Finale: My Final Cast

After three full seasons and more than a hundred entries, it's finally time to lay down my microphone and headphones. In this episode, I will be reflecting upon this almost five year journey from the perspectives of WHAT, WHY, HOW, WHEN and WHERE of this platform. What began as merely a channel to voice my thoughts about the world of performing arts has gradually grown into a full-fledged   educational reservoir of all things dance. 

Tune in one last time to learn about my key takeaways and what's in store for the future. Most of all, THANK YOU so much to all of you who have been with me from the beginning. Remember to always foreground dance in the background and enjoy My Final Cast!

Soundtracks:

• Birds - Tyler Twombly 
• Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hello and welcome to the Background Dancer. I'm your host, Jason Yup. Thank you for joining me with our community of passionate dance contributors from around the world and across different fields. In this podcast, I offer educational conversations and insightful tips to help you better understand all things offstage about this curious art form. Hello there and welcome to the Background Dance Podcast. My name is Jason, as always, and thanks for tuning in. Now, this is the final episode, the penultimate entry on this platform. So if you're here listening, I have to thank you. And if you have been listening since the very beginning, thank you so much for being with me on this journey. We're gonna go through a few different lessons here, you know, having a really nice sort of reflection as to what this whole thing was about. You know, starting your own podcast, having sort of a brand. I remember going around somewhere and somebody actually like called out to me, hey Jason, yo, the background dancer guy, you know. So it's actually kind of nice to be able to be associated right now with something as positive as uh this platform. And if you're ever going to consider, you know, starting a podcast one day or like an educational platform, let's say, I think there could be things here that might be very useful to you. So quite naturally, I think we need to go all the way back to the very beginning, right? Now, I remember very, very clearly, actually, I was sitting on in my chair just at the beginning of the COVID outbreak, and I was very lucky because I did not lose my job, but at the same time, due to my very proactive nature, I just needed to do something and something very meaningful. That was the main reason that led me to thinking of starting a podcast because I've always liked you know speaking. I've always been an advocate for the craft that I represent. At the time, of course, I was also in a phase where there were a lot of, let's say, frustrations that I had observed throughout my years within the industry that I just didn't know how to express. Now, at the time when I started this whole thing, it was pretty much just a hobby. It was me thinking of it on two different levels. One was, of course, to have a voice to channel my opinions about the world of dance, which I think is quite informed because I do quite a lot of research about it. It's my very passion. The second layer, though, was more interesting. It was just have an excuse to learn a new skill. And what started out as merely a hobby, I think, grew into something that I can quite confidently say is a skill now. You know, being able to speak into a mic, being able to interview people, being able to host events, all these things are a combination of years and years of hard work in front of a mic. Now that I've gotten that all out of the way, it's not just a podcast, it's a podcast with a very specific thematic framework. It is an educational platform focused on what it means to have a career beyond the stage. Things that you transition into once you decide to stop performing. The onset of this phenomenon, of course, is very different for every single person. Some people do it sooner, some people do it much later in life. But I am absolutely adamant that everyone would have to do it regardless of the timing, right? You cannot dance forever, and even if you do, there are going to be areas outside of performing that you might naturally develop an interest in. That was the main reason I started the podcast is to really look at these different potential careers and to act as a career guide. The gaps that I'm referring to mostly is with understanding how to begin, how to develop, and then how to transition a dance career into something off stage, right? How to have a sustainable career that not only lasts long within the performing arts, but also is progressive and just something that you can carry with you through life. The reason I say that is because I know a lot of people who then give up and just basically quit the entire performing arts industry at a certain point when they just couldn't find what to transition into or are just too fearful of doing so. Now, what made me so confident to build this platform? It was just pure curiosity. I think that was really my advantage. I was so hungry to learn about what else there was in this world. And usually curiosity is the most powerful thing. It's how you open up your imagination. And once I started digging, I just couldn't stop. And when I opened the Pandora's box, I realized, oh my god, this is a treasure trove. How multifaceted it is for me to continue building not just one, not just two, but three seasons. Now the middle years is where it gets really interesting. The growth, you know, all that friction and a sense of reality, right? Because building a podcast is not the hardest thing in the world. You just buy a mic, you subscribe to a platform to host your domain, and blah blah blah, and suddenly you can just start speaking into a mic whenever you want, wherever you want. Now, I don't recommend that, of course, but just because you speak into a mic doesn't mean people want to listen to it. So creating and establishing a credible podcast has its own challenges, right? How to maintain consistency, how to grow your audience, how to not have self-doubt, and how to not experience burnout. That's when the tension between passion and sustainability really grew. You know, how long was I going to keep this up? And that's when my perspective of dance and the industry as a whole started to evolve. Longevity within this industry requires a whole lot of adaptation, not just passion. And the thing that I find a lot within this industry is that people will leverage on your passion as an excuse. Like, why don't you do more? Why don't you dance more? Why don't you do this? Why don't you do that? Because you should do it. You're passionate, right? This is your love. That is not the way we should be educating our industry and you know, uh setting an example because the best ability is availability, and it really breaks my heart when somebody just decides to quit not only dance but also the entire performing arts, because that just means we lose a talent to building this already very feeble industry, and that's something that I'm always trying to advocate upon. Now, throughout this entire journey, the most fascinating and exciting part of it is quite obviously being able to speak to different experts around the world, right? Those conversations that I've had with these masters of their crafts. Yes, this is an educational podcast, but I've pretty much learned as much as anyone has, since I'm the one really doing the research and speaking to these people, right? And that process of curating my guests is also mirrored as a process of curating who I want my teachers to be, which is really cool, right? You actually get to do that. I actually get to be sort of like a curriculum builder of sorts, and that's really fun. All of this was helped by my very stringent thematic framework. I was very strict in following the 10 categories of topics, sectors that I wanted to explore. And it was challenging, but like I said, very fun in terms of how I was able to fit a consistent pattern of knowledge that flowed through all these different categories. And I think the real goal here was that my own growth was shaped through listening to all these people, right? Listening to you, listening to the wider community, which is done. With all this said, what were the core lessons? So number one, careers are not linear, right? They are choreographed in hindsight. You need to plan, you need to develop, and at some point you need to transition. It's never a straight line, and therefore you must be very active in shaping that line. Number two, transition is not a failure. It's evolution. Just because you can't dance or don't want to anymore for the rest of your life shouldn't be perceived as failure. The world of dance cannot survive if there are only performers without the rest of us putting them on stage. It's just pure common sense. Number three, the industry, no matter how they work, does not define you. You instead define your own place within it. There are many layers and many different players within this industry. What your role is, how you develop that role, and how you succeed within those specific roles come down completely to you. It's not gonna be easy, but it's necessary. Next, sustainability equals success. Once again, the best ability is your availability. How long can you survive within this industry? And I keep using the word survive, but what I truly want to say is thrive. Surviving is not enough. What I always hope, not just for myself, but also my peers, is excellence, is standard, is being honest about what doesn't work, taking accountability and working towards that goal one day. In order to do that, you need to actually be in the industry long enough. And that's something I also hope to do personally, contribute to this industry long enough in order for me to bear fruit and to see my own successes as well as those of others. Last but not least, I would say community is the real currency. It is a people's business, and therefore you do need to depend on your goodwill, your relationships with people around, because you never know who in this industry can help you, right? Who are going to be in positions to wield that kind of influence in order to help you. It's just being respectful, being uh accountable for your actions, and just don't be a jerk in this industry because it's a small world and people will know, people will find out. Now, the next section is about the personal shift. What is most personal is often also most universal. I love this saying a lot because through my own experiences, many people can mirror. I've done the same by reading and learning about other people's experiences and sort of relating that back to myself. Podcasting has completely changed the way I assume myself as a professional, but also personally, being a podcaster is also being representative of a you know message or you know a certain topic. And therefore, I have to always fact-check, proofread, and be double stringent on everything that I know and make sure that everything that I know is of the most updated and uh relevant. Some things that I've actually unlearned is to speak less. As a podcaster, you think you have unlimited time and unlimited attention from people, right? And throughout this journey, I've learned how to understand where the limits are and to say enough is enough. Just stop talking. Like people don't want to hear it anymore. So with that being said, I really truly value depth more these days, right? Over visibility, quality over quantity, impact over reach. Of course, I had hoped that maybe at some point this podcast would have been listened to by a million people, let's say, but at the end of the day, you know, as one podcaster always said, imagine you have like 30 people in front of you every day and when you give a class. That's like the scariest thing in the world, right? But why is it so different, for example, if you're speaking into a mic and then your episode only has 30 people listening to it? It's the same thing. If you imagine those 30 downloads as 30 people present listening to you, the impact could very much be the same. And therefore, I think the creator is often changed by the necessities of the work. To finish up, I would have to just quickly talk about what comes next. Uh, not to spend too long on this, but it is a really nice topic to jump into because it is about me taking accountability as well. This is not truly an ending, but more of a transition of my own. Now I've spoken about transition for the past five years, and truly enough, I am experiencing my very own transition. I'm taking a step back from podcasting because of a couple of reasons. Number one, I think I've said enough, and I think there are other voices in this world that can create the same impact and that I look forward to discovering. Secondly, I have myself also taken a step back from performing full-time. So I let the company that I've been at for the last six seasons, in order to focus on my new passion or let's say a long-standing passion, I've always wanted to be sort of an entrepreneur manager. So I have quite fortunately been hired as a booking manager for a Finnish company called Kinetic Orchestra in Helsinki. Check them out, they're really cool. Uh and this role, booking manager, it's really fascinating because from outside you look at it, it sounds like you're a salesperson, you're a booking agent, right? But the crux of it is very much international relations. Well, at least that's the specificity of my role, right? I'm mostly doing tour management, I'm partnerships. And that is very different from dancing. Not too dissimilar, but of course, once again, the angles that you approach it with are completely different. And that is a transition. It's management now. And I could not be more delighted with that. Uh, although I'm gonna miss dancing, I don't think that outweighs my ambition to become a very good manager and leader that has already been shaped by this entire podcasting journey in establishing myself as a subject expert and as somebody who wants to take the lead either in servicing topics of incredible relevance or importance. Another part of my new journey is to embark on a master's. I do not have a master's, I actually have two bachelors up to this point. The masters I'm going to embark on is a master's in arts and cultural management. And that is something that I will take very seriously because I think that is one of the specialties that we truly lack, at least in terms of standard, maybe not numbers, in the world of performing arts. So if any of you out there are already doing such a master's, please reach out to me. Tell me how it's like. Uh, I think arts and culture management will be my future. Uh so I wouldn't be shy in reaching out to anyone who is willing to connect. None of this will make any sense uh if we don't return to you at the very end. Without any hesitation, I say the listener is the most crucial part of any podcasting journey. And throughout my five years, you know, speaking in front of the mic, I've worked really hard along the way to also receive feedback and to bounce my ideas off my peers or similar other people who have uh their own channels, let's say, right? And just continuously discovering different areas within dance or the performing arts as a whole that I can connect with, that I can find like-minded people with. And I think if you're listening to this, you are without a shadow of a doubt, one of those people. So I just would like to really end my journey by acknowledging your role in this. I'm filled with gratitude for those who have been who have stuck with me. Uh, and it's just, you know, a privilege that not many could have. So I leave you with one task to reconnect with the original mission of this podcast, to continue the message, to broaden horizons, and to not be shy in sharing with other people that there is life after the stage, that there is glory in being a background dancer. And as my introduction always says, hopefully together we can continue foregrounding dance in the background. So this is not a goodbye, this is just a continuation. I'm really happy that after all these years, I'm still able to be in the world of dance. That is the greatest gift that I have. To be able to continually contribute to this wonderful, wonderful community of people preserving arts and culture, uh, of people providing the world with a reason to think differently. So once again, just thank you so much for your time. Like, I don't know how to say this enough. Uh it's really it's a really touching minimum right now. Um I am going to carry this with the rest of my life. Thank you so much, everybody. See you in the next one.