Kicking It Real – Details, episodes & analysis

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Kicking It Real

GABBY ROBERTS

Arts

Frequency: 1 episode/6d. Total Eps: 66

What does it take to dance on Broadway, kick with the Rockettes, or book the job you've chased for years? And who are you once you get it? I'm Gabby Roberts, a former Rockette who heard "no" five times before I heard "yes." I talk with dancers about the parts of a dance career nobody posts: auditions, rejection, burnout, money, and life after the job ends. Every guest leaves with a real moment of being seen, and a chance to impact YOU. This dance podcast is where the highlight reel ends and the honest, in-progress stuff begins. Come for the stories, stay for the "same, me too" moments 🤍

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Data updated on 22/10/2026

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https://www.instagram.com/kickingitrealpod
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https://www.instagram.com/amandakloots
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https://www.instagram.com/bellabhungary
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55. 10 years a Rockette: how a torn ankle ended ballet and started Radio City, and who you are after the line with Alyssa Lemons

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 • Duration 01:04:22

Alyssa Lemons was a Radio City Rockette for ten years, and she was never once on the list. Every single year, she auditioned for her own job. Then one summer, she didn't get it back.
Two former Rockettes, one conversation. We start with the ballet scholarship that ended before her freshman year began, with two partially torn tendons and a ligament in her ankle, and the Radio City touring show she saw that Christmas while still in a boot. From there it's an absolute beginner tap class, the Rockette Summer Intensive invitational week, a Rockette Assistant contract she signed on the spot, and a boot camp with only five new girls.
Then we get into the reality of the job: compartmentalizing through four show days, why the day after is the worst one, saying thank you for every note, and how she turned "they keep hiring me back" into her audition mantra. She opens up about the summer she didn't get the job, trying three therapists, writing letters to herself before the first rehearsal posts went up, and the 5:30 a.m. class where she finally felt relief. Plus how Pilates and a Lululemon ambassadorship gave her a new community, why rookie Rockettes should learn three full push-ups, and what she'd tell herself about owning the title.
If you've ever been scared that you're "just a dancer," this one is for you.
Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby
Find Alyssa here 👇🏼
Instagram: @alyssa.lemons.nyc (weekly NYC class schedule, DM for privates)

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54. from Rockette to Broadway to TV host: getting cut twice, Dancing With the Stars and why it's never a pivot with Amanda Kloots

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 • Duration 01:00:41

Amanda Kloots got cut from the Rockettes twice before she booked it. What came after: 16 years of performing, Broadway, a fitness brand, Dancing with the Stars, five seasons co-hosting The Talk, and now her own podcast. And she says none of it was a pivot.
Two former Rockettes, one conversation. We get into what changed between her second and third Rockette audition, surviving the five show day era, and why she left the line for Broadway because she wanted her own character instead of being one of 36. She shares the AK! Rope classes nobody came to for eight months, the Cats cut that made her go all in on her business, and why she calls every career move an enhancement.
Then we go behind the scenes of Dancing with the Stars: why every week is like learning a brand new sport, the advice she gave her friend Jenna Dewan before this season, and why she feels like a better dancer now than ever. Plus what the Rockettes taught her about hosting live TV, how she preps for interviews, why she waited three years to start her grief podcast, whether she'd come back to Broadway as Roxie, and what she'd tell 18 year old Amanda walking into her first audition.
If you've ever stepped away from dance and wondered if you're still a dancer, this one is for you.
Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby
Find Amanda here 👇🏼
Instagram: @amandakloots
Podcast: Good Grief
Proper Health: properhealth.com

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53. reinventing your dance career: cruise ships to Broadway to professor, why burnout is really boredom & how to choose a dance college with Lindsey Hanson

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 • Duration 01:08:41

Lindsey Hanson has performed on Broadway, on the Radio City stage, on Sesame Street, and on cruise ships doing trapeze. And every time she got to the top of one corner of the dance world, she started over in a new one, on purpose.

She danced with a contemporary jazz company through the Joffrey Ballet School, then cruise ships, then musical theater, then TV and film, and then played the White Queen in Third Rail Projects' Then She Fell. While she was still on tour, she earned her MFA from Montclair State. Today she's a newly tenured dance professor at Hope College, her alma mater, and she's wrapping up a year of four site-specific works made in worship spaces, funded by a $250,000 grant from Creative Arts Collective: Holland, a bird's-eye dance film, 22 dancers in New York, and a fourth in Grand Rapids.

We get into the night she learned a duet, lifts and all, 30 minutes before curtain on a ship, what it's like to find your mark at Radio City when the show is a magic act, the thesis premiere COVID cancelled that went on to 13 film festivals, and the three words that got her through grad school: action cures fear. She also pulls back the curtain on how grants actually work and why burnout might really be boredom.

Then we go deep on choosing a dance college. BFA vs BA vs conservatory, what to ask on a campus visit, why your professors are your first network, and why "the industry" is so much bigger than you think.
If you're auditioning for college this fall, or you're scared to start over at something new, this one is for you.

Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod
@potentiallygabby

Find Lindsey here 👇🏼
Instagram: @lindseyhandsoncollective
Website: lindseyhansoncollective.com

52. why Broadway vets can't get auditions right now: celebrity casting, rejection, and starting a side business with Mary Page Nance

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 • Duration 01:14:04

Mary Page Nance is living proof of something every artist finds out eventually: talent can get you into the room, but your willingness to stay uncomfortable decides what you do once you're in it.

She trained in modern dance at SUNY Purchase, made her Broadway debut in the original company of Finding Neverland, swung twenty tracks in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and went on to the original companies of A Beautiful Noise and Lempicka. She also runs Monocle Productions, her custom event entertainment company, and a page of mary, her handmade paper goods business. And somewhere in the middle of all that, while she was already working on Broadway, she went back to acting school.

We get into why the open calls she spent years showing up to were never real auditions, the email that got her into an Andy Blankenbuehler master class for free, and the first audition where the room was actually expecting her. We talk about what it feels like to go on for a role on a Broadway stage while quietly guessing, and why she went home early on opening night to make a 9:30 a.m. acting class in Brooklyn.

If you've heard no so many times lately that you've started to wonder whether you're the problem, this one is for you.

Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby

Find Mary Page here 👇🏼
Instagram: @marypagenance
TikTok: @marypagenance
Monocle Productions: @monoclenyc
a page of mary: @apageofmary

Her Wicked and Lempicka card designs are at The Drama Book Shop in NYC.
Sarah Kleist's business course for multi-hyphenate artists: sarahkleist.com

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51. from Chicago Bulls dance captain to Squid Game contestant with Julia Pontarelli

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 • Duration 59:10

Julia Pontarelli packed her car, said goodbye to the only city she had ever called home, and moved to Seattle with two weeks to spare between the end of one dance career and the start of another. Losing the thing your whole life was built around rarely comes with a ceremony, most of the time it just quietly asks you who you are now that it is gone.

Julia spent five years dancing for the Chicago Bulls, working her way up to head captain, before that move to Seattle put her on an NFL dance team for what turned out to be a single season, ending when she was cut the following year. She eventually opened her own dance studio in Seattle, and somewhere in the middle of all of it she also became Player 029 on Squid Game: The Challenge, walking straight into a show built entirely around elimination.

We get into what actually happens in the two weeks between packing up a five year career and starting a brand new one three thousand miles away.

We talk about the post that never happened, the one everyone was waiting for that said she made the team again, and what it cost her to be happy for the friends who did. We also get into why she signed up for a literal elimination show months after living through one, and which kind of getting cut actually hurt more.

Gabby and Julia have known each other since fourth grade, back when they were both dancing in the same production of the Nutcracker, and this one is for anyone who has ever had something taken from them before they were ready to let it go.

Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby

Find Julia here 👇🏼
Instagram & TikTok: @juliaponty

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50. Rockette secret retirement to future therapist with Natalie Butt

Wednesday, September 16, 2026 • Duration 56:35

Natalie is back on Kicking It Real, and this conversation is proof that you're allowed to walk away from the thing you built your whole identity around and come out the other side more yourself, not less.
She spent multiple seasons dancing with the Radio City Rockettes, performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and at a Madison Square Garden halftime show, and this past season quietly juggled full Rockette rehearsals with her first year of an online graduate program, all while telling almost no one it would be her last season on the line.
We get into what it actually felt like to keep her retirement a secret from her castmates and friends, why burnout ended up being the thing that opened the door to a completely different career, and the moment in a job interview that stopped her in her tracks: "how'd you go from being a Rockette to here?"
We talk about the sunk cost fallacy, what it's like to trade being the most impressive person in the room for a total identity reset, and the exact reframe that made the pressure of becoming someone's therapist feel possible instead of terrifying.
This one is for anyone quietly wondering if they're allowed to want something new after giving everything to the thing they thought was forever.
Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby

Find Natalie here 👇🏼
Instagram & TikTok: @nataliekbutt

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49. building a successful career in LA, financial literacy for dancers and knowing your worth with Bella Bernath

Wednesday, September 9, 2026 • Duration 50:39

Bella Bernath will tell you that talent gets you in the room, but knowing your worth is what actually keeps you working, and keeps you sane while you are doing it.
She started dancing at four years old, was teaching by fourteen, and graduated high school early just to buy herself more time before her move to LA. Within a few years she booked a six year run touring the world as a dancer for Maluma, including his 11:11 World Tour, and somewhere in the middle of all that she landed a Vegas production that turned out to be run by an actual family with real mob ties.
We get into what a real dance contract actually looks like, why she will not work a job that pays below Dancers Alliance rate, and the exact money habits that let her build a six month savings cushion before she ever moved to LA. We talk about negotiating retainer pay mid tour, the difference between wanting a job and needing one to survive, and why so many genuinely talented dancers still cannot shake the feeling that they are not doing enough.
Bella also gets real about what touring actually looks like behind the highlight reel, the hurry up and wait days, the friendships that only exist inside a tour bubble, and the version of herself she had to build to stay steady through years of living out of a suitcase.
This one is for anyone who has ever felt guilty asking to get paid what they are worth.
Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby
Find Bella here 👇🏼
Instagram & TikTok: @bellabhungary

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48. stop being so perfect: breaking the desperation mindset & learning to trust yourself as a freelance dancer with Sam Assemany

Wednesday, September 2, 2026 • Duration 54:49

Two years into taking his class, Mike Esperanza pulled Sam Assemany aside and told her to stop being so perfect, to mess it up a little. That is the fear underneath most desperation, the belief that if you are not flawless or constantly visible, someone is going to forget you exist, when usually the opposite is true.
A Western Michigan University dance grad, Sam moved to New York in September of 2015 and took her first class with choreographer Mike Esperanza a month later, a class she still calls the most life changing hour she has ever spent in a studio. She has since become a member of BARE Dance Company, spent six years teaching at a studio on Long Island, and now works within NYCDA, one of the largest dance convention circuits in the industry.
We get into the audition she didn't book two years into taking Mike's class, and why she walked away sad but not angry, not even a little.
We talk about the desperation mindset dancers fall into, the fear of being forgotten if you are not constantly in someone's face, and the one uncomfortable conversation Sam finally had that changed that. We also get into what social media and convention camera culture are doing to young dancers' patience and their ability to just be bad at something in peace.
If you have ever stayed too available out of fear that pulling back would mean being forgotten, this one is for you.
Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby
Find Sam here 👇🏼
Instagram: @samassemany

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47. redefining what winning actually means as a dance adjudicator after years of chasing titles and national crowns with Clara Eaton Ribeiro

Wednesday, August 26, 2026 • Duration 59:08

Clara Eaton Ribeiro used to stand on the podium wondering why she was the only one of her friends walking away with silver instead of gold. That is the trap of chasing recognition, the belief that a medal color could actually tell you how much you were worth, when it never really could.
Clara spent six years performing professionally on cruise ships, training as an aerialist and dancing inside a scuba certified aqua show alongside Olympic divers and Red Bull athletes before she ever sat on the other side of the table as a dance adjudicator and coach. She is also the founder of Vertex Vibe, a boutique dance convention she built on purpose to cap attendance around thirty dancers, a direct answer to the two hundred, sometimes six hundred person conventions she grew up competing at.
We get into what changed for her the first time she sat on the other side of the judging table, deciding who wins and who does not.
We talk about the studio etiquette moment she sees quietly follow dancers into the professional world, why she will always argue dance is an art before it is a sport, and the very real work of letting go of other people's opinions when you have built something with your whole heart.
If you have ever needed someone else to hand you permission to feel proud of yourself, this one is for you.
Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby
Find Clara here 👇🏼
Instagram: @claraeaton
Vertex Vibe: @vertexvibe

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46. dethroning the industry: finding your authentic voice & defining success with Antonio King

Wednesday, August 19, 2026 • Duration 55:07

Antonio King spent a full month convinced one audition was going to define the rest of his career. That is the trap of wanting anything badly enough, the belief that a single yes or no from someone else could actually decide who you are, when it almost never does.
A performer working professionally for over a decade, Antonio spent six years chasing his first national tour before landing Jersey Boys, then went on to play Jimmy Early in Dreamgirls at Phoenix Theatre, a performance he calls the proudest of his career despite a hamstring pull and sciatica that cost him two weeks of the run. He is also the voice behind a growing platform built out of what he used to call his shirtless sermons, unscripted Instagram stories that became a real resource for young performers navigating an industry built on comparison.
We get into the eight callbacks and eleven sides that pushed him toward a show he ultimately did not book, and the moment two weeks later when he caught himself still spiraling and had to consciously choose to stop.
We talk about the term he coined for that choice, dethroning it, and how he uses it to keep opportunities, likes, and other people's timelines from deciding his worth. We also get into his current prayer for freedom from comparison, offense, and distraction, and the small daily habits, gratitude first thing in the morning, skincare as self-care, a genuinely swift block button, that keep him rooted in his own voice.
If you have ever put something so high on a pedestal that losing it felt like losing yourself, this one is for you.
Stay in the loop with me 🤍
Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby
Find Antonio here 👇🏼
Instagram & TikTok: @a.king_32

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Kicking It Real – Details, episodes & analysis

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Kicking It Real – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Instagram6

Other8

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Instagram6

Other8

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