Words That Move Me with Dana Wilson

The Dana Wilson LLC
  • 4.9 (140)
  • PERFORMING ARTS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The dance podcast where movers and shakers like you get the information and inspiration you need to navigate your creative career with clarity and confidence. Master mover, Dana Wilson, taps into 20 years of industry experience, and talks to some of the best in the entertainment biz, who have been there and done that so that you don’t have to… do it alone.

  1. 3D AGO

    265.Marissa Labog: The Art of Hitting the Ground

    This is my episode on what happens when someone makes falling off buildings look like an art form. Marissa Labog is a dancer, stunt performer, filmmaker, and mom, and she joined me this week to talk about something I didn't expect: how stunts and dance are actually the same conversation, just with better padding. Spoiler: the scariest part of doing something dangerous isn't the danger. It's skipping a step. We explore: The stunt that had no rehearsal. What happened when Marissa landed in Mexico City with no prep, a third-story window, and a drainpipe, and why not having time to think might have been the whole point. Back to basics as a superpower. The day a group of veteran stunt performers all froze at once, and the simple method they used to get each other moving again. (Spoiler: it works for everything, not just stunts.) Building your own path vs. following someone else's. Why Marissa started UP Productions, what she wants female action heroes to look like, and her response to the guy at the Q&A who said he hated her movie. This episode is for anyone who has ever stood at the edge of something terrifying and wondered if they were built for it. Because if Marissa has taught me anything, it's that courage isn't the absence of fear. It's the evidence you've been collecting all along. So, are you okay hitting the ground? Show Notes: Connect with Marissa on IG Follow Upproductionz on IG Subscribe to Upproductionz on Vimeo Watch “When Kids Grow Up” Listen to our Parents episode  Listen to our episode with Toni  Listen to our episode with Samo For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

    55 min

  2. MAR 25

    264. The Feeling That Feels Like the End

    This is my episode on the pattern that lives between your worst feeling and your best one. I'm going solo this week to talk about something I discovered mid-move — four steps up a staircase, a king-size mattress, and a full emotional spiral that somehow led to one of my favorite realizations yet. Spoiler: your worst feeling isn't the end. It's actually the beginning. We explore: The mattress that broke me (and then didn't). What happened when Riley and I couldn't muscle a king-size mattress up 17 stairs, why my brain immediately jumped to men and women going to war with weapons, and what that says about how fast our minds can catastrophize from one moment of feeling incapable. Incapable → Learning → Offering. The three-part pattern I didn't know I had — and why recognizing it changed how I relate to my hardest feelings. When you know what's on the other side, the beginning doesn't feel quite as terminal. This episode is for anyone who has ever felt incapable and taken it as a verdict instead of a starting point. Because feeling like you can't do something isn't a life sentence. It's the first step in a cycle that ends with you handing someone an opportunity they didn't see coming. So, what's the feeling that feels like your end? Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

    23 min

  3. MAR 18

    263. Jamal Sims & Will Bell: Titles and Credit for Choreography Teams

    This is my episode on Credits, Collaboration, and the Industry Conversations We've Been Waiting to Have I sit down with choreographer Jamal Sims and associate choreographer Will Bell to talk about what it actually looks like when the dance industry takes care of its own — and what happens when it doesn't. Spoiler: the best collaborations aren't built on titles. They're built on trust. We explore: The meet-cute that almost didn't happen. How juggling Beauty and the Beast and Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl simultaneously led Jamal to one phone call, one name, and a partnership that just worked, and what that says about the power of the right person in the room. Assistant choreographer ≠ personal assistant of the choreographer. Why the industry still confuses the two, what it cost Will when someone called him "difficult" for knowing his own job description, and why having a choreographer's handbook on standby might not be the worst idea. The credit problem nobody wants to talk about. How the line between assistant and associate can define someone's entire career trajectory, and why giving people their proper title isn't just courtesy, it's how they get their next job. This episode is for every dancer, choreographer, and creative who has ever done the work and watched someone else get the credit. Because being an assistant isn't a life sentence. And “Associate” isn't just a title. So, are you willing to advocate for the people in your room? Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Jamal on IG Connect with Will on IG Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Watch the Beauty & The Beast: The 30th Anniversary Special Watch the Encanto Live at the Hollywood Bowl  Read the Choreographers Guild Handbook  Listen to our episode with Julie  Listen to our In The Heights Episode Listen to our episode with Kai For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

    1h 3m

  4. MAR 11

    262. Offset Med: The Collaborative Approach to Getting Better

    This is my episode on Healing, Collaboration, and the Care You Didn't Know You Were Missing In this episode, I sit down with the team at Offset Med, the referral-only practice that's quietly taking care of some of the hardest-working bodies in the industry, to talk about what it actually looks like when healthcare meets you where you are. Spoiler: the best care isn't a diagnosis. It's a discovery process. We explore: Activity-based care vs. cookie-cutter treatment. Why your ankle sprain and your friend's ankle sprain are not the same injury and why the best providers know that your history, your habits, and how you live are just as important as what's actually hurting. The couch that broke the camel's back. How a three-day travel stretch, a night out with friends, and one heavy piece of furniture combined into the injury I thought was just the couch, and what that taught me about how bodies actually break down. Referral culture as a business model. Why Offset Med skipped the client avatars and the marketing funnels and built something real instead by solving real problems for real people and letting the snowball do the rest. This episode is for every dancer, performer, and human who has ever walked out of a provider's office feeling like a diagnosis instead of a person. Because you're not going to get fixed in one session. And that's okay. So, are you willing to trust the journey? Watch the full episode here! Show Notes: Connect with Offset Med on IG For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

    47 min

  5. MAR 4

    261. The Confidence Episode

    This is my episode on Confidence and what’s keeping you from feeling it! In this solo episode, Dana (movement director, artist developer, and your unofficial confidence coach) breaks down the one thing her students, pop stars, and actors keep asking for, and why they've been thinking about it all wrong. Spoiler: confidence isn't a skill you build. It's a feeling you're willing to have. We explore: Task-based confidence vs. self-confidence. Why the version of confidence most of us are chasing is actually the smallest slice of the pie, and what the rest of the grocery store looks like when you finally walk in. The milk metaphor that started it all. From shaking toddler hands to one-handed, foot-on-the-door pouring, and why crying over spilled milk is actually the origin story of every performer who's ever said, "I just need more confidence." Willingness as the real currency. How walking into a room of 500 phenomenal dancers with zero world tour credits on your resume can still look like you've done it before, and the single mindset shift that makes that possible. This episode is the one her student asked for, the one she thought she'd already made, and the one that might permanently change the way you think about what it means to be unflappable. So, are you willing to feel your least favorite feeling? Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

    22 min

  6. FEB 25

    260. Paul Turner: Reality (TV) is My Life

    This is Paul Turner on Feedback, Family, and Finding Your People in Unfamiliar Territory In this episode, Performer, Reality Star, “Production Fairy” and Producer, Paul Turner, shares his perspective on compassion, improvisation, and building creative community in spaces that demand instant connection. From competing on Survivor Europe with two weeks' notice and a rainbow tank top to launching Where's My Phone Productions, Paul reveals what it means to give feedback that builds people up instead of breaking them down. We explore: Criticism with compassion over criticism with a period. How stern feedback creates a full stop that erases all the good someone just did, and what it means to remember performers are on hour nine of day 65 before you open your mouth. The journey from being on reality TV to making it! The found family that comes from it and how Paul developed an improvisational nature. From purple-haired Alaskan dancers to production company founders. The origin story of Where's My Phone Productions (yes, it's named after a very drunk Vegas photo), why partnering with choreographer Brittany Riddle to tell stories about people who don't fit the Alaska stereotype matters, and what happens when they capture those lightning-in-a-bottle moments of forced intimacy and creative survival. This conversation reveals what happens when you lead with empathy instead of authority, when you say yes to opportunities that scare you (even if you don't speak the language), and when you realize the most interesting stories come from the people who never quite fit the expected mold. Watch the full episode here. Show Notes: Connect with Paul on IG For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

    52 min

  7. 12/22/2025

    259. Celebrating FIVE years of WTMM!

    Celebrate FIVE years of Words That Move Me with Producer & Host, Dana Wilson, joined by Executive Assistant & Editor Riley Higgins!    This episode is a wild ride including: Friends drinking adult hot cocoa A trip down memory lane of the last five years of the podcast!  How we handled grit vs grace this year Our essential travel items PLUS a story that will have your heart beating out of your chest!    Thank you listener/viewer for FIVE WHOLE YEARS! We couldn’t do it without you. Here’s to five more!   Watch the full episode here.  Show Notes: For more DANA For coaching with me, join the WTMM COMMUNITY  To donate to WTMM through our Fiscal Sponsor, THE DANCE RESOURCE CENTER To shop for GOODIES & SERVIES Watch and Subscribe on YOUTUBE  Stay connected with us on IG and TikTok

    1 hr

  8. 12/17/2025

    258. When Are You The Most Yourself? Our 2025 Question of the Year!

    Words That Move Me with Dana Wilson

    45 min
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4.9
out of 5
140 Ratings

About

The dance podcast where movers and shakers like you get the information and inspiration you need to navigate your creative career with clarity and confidence. Master mover, Dana Wilson, taps into 20 years of industry experience, and talks to some of the best in the entertainment biz, who have been there and done that so that you don’t have to… do it alone.

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