Thought I was going to write another book this year, but Oopsies, I started a business instead….

I love writing, whether it’s in my journal, in insta captions, or my blog… and I’d like to think I’m not too bad at it. This year, I set out to write another installment of “My Best Stripper Self”. I had a whole outline, table of contents, and even wrote a fair chunk of it. But I started to find that every time I sat down to write, everything I had to say might do better if directed at a wider audience rather than just my Stripper Sisters. I also learned that while I adore a physical and tangible book to hold onto, they are expensive. So, in my desire to share the wealth of knowledge I have from my 30 years of being on a stage and my actual BFA in Dance Performance, I decided the audience I wanted to reach was Movement Artists as a whole. What are “Movement Artists”, you ask? Think aerialists, strippers, ballroom dancers, hula hoopers, fire eaters, burlesque dancers- anyone who uses movement as an art form and performance.

 

So what venue did I choose to connect with these Movement Artists? How do I plan to provide them with value? I created The Feature Factory- A Digital Dance Studio. Please, let me introduce you.

The skills that I share within the Feature Factory are the lasting lessons I have accumulated over my performance career. But it wasn’t until Coco’s Magic Show, that I realized I could be sharing these skills in a meaningful way. The success I found in creating a show from scratch; choreography, performance embodiment, music editing, prop incorporation, costuming, marketing... were a culmination of my skills that resulted in a high value product. I ended up creating almost 10 shows in 6 months, and after every one I heard: “I wish I could perform like you, how do you do it?”. It almost felt like a dare, because I saw no reason why I couldn’t share how others could perform ‘like me’. It wasn’t even about me anyway. It was about taking what skills they already had, and presenting them in a way that showcased their abilities.

Considering that I am an incredibly self-led and independent person, I find that I thrive in environments where I am allowed to work independently. I wanted to create a program with offerings that reflected that. The Feature Factory’s leading course, The Principles of Performance is a lecture and self-reflection based course that introduces topics to learners with supporting journal prompts and exercises. In a relaxed environment, I discuss the importance of how performance starts within, and how the energy you rehearse is the energy you perform. The course is not about technique, choreography, or tricks. It is about cultivating an energy within you, and presenting it to an audience who ultimately begins to feel that energy within themselves.

The second pillar of The Feature Factory is Precision Coaching. An offering designed to have movement artists performance-ready in 3 sessions. 3 sessions, thats it?! Well, yes. Because my approach is rooted in taking what is already there, and presenting it in a meaningful way, I like to be the last person a performer will work with before hitting a stage. We don’t learn new tricks, we don’t set choreography, we take what its working and amplify it. (If you’ve read My Best Stripper Self, you’ll notice a similarity.) When I work from that perspective, my clients find immediate results, and a sense of empowerment in their movement. It’s transformational. These sessions are held over zoom, and scheduled at the performer's convenience. The sessions can also be used to review past performances or competition videos to discuss areas of opportunity to further find what is working well, or even what might not be as effective as hoped. Even the most independent performer wants another set of eyes on their work, and whether they choose to take or leave my input is up to them.

Lastly, The Feature Factory offers what I am calling “The Digital Dance Bag”. It is a downloadable toolkit full of resources, checklists, mini courses, and journal prompts for the self-led performer. It’s where I share things like “How to Dance your Warmup”, and “Conditioning Skills for Dancers who wear 7” Heels”. It’s designed to grow, and those who purchase receive lifetime access to its contents.

I called it The Feature Factory because it holds the tools to elevate an artist from Performer to Feature- not by changing who they are, but by amplifying what’s already within. Its offerings are mostly self-led, because the shift isn’t about adding more, it’s about revealing more. A Performer who commits to presence, purpose, and practice becomes unmistakable, they become a Feature.

I have goals to continue to host The Principles of Performance Workshops and Precision Coaching in person- however, I have strong feelings of success surrounding the ability to reach a wider audience with instant, digital access.

Check out The Feature Factory and all of its offerings here, and follow @Feature.Factory.Dance on Insta.

xo,c