Making Room by Gather
Hospitality. What do you think of when you hear that word?
For some it's old school 'stuffy' entertaining for others it's something to do with the hotel industry. One thing is for sure, as a culture we're not talking about it much.
Food * Design * Relationships have seemed to have taken a back seat to what our culture focuses on and values yet...we find ourselves in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. Something has to change, it's time to get back to our tables, and we're making room for it!
Making Room by Gather invites you into a new conversation on everyday hospitality. One that rewrites the way we approach opening your doors and filling your tables. Shifting the narrative from 'how does this make me look' to 'how does this make you feel' these buildable conversations aspire to inspire connection through everyday gathering.
Kayty's chic and a little quirky interview style will make you feel like you're sitting with a friend talking about how to grow in confidence as an everyday host. You can expect conversations from navigating challenging relationship dynamics to foundational cooking techniques and everything in between.
Whether you are a seasoned host or looking to develop new friendships and grow in your skills for the first time, there is a seat at the table. Join us weekly for new conversations with expert guests and with Kayty in her beloved Date with Kayt episodes. Continue the conversation @gatheritentionalliving
Making Room by Gather
Dancing from Ballet to Books: Melanie Hamrick’s Story
Dance is a part of my background that I don't talk about often. Years of formal ballet training, pointe classes and company performances. The world of dance always captivated me, felt a part of me, and when it came time for college it presented me with the choice to continue with it or pursue another career. At this time I turned in my ballet shoes and picked up some books. Left always wondering, how differently my story would have looked if I went that route, I always will welcome a conversation about the arts, especially ballet.
Join us for a captivating conversation with Melanie Hamrick, a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater, who has gracefully transitioned from the stage to the page. Discover Melanie's riveting journey from a young ballet dancer in Virginia to a celebrated 16-year career with one of the world's leading ballet companies. After an injury shifted her path, Melanie turned her creative energy to writing, resulting in her debut novel, "First Position." This episode not only highlights her impressive professional achievements but also opens a window into her personal life, including her role as a mother and life with her partner Mick Jagger.
Peek behind the curtain of the ballet world as Melanie shares the relentless schedules and physical demands that dancers face daily. From early morning rehearsals to evening performances and the mental strain of switching between different dance styles, her story shines a light on the often unseen aspects of a dancer's life. We also delve into the intricate dynamics within ballet companies, where tradition, respect, and a blend of competition and camaraderie shape the experience. Whether you are a dance enthusiast or curious about the art form, Melanie's insights offer a compelling glimpse into the discipline and passion that fuel a dancer's career.
Melanie's narrative illustrates how movement and dance can play a vital role in storytelling, offering unique means of expression. Encouraging listeners to embrace dance, she highlights its therapeutic benefits and the joy of creative expression, regardless of skill level. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of the transformative power of dance and storytelling, providing inspiration for anyone looking to blend their passions with their everyday life.
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Hey guys, welcome back to this week on Making Room. We are so glad you're here. I cannot believe that we are going into the fall gearing up towards the holiday season partially ready not fully ready, but getting there, getting there and I feel like this is an exciting time to bring in a different conversation to the show. We talk a lot about food, design, relationships, relationships, but what you don't know is there is a big part of my background in the world of dance. I haven't talked about that a lot. It hasn't been as much a part of my life in the recent years, but it is so fun for me to take some time today to revisit it with our new friend, melanie Hamrick. You may know her from social media and from the arts, you may not, and so here's a little bit more about her. Melanie Hamrick is a mother, ballerina, producer, choreographer and writer. Born and raised in Virginia, Melanie began dancing at a young age. Her career as a ballerina spanned over 16 years with the American Ballet Theater. Through her dazzling career, hamrick worked with renowned dancers and has been covered by W Magazine, vogue, marie Claire, point Magazine, dance Magazine, along with others. Hamrick has also accumulated endless oh my gosh. Words are hard for mom brain sometimes, but anecdotes about the shrewded underbelly of the industry. It was only when an injury forced Hamrick to take six months off to recover that she decided to draw upon her intimate knowledge and experience in the turbulent ballet world to create dramatized stories such as First Position and the Unraveling. With the encouragement of her mother and dedicated partner, mick Jagger, hamrick has captured a gripping world with vivid characters and an absorbing plot that is equivalent to cult classics like Black Swan and Tiny Pretty Things that I can also attest to. After her retirement in 2019, she has also been actively producing and choreographing her own shows via her production company titled Live Arts Global, for example, her Rolling Stones theme rock ballet. From traveling the world with her family and work, melanie has always carried novels and notebooks with her. Her passion for reading and dance inspired her to write her first novel, first Position. Guys, this conversation is such a fun one, like I said, different from others, but we are thrilled to bring it to you and, as you are going into the season, this busy season of diving deep into the holidays and all of the prep, back to school, travel, all of the things Feast and Fettle wants to come alongside you and make it a little bit easier. There is always this tension of feeding your family whole foods while not compromising taste, and Feast and Fettle wants to cook it all for you and deliver it fresh to eat. If you live in the Northeast and want some help feeding your family with ease, not having to go to the grocery store so that you could be present at sports games and all of the activities coming up this year, be sure to head on over to feastandfettlecom for everything from kids' lunches to breakfasts, snacks, lunches, dinners, dessert all of it and feel good about feeding your family and spend some time being intentional with them instead of over the stove and in the oven. Well, guys, we are going to dive into this week's conversation with our new friend, melanie Hamrick.
Speaker 1:Hi, I'm Katie, a hospitality educator and the host of Making Room by Gather podcast. I am set to see our communities get back to the table through hospitality, but it wasn't always this way. My husband and I moved to Thailand and through it I experienced some loneliness and with it I was given a choice to sit back and accept it or to do something about it. And for me that meant two things that I needed the healing to learn how to accept an invitation and the confidence to know how to extend one. Through this process, I developed some of the richest and deepest relationships of my life. Through Making Room by Gather, you will hear conversations from myself and experts in the areas of food, design and relationships. You see there are countless things trying to keep us from the table. But can I tell you something? Take a seat because you are ready, you are capable, you are a good host. Okay, let's do this. This is so fun. It's a great time of year to talk about dance. I feel like right Well.
Speaker 2:Susan, thank you for such a wonderful introduction. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:There's a lot to celebrate, a lot that you've done in your career and life to celebrate. I don't know if you're comfortable talking about your son, but how old is your little guy? He's seven.
Speaker 2:And it is a wild age.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's very active, right? Yes, he's so active.
Speaker 2:I'm like why aren't you tired? I want to sit and cuddle and read stories together. And he's like what's next Football match? Like all these, like just wants to run around.
Speaker 1:I have a one-year-old next week and so it's a lot of energy too. But different energy, Different yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's like they still want to cuddle, or he'll cuddle sometimes, but he's more like his love language is let's play football or tennis or ping pong or race each other down the driveway and I'm like what about a hug?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so fun. Well, okay, this conversation is a little bit selfish on my part. I love the world of dance. Don't get to talk about it enough. A lot of people don't know that about me, that I dance for a very long time leading up to college, decided to leave it behind for a more I don't know different track of study, but always dreamed about seeing a show with the American Ballet Theater. Haven't made it yet, made it to Alvin Ailey, but not American Ballet. So all of this makes your background so interesting to me, and so I would love to start just hearing about kind of what led you to pursue dance as a career, because we know that part of the American childhood experience we'll call it includes dance. Right, I think it's very common for people to take dance classes, but what was it that led you to pursue it as a career? Do you remember that kind of like path or your first memories?
Speaker 2:My sister was a ballerina before me. So just seeing her pursue it, become a ballerina, I knew what to look forward to. I knew what backstage was like, I knew what the company life was like and I loved everything about it. So it was easier to work through kind of the tedious studies of ballet because I knew what the end result was. And seeing her travel and be on stage and going to see her at the Kennedy Center perform and the state the Koch Theater in New York City, I was like that's, I want to do that. So it was pretty just natural for me that I wanted to do.
Speaker 1:Wow, and the road to American Ballet theater. Did she dance with?
Speaker 2:them as well? She didn't. She danced with Le Grand Ballet de Montreal, she danced with the Dutch National Ballet and she danced with Universal Ballet in Seoul, korea. So at the time I think it was not such tall dancers and she's quite tall Now. I think it's more accepting to dancers that are 5'9", 5'9 and a half, but at that period it was like the tallest in the company would have been 5'7", so she was a bit too tall. So I got to kind of she got to live vicariously a bit through me and I went to ABT. She would come and take class and she knew a lot of the dancers and, yeah, we had our different paths, which is kind of good yeah, oh for sure, sisters, oh my goodness yeah, yeah, well, imagine us working together in the same company.
Speaker 2:But it was nice to have her there and her support and I knew people at the company because of her and it was welcoming. But my path to ABT was not easy. I didn't get into their summer programs until I was 16. I auditioned every year for their summer program from the age of 11. Wow, okay, my sister went to their summer program, so I was like I want to go to their summer programs and then I never got in.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you got in at 16 and then was it like a shoe in they accepted me at the end of the summer program. Okay, so you got in at 16, and then was it like a shoe in.
Speaker 2:They accepted me at the end of the summer program. Okay, okay, and I got into the summer program through Youth America Grand Prix. I didn't even bother auditioning that year for the summer program because I was like I had gotten into SAB. So I was like I'll probably go back to SAB this year and then see what New York City Ballet says. But I still had one more year of high school. So I was like I'll wait. You know I still have one more year of my.
Speaker 2:I was at the Kirov Academy at the time and you know I was like I'm not going to be looking for a job till next January, march, so I'll probably go back. I'll just go back to SAB. Because I liked the variation in training. I liked Balanchine in the summer and the Vaganova training in the winter. So I didn't even audition. And then, after Youth America Grand Prix, the director of the studio company called my cell phone. I didn't call my mom and so I noticed you're not on the list for the summer program, will you come? And I was like well, I've never gotten in the summer program. So I wasn't going to come. And then they offered me and they said where are you going to go and I said I'll probably go to SAB because they offer me full scholarship. And I, you know, and he said, well, we'll offer you full scholarship. So I was like, okay.
Speaker 1:Wow, okay, I'm realizing. I'm realizing for a second. My whole childhood was like dreaming, just like drooling over the ABT, like you know, realizing what it is. Can you brag on it for a second? Like, can you explain to everyone what American ballet theater is? Do you feel comfortable doing that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, it's the, it's everything. It's what you think of a classical ballet being. It's Sleeping Beauty, it's Swan Lake, it's the Nutcracker, it's traveling the world, it's in grand opera houses. It is the opulence and the beauty of what you think ballet is going to be. As a little girl, wow, you know, it's the fairy tales. Yeah, so it really is. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Did you ever dance in the?
Speaker 2:Paris Opera House. I did not dance at the Bastille Theater or the Garnier. I danced at another theater Of course I can't remember the name of it now because it's very ABT performed at the Bastille, which is one of Paris Opera's theaters, but I was on maternity leave and I was like I can't believe I'm missing it, but we performed at an incredible theater when I was in the company. It's like that you can see the Notre Dame from the dressing room windows.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness it was spectacular and we did Kingdom of the Shades and La Bayadere, just like in the dressing room, putting your makeup on and getting ready and seeing the Notre Dame and then going downstairs and doing the Bayadere. It was like pinch yourself moments.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. I just remember I was like a 16-year-old in Paris walking by the opera house or whatever, and I was like, oh, this is the dream.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got to do that there when Benjamin Millipie was director because he had worked at ABT a lot. So when I was in Paris I can probably this is like before my son was even born. This was like nine years ago or something. I called him and I was like I'm going to be in Paris for a couple of weeks. All I wanted to do was just see inside the opera house, the backstage, and he's like class. So I got to take every day and I was like this is so cool, it's so fun.
Speaker 1:It's a different world. It totally is. So that's a good segue into our next question. So I think that there's this, a particular public perception of the dance world, and then, like everything, there's the reality of the behind the scenes and I think part of people not knowing that preserves the wonder of ballet right, because you just think that dancers just like float on stage and like beautiful show and that's how it is backstage. And, like you, know, but that's not.
Speaker 1:that's not the full picture, and you talk a lot about that. So what do you? What would you wish that people knew about the behind the scenes of the dance world that maybe they don't know?
Speaker 2:you're at the theater at 9.30 in the morning and you're rehearsing all day and you might be doing Swan Lake that night, but you're not rehearsing Swan Lake during the day. You're rehearsing, say, Sleeping Beauty, from 12 till 5.15. And then you have two hours to switch your head over and be on stage for Swan Lake. And I think people don't realize that. I think they think you come in and you perform and it's now. You're at the theater all day. When you leave the theater you're back at 945, 10 am the next morning. That's wild.
Speaker 2:And yeah, people are really surprised to hear that, Like, you're not even practicing the ballet that you're doing that night. That's a lot.
Speaker 1:I mean, just like you were saying, the brain power wise, like literally shipping.
Speaker 2:It's like shifting your mindset, almost yeah, especially if you're rehearsing a contemporary ballet and then you're doing swan lake at night. That's even harder because you've been so grounded and maybe not wearing pointe shoes all day to then that that is the most like almost mentally, physically hardest one to go from. They try to the season, the schedule, where they put like maybe a contemporary follows a hard classical, a hard classical doesn't lead into a contemporary, because your rehearsal during the day is going to be contemporary, which is really hard on your body to switch. Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how is the community behind the scenes like? The community of a company? Is it cutthroat? Is it communal, Like is it a sisterhood? What is it?
Speaker 2:I think it's a bit of everything. I definitely think it's more communal and sisterhood than cutthroat. I think there is competitiveness, because everyone does want to move up and everyone does want, you know, to have a better part than or than they think they have. And so you do have a little bit of competitiveness, but for the most part it's really supportive and, um, looking after each other. If you know someone gets sick at the last minute, people like offer to step up and you know to give them a night off, um, but sometimes again, you, you it's, you're tired sometimes, so you hit people on bad days and sometimes someone's like I don't want to step up, I'm tired, like. So I think you do have a little bit of everything, but I would like to think that at the bottom of it it is supportive.
Speaker 1:That's good, that's sweet to hear. Yeah, um, yeah, I don't have much experience past like a high school dance. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2:I don't say I don't want to say hazing when you join a ballet company, but you have a little bit of you know it's very much seniority. New dancers have to wait to claim to take a spot at the bar. You do not take a spot if you're a new dancer. You wait until pretty much the music is starting for plies and then you find your empty spot. You don't stand in the front row and center until you've established yourself in the company enough. Then you can take the front line and the center exercises.
Speaker 2:You don't go first across the floor, you give that to a more senior dancer. You don't take a spot in the dressing room. You let the more seniority dancers take a spot Because it's territorial, Everyone likes to repeat their same spot. So your first year in the company you wait and you just put yourself to the side, you get prepared and then after the ballet class you can take your spot in the dressing room because all the dancers who have been at that theater before have claimed their spots. So you kind of like you have a little bit of that in the beginning. Sure, Wow.
Speaker 2:That's so interesting, but they kind of teach you all that before you join they're like don't take a spot. I think now it's a little nicer the way they tell you like, oh, just wait here, we'll find you a spot.
Speaker 1:before it was like don't you dare touch a spot and then that's kind of it All you were told oh, my goodness, what is the general career length for a ballerina or career ballerina like yourself?
Speaker 2:I think it depends on mine was 15 years, I think 15, if you're, if you look after yourself, take care of your body, I think that can be pretty standard at ABT and cause if you're changing companies. But I think if you're unlucky with injuries and just doesn't like work, then you're not five years maybe and then you want to like move on. But I think it really depends on if you're built for ballet and you can't fight, I think, certain things for so long if your body doesn't want to do it. But I would say 15 years and probably I think I could have gone longer if I wasn't like splitting my time between Europe and the US, I would have probably retired this year.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, maybe I say that, but then I'm like I can barely do like a ballet class now. I think people don't realize how physically demanding it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. It's like you can run, like I can run on the treadmill, do like an hour, but I go take a ballet class and my legs will be shaking, like shaking after like 15 minutes and I'm like I've got to get out of here.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness. Well, speaking of stepping away, you decided around the time that your son was born, or how old was he when you decided to step away? He was about three years old. Three, okay, okay, wow. So as I read that, my heart sank a little bit because, as a mom of we were talking a one-year-old. It is so hard because there are career things that I'm very passionate about, equally as passionate about being a mom and being present for him, and that tension is so real. It's so distracting when you're in like both worlds, right Um and so um, as you learn the balance. What role do you see dance having, kind of like, in the future, this next season, for you, cause you have since retired?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was like.
Speaker 2:I'm just kidding, I still take. But now I'm focused on writing, which I love because I can. I can change my hours I'm there for school pickup, I'm there for school drop off, I'm there at bedtime, I that's. I always loved reading and writing, but I feel like once I really started getting into it I was like, oh, I I hope I'm okay at it because I really love it and I love that I can still carve out time to be be present for my son, and sometimes I can't because I'll be like in the flow, but it's I mostly make like I can make him a priority and I can really make my work a priority. I can. It's easier to balance, which I, which I love that that's a great balance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's kind of like a goal for a lot, of, a lot of moms, a lot of creatives.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was my goal Cause I loved choreographing. I didn't feel it was as natural a fit as writing Like I didn't love it as much as I love writing, but I still felt like I was being pulled away personally from my son more than I wanted to be with choreographing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a lot.
Speaker 2:That's an I mean goodness Talk about like I'm like I look at back at my mom now and I'm like, wow, how did she do that?
Speaker 1:It's so real. It's so real. Well, I heard in an interview it actually was with Hoda that you had with Hoda a few years ago. I think it was for your first book. You said something really interesting.
Speaker 1:There was something so like when you were kind of considering making dance a career and kind of like exploring the world of dance, that there was something profound to you about like using your body and using movement for storytelling. And I think that people don't realize there's something like unlocked when you dance for storytelling in you, like there's something when you're at the bar it's different than, like you said, running on a treadmill, like that expression through movement. And I feel like if we look at culture right now, there's like less and less movement happening because of our jobs, because of I don't know just a lot of different cultural things that are stopping us, keeping us home in front of technology different from a paintbrush, different from a treadmill, all of those things. What advice, if you have anything to say about this, would you give to someone? That's like I really want to experience this kind of like I don't know expression through movement or creativity through movement. I've never used my body that way. I don't know what would you say?
Speaker 2:to them I would say you got to get in a class. Yeah, I mean it's scary, but I took a hip hop class. My first hip hop class ever I took at age or I think I was like 32, 33. And I'm gonna go because hip-hop, as you know, is very different from ballet and I had never had the guts to do it and I just went to this like a like open class for hip-hop and I was, I stood in the back and it was such a different way of moving but everyone was so supportive and knew everyone no one, it was beginner class, no one knew what they were doing and I felt like it felt so thrilling. So it's. It's just kind of getting over the hump and getting yourself in there, because I think people think everyone's judging them or watching them in a ballet class and no, everyone's just looking at themselves. That's something I always tell people. I'm like no one's watching you, trust me, they're watching themselves in a ballet class. Tell people, I'm like no one's watching.
Speaker 1:You trust me, they're watching themselves in a ballet class.
Speaker 2:Just get in there like, find an open, even if it's not ballet like some type of move. I took tap recently. I had never taken tap. My son and I took tap classes together and it was so much fun. Like I'm kind of exploring different dance styles now and I and I love it. But I'm still like kind of embarrassed and I go in and I'm like, but I'm like Melanie, who cares about you?
Speaker 1:you're looking at themselves like I have to tell myself that I just wish, like we were saying, like I wish more people would take that step to do it, because there is something so therapeutic almost you know about, about moving your body right, like that's kind of what we were like designed to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I miss about when. What is it? The early the nineties, when they had those aerobic classes, like they were moving, like really moving, and I think people would feel less intimidated than a ballet class can be very intimidating, you know, just even the outfits. But I'm also like wear a sweatshirt, that's what I'm also like. Wear a sweatshirt, that's what I wear. I wear a sweatshirt and sweatpants like yes, I don't want to like think about anything. You know it's hard though, because it can be overwhelming. But or even like now they have like ballet classes on zoom, like try to follow along, or something like that. Um, but yeah, it's hard because ballet is such a niche like, if you don't know, it's probably best to be in a room yeah um, but yeah, it can be because even I get like a little like, oh, I'm gonna right even those
Speaker 1:of us to try. You know, yeah, even those of us that dance and kind of left it behind for a different career, just just like being back in that setting. It almost brings a part of you alive again. Yeah, it really does, almost like if you speak a different language. My husband and I speak Thai and English, and when I speak Thai, it's almost like another part of you comes alive. And it's the same like when I'm back at the bar. It's like, oh my gosh right, I forgot that was there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you feel like exhilarated. Yeah, even just going in a studio and putting on music and like or like going to a nightclub and just dancing, you know like that can be a way of like, like expression, just having a great dance, like with friends on the dance floor, it's exhilarating, it feels good, you're moving your body.
Speaker 1:I didn't marry a nightclub dancing husband.
Speaker 2:I can't dance in the nightclub. At body. I didn't marry a nightclub dancing husband. I can't dance in the nightclub at all.
Speaker 1:I'm like if any of my friends listening want to go dance with me you.
Speaker 2:I do. Well, when you're, when, um, do you have a daughter or a son? I can't remember. Yeah, I used to do dance parties and that was really cool. My son before, like you know, half hour before we'd do the bedtime, put on some like he used to like when he went through his hokey pokey phase. We'd have like a little hokey pokey dance off or some song he was into, to do like a full, like dance in the living room and it was really fun, that's so sweet.
Speaker 1:That's really fun. Well, your life's work has been spent in the dance world, and here we are today talking about the release of your latest book. We haven't talked about it much, but I want to talk about it more. So in some ways this makes sense to me, because through dance you've always been storytelling. But writing and dance obviously themselves are very different crafts, and so was writing always in the back of your mind. Like did you always aspire to be a writer? Was it always kind of like sitting there, or did it just hit you one day? Like what was that journey like?
Speaker 2:I was always in the back of my mind. I was always just brewing there. I love reading and writing. When I had time I would try to take like when I could fit in a university course. I would try to take something that when my when I would could fit in a university course, I would try to take something that was more writing centered instead of like science or math. It would be more on the writing side and then I, like my friends, would always joke like you're so writing stuff down, aren't you? Like you're gonna write books. So it was is definitely always there. I always had a book in the studio. I was always reading, like even I would be, even I would write down, like my ballet class, like ballet, like ballet, sometimes, like I would write down the ballet Wow.
Speaker 1:Because it's good for memorizing the choreography. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I remember. But I also just felt like it just felt good to write it down, like how can I figure out how to write it? Wow, understand it. Yeah, it just felt very like a natural thing, took me like the confidence to actually do it. It's another thing, but I felt like it was there simmering in the back of my mind.
Speaker 1:That's incredible. So your first book was released what year, remind me.
Speaker 2:Last year, 2023. So you've written three books.
Speaker 1:Two books. Two books Okay, okay, two books in two years.
Speaker 2:It was really quick. The second book was fast, good for you. It's a spin-off and it takes one that you don't have to read them in six, like in order. Okay, but it is a character from the first book, so I already had the character. So I kind of just kept on with the flow and I didn't take a break and I didn't. It wasn't starting from scratch. I knew who she was, I knew her background already and I just got to explore it. So I think that that takes away that cuts a lot of time down. You don't? You're not developing someone from thin air, she? That that takes me at least. That took me months to develop who Sylvie was before I could start writing incredible. And then when I thought I knew who Sylvie was and then I was writing, I had to change her and go back. So I think, think that that takes a really long time and then, once you know for me, once I know who it is, I can get going.
Speaker 1:That's so exciting. I haven't yeah, I haven't spent much time. I love writing myself, but writing that kind of storytelling it's always been based on our travel or our time in Thailand, kind of like I don't know more like journalism, almost factual, like biography style. So the whole character development side of things is gosh, that's fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was fun. I did some like like exercises. Like you know, online you go like, like, just like worksheets I would find to try to like how do you like to character development, but in a in a way like I would think of it. Oh, it's not, my books are not about me, but sometimes I'd write pretend it's you, you're writing about your day, you know, yeah, and then put the character in, take you out and replace it with it's like it's just creative and I thought of it as a short story, so it wasn't so overwhelming at the beginning. Like, think of it as a short story and then just try to expand it yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness steps as my uh agent, she was really supportive. Baby steps, just one sentence at a time, you can do it. You have to.
Speaker 1:You have to. Yeah, my goodness. Well, um, tell us more about the book. Who is it for? Who?
Speaker 2:is it for? Oh, a good fit for. I'm like, who's it for? Um, I would say it, um, it's. It's not coming of age. I would say it's for especially the unraveling, um, that it's a big relationship about a daughter and her mother which I think a lot of people can relate to and about. You know sometimes, like the paths they go through, the love they have, the teenage years a daughter has with her mom, you know it's like your mom's the one who loves you most. So you feel you can sometimes be your worst. So I find that a lot of people ask me do I need to know about the ballet world? And hopefully you learn about the ballet world, but you don't need to know about the ballet world.
Speaker 2:I would say it's a little bit of a coming of age as well, and I would pretty much say it's like 20s through over 18 and up, because hopefully there's something for everyone. There's people, someone having a problem with their career and how do they handle it, which I think everyone goes through at some point, like the struggles of is this career for me or not for me, and then, once I'm in the career, finding the ups and downs of the career. I've tried to keep it pretty wide because I don't want to put it in a corner. You need to like romance. I would say it's for people who like romance, but it's just, and try to make it a little something for everyone to connect with.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I love it. I am so excited for you. Well, was there anything maybe about the dance world, about projects that you're working on, any releases that you? Well, was there anything maybe about the dance world, about projects that you're working on? Any releases that you're like? Oh my gosh, if I could tell people this that we didn't talk about this is what it's going to be a film one day.
Speaker 2:So put the positivity out in the air. I can't like chat a lot about it, but we kind of it's there, it's in the works, and I was a big fan of Black Swan, so I just want to do it justice. That is so exciting Because I think the more people say ballet is sometimes a dying art, and I think the more people know about ballet, the more they want to go and see it and have a fresh audience and it is for everyone, ballet. I think people just don't know enough about it, so I'm going to try to break down that stereotype.
Speaker 1:Would you dance in it if the opportunity was there?
Speaker 2:No, maybe choreograph, but no dancing. I've hung up my dance shoes. Okay Okay, it's weird to say because I don't feel like I've hung up my dance shoes. Okay Okay, it's weird to say because I don't feel like I've hung up my dance shoes, but then I'm like no, I've hung up my dance shoes.
Speaker 1:That's good. Boundaries are good. You got to know, yeah, okay, well, we are going to attach the link to the book in the show notes so that you guys can get it. Where else do you want to send people to follow along with stuff you're working on?
Speaker 2:Oh, I would say my Instagram. I like to keep up my Instagram. That's probably where I'm the most present about things that are coming up. Great Would be there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, cool, I'll attach that in the show notes. Well, we end each of our conversations with the same three flash questions for each of our guests, and we want to know your answers as well. The first is something you have eaten recently and loved.
Speaker 2:I'm like a creature of habit. I never I like to go to the exact same restaurants and order the exact same foods. Um, let me have eaten recently. My son's pasta was really good last night and I usually don't like my son's food Cause he doesn't like sauce, but I was like this is really good. I think I was really good last night and I usually don't like my son's food because he doesn't like sauce, but I was like this is really good.
Speaker 1:I think I was really hungry, Wait. So you just had plain pasta.
Speaker 2:I just had a taste of his because I like every type. I give me the sauce, give me everything. But my son has an aversion to sauces right now. But I was like you know what, you're onto something. This is kind of yummy, with Parmesan cheese, a little olive oil, fresh. Yeah, that's good. Normally I'd be like no, I'm not eating that, but it was really yummy.
Speaker 1:Giada, the chef, just posted a video about that. Just like plain pasta with parm. Yeah, it's actually really good. Yeah, yeah, for real. Oh, that's so fun. Okay, how about a gathering you attended that made you feel a strong sense of belonging? And if you could pinpoint it, what it was that made you feel that way?
Speaker 2:I would say the Olympics. I went to the Olympics and I'd never been before and it was so phenomenal. It was so cool so many different cultures coming together, rooting for the same thing, supporting the same thing, cheering for athletes. It felt, because usually it's like, oh, when I go to the ballet, I feel, but this was unlike anything. This is thousands of people in a stadium like supporting these athletes together. It was just incredible.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow, that's really sweet. Watching this year's Olympics felt different from other Olympics.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I thought it's because I went to a couple of things live. But even when I watched it on TV I was like very invested.
Speaker 1:Maybe just because I'm obsessed with Paris, but the setting was amazing yeah. Right, okay, and and last but not least, something you've discovered lately that you think everyone should know about a netflix show, an amazon purchase, like something random that you're like you need to know about this. Um, have anything.
Speaker 2:if you don't have anything, that's okay, I mean I love a sauna, but I discovered it like a year ago. They're called like a higher dose. If you don't have time to go to a sauna or you don't have space for a sauna in your home, it's like a sleeping bag sauna. It's literally a sleeping bag, especially for moms Like you don't have time to go out to the sauna or do all those things. And if your son's taking a nap, get in that sauna blanket at home. It changed my life.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that sounds heavenly, that's great.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I discovered that a while ago, but it was really amazing. No one knows.
Speaker 1:No one knows. Yeah, it's a sleeping bag.
Speaker 2:You can roll it up and take it with you everywhere. I love it.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much, guys, for tuning into this week's episode. I will attach everything we talked about to the show notes. And, Melanie, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for having me. It was so lovely to meet you you as well. Well, guys, we will see you next week. Bye.