Joining Erin on Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast today is Mickela Mallozzi. Mickela is a four-time Emmy® Award–winning host and executive producer of Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi, a PBS and Amazon Prime travel series celebrating global dance traditions. A professional dancer and trained musician, she travels the world exploring how everyday people express their cultures through movement. In today's conversation, Erin and Mickela delve into the origins of her dance journey, how a middle-of-the-night dream blossomed into her life project, Bare Feet, and she recounts the impact of growing up in an immigrant family on both herself and the TV show. Mickela unpacks how she worked hard to get her show off the ground, in the process starting a blog, and emphasizes the weight of storytelling in producing the episodes. She touches on what it's like going into different cultural settings, how she has overcome challenges throughout the year, and when she realized that Bare Feet was more than just a travel show! To hear more about Mickela's incredible journey, including how she navigated the ins and outs of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what hopes and dreams are coming into fruition in the near future, be sure not to miss out on another insightful episode. Thanks for listening!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Mickela shares the origins of who she is and her dance journey.

• How she took a middle-of-the-night dream and made it an award-winning TV Show reality.

• She recounts growing up in an immigrant family with an amazing storytelling Nonnapina.

• Mickela talks about Bare Feet, the TV Show, and the features of immigrant families in NYC.

• "The Plan" before Bare Feet came to be.

• Mickela shares how dance returned to her life.

• She tells the story of getting Bare Feet off the ground and ultimately starting her blog.

• The story of sneaking into a PBS conference and how it panned out.

• Mickela emphasizes the weight of storytelling on Bare Feet.

• The importance of working hard and intentionally pursuing what you're called to do.

• She talks about the hard juxtaposition of finding funding and support for the show.

• Mickela breaks down what it's like going into culturally different communities and learning from the people, the dances, and the spaces.

• The difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation.

• Overcoming challenges throughout the years: Mickela shares a real-life example of "figuring it out."

For more on Mickela with Show Notes & Links: The Moving Architects

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Some creative partnerships do more than grow over time; they help shape an entire artistic landscape. In this episode of The Movers and Shapers Podcast, we meet Sara Coffin and Susanne Chui, co-artistic directors of Mocean Dance, whose long shared history and collaborative vision have transformed contemporary dance in Nova Scotia. Sara begins by tracing her path from early choreography to training across Canada and the United States, and how returning home eventually led her into a leadership role with Mocean Dance. Susanne shares her parallel journey, from a childhood in community dance to professional training in Toronto and the decision to return to Halifax, where she built an independent career before joining the company. Together, they reflect on the evolution of Mocean Dance from a dancer-centered company to a community-focused hub for creation, training, and sector-wide collaboration. They discuss how their friendship, complementary strengths, and improvisational ethos shape their working relationship, and they offer a look at the ambitious interdisciplinary and land-based projects that will define their next chapter. Listen in for a thoughtful conversation about collaboration, place-based artistry, and what it takes to sustain a thriving dance ecosystem outside major centers.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Sara's early pull toward dance and her first experiences in choreographing.

• Training across Canada and finding her voice through somatics and collaboration.

• Forming the SiNS (Sometimes in Nova Scotia) collective: building an early artistic community.

• Returning to Halifax and stepping into leadership at Mocean Dance.

• Completing her MFA at Smith College in the United States to deepen her artistic practice.

• Susanne's community-based dance beginnings and discovery of professional training.

• Moving to Toronto for conservatory study and early company work.

• Returning home to build an independent career supported by grants and local networks.

• Joining Mocean Dance and forming a co-artistic partnership with Sara.

• Learning the administrative demands of running a company.

• Shifting Mocean from dancer-centered work to community-focused programming.

• Expanding professional development offerings, labs, and training programs.

• Building interdisciplinary partnerships across art, ecology, architecture, and design.

• Developing land-based and relational works with Indigenous collaborators.

• Reflections on sustaining a long-term creative partnership rooted in trust and improvisation.

• Looking ahead to large regional initiatives and reimagined touring models.

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A dancer's career is often shorter than many others, and for the most part, there comes a time when the performer must pivot and find other ways to find value and joy in their craft. Joining us today is Danielle Guillermo, a former dancer turned dance consultant, as well as brand strategist and web designer. We begin with Danielle's background and how she got into the world of dance before learning how her home and school support structures gave her the confidence needed to excel in performance. Then, we examine how her career goals have evolved since high school, how being rejected from Juilliard was a blessing in disguise, her role at the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and other early-career experiences, and everything that happened to instigate the second phase of her career. We also discover how Danielle began building websites, her journey as a brand strategist, why she chose the teaching route, and why it's possible (and healthy) for artists to have financial aspirations without compromising their art. To end, Danielle walks us through Dance News Daily — the news hub she built for the entire dance community — and we discover what she has planned for the near future as well as how to connect with her and her work.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Danielle Guillermo describes who she is and how she got into the world of dance.

• What drew her to ballet, and a journey through her time at dance school.

• How her support structures gave her confidence that she previously had to fake.

• The goals she had when growing up in dance school and how they've evolved.

• Rejected from Juilliard: The ups and downs of her dancing education after high school.

• The start of her career and her experience at Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

• Her European adventure, and everything that happened post-DCDC 2.

• How Danielle's performance career ended and why she chose to focus full-time on teaching.

• Breaking Glass: How she approached a career crossroads at the age of 31.

• How artists can also have aspirations of financial freedom without compromising their art.

• Danielle's website-building career and how it's transformed her and her client's lives.

• The importance of building a personal brand and making it visible to the right people.

• Unpacking Dance News Daily – a news hub for the entire dance community.

• Danielle's upcoming projects and what she's focused on moving forward.

• How to connect with Danielle Guillermo and her work.

"It looks like you're taking the focus off of the art and you're talking about money. For me, it's not one or the other. We as artists need to survive. And not just survive, let's look at thriving." — Danielle Guillermo

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