Dance Real Podcast

Season 5

Ep:08

What does it take to build a lasting dance community across generations, cultures, and competitive environments?

In this episode of Dance Real Podcast, Kate sits down with Belgian dance educator, choreographer, studio owner, competition organiser, and international judge Dimitri Covent.

Together, they explore the realities of leading a family-run dance studio, the evolving culture of international dance competitions,...

Season 5

Ep:07

How do predators gain trust? What are the early warning signs of grooming? And how can parents, teachers and dance studios create safer environments for young people?

In this episode of The Dance Real Podcast, Kate Histon speaks with Australian survivor advocate and founder of Grooming Recognition, Louise Edmonds. Drawing on lived experience and years of advocacy, Louise explains how grooming rarely begins with obvio...

Season 5 Ep:06

In this solo episode of the Dance Real Podcast, Kate explores the growing conversation around oversexualisation in dance and the responsibility shared across the wider dance community. Drawing from her perspective as an international adjudicator, former studio owner, educator, and mentor, Kate unpacks the difference between genuine artistry and adult-coded performance being placed onto young dancers before they are d...

Season 5

Ep:05

From World Champion to Dance Educator: Marco Behal on Creativity, Failure and Originality

In this episode of Dance Real Podcast, Kate Histon sits down with Swedish dance educator, choreographer, adjudicator and studio owner Marco Behal for a deeply reflective conversation about artistry, identity and the realities behind a life in dance. Marco shares his journey from a young competitive dancer in the Czech Republic t...

Season 5

Ep:04

In this episode of the Dance Real Podcast, Kate Histon sits down with psychologist, former dancer, and performance specialist Dr. Chelsea Pierotti for a grounded and insightful conversation about the psychological realities of dance training.

Together, they explore perfectionism, performance anxiety, burnout, competition culture, identity, emotional resilience, and the evolving conversation around high performance en...

Season 5

Ep:03

In this solo episode of the Dance Real Podcast, Kate explores what happens when a dancer’s sense of identity becomes heavily tied to talent, performance, achievement, or external validation. Within high performance training environments, dancers are often recognised very early for their ability. While this can create opportunity, motivation, and belonging, it can also quietly shape perfectionism, fear of failur...

Season 5

Ep:02

In this episode of the Dance Real Podcast, Kate speaks with Jess Spinner, founder of The Whole Dancer, about body image, food, perfectionism, and the psychological pressures many dancers quietly carry throughout training and professional life.

Jess is a former professional dancer and holistic health coach who specialises in supporting dancers with nutrition, emotional eating, body image resilience, and sustainable pe...

Season 5

Ep:01

In this episode of The Dance Real Podcast, host Kate Histon sits down with one of Australia's leading commercial choreographers and creative directors, Stephen Tannos, for an honest conversation about creativity, resilience, authenticity and longevity in the performing arts.

From performing in Cats and So You Think You Can Dance to choreographing for television, major...

Welcome to Season Five of The Dance Real Podcast.

This season explores one central theme: authenticity.

In an industry built on excellence, discipline, and performance, how do we stay connected to who we are? Throughout this season, we'll have thoughtful conversations about leadership, identity, high performance, studio culture, wellbeing, and the experiences that shape dancers, teachers, parents, and leaders.

In this short introdu...

Season 4 of the Dance Real Podcast, Going Global, explored what it really means to move through the dance world across countries, cultures, and life transitions. Across this season, Kate Histon spoke with dancers, educators, and leaders about relocating overseas, adapting to new systems, identity beyond performance, positive leadership, and the cost of unsafe dance practices. A reflective finale that brings together the biggest the...

Season 4 Ep:11

In this episode of The Dance Real Podcast, Kate Histon sits down with Finnish dance leader, educator, and international adjudicator Marco Bjurström to explore what it means to lead, teach, and judge with integrity in the global dance landscape.

Marco reflects on his early beginnings in Finland, from discovering dance through popular culture to building Step Up Company and Step Up School into one of the country’...

Season 4

Ep:10

Behind the Adjudicator’s Desk: What I Look For in Dance Competitions In this solo episode of The Dance Real Podcast, international adjudicator and mindset coach Kate Histon offers an honest and educational look behind the judging desk. Drawing from her experience adjudicating across Australia, Europe, and South Africa, Kate explains what truly matters on stage and how dancers, teachers, and parents can create h...

Season 4 Ep:09

In this episode of the Dance Real Podcast, Kate speaks with physiotherapist, researcher, and former dancer Dr Melanie Fuller about the growing physical demands placed on young dancers and the rising conversation around injury prevention in dance training. Dr Fuller has spent many years working with dancers across recreational, pre-professional, and professional settings. Her clinical and research work focuses on redu...

Season 4

Ep:08

In this episode of Dance Real, Kate Histon speaks with former principal dancer Jenna about the long-term impact of a professional ballet career on the body, identity, and life beyond the stage. Jenna reflects on her early training, leaving Australia on scholarship, and the realities of entering elite ballet systems at a young age. She speaks candidly about homesickness, injury, and the subtle ways under-fuelling and ...

Season 4: Ep 07

In this episode of Dance Real, Kate speaks with Finnish dance educator, studio owner, and international adjudicator Suvi Salmi about studio leadership, the realities of running a dance school, and the evolving culture of dance training in the age of social media.

Suvi shares the story of how she moved from being a dedicated performer into teaching and eventually opening her own studio. Along the way she developed a ...

Season 4: Ep:06

In this episode of Dance Real, Kate explores nervous system regulation as a foundational element of high performance in dance.

Drawing on lived experience as a dancer, teacher, and studio owner, she explains how performance, confidence, creativity, and leadership are shaped by the nervous system rather than effort alone. This episode looks at why pushing harder often leads to burnout, injury, and anxiety, and how re...

In this episode of Dance Real, Kate speaks with Spencer Bloomfield, an 18-year-old dancer from regional New South Wales who has relocated to Germany to undertake full-time tertiary dance training at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden. Spencer reflects on what it has meant to leave home, family, and familiarity at a young age, and to step into adult life in a different country, culture, and language. Together, Kate and Spencer ...

Season 4

Ep: 04

In this episode of Dance Real, Kate Histon is joined by intimacy director and educator Nicole Perry for a grounded conversation on consent, power dynamics, trauma-informed practice, and psychological safety in dance and performance training.

Together, they explore how consent-forward practice applies not only to intimacy and partnering, but to everyday teaching environments across ballet, contemporary, theatre, and ...

Season 4: Ep: 03

Effective leadership in a dance studio requires more than management skills. It requires emotional intelligence, clear communication, strong boundaries, and systems that support psychological safety.

In this solo episode of Dance Real, Kate reflects on over 23 years as a dance studio owner and leader. She explores what effective dance studio leadership actually looks like in practice, including how leaders influenc...