Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Idziak.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sarah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Dancing has been my passion for my entire life when I was ten years old, I decided that dance would be my major, my career, and my focus. I spent days in the studio and danced on a drill team in high school. I went on to major in dance performance at Oklahoma City University, one of the top dance schools in the nation. I spent my summers teaching dance and drill team camps and creating contract choreography. After college, I began teaching in the studio, and a year later, I auditioned for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. I spent five amazing years performing with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders dancing at games, in USO
tours, in movies, on tv, and all across the world. Meanwhile, I worked as a competitive dance teacher and built my business as a contract choreographer. After my time with DCC came to a close, I started my family and turned my focus on my teaching and choreography. I currently work in the studio teaching children the
love of dance, I travel all over the country teaching master classes and creating choreography for studios, pro teams, college teams, and high school teams. I spend time helping train women wanting to try out for college and pro teams with prep classes and private lessons. Personally, I continue to grow my own dance skills through classes and workshops, perform in industrials and small gigs and train weekly as a competitive ballroom dancer.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Working in the entertainment industry is never an easy road, and dance is no exception. I have been told no at more auditions than I can count. I have been cut from jobs for my height, my hair color, my look, and more… I have been told I’m not pretty enough to work in L.A., I have been told to lose weight, tone up, smile more, the list goes on and on. There are times I felt defeated and wanted to give up. Times I couldn’t believe I had chosen this as my passion and my career. The thing that has kept me going is knowing who I really am. I know that beauty shines from the inside out, and just because I wasn’t right for a job doesn’t mean I’m not beautiful. My body is my instrument and it has no perfect look to it. As long as I am taking care of myself with how I eat and exercise, then I am proud of the body I have whether someone else approves or not. There are times I have to dance for me. Get back to the root of why I started this journey. When the weight of other’s opinions make me question my own passion, I know it’s time to reignite the fire inside of me. I go into the studio, pick my favorite song, turn down the lights and dance for me. Let my body tell me how to move. For me, my body is my paintbrush, my violin, my poet’s pen, and when I artistically release the pressure of the world and remind myself why I do this, that is when I get back to the beauty of it.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I specialize in teaching and choreography and do my best to continue to perform personally.
Most of my work is going in to work with dance teams. A director of pro/college/high school team or studio provides me with a piece of music or genre they would like me to do and I come in and set choreography on the team. They may use this choreography for game day, competition, pep rallies or other performances. I also teach techniques and choreography for competitive studio dancers. I am brought in for master classes in dance technique and often pro dance style. I currently teach my own weekly class, that teens and adults can drop in on, focused on the pro dance style. I also teach private lessons in jazz, hip hop, pro dance style, and technique.
I think what sets me apart from other choreographers is my versatility. I grew up in the studio as a trained dancer, danced in a drill team, went to a serious dance school with a focus in musical theater, went on to be a pro cheerleader and now also train in a ballroom. As a choreographer, I can come in and provide you almost any style you are looking for. I think the variety in my background opens up many doors for me and I encourage all my students to be as versatile as possible.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
In my personal experience as a woman, I constantly fight to be taken seriously, not just a pretty face but an intelligent strong individual who has worked hard to get where they are in their field. You would think with dance being primarily a “female” profession it would be easier. But it is not. You have to remember most dance jobs are under the umbrella of a male producer, director or owner who wants a certain thing for a job. There is the struggle of sometimes your training just isn’t enough.
Now that I am aging, I have to fight to stay relevant in a social media driven world. I was already told most of my life that my performing dance career would end before I turned 30. But now, you throw in the added pressure of self-promotion through social media that drives getting work in the industry now. In the past several years I have auditioned for jobs where I wasn’t young enough to mix even if my dancing was stronger. But even my background can feel like it’s judged. Since I recently started dancing in the ballroom world, they often refer to me as “cheerleader” and focus on that’s how I dance. I am very proud of that part of my life but it does not define me. I also danced for 20 years and earned a degree in dance before ever trying out for an NFL team. Just like in any profession, we are still a long way from seeing women for what they bring to the table and not for their face, age or body.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @sarahidziak
- Facebook: fb.me/sarahgourleyidziak
- Twitter: @sarahi81
Image Credit:
Nectarlist media, Dance With Me USA
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