew started out training in Taekwondo as a child, but it was next to his sisters' dance studio, where he often watched them do ballet before their parents came to pick them up. He did this for years before he realized that he wanted to do ballet himself and was more interested in practicing turns at home than martial arts. It was hard at first to make the switch because he often felt like an outsider being a guy in ballet class, especially in Texas. But once he got past that mental block, he was training and stretching everyday, doing summer intensives, and eventually got his first dance job at 17. That's when he realized he wanted to dance professionally for the rest of his life. After a small stint at college where he got burned out pursuing double majors, he left to focus on work and saving money to move to LA. However, his first year in LA was not what he expected. He couldn't believe how hard it was to even get an "easy job." And debt, injury, and a toxic relationship had him losing hope. Catch the full episode to learn how Matthew's life turned around with jobs, dance opportunities, social media following, and a new desire for college and learning. Follow our dance journeys on Instagram: @MatthewBej@DanceJourneyPodcast@TracyinLA