theDance Series and theUniversity Dance Tour!

Donnette and her business partner Andrea had another wonderful and amazing dance event!  Well, three actually.  And I was once again so very pleased and humbled to be a part of it!  Building upon the tremendous success of theConvention, Donnette and Andrea launched theDance Series and theUniversity Dance Tour.  These events bring in highly successful dance professionals to dance studios and to college campuses so that dancers can receive guidance, tips, advice, insight, and instruction from the industry’s top level.  The very first installments of theDance Series took place at M2 Dance Center in Schererville, Indiana, and at Adagio School of Performing Arts in Ottawa, Illinois.  Columbia College in Chicago was the first site for theUniversity Dance Tour.

For these events, Dylan Artists Management brought in guest choreographer and instructor Lil’ C!  (You know, the inventor of krumping, the subject of the documentary “Rize,” the black dude that uses really big words on “So You Think You Can Dance.  Yeah, that guy.)  What an awesome and talented individual he is!    Lil’ C taught original choreography, and provided so much inspiration.  At theUniversity Dance Tour stop at Columbia College, there was also a seminar with panelists from the dance industry, who answered questions asked by the participants.  Along with Lil’ C, the panelists included:

• Thomas Scott, the director of DDO Artists Agency in New York
• Donnette Cannonie, Founder/Director of Dylan Artists Management Inc, & member of Larkspur Dance and Choreography (woot-woot)
• Stephanie Potakis, on-camera agent at LTA of Chicago
• Andrea Shipp, Founder/Director of Dylan Artists Management, Inc, and also launched the first dance and choreography department of any talent agency in Chicago.

What a surreal and over-the-top experience the whole thing was!  Still trying to perfect this trick with a cowboy hat that Lil’ C does with a backwards baseball cap.  He assured me it’s just physics and it will work.  I’m not convinced since I’ve witnessed said cowboy hat falling to the ground every single time I attempt it.  Another funny and surreal moment:  watching a mom and her son recognize Lil’ C while we were in a McDonald’s in the middle of nowhere Indiana.  That will probably be one of the coolest things I will ever have the opportunity to witness.  He was so gracious, and they were just completely at a loss for words.  And I swear the girl behind the counter thought she was being punked.

And because we’re stupid and think we can survive without sleep, Donnette and I accompanied Lil’ C on a quest for some Chicago nightlife.  At this point, Donnette’s hair was in her high ballet teacher bun.  I was in flannel because I didn’t know what one wore to “krump” for heaven’s sake.  And then we had to dance in the presence of Lil’C.  Obviously, we did not think this through.  But we had a time! Yep, we most certainly did!

Proud of you, Donnette!  Thanks for everything!

Love and hat tricks,

Melanie