1234.

Get my shoes in.

Out the door.

Five.

I'm lost.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Feels great.

I'm gonna shine.

After I do what I'm gonna do.

I do it again.

Yeah.

Look at the sky with the beautiful color.

But never just for me.

You gotta share it with another.

I got to show, to give.

Let I want singing show.

Take a look and say a beautiful morning that turns into a beautiful evening.

And together make beautiful art.

And if you wanna see that, come along with me.

That's right.

Welcome to experience, and I thank you so much for being with us as we get out and explore the Michiana area.

Phoenix Performing Arts is presenting White Christmas on the stage at the Goshen Theater.

We're also going to see a recently renovated room at Bendix Woods County Park called the Discovery Room.

But first we're going to find out about Epic Holidays, a dance production happening at the Lerner Theater.

You can be sure that there's one thing I'll never do on this show, and that's dance.

You'll never see me dance on this show.

I don't know why you never get, you know.

But I am here with Epic Dance Studios.

I'm here with Stephanie, who's the director, and also KJ a hip hop instructor.

Dance instructor.

Right.

Yeah.

And so you're director because this is actually a nonprofit organization.

It is?

Yeah.

And so can you tell me why it's a nonprofit versus just a studios that's for profit?

Yes.

So we are devoted to making dance available to everyone.

So we provide dance instruction to students with special needs free of charge.

We offer over $20,000 a year in scholarships for students who need financial aid, to be able to study dance.

And then we have outreach programs with our community.

So, like with Epic Holidays will be performing a school show, for students free of charge.

We will be, doing some community performances as well.

And, and then we provide dance instruction for after school programs, through the Tolson Center.

Just.

Yeah.

So that's why we're nonprofit.

Not rolling in the money.

But but.

Yes.

I get it.

Although this is a beautiful, dance studio that you have here.

So, you know, if you're doing really well.

Oh, yes.

December 6th.

That is a big day for you at the Lerner Theater.

What's going on there?

Yes.

Epic Dance City also will be performing on December 6th.

In about two weeks.

The Lerner.

And it's a matinee and a 2 p.m.. It's part of Elkhart Winter Fest with the Elkhart Parks Department.

So families can come out.

They can go ice skating, they can do some shopping downtown.

They can, see the show in the afternoon.

And in the evening there's a parade and tree lighting ceremony.

So there's just a lot of really fun hallmark small town moments on December 6th.

KJ what's your role in this December 6th performance?

Oh, that's a good question.

So my main role is, been choreographing a lot of dances for little people.

So you'll see a lot of little kids and pajamas and snowman costumes, dancing our hearts out for this holiday season.

And it's going to be pretty epic.

I struggle to get one two year old to do anything I ask her to do.

How do you get a lot of kids to.

I mean, I don't know how young they are, but you said little, so how do you get them to do all that and follow some kind of rhythm?

Or is a chaotic depending on the age?

It can be a little chaotic, but for the most part we took them into having games and fun.

So we do freeze dance and freeze dance, get some, listen to music and start dancing.

And so it's a good, good alternative.

Where did your passion for dance come from?

Well, it started, just trying to get girls at high school.

That's what you.

I mean, fair.

And so today it's a different, different motivation today, right?

Exactly.

So I just try to get girls in high school.

I knew I'd have to be funny.

There was no way I was going to get girls in high school or something.

Is this where your passion was that you're.

That was my passion.

No, that was not okay.

Should.

I started dancing when I was a preschooler, actually.

It was kind of physical therapy for some physical limitations I had.

Yeah.

And, then went on to perform, for cruise ships.

I was a commercial dancer for a number of years and then came back to my community, and, I was working at Concord High School, which is when I met K.J.. So he became one of the dancers at Concord, where I was working.

And we created a program there which kind of kept growing and eventually we found that we needed to have our own space, which was epic dance studios and, and create this program for the total community instead of just the Concord district.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And with the epic holidays on December 6th, is this behind anything to do with it, or are you just decorating?

Yes.

So this performance is so fun and it's fast paced and it's energetic.

And, we dancers built out.

It took about ten minutes to build it.

Dancers do that while they're dancing.

Oh, cool.

And then a short piece, called Junkyard Snow, which is a celebration of the times where you wait for this.

The temperatures get too low to go to school so you can go outside and play and, and so the whole show is just kind of like that.

It's tongue in cheek.

It's Black Friday shopping, baking with grandparents.

Dolls.

There's tons of dolls coming to life.

It's the music of Duke Ellington's Harlem Nutcracker, which doesn't get enough publicity.

It's fantastic music.

And but it's not The Nutcracker.

This is not the Nutcracker.

It is a fun, exciting, sparkly production.

And so the hope of having it on that day during the festival that's going on, is that just to kind of really showcase what epic dances are doing in the community, or is it a fundraiser, or is it all the things?

It is.

It is just a celebration of dance.

And it is utilizing Elkhart dancers.

So they're, preschoolers through, senior citizens.

We have the Rockerettes where you have to be 60 to be able to perform.

And, we have a deck performing with us.

We have the little people.

And then, older dancers.

That'll knock your socks off.

We have some guest artists who will be performing as well, so it's just.

And the faculty, you'll see when we do Office Party and talk about all the silly things that happen at Office Party.

So it's really a fun exploration of the holiday season and the kicker to that is you'll see the girl I was dancing for.

Oh, you will see he married her.

I married her.

That's also a hip hop dance.

So it works at this as a teacher, it works.

Yeah.

She's like, there's just no way I can resist his dad's moves.

Like, I'm not sure that that would be a quote, but but but yeah.

So they teach together and they've been married ten years or something now.

Crazy.

Something.

Yeah, I get it.

It feels like a different number than the actual number.

And who's going to and what.

And when you talk about being a hip hop dance instructor is that reflected in this performance with music, with the music not being hip hop or like, like, how do you mix that?

Or what do you call yourself that kind of instructor?

Or is it like, do you mix it all together or what?

Oh, it's kind of challenging.

But this time we took a spin on that.

We're going to have a chill Grinch.

So you're going to see what a children's looks like with some hip hop moves.

And actually the music in the first half is the Harlem Nutcracker.

The second half we have hip hop and contemporary tap and all the different dance forms.

So yeah, and you talk about it all from like young kids, preschoolers all the way up to like, senior citizens.

Yes.

That's must be quite a challenge to get everyone together to write.

They they, the instructors pour their heart out to the students, and the students pour it right back at them.

And so, they are alive and vibrant and ready to take on the day and to share their gift of dance at the performance.

So it's it's actually, it's not as hard as you might think.

And so, even though you mentioned being a nonprofit and giving out scholarships and obviously getting fundraising and different things, if people want to come, they can afford to come.

They just pay, right?

Yeah.

So just contact the Lerner Theater.

No.

But I mean, if they want to come to Epic Dance Studio.

Oh, sorry.

Yes.

As a as a student, yes.

We're a full we're a full, genre dance studio.

So we offer dance classes for all ages in most generous and, for students who can pay.

Yes, they pay.

And then students who need financial aid are given scholarships.

So it's kept separately.

Yeah.

And then, of course, the Lerner Theater tickets for December 6th.

Sorry.

Yeah.

So the tickets are available for the show at the Lerner Theater.

You can go there by their website, or you can contact them by calling and get your tickets.

And are the tickets just for your show or as a part of the whole Winterfest that's going on, or just a concert?

The Lerner would be just another show.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Well, thank you so much.

I didn't know you were out here, but I like the epic vibes.

You know, I like the red.

I like all the epic love epic dance, epic holidays.

And we have some upcoming epic opportunities for people.

We have a Friday drop in class for adults.

And that is, pop, pop up hip hop.

So we bring in guest artists, one of the guest artists, they come in and they teach and you can come in, drop them, pay $10 and take one class just to try and try it.

And he's very good at breaking it down and making everyone feel welcome.

And then we also have signups for our spring session starting up in December, so you can get your fault, in breaking it down.

But like, I also heard, like, breaking it down, like, you know, like.

So he's really good at breaking it down.

You know, I yeah, he he could teach you.

Yeah.

Then it would cost more than $10.

Trust me when you're done with me.

But I thank you so much.

Best of luck with your epic holidays.

And, yeah, check out the Epic Dance Studios here in Elkhart.

So being on stage is one of our favorite things to do as we celebrate the community arts.

And we're with Phoenix Arts here in Goshen, at the Goshen Theater and Ashley and Cody, are joining us because you guys have a Christmas program coming up.

And it is a classic.

Oh my gosh, if you don't know this one, I need them to come talk to me.

Right.

But we're doing Irving Berlin, Berlin's White Christmas.

So the classic story you know and love from the movies years and years and years ago, but live on stage.

So it's very similar to that old film.

So it's what everybody has sat around and watched growing up.

Hopefully.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah, maybe.

Cody, what is your role in this performance?

I'll be playing the role of Phil Davis.

He's the sidekick of Bob Wallace.

The singer dancer combo.

I will be the dancer on stage.

Just going out and living my best life.

That's awesome.

If you're familiar with the movie, it's the Danny Kaye Crosby Carol.

Okay.

Yeah.

Very good.

So is this your, first production with Phoenix or have you done.

Done a bunch?

No, I've been in, pretty much every one except for one, production with Phoenix.

That's awesome.

Now, actually, for this, there's probably somebody out there that hasn't seen this.

No shame.

So so give us a sense of really kind of what this storyline is.

Yeah.

So the story follows two gentlemen performers.

They start out as Army soldiers, and then we transform ten years later and see them, you know, on stage in New York at Broadway setting.

And it's about their journey of finding love.

And, kind of reclaiming some moments from the past.

So you'll see kind of some stories intertwine with their general that they had.

I don't want to give too much away, but general that they had in 1944 during the war, and then they end up seeing themselves come back together with him when they find themselves, in, in, in, in Vermont, following, two girls, Betty and Judy Haynes, a sister act that performs and they come to find out that the end they end up in is actually run by their previous general, General Waverly.

Oh, that's so cool.

Yeah.

And it really is a classic.

And so it brings kind of back those familiar memories and things like that.

So it'll be great to have the community come be a part of it.

So what has it been like for you preparing for this?

Because there's song and there's dance and there's all the lines.

So what has this been like for you?

It's been a lot of like pretty much hours and hours of, dancing, of singing together, of just running through lines.

I mean, even just the other day, we were just going through and just reading through the script just to make sure that we're on on deck for it and ready to go.

Just simply becoming the character and spending nothing but hours to do that.

So, community theater, the keyword community is really about being a family.

So, we've heard what what that's like from your point of view, what has it been like for you being a part of, you know, this family, the Phoenix Performing Arts?

I mean, it couldn't be more than, the family that I have at home.

I mean, Ashley and I, we've been together for 17, 18 years now.

You know, when we were five.

Yeah.

So, I mean, we've all been best friends for the longest time, so, I mean, blood couldn't make us any closer when it comes down to production like this.

That's very cool.

And a big part of a show is the set.

And the set is just getting started, put together.

Because you guys just gained access to this, to the theater, like yesterday.

Yeah.

Your husband is kind of leading the way on that.

Give us a sense of what the stage is going to be like.

What I love about this.

And if, again, if you're familiar with the movie, the film, there are certain nuances, certain scenes that if you really are a white Christmas fan, you close your eyes and you can picture it.

And I am one of those.

I mean, cliche, like, I love White Christmas.

And so I had my own expectations and then he took them and just elevated them.

I mean, you literally feel like you are transformed in every scenario.

So we aren't just in an in in Vermont, you know, we're in New York, we're in, TV like television screen, you know, on stage stuff.

We're in dressing rooms.

You are transported right from 1944, middle of war, Christmas Eve to 1954.

And kind of what that meant, you know, ten years later.

And so, there's rustic, there's fabulous, there's grandiose, there's sparkles, there's technical aspects.

And so it's a feast for the eyes and I think a feast for the heart, too, you know, perfect timing for right before Thanksgiving and all of the holiday season starts.

I can't think of a better way to kind of get you in the feels right for what?

The warmth of what the holiday season brings, right?

And it really is about like pulling that community in and then taking them somewhere else.

Oh yeah.

Right.

And so the sets a big part of what you guys are doing on stage is really a big part of it.

How have you seen the reactions, from the audience?

As far as the different productions you've been in up until now, their response to the shows that you guys have been putting on?

We are just so blessed to have been so well loved and just loved in not only in this community, but, I mean, we've had people, from all over the United States, all over the Michiana area, come and see our shows.

This is the final production of our second season.

And so it's sometimes it just catches you off guard in a really positive way, because we really do.

We pour our hearts out not only on the stage but all of the people.

You know, my husband and myself, the team of people we have underneath us, they give so much of their time and their talents, and it's things that people see as the finished product on the stage.

But you don't know what we know, but they know the audience doesn't know how much they actually give to just so to see them love that it's people's hearts.

It's their it's their lives that they put up on these stages.

More than just the song and dance, and it's really special and nostalgic for me to get to watch them enjoy the people that I love so much.

So talk also about the people who are helping you guys present this story on stage by being backstage, because if you're going from New York to an inn in Vermont, like this stuff's changing all the time and people are running around, talk about all the people who are putting those same hours in behind the scenes.

Yeah, we have just I mean, from our stage manager, Ryan Shoemaker, I, I couldn't love him more.

We went with him for decades and decades now.

But he he's a teacher during the day to teach math.

And then he comes here at night to give of his time.

And he is like the general backstage.

He's he's kind, but he gets things going.

And so you just know when you have a team like Ryan and our costume team and everybody that works so hard behind the scenes, there's a sense of just trust in each other, to make these things happen.

And I think when you have that trust and you feel safe and you know that someone's got your back or, you know, 35 plus people have your back, it just it's different.

And so, yes, I mean, the set pieces are huge.

It's it's when you have those like movie musicals where it's it's was cinematic first before it was on stage, the things they expect you to do as far as where you're heading and how fast.

It's like, okay, we're doing it, but we do.

And the team of people back here that make it happen are there like the actual show?

We're just the sparkly part.

They are the ones that are running the ship.

So, Cody, do you have a favorite scene or number or whatever that's part of the show?

Absolutely.

That'd be let yourself go.

Just because I get to be on a stage with my best friend.

Pretty much.

We got this history together, and then we get to actually just be ourselves and let go and just be loose on stage.

And I just enjoy and enjoy that.

I haven't got to do that in years.

So it's just like the highlight of my day at that point.

We got Zach back up on stage.

He doesn't want anybody to know.

I don't think so.

He actually plays the Bing Crosby part his Danny Kaye.

So they're Bob and Phil and they've been best friends since pretty much high school.

And so it as a as a third party viewing you know person it's really neat to watch their camaraderie and just their natural chemistry together transform on stage.

And we just add a little 1950s flair, you know?

Yeah, that's very cool.

It really is a cool memory to be able to share that experience on stage.

So tell us when the show is happening, how many nights is it going and where can people get tickets?

Just three days only.

We got Friday and Saturday night, November 21st and 22nd at 730, and then Sunday, a matinee at 3 p.m.

on the 23rd.

And then that's it.

You can get tickets at the door if you'd like.

I will tell you they are selling pretty fast.

If you want your pick of the litter, so to speak.

You could I would get them online, which is at our website, the Phoenix arts.org.

Now, last time we were here, we talked a little bit about season three.

It's awesome.

The, the first two seasons you guys have done and season three is going to be even bigger.

So give us just a reminder again of some of the shows that are coming up in season three.

Let's see, I was like, we have a couple special announcements this weekend, so you'll want to be here for White Christmas for us to do those.

Okay.

So no sneak peeks of that yet.

But the first show of the, 2026 season is actually next to normal.

Auditions for that are before 2026 happen.

So December 4th and seventh and then our first youth show is Fame Junior.

We have, frozen and frozen junior this summer.

We have the Wedding Singer, Little Women, Aristocats, junior, tick, tick, boom.

Daddy longlegs, one that I can't tell you.

So basically no shows that anybody has ever heard of.

Yeah, not at all.

I know really small names.

No one has any correlation with them, so I'm going to be surprised.

Right.

Well, we really are looking forward to this production as well as what's coming forward in season three.

So thank you both so much for taking time to share.

What's going on this weekend as the show happens right here at Goshen Theater.

Thank you.

So I know I've been to Bendix Woods Park recently, but I haven't been in this space.

And if you haven't been over to the Nature Center, well, we have the reasons that you want to do, especially checking out the Discovery Center.

I have Hannah with me.

Thank you so much for joining me.

And this space has really made a transition.

Yes.

It's taken five years, really, since October of 2020 to sort of get the ball rolling on these renovations.

It sort of sat as it was for 30 years, and we thought it was time for new updates.

And it looks fabulous and it's so well done.

It's very bright.

It's very colorful.

Talk to us about the process of making the transition.

Yes, it started off as a simple project of updating a few things, and then it turned into a full blown demolition, new flooring, refactoring walls.

I feel like that happens anytime you do a renovation.

You pull up like the first layer of carpet, then you're like, oh, there's three layers of linoleum.

I don't have to work through.

Okay.

Especially.

And so it really started off as a small project, and then we saw how much we could do in this room, the space that we could really transform.

And it's turned into every inch of this room being updated.

I love it now.

Age ranges this space geared towards everybody.

So mostly kids.

But the the adults can have fun in here as well.

The funds not just for the kids.

So the first thing you'll notice when you walk in the room is just the carpeting.

Yeah.

So it's individual tiles, but we installed it to look like you're walking on a trail through forest.

So we have the brown tile sort of leading you to our forest in the back.

So from the start, it's interactive already, which is what I very well thought out.

I know you guys put a lot of energy into this too.

Yes, it was a whole staff effort on this one.

And volunteers as well.

And our construction crew, at the park did a lot of work in here as well, so it was a whole effort.

I love that, and let's talk briefly about, you know, what was the space before and why you wanted to expand that?

Yes.

So the space before it was about 30 years old.

And it was well-loved, but it was showing that age.

So if we sort of look along this wall where the green carpet was, that was a block of wall right there, and there were tanks in the wall.

We had our night world, which was a fabulous place.

A dark room that the people could go inside of.

And it was full of constellations and, everything sort of to do with nature at night.

But it blocked off almost a third of this room, so it became really tight and narrow.

So a lot of people were in here.

So our first, point of business really was knocking down that wall, clear it out to make a space more, just flows better.

It does.

Is very open, is very welcoming, is very bright.

Again, I love the colors.

Let's talk about some of the exhibits that we have in here, because I know you've some of the traditional ones.

They stayed right at the BES.

They were here before.

These were here before.

Okay.

Let me talk about the bees.

Yes.

Okay.

The bees was one of the first things that we did.

We have an active bee hive in here.

We call it our education hive.

So this is our actual bee hive.

We have a sign saying please don't open.

Bees are hard.

I work in there.

I don't have my EpiPen with me today, so don't open it.

But it is nice and closed off.

But the bees do have a tube with access to the outside because they do need to find food and water and do everything bees in there.

Do you have an important job here at the park?

Right?

Yes, a very important job.

So they are pollinators.

And so bees go from flower to flower, they get pollen, they help all of the plants talk to each other.

And bees are really important all across Indiana and the United States because they also help us get our food.

Like our our honey.

Yes.

So the really cool thing about this hive is we wanted people to see the bees going into it.

So on this side of our hive, we have a viewing window over here.

Oh, so these are the bees that are right inside of our hive.

Very work, very hard at work.

But we wanted people to be able to see the inside of the hive.

See the bees working.

Yeah.

Because normally you can see the inside of a high right.

Exactly.

So we, we took a little viewing window so that they can see that it's safe.

They say yes.

No, I love that this is still part of the bee hive exhibit here.

Yes.

So this was actually here before was.

Yes.

Yeah.

So this is a piece we brought back.

An intern actually had this idea and made it before I got here.

So this is one of the original pieces.

And it's interactive.

They can play sort of a nice tossing game of, beanbags where they learn about honey and pollen.

There's a crawl through element, which is very exciting, because every kid loves to crawl through something.

I know, I know, I'm very tempted.

I was going to start.

Oh, I asked, can we go?

Yes, we can we go through?

Okay.

Yes.

Let's talk about what this space is because this is amazing.

Are you coming, Hannah?

Oh, I'm coming behind you.

I love this space.

Now, this is what I'm talking about.

Well, we say all ages.

Yes, all ages especially.

Look at there's a little frond down there too.

Okay, this is the popular puzzle, and I cannot imagine that this is not popular.

This has to be right.

This is the most popular by far, and one of the best things.

It's interactive, but it's climbable.

And one of the biggest points of feedback were from our old Night World exhibit.

There was a tunnel that the kids could crawl through to get out of the night world.

Okay.

And that was our most important feedback from the public, is we want to crawl through something.

And so now we have a crawl through log.

And this is actually a native Indiana tree species, and we have a crawl through muskrat den.

Oh, well, and what about this over here?

Because this is I mean, this is beautiful.

I love the bing.

So this is my wander into the woods, and it looks like a mural.

But this is probably my favorite find because it's wallpaper.

So it's a realistic wallpaper that we were able to purchase.

And so we plastered it up on the wall and walking through our path leading us to our forest.

I wanted people to feel like they are standing in a forest.

Yes.

So wandering into the woods, they're immersing themselves in nature, but they're still inside a building.

But we have our windows looking out into our forest right behind the nature center, and we've added, critters and creatures and they're learning to.

You guys have all of the information here so people can learn more about it.

They can touch, you know, they can feel things.

They can look like at that, a leopard slug.

Okay, now, before we go, I have to try this, right?

Yes.

This is one of my favorite things I love these.

There's one of these at the zoo.

I'm not a very good jumper, but how far?

Who's the far?

This, that somebody jumped in here at least.

Maybe like five or so.

Do I have to run or stop?

So most people just sort of plant their feet, swing and go for it.

Oh.

Oh, like for an ass?

Yeah.

Pretty good, pretty good.

Father, you got a grasshopper?

There we go.

Perfect.

So there's great stuff to do.

When can people visit this space?

Yeah.

So the nature center in the Discovery Room is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.

to 4:30 p.m.. Even though it's during the workweek, there's still times where we can open it on.

And this place is free.

I mean, we have park entrance, you'll pay the park entrance, but this space is free to visit.

This is free.

Yep, I love that.

All right.

Thank you so much, Hannah.

Where can we get more information?

You can find more information at SJC parks.org.

Awesome.

Thank you so much for showing us around this.

Time to go climb.

Let's go.

Okay.

Well, that's it for this week's show.

Thank you so much for being with us.

We look forward to spending the holidays with you.

Remember, let us know what you guys are up to and what other people should get out and explore this holiday season.

Hit us up on Facebook and share your ideas and it just might end up on the show.

Have a great weekend everybody!

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