This is my episode on what happens when someone makes falling off buildings look like an art form.

Marissa Labog is a dancer, stunt performer, filmmaker, and mom, and she joined me this week to talk about something I didn't expect: how stunts and dance are actually the same conversation, just with better padding.

Spoiler: the scariest part of doing something dangerous isn't the danger. It's skipping a step.

We explore:

• The stunt that had no rehearsal. What happened when Marissa landed in Mexico City with no prep, a third-story window, and a drainpipe, and why not having time to think might have been the whole point.

• Back to basics as a superpower. The day a group of veteran stunt performers all froze at once, and the simple method they used to get each other moving again. (Spoiler: it works for everything, not just stunts.)

• Building your own path vs. following someone else's. Why Marissa started UP Productions, what she wants female action heroes to look like, and her response to the guy at the Q&A who said he hated her movie.

This episode is for anyone who has ever stood at the edge of something terrifying and wondered if they were built for it.

Because if Marissa has taught me anything, it's that courage isn't the absence of fear. It's the evidence you've been collecting all along.

So, are you okay hitting the ground?

Show Notes:

Connect with Marissa on IG

Follow Upproductionz on IG

Subscribe to Upproductionz on Vimeo

Watch “When Kids Grow Up”

Listen to our Parents episode

Listen to our episode with Toni

Listen to our episode with Samo

For more DANA

For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY

To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER

To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES

Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE

Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is my episode on the pattern that lives between your worst feeling and your best one.

I'm going solo this week to talk about something I discovered mid-move — four steps up a staircase, a king-size mattress, and a full emotional spiral that somehow led to one of my favorite realizations yet.

Spoiler: your worst feeling isn't the end. It's actually the beginning.

We explore:

• The mattress that broke me (and then didn't). What happened when Riley and I couldn't muscle a king-size mattress up 17 stairs, why my brain immediately jumped to men and women going to war with weapons, and what that says about how fast our minds can catastrophize from one moment of feeling incapable.

• Incapable → Learning → Offering. The three-part pattern I didn't know I had — and why recognizing it changed how I relate to my hardest feelings. When you know what's on the other side, the beginning doesn't feel quite as terminal.

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt incapable and taken it as a verdict instead of a starting point.

Because feeling like you can't do something isn't a life sentence. It's the first step in a cycle that ends with you handing someone an opportunity they didn't see coming.

So, what's the feeling that feels like your end?

Watch the full episode here.

Show Notes:

For more DANA

For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY

To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER

To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES

Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE

Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

This is my episode on Credits, Collaboration, and the Industry Conversations We've Been Waiting to Have

I sit down with choreographer Jamal Sims and associate choreographer Will Bell to talk about what it actually looks like when the dance industry takes care of its own — and what happens when it doesn't.

Spoiler: the best collaborations aren't built on titles. They're built on trust.

We explore:

• The meet-cute that almost didn't happen. How juggling Beauty and the Beast and Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl simultaneously led Jamal to one phone call, one name, and a partnership that just worked, and what that says about the power of the right person in the room.

• Assistant choreographer ≠ personal assistant of the choreographer. Why the industry still confuses the two, what it cost Will when someone called him "difficult" for knowing his own job description, and why having a choreographer's handbook on standby might not be the worst idea.

• The credit problem nobody wants to talk about. How the line between assistant and associate can define someone's entire career trajectory, and why giving people their proper title isn't just courtesy, it's how they get their next job.

This episode is for every dancer, choreographer, and creative who has ever done the work and watched someone else get the credit.

Because being an assistant isn't a life sentence. And “Associate” isn't just a title.

So, are you willing to advocate for the people in your room?

Watch the full episode here.

Show Notes:

Connect with Jamal on IG

Connect with Will on IG

Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

Watch the Beauty & The Beast: The 30th Anniversary Special

Watch the Encanto Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Read the Choreographers Guild Handbook

Listen to our episode with Julie

Listen to our In The Heights Episode

Listen to our episode with Kai

For more DANA

For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY

To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER

To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES

Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE

Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok