Todd Combs – Taras Denysenko – Brent Thomas Mills Transcripts: Todd Combs 0:01 So we are with our first episode of all about ballroom dancing and Taras and I were thinking what what should the first episode be? And we thought one question all of our students have is about music. Is it? Yeah, to know? Yeah. How to know when, what music goes with what and it's and identifying music is a challenge. You can't learn it here on just the podcast but understanding things. It's a it's the first step. Right? Right. So we thought we'd bring the man in. That's right. The man Taras Denysenko 0:33 the myth, the legend, the legend, Todd Combs 0:35 the guy who writes if you've been to a ballroom dance competition, you have heard his music in your ears. And he does. I can tell you he's so many events, ton of events. He goes from franchises in North America competitions, parties, their competitions, independent competitions, any kind of events that has music Brent is running it. I think he even went overseas Yeah, even they even let him in overseas was questionable for a little bit, but they let him in. Brent Mills 1:04 I had to get a special passport. I know. Thank you so much. Todd Combs 1:09 But everybody, let's now welcome Brent Thomas Mills. Brent Mills 1:13 What's up, guys? How you doing? Taras Denysenko 1:15 Good. Yes. Great. Brent Mills 1:17 Well, thanks for having me. I appreciate I appreciate you having me there most. Most. Yeah, most want to talk about judges or technique or their feet. And in my brain, I keep thinking like, Well, you know, it's, it's the importance like the movement, it all is important. But like, if that tune is not there, then you look really funny. Doing all that stuff without any noise. Yep. And it's not like people go out and be like, Oh, I move like this. And then a band says, Oh, look, they look like they're doing a cha cha let's do that. It's reverse. So if you hear it, then you do it. So that That's what I like, right? Everyone is listening, and then they do it. Todd Combs 2:04 So first you have me on, I appreciate it. Absolutely no problem. And we were all kind of talking earlier about, there's a big advantage of having a person run the music who is a ballroom dancer, not just a music, you know, fanatic or something like you. You're a ballroom dancer, you know, dance. So that Brent Mills 2:24 It did help. I've been dancing since I was 14, actually, when I started. Taras Denysenko 2:29 Wow. And how did you really? Yeah, how did you get started? And well, I Brent Mills 2:33 just happen to have when I got into high school in the ninth grade, my drama teacher because I was starting to get into, you know, that type of thing, just so I could get out of math and science and anything else that actually made me think so I was like, yeah, drama easy, while the drama coach happened to be a former ballroom champion, danced on a Blackpool team. Per coach was Roy Mavor who is a very famous cabaret World Champion, choreographer and whatnot. So they did the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. And that requires 14 male dancers. And I was in a little Podunk High School. So dancing was not you know, was not definitely part of the football or athletic league. Let's say that. So we had to go out and recruit football players and baseball players to you know, dance Seven Brides, which was appealing to them because it was like jumping over logs and the big social, were there throwing the girls around. So it looked cool then. So we did the whole musical ran it. And then when it stopped, you know, we had to learn walls. For a scene, we had to learn lifts. We had learned the polka. So we was over and we were like, well, we like doing this. Can we Do this after school so that drama goes right. But let's start a little ballroom team after school once a week for an hour. So that started and by the time I was a senior in high school, it was an official club. We had like 36 people in there. We were doing like performances for prom and preference and all that silly stuff. And then after I left, it became even larger, where students from other high schools would come after school to be on that team. And then they finally got their own team coach, and now it's a state recognized playoff team match every year between probably eight high schools. And you can actually let her now in ballroom dance. You can walk around the hallway with your letterman jacket, the pickle ballroom dance icon, really, it is part of the art program now in many high schools and that high schools really started it out that way. Just the artistic part of it. And then the athletic and the competitive side. So it's actually recognized by the state school board as a, you know, an estate competition. It's crazy. Taras Denysenko 5:10 That is totally Incredible Brent Mills 5:11 Yeah, it was It is incredible and I and I do this I do And now I'd go back every year for the Nationals because they do the youth formation championships over there at BYU and their 20,000 seat stadium and now I get to deliver music for all of them when I used to be on some of these little teams and now it's just youth and juniors and preteens and I mean, hundreds and hundreds of youth kids now that all in there's there's programs in junior High's now, so it's gone a long way and progress but that's how it started. And I just stuck in there and then I started taking privates because my teacher saw some kind of weird potential. And it was just because I was a cheesy performer like not shy. So But I had huge gunboat feats, I probably size 11 and a half. I was very embarrassed. I was pigeon toed. So I had this turn in. So that cured all of that my feet are now size 10 I don't even know how that happened. And I don't have the turned in feed anymore. I mean, it was crazy. When my when I was born, my legs were skewed in they were going to break my legs and reset them. They were so pigeon toed, wow. But they're like, Nah, unless he has a limp. We're not going to do that. So I just grew up with these crazy turned in feet and very self conscious because they call me pitch and tone and you know, lots of bullying, but, you know, I made it through but that cured all of that. And just, you know, made me Yeah, I think that's because when I started coaching later in life, I became this foot Nazi they called me the foot Nazi because I was all about turnout and foot placement and just you have to have feed in for that because I had to pay two To my feet when I was in Turkey, I look like right, craziness. But that's how it all started. Taras Denysenko 7:05 Well, that's a pretty incredible testimonial for the benefits of learning how to dance right there for a reason that a lot of us do get involved with it because of something like that. So that's, that's awesome. Thanks for sharing that Brent Mills 7:15 story. Oh, it's all good. I mean, the cure to anything is repetition, right? The right repetition. So if you if you got a limp, if you got turned in, it's just you just train your body, your body's the smartest thing that it has going for itself. And then at all the tools of modern science, you shouldn't have no problem. Todd Combs 7:33 Oh, yeah. And I think there's something to be said about men because a lot of times women come in the ballroom dance world, as you know, as teachers and they did ballet, they did tap, but I don't know to me, no, no, you have a ballroom background, but I don't know too many men that said, who came in the dancing say, you know, I used to dance a lot. And you know, when I was five in elementary school in high school, I was dancing snow. Want to be a teacher. Most guys I knew You know, I was going to be, you know, a doctor, I was going to be this or that. And I just came into dancing. And they all think we came in with, you know, perfect awareness of our feet and legs. You know, we didn't have pigeon toes, and we didn't have a limp and we didn't have, you know, problems like that. They just think we all came in, and we're just bred to dance for some reason. So it's good that you? Yeah, you're sharing your physical limitations as a young child. Brent Mills 8:30 Yeah, it was challenging. It was just funny. You know, the boys are cute when they play baseball. And the girls are cute when they do little ballet, you know, and that's and that's kind of the status quo for here in the States. And, but you know, you go to Europe, go to Asia, it's like, it's like, literally for both boys and girls, or dancing for boys and girls. There's not this like, oh, the boys should do this. And the girl should do that. It's just, you just do it and such a difference between As if you if you grow up with the mentality then it's then it's there and everybody understands it but like my high school is so small town that you know any man or boy who danced it was instantly the crappy label that was you know, we know now which is complete ignorance but back then it was like you got tea so much. I got tea so much I got in a fight. I was I was voted my senior year most likely to take a life. That's that was the prize I got. Todd Combs 9:33 And they did. Brent Mills 9:35 Well, they did it as a funny one a spooky one, you know, but like, I was fighting all the time, because all the Hicks in my school were like picking fights with me and they were labeling me and I'm like, Really? You want that label to beat the crap out of you right now? And I would go off. And yeah, and I just they had pictures of me just enraged for him. You know, I mean, I never picked a fight. But like I go ahead, you just Throw that first punch and I will not stop until I'm dead. Or you're on the floor. I mean, it was. It was crazy, right? I mean, Todd Combs 10:07 I think that's a label that all a lot of us male teachers get that, you know, they'll make fun of you, even if it's your friends, you know, they'll make fun of you. Oh, yeah. ruthless are the worst. Yeah, and
