On The Go with Sarah Jo

Week ten of the Performing Arts Industry Series brings us Afra Hines! Afra has graced so many stages in the theater world, and she’s as talented as performers come! Afra is an artist who goes after what she wants, and she talks us through how she’s navigated her path from early on in her years of auditioning all the way to present day.  Afra is a a performer, a singer, an actress, an extremely versatile dancer, a wife, a mother, and an all around genuine human being that truly shines on the stages of the world. Fun fact! Today is the invited dress rehearsal as Afra gets ready to have her first audience tomorrow night for the show she’s currently in, Hadestown. The curtain is finally about to rise after one heck of a year with the covid pandemic, and I can only imagine the feelings radiating through the cast as they finally make their was to places and watch the curtain come up only to witness a theater full of patrons coming to see them! Broadway is BACK! Happy growing on the go with Afra Hines!

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Week nine of the Performing Arts Industry Series brings us Broadway performer, professional dancer, mother, and wife, Teneise Ellis! Teneise will be making her way back to Broadway to perform in Wicked as Broadway reopens in the Fall. You’ll hear in our conversation why Teneise’s return to Broadway will be shorter than her original debut, and I’m so excited to see how this next chapter of her life unfolds for her. Teneise spent five years performing with the Philadelphia Dance Company known as Philadanco, she’s performed at Radio City Music Hall as a Rockette, and after her final performances of Wicked, she’s now heading into the next chapter of her life with her family and career in Georgia where she and her husband just purchased their forever home! Teneise talks me through her decision to take a leap of Faith on herself as she moves to a new city, trusting that things will fall into place from all of the hard work she’s done and the path she has created for herself up to this point. I can’t wait to see all of the goodness that comes Teneise’s way in the future. Happy growing on the go with Teneise Ellis!

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Week eight of the Performing Arts Industry Series brings us performer and visual artist, Chelsea Bonosky! Chelsea wears many hats throughout life, and she does it all with a genuine heart. You may have seen her perform in Punchdrunk’s immersive theatrical production of Sleep No More right here in New York City. She’s also created works, performed, and taught alongside Adam Barruch both nationally and internationally. Chelsea is a Community Actionist with the Gina Gibney Dance Company, leading Hands Are For Holding School Assemblies where she utilizes dance to address bullying, equity, and choice in everyday interactions. Chelsea has served as an Ambassador to Free Body Project, working at the intersection of dance and social justice. She’s been a teaching artist for the Artists Striving to End Poverty, and a volunteer and independent fundraiser for Dancers Responding to AIDS. Chelsea's art is created in conjunction with Social Justice Advocacy where she donates fifty percent of every painting sold to a social organization of the purchaser's choice. Chelsea considers her work as a celebration of the power of art to affect social change. On top of all of this goodness, Chelsea is currently getting her Master's Degree in Social Work from the prestigious Fordham School of Social Science. Happy Growing On The Go with Chelsea Bonosky!

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Today we are joined by Terance Reddick! As most performers do, Terance wears many hats in the performing arts space. He’s a singer, a vocal coach, a personal trainer, and an all around hardworking individual that knows how to make things happen! You may have seen Terance in the Broadway show Les Misérable, and he’s also graced the Radio City Stage as a singer in the Christmas Spectacular! You’ll hear Terance and myself have a full on moment where we actually can’t remember if we performed in the Christmas Spectacular at the same time or not over a decade ago! With a cast and crew of over a hundred people, it’s often hard to feel as tightly knit as some casts do. But, nonetheless — I’m so grateful that our paths crossed in life. Let’s get to growing on the go with Terance Reddick!

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Join me in today's episode as we take a look back at the first six weeks of guests throughout the Performing Arts Industry Series! There have been a few silver linings to come out of a terrifying and horrific year globally, and the our guests have exuded exactly that over the last month and a half. I've had many take aways from each episode, and today -- I share those with you in what we call a brief intermission from guests in the performing arts industry! 

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Jump into the kitchen, "Cookin' with Steph: Food Is A Love Language"

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Exactitude Dance with Traci Reszetylo

Stagesmith Dance Training with Lauren Renck Manning

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Week 6 of the Performing Arts Industry Series gives us another look at the behind the scenes of the industry. Today’s guest is Matthew Mills. I first met Matthew when I moved to New York and spent time babysitting his children as we lived in the same building in Brooklyn. Many know Matthew as the founder of Spacestation. He’s an Emmy and Webby award winning director, writer, executive producer, and content creator! Needless to say — he wears many hats. If you’ve ever viewed something on your television screen or a streaming service, there’s a good chance Matthew has been a part of it in some way! He’s talented, he’s kind, and he’s a leader in this industry. 

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We are heading into week five of the Performing Arts Industry Series! Today’s episode brings us not one but two guests that are professional dancers turned entrepreneurs. The gals joining us today are two women I consider friends, and they have spent their time off the stage over the last year creating a community of their own through movement and their love for precision dance!

Our first guest, Traci Reszetylo, is a professional dancer, mother, and the founder of Exactitude Dance, and our second guest is Lauren Renck Manning, a professional dancer, an account executive at Dance Media Publications, and the founder of Stagesmith Dance Training! I spent many years performing alongside these wonderful women on stage at Radio City Music Hall, and today we’re going to talk all about their journey in creating companies of their own. You’ll hear all about how they collaborated to bring their communities together for a fabulous workshop series for dancers. Happy listening!

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Week four of the Performing Arts Industry Series brings us Caskey Hunsader! The first three episodes of this series involved performers that take center stage when it comes to a show. Today, we’re going behind the curtain and talking to an individual that makes everything happen far beyond the curtain rising on opening night.

Caskey Hunsader is a native Midwesterner that went to college for musical theater performance. He came to New York with a job lined up, and it was that job as a production assistant at Radio City Music Hall that allowed our paths to cross many years ago! Caskey’s job as a production assistant in the Christmas Spectacular soon came to a close as it was a seasonal job, and he found himself looking for work. Thanks to his work ethic and having a few connections in the industry, Caskey learned what it was to be a stage manager as he soon took this position in another show. You’ll hear more about the importance of this position and just how much goes into it as Caskey talks us through it all. If you’re in the industry, you know exactly how important this job throughout a contract. If you’re not, well — keep in mind that as with any job, it’s all a team effort, and stage management is part of that team. Enjoy growing on the go with Caskey Hunsader!

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Week three of the Performing Arts Industry Series brings us Broadway extraordinaire, Stephanie Lynne Mason! Stephanie toured the country in Million Dollar quartet, and she graced the Broadway stage in the revival of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish amongst many other amazing performances! Never giving up on her dreams, Stephanie talks to us about making her Broadway debut ten years after moving to New York City. During quarantine, Stephanie also created something of her own that involves cooking for a cause, "Cookin' With Steph: Food Is A Love Language". Fun fact: Stephanie and I grew up together in Columbus, Ohio, and we trained together at the same competitive dance studio. While we both moved to the Big Apple to pursue a performing arts career, our paths went in very different directions.  We talk through life's changes and how the pandemic shifted the last year of our lives. Happy growing on the go with Stephanie Lynne Mason!

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Week 2 of the Performing Arts Industry Series brings us the Founder of Peak Performance Ready, National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer, Professional Dancer and Radio City Rockette, Megan Levinson! Megan and I performed together for many years, I was extremely excited to sit down and talk to her about all things dance as well as her life outside of performing. You’ll hear in our conversation how Megan's passion for psychology has helped her to find a mindset that allows her to stay present in both high-pressure situations when performing as well as every day life. Megan has a degree in psychology, and she’s now narrowing her focus as she takes a deep dive into Sports Psychology — cue Peak Performance Ready as a Peak Performance Mindset Coach!

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