Join us on an unforgettable rhythmic journey as we end the year celebrating the captivating world of dance at the SuperWeekender event in Birmingham.
We met with the worlds finest dance troupe and Superbowl superstarsThe Royal Family where we had a chat with Maddie about how far they had come for the event and how important 'family' actually is to the group.
We also caught up with Tom from Gogglebox, a household TV star and an equally passionate dancer about his long career and passion for dance.
Also.. can you believe it's been two years since we started the ClassForKids podcast?
We truly express our heartfelt gratitude to you, our listeners and viewers, for accompanying us on this exhilarating journey.
Despite a minor hiccup (a sore throat!) we couldn't let the holiday season pass without a warm farewell. And fret not, we'll be back with more captivating content in 2024.
Join us on an unforgettable rhythmic journey as we end the year celebrating the captivating world of dance at the SuperWeekender event in Birmingham.
We met with the worlds finest dance troupe and Superbowl superstarsThe Royal Family where we had a chat with Maddie about how far they had come for the event and how important 'family' actually is to the group.
We also caught up with Tom from Gogglebox, a household TV star and an equally passionate dancer about his long career and passion for dance.
Also.. can you believe it's been two years since we started the ClassForKids podcast?
We truly express our heartfelt gratitude to you, our listeners and viewers, for accompanying us on this exhilarating journey.
Despite a minor hiccup (a sore throat!) we couldn't let the holiday season pass without a warm farewell. And fret not, we'll be back with more captivating content in 2024.
No, we're in a different location for our podcast today. We are and it's very, very Christmasy themed- which gives us a feeling that we're away somewhere in December.
Speaker 1:
We're in the UK.
Speaker 2:
We're going to give viewers a minute to guess where we are. Yeah okay, okay right, let's say, we're down south somewhere.
Speaker 1:
Down south is it London? No, it begins with B B B.
Speaker 2:
B, b, B B.
Speaker 1:
Birmingham.
Speaker 2:
We are here at the Super Weekend in Birmingham where we are watching loads of dance schools competing and getting to chance load of dance school owners for our In the Club podcast.
Speaker 1:
It's been great. This is the second day we've been here so far and we've had loads of conversations and watched loads of really interesting and amazing dances.
Speaker 2:
We have and we've met some of our customers, some people that we've been working with in the event space and, of course, had the opportunity to chat with new potential customers, and it's been absolutely fantastic to sit down and chat with so many people on the podcast and really hear about the idea of this being a place of inspiration for how to nurture and develop talent in the coming years.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and it's not over yet. We've still got almost a full day left here and we've got more conversations to have.
Speaker 2:
We do, and there's going to be some amazing performances on some of the centre stages and we're really excited to be here and work with the Super Weekender as their sponsor of this event.
Speaker 1:
We've also got our long time friend now, Louise from Dancing, who is kind of sharing a stall with us.
Speaker 2:
She is, so she runs Dancing Studios, as you've said, but she also has the Dance Business Lounge and is known as the Dance Business Coach because she's excellent at mentoring loads of dance teachers in that space.
Speaker 1:
So should we jump back in?
Speaker 2:
I think we should. Yeah, let's go into the hall, let's go and see some people talk to some people.
Speaker 3:
See you there, let's go.
Speaker 4:
So I'm here with SLP College, which is a performing arts college based in Leeds. We're just outside Leeds in a little town called Garthuth. We're here because we've got a performance slot today and tomorrow and to spread the word about SLP and tell people what we're about and what we do and hope to recruit some eager young minds who want to be performers in the future.
Speaker 2:
I'm with Julie here, and what school are you from, julie?
Speaker 5:
So I have a performing arts school in Scarborough called Hand Performing Arts and we also have a college called Hatten College for BTEC Performing Arts. What are you hoping to get out of the weekend? For some of the weekend? Well, I love street dance and I think that breakdancing was supposed to be in the Olympics. So I think breakdancing, hip hop street next year is going to blow up. So when I was young I used to love a bit of backspinning on the line though when I was so many moons ago and I love street. So Jo Whirl and HGI came to the school a few months ago and my kids loved them and they were like are you going to come to Soar? And we were like, absolutely, because I think in the dance world there's so many different styles and I think it's so important that every child as far as I'm concerned, there is a place for a dancer. A hip hop dancer doesn't matter if you're technical, if you're passionate. Hip hop dancer, street dancer, they are athletes.
Speaker 2:
So sat with you here, tom, some of our viewers might know you from Gogglebox, but actually a lot of our audience might know you because you're famous for dancing as well. Tell us a little bit about your dance backgrounds.
Speaker 6:
I've danced for as long as I can remember, starting when I was six, originally doing tap, ballet and contemporary, and then, as I got older, got more into street styles and stuff. And even now I travel with my crew, my breaking crew, competing around the world regularly. I was in Germany last weekend actually.
Speaker 2:
Oh, are you? So you compete, like well, what does that involve then? So you're doing competitions like up for squads, like what type of thing does that involve?
Speaker 6:
Yeah, so it's like battle stuff, battle stuff. So like I'm I feel old now I'm not one of the older guys in my crew, so it's like bringing the younger guys up and yeah, and how do you go about recruiting for your crew then?
Speaker 2:
Are you auditioning for that kind of thing, or do you have your eye on people like, well, how does it work?
Speaker 6:
No. So the way a crew works we're breaking. Being a culture it's more of it's not like a dance team or a dance troupe or anything like that. It's more the younger guys that are building with us, that are training with us and stuff around us that get to know how we operate and how we work. We kind of take them under our wing and eventually they come the next generation of the crew.
Speaker 2:
And do you sort of think of yourself as being empowering to these young dancers that are coming up? I mean, a lot of the schools that you'll see here today they're all about nurturing talent and sort of going beyond the dance skills. Is that something that you think is important as part of a crew as well?
Speaker 6:
Absolutely like the lessons and stuff both inside and outside of dance that I learned from my mentors when I was coming up, whether that be from like breaking crews or even just in the general dance community, anyway, it's like they really. Those lessons go into every factor of your life and it helps in so many different ways.
Speaker 2:
And so when you were younger, were you part of crews or did you go to a dance school? How did you go about getting into dance?
Speaker 6:
So for the classical styles, for Tap, ballet, contemporary, I went to a dance school. I was part of Zoo Nation as a kid, which was obviously a big company in London, and, yes, I was working with a lot of choreographers that were coming in and working with us at Zoo Nation, the Zoo Nation Youth.
Speaker 2:
And they were just performing on the stage over there. That was absolutely amazing. One of our team was how do they do that? So in Sinc and Zwetsland it's just, it's got to be dedication and practice and that kind of thing, as well, a lot of drilling. And you said you're sort of performing all over the world. Where's sort of been the most exotic place you've been to or your favourite place?
Speaker 6:
India and China were both really cool because that was very like a cultural reset.
Speaker 2:
It was a bit of a culture shock, but it was nice to experience that and maybe the same for them as well, to sort of see that kind of dance and contemporary styles coming to there, so that must have been something for them to experience as well.
Speaker 6:
Absolutely Like it was. In fact, it was weird the film that I shot in India was set in the UK.
Speaker 2:
Okay, yeah, that's a bit of like a power-up there, coming back and forth.
Speaker 6:
It's like their version of step-up, but it was like it was set in the UK, so they brought a bunch of UK dancers over there.
Speaker 2:
But yeah, so it was in the UK, but it was set in the UK but actually in India.
Speaker 6:
Yeah, it was crazy, but it was cool because it was like we got a fusion of like they had some Bollywood dancers there, some of their hip-hop crews from India, because India were killing it with, like the street dance crews and stuff for the minute Once to watch them potentially for the future in competitions like they're coming up yet, and what do you think conventions like this do for young dancers?
Speaker 2:
I mean, we've got some amazing talent. As I've said, we've got the Royal Family with us this weekend as well. What are you hoping to take away from this weekend? Are you looking to take things away? Are you looking to inspire young people?
Speaker 6:
I just like being involved in it. I like, obviously I grew up in the competition world, I grew up around all of this. It's nice to you know, touch down and give back sometimes.
Speaker 2:
So I'm here today with Maddie from the Royal Family. Tell us a little bit about the Royal Family and just how far you've come to be at the Super Weekend, sorry, yeah so this will be my third day with Royal Family Dance Company, so pretty much.
Speaker 3:
This dance company, run by Paris Goebel, it's in New Zealand, south Auckland. Yeah, it's just a company full of dances. How many are in your sports? Well, we do auditions every year, so there's around 50.
Speaker 2:
How far have you traveled today to get here? So you said you're from New Zealand.
Speaker 3:
Yes, I'm all the way from New Zealand. So it's taken about two days and a bit to travel out here, but definitely a sick event to be at.
Speaker 2:
How are you enjoying the event and what are you expecting to take away from it? Are you hoping to see some inspiration away? I mean, you're performing and there's loads of people here who are excited to see that, but what are you hoping to take away from it?
Speaker 3:
I think from here well, with us being a first time having this convention and we're here to perform, guest perform, and we've got some workshops going on. I think for us it's just we've never used to this kind of stuff, especially back home in New Zealand. So I think just seeing the different kind of talent and just the energy and vibes that we see from other people and how they're just fans and how they love to dance, so just giving, receiving our energy and then reciprocating them back, is pretty cool yeah.
Speaker 2:
I think there's a lot of excitement to see you guys perform once a week, so can you tell? Us a little bit about what we might be seeing at the event tonight. What are you doing? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:
We'll be performing twice, one tonight and then one tomorrow. You just see some of our iconic sets. Some new stuff as well, yeah just pretty much.
Speaker 2:
Now you're described as a hip hop group taking the world by storm. What is it that makes Royal Family so special? What's your kind of unique selling point? Why do people want to join your squad?
Speaker 3:
Oh yeah, I think what's something special about our dance company is just the kind of line of poly swag. We all bring something different every year, either going back to our roots or just. I think we're more of a family and I think all our vibes connect and we just love to dance and just all our energy pretty much. So tonight, with all our performances, we should pretty much see that.
Speaker 2:
And what kind of age groups are in the squad. So how?
Speaker 3:
young are people? Yeah, so we range through from like high school to adult, so pretty much ranging from like 16, probably 15 or youngest right now to up to ages to like 22.
Speaker 2:
And there's kind of a common theme. I mean a lot of the dance schools that you'll see here today. Yes, they teach dance, but there's actual other skills that they teach, lifelong skills. Nurturing kids, giving them the ability to make lasting friendships Is that something that's important?
Speaker 3:
in the Royal Family as well. Yeah, definitely. I think family is definitely a big thing for us, you know, making sure that everyone's accountable. If we need anything, we can always know to go to each other and seeing checking in as well, not just for a dance environment, but just for our personal needs as well. If we need anything, we can always, you know, just talk to each other, which is a big thing in our family.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, well, that's another fantastic event finished at Class of Kids and what comes to the end of another year of our podcast. Another year, that's two full years now, two full years we've been running in the club and it has been fantastic to be on this journey and to have so many of you listening and now watching our podcast as well.
Speaker 1:
Yep, and there's loads of people around about looking at us now as if we're really famous.
Speaker 2:
I know I'm really not that famous, Not that famous, but we're getting there.
Speaker 1:
we're getting there. This is going to be the last one of the year, as we said. We hope you all have a really, really nice Christmas and new year. And I'm very sorry I've got a sore throat.
Speaker 2:
It's been so nice in there, I've been shouting all day, so hopefully this will recover for the first podcast the next year and as Stephen said, it's been an absolute pleasure to be your podcast host in 2023 alongside Stephen, and we hope you have a fantastic 2024 and be rest assured that there will be another amazing set of podcasts coming to your ears very soon. We are well and we do our usual goodbye, Okay one two, three bye.