Welcome to the Dance Unscripted Blog
Meet the Dance Unscripted Team
You’ve all seen the biweekly Instagram posts talking about Dance Unscripted, the videos starring our host Amy Elizabeth telling you all you need to know, the promotions helping you to get to know the podcast before you can even listen to the episodes. However, what everyone hasn’t been able to see is the behind-the-scenes work that the team has been putting in.
Our host Amy Elizabeth has been scheduling interviews and researching our guests. She’s found the perfect filming location and angles to keep your attention as you watch and listen to the episodes. She’s not only hosting interviews and episodes, but she’s hosting the team’s weekly meetings to make sure that we are on track and ready for our July 8 launch.
Our production assistant, Josh, goes through the episodes and edits them to perfection. He makes sure the sound quality is the best of the best to give you all the listening experience we would want for ourselves. He ensures that the video quality is top tier for when you all watch the episodes on YouTube.
Our marketing assistant, Rayna, posts those promotional Instagram posts you’ve all seen. She researches ways to better the Instagram feed and schedule posts that will promote the episodes after the launch. She edits any transcripts and show notes to ensure they are true to the episode and easily understandable and accessible. Lastly, she writes these blog posts, including the one you’re reading right now.
We’ve been working our hardest to make Dance Unscripted great not just for ourselves, but for you all as well. We can’t wait for you all to see everything we’ve done on our launch day, and we hope to see you all stick through for all of Season One! Thank you all for your support, and make sure to follow us on social media at @danceunscriptedpodcast!
Season One is brought to you by a grant from the Lamar University Center for Resiliency.
Rayna Christy is a sophomore majoring in communications with an emphasis in journalism at Lamar University. She currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the University Press and as the marketing assistant for Dance Unscripted.
Ep 1: Flip the Script with Shelby Brannan
Why Dance Unscripted & Why Now?
Episode One of Dance Unscripted flips the script (ironic, huh?) from the usual setup. Whereas Amy Elizabeth, our host, would typically be asking all of the questions, this episode features guest Shelby Brannan, Aimed Dance board president, asking all of the questions. You might be asking: “questions about what?”. These questions all center around Aimed Dance, Amy Elizabeth, and Dance Unscripted to ensure you’re an expert on us before we share with you everything we’ve learned. So, with no further ado, let’s give you all a sneak peek on what you’ll hear on this episode.
“What is Aimed Dance?”: Amy Elizabeth explains everything you need to know about the organization. This includes its work as a 501c3 organization, where it has come from, and where it is now. She tells the story of how Aimed Dance has aided in the resilience of young dancers through hurricanes, ensuring that no matter how hard life was at the moment, dancers could still be in the studio.
“How do you go from a dance organization to podcasting for the dance organization?”: According to Amy Elizabeth, “the thread line between all of it really is this idea of opportunity. But, I also feel that at my core, I’m an educator. I am in love with learning. That’s kind of what this podcast is, a pathway for me to continue learning from the people that I want to learn from.” This episode uncovers the background behind Dance Unscripted and what we hope to do with the podcast.
“Can resilience be taught?”: Amy Elizabeth explains her take on the teaching of resilience by stating that “it cannot be taught from a textbook. It cannot be taught by telling someone what resilience is. It is an action. It is learning by doing”. Tune in to the episode to hear more about what she means by “learning by doing”.
Shelby Brannan uncovers all of this and more in Episode One, and we hope you listen to get to know Dance Unscripted and our host a little bit more. Dance Unscripted can be found on Instagram, YouTube, and your favorite platforms for podcast listening.
Season One is brought to you by a grant from the Lamar University Center for Resiliency.
Rayna Christy is a sophomore majoring in communications with an emphasis in journalism at Lamar University. She currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the University Press and as the marketing assistant for Dance Unscripted.
Ep 2: Dance of Resilience with Kesha McKey
Dance as Resilience
Episode Two of Dance Unscripted is the first to utilize the usual setup for episodes, with host Amy Elizabeth interviewing Kesha McKey, a New Orleans dance educator, choreographer and administrator. This episode describes Kesha’s beginnings with a pre-med undergraduate degree and her journey in dance that has surpassed 25 years. Listeners get to hear about the KM Dance Project, which Kesha founded, and how natural disasters and social justice have both impacted and fueled her work.
As we’ve stated before, resilience is a big part of Season One of Dance Unscripted. It is no secret that New Orleans has been devastated by hurricanes and tropical storms before, with one notable storm being Hurricane Katrina. For anyone who has experienced a natural disaster or even seen the damage one can bring, it can easily be understood that resilience is extremely necessary in these situations. Kesha describes the changes Katrina brought to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, with positions opening and dancers being impacted mentally, and how she was able to be a part of the rebuilding that took place afterwards.
Within this discussion of resilience after these disasters, Kesha also mentions how creating a safe place for people, not just artists, is important during these times. She follows up this by mentioning how this safe and open space allows for vulnerability, which Kesha “think[s] it affects us on a different level because vulnerability to [her] also helps to generate empathy”, which allows “everybody to come together and be able to process”. With this she stresses the importance of allowing everybody to be human first, before jumping right back into work.
Another key discussion in this episode was that of Kesha’s work in not only dance but social justice and commentary. She mentions how the killing of her cousin impacted her creatively, and raised the question: “Why is there so much violence? Why is this happening?”. This was channeled into a piece titled Taken, which in Kesha’s words, “is a historical journey of the African American male being taken, during slavery, during the war, and then during street violence and gang violence and all these things”. This piece began her work in social commentary, which then led her into researching more impactful pieces to learn how these sources “could really work to inform and… give the audience an opportunity to not just look at dance but… an opportunity to experience a journey”.
Kesha’s episode covers all of this and more, and truly gives insight into how important not only resilience is, but “to speak the voices that may have been unheard, to tell the stories that may have been untold and to speak about what I feel has impacted my life, impacted my community”. Kesha’s episode is available for download on Spotify, Amazon, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Be sure to check out not only @danceunscriptedpodcast on Instagram but @kmdanceproject on both Instagram and Facebook to keep up with Kesha’s work, or visit her website at www.kmdanceproject.org.
Rayna Christy is a sophomore majoring in communications with an emphasis in journalism at Lamar University. She currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the University Press and as the marketing assistant for Dance Unscripted.