Speaker 1: Welcome to Behind the Influence, a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and TDC Media. Pro dancer choreographer, A few stops
Speaker 1: for you guys. She has one point for a million
Speaker 1: followers on Instagram one point three million subs on YouTube.
Speaker 1: Not a small number there, Jojo Jojo Gomez is in
Speaker 1: the house, Casey Rights is Shanlu pro dancers in real
Speaker 1: life bfs are in the house. But we're here with
Speaker 1: Jade chinaf actress, dancer extraordinaire. We are so happy to
Speaker 1: have you here today. Thank you for stopping him. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so the show is all about influence, and you are
Speaker 1: definitely somebody who has influenced in the dance space. Not
Speaker 1: only are you doing choreography for some of the biggest artists,
Speaker 1: which is blatantly influencing what we see, you're also teaching people,
Speaker 1: like this generation of dancers is coming up learning some
Speaker 1: of the things that you made up. And you have
Speaker 1: a platform of millions of followers who are also seeing
Speaker 1: that who can't necessarily take your classes or see you
Speaker 1: on tour. So the influence is real. Yeah, but it
Speaker 1: didn't always start out that way, did it. You were
Speaker 1: a young little Joe Joe not at all. Did not
Speaker 1: start off that way. I'm actually from the East Coast.
Speaker 1: I'm from Massachusetts, and there wasn't much dance out there.
Speaker 1: I mean I trained at a small studio in western Massachusetts.
Speaker 1: But I was super inspired by Los Angeles and I
Speaker 1: knew that it was something that I wanted to do.
Speaker 1: I really wanted to pursue my career being a professional dancer,
Speaker 1: and so right after high school, I booked the first
Speaker 1: plane ticket and it's been an amazing journey ever since.
Speaker 1: You make it sound so easy. Oh yeah, yeah, what
Speaker 1: trust me. I have lots of questions for you, But
Speaker 1: I will say, every time you see somebody like you
Speaker 1: have this amazing come up, you think it's so easy,
Speaker 1: but there was a lot of hard work that went
Speaker 1: into it, countless hours for you in the studio dancing,
Speaker 1: taking that big leap to after high school, out on
Speaker 1: a plane and go to a place where did you
Speaker 1: know many people in l A? I did not know
Speaker 1: many people in l A. When I made my move.
Speaker 1: I left a lot of friends behind in my family
Speaker 1: because I'm originally from Massachusetts, so it's like all the
Speaker 1: way across the country. And I will say that I
Speaker 1: was really, really hungry, and I had a lot of drive.
Speaker 1: When I moved to l A. I was the type
Speaker 1: of person where even though I was the underdog, I
Speaker 1: wasn't always like as dope as I am today. I
Speaker 1: didn't think I would make it because I was that
Speaker 1: girl that had to work extra hard. Dancing didn't come
Speaker 1: naturally to me. I wasn't the most flexible. I didn't
Speaker 1: have the most technique, but I had a lot of
Speaker 1: passion and heart for it, and so I had to
Speaker 1: work harder than everybody else. Basically I took like seven
Speaker 1: classes a day. When I moved out to l A.
Speaker 1: I went to so many auditions and I got cut
Speaker 1: from the majority of them, which is like the whole
Speaker 1: part of the process. But again, I had to take
Speaker 1: so many classes. I had to go to the gym
Speaker 1: every single day. I had to watch what I was eating,
Speaker 1: and as a Latin girl, as a Latino that that
Speaker 1: was really difficult because food is like my whole life.
Speaker 1: And when I moved out to l A, I was like, oh, ship,
Speaker 1: I need to go on a diet. I need to
Speaker 1: like have a six pack in order for myself to
Speaker 1: book this job or this tour, dance with this artist.
Speaker 1: So it was like a smack of reality. When I
Speaker 1: moved to l A. I had a let go of
Speaker 1: the bagels and the McDonald's. This is like some music
Speaker 1: video commercial ship. I need to be on top of
Speaker 1: my body. And yeah, I also struggled with body image
Speaker 1: as well. When I moved to l A. Again, I
Speaker 1: wasn't always like stick thin. I had to Why why
Speaker 1: did you feel that you had to be stick thin?
Speaker 1: I mean, you're you're great dancer. Some of my favorite dancers,
Speaker 1: like j Lo to me as iconic. She wasn't stick thin.
Speaker 1: Where did you get this idea from? Well, when I
Speaker 1: moved out to l A. It is very shallow in
Speaker 1: our industry because every single audition that I went to,
Speaker 1: it was basically not about how good of a dancer
Speaker 1: you were. It was about if you had a six
Speaker 1: pack or if you could dance in a bikini. It
Speaker 1: was more about what you look like and who you knew.
Speaker 1: And that was always really hard for me because I
Speaker 1: signed up for all these amazing dance conventions growing up.
Speaker 1: My mom spent so much money on my training, and
Speaker 1: when I moved out to l A and I realized,
Speaker 1: oh my god, it's it's more about what I look
Speaker 1: like and list about my talent. It really really like
Speaker 1: painted me a little bit. We have a lot to cover, obviously,
Speaker 1: there's a lot to cover in the world of acting.
Speaker 1: Dancing is a huge part of your life, and it
Speaker 1: actually they go together at the moment. Who knows if
Speaker 1: that will always be the case. I mean, you're probably
Speaker 1: gonna start in movies that don't have you dancing or
Speaker 1: shows that don't have you dancing, But it's kind of
Speaker 1: cool that you get to do two things that you love.
Speaker 1: We were actually just before we got started, we were
Speaker 1: talking about the Step Up series and helps us. Literally
Speaker 1: everyone in here is with the step How could you not?
Speaker 1: How could you not? I mean it combines dancing, some
Speaker 1: good looking people, some good looking people. You you included,
Speaker 1: by the way, in the new iteration of the Step
Speaker 1: Up franchise. They've had a lot of movies too, haven't
Speaker 1: they Six movies out? Oh my gosh, that's that's incredible.
Speaker 1: So going back to the very first step of what
Speaker 1: were you like to when that came? Yeah, somewhere around there.
Speaker 1: But I still had who didn't have a crush on Channon?
Speaker 1: I know the world? Yeah, So we'll we'll take it
Speaker 1: back because I think that's really interesting. You're not from
Speaker 1: l A, but you've definitely made your mark on the
Speaker 1: dance scene in l A and obviously all the things
Speaker 1: we talked about at the beginning of this interview. You're
Speaker 1: on a really successful franchise series. Everyone knows the Step
Speaker 1: Up series you. You're followed by millions of people who
Speaker 1: watch you dance on your many platforms, from YouTube to
Speaker 1: Instagram to Twitter. Let's take it back to before all
Speaker 1: this stuff happened. You're not from l A. Where are
Speaker 1: you from and how did you get involved in dance.
Speaker 1: I'm originally from Park City, Utah, and my family actually
Speaker 1: all still lives there, so that's kind of nice and
Speaker 1: makes visiting easy. I started dancing when I was about
Speaker 1: to My aunt had a studio. It's called Martie's Rainbow Danswers.
Speaker 1: I definitely graduated from that, but my mom had me
Speaker 1: going there because she was teaching at the time. They
Speaker 1: are and I just kind of gotten to dance at
Speaker 1: a young age. And my family we were definitely middle class,
Speaker 1: but it was one of those things if we were
Speaker 1: going to invest in something, we had to put our
Speaker 1: full heart and our full energy and passion into it.
Speaker 1: So I was training and dance just for fun up
Speaker 1: until I was about ten eleven twelve. My brothers were
Speaker 1: doing football, so I had my thing, they had their thing.
Speaker 1: My dad was with them, my mom was with me,
Speaker 1: and I started competing and as I was dancing, it
Speaker 1: went from like just running around in two twos to
Speaker 1: kind of really loving and understanding dance and for what
Speaker 1: it is, like a lot of people think it's just movement,
Speaker 1: it's just having fun, but there's really something so liberating
Speaker 1: about being able to express yourself through movement without actually
Speaker 1: having to say anything. You can really leave all your
Speaker 1: emotions out on the dance floor, cheessily putting it, but
Speaker 1: it is. I kind of just fell in love and
Speaker 1: I kind of had a realization that I could make
Speaker 1: something more of it when I was around ten eleven,
Speaker 1: because I started going to conventions that were out of
Speaker 1: state every weekend to kind of train myself and see
Speaker 1: what else I could do with dancing, because I think
Speaker 1: l A is one of those places that every person
Speaker 1: that thinks they're the best from their state comes, So
Speaker 1: it's definitely a route awakening. You think you're doing really
Speaker 1: good when you're in Utah, and I trained my butt
Speaker 1: off and I was always at every convention and I
Speaker 1: would go straight from school to dance until ten pm.
Speaker 1: Then I do have to do homework, so it's always
Speaker 1: been a grind, and my mom had to work at
Speaker 1: the studio to pay for my dance classes, so it's
Speaker 1: never been easy, and I don't think the best things
Speaker 1: are easy, So that's why I think it drove my
Speaker 1: passion for even more because it wasn't something that I
Speaker 1: just got handed to me. It was something I had
Speaker 1: to work for and that that excited me. I've always
Speaker 1: been really competitive with myself too, so I wanted to
Speaker 1: be the best that it could be. And I've always
Speaker 1: been super dramatic. I always is like playing pretend when
Speaker 1: I was younger, so being able to tell stories as
Speaker 1: I was dancing too was perfect for me. And from
Speaker 1: there I kind of got recognized by some choreographers at
Speaker 1: a specific convention. It was called the Pulse On Tour
Speaker 1: and it had many choreographers that were working in the industry,
Speaker 1: like Brian Friedman who choreographs for Britney Spears, and many
Speaker 1: other people. Dave Scott, who's done most of the step
Speaker 1: up franchises and Chris Judd, Lorianne gibbson me and Michael's
Speaker 1: all these people that you see featured on so you
Speaker 1: think you can dance or maybe if you see films,
Speaker 1: they're the choreographers of those or tours or anything like that.
Speaker 1: And I got the scholarship where I was able to
Speaker 1: assist them every weekend for a year, so I was
Speaker 1: up on stage with them, helping and teaching the rest
Speaker 1: of the students. So that how old were you at
Speaker 1: this point? I was twelve and at the time I
Speaker 1: was actually the youngest one that what were you doing
Speaker 1: at twelve? Right, let's take it back to where it
Speaker 1: all began. For people who don't know the backstory of
Speaker 1: Kasey and Sean. Who wants to take this tale or
Speaker 1: one of you can start at the other convenish it.
Speaker 1: You're so in sanc I feel like it could work.
Speaker 1: I can started. So we started competing like seven to
Speaker 1: eight years ago. I had a separate studio and she
Speaker 1: had a separate studio, and we kind of competed with
Speaker 1: each other. But then it was always like just like hey, hey,
Speaker 1: you're good, you too, And then and then after that
Speaker 1: we started when I started moving into the classes in
Speaker 1: l A and everything like that. I also saw her
Speaker 1: in classes there too, and so we always kept bumping
Speaker 1: into each other. But like when we first met each other,
Speaker 1: it was far from like being like even friends at all.
Speaker 1: We were always just like, like I admired her, admired
Speaker 1: her as a dancer when I first saw her on
Speaker 1: stage and everything like that. But I was never like
Speaker 1: I want to grab some munch. I was just gonna say,
Speaker 1: for people who are not aware of how young both
Speaker 1: of you are sixteen and seventeen when you met, you
Speaker 1: had to have been at the ripe age of eight
Speaker 1: and nine. It was more like our parents were doing
Speaker 1: the talking, right, so you're not really necessarily being like
Speaker 1: want to go to soho how talking to each other
Speaker 1: and then just hear your parents like, Hi, this is
Speaker 1: my son, this is my daughter. Yeah. I mean, but
Speaker 1: all in all, it was really just like we kept
Speaker 1: seeing each other a lot in like competitions and then
Speaker 1: in classes and all that stuff. So it was really
Speaker 1: just kind of this like sign where I was like,
Speaker 1: maybe we should just be friends. See where that goes.
Speaker 1: Had you seen the video of Casey when she did
Speaker 1: is it work that Katie didn't carry Katie Perry tweet that.
Speaker 1: Okay when I saw that video today because I was
Speaker 1: watching it this morning and just to you know, go
Speaker 1: through all the research. Yeah, well that's what I do
Speaker 1: every morning. I was like that, I had my coffee
Speaker 1: that I do. You but oh my goodness, so talented.
Speaker 1: How old are you in that video? I was ten
Speaker 1: years old? Yeah, I mean like when she does those
Speaker 1: like hit thrust, like, oh my god, those are like powerful,
Speaker 1: they were power power, and then Katie Perry sees it.
Speaker 1: How was it as a ten year old? Honestly, I
Speaker 1: didn't really quite know what was going on at the
Speaker 1: time because I was so young. I just remember like
Speaker 1: one of my fans like commented on one of my
Speaker 1: random like selfies on Instagram. I was like, hey, Katy
Speaker 1: Perry just retweeted as your solo and I was like what,
Speaker 1: And we all thought it was like something like it
Speaker 1: was a fake account. So we went and did like
Speaker 1: the research and we're like, oh, no, it's like the
Speaker 1: actual Katy Perry. But at the time I was just
Speaker 1: kind of like cool, I don't I don't know what
Speaker 1: this means, Like I don't even know what this Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: and my parents were like, oh my gosh, like this
Speaker 1: is for real, and it just blew up and it
Speaker 1: was one of like the very first dance videos to
Speaker 1: actually sort of go viral. So that was like really
Speaker 1: really cool, and I got so many opportunities after that.
Speaker 1: That's just been insane and it's just crazy being a dancer.
Speaker 1: Are our bodies are temples And it's the first thing
Speaker 1: that people look at, especially back then in music videos,
Speaker 1: like without social media, how are people going to know
Speaker 1: who you are? Like for the most part, dancers were
Speaker 1: only validated through the artists that they danced behind and
Speaker 1: how big their resume was, and in order to have that,
Speaker 1: you needed to look a certain way. It was very
Speaker 1: very shallow back then. But now with social media, which
Speaker 1: we're going to get into, I feel like that has
Speaker 1: really changed my life because I can be well known
Speaker 1: for who I am and not who I've danced behind,
Speaker 1: and I can embrace my body. I can embrace my
Speaker 1: Latino curves, and I don't have to like starve myself
Speaker 1: from my favorite foods. I can right now. I used
Speaker 1: to have a really unhealthy relationship with myself when I
Speaker 1: was just a dancer, and I was going to auditions
Speaker 1: and fighting for these people's validation of myself. So I
Speaker 1: was fighting for a door to open. And then as
Speaker 1: soon as I decided to open my own doors and
Speaker 1: just not seek validation from anybody else anymore, it changed
Speaker 1: my life completely. I I've always owe everything to my family,
Speaker 1: but every every time I come out here too, you
Speaker 1: it's it's different. L A is different. People are different,
Speaker 1: and it's very competitive as well. So there's that little
Speaker 1: bit of you know, competitive air between everybody even when
Speaker 1: you step in a class. And I was. I wasn't
Speaker 1: used to it. I was like, oh, we don't all
Speaker 1: love each other, Like what is this? Oh you don't
Speaker 1: like me because I'm good? Like what does that mean? Like?
Speaker 1: I like you because you're good. But it's just this
Speaker 1: big competitive thing, and you know, eventually those couple of
Speaker 1: days turned two weeks turned two months, and then I
Speaker 1: started being in l A more than I was in Utah,
Speaker 1: and I think around sixteen, I don't even have an
Speaker 1: official move date to California, but I think around sixteen
Speaker 1: was when I was here more than I was Utah.
Speaker 1: And um I roomed with three other people. My mom
Speaker 1: and I shared a room a smaller room, you know
Speaker 1: how like when you get in an apartment, there's the
Speaker 1: bigger room in the small room. We shared the smaller
Speaker 1: room with another mom and daughter and where they also
Speaker 1: in the dance world. They were yes, and I had
Speaker 1: met them through convention and she ended up being one
Speaker 1: of my best friends and we were roommates for seven years.
Speaker 1: So I just actually recently got my own apartment by myself.
Speaker 1: So like I saw that, I saw your little tour
Speaker 1: and I'm very cute designed congratulations, thank you so much,
Speaker 1: But yeah, it was, it was. It's been a journey
Speaker 1: for sure, and it's been a long time. I've had
Speaker 1: a long time to really get into the industry and
Speaker 1: figure out what I like and other dancers and what
Speaker 1: I don't like and kind of take all of those
Speaker 1: things that I think that I could do really well
Speaker 1: and mash them up into the one well rounded dancer.
Speaker 1: And I always say that I have so much to
Speaker 1: work on still, like I will never stop growing. And
Speaker 1: I think that's what people commonly have misconceptions about is
Speaker 1: people are like, oh, Jade, like give me the secrets,
Speaker 1: Like how do I get into the industry, Like I
Speaker 1: want to book a tour like da da da da,
Speaker 1: And I'm like, well, you know, there are really no secrets,
Speaker 1: Like you have to do it from the ground up.
Speaker 1: You have to take classes. If you want to be
Speaker 1: booked by somebody, you have to get in front of
Speaker 1: their face, take their class regularly. You have to study
Speaker 1: what they what they like and what they book and
Speaker 1: you kind of have to. Dancing is one of those
Speaker 1: hard things that you have to be a full package.
Speaker 1: So you have to you know, you have to keep
Speaker 1: working out, you have to you have to look. You
Speaker 1: have to keep yourself together. Your like body is your
Speaker 1: image and it's your it's your selling point, which is
Speaker 1: it causes a lot of hardships for I think everybody
Speaker 1: in the industry, females and males included. You are constantly
Speaker 1: being like judged and torn apart because there they want
Speaker 1: the full look. And I think that comes with this
Speaker 1: entertainment industry in general. You have to always be on basically,
Speaker 1: and it's been it's you know, it's been hard because
Speaker 1: it makes people competitive, it makes people a little salty
Speaker 1: towards each other, and and you just have to really
Speaker 1: like seek out the people that are gonna want to
Speaker 1: grow with you. Rather than I want you to say
Speaker 1: where they're at, because it is. It does get hard,
Speaker 1: and I think l A is like this big filter system.
Speaker 1: I always use it as like one of those those
Speaker 1: noodle drainers. You know. Everybody comes in and they think
Speaker 1: they can do it, and they really hope they can.
Speaker 1: But l A is so cut throat and it's it's
Speaker 1: so brutal and honest, and really only the people that
Speaker 1: are gonna really be willing to take those nose and
Speaker 1: keep going and hopefully turn them into yeses are the
Speaker 1: ones that end up here. Was there a moment for you,
Speaker 1: like a a video got a lot of attention, or
Speaker 1: somebody asked you to choreograph something where you were like,
Speaker 1: they're taking me seriously, this is something I could really
Speaker 1: do well. Actually, when I think when I was ten,
Speaker 1: it was doing like a competition and I was like
Speaker 1: I asked my studio owner. I was like, hey, can
Speaker 1: I just choreograph my own solo and like try it
Speaker 1: in the studio And it was like no, don't do that,
Speaker 1: and like there's no point and I was like no,
Speaker 1: I really want to try, and she was very doubtful
Speaker 1: about it, and I was like, okay, if I really
Speaker 1: prepare and if I go into the next one by myself,
Speaker 1: will you let me? And I was like, I'll even
Speaker 1: like i'll even compete away from your studio. I'll independently,
Speaker 1: and she was like okay, fine. So then you know,
Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time, you know, choreographing like
Speaker 1: my own solo, and do you remember what song it
Speaker 1: was to um? It was so long ago. It was
Speaker 1: so long ago, and it was so brief. It was
Speaker 1: just like like it was just a moment for me
Speaker 1: that kind of like stuff like this light where I
Speaker 1: was like I realized that, you know, as I was cooing,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, no, one knows me more than myself.
Speaker 1: So so I really tried to push it out there.
Speaker 1: And then at that point, I beat all my other
Speaker 1: solos and I beat all like my other like routines
Speaker 1: that I did in the competition with that solo, and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, this is like something
Speaker 1: I want to do and this is something that I
Speaker 1: want to share. And so then I started like teaching
Speaker 1: in any possible way I could, either in charities or
Speaker 1: in fundraisers or in just my sister's high school. And
Speaker 1: from that point on, It was kind of just like,
Speaker 1: I want to keep doing this forever. So how did you,
Speaker 1: I guess, just break believe it or not. It wasn't
Speaker 1: when I moved to l A. It was in New
Speaker 1: York when I realized what I wanted to do. My
Speaker 1: first job that I ever booked in my life was Beyonce.
Speaker 1: Still right, I was still in thee the Queen Bee.
Speaker 1: It was honestly, I was still in high school and
Speaker 1: I was still in training mode. I had this great
Speaker 1: connection with this choreographer, her name is Luam and I
Speaker 1: was religiously taking her class and she came up to
Speaker 1: me one day after her class and she's like, hey,
Speaker 1: are you available in the next two days for a
Speaker 1: job for an artist? And I was like absolutely. I
Speaker 1: mean I've never danced for an artist before, so this
Speaker 1: is going to be great for me. She did not
Speaker 1: tell me it was Beyonce. So when I showed up
Speaker 1: and I saw Beyonce in the rehearsal, I was like,
Speaker 1: is this for real? Is this for real? Like I'm
Speaker 1: still in high school. I would be like, where is
Speaker 1: Ashton Kutcher. I'm getting punked right now? Yeah, And so, honestly,
Speaker 1: her kindness and how like her work ethic in the rehearsal,
Speaker 1: and then the dancers that I was surrounded by. I
Speaker 1: just knew in that moment that I could do this,
Speaker 1: like little me Jojo from Massachusetts could make it in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles or New York or just like in the
Speaker 1: entertainment Sustrey in general. Like the passion and the joy
Speaker 1: and the adrenaline rush that I experienced while dancing for
Speaker 1: her was just unbelievable. It was for the Get Me
Speaker 1: Bodied campaign that she collaborated with Michelle Obama. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you saw it, Yeah, it was. It was
Speaker 1: so fun. You wouldn't recognize me at all. I look
Speaker 1: completely different. I had this like mouseie short brunette bob
Speaker 1: and it was just a mess. I didn't have my
Speaker 1: look together. I didn't know the first thing about what
Speaker 1: it took to be like a professional dancer. I know,
Speaker 1: and it was solely based off of like my my,
Speaker 1: like what that choreographer saw in me. I worked really,
Speaker 1: really hard, and so she gave me a chance, and
Speaker 1: just that experience alone dancing behind Beyonce was something that
Speaker 1: made me realize that I want to do this for
Speaker 1: the rest of my life. And then when I moved
Speaker 1: out to l A. The second job that I booked
Speaker 1: was Britney Spears and the vm AS. It was a
Speaker 1: Britney Spears tribute and that was How was the Michael
Speaker 1: Jackson Van Daughter it was? And then we were introduced
Speaker 1: to the stage by Lady Gaga. Okay, I'm sorry, Joe, Joe, right,
Speaker 1: how did you? I mean, yes, you're talented, but this
Speaker 1: is just three wins back to back here, I mean
Speaker 1: Lady Gaga, right, it was unreal. And again, I was
Speaker 1: still seventeen when I booked that job, So what were
Speaker 1: you What was everyone else out there doing at seventeen?
Speaker 1: I wasn't being introduced by Lady Gaga, right, that's so
Speaker 1: so casual. And then so this is on your resume now,
Speaker 1: so you have, at this point, at the age of seventeen,
Speaker 1: you have danced with Beyonce maybe arguably one of the
Speaker 1: biggest stars in the world, maybe at that time was
Speaker 1: the biggest star in the world. And then you're dancing
Speaker 1: behind pop icon Britney Spears. Where do you go from there?
Speaker 1: I mean, these are iconic names. So I'm assuming after
Speaker 1: you add these names to your resume, is that did
Speaker 1: every door open or did you find some challenges still? Oh,
Speaker 1: my gosh, so many challenges still. Like I I did
Speaker 1: have some great connections with choreographers who would direct book
Speaker 1: me on these great jobs. But the most part, I
Speaker 1: went to a lot more auditions where I heard now
Speaker 1: and again going back to my body image, I was
Speaker 1: I heard no just because of what my body looked like,
Speaker 1: and so did people. They would always tell me. They
Speaker 1: would be like hey, Like they would pull me up
Speaker 1: to the desk and they'd be like, hey, you're great,
Speaker 1: but you just need to lose some weight, you need
Speaker 1: to tighten up, you need to hit the gym more.
Speaker 1: But we would have hired you. And so that really
Speaker 1: really it like motivated me. But it also created a
Speaker 1: really unhealthy relationship with myself and I would starve myself.
Speaker 1: I I would weigh myself like five times a day
Speaker 1: to see if there was like a slight difference. It
Speaker 1: was just really really unhealthy. But a lot of dancers
Speaker 1: go through this as well. Um. I did have a
Speaker 1: lot of great experiences with the jobs. Like right after that,
Speaker 1: I dance with Justin Bieber and that was just like
Speaker 1: so cool because he was like the biggest pop star
Speaker 1: at the time. But then right after that job, literally
Speaker 1: the next day, what's my next job that I'm doing.
Speaker 1: I have to go to this audition in this audition.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I would go to three auditions in one day
Speaker 1: and I would get cut in the first round. Then
Speaker 1: the next audition I would go to that day. I
Speaker 1: would make it all the way to the end, and
Speaker 1: then I would have to wait a few days to hear.
Speaker 1: I auditioned for Rihanna, and I made it all the
Speaker 1: way till the end, and then they said that I
Speaker 1: looked too pretty. And I looked at them and I said,
Speaker 1: I'll shave my head, I'll do whatever, because yeah, that
Speaker 1: bothers me. That kind of bothers me. They were looking
Speaker 1: for more of an edgy look. They're like, oh, I
Speaker 1: think you're just like a little bit too pretty. You
Speaker 1: have a little bit too much of a girl next
Speaker 1: door vibe, and we're looking for an edgy or vibe.
Speaker 1: And so I was very desperate. I was like, I
Speaker 1: know I can do this, Like I'll shave my head,
Speaker 1: I'll color my hair, I'll make it purple. What they
Speaker 1: say they didn't. I didn't get picked. It was okay.
Speaker 1: I was still young, and it was a learning experience.
Speaker 1: But but at the same time, I mean to have
Speaker 1: all these people validating you. Clearly you knew that you
Speaker 1: had talent and that that you could take it somewhere.
Speaker 1: So even the nose, in a sense, if I heard
Speaker 1: those kinds of nose, it wouldn't per se discourage me
Speaker 1: totally because you know that it's not something I can change.
Speaker 1: You can't change, like if you don't look edgy to them,
Speaker 1: you don't look edgy to them. But I have nothing
Speaker 1: to do with your dancing, So I would imagine that
Speaker 1: didn't discourage you from continuing. I mean, it sucks. It sucks.
Speaker 1: It was something that bothered me because I can't do
Speaker 1: anything about this, and I wish I could have so,
Speaker 1: but you know, it's part of the process, and it
Speaker 1: created a gave me a thicker skin. And honestly, when
Speaker 1: I got those experiences, when they came to me, because
Speaker 1: I heard so many knows, the yes is meant so
Speaker 1: much more. There's also these like two sides in the industry,
Speaker 1: of in the dance industry specifically, of people who love
Speaker 1: social media and people who hate it. And it's usually
Speaker 1: the older generation that doesn't really love it, but for me.
Speaker 1: In my eyes, I've always seen social media as a
Speaker 1: business tool, as a way to express myself and connect
Speaker 1: to people that I would never be able to without it.
Speaker 1: And I you know, obviously it gets hard because sometimes
Speaker 1: I'm in class and I'm like, oh, I really don't
Speaker 1: think I did good, but I'm still getting called out
Speaker 1: because they want me to be in this video, Like
Speaker 1: I don't know, I other not go because I don't
Speaker 1: want to be on tape today. I just want to train.
Speaker 1: I want to feel always wondered about that. So I'm
Speaker 1: gonna cut, I'm gonna rudely interrupt you. So I always
Speaker 1: see these videos of like the playground is a playground
Speaker 1: or wherever, and and there's one person dancing in the
Speaker 1: front and then there's two in the back. Like this
Speaker 1: is a really uneducated question. I'm not in this world.
Speaker 1: Are you going to class that day not knowing that
Speaker 1: they're going to put you on tape? And then they
Speaker 1: put you on tape? How does that work? So basically,
Speaker 1: you go to class and you have about an hour
Speaker 1: or forty five minutes to an hour to learn the combo,
Speaker 1: and then you kind of do it in groups and
Speaker 1: focus on that and then they'll end up calling people out,
Speaker 1: So you have no idea if you're going to get
Speaker 1: called out, But is your goal to get called out
Speaker 1: when you go to class. When I was younger, it
Speaker 1: definitely was because at the time, it wasn't really about videos.
Speaker 1: It was about like getting seen by people. And well,
Speaker 1: I guess back in the day there was no social media,
Speaker 1: it wasn't there wasn't a pressure to be like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go to class today. It was just purely class.
Speaker 1: Whereas now you go to class and you're like, my
Speaker 1: outfit needs to be point, my makeup needs to be done,
Speaker 1: because if they call me out, there's gonna be now
Speaker 1: a video floating around exactly. And I think that's what
Speaker 1: it's really hard with social media is some people don't
Speaker 1: like that pressure. Some people don't want the camera and them.
Speaker 1: They just want to train, They just want to be
Speaker 1: there to learn. They want to be able to mess
Speaker 1: up and not feel bad about it. They don't want
Speaker 1: to put on this show, which I completely understand. And
Speaker 1: I think there's definitely a balance and a lot of
Speaker 1: people are like, oh, Jade only goes to the classes
Speaker 1: that get filmed, But I'm like, now, if you think
Speaker 1: about it. You don't know the classes that I go
Speaker 1: to that aren't filmed because they're not filmed. How are
Speaker 1: you balancing practicing and taking dance seriously and maybe going
Speaker 1: pro and also taking school seriously as well. Well. At
Speaker 1: the moment, we're both graduated from school. But at the
Speaker 1: time it was tough, like separating dance and school and
Speaker 1: also yeah, finding that balance, but we always like managed
Speaker 1: to do it. And obviously school does come first, but
Speaker 1: dances also our passion and our love. So it was
Speaker 1: just really finding that balance between studying but then also
Speaker 1: doing what we loved. And it's also just kind of
Speaker 1: the idea of knowing that, like school is a priority,
Speaker 1: so because dance is our passion, we kind of have
Speaker 1: to make sure that we get the school thing done first,
Speaker 1: and then you go into like moving with dancing, because
Speaker 1: I feel like every time you decide to push school
Speaker 1: away when you have to do it and you start
Speaker 1: to kind of go into, you know, your passion, you're
Speaker 1: always distracted by knowing that you still have to do school,
Speaker 1: and like at a certain point, you know, so it
Speaker 1: pulls away from that, you know, you giving that whenever
Speaker 1: you are dancing. So for us, either for us when
Speaker 1: we were on set or when we were rehearsing, or this, this,
Speaker 1: and that. It was always just making sure that we
Speaker 1: at least finished school. We at least had to finish
Speaker 1: what we had to finish for school, and then we
Speaker 1: can move on to you know, and in your mind
Speaker 1: was what you had to finish, was high school for
Speaker 1: you taking school less seriously just because you had this
Speaker 1: career that you felt you could fall back on, or
Speaker 1: was it the other way around where school was taken
Speaker 1: really seriously because you never knew where dance would take you. Oh,
Speaker 1: I felt like I knew where dance would take me.
Speaker 1: I feel like I feel like in our case, I
Speaker 1: feel like we we kind of looked at dancing as
Speaker 1: like our guiding hand kind of thing, because I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously we took school very seriously and at least for
Speaker 1: me and my parents are very strict about making sure that, like,
Speaker 1: you know, you had to finish this year firms that
Speaker 1: otherwise you don't get to do this and that kind
Speaker 1: of thing. So it was kind of like school was
Speaker 1: my motivation. Would dance get taken away from you? You
Speaker 1: think if you started slipping in school for sure? For sure,
Speaker 1: for sure, I think for dancing, I just knew I
Speaker 1: love to do it. So since we kind of already
Speaker 1: dove our feet into like the real life world in
Speaker 1: the industry and everything, I think that's just where our
Speaker 1: paths are taking us. And at the moment, I don't
Speaker 1: think like we want to study dance like at school,
Speaker 1: because dance is more than just studying it. It's also
Speaker 1: a feeling and it's something that makes you feel good,
Speaker 1: it makes you who you are. Yeah, a lot of
Speaker 1: people say that your real life experience always trump's right,
Speaker 1: And I'm sure you guys are learning so much more
Speaker 1: actually doing the routines and trying things out versus getting
Speaker 1: it from a textbook or Yeah, I just feel like
Speaker 1: the way that we approach dance isn't necessarily I guess
Speaker 1: you could say, supported from like she said, textbooks and
Speaker 1: from you know, certain limitations. I feel like for us,
Speaker 1: we kind of look at it in a way where
Speaker 1: we're driven from like she said, of feeling, rather than
Speaker 1: it being a certain technique or a certain you know,
Speaker 1: rule that you get from school. So you may not
Speaker 1: necessarily have a specific brand, but you are absolutely authentic. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say authentic unpredictable, unique, So does that work
Speaker 1: against you do not have a specific brand, do you
Speaker 1: think when it comes to booking where people I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think it used to when I was just a dancer,
Speaker 1: but I guess I just don't really give a shit anymore,
Speaker 1: and I just do whatever I feel. And whenever I create,
Speaker 1: it's not to fit a box or to fit or
Speaker 1: to conform to the norm, or to seek validation or
Speaker 1: an opportunity. I just kind of create to create, and honestly,
Speaker 1: when it comes out of me organically like that, then
Speaker 1: the opportunities and the blessings come. Because whenever I create
Speaker 1: from a genuine place that comes to me like the
Speaker 1: I don't know how to explain it, like whatever you
Speaker 1: put out into the universe comes back full circle. I
Speaker 1: don't know thing that I've realized if I'm putting something
Speaker 1: out there that's not genuine and I have a plan,
Speaker 1: like okay, I'm gonna this isn't me. But let's just
Speaker 1: say I was like, Okay, this song is popular and
Speaker 1: I want to choreograph for this artist, which is a
Speaker 1: strategic plan. But I feel like if I went out
Speaker 1: there with that intention, it wouldn't come back to me.
Speaker 1: So I have to be inspired genuinely by whatever I'm doing.
Speaker 1: It has to make sense to me, It has to
Speaker 1: come from a place in my heart, whether it's it
Speaker 1: makes me feel sexy or it gives me courage to
Speaker 1: release that part of me. Then I feel like I
Speaker 1: gain more out of it, and people in my audience
Speaker 1: will believe it more. I am so grateful and there's never,
Speaker 1: like any any situation that I'm not grateful for. And
Speaker 1: but it's also important for me to showcase that it
Speaker 1: isn't always easy, because a lot of people think that
Speaker 1: these people have these lives that are so grand and like,
Speaker 1: once you have this, once you achieve this, you're going
Speaker 1: to be happy. But then once you have it, you're
Speaker 1: not happy, and it's because you haven't really experienced the
Speaker 1: whole journey of it. And there's always ups and downs.
Speaker 1: This industry is really hard. It's not like a steady income.
Speaker 1: It's always job to job to job. You never know
Speaker 1: when you're going to book it, so it's it's very
Speaker 1: high stress. And obviously I'm so thankful that I'm not.
Speaker 1: I'm not working a job that I I don't love,
Speaker 1: I don't love to do I'm fortunate that what I
Speaker 1: do and what I make money from is something that
Speaker 1: I do love. But it definitely is really hard and
Speaker 1: it it's built are certain personalities that can can withstand it,
Speaker 1: because it's as much as there's it's a small world
Speaker 1: in a small industry. It's a very lonely industry. If
Speaker 1: you come out here, especially from out of state, there's
Speaker 1: you people come and go in your life because things
Speaker 1: are always changing and people are always trying to be
Speaker 1: something else or interests contrast or conflict with them. And
Speaker 1: I've had so many people come in and out of
Speaker 1: my life because not that I think I'm so successful,
Speaker 1: but I think my my confidence in the fact that
Speaker 1: I believe that whatever efforts I put in, I can
Speaker 1: always make any outcome that I want. And I know
Speaker 1: that one day I'm going to make it in how
Speaker 1: I want to make it, and it's always up to me.
Speaker 1: It has nothing to do with anybody else. And it's
Speaker 1: it's very intimidating to see somebody who's confident in their
Speaker 1: journey and confident in them and trying to love themselves.
Speaker 1: Because if you don't feel that way, you you you
Speaker 1: feel a little insecure about it. And it's hard to
Speaker 1: watch your friends get your dream job. I get totally,
Speaker 1: but it's always been something that I've had to really
Speaker 1: seek out those people that are really going to support
Speaker 1: me and love me in every circumstance. And it's been
Speaker 1: hard because that sometimes I'm like, I don't want to
Speaker 1: tell anybody that I got this because I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't want them to feel bad, like even though this
Speaker 1: is something I did work for, so it should be
Speaker 1: something that I should celebrate and people should also celebrate
Speaker 1: and instead of turn away from being inspired by And
Speaker 1: I find myself constantly inspired by my friends and all
Speaker 1: wakes of life, whether it be like my friends on
Speaker 1: tour with jave Alvin right now, and she's traveling the world,
Speaker 1: getting paid to travel the world and perform and do
Speaker 1: what she loves and and to me, that's that's amazing.
Speaker 1: That's living the life. That's one stepping stone closer to
Speaker 1: what she wants to do. And it's just I want
Speaker 1: everyone to really like feel the love in the support
Speaker 1: in the community, because if we create a community, people
Speaker 1: can grow so much easier. And there's not just one
Speaker 1: spot at the top, there's room for everybody. And I
Speaker 1: think that's something that people might think otherwise on but
Speaker 1: I've seen so many people succeed and I see so
Speaker 1: many people that put the work in. Might not come
Speaker 1: when you want it to, but it always does come
Speaker 1: in some shape or form that satisfaction, the success that
Speaker 1: you always want. Where do you see that the careers
Speaker 1: going And maybe you have the same vision, maybe you
Speaker 1: have completely separate visions. Throughout the past things that we've
Speaker 1: done together, we kind of realized that it was far
Speaker 1: beyond dancing obviously, like we explained, and in order to
Speaker 1: achieve that, it requires a lot of like acting, and
Speaker 1: it requires a lot of like soul and requires a
Speaker 1: lot of like heart into it. And so I definitely
Speaker 1: hope for the next couple of years to kind of
Speaker 1: just seek into creating certain projects, in certain films that
Speaker 1: will have a wider reach of an audience the world
Speaker 1: that that's much more than just dance, that that actually
Speaker 1: may involve dialogue, that may involve lines that you will
Speaker 1: need to say, and hopefully it happens in theaters and
Speaker 1: that kind of idea. Obviously, dance requires a certain level
Speaker 1: of acting, and I think that's where I kind of
Speaker 1: grew the love of acting. From and to me, it's
Speaker 1: not so much acting because I feel like it just
Speaker 1: truly comes from a raw place. And I never like
Speaker 1: when I dance or when I portray messages. I never
Speaker 1: wanted to be portrayed as I'm portraying someone else. I
Speaker 1: wanted to be that I'm portraying myself or someone else
Speaker 1: through who I am as well, so it comes out
Speaker 1: as real as possible. But when I do get older, obviously,
Speaker 1: like I want to get more into the acting world,
Speaker 1: and I think it's just really cool how you could
Speaker 1: dive into different characters and really create something out of
Speaker 1: the ordinary that you can't really do in reality. For me,
Speaker 1: my goal is to be happy, but obviously there's career
Speaker 1: goals that I would like to accomplish as well, And yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it always changes. I think, what's your current
Speaker 1: career goal? To be a lead in a movie, theater, movie,
Speaker 1: so in a cinema that I mean, I think if
Speaker 1: we were to look at the trajectory, it seems like
Speaker 1: you're on that path. You really trying acting as a
Speaker 1: whole another monster, Well, obviously you know what you're doing.
Speaker 1: You wouldn't be booking series regulars. You would just be
Speaker 1: you know, dancing is incredible, but you would just be
Speaker 1: in that one lane. But you've kind of crossed over
Speaker 1: into bringing two talents together, which and it's working for you, right.
Speaker 1: And I think something that I've learned from being in
Speaker 1: this industry and and because I started so young, I
Speaker 1: think I'm starting other things young as well. I've really
Speaker 1: seen that I can't just be a one trick pony.
Speaker 1: I need to be an entrepreneur. I need to have
Speaker 1: all of I want to be a business. I want
Speaker 1: to I want to do all of these things before
Speaker 1: everyone else thinks to do them. And I think that's
Speaker 1: kind of what I've always tried to do, is to
Speaker 1: step outside what the norm is and to do things
Speaker 1: before other people do it too, maybe inspire people to
Speaker 1: do the same thing. And for me, I am trying
Speaker 1: to use my social media to actually promote positivity and
Speaker 1: maybe address certain things that people my age might be
Speaker 1: going through where people need to hear, or just little
Speaker 1: tips and things that I've learned from my life. And
Speaker 1: and when I do these selfless sundays, I don't actually
Speaker 1: think I know everything, and it doesn't mean I'm always
Speaker 1: great at the things I'm talking about, but I always
Speaker 1: try to relate it to what's going on in my
Speaker 1: life currently, just to make it something that other people
Speaker 1: can relate to. So I want to start using my
Speaker 1: success per se for inspiring other people. But then I'm
Speaker 1: also working on being a choreographing my own things and
Speaker 1: being a dancer in training, and then I also want
Speaker 1: to be an actress and I want to do that.
Speaker 1: And then I'm also integrating the fitness into me into
Speaker 1: my lifestyle, and I have a fitness program that I've
Speaker 1: been selling to people and helping transformations with that and
Speaker 1: really learning about health. And I'm trying to manage my
Speaker 1: money properly before you know, you never know what's going
Speaker 1: to happen. And so that's why I really want to
Speaker 1: utilize all the time that I have and and utilize
Speaker 1: the materials that I have right now, because we we
Speaker 1: don't know. Social media could die out, it could be
Speaker 1: a MySpace thing and now it's not a big thing anymore.
Speaker 1: And it's you're so evolved and already grasp that concept
Speaker 1: because I think so many people and I hate saying influencer,
Speaker 1: but if you're an influencer and you are one, you
Speaker 1: have influence. It's just a fact. They think this is
Speaker 1: forever and and they'll be and there's nothing's forever. So
Speaker 1: you always have to think five steps ahead, and it
Speaker 1: seems like you're doing that. I'm really lucky too, because
Speaker 1: my family works with me on my business side. So
Speaker 1: my older brother he kind of is like my personal manager,
Speaker 1: and he's he's always been so intelligent and he's really
Speaker 1: into business and marketing and stuff. So he's been really
Speaker 1: guiding me and helping me with all these things. And
Speaker 1: he always tells me that Jade, like, you can't just
Speaker 1: be on on Instagram. You have to really project yourself
Speaker 1: all over because once something's gone, like what's left? Will
Speaker 1: you still be remembered without at So at this point,
Speaker 1: you're what seventeen eighteen, You're dancing for other people, You're
Speaker 1: loving life, you're getting some really great opportunities. When do
Speaker 1: you switch hats and become a choreographer? At what point
Speaker 1: did you decide that's the lane you were gonna drive
Speaker 1: in for a while? I love this question. So I
Speaker 1: was at a point I think I was nineteen, and
Speaker 1: I took I think I was on my way back
Speaker 1: from an audition. It was a Nicki Minaj audition, and
Speaker 1: I remember we didn't even dance. I just had to
Speaker 1: stand there in a thong and they had to just
Speaker 1: look at my butt to see if it was stopped.
Speaker 1: Like they made all of us turn around and they
Speaker 1: all just stared at our butts. I think it was
Speaker 1: like the Anacondom music I was I swear Baby Jesus.
Speaker 1: I was about to say, don't tell me it was Antacon.
Speaker 1: That's the only song I can imagine that they would
Speaker 1: actually give a shit about your ass, not saying it's okay, right.
Speaker 1: But I remember I was like thinking, when the hell
Speaker 1: am I going to dance? When the hell are they
Speaker 1: could ask me to answer, just like freestyle, when are
Speaker 1: we learning choreography? And we didn't. We just stood there
Speaker 1: and they just looked at our asses for the longest time.
Speaker 1: And then I got cut. And I remember driving home
Speaker 1: that they like, did they seriously just need me to
Speaker 1: wear a thong and not dance? Like I literally just
Speaker 1: went to an audition when I didn't show my talent
Speaker 1: and it was only about how big my ass was
Speaker 1: and how firm it looked. And I got cut, and
Speaker 1: so I just got really discouraged. And not only was
Speaker 1: I discouraged. I also, it lit a fire under my
Speaker 1: ass and I was like, you know what, I've got
Speaker 1: to create my own opportunities. I've worked too hard. I
Speaker 1: know so many amazing dancers who are so talented and
Speaker 1: can create their own opportunities, So why can't I do
Speaker 1: that for myself? And so the day that I decided
Speaker 1: to open up my own doors and create my own lane,
Speaker 1: that was when my whole life changed. I took advantage
Speaker 1: of my social media, took advantage of my my potential,
Speaker 1: and I just completely started from the bottom and I
Speaker 1: worked my way up. I started teaching little kids, I
Speaker 1: started sharing my experience in the industry with them, and
Speaker 1: I realized that I have a passion for people and
Speaker 1: helping others throughout my passion of dance. So I started
Speaker 1: teaching and choreographing more, realizing that I had this burning
Speaker 1: desire to create because I always was an assistant. I
Speaker 1: was a dancer that learned choreography. I was always like
Speaker 1: this robot that learned choreo. I paid my dues, earned
Speaker 1: my stripes of being a professional dancer. And then I realized, wow,
Speaker 1: I want to create. I can make up choreography, I
Speaker 1: can do concept videos. I believe that one day I
Speaker 1: could choreograph for artists, and then I just decided to
Speaker 1: go for it, and I made a lot of people
Speaker 1: upset by doing that. I remember there were some mentors
Speaker 1: of mine that were like, why are you what? Why
Speaker 1: are you transitioning into choreography when you should still be auditioning,
Speaker 1: you should still be assisting. And I remember thinking, why
Speaker 1: would my mentors not want me to spread my wings
Speaker 1: and fly? There's definitely power in social media. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you guys both know that already. I'm sure you can
Speaker 1: book jobs over other people because of the millions of
Speaker 1: followers you both have between than yourselves. I think the
Speaker 1: biggest like thing about social media, and I usually say this,
Speaker 1: is that it's like, it's obviously one of the greatest
Speaker 1: things ever, but it's also one of the most dangerous
Speaker 1: things ever, you know, because what you put out is
Speaker 1: how Yeah, what you put out is forever, and it's
Speaker 1: what people hold against you and what people use for
Speaker 1: certain gigs and everything like that. But I think the
Speaker 1: biggest thing is when you do get a certain job
Speaker 1: based off of who you are on social media, is
Speaker 1: that you almost have to prove to your like at least,
Speaker 1: you almost have to prove to yourself that when you're
Speaker 1: doing a certain gig, it's not coming from it's not
Speaker 1: only coming from who you are on social media, but
Speaker 1: it's coming from what you're actually capable of. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: feel like social media has definitely impacted our career so
Speaker 1: much because, honestly, without it, I don't think anyone would
Speaker 1: really truly understand the dance industry like all at all,
Speaker 1: because most of our resumes are on YouTube or on Instagram.
Speaker 1: And I think that's one of like the more positive
Speaker 1: sides of it, is that we get to share with
Speaker 1: so many people what we love to do, and if
Speaker 1: they love it as well, that's like a bigger plus.
Speaker 1: But for us, whenever we post something, it's because we
Speaker 1: truly love it and we truly think it represents who
Speaker 1: we are, and that's why we use social media the
Speaker 1: way that we do. Um, we don't use it to
Speaker 1: get clout, as as people say, I hate that if
Speaker 1: I could never hear get clout ever, but like we
Speaker 1: use it to just show who we are, and social
Speaker 1: media has grown so much and I feel like so
Speaker 1: many people are more aware of dance now than they
Speaker 1: were years ago. And that's one of the coolest parts
Speaker 1: because dance has become incredibly huge around the world, and
Speaker 1: it's a form of communication in a way, people communicate
Speaker 1: through dance through their bodies, and that's really really cool.
Speaker 1: Brings people closer from all over the world. One thing
Speaker 1: that I've always believed was that I have the power
Speaker 1: to create or manifest any opportunity or any job or
Speaker 1: any goal in my life. And I've always really tried
Speaker 1: to hold onto that most importantly, I didn't want to
Speaker 1: change who I was, and I think I was raised
Speaker 1: an amazing way. And shout out to my family because
Speaker 1: they always taught me that it doesn't matter how much
Speaker 1: you have or where you're at in life, like down
Speaker 1: to the tea, like it matters if you're a good person.
Speaker 1: And I think when you have good karma, good karma
Speaker 1: comes out into the world and you get you get
Speaker 1: gifts and and success is back because what you put
Speaker 1: out is what you always get back. And yeah, you
Speaker 1: always see those people you're like, they don't deserve that,
Speaker 1: Like they didn't even work hard, they're not even a
Speaker 1: good person. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter what everybody
Speaker 1: else is doing. And That's something that I definitely had
Speaker 1: to learn, and I think that's helped me gain the
Speaker 1: success that I have is to not be too involved
Speaker 1: in everyone else's successes or opinions. So what advice would
Speaker 1: you give someone who wants to be the next Jade?
Speaker 1: For me, I think what has actually really like set
Speaker 1: me apart is I really embrace the story of it.
Speaker 1: Because people don't want to just watch for entertainment. They
Speaker 1: want to feel something. That's ultimately what we do. We
Speaker 1: do everything to feel something, We eat to feel full,
Speaker 1: we watch certain things to get a certain emotion out.
Speaker 1: And for me, I really embraced the storyline of it.
Speaker 1: And I think what has set me apart from maybe
Speaker 1: other dances. And I can't really speak for everybody else
Speaker 1: because I don't know what they're thinking when they're dancing,
Speaker 1: but I'm really trying to be like honest when I'm dancing,
Speaker 1: and whether that's like a fun dance, I'm trying to
Speaker 1: tap into that a great memory or something like that.
Speaker 1: And for me, I never just put out content because
Speaker 1: I need it. I really want it to be because
Speaker 1: I'm inspired by it or I feel like it could
Speaker 1: help somebody, and I don't just take classes that are
Speaker 1: because they're filmed. Like I'll take certain classes that I
Speaker 1: really enjoy and I connect with and I can learn
Speaker 1: something from. So I think that the difference between I
Speaker 1: don't know, it's hard because there's so many amazing dancers
Speaker 1: that deserve all the light and but you're definitely different.
Speaker 1: You're definitely I mean, there's a difference between you and
Speaker 1: a lot of the dancers. There's a reason why you're
Speaker 1: getting booked on things that others aren't. And I'm not
Speaker 1: knocking anyone, but there's something. I honestly think it's that
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to be anybody else. Yeah, you're super authentic.
Speaker 1: I mean it it comes across in all of your content.
Speaker 1: You're never trying to be the cool girl, which I
Speaker 1: really know what you are, but you are. I think
Speaker 1: that's what's so cool about you. I saw so cool Amelia,
Speaker 1: Like no, but like seriously, I think that's what people
Speaker 1: really love, authenticity and you can't fake that. And I
Speaker 1: think with social media there's like a certain stigma that
Speaker 1: you have to be something, you have to be a
Speaker 1: certain person to be a social media influencer or what
Speaker 1: do you think that person is that people think they
Speaker 1: have to think you have to be perfect. They don't
Speaker 1: want to see that you're silly. They want to see
Speaker 1: that you have you're pretty, and you're always put together
Speaker 1: and you you only do this. And there's certain lanes
Speaker 1: like I'm the funny person or I'm that pretty person,
Speaker 1: or I'm this person, or I'm the you know, like
Speaker 1: there's so many different categories. But like I think I'm
Speaker 1: all of those things combined, and I can be all
Speaker 1: of those things combined. And and I did realize for
Speaker 1: a while that after my videos were posted, like I
Speaker 1: have this alter ego when I dance. I call her
Speaker 1: j A. It's not actually Jade because I get really
Speaker 1: serious when the music comes on because I'm so inspired
Speaker 1: by music. I love music, and that's why I think
Speaker 1: I love dancing so much, is because I love the
Speaker 1: feeling that I get when listening to it, and I
Speaker 1: want to portray that with movement. You've done choreography for
Speaker 1: so many people. Do you have a favorite. It's hard
Speaker 1: to say. Wow, I really really love to Nash. I
Speaker 1: love to Nash. She inspires me so much and she's
Speaker 1: a dancer. To Nash was a very first artist that
Speaker 1: ever gave me a chance as a choreographer. She found
Speaker 1: me on Instagram, which is so funny because she never
Speaker 1: would have found me if I didn't create my own
Speaker 1: social media and utilize my platform. You know, my my
Speaker 1: classes were my home, and it was what I love
Speaker 1: to do. I love to choreograph film. I put it
Speaker 1: on YouTube inspire people, and then organically to Nase saw
Speaker 1: my work and she hit me up one day, She's like, Hey,
Speaker 1: Jojo Gomez, do you want to chorey off my next
Speaker 1: music video. I thought it was a joke. I couldn't
Speaker 1: believe it. I will say I didn't realize how big
Speaker 1: the world of dance was on Instagram until we started
Speaker 1: booking people for this show. I'm like, oh my god.
Speaker 1: There are so many dancers on Instagram who have millions
Speaker 1: and millions of followers, and every day or every other day,
Speaker 1: it seems like they're putting out top, very top quality
Speaker 1: dance videos on their Instagram or on their YouTube. Not
Speaker 1: all of them have as many followers as you, but
Speaker 1: people are taking it really seriously and they have a
Speaker 1: ton of followers. So how did she find you in
Speaker 1: this sea of dancers and choreographers? Honestly, I was very
Speaker 1: consistent with my content on my social media because I
Speaker 1: feel like dance has become so universal now because of
Speaker 1: social media, and now dancers are treating their instagrams as
Speaker 1: their resumes and almost like an opportunity for potential work.
Speaker 1: So the more that you post and the more consistent
Speaker 1: that you are with it, the more that these you know, executives, directors,
Speaker 1: these artists will be able to find you and see
Speaker 1: your work. Because back then it was more about word
Speaker 1: of mouth to get hired or to go to auditions
Speaker 1: and then get validated. But now you can have control
Speaker 1: of your own platform, in your own artistry and talents,
Speaker 1: and you can get recognized just based off of that,
Speaker 1: And I think that's so fly, and that's what I
Speaker 1: was doing. I was just having fun with my social media,
Speaker 1: being very consistent, believing in my art and putting it
Speaker 1: out there in an authentic way. And then that was
Speaker 1: read by to Nash. I was just uploading a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of videos to her songs, and she saw it
Speaker 1: and she thought my work was really dope, and she
Speaker 1: hit me up asking me to choreograph her next music video.
Speaker 1: And honestly, if I sat around and just prayed for it,
Speaker 1: and I just went about it the cookie cutter route,
Speaker 1: waiting for it and waiting for my mentor to tell
Speaker 1: me when it was the right time, or your manager
Speaker 1: to book the job, or your agent to find the opportunity. Yeah.
Speaker 1: If I, if I wasn't my own boss, and if
Speaker 1: I wasn't my own entity to Nash, I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: reached out to me. What advice would you, guys give
Speaker 1: someone who wants to follow in your footsteps a young dancer.
Speaker 1: Maybe a lesson you learned along the way that you
Speaker 1: wish you had known, or something that you just have
Speaker 1: done the whole way through. Yeah, honestly, the main thing.
Speaker 1: I know everyone says it, but it's just too continue
Speaker 1: to stay true to who you are, because the moment
Speaker 1: you try to be someone else, no one's gonna want
Speaker 1: to listen to what you have to say. Everyone is
Speaker 1: put on this earth for a reason, and everyone has
Speaker 1: their different reason and different paths, And I think it's
Speaker 1: really important too, Uh, just be who you are and
Speaker 1: not care what anybody else thinks, because as long as
Speaker 1: you're happy and you're doing what you love to do,
Speaker 1: that's that's all that really, truly matters whatever you're doing anything,
Speaker 1: either if it is sports, if it's dancing, if it's singing,
Speaker 1: if it's acting, if you don't truly love it, then
Speaker 1: it's never gonna last. I feel like I feel like
Speaker 1: you have to continue with a certain passion in a
Speaker 1: certain love that comes from yourself. You can't expect it
Speaker 1: from anyone else. So you have to truly love something
Speaker 1: in order to continue it and pursue it. Because I
Speaker 1: feel like I live by this. Where you know, where
Speaker 1: there is love, there is life. So I just feel
Speaker 1: like thinking about that when it comes to dancing, when
Speaker 1: it comes to just being with people, that's where you
Speaker 1: truly discover success. That was really good advice from both
Speaker 1: of you. Thank you for sharing those nuggets of wisdom,
Speaker 1: and obviously you guys are living it. You're not just
Speaker 1: saying it because it's quote worthy. I feel like throughout
Speaker 1: this entire interview, the common thread has been authenticity, and
Speaker 1: both of you have done that. It's worked in your favor,
Speaker 1: It's going to continue to work in your favorite Big
Speaker 1: big things are happening. Call me when you go to
Speaker 1: the oscars, you actually get the little people come here
Speaker 1: so I can just look at the statue, but we
Speaker 1: really appreciated having you guys here. You make sure you
Speaker 1: definitely stop by. I guess I have a feeling this
Speaker 1: is not the last we're going to be here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, We'll have a good rest of the day.
Speaker 1: We hope you guys enjoyed this interview. Make sure to
Speaker 1: check out Casey and Shawn's YouTube channel. Okay together. I'm
Speaker 1: sure they'll be on fifty other music videos, shows and
Speaker 1: films at your local theater, so just you know, anywhere
Speaker 1: you want to look, they'll be there, all right, by guys.
Speaker 1: I'm scared for our future, but you give me a
Speaker 1: little bit of hope. Thank you. I'm trying, but yeah,
Speaker 1: so congrats on everything you have going on. Make sure
Speaker 1: you come back in a year when you've booked that
Speaker 1: like next Avengers when they decide to redo it even
Speaker 1: though they said they wouldn't, and they will, and you'll
Speaker 1: be the leader, I hope. So but yeah, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for stopping by. And I mean, I feel
Speaker 1: like we're just so much. Yea, I talked a lot,
Speaker 1: but it was good, like a different no, No, it
Speaker 1: was a gift from God, like so many good nuggets,
Speaker 1: lots of good content. We hope you guys enjoyed. Jade
Speaker 1: say your last name for us? One more? Did you
Speaker 1: get that? Guys? It's chinof don't mess it up on
Speaker 1: my watch? All right. We'll see you guys next time
Speaker 1: or listener here. I don't even know. I'm so not
Speaker 1: used to not being on camera. I'm like, I'll see you,
Speaker 1: but but I won't see you anyway. Bye. Be you
Speaker 1: love the ups and the downs, and just keep your
Speaker 1: head up high and just go forwa. I love that
Speaker 1: you have so many big things going on in your life.
Speaker 1: Please come back when you do that. Billie Eilish collab.
Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna put it out there. You're both
Speaker 1: going to sit across because I selfishly would love to
Speaker 1: interview her too. So if we're going to do a
Speaker 1: fun interview all three of us next time, I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna happen. Hey, we're putting it out there right
Speaker 1: all right, guys, So next time JoJo's here shall be
Speaker 1: with Billie Eilish. Thank you so much for stopping by.
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to continue to follow your journey. I
Speaker 1: know big, big things or whatever you decide to do
Speaker 1: is around the corner. So thank you so much. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll see you guys next time. Jojo go, Thank you bye.
Speaker 1: Behind the Influence as a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and t DC Media