How To Reinvent Yourself: From Professional Dancer to Pilates Instructor Ep 002 - Gianna Petracic

Bringing her love of dance to the pilates world Gianna Petracic has toured the world as a principal dancer of Riverdance. And had to reinvent herself after covid changed the performer's life direction. She now brings that stagecraft and love of storytelling into the Pilates studio to get the most out of her clients.

Gianna And Hayden Buchanan discuss the crazy world of a touring production from Dublin to Radio City Music Hall, Reinventing yourself as a creative and finding what your passion is at your core and working towards doing that thing every day.

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DISCLAIMERS:
All music in this podcast are custom made by Hayden Buchanan using royalty-free samples from Splice

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Created by Hayden Buchanan in Sydney, Australia 2022 

#dancer #pilates #selfdevelopment #creativity

Transcript

0:00

So I always lived life on the edge. Unexpected out of two suitcases wake up in new cities like and I like that for me it was exciting. I like I loved that. Hey, I'm Hayden Buchanan, and this is Create Creative Creatives on the show today. We have the talented Gianna petracic. Gianna has toured the globe as a lead dancer in the world famous dance. Gianna has pivoted her creative energy towards instructing polarities, blending dance and creative expression with fitness. Gianna and I talk about rediscovering your creativity, the crazy world of a touring production, and how creatives can land on their feet. Gianna You are a dancer, Pialates instructor, and I'm sure 1005 other things on top of that. How would you describe yourself in an elevator pitch if you had to describe yourself? Gosh, that's I would definitely say professional dancer slash pilates, instructor or creator and mover. Creator and mover! Yeah. Do you do much movement direction stuff? No, I haven't. I think I didn't even think I was going to be teaching, you know, let alone teaching Pilates. But then obviously COVID happened and everything obviously fell into the instructing with pilates.. And I was like, maybe this is for me, you know, it's a nice. Sort of enjoyment came out. Of it. Yeah, exactly. I always was. So myself as a performer, like performing cause I love to give, I love to tell stories and, you know, obviously tell stories of people for the first time ever seeing something I said and instructing the sides, obviously commented. Like I said. It's a lot of fun side by side, teaching and stories. Yeah, balance the right kind of balance. You've traveled all over the world as well with dance. Yeah. To get to that point, what was sort of like the first experience or exposure that you ever had to the world of dance? Or from what I can remember, my mom always says, Is that my sister? When did her first ballet class? I was crying nonstop. I didn't want to leave her. I didn't want her to be left by my side and my dance teacher, which, you know, ended up being my dance stage for many years and being like, just let her in, come into the letter, come into the studio, see what she does. And then next minute I was it. I just saw dancing from then. Sorry. Thanks to Mum. Thanks to my dance teacher, thanks to us. My sister. Um, my dance craze started at eight two and a half. I don't know if that was dancing or just maybe mean active. That's our first exposure. Yeah, the first exposure there was an opportunity that came up with Riverdance. They were doing a new show, bringing out a new show, and they wanted to seek out talent from all across the world of talent that they didn't know about already. So basically you had to upload a video of you dancing. So you introduce stuff like I am Gianna Atrocity, I'm 19 years old and I'm from Sydney, Australia and the next minute that's your, you have your dance audition. So yes, upload it and people had to vote for you. Oh wow. So it's like. Yeah, oh, it was like an online it was an online casting audition. So your video uploaded to their website. When you say people are voting for you, is this just like the general public. General, public, and whoever knew about it and obviously, like I can remember to the extent some people were even getting like the getting their, their name out on radio and stuff like that, I was like, wow, wow. I was like, I'm just going to go through word of mouth, you know? Yeah. Um, the judges automatically flew over the top ten votes. It was five girls, five boys. And then the judges, like the casting directors, producers, choreographers, they chose their top ten favorite on top of that. So there was 20 in total that went in, auditioned, and I was part of the top ten favorites for the judges. So whoever did that sort of a three day course thing or very exciting. Intense. Super intense. Like to the point remember I remember we did first competitions and before that there was like a massive photo shoot outside. So this was in Dublin, massive photoshoot outside one of the theaters called Balderdash Energy Theater. And then we did the whole auditions throughout the whole day. And then after that they were like, you, you, you, you. You're coming on TV tonight. And we were like, What? So like myself and like three other guys we got when we went on the Late, Late, Late Show know in Ireland. And then that happened. And after that, you know, that was awesome, really. Like, is this really happening? And then next day you wake up, there's a whole other day for limitations and there's cameras there because they were doing like a documentary for us. So there's like cameras, people who ask you questions and like. Just was like, you're a reality star. All of a sudden it was crazy. And then my sister went over with me as well and it was like, this whole story is like she flew herself over and they were like two sisters from like Australia. Like I would have a dream come true if you, if you got into the show together. So it was like this whole sister role play thing and next minute like that will finish. Then a couple of months went by and then we found out we got in and then long story short, we got into that show and then went on to Riverdance afterwards and did so many other wonderful things. So how long were you a part of the cast for with Riverdance? So it was a bit of home. Was this show was with the first like a year and a half and then we went to Riverdance and back and forth with heartbeat. So total about eight years, a few of us girls got us to audition for the female lead role. And I remember we started our first rehearsals in San Francisco and it was like five us girls learning two routines, obviously going for the one role. You know, learning it all, helping each other out just to compete with each other. Well, like you'd like to think helping out, you know, like, yeah, you know what it's like. Oh, no, like you'd like, think helping out, but obviously everyone wants to help each other, but then at the end of the day, they were all in it for themselves as well because they wanted the role, including my sister was one of those five girls too, so that was a long, studious process. And then we got to the point where we auditioned for the role in front of our director, producer, dance director, and they obviously it was cameras they had to do like three times and it was like one like shot was like close enough phase. Other one was like further away. So obviously just like. Three times for the camera, not because you had. To do, you know, exactly of the camera. So the following. You were in Denver and my sister and I got to do our lead performance roles. She did it in the morning matinee and then I did it in the evening shifts. Yeah. So yeah. So, like, what happens is you, the three girls, three boys or three female, three mallets. And what happens is we rotate that. So unless obviously someone's injured, sometimes you might have to do a little bit more. Of. At all. Yeah. It or even out. So we rotate as well. Um, just have a light. Light and shade in the cast and also showcasing everyone else's individuality and talent as well. When, how did you find Pilates? What was the sort of was that just classes that you went to and enjoyed or was that something that like you had a bit of aspiration for always? Or was it the choreography in the mix of it? What was what got you there? So obviously lot easier yoga. That whole influence has always been part of the dance scene. So obviously when it comes to like stretching, cooling down technique, it all kind of intertwines into one thing. And so it always was implemented into my dance routine, but like I said, never did I think I was going to be Pilates instructor the next minute. Hey, I'm applied as and starts now. At the time before that we had a in Dublin we always dancer in I went to this summer they have like a residency there and they started bringing in an alum Illinois Alchemy basically dances back from years and years ago in the show and they would yeah that they would we held this was like once or only happened once each summer and it was back for them and they would talk about their time of the show, their experience and what they do now, how they how they felt when they finished top, what their challenges were. Yeah. And the basic goes like, you know, this is how, this is how we dealt with that, whether it was good or bad. This is what we've done now and this is what we can provide to. Did you feel it was a massive like it's a lifestyle change. 100%. Like I remember one of the girls was talking, I finished, I was crying at the end of the things. I was like a lot of I could relate to and what not, you know, them being like she was like I felt loss afterwards. I felt unsure of who I was as a person, my identity in society, you know, because, you know, you're so used to being in this bubble 24 seven that once you that bubble pops and you're forced to leave it all, you choose to leave it because it's the right time. You almost feel like you've lost your identity because you're with these people 24, seven, eight, sleep, you name it, you see it, you basically are a dysfunctional family. Then all of a sudden it stops, you know? And that's something that I went through when COVID hit. I could relate to that. Obviously, my best mates are from all over the world. You know, Canada, North America, Russia, Spain, the list goes on. Yeah. And then having been forced to be like I don't want to see you next, you know, that was pretty bizarre two years ago until I I'd all through my personal training course, a few of the guys on tour had done the same one as well. And I was like, You know what? You know, if I can't dance, maybe I'll go through this. On the fitness side of things was I enjoyed regardless move my body you know if it's something I need to do for the rest of my life is move in a way somewhere or another. I need to either be creative by moving or I need to be physically moving. It's funny that you say that because I spent a fair bit of time during lockdown trying to work out what it was that I was going for. And again, like, there's always this these titles that you put on things. I want to be creative director, photographer, videographer, blade dancer at this product. Yeah, but then it's like you almost have to distill it down to like, what do you want to do every day? Exactly. So for me, that was I want to make things you move your body. Yeah. It's it's getting into that simplified version where you can almost like you can be happy because you just got to do that. Yeah, I. Think that that was a big realization moment for me. Yeah, but it's important. Yeah. And when I don't move, I feel like it just my energy just goes down to the ground and like, moving my body can be anything like it can be making things, you know, moving like just being active, active physically, emotionally, creatively, all that kind of stuff. So I decide is like, right, I'm going to finish off my course. It's not. It's only taken over two years, you know, because life happens. I was like, I've got the time now. I could continue to sit down on my ass and feel sorry for myself. Continue ordering, literally just. Yeah, just like. Play coach for yourself. Exactly. More so as well. Just like I was just like at home. So I obviously was at home with Mum at the time. My sister had moved back in as well and I was like, I can't and live. Like not that I'm saying I can't live that, but like for my own happiness, I was like, I'm very I'm pretty moved out of home nine years ago. I need to actually properly move out of home now and that's going to bring me happiness. So as I write, finish off my personal training degree. So I got that done. At the time I was I had a friend of mine who she still lives in Melbourne as well and, and she was like, baby, you should like you should definitely like hit up like, you know, kayaks, you know, they'd love you, your dance background, know your party background, you know, you've completed that. They will take you in a heartbeat. I was like, Oh, I don't know, parties. I never thought as an instructor, it's never been in my books like a always wanted to be like dancing or like I said, like, you know, making stuff because I was at uni doing screen screening sound productions. I always like either being in the spotlight or being behind the things, making things, because I've always had that creative outlet which I loved and like I don't know how to know. And then I remember then being at the hairdresser the next day I was like, I need a job. I need a job. Just applied for it. And then like literally an hour later I got an email back being like, Yeah, let's have a meeting tomorrow, blah blah blah. SAT down there like, cool. Yeah, they were like, We need trainers. You sound great. Um, you know, we'll pay for half your will, sponsor. You pay for half your training. It's a six week academy course. And that since I was like, sweet Don. And then at least that gave me structure. And then I was like, Right, I've got now something to study again. And I go into town now these two days the way that's my thing, you know, and then funnily enough, I had never done a course, whereas teaching, never. I was like, Have you done Cosmo's? Yeah, I've done that. It's great. It's great. I had never done one for my life, like reform. I was like, I've done reform before, like years ago. But I was like, I hadn't actually done anything else. Like you have done. I've done it for the. Record since. I know they know they are for like obviously and then I went into the class was like this is like I like this is fun. I can see myself teaching it. So went on to that and then ever since that's just been a progressive thing, you know, getting more qualifications, doing that work stuff. And um, what I've learned more so, especially this year, is to be present for like your clients. So like. Be here. To be here. And if you're, if you're not there, they'll realize as well. And it's the same thing if you're doing a performance. Like if you are not fully 100% in that moment, someone in the audience is going to recognize that, too. They're going to read that they go like, this isn't great. Yeah, same thing when you're teaching. Didn't choose come home kind of force like everyone else in the world was forced to do something they didn't want to do. But yeah, so we were at New York, we were in New York at that that pineapple pinnacle week in March. We got to Radio City Music Hall, zoom in to have a full entire week at Radio City Music Hall. And we were able to sneak in three performances. Um, yet just three. Thankfully, I even, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to dance my Late Show there and even more fortunate to have my mum in the audience as well. Um, and I remember that after I danced my Late Show at Radio City, I was like, I'm done. Like after this I was like, I'm happy. I don't care what happens after this now. Like, I just dance at Radio City Music Hall. Like what more exactly. Any kind of dancer in the industry, whether it's spending, if you're an Irish dancer, if you're musical theater or if you're a ballerina opera singer, comedian, actor, whatever it is getting to, to you sing musical, that's a big thing. You know, the Tony Awards there that I remember walking on the stage, I was like, oh my gosh. Like people like the big time people have stepped on the stage. Like, you know, I can't even explain it. But yeah, so that happens. We got forces and we were forced to be sent home and that was kind of like that limbo thing was like, what's going to happen. Is it will kill you in two weeks when this is over. Yeah, it was like, this could be a two week thing. This could be two months. It could be two things we had to do, anything we don't know. And obviously them not knowing and also not knowing, it obviously was a little bit frustrating at the time. But you can't control things like this. You know. Where do you think you went right in your like development as a dancer and where do you think you sort of had the pitfalls? So obviously, being a dancer, there's a lot of injuries. Sometimes people fortunate enough to go through the dance career, not having a single injury or sometimes I have something very minor and it doesn't really affect them. But sometimes people that are continuously injured, I'd say a few setbacks for me would have been when I was going through puberty. I had a lot of issues like with my, um, with like my bones and stuff and whatnot. So I was always constantly getting injured. It was got to do with like my thyroid glands and what not me at that age. I just never did. I didn't really quite understand it and I'm already quite a bit of a klutz. So like that doesn't help either. You've got to take that time off. You need your body to recover at a young age. You're not quite, entirely sure why you have to do that. Um, and then obviously that plays a lot with your mental health thinking like, am I going to come back stronger? Am I going to be just as good as I used to be? Um, the coming with age I learned, especially touring on the road when I first started touring, I was like, Yeah, I can do anything. I'm invincible. I'll say yes to everything. And then it got to the point, like, obviously as you grow older, you also mature. And I think that maturity also comes with experience. And it got to the point where you're like, you know, I need to listen to my body. I need to if I am injured or if I am tired or I'm drained physically, mentally, emotionally, that's going to play a lot. On my performance. Took another element of discipline. Yeah, just like that top line stuff. It's like in the practice. Yeah, you definitely need thick skin. Like whether if you're an a dancer, uh, an athlete, any, like any. I think in anything that you do, you need to have thick skin. But, um, I learned that it's okay to step back and say no when you're not feeling 100%. Because if you don't step back and say no and you push yourself, that's when things would get worse. Well, like challenges I definitely faced as well. Personally, I definitely found that like even in my own career and creativity, it's sort of like I, especially from the age of like 20 to 5, I was always like late night and it's my I was like, that's who I am. Was like, I was the most awake and like focused the most then. But then now that I like, shifted out of that age too much older, I need different times. And like I have, I'm now at the point where it's like, I'm so dead by 2:00, and if I'm up, I did something really wrong in preparing my day to be at that point because I'm now having like a morning peak and an evening peak and a day lull. But I feel like it's again listening to your body. I was so used to, and I always almost built a bit of like identity around being like the late night hustler. Like this is when I get my edits done. So yeah, I would kind of push off those things to that time of night. Yeah. And I would always push the hard work and so like not I can't do anything until everyone's asleep. Yeah, yeah. And kind of baked into my day like this is what I do. Yeah, I found that really hard to like. Like, work myself out of that sort of frame of mind. It wasn't really until COVID sort of lockdowns happened. I was like, forced to all of a sudden be doing nothing. Mm. I also, I'm sure you're a bit like this to fill up your time with anything and everything you possibly can. Always going to be busy, always going to be doing so it's like. I'm either really, really busy or I would do nothing. There's it's like one extreme to the next. Yeah. It's like I would happily do nothing and be so unproductive. All my I cannot stop and I'm like, Oh no. And it's like crazy. It's funny. Like all the creative people that I've talked to, whether it be friends or on the podcast, it's very much like there's an intensity, um, creative industries. And it's not because the industry is intense, it's because the people themselves are intense about whatever their craft is. I think, yeah, I don't know what it is. It's like. It shows itself in different. Ways. Yeah. But the intensity is sort of like comes with the territory. Mm. It's definitely the I don't know, it's like a, it's kind of like an obsessive kind of creativity in nature. It's like once you get fixated on something, it's like you can't stop it. It's like it's like a kick. Yeah, in a way. It's this kind of drug type thing. Exactly. Yeah. Now you're doing a lot of teaching and it's, I guess, a lot more athleticism rather than structured dance and having routine, having a cast, casting calls and all that kind of stuff. How have you found the shift now with like finding creativity? Because I'd say correct me if I'm wrong, but you're doing a lot more polarities than you on dance these days. Yeah. Do you still bring the creativity into something like that? Obviously, I'm not getting that energy exertion out that I normally do on stage. I find that I sometimes can be a little bit too light and a Jedi in my class, like, you know, of the music. Like I bring the performance to my clients inside the studio. I'm a big music person, so I pay close attention to detail with my playlists. So I actually will sit back and like, you know, carefully structure out a playlist just for classes because I'm like, if I enjoy it, they're going to enjoy it. So, you know, there's nothing worse than going to a class. It's going of boring playlist, you know. Yeah. Um, but yeah, I think I def I did go through a period when I started teaching where I kind of lost that bit of creativity, like being so focused on like writing up my class plans. And that was like work was the only thing that was like important to me, not having a social life, things like that. And then I was like, You know what? I need to enjoy this. And like instead of making it a chore, I should be loving my job. Not it shouldn't be cool depending on the tool. Like you'd be there for a week or you'd have like a bus journey, like, if it's like Europe, we do like a show, travel show kind of vibe. So I always lived life on the edge, unexpected out of two suitcases wake up and new kids like and I like that. For me it was exciting. I like I loved that. And then when I came home, I would never be home long enough. Then the longest I probably was home for like was like three or four months out of those eight years and then would be like maybe like two weeks and things like that or a month. When I came home and then COVID hit and everything, it just was like a massive, like slap on the face. Like first two months of looking. I felt sorry for myself. Probably drank away too much. And then. I was. I would sleep because again, like all my freelance work dried up. Yeah. And so I was all these people being like, yeah, we'll call you in two weeks. It was again saying something. And then I just remember I would and I think only people from New South Wales, it was reference, but I would wake up at like 11:00, make a coffee and have like coffee with Gladys on the TV. Nice. And then. Remember. Gladys. But then like after that was all done, I kind of like sit there for good 10 minutes, be like, What now? What do I do? And I was like, I, I, I didn't have any creativity yet in that which was actually in a way kind of nice to shake me out of that. Yeah. That way of doing things that I was before. Yeah. I bought disco lights for my bedroom. Oh, yeah. My sister walked into the room one night. She was like, What? What? I was like, Welcome to Club G. Yeah. Literally. And then I use also frozen to got me through. A really. First into pleasure yeah I got me through like the first first lockdown like in 2020. And for some reason I don't know, I'm just like really hit a spot. So now you have like my disco lights set to blue and watch Frozen in my room. It was like the perfect setting. Yeah. My sister's like, What is going on here? I was like, I don't know. Like, I just. I just need something, you know? If you were to talk to your younger self, what would you say your advice to your younger self would be based on everything that you've accomplished so far? Um, I would say show up, just continue to show up. Even when times are hard, when you feel like you can't see that light at the end of the tunnel, when you're unsure, when things get dark, show up still, even when things are going amazingly well from you, continue to show up because sometimes you like, Oh my gosh, I just had one win. I don't have to work hard again, not commit, don't take the easy way out. Don't be afraid to challenge, take, you know, take those challenges. At times when I was young, I used to take challenges as a weakness. You're like, Oh, I feel challenged here. That's a sign of weakness or that's a sign of power. So the reason why you're in this position is because you can do it, not because you can't do it. Yeah. So you wouldn't be at your doorstep if you weren't. Exactly what I say anything else to my younger self? Would I relive anything? Absolutely. No, I wouldn't want to tell my younger self. Or maybe next time do this again. Nah, things happen for a reason, good or bad. And like I said, regardless, just continue to show up. Learn from the mistakes that you that happened, and then grow from those mistakes and become a better version of yourself. I'm probably one of the very few people that, like, I enjoyed my lockdown, didn't like the fact that I couldn't actually go see my family when I lived in the same state as them for the first time in like nine years because I was out of the radius block, like I was able to work from home. So I was teaching online classes like Zoom with work, doing my own as well because we were also allowed to go out. I was teaching privates outdoors as well, so I was obviously still stimulating my brain in that way as I was still keeping active a physically active, mentally active, creative in the sense that I was creating programs for people to make their days better. So obviously keeping their mental state in their physical state of health active and as well, I did not. Here's a fun fact I did not order a single Uber eats the entire time I cooked. That's a good brag. I cooked the entire time. So good. I know. Hey and thanks for watching. Episode two of Create Creative Creatives. If you want to follow Gianna on any of her socials, there's a link of description below to do just that in the comments below. I would love to know if you've ever had to redirect, reinvent or pivot your creativity in any way. All right. I'll see you next Tuesday.