SENtertainment - Noël

[00:00:00] Samantha: Welbome back to another episode of Ballroom Chat, the podcast dedicated to sharing the dance journey. I'm your host, Samantha with Love Live Dance. Today, I'm joined by Noël from SENtertainment. Um, if you have been to the Great Gatsby Competition in the last two years, or if you've been to one of the over a dozen competitions, uh, that SENtertainment has been a vendor, you are probably familiar with them. They are a photography and videography business that is gaining steam and notoriety in the ballroom dance industry. And I spoke with their owner and founder Noël today about his journey from photographing cars as a hobby and passion to becoming a small business owner in the ballroom dance industry. Um, learning the ropes from Salsa to things like Waltz and Peabody and also just, uh, some of the behind the scenes kind of technical information that is helpful for dancers to know when we are thinking about getting photographed or videoed in our performances, or aspiring photographers to start thinking about and, and working on if they are wanting to go into the business. So please enjoy my conversation with Noël.

Well, thank you, Noël so much for being a guest today on the podcast.

[00:01:32] Noël: You're very welcome. Thank you for having me. It's uh, I wasn't expecting to be on, I mean, I, um, most podcasts that I've heard, like they don't, especially with the ballroom, I don't think the ballroom thinks the photographers are an essential part of the industry and stuff. So, I never expected to be invited to be part of a podcast that had to do with the ballroom industry. So I'm really excited.

[00:01:56] Samantha: Yeah. I'm so glad that you were willing to come on and chat because, um, we had Ryan Kenner on like way back in the beginning to talk a little bit about how he got into the photography side, as well as the dancing side. And you are obviously doing a whole lot with SENtertainment, with, uh, video reels and YouTube videos and photos as well. So I can't wait to, to kind of pick your brain and chat about, um, the whole production side or the digital entertainment side of ballroom dance.

[00:02:26] Noël: Awesome. Awesome. Excited. Let's do it.

[00:02:29] Samantha: So, um, I like to start off with every new guest the same way, which is how did you actually get into the dance industry? Were you a competitive ballroom dancer? Were you a social dancer or was the photography and videography side of, of the world kind of what got you into it?

[00:02:46] Noël: Gotcha. Um, into the ballroom dancing or, well, I got into dancing first and that's well, based off my upbringing, I am Haitian music is something that from the morning, you know, from the morning that we wake up, music is playing until we go to sleep. So I've always had dancing in me. And then I decided back in 2015 to start taking actual classes, but there was not in the ballroom war that was outside in the Salsa, Bachatta, Kizomba, you know, all those things.

And that's how I met Christine. Um, and that's, she's the one that kind of brought me into the ballroom industry and the ballroom dancing. And I discovered a whole new world literally and, uh, yeah, so that's how I got in there. So I started dancing outside, performing, uh, professionally in Salsa, Bachata, and all those things. And then I met Christine and then she told me, oh, I'm a dancer as well in this other whole world of stuff. And I'm like, this is amazing. So, yeah.

[00:03:47] Samantha: Yeah. Awesome. So I, I would say that, I, I mean, I guess it depends on who you talk to, right? So I, I think of ballroom dancing as anything that is partner dancing. Um, so I include things like Kizomba and Merengue and Bachatta and Salsa in that kind of family. But I also completely understand the distinction between what we traditionally see as social dances and what we see is like, Eurocentric, tux, ballgown, like competitive world.

[00:04:17] Noël: Yes, yes. Um, yeah, so for sure, definitely. Um, when I, that was actually one of the things that, in that, uh, attracted me to that, uh, to the ballroom industry, because I get to still partner dance, but yeah, wearing those super tux, you know, tails and, and everything, which is something that I love doing as well, as you can probably, you know, people will realize when I'm on the bowl of competition, taking photos, I'm still wearing a suit.

So it's like, I mean, versus typical photographers that, you know, that wear just all black or t-shirt, or like I'm still wearing a suit because I like both of those aspects. I like the raw aspect of dancing salsa and, you know, doing shines and mambo and all that. But I also like wearing a suit. So it's like best way to, to put both of them together.

[00:05:03] Samantha: Yeah, absolutely. I, I do have to say, I've seen you at a couple of events now and you always. You are always like so well, styled is that, I don't know if that's the right word, but like,

[00:05:16] Noël: yeah. I try to, to do it, but also be able to move my arms and do things when I, when I'm moving around fast, because I need to, to get back and forth from the ball, from the dance floor to my station to either switch cameras or do that. But at the same time, I wanna maintain a, like a level of, you know, if you see me just standing on the side without, you know, anything in my hand, you wouldn't really, you wouldn't know that I'm just a photographer.

[00:05:41] Samantha: No, absolutely. Absolutely. So how did the photography happen? Were you a photographer outside of, um, your, your social experience or was that something where as you started coming into the ballroom world, as Christine was like, this is what a ballroom dance competition looks like. You're like, I see a potential here. Let me see what I can figure out and how to like, maybe make a business for myself in this world.

[00:06:08] Noël: Gotcha. Well, photographer it for me, photography for me is a hobby turned into a well, you know, career. Um, I was a photographer, um, before and be becoming a photographer was also a hobby because I was into cars. So cars was my thing, car, building cars, you know, working on cars, creating things modification. That was my life for like 10 plus years. So going to car shows and seeing all those super cool cars and taking pictures of them, you know, with my phone and to look at them, you know, back and stuff like that. So I decided to end up to buy a camera that was like $250 at the time.

It was, uh, you know, Canon Rebel T3, which was amazing. I used that camera for three years and the amount of, you know, work I got from having that one camera. I think that's the camera that, you know, I got the most work out of that cheap camera than I do any of my expensive cameras now, because I work that camera too it's maximum, um, capability before I upgrade it.

And so, yeah, it's little by little as I get through different, uh, stages of my careers, photography always came back where there are certain that something that needed to be done. And I realized that, oh, I can just get that done versus outsourcing it to the vendor. And the vendor takes days to come back and this, this and that. And then when I started working with Toyota, I worked for Centennial Toyota, the car dealership, uh, in Las Vegas, I started doing, um, like, um, videos of like showing the cars. So I would go outside on my lunch break and just take my phone or take my camera position, take one of the new cars that I'm excited about that has a really cool color. And just put my camera and start, you know, talking about the car, do the car review.

And so little by little, the photo and the video just kept keep, you know, layering, layering on top of each other until once I decided when I started dancing and then discovered the ballroom world, it was just, I was like, I would bring my camera. Like I wouldn't be, um, like infringing it in other people's business. I would ask the photographer that's currently working there that, Hey, can I take a couple picture just full personal, because I love taking photos. And I mean, these, this is like a perfect stage. Like yeah, the perfect lighting, the perfect dress, makeup, hair, none of that, that I had to do.

[00:08:20] Samantha: Right.

[00:08:20] Noël: And all have, all I have to do is just take photos of those people. So I'm like, this is amazing. So that's how I got into that's how my photography evolved into the ballroom industry. And after I, I worked with a couple, um, photographers in the industry before, but after 2020, um, Also also Christine's father had owned the Great Gatsby Gala.

So after, you know, a couple years of me doing that, I realized that, you know, I can do it on my own. I can do a competition, my own. And the best one to start was actually her dad's competition because I know the, the layout, I know the size, I know the schedule and all that. So I know, I, I know how many people I can, I need to get on my team in order to make it happen.

So I started by doing that, and that was, I believe 2000, 2021. That's uh, that was the first time I did a competition by myself as the photographer. Like I under my team, um, I've done competition with other people. And then right after that, we got so many calls from people be like, Hey, um, we saw that you did, uh, the Great Gatsby, are you available?

Can you do my comp? Can you do my comp? It's this, this and that. So we're like, okay, this is different.

[00:09:36] Samantha: yeah,

[00:09:36] Noël: this is, this is an opportunity and, we start to realize that a lot of the photographers, a few of them have either switched career or decided to, you know, move out of state. And some of them, you know, different things happen. So it became, um, a void started being created into the ballroom industry for photography, and we were in the best place to take in those challenges. And so, yeah, we just started growing from there. And right now we have about 16 comps that, uh, we, we have scheduled between January to November of this year. And we are, we want to add more to that.

[00:10:17] Samantha: That's incredible. I, I think I've forgotten how recent SENtertainment, because you guys are, to your point, you've been at a lot of comps the last year and you're putting out constant, uh, contact, uh, content.

[00:10:32] Noël: Yeah.

[00:10:32] Samantha: So for some reason I was like, oh, you've been around for like five or six or seven years. And you've been slowly growing.

[00:10:40] Noël: Yeah.

[00:10:40] Samantha: But for it to just like explode, how much, like, how has that been as a business owner and how are you dealing with scheduling and scaling up your staff and like dealing with all of the stress and the learning experiences of going from, okay, well, try this at one comp to we have 16 on the schedule and we're constantly getting phone calls?

[00:11:03] Noël: Yes. Um, it is, it is a challenge, but it's one that I love that I embrace and that I love challenging myself. Uh, just a small background. I, when I was in Massachusetts, that's where I went to school, went to high school, then finish high school and went to college. And then after that I moved west. Uh, but while I was, I started working for, um, AutoZone, the car, the car parts, uh, stores. And that was back in 10th grade. I started by working regular, you know, I, they call it a red shirt. That's like the, the base, this is where you start, um, in the company. And that was at the age of 17, 18 ish. And I'd graduated high school, went to college and then kept moving up from the company. And by the time I was 22, I was a store manager.

And then after that, I became, I had, you know, four stores when I moved west, two stores in Las Vegas and two stores in, in Utah. So, and at the, at that age of being 22, 23, I had over 75 employees that I had to that. And you know, this, my, uh, assistant manager was 45 years old. I mean, I'm 23 and I have 75 other people that I have to make sure, you know, they come to work on time, that the schedule is right, everything and so, the challenge that's been there.

And I love it. Um, the reason why I left that job is because I wanted to challenge myself in a different way. And it was, and that's also why I started dancing is because at that age and all the, and everything that I had to do, it was getting a little bit overwhelming. And I was like, I need to find a way to, you know, decompress and to have fun.

And I wasn't, you know, gonna drugs, alcohol, any other, other mediums didn't really seems fun to me. So I was like, let's go back to something that, you know, that I grew up with that made me feel good. And I was like dancing. So I started taking dance classes and it was amazing. Going back to that, the challenge of, uh, creating content of in how quickly the business has grown.

Yes. It is a challenge. Um, I'm handling the best that I can. I have, you know, great people on my team that helps, you know, carry some of that load. It's not all me, it's not all them. Um, and so, yeah, it's just, and the growing of the team is probably one of the most difficult one because, um, luckily currently the photographers that we have in our teams are they are a photographer that, that kind of like push the envelopes.

And on top of that, we, some of us are actual professional dancers as well. So that's what sets us apart from a lot of other teams is when we take a photo, there's an intention behind it. It's not just pointing the camera and shoot, like we are dancers. We know, you know what to anticipate. We know a lot of the moves we know, like, so it makes us different when we're looking at the couples, when we're look out on the dance floor, we have, like, we have, we have an idea of what's happening.

We're not just like, man, they're running so fast. We don't know if we're ever gonna get anything. Like we, we know to let them start the move and then just finish it and be right there to take the photo. So that helps a lot because, um, a few times we've, uh, we've talked to clients, dancers, and photographers in the past have taken their jobs so poorly that photography is not something they consider just, um, as an important part of the, of their dancing career or the competition.

And when they start seeing, you know, what we're doing differently, they come up to us. They're like, oh my God, I've never seen so much so better looking pictures of myself. I've never seen this thank you very much and all that. And so many instances, like the last one that happened at the NV Ball. There was a, there was a lady, uh, Christine told me that afterward, that came looking for her photos, uh, because she had, we have a TV on our table where when people pass by, they can see their photos on the, on the screen.

And she came because of that, looking for photos. And she wanted to get a photo of her because she said she doesn't have, she's been dancing for, by the way, like 10 plus years, she doesn't have any good photos of her for them like to put on her tombstone when she passes. I'm like what?

[00:15:18] Samantha: Oh no.

[00:15:19] Noël: And was like, I want a good photo of me dancing. And when I saw the photo, you guys took and put on TV with me, I was like that they, they got that photo. So I was like, and like other times we've had people that came and said, oh, I wanna get the perfect photo for my Christmas card. I wanna get like it just, and I'm like, how is that? How is this the first time?

I mean, it's, if it's good that we're doing something differently, but it's, it makes me, you know, realize how other photographers in the past have taken that job so poorly. And, um, that also make a lot of the organizers look photography as something that, eh, if I have it, I have it. If I have someone that just there it's, you know, that's adequate when really photography is just as important as anything you have during the comp. Like probably more important than dresses because some people, most dancers go to the comp with like multiple dresses. So if one of 'em gonna get ripped, they have a backup versus photography. We capture everything that happens at your comp. Like if a birthday celebration anniversary, at the NV ball, I really, I, you know, captured, uh, someone asking, um, someone else to marry them, like on the stage.

Like how without photography, how is this going to be? Like, how are you gonna remember any of that happened? Like the organizer wasn't even around when that happened. And I was like, Hey, did you realize somebody got asked to marry them on your stage? She's like, what, when did that happen? I was like, oh, look, show, this. This is, this is when it happened. So it's like, you know, photographers is, yeah. So it it's growing fast and it's a lot of challenge growing the team is the most difficult part, but the contents and the rest, I mean, I love that's where, that's where I live. I love creating.

[00:17:05] Samantha: Yeah. Well, and I wanna talk a little bit more about like your philosophy when it comes to photography and also training up a team so that the way that you shoot competitions is consistent. Because I do think there's something really special about the, the moments that you're able to capture. Um, at NV Ball, I, I had a moment where. I don't remember if it was in the middle of the tango or the waltz, but we were about to hit this line and I suddenly saw you and I saw you move your camera and we hit this line and I was like, oh, he got it.

I'm so excited.

[00:17:45] Noël: Yeah,

Yeah, no, I was gonna say, yeah, that is the, that is the dancer part of, of, uh, of us. Um, and that it allows us to see, you know, when you are winding up for something, something magical about to happen, and this is where we need to be versus, you know, sometimes, well, there's one, one thing where it's special.

The, when there's a solo and I don't know the person's routine, that one, I will literally watch the routine through my camera lens. Like I will have my cam my camera on because I have no idea what they're going to do next. And I will. And just click when I feel like something is gonna come, because I don't know their routine, but when it comes to actual, you know, routine numbers, you know, anything like that, we all danced those style and we know how things happen, even though we don't know your choreography, we know, you know, you're not gonna, you're going to do something on the eight count or on the three count.

Like you're not going to, like, you can't walk sideways, you know, so there there's a, there's a way things move that we can anticipate.

[00:18:50] Samantha: So when,

[00:18:51] Noël: so that allows us when we see you guys dance are about to start something that, you know, like, just be ready, it's gonna happen right there.

[00:18:58] Samantha: So is that one where, when you're looking to hire out other, um, or hire on other photographers to your team, that you're specifically looking for people with a competitive background. That that know how to dance and have danced at least a couple of the dance styles, uh, prior, or is that something where, when you're training someone, you maybe like go into a dance studio and say, okay, we're gonna watch this couple while they're practicing. When would you actually hit the button to capture the moment?

[00:19:28] Noël: So, um, ideally would love to hire people with, um, dancing background that doesn't always happen. However, to your second point. Yes. When we, um, hire them it's if, if I'm with Christine, we will go in like a parking lot and we will start dancing and we'll just tell them to, you know, to shoot literally, and then we'll look back at it and we'll see.

And during the, we'll also slow down the routine that we do or the, and we'll just, and we'll do a move and we'll stop there. And we'll be like, this is where the photo would make sense because, you know, my hand is not in my face, my hand's not over her face. Like she's not fully turned, her legs are not crooked.

So those are, those are the things to, to look out for when they're moving around each other. Um, so yes, we do a training like that. It's not just given the person photography, um, the camera and, um, you know, go out and see if you can figure it out. No, we do a training where they see what a dancing looks like and how we move around each other and what to look out for.

And over time, you know, with small incremental, uh, changes, they get better and better and better. Uh, but the other thing is yes, a photographer. That is the main thing is a photographer that is more than just, uh, like if someone is just a landscape photography that wouldn't probably really work much. If there's like a, um, wildlife photography, that one would work because they take pictures of things that is unpredictable and that just takes off running and all flying in different direction and they have to be ready.

So, so if they have, um, um, experience and moving subject, then that would be, that's a, that's a plus, even if it's not dancing, but we do go through a training with everyone and show them, you know, what to look out for.

[00:21:13] Samantha: Yeah. Well, and there's such a parallel between what you do in order to capture the moments on the dance floor and what the dancers are doing in order to actually create the moments. Right. Because it's all action and reaction. So you're waiting for that hint of, okay. Something's about to happen and then being in the right place at the right time to actually capture that signal that, you know, the lead has sent to the follow or the follow has sent to the lead maybe, um, which I think is really exciting and really cool.

so something that I think you guys do a really great job of is have an incredible social media presence. Um, you're really taking advantage of the fact that we are living in a digital age and that a lot of us are flipping through our phones and, and waiting to see something that catches our interest. Um, especially with reels. Do you have a TikTok? Do you do TikToks as well?

[00:22:08] Noël: I TikTok was actually the first one that I started, but I'm definitely not the, the best person when it comes to social media and digital aspects. So, um, I created that back in 2020, um, Christine and I would create a TikTok together that, that did really good and we're doing making dances, video, stuff like that.

And she told me that I should create one. I did. Posted a couple things and got busy with building, um, the business and other businesses that I, that I was, uh, creating in the process of creating at that point. Um, so I didn't really pursue it that much. And also, so I have the, the Instagram, uh, and also have the YouTube now, the Instagram and the YouTube, there are two different things, um, that I'm really proud of how they're coming along so far, because.

The Instagram I wanted to highlight people that are not, uh, not always the professional, because any Instagram that you look at, any of the ballroom, you know, reals that you look at are of the people at the top, the professionals. Yes, they are awesome. They have the best choreography that allow you to capture the best videos, but there are a lot of other people that put, you know, time and time and sweat and blood into their routine. Yes. They may not be yet championed, but they still really good dancers and they deserve to be highlighted once in a while. Not just, you know, wait until you get to the top, then you can get the recognition,

[00:23:32] Samantha: right

[00:23:32] Noël: like, yeah. I mean, I, there's a lot of people that I love watching that are not, you know, the top champion, but they're champion in my book because I love their choreography. I love their, their enthusiasm. They're so approachable. They're you know, so yes. I mean, those people, they're people too. They, they, you know, they're champions too and they're own, you know, and they're own categories, even if the, the rest of the judges panel don't see it that way at the moment. But yeah. So my Instagram that's what I that's what, I'm try. I, I want to use it for is to, to have to highlight people that are great dancer that are doing great things in the industry, but maybe not the top champion. And I do highlight the champions too. I do make real about the champion, but the idea is mostly to highlight the rest of, because I mean, the industry is not 100% champions.

I mean, there's one champion for every 15 other dancers. So it's like, there's a lot more to be done there. Um, so that is my Instagram. That is what it's being used. That's what I I'm using it for right now. That's what I wanted to continue evolving into. Um, I don't know where that's gonna go at the end, but my on my, on the other side is on my YouTube channel.

Which, um, if you go in my YouTube channel, you'll see the first one says CES 2020, which is the, uh, consuming electronic show that happens in Las Vegas, which is the biggest electronic show, um, in north America. Uh, and that has to do with absolutely everything that I, that, that interests me. This is again where my background of photography and video comes from, which is like everything, electronic, cars and stuff like that. So I would go, I go to, to CS and I film, you know, the next car, the electric, this and that and all that. But, and I also have a playlist called "World of ballroom". And in there, the thing that I don't, that I don't see on YouTube. Um, as a dancer or anyone who like dancing beside dancing with the star videos, there's not really an account on YouTube, where there is, you see what a competitor atmosphere looks like when it comes to dancing. Yes. You can type, you know, um, international, Latin Rumba, and you'll see some, you'll see a lot of video of people teaching you certain steps in a studio or something like that, but you're not going to see how, how does it look like when there's eight couples performing eight different routines through the same song on the Bo on the, on the same floor looks like. How chaotic is that? Because if you wanna learn, if you wanna know, like, yes, you can learn your international Rumba. Um, but when you go to the dance floor, you're like, holy, I, I did not expect it to look like that. Like,

[00:26:11] Samantha: yeah.

[00:26:11] Noël: I mean, people like you need to now be able to manage and weave in and out the people and they're doing it at full speed. Like there's no, like you can't, you can't hesitate if you're hesitate, you get run over.

[00:26:20] Samantha: Yeah.

[00:26:21] Noël: So the YouTube channel, that's what I'm working. That's what I'm creating right now is, um, having a lot of, like, if you go to my YouTube channel, I color coordinate them as, um, Latin is orange. Rhythm is red. Uh, ballroom is blue and, um, smooth is purple. So like all of the smooth dances, like you, the color coordinator, you can see all of them in order. So that way as a, just a spectator. You can see what, uh, a waltz looks like on the big floor with 6, 7, 8 couples, you know, semi-final looks like, and you're like, oh God, this is beautiful. This is what, you know, what they show.

Some movies shows like that because they always dance the Waltz in every movies. so that's what the YouTube is for to highlight the group aspect of those dancers. And also, you know, if a showcase is great, you know, I will record that and I'll put it on there and stuff like that. But yeah, so the Instagram is to highlight dancers in a real type atmosphere.

And the YouTube is to create full long routine videos of not just one, couple, but 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 couples on the floor at the same time to kind of see what it looks like when you have that many people on the same floor, doing different things to the same.

[00:27:38] Samantha: Yeah, I, I appreciate kind of that, that different approach for different, um, different applications. So the fact that you are highlighting not just the top couples or not just, you know, the, the world champion, even open gold ProAm dancers, but anyone that you're like, you know what, they're doing an awesome job, and I wanna just celebrate them and, and give them a little bit of recognition and, and have them be like, oh, I made, I made the reel on SENtertainment from this comp isn't that cool?

Like, it gives you something to share with your friends and family and be like, look, I did this thing, which I don't necessarily think that we do a great job of, um, when it comes to students in the industry or, you know, the people that aren't on the podium for professional or amateur competition. Um, and then to kind of show like the big view of this is what a competition actually looks like. It's not just gonna spotlight on one couple while they're dancing. This is what the entire floor looks like the entire time, I think is great. Just education, cuz I think we do, we need to do better about educating the public about, about um, what, what our industry is.

So on that kind of idea of sharing educational tools and, and just learning more about the industry in general, you mentioned in the very beginning that you came from, um, the Salsa, Bachatta, Kizomba community, and then made your way into the ballroom world. So what was the biggest kind of learning hurdle that you overcame or what was the, what was something that maybe caught you off guard the first time you walked into a ballroom dance competition?

[00:29:31] Noël: Um, I mean, and I would say it's the dance style, like the number of, you know, yeah. Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, Tango, Rumba. Like how many there were in that same competition. It's because when I go to a, um, to a salsa Congress, I know there's they go into, there's a salsa room. There's a Bachata room. There's a Kizomba room. Those are like, if there might be a west coast swing, but sometimes they put the west coast swing with the Kizomba.

But that's that, that, you know, you go there, there's gonna be four main dances. That's going to be happening the whole weekend. But when you go to a dance competition each day, that's like, and each heat, like it's so many that I had to learn. That was probably the big, the biggest thing is learning is realizing that all of those dances are part the same competition.

Even more reason why I wanted to highlight people that are not just the top couple, because I mean, I, I, I started performing, knowing that I need to know four main dances, salsa, bachatta, kizomba, and a little bit of, uh, you know, swing or merengue or something like that. But now these people they're learning 8, 9, 10 dance and performing them, you know, 50, 60, 100, 200 times.

And I'm like, this is amazing. Like, make, put me outta breath, just watching, like how they keep going. And so that's yeah, that was one, probably one of the biggest things is how many is the diversity of dance they have and the dresses for each, for each and the hairstyle and the, and like there is a whole operation.

So that was probably one of the biggest things is how many style there actually are and then ended. Loving of all of them smooth, smooth is my favorite and favorite dance is Viennese Waltz. I dunno why I just love it. It just, I just melt whenever I hear it, I can barely do my job.

[00:31:21] Samantha: I, I would agree with that as well. I feel like as a smooth dancer, I'm torn between liking Foxtrot and Viennese Waltz. Tango, if I'm super angry, but I think Viennese Waltz, I think there's more modern music that gets played when we dance the Viennese Waltz, and because the emotions are so deep and so heightened in Viennese Waltz, it just, I, I feel like as an audience member, you can connect with it a little bit more.

[00:31:47] Noël: Yeah. I mean, and I think that's the, that's the other thing too, is, um, coming from the Latin side of, um, I mean, I said Latin, but it's not like international, Latin, it's Latin, like, caribbean Latin, Cuba, Haiti Republic type of Latin, um, that I'm talking about is this the music that we have? Yeah. There's the there's, um, Rumba, which is the Cuban type of it, which is very like macho in, in, in like very high posture in stuff.

And then you have the salsa in the, which is, I mean, salsa is just like a pretty much a show off. And then bachatta is the sensual aspect of the dancing. But with Viennese Waltz, it brings a different aspect where yes, you can there's you can feel a lot of emotion while being so darn elegant at the same time. it's like you do. Yeah. Like what if I'm watching it and I'm watching the couple dancing, it just like, you can feel the emotion, like just, you can feel the energy radiating, but at the same time, it just look so peaceful. It's it's it's weird. And I just, yeah, so because of that, um, our first dance, half of it was Viennese was a Viennese Waltz because I was like, it just had to be,

[00:33:00] Samantha: yeah. You had a, how many different styles did you end up incorporating in total in your first dance?

[00:33:07] Noël: I think it was about three. Yeah. So there was a Viennese Waltz, Chacha, and a little bit of west coast swing. I don't. Yeah, but I think it was like about three that, um, minimum probably was four. I don't, I don't remember, but I remember the Viennese Waltz, cause it was the first one and I had to be

[00:33:27] Samantha: I love that. I love that. Yeah. And you've since branched out into Peabody. Um, so before we get to your Peabody experience, how many dances, how many dance styles in total do you know at this point between your social styles and picking up ballroom along the way with Christine?

[00:33:46] Noël: Ooh, um, let's see. Um, Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba, Merengue. Um, Kompa which is the Haitian one Rumba, which is the Cuban one, now going into ballroom. So I would say Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Waltz, um, Tango. I did a little bit of that. Um, no, actually not tango, um, Paso Doble. Um, and yeah, I would say, yeah, probably like 10 to 12.

[00:34:14] Samantha: That's that's a respectable number of dance styles. yeah.

[00:34:19] Noël: Yeah. Oh, and I didn't even add Peabody to that yet, so yeah,

[00:34:22] Samantha: there you go. At least 11. Um,

[00:34:25] Noël: yeah. which is 11 is our number, so that's perfect.

[00:34:28] Samantha: There you go. There you go. Um, so yeah. So tell me a little bit about the Peabody, um, experience. Obviously we've already mentioned you're married to Christine, her father's Louis. There's this Great Gatsby combination. Um, so why Peabody? What did you think of Peabody? Will you dance Peabody again?

[00:34:48] Noël: Um, why Peabody? Uh, let's, let's go back with the, um, a little bit of backstory is how Christine and I met. Um, and that was after the first, um, the first edition of the Great Gatsby, back in 2016 and I saw she was supposed to, because she was doing the digital media, the social media for the competition.

So all the photos and videos from the comps, all the updates. And at the moment we were, we didn't have any, we had friends in common, but we were friends on Facebook. And because of that, Facebook somehow published her post on, on the main page that I was able to see it. And I saw all those, you know, Old school, 1920 gatsby outfit. And then I saw the cars and I was like cars, old school cars. Yes . So I reach out to her. I was like, Hey, my name, this and this and that. I, what is this great gatsby thing I see you posted? I see the cars and the dress and stuff like that. Great. Gasby was one of the book that I re I retained from reading back in high school that I actually enjoyed.

You know, I would love to be part of that. What is that all about? So she give me the information about that, this is a dance competition and blah blah. At the moment I will have, I was on only one year into my dancing career outside of the ballroom. Um, so I was like, oh, I don't, I'm learning how to dance, maybe I can do this too. Um, so I was like, yeah, so next, what is the day? So she gave me all the information for next year. I was like, I'd love to be part of it. So give me information, what I have to do, you know, to be part of it. Um, so that's how that started and, you know, things happen to the end and then we're married and all that um, and yeah.

And then no, and then Peabody was, um, I think we, we just wanted to, to perform like, because we've never performed professionally on, um, as on a ballroom in a ballroom circuit, like we've done shows, dancing ballroom dances, but not on a ballroom dance floor, like literally competing against other couples. So we've always thought about it and we've always wanted to, but it just, we, it, we couldn't find the right dance the right time, because if we had the competition and we're working and then like, it was, uh, was difficult.

But given the, uh, Peabody was one that we, like every year it's so fun because Peabody, this, like Peabody is probably the only time on the floor where you have smooth, Latin, rhythm, all dancers competing against each other in the same time. That doesn't happen, you know, any other time, because you know, people have their own style.

So Peabody is such a fun, you know, boil, like pot of just the greatest dancers, just having fun because that's what people just get, let loose and just have fun. So that what attracted us to decided to create a Peabody routine and compete in the Peabody and. It was awesome. Will I dance Peabody again? Um, most definitely.

[00:37:45] Samantha: awesome. Yeah. I, I think Peabody, I am sure that somebody that is incredibly passionate and incredibly knowledgeable about Peabody will get very angry in the comments for me saying this. But I feel like Peabody is, um, the merengue that travels around dance floor. Like there, you can play so loosely with the rules because you just have to take that eight count and you can make it whatever you want. So if you wanna pull in swing influences or Lindy or Charleston, or, you know, you can go with it wherever you want.

[00:38:21] Noël: I mean, yeah. The Peabody, I would say until the Great Gasby brought it back literally faded out, you know, probably for the last 20, 30 years. And again, probably people in the comments gonna be very angry about the ones that are, you know, die hard Peabody. Like this is how you dance it, you know, I'm not gonna let it die. Um, but you know, if you put Peabody online you'll probably see the Great Gatsby eight outta nine times. Um, so yeah, it kind of had to modernize it a little bit. Yes. We try to keep a lot of the traditional aspect of it as best as we can. I mean, there's not that much, you know, digital archive to be able to reference from, um, so for what we can find. And yeah, and just make it, make it, our, make it what, you know, our own and make it fun because otherwise, you know, there's a lot of dances that you won't, you, you can't get a, a professional top competitor in Latin or in standard to dance Peabody., if it's not fun.

They, yeah, they're gonna be like, this is wasting my time. Like, I need to focus on my craft. I need to focus on getting this, but when you make it fun, they're like, oh, this is cool. Like, I don't, like I can take, you know, my, my mind off of, you know, 24, 7 standard and I can have fun and dress in cool outfit. And so, yeah, that's, that's how it had to be in order for it to, to kind of breathe this new life that it has.

[00:39:43] Samantha: Definitely. Um, I wanna pivot a little bit to both your background in, um, the, the salsa and bachatta world. And then also just like growing up, um, uh, with dance as part of your culture. So when we, when I look at social styles, I think one thing that something like salsa or west coast swing has done a really good job of over the years is adapt to the music that's currently being played in clubs or on the radio. Um, what has your experience been kind of seeing both sides of the, so the social dances and the ballroom dances when it comes to music and modernity?

[00:40:31] Noël: Um, when it comes to with that? Yes, I do think, um, I mean, in the salsa world, I would say for sure, A lot of the songs that are, uh, very well respected are older in the salsa world. However, yes, there's a lot of new artists that are trying to, you know, to chime in there and they're doing a lot more remixes with popular songs to kind of like modernize that aspect. But Salsa dancers, um, then they'll dance to the same song for the rest of their life and they'll be just as happy as the first time.

Um, so there's that, but in the ballroom world, yes, I do see a lot, a lot, um, emphasis on using the cur the songs that are out now, like from movies and stuff like that. And it's, I love that aspect as well. I think there's, there's both of them. Um, and I mean, one thing that I'm still curious about is why are there only one song for Paso Doble.

Like, how has not anyone ever, you know, create another one? Like it's the same song. Yeah. They played it with two different, you know, instrument. It sounds but is the same song. How, from all these years, there's only one song called Paso Doble?

[00:41:46] Samantha: Well, like, and if it, so Paso Doble is actually a type of music. Like you can hear other Paso doble songs, they do exist.

[00:41:54] Noël: Yeah.

[00:41:55] Samantha: Um, Someone,

[00:41:57] Noël: but in the competitive world, for some reason, they just love to use that one song.

[00:42:00] Samantha: Yeah.

[00:42:00] Noël: And every, and which I, I don't know. I mean, I guess that kind of like with all the other things being, they, they just picked the songs, randomly, dancers kind of know when it's to possibly they, they all choreograph for that song.

So it kind of like even the playing field a little bit when it gets to that point, because you're like, okay. So it's kind of like professional Peabody because professional Peabody, um, when, you know the song ahead of time, so you can choreograph for that song. So I, I think that kind of gives it an advantage for all the couples, but I'm still shocked every time when it says when the, you know, announcer says "Paso Doble". I know it's gonna start,

it's going this that's the song. And I'm like, wow, that that's crazy.

[00:42:43] Samantha: Yeah. So, um, again, someone can come at me in the comments. Um, I, I like that, cuz that means that I'm getting educated. Um, but I believe that so Paso Doble has an interesting history as far as like landing in the ballroom dance world. Again, probably butchering the history of this, but I believe originally tango in the Argentine style was actually considered the Latin dance and Paso Doble was actually considered the standard dance.

Um, it had mu Paso Doble has its roots, obviously in, um, the cape work of, um, a Matador and kind of that, that bull fighting spirit. So to your point about it being choreographed to a very specific song, because there are these three hits that happen in the music at the professional level two in the upper levels, non finals, and one in like bronze and silver level.

Um, I think you have to keep it with the same song because people are counting like four sets of eight, a set of 12, two sets of eight, a set of four. So they're blocking their choreo in a very specific manner. Um,

[00:43:59] Noël: gotcha.

[00:44:00] Samantha: And that's also why it looks a little bit out of place in the Latin five dance. It's like the only one that has heel strikes and a very like lifted formal frame. And it, it just feels a little out of place and it's because it was originally a standard dance. So yeah, Paso Doble is like the, the, the cousin of the Latin family that we're all like, we like you.

[00:44:27] Noël: Yeah, I know. Right. You're fun. got it, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Because, but yeah, every time, every time I hear it, I'm like, man, that is like, I'm like, I'm not a, um, I'm not a, you know, a musician by any mean, but man, that's like a perfect opportunity to try to create something else because I'm sure, you know, Brent or any of the, the music emcees, they'll be like, if it makes sense, they'll play it. But given, like you said that those count have to be there. You kind of have like a, like, I mean, I guess any song that you make will probably sound the same because you have to have those count in those particular places.

But I mean, it still would be fun to hear another one that sounds the same.

[00:45:12] Samantha: Oh, definitely. Well, and I think it would be really fun to mess with professional Latin dancers and just play a different Paso Doble that has a hit in a different place and make them listen to the music and adapt to it. That'd be really cool.

[00:45:26] Noël: Yeah. yeah, that, that, yeah, that would, yeah, because yeah, that they, they all know that song so well that, yeah, if you put something else, they will have to now relearn and Hey, who knows that might end up, you know, make for cooler choreography, better choreo, more intricate choreography because at this point now, yeah, Paso, Paso Doble is not.

I mean, I'm not a, a Latin dancer and I excuse anyone, who's a Latin dancer who like you said is probably gonna say something in the, in the comment is that it allows them to allow the Paso Doble to evolve in a different way because now that you've been dancing to the same song for 20, 30 years. Like there's only certain way you can evolve that, that dance, like, but if you have a different song that opens whole new world of opportunity. like you, instead of starting with the four and the 12, and you can start with the 12 and the four, like that will now make it so much, you know, give it infinite possibilities.

Um, but who knows? We'll see.

[00:46:24] Samantha: Yeah, I agree with it. I feel like, you know, Strictly Ballroom was all about the technique and the style of Paso Doble and one man rebelling against the ballroom dance industry.

[00:46:34] Noël: Yeah.

[00:46:34] Samantha: We, we need a DJ to rebel against the ballroom dance industry.

[00:46:37] Noël: Exactly. Just like play something random and just watch what people do. And just like, go that, that's all you got a minute. Go .

[00:46:46] Samantha: Yeah. So, so let's talk about the, the 55 seconds in ProAm comps. The 105 in certain heats, 110, moving up to a whopping 135 in professional heats. Um, you already mentioned you, you are not out there to capture the most photos. You're there to capture the best photos and to capture the best moments. So how much pressure does that put on you and your photographers to get as many people covered as possible in the shortest amount of time?

[00:47:21] Noël: Um, that is very stressful. Um, and with, yeah, but we've gotten to the point where, um, within that minute or a minute and a half to be able to cover to, one person, to be able to cover at least four couples to get at least, um, between 15 to 20 photos of each. Within that minute, minute and a half. It is a lot of pressure. So you'll see during, if we hear that there's a semifinal, it's more stressful to cover the semifinal than it is to cover the final because the semifinal, you know, there's half of the couples not coming back. So if you don't get the photos during the semifinal, there's no photo.

[00:48:01] Samantha: Yeah.

[00:48:01] Noël: Versus, you know, it just gonna keep getting smaller and smaller. So those people that are in final dance this, you know, each of these time from the quarter to the, to the final. So like the higher, the higher, the, the competitor count, the more stress it is because we're trying to capture the very, very first one, what is the quarter final or semi final.

Because that's when they're the most couples that might, that are not coming back. So that's the stress part. But if it, and also if it's just a final. You know, they're only dancing that one time. So it's like we have to pay attention, listening to what's happening. Um, because yeah, if there's a semifinal, we can take the semifinal trying to, and, you know, it's kind of like I hate to be judgmental, but we kind of have to be, we, it helps to know the dancers, um, to know who's going to make it to the final

[00:48:52] Samantha: mm-hmm

[00:48:53] Noël: So we don't need to focus on them at that moment. We're like, you'll be back next, you know, in the next heat, let me get this couple that may not make it not because in that great dancer, because we know, you know, a little bit of the background of how, you know, things go. So it, it helps to know that. So we know during that, you know, five and a half minutes, capture everybody.

If they, if those couples, you know, come in front of you and they're make, they're doing crazy awesome thing, photograph 'em as well, but don't focus too much time on them because, you know, they'll make it to the next round. But those couples trying to capture as much as, so that way at the end, you ended up having just as many photos at the, as the winner, as you did the person that didn't make it to the final, because you'd know you had a system you're not focus, you not again, that're pointing and shooting you.

You kind of have a, a, oh, you like, this is how this is go. This is, I'm gonna focus on this this time and, and blah, blah. So that's, that's how we, it's a lot of pressure, but that system allows us to capture the best that we can, everybody that dances.

[00:49:58] Samantha: Oh, no, that totally makes sense. I, I think prioritizing folks that, you know, are not likely to make the final making them the priority in the semi-final, so that way you can focus your attention on the final dancers when they're in the final makes complete sense. And that I imagine takes a lot of just being on the circuit and knowing the names and looking at the heat sheets and, and having conversations that are like, okay, what do I expect of this couple?

Am I seeing them only today in rising star? Are they coming back in open? Maybe they're only dancing in open and I didn't get to see them earlier in the week. So

[00:50:39] Noël: yeah.

[00:50:39] Samantha: I need to make sure that I get photos on Saturday night cuz they weren't there Friday night and kind of balancing it that way.

[00:50:45] Noël: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um, and a and a lot of comps that, that you mentioned that is the couple that dance in the rising stars sometimes will dance in, in the open and you can get the photo with them of the rising star, but when they dance it open, they change dress. They change. They're completely different. So it's like, there's another opportunity you can say.

You know, I took a photo of you yesterday because you were in different dress, different outfits, different shoes, different hairstyle, everything. So it's like, not just one, you, you always have to be mindful, but oh, what did that person look like yesterday? Go into my folder real quick, you know, pro rising star this and see what they were wearing and, and look, and be like, okay, it's the same one.

I still want to get some more, but it's the same dress versus if you're like totally different or like, okay, this is a whole new day, a whole new chapter. Like this is starting it over because, uh, couples do that all the time. And you have to, they're not gonna have time to come see you and be like, Hey, I'm on a different dress this time, you know, can you grab more photo like you?

That is our job as the photographers to document and capture everybody's journey on the, in the dance, in the, at the competition every time.

[00:51:52] Samantha: I imagine it's difficult to do when you have, you know, 200, 300, 400 different competitors that you're photo, you know, photographing at different events.

[00:52:02] Noël: Yeah, sure.

[00:52:02] Samantha: But do you ever have moments where you're like, I saw them hit this moment. I missed it this time around, but darn it. I'm gonna try and get that moment the next time I see them at either the next round or the next event.

[00:52:17] Noël: 100%, 100%. Like I will follow, like sometimes you'll see me at events. I will like literally, because each time they dance, they, you know, couple switch position in the ballroom.

You'll see me for photographing some from one place. And when they said couple take place for your next dance and you see me there, I was like, I know what you're about to do, and I'm not gonna miss it this time. So, oh yeah. 100%. I do that all the time. Yeah.

[00:52:45] Samantha: Yeah. I, I saw the photo that you guys posted of, um, Jessica Mancini and David Moon. I was like, how many times have you seen their Foxtrot and been like, I'm going to get this shot

[00:52:59] Noël: and she said it too. When she start, when she came by the booths, she was like, I've had this picture in like three other, um, forms, one of them where he's just about to dance two, jump one where he's finishing, but I've never, and no one has ever been able to capture him right above my head.

I was like thank you

[00:53:19] Samantha: oh yeah,

[00:53:19] Noël: no, but that, that was awesome. And literally at the same time that he was doing that, I was, um, I was filming, so we have that moment and still, and on video. So I was like, yes, winner.

[00:53:35] Samantha: That's that's awesome. When that like lines up and you're like, I got it. I, I, so got it at this one.

[00:53:41] Noël: yeah. Yes. And, um, between our photographers, we do that all the time. Like after, you know, the 10 to 15 seconds we have between dances, um, we know the shot that we got and we'll just run to each other. We're like, look at this. And we're just like, this is the money we call it. Now we call them TV shots because we have the screens that would display.

So when we got that shot, that is just like, wow, we're. Look at this, I got the TV shot. And then we just, once the, the heat is done, we'll go back and put that on TV. And there's like mind blowing.

[00:54:16] Samantha: Yeah. The TV. I mean, obviously that's an incredible marketing strategy and, and like tip of the cap, to you guys for doing that. But I also think it gets people really jazzed about trying to get on the TV, like trying to dance the best that they can and trying to, you know, keep an eye out for where you are on the dance floor so that they can hit that moment and end up on the TV.

[00:54:40] Noël: Exactly. I have so many, so many couples now when they see us on, on the sideline, they, they like dance for us. And it, it also helps to have great choreography because it, sometimes it is very difficult to photograph couples that the choreography is way too intricate and way toge to together. That is very technical, but visually. I mean, it's not a mess visually it's complicated. It's difficult to get a photos where there's, you know, that you can see like lines and extension because it's very technical and it's awesome.

That is, you know, some dancers are really technical dancers and they're amazing the thing they can do in, you know, in 55 seconds or a minute and a half, it's like, ridiculous. I can't even focus, but at the same time, if I can't focus my camera, can't focus . So at the end of the day, I can't get great photos of you unless you are doing it, you know, unless you by yourself on the floor and then you're just do it on a slow motion. So yeah, having a great choreography definitely helps, but yes, um, knowing that we have that, um, display TV there and we put people that we capture like great photos when they have a choreography that allows us to do so. Um, yeah, they, they literally, they cut through the floor coming at us, like from any angle.

And it's awesome because, and sometimes, you know, I feel bad because. I've already got like really awesome photos of them. And I'm trying to take the other couple that, you know, that is in the semi-final, but that's not going to make it to the final, but they're dancing in front of me dancing for me. And I'm just like, I brought this upon myself. so, so

[00:56:19] Samantha: Noël, we're all attention seekers. If we see a camera we're going to dance for it.

[00:56:24] Noël: and I love it. It just, it makes my just so much easier. We love, we all love it. Like my team would just, we, we live for that. We're just like, yes, give it to me.

[00:56:33] Samantha: well, and I think that energy is, uh, it's talking from a dancer's perspective now. Um, I think the energy that you have behind the camera makes it so much easier for us to dance for the camera because

[00:56:50] Noël: yeah,

[00:56:50] Samantha: I I've been to events where, you know, the photographers are definitely good. Like I'm not questioning their technical prowess, but you can tell that it's click and then click and, and very deadpan. But you, I feel like you and your team are always like, yes, let's go. Like you are the hype men for the people that are on the dance floor, which, you know, that makes it much more fun for us. And that gives us a little bit of feedback.

[00:57:19] Noël: Yeah. We try, we try to be and being that, you know, again, that we, we are our dancers and performers and actors in other aspect of our lives. We understand when there's a lens in front of you, you. You perform and it's, there's a great, if you know, the director behind the camera is, is someone that is awesome to work with you going to perform even more. There's no pressure. I mean, the pressure's even, there's still pressure, but the pressure is even less.

So it's the same thing. When we behind the camera, knowing that as a, um, performer and actor in, in other aspect that, you know, it's, uh, the energy like radiate through the lens. Like they, they see it. Like they feel it too. Um, so yeah, it's, it's a, it's a two-way street. Like we give them, they give us and magic happens.

[00:58:07] Samantha: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, Hey, before we wrap things up, um, I wanna ask two quick fire questions for you. The first is if you are someone who is going to competitions and has not found their, you know, profile picture photo, or they haven't found the photo that they wanna hang up on the wall and share with their friends and family, what is a tip that you would want to give them for setting themselves up so that you can capture the best photo of for them?

[00:58:40] Noël: Um, I would say number one thing is, come talk to us before you start dancing. Um, because we will that the, we have, I, every photo photographer of mine, we have the, the rules that we need to capture a minimum of 15 and 25 photos of each couple dancing. But if you talk to us ahead of time, we can easily double triple that and really pay attention to because some of those, um, usually there's a lot of people that there's a lot of competitors that dance 10 heat or 20 heat. Like that's not a, unless we know that you are looking for something, that's not a lot for us to be able to, to get you that amount of photo that you, because.

And the other thing too, that happens so many times is what we think is an okay photo. The competitors is like, oh my God, I just love everything about that photo. And I, you know, and sometimes they'll, and like many times I'm standing next to them or going through the photos with them. And I can't wait to get to the photo that I love.

And they saw a photo before that. They're like, oh my God, this is the photo. And they look at me and I don't have, I, that's not the photo that I thought was the best. Right. And they're like, what? You don't like it, you don't think I look good. I'm like, no, no, no, no. That's not it that, I mean, it's your photo. You're the one dancing. You like, I, I don't see everything you see and I'm not doing make doing the move. But if we capture something that, you know, that have that much effect on you, please let it be the photo.

[01:00:10] Samantha: right.

[01:00:10] Noël: But, and that's the thing. So a lot of times we can do the best that we can, but the dancer will see things differently and they'll be looking for so else. And they'll see, maybe they it's, um, it's a mistake they they've been doing for longest period of time. And they finally see that they corrected it in the photo and that's the photo that's like, but I don't know that. So that's yeah, but if they let me know ahead of time that, Hey, I'm only dancing 10 heat or I'm this, or I'm looking through.

To get photos for my Christmas card or for my tombstone, like, you know, whatever it may be, you know, it's, it's a wide range. um, then yes, definitely let us know before you dance. That'll, you know, astronomically change that odd to be able to get you that shot that you're looking for.

[01:00:58] Samantha: Awesome. And then for competition organizers, what's one thing that events overlook that are that are in reality is super important to being able to capture the event in photo and video.

[01:01:18] Noël: Number one, lighting, lighting, lighting, lighting, lighting, lighting, lighting, lighting, all of it like lighting. Um, it is an expensive, I mean, it is expensive, but it makes it's night and day lighting is just so, so, so, so, so, so, so important, like. More important than anything because no one wants to D I mean, those competitors, it not just us, those competitors are paying, you know, good money to come to those hotels stay three, four nights, which is five, $600 sometimes.

Um, and then they're dancing in a com in a, um, how do you say that conference room?

[01:01:59] Samantha: Mm-hmm

[01:01:59] Noël: with, you know, like orange, yellow, foreign lighting. Yeah. I mean, it, it just it's yeah. Lighting, lighting is in the more thing. Just do better in lighting like, and invest a little bit in lighting. Yeah.

[01:02:16] Samantha: Perfect. Well, thank you Noël so much for being a guest today on the podcast.

[01:02:22] Noël: You are very welcome. Thank you for having me. This was awesome. I didn't, we covered a lot of cool thing. I can, I can wait to hear this back and to share it to, and I hope, you know, the organizers and dentures and everybody, you know, get to listen to it and hopefully take and a tip here and there, know, uh, what I, what we discuss to understand how to, how we can help them better.

I mean, it's not just, you know, how we can help them better. What we can do different. Maybe there's something that we are missing. And as a photographer that they're like, I wish somebody would do this. Like, let, let us know. Please.

[01:02:57] Samantha: Yeah, absolutely. I think there were some great tips and tricks that you, um, spoke about there and definitely some insider knowledge that was shared, which is fantastic. And if folks, um, are listening or watching this episode and they have suggestions or they've got follow up questions, um, those links are gonna be in the description box below. You can follow up with Noël and his team afterwards and, and get the ball rolling. Um, so yeah. Thank you so much once again.

[01:03:25] Noël: Thank you, Samantha. Thank you for having me and awesome. love it.

[01:03:31] Samantha: Thank you once again, to Noël for being a guest on today's episode. If you want to follow along with his journey or find out more information about SENtertainment, either to track down your photos and videos from previous events or to maybe book them at an upcoming event, you can do so using the links in the description box below.

As always I'm Samantha, I'm your host with Love Live Dance. You can follow Ballroom Chat on, uh, Facebook and Instagram at Ballroom Chat. You can also support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/ballroomchat, where we post behind the scenes, um, interviews and additional content. If you have not already done, so please do make sure that you hit the like button follow button or subscribe button, whichever platform you are, uh, consuming the Ballroom Chat podcast on. And if you haven't already done, so maybe consider giving us a five star review on some place like apple podcast, uh, that just lets people know that we exist. It puts us up a little bit higher on your search ranking. So more people can share their dance journey and share our dance journey with them.

And as always stay safe, stay positive, and we hope to see you dancing very soon.