"Fail fast. Take the risk, learn from it. Listen to your elders, but don't sacrifice your gut."

Michael Novak, Artistic Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, joins host Alissa Hsu Lynch to talk about his path from a childhood outside Chicago to leading one of the world's top modern dance companies. Dance became his way to communicate when he developed a severe stutter at age 10, and he later found modern dance after an injury led him to step away from the stage and enroll at Columbia. He was about to move to Los Angeles when a mentor told him about a Paul Taylor audition, and he got the job. In 2018, while he was planning his exit from performing, Paul Taylor named him his successor.

Michael also talks about learning to stay steady in the studio when the creative process gets hard, guiding the company through its founder's death and the pandemic, why he leads as a coach on the studio floor, and what audiences can expect from the company's Lincoln Center season.

Don't miss this conversation about trust, reinvention, and the power of live performance.

💡 Key Takeaways:

• A steady presence in the room gives others space to do their best work

• Every job you take, even the ones that seem unrelated, can prepare you for what comes next

• A crisis puts everyone on equal footing, which makes room for new ideas

Photo Credits:

Erin Baiano, Jordan Matter, Laspata DeCaro, Paul B. Goode, Steven Pisano, Whitney Browne, Paul Taylor Dance Company

Connect with Paul Taylor Dance Company:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/paul-taylor-dance-company

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paultaylordance/

Website: https://paultaylordance.org/

✅ Sign up for the newsletter:

https://theleadershipdance.substack.com/s/the-leadership-dance

👉 Listen and follow: https://linktr.ee/theleadershipdance

Music from InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ "Catwalk Queen"

"Just go and do whatever you feel like, but do it with a hundred percent energy and do it consistently."

Takumi Miyake, Soloist with American Ballet Theatre, joins host Alissa Hsu Lynch to talk about a career that started in his family's ballet studio in Kagawa, Japan, where he is the fourth generation to dance. At 13, he won first place at the Youth America Grand Prix and left home on a full scholarship to the Royal Ballet School. After two ankle surgeries during COVID kept him out for a year and a half, he emailed ABT Studio Company director Sascha Radetsky and asked to join the audition class. He left New York with a contract and was promoted to soloist after his first year in the corps de ballet.

Takumi also opens up about staying motivated through injury, stepping into his first acting role as Lensky in Onegin, and what it's like to share both life and the stage with his girlfriend and fellow ABT soloist Yoon Jung Seo.

Don't miss this conversation about ambition, resilience, and going after what you want.

💡 Key Takeaways:

• Opportunity often goes to the people who ask for it

• Recovery happens day by day, so do what you can and keep pushing

• Leadership starts with asking questions and helping the people around you

Media Credits: E'production, Gene Schiavone, Rosalie O'Connor, Skylar Brandt, Zordan Photography, certain photos courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

Connect with Takumi:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taku.ballet/

✅ Sign up for the newsletter:

https://theleadershipdance.substack.com/s/the-leadership-dance

👉 Listen and follow: https://linktr.ee/theleadershipdance

Music from InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ "Catwalk Queen"

"There appears to be some sliver of time somewhere between 32 and 55 where it's okay for women to be successful."

Elizabeth 'Liza' Yntema, founder and president of Dance Data Project®, joins host Alissa Hsu Lynch alongside Nancy Dobbs Owen, DDP's communications lead, to talk about a career built on law, philanthropy, and a belief that dance is an economic sector hiding in plain sight. Liza founded DDP after a night at the ballet made her realize the audience, donors, and dance schools were mostly women, yet no one behind the curtain was. DDP has since published 75 reports exposing pay gaps and leadership disparities across the dance world, one company at a time.

Liza and Nancy also get personal about building careers that don't follow a straight line, overcoming outdated attitudes, and why your best work might come decades after others expected you to peak.

Don't miss this conversation about disruption and reinventing an industry from the inside.

💡 Key Takeaways:

• Reinvention doesn't erase who you are, it just changes how you show up

• Skills you build in one chapter of your career will show up again later, often when you least expect it

• Progress isn't owed to you, so keep asking, keep pushing, and keep showing up

Connect with Liza and Nancy:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancedataproject/

Website: https://www.dancedataproject.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dance-data-project/

✅ Sign up for the newsletter:

https://theleadershipdance.substack.com/s/the-leadership-dance

👉 Listen and follow: https://linktr.ee/theleadershipdance

Music from InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ "Catwalk Queen"