John Corella asked Marianne Williamson how to raise fierce girls. She answered with a better question: How do we raise loved and loving children? Her answer gives parents and dance teachers a new way to think about the kids in their care.

Marianne is the bestselling author of A Return to Love, a two-time presidential candidate, a teacher of A Course in Miracles, and the founder of Project Angel Food. On Dance Dad with John Corella, she talks with the Dance Moms co-creator about her childhood ballet classes, her daughter, and what it takes to raise ethical children. Wait for her story about a pet store, one kitten, and a decision her eight-year-old made in front of a room full of strangers.

John asks her about a line of hers he once posted, that sex without love is dangerous, and the backlash he received from gay men for sharing it. She takes him back to the AIDS crisis in Los Angeles, when young men in her support groups said coming out to their parents felt harder than telling them they were dying. A phone call from David Geffen helped her establish a center for people affected by AIDS, which eventually led to Project Angel Food. For parents of transgender kids, she shares what her brother learned while raising his grandson.

If you have ever wondered how to raise loving children in a divided time, start here. Marianne has spent more than forty years teaching love as a daily practice, and it shows in every answer.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Dance Dad with John Corella and Marianne Williamson

04:56 How to Help Dance Moms Right Now

08:02 Marianne Williamson on Her Childhood Ballet Classes

15:08 Why Sex Without Love Is Dangerous

21:03 Remembering the AIDS Crisis in Los Angeles

27:00 David Geffen and the Birth of Project Angel Food

44:52 How to Raise Loving and Ethical Children

59:47 How to Hold a Stage and Handle Nerves

1:08:36 Advice for Parents of Transgender Kids

1:12:21 Why Midlife Women Feel Unfulfilled and What Helps

Connect with Marianne Williamson:

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Connect with John Corella:

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Join Dance Dad with John Corella on Patreon

Visit John Corella’s website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

At 17, Gloria Gifford was told she was too sensitive to be an actor. Years later, she walked away from her executive job at Bloomingdale’s, started classes at HB Studio, and was on Broadway within four years.

On Dance Dad with John Corella, John reunites with the teacher who first sparked his love of acting for a behind-the-scenes conversation about Halloween II (1981). Gloria is an NAACP award-winning director, an AFI master teacher, and a Halloween II star whose fans still line up to meet her at conventions.

Her role as head nurse Mrs. Alves was written for a grouchy 55-year-old woman with gray hair. Gloria explains how director Rick Rosenthal changed that and cast her as a Black woman in a position of authority, an unusual move for Hollywood at the time. She also shares what shooting Halloween II in an abandoned hospital was really like, why she spent a lunch break stuck on a gurney, and what the cast of Halloween II was like off camera, Jamie Lee Curtis included.

Gloria pays tribute to her classmate Dominique Dunne, Poltergeist star and the hardest-working scene partner she ever had. Then she gets blunt about how to become a working actor and tells the Rob Reiner audition story that opened with an unexpected comment about her looks. Press play for behind-the-scenes stories from Halloween II and a real lesson in drive from someone who has lived it.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Gloria Gifford Joins Dance Dad for Halloween

04:39 How Gloria Landed Her Halloween II Role

06:37 Breaking Casting Barriers in 1980s Hollywood

14:23 Told She Was Too Sensitive to Act

22:34 Stuck on a Gurney Shooting Halloween II

27:05 What Jamie Lee Curtis Was Like on Set

42:35 Gay Leading Men in Hollywood Today

48:06 Remembering Dominique Dunne and What Drive Means

52:21 Gloria’s Spinal Tap Audition With Rob Reiner

1:22:39 Directing Live Italian TV Without Speaking Italian

Connect with Gloria Gifford:

Follow Gloria on Instagram

Connect with John Corella:

Follow Dance Dad with John Corella on Instagram

Follow John on Instagram

Join Dance Dad with John Corella on Patreon

Visit John Corella’s website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Julie Renn spent years telling her students anything was possible. Then the industry hardened her, and the day she talked her own daughter out of an audition showed her what that had cost. Her story offers an honest look at how to inspire young dancers without letting fear do the teaching.

On Dance Dad, host John Corella, co-creator of Dance Moms, sits down with the choreographer and producer behind Julie's Jazz Pizzazz. As a competitive dance studio owner, Julie opened her first studio at 17 and went on to put about 35 groups on Star Search. John grew up watching those groups from the competition floor, and he still credits them with the magic that pulled him into dance.

Julie shares what producers told her after she arrived at the show with ten brand-new routines, and how that advice changed her approach to dance competition choreography. She opens up about dealing with dance moms and the parent rivalry that never really goes away. She also tells the story of a shy student, a pair of scissors, and a night in the studio bathroom that set him on an unexpected path.

For teachers and parents who care about inspiring kids, Julie's answer to how to inspire young dancers is simple to say and harder to live. Listen now to hear what she would teach differently today and why she calls dance the car that never runs out of gas.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Dance Dad with John Corella and Guest Julie Renn

03:01 Opening a Dance Studio at Just 17

09:04 Julie's 35 Star Search Groups and Champions

14:44 Why Producers Told Her to Reuse Choreography

19:55 Why Competition Dance Became Too Expensive

26:39 How to Inspire Young Dancers to Dream

35:04 Former Students Who Reached Broadway and Hollywood

41:57 What Julie Really Thought About Dance Moms

45:33 Why Julie Speaks Out for Equality

1:01:28 The Haircut That Changed a Young Dancer's Life

Connect with Julie Renn:

Follow Julie on Instagram

Follow Julie on Facebook

Connect with John Corella:

Follow Dance Dad with John Corella on Instagram

Follow John on Instagram

Join Dance Dad with John Corella on Patreon

Visit John Corella’s website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm