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PODCAST

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts

Robin Snyder-Wiencek

We’re diving deep into the transformative world of performing arts education. Twice a month, we chat with industry experts — from seasoned educators to acclaimed artists — who are passionate about nurturing responsible young leaders through the power of performing arts training.Twice a month we share a ‘What’s Happening At EMC’ segment so that you can hear all the amazingness going on as well as stay in the loop..Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or aspiring artist, you’ll discover actionable

arts performing arts

All Episodes

14:49

Ep 79: Inside EMC: A Real Story of Student Advocacy...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/10/06

Robin and Santina follow up on their earlier conversation about parents and studio owners being on the same team, this time with two stories fresh from the week at EMC.A group of students wrote and delivered a respectful, well thought out email to their teachers about a combined class situation, exactly the kind of self advocacy the show has encouraged all along. Robin walks through how the studio is responding, including a planned listening session and the search for a third teacher. Then a parent

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37:59

Ep 78: From Miss Wyoming to Studio Owner Raising Five...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/09/30

Robin sits down with Tamara Howe, owner of Tamara Howe School of Dance and founder of Ballet Salina in Salina, Kansas, for a conversation that covers her full path into studio ownership.Tamara talks about growing up a self-described klutzy dancer who quit twice and came back both times, double-majoring in dance and kinesiology at the University of Wyoming, competing in the Miss America program for scholarship money, and an internship near the White House before landing in Kansas and opening her

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11:56

Ep 77: Inside EMC: Dancing in the Street: Fall Tour...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/09/23

Robin and Santina break down the Fall Tour, EMC's two-stop community performance series at the New Freedom Fest and the Shrewsbury Fireman’s Fall Fest.Robin covers the logistics: rain policy and why a wet dance floor is a real safety risk, what Discovery Gym families and dance families should each expect on drop-off and pickup, and the guideline that came out of last year's chair situation, where dance families set up early and left, leaving Discovery Gym parents with nowhere to sit. She also talks

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34:56

Ep 76: Reading the Room: Angela Hartley-Drube on...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/09/16

Robin talks with Angela Hartley-Drube, who has run Live 2 Dance in a small Wyoming town for 20 seasons, built a multi-purpose venue during the pandemic, earned the More Than Just Great Dancing Perseverance Award, and recently won Wyoming Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.Angela is open about living with ADD/ADHD, and she and Robin get honest about what that actually looks like day to day: no early morning routine, no five year plan, a figure it out as you go energy that turns out to be an asset in

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16:17

Ep 75: Inside EMC: We're on the Same Team: Rethinking...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/09/08

Robin and Santina tackle a topic that's been landing in Robin's DSO Collective Instagram DMs all season: dance parents venting about how they or their kids have been treated at their studios.Instead of picking a side, they make the case that studio owners, teachers, and parents are on the same team, and walk through where communication tends to break down, usually when a hard car ride home turns into an 11pm email. Robin lays out how a parent's role in advocating for their dancer should shift by

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38:55

Ep 74: Stepping Back Without Losing the Studio: Marty...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/09/01

Robin sits down with fellow studio owner and friend Marty, who gave up an engineering acceptance at the University of Washington for a community college business degree and a life running the basement studio she once trained in as a kid.Forty plus years later, she's still building on that legacy. The conversation covers what that early pivot cost her and what it gave back, how Marty stepped back from day to day ownership without losing what made the studio hers, and how she stays visible to

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17:54

Ep 73: Inside EMC: The Dream Team Training Retreat:...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/08/25

Robin sits down with Santina to break down the Dream Team Training Retreat, EMC's annual four-day team event held at a rented Airbnb outside the studio.She walks through how each day serves a different purpose: Thursday's Holiday Celebration planning meeting, led start to finish by artistic director Elisabeth Simmons. Friday's Director's Dinner, where Robin hands out awards and rethinks what a gift-giver she wants to be. Saturday's full training day, including a live pivot after realizing the group

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40:53

Ep 72: From the Barre to the Boardroom: Jess Keller...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/08/18

What happens when a professional ballet career ends before you're ready and how do you turn that heartbreak into your greatest strength as a teacher and studio owner?This week, Robin sits down with Jess Keller, owner and artistic director of Palm Beach Academy of Dance Arts in South Florida, for a conversation that feels less like an interview and more like coffee with a friend who just happens to have lived one of the most fascinating journeys in dance. Jess opens up about training at the School

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11:32

Ep 71 - Inside EMC: Everything Extra: A Walk Through...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/08/13

This week, Miss Robin walks you through every Specialty Class EMC is offering for the upcoming season, the extras that go beyond your regular package and give your dancer more ways to grow.From Contemporary and AcroDance to The Musical Experience, Supplemental Ballet and Pointe, Precision Tap, Leaps and Turns, and our beloved Daddy-Daughter and Adagio Partnering classes, she covers what each one is, who it's for, and when it meets. You'll hear how we've built a clean Thursday-night pathway from

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63:20

Ep 70 - Tara's Story, What We Carry and What We Build...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/08/04

This is the episode Robin has been building toward for years.For a long time, the name Tara Gladden has appeared quietly at EMC Performing Arts Studio, on scholarship awards, in essays, in the hearts of students who've wondered about the girl behind the honor. Today, we finally tell her story. Robin is joined by her cousin Shawn Gladden, Tara's brother, for a conversation that is raw, honest, and long overdue. Tara Allison Gladden was a shy, gentle fifteen-year-old from Columbia, Maryland: a soccer

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23:23

Ep 69: Inside EMC: Understanding the Rungs of the Ladder

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/07/21

This week, the conversation between Robin and Santina, touches on all things understanding the Rungs of the Ladder within EMC. Get Your Brick and Support the Podcast: For $10 off your brick and to give $10 to the podcast, click HERE. Let’s Connect on Socials: EMC Performing Arts Studio on Facebook EMC Performing Arts Studio on Instagram In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts on Facebook In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts on Instagram

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45:51

Ep 68: Beyond the Stage: Building a Sustainable Dance...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/07/14

In this episode, Ian Howe shares his dynamic journey through the dance industry, from competitive dancer to cruise ship performer, and ultimately to studio owner and educator. He offers valuable insight into the wide range of career paths available to dancers beyond high school, emphasizing the importance of resilience, adaptability, and long-term vision. Ian opens up about the realities of performing on cruise ships, the transition from artist to entrepreneur, and the ongoing challenge of balancing

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33:12

Ep 67 - Why We Don't Compete and Why Our Dancers Thrive

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/07/07

Robin and Santina go head-to-head with dance's most polarizing topic! They chat about why EMC has spent 35 years intentionally staying out of the competition circuit and how that choice hasn't cost their dancers a thing. Robin traces it back to her own training at the Baltimore School for the Arts and a marketing decision in early-2000s Pennsylvania, then dives into the real cost of "teaching to the tricks" like lopsided technique, inconsistent judging panels with no governing body, and studios

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31:51

Ep 66: Flipping the Script with Will Tijerina: When a...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/06/30

Will Tijerina had no dance background when he became co-owner of Dance 360 Orlando. What he did have: military discipline, corporate logistics experience, and a belief that performing arts build leaders. Robin met Will at a certified coaches training through More Than Just Great Dancing and this conversation picks up right where that left off. On this show, we talk a lot about how performing arts training prepares students for the world. This time, we flip the script and explore how the world

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25:54

Ep 65: The EMC Way (Part 2)

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/06/23

In Part 2, Robin picks up the story in Pennsylvania; the historic hardware store she knew was hers the second she walked in, the nail-biting negotiation her dad told her not to get emotionally invested in (spoiler: she did), and the husband who renovated 20,000 square feet room by room. Two decades later, she's running EMC from Florida and somehow more inspired than ever. This one's for every family who's ever wondered what this place is actually made of. Get Your Brick and Support the Podcast: For

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42:20

Ep 64: From First Solo to Full Circle: Meghann...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/06/16

What happens when a little girl who fell in love with the stage grows up to become one of your most beloved teachers?In this episode, Robin sits down with Meghann Potter, EMC alumna, solidcore coach, and current Team member at EMC Performing Arts Studio, for a candid, laugh-filled conversation about what it really means to grow up in the dance world. Meghann takes us from her earliest days at a competitive studio in Glen Burnie, MD to training at EMC with Robin, to earning a BFA at the University

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24:31

Ep 63: The EMC Way (Part 1)

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/06/09

Before there was EMC, there was a girl who didn't dream of performing… she dreamed of teaching. This week, Robin tells us everything: the training that changed her, the rainy morning that stuck with her, the poor choices she made, and the vision that kept her going all the way to opening her own studio at 22. The EMC Way didn't come from a brochure. It came from this. Part 2 coming next!Get Your Brick and Support the Podcast: For $10 off your brick and to give $10 to the podcast, click HERE. Let’s

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47:29

Ep 62 - Building an Inclusive Dance Studio:...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/06/02

In this episode of In the Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts, Robin Snyder-Wiencek down with dance educator Anna Rose, founder of Dreamer's Dance Company in Dunedin, Florida, to talk about what it really looks like to build a studio where every student can belong.Anna shares her journey from early training (including seasons where finances were tight) to teaching in public schools, and ultimately growing Dreamer's Dance Company from an after-school program into a thriving studio

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29:55

Ep 61 - Inside EMC: Production Season

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/05/26

This week, the conversation between Robin and Santina, touches on the things that are happening at EMC. Join us as we chat all things Production Rehearsals, from what they are to how they differ from regular rehearsals, the types of rehearsals that happen during these two weeks and why each matters, why this is where real growth happens for performers, physical prep for performers and their families, mental prep and what to expect emotionally during this stretch, how parents can coach without

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38:45

Ep 60: From Studio Brat to Nashville Stage: Brendan...

In The Spotlight: Raising Leaders in the Performing Arts ·

2026/05/19

What does it look like when a kid who grew up dancing, doing gymnastics, and playing guitar in a performing arts studio ends up playing professionally on Broadway in Nashville? Robin sits down with her son, Brendan Wiencek, known on stage as Gatlen Gunn, for an honest, warm, and funny conversation about the winding road from studio brat to full-time musician.They dig into what Brendan actually learned growing up inside a performing arts environment, not just technique, but the interpersonal skills,

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