Gamble's Green Room

Adopted from Ethiopia at the age of 6months,  Anna G Jansson grew up outside of Gothenburg, Sweden in a small town on a golf course – no literally, her hometown stood on a golf course.   Her childhood was reminiscent of the dance movie classics FOOTLOOSE - growing up in a religiously conservative community and finding her voice and expression through dance against the wishes of her father who wanted her to play golf and be an academic.   Her formative years were spent in Sweden during the 90s where she would encounter and navigate numerous challenges as the ethnic minority girl, blatantly told “I would love hire you but you would stick out” and “I wanted 3blondes and 3brunettes but she couldn’t do it so I guess I’m asking you”.  Thru the tough-love tutelage from the likes of Bill T. Goodson, she would find her power and persevere, going on to performing in the world renowned musical THE LION KING on West End (London), the musicals A CHORUS LINE and LEGALLY BLONDE, choreographing productions for SVT (Swedish Television) and currently a judge with Swedish Dance Sport Federation (the Swedish branch of the European dance competition circuit).   Follow: @gamblesgreenroom Contact: [email protected]  Gamble's Green Room Team  Mike Gamble - Host  Judi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital Media  Anastasia Miller-Burns - Talent Acquisition  Tony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual Production  Simon Larsson - Sound Engineer  Beats by DJ Neno

Brooklyn born Orlando ZEPS Molina found HipHop in his early teen years and it changed his life.  He developed his freestyle rap game in high school. honing his skills in wordplay, alliteration and real-time inspiration from his surroundings, realizing this was a creative path he wanted to follow.  After a couple bad decisions caught him with minor misdemeanor charges, he straightened-up upon graduating and started working fulltime to raise the capital to pursue his dream while staying in the open mic scene and small bar stages around the city.  Later on a whim chance, he was flown to Norway as a performer (his friend’s passport was expired so he was sent as a replacement) and rocked a crowd of 3000 people – it was in this moment he realized the international potential of underground HipHop and committed to investing in himself to thrive as a Norwegian underground artist, living the nomadic life (wherever he laid his head was his home including couches, -the subway, and even overnight on a bench in a mall) to make it all work.  He boom-bapped across the map, rocking shows across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and The UK and he’s now using all of his experiences thanks to the elements of HipHop to pay it all forward to the next generation, helping them to learn through rhythms, rhymes and writing with his new children’s book series RHYMOSAURS.   Follow: @gamblesgreenroomContact: [email protected]'s Green Room TeamMike Gamble - HostJudi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital MediaAnastasia Miller-Burns - Talent AcquisitionTony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual ProductionSimon Larsson - Sound EngineerBeats by DJ Neno

Growing up as a nerd in search of a better education (his words!) and becoming 1 of 10 scholarship recipients among 2000 students at the Singapore location of the international United World College, Kevin Stea never imagined he would be a legendary-level dancer.  But, after booking 7 of 7 jobs in one day (with less than 2yrs of formal dance training), he never looked back.  With over 30yrs in the industry – which includes numerous commercials and awards shows; working with artists like: MADONNA, MICHAEL JACKSON, JANET JACKSON, LADY GAGA & DAVID BOWIE; movies including: THE BIRDCAGE, SHOWGIRLS, DISNEY’S NEWSIES and the documentary STRIKE A POSE about the dancers from Madonna’s BLONDE AMBITION tour; as well as being an artist himself under the name That Rogue Romeo - his body of work earned him a LIFETIME CAREER ACHIEVEMENT recognition at the Choreographer’s Carnival Ball in Los Angeles in 2022. And yes, he’s still going strong. rehabilitation process on social media and inspiring other dancers to reclaim their voice for their bodies as well. Follow: @gamblesgreenroomContact: [email protected]'s Green Room TeamMike Gamble - HostJudi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital MediaAnastasia Miller-Burns - Talent AcquisitionTony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual ProductionSimon Larsson - Sound EngineerBeats by DJ Neno

Growing up as a nerd in search of a better education (his words!) and becoming 1 of 10 scholarship recipients among 2000 students at the Singapore location of the international United World College, Kevin Stea never imagined he would be a legendary-level dancer.  But, after booking 7 of 7 jobs in one day (with less than 2yrs of formal dance training), he never looked back.  With over 30yrs in the industry – which includes numerous commercials and awards shows; working with artists like: MADONNA, MICHAEL JACKSON, JANET JACKSON, LADY GAGA & DAVID BOWIE; movies including: THE BIRDCAGE, SHOWGIRLS, DISNEY’S NEWSIES and the documentary STRIKE A POSE about the dancers from Madonna’s BLONDE AMBITION tour; as well as being an artist himself under the name That Rogue Romeo - his body of work earned him a LIFETIME CAREER ACHIEVEMENT recognition at the Choreographer’s Carnival Ball in Los Angeles in 2022. And yes, he’s still going strong. rehabilitation process on social media and inspiring other dancers to reclaim their voice for their bodies as well. Follow: @gamblesgreenroomContact: [email protected]'s Green Room TeamMike Gamble - HostJudi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital MediaAnastasia Miller-Burns - Talent AcquisitionTony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual ProductionSimon Larsson - Sound EngineerBeats by DJ Neno

From Stockholm to London and Vienna to San Francisco, Nikisha Fogo is an international power en pointe. She began her professional legacy with the Vienna State Ballet – a serendipitous full circle moment as it was a New Year’s television performance of this company she saw at the age of 9 that inspired her to pursue her dream as a ballet dance - where within FIVE (5) years she climbed the ballet ranks from Corps de ballet, Demi Soloist, to Soloist and having a full new work created around her, after which she achieved the (highest) rank of Principal within the company, leading to her current position as Principal with San Francisco Ballet. But the journey has not been without a number of battles, including a lifestyle battle with an international pandemic, an immigration battle with a visa application, and a battle with a medical misdiagnosis and treatment that left her badly injured and out of commission for the past year until the recent fall.winter season of 2022. But of course, she did not let any of this stop her, changing the battles into self-uplifting moments to reclaim and redefine her identity for herself, as well as reclaiming and re-prioritizing her body and physical health needs over the business needs of the company, being transparent throughout her rehabilitation process on social media and inspiring other dancers to reclaim their voice for their bodies as well. Follow: @gamblesgreenroomContact: [email protected]'s Green Room TeamMike Gamble - HostJudi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital MediaAnastasia Miller-Burns - Talent AcquisitionTony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual ProductionSimon Larsson - Sound EngineerBeats by DJ Neno

Noel grew up in Union City, NJ with his Puerto Rican family surrounded by music and food, As the only male in the family, there was a lot of unwritten pressure for him to be successful which would inspire him to become a chef. But, while at culinary school, the universe had different plans which would steer him into his dance path and later booking the VH1 HONORS award show and introducing him to choreographer MIA MICHAELS, leading to a contract with CIRQUE DU SOLEIL.  Upon moving to LA, he went through his savings within the first 6months trying to make it work, but that NY state of mind would keep him focused and present him with opportunities dancing with artists like DADDY YANKEE and MADONNA; in the movies LA LA LAND and IN THE HEIGHTS; and his current role as choreographer for the phenom KIM PETRAS,  thanks to his recipe for success mixing patience and perseverance with flavor and sabor.Follow: @gamblesgreenroomContact: [email protected]'s Green Room TeamMike Gamble - HostJudi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital MediaAnastasia Miller-Burns - Talent AcquisitionTony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual ProductionSimon Larsson - Sound EngineerBeats by DJ Neno

With an innate passion for inclusion and human rights, Tolley has been one of the queens of casting for almost FOUR decades.   Against many homogenous ideologies in the industry, she has casted for Mademoiselle,  NIKE, McDonald’s, GAP, Target, Cher, Nicki Minaj, Lenny Kravitz and the recent music video masterpiece of visual representation “Queen” by Jessie J.  Her standards for human life also drives her work as a grassroots activist as well as a death doula,  fighting for an autonomous human experience.  As she says, “it’s not about beautiful people; it’s that people are BEAUTIFUL.” So much fun the first time, they had to do it again – the legendary Popin Pete returns to The Green Room!  Picking right back up where they left off, Gamble and Pete go deep on the topics; teaching vs choreographing, imitation vs interpretation, pay homage to the magic of Gamble’s former fro, and give a glimpse into the world of Karate-Loo - keeping it moving from serious to seriously hilarious, as expected with these two. Follow: @gamblesgreenroom Contact: [email protected] Gamble's Green Room Team Mike Gamble - Host Judi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital Media Anastasia Miller-Burns - Talent Acquisition Tony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual Production Simon Larsson - Sound Engineer Beats by DJ Neno

So much fun the first time, they had to do it again – the legendary Popin Pete returns to The Green Room!  Picking right back up where they left off, Gamble and Pete go deep on the topics; teaching vs choreographing, imitation vs interpretation, pay homage to the magic of Gamble’s former fro, and give a glimpse into the world of Karate-Loo - keeping it moving from serious to seriously hilarious, as expected with these two. Follow: @gamblesgreenroom Contact: [email protected] Gamble's Green Room Team Mike Gamble - Host Judi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital Media Anastasia Miller-Burns - Talent Acquisition Tony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual Production Simon Larsson - Sound Engineer Beats by DJ Neno

Another fellow American ex-pat now based in Sweden, Alyssa grew up in the multicultural Hyde Park neighborhood on the South side of Chicago, surrounded by living legends; Black artists, athletes, politicians, and musicians.  Fate would later take her to New York where she would continue to engage with and be tutored by legends of  dance - House, Vogue and Whacking/Punking - setting her up to be the torch-bearer of the culture and history around the world.  And she is doing just that, having recently becoming the recipient of three different Swedish government artistic stipends and grants to produce her own work about Whacking/Punkiing and Ballroom culture – and that’s just the beginning. Gamble’s Green Room is celebrating one year of podcasting! For this special episode, Gamble is joined by the longtime leading lady of the Philly scene; the woman he owes much of his past, present and future to; none other than his bestie, Crystal Frazier. She was first lady of Rennie Harris Pure Movement, co-founded MONTAZH Performing Arts Company, toured solo with Jill Scott, and is now on track to be tenured as a university-level educator of HipHop; probably the first person (male or female) to do so. Follow: @gamblesgreenroom Contact: [email protected] Gamble's Green Room Team Mike Gamble - Host Judi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital Media Anastasia Miller-Burns - Talent Acquisition Tony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual Production Simon Larsson - Sound Engineer Beats by DJ Neno

Gamble’s Green Room is celebrating one year of podcasting! For this special episode, Gamble is joined by the longtime leading lady of the Philly scene; the woman he owes much of his past, present and future to; none other than his bestie, Crystal Frazier. She was first lady of Rennie Harris Pure Movement, co-founded MONTAZH Performing Arts Company, toured solo with Jill Scott, and is now on track to be tenured as a university-level educator of HipHop; probably the first person (male or female) to do so. Follow: @gamblesgreenroom Contact: [email protected] Gamble's Green Room Team Mike Gamble - Host Judi "JudiLew" Lewinson - Web & Digital Media Anastasia Miller-Burns - Talent Acquisition Tony "FreshTea" Hulten - Visual Production Simon Larsson - Sound Engineer Beats by DJ Neno