By popular demand, we're bringing back one of our favorite conversations. Katie Schaar has danced and choreographed for Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, the Grammys, the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and world tours for P!nk, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift. She's also the co-creator of Sugarfoot Therapy and founder of MOTI Physiotherapy in LA.

In this episode, Katie shares how she built a career that spans performing and choreography, what she learned from mentors like Mia Michaels and Tice Diorio, and why she believes movement diversification is one of the best things a dance teacher can teach. She also gives real talk on emotional resilience for young performers and the value of income diversification for working artists.

Since this episode first aired, Katie has kept building. She's continued running teacher training workshops for Sugarfoot Therapy across the country, both virtually and in person. MOTI Physiotherapy also continues to grow, expanding access to specialized sports and orthopedic rehab care in LA.

If you're a teacher mentoring dancers toward the next stage of their journey, whether that's a professional career or simply a healthier relationship with the art form, this episode is packed with practical wisdom.

Click Here to Listen

About Katie

Katie Schaar has nearly two decades of experience as a Los Angeles-based dancer, choreographer, & dance teacher. Credits include Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, the American Music Awards, MTV VMA’s, the BRIT Awards, the Grammy’s, films The Muppets and Rock of Ages, the 2015 Super Bowl Halftime Show, and world tours for P!NK, Katy Perry & Taylor Swift.  She has a BA from Loyola Marymount University, where she studied Communications Studies and Dance. Katie co-created Sugarfoot Therapy, a physical therapy-based conditioning & injury prevention program for dancers; and she is the founder and Director of Operations at MOTI Physiotherapy in LA.

Sugarfoot Therapy Teacher Training Workshops: https://sugarfoottherapy.com/teacher-training-workshops/
Sugarfoot Therapy: www.sugarfoottherapy.com
MOTI Physiotherapy: www.motipt.com'

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Loren  0:00  
Hey everyone! Welcome to the Acrobatic Arts Podcast. I'm Loren, and I will be interviewing some of the top leaders and innovators from the dance and acrobatic industry. If you are a teacher, performer, student, or a lifelong learner like myself, you are sure to find these episodes intriguing and full of inspiration.

Loren  0:22  
Acrobatic Arts is. passionate about providing current and relevant information for everyone. So please sit back and enjoy as we share our passion with you and the world.

Loren  0:36  
Today's episode is part of our spotlight series, where we revisit conversations that continue to resonate across the dance community. Since we first recorded this episode with Katie Schaar, she has continued to do incredible work supporting dancers and the dance community through Sugarfoot Therapy. She has taken that work across the country, sharing her knowledge with both the dance and medical communities through virtual and in-person presentations and workshops, she's also continued to grow Motif Physiotherapy in Los Angeles. This group is committed to making high-quality, specialized physical therapy more accessible to athletes, dancers, and individuals seeking orthopedic rehabilitation. So today, we're revisiting my conversation with Katie Shar. Her expertise, passion, and dedication to helping dancers understand and care for their bodies make this conversation just as relevant today as it was when we first recorded it.

Loren  1:43  
I hope you enjoyed listening. Now it's time to shine the spotlight on today's guest. Katie Schaar. Hello, and welcome to the Acrobatic Arts Podcast.

Katie  1:55  
Hi, Loren. Thank you so much for having me. It's a joy to be here.

Loren  2:00  
I am so excited to speak with you today. I have done a few of your classes on CLI, and I am a huge fan.

Katie  2:09  
That's really exciting to hear. Thank you.

Loren  2:12  
As a first-time guest on the show, would it be possible for you to tell our listeners where you grew up, how you got started in dancing, and what led you to the path you're on today?

Katie  2:24  
You bet. I grew up in Dallas, Texas, and I started at a studio when I was four. Grew up just living that dance studio life. I would say it was a little bit less intensive than I see most dance studios operating these days, but by the time I was a teenager, I was probably training 12 to 16 hours a week, doing a few conventions and competitions each year, and I had the opportunity through those events to do a few scholarship training programs in Los Angeles, and that's really for me at the time what exposed me to the possibility of a dance career. So, long story short, I ended up going to school at Loyola Marymount University in LA. I was always a very academic kid. I enjoyed school, and I enjoyed doing well in school. So I knew that was something I wanted to pursue, and so I figured, let me go to school in LA, and that way I can also feel out what it's like to live in that big city, and maybe what it's like to pursue a dance career. So that's what I did after I completed college. I stayed in LA and was very fortunate to have a fantastic dance career that surpassed my wildest dreams. And then I met my husband Nick when he was completing his doctorate of physical therapy at USC in Los Angeles, from the moment we met, we were very inspired by each other's professions. Over the years, we ended up collaborating, and that's what led us to create both Sugarfoot therapy and our brick and mortar clinics MOTI  physiotherapy. So that's the that's the cliff's notes on my long journey in this career.

Loren  4:34  
Sitting here now, looking back on the list of your accomplishments, did you ever imagine that you would be involved with such outstanding projects.

Katie  4:45  
No way. Well, first of all, when I was a kid and and a teenager, like there was no social media, there were no dance reality shows, there just wasn't the same amount of ex. Exposure and awareness of what was going on in the professional industry. I knew of a few dancers who had come up through my dance studio who had gone on and were working in New York and LA, but that's all I really knew of. And and even then, there's no access to behind the scenes or like now everything is so exposed and so out in the open, so I kind of just had no idea. And those those opportunities to go train in LA in the summers were really what kind of showed me what it was like, and that it was even something you could try to do. And then I also was really fortunate from a young age to develop some really positive mentorships.

Loren  5:46  
Which of your personal qualities has worked in your favor throughout your journey and your career?

Katie  5:54  
Well, I think for sure my my academic inclination as a kid is something that ended up really serving me that you wouldn't have necessarily thought so as a young dancer. You know, as when we're training, we're so focused on the physical. But I think what really ended up creating longevity and a unique perspective for me in the industry was a lot of that just capacity to process information and organize information, and a lot of those skills that you really hone through academics. Oddly enough, so I think that was one thing that really kind of set me on my own path in a really good way, and then the other thing I think is just having emotional stability to handle high pressure situations. You know, being a performer in and of itself is high pressure, and then you add on the pressure of auditioning and constant rejection, and it's a lot. So I think I have wonderful parents and a wonderful family, and I was always taught to value balance in life and a healthy mental and spiritual life, and I think all those tools really helps give me an ability to remain emotionally healthy throughout all of the challenges of being a performer.

Loren  7:35  
Wow, I'm so glad you brought that up. We had a sports psychologist on a few weeks ago, and that is a huge topic. Do you have any advice for a young dancer who might be struggling, and what they could do to gain better emotional security?

Katie  7:55  
I think the main thing is to talk about it. You know, talk to your parents or any any adults that you feel comfortable, or even if you don't feel comfortable, you know, starting to talk about it, it will become more comfortable to talk about the pressure you feel or the anxiety you feel, and you know, hopefully there are adults in your life that create a a comfortable and welcoming environment for you to speak openly.

Loren  8:28  
This next question might tie into the previous one. What's one piece of advice you'd give to someone who aspires to accomplish what you have in your career?

Katie  8:41  
Well, I would definitely say it's good to have an open mind. I think having too narrow of expectations or too narrow of goals for yourself can actually be self-limiting. For instance, I just knew that I loved dance, and all I said is I want to be a dancer. Well, shortly after I finished college, S o Y ou T hink Y ou C an D ance was starting up, and from assisting on conventions, I knew Tyce Diorio well, and Tyce Diorio asked me in like season one or two to come assist him on that show. Well, that turned into me meeting Mia Michaels, and right when I graduated college, I was assisting both Tyce and Mia not only on So You Think You Can Dance, but on many of their other creative projects. And from a very young age, I was put into this role of assistant choreographer, which I didn't even know that was a thing, but you know, I kind of just rolled with it, and it ended up really laying the foundation for the rest of my career. So I think having an open mind and really being. i nto any possibilities or opportunities that might present, even if they're not exactly what you thought it was going to be.

Loren  10:11  
Great advice. You never know what one opportunity is going to lead to.

Katie  10:15  
That's right.

Loren  10:16  
Yeah. And what do you prefer more, performing or choreography?

Katie  10:22  
Ah, that's. that's so hard to choose, but you know what? I I guess I would say I love I love when the two overlap, and this is this is probably kind of specific to the path my career took, but I mean I love performing. I do. It's it's so thrilling, but I also learned that I love the creative process, and I love those moments of discovery, and I even love the aspect of problem solving in the creative process. And I think that I kind of love I love being in that position where I get to do all of those things, and so, and I often found when I was just a a dancer on the project, the performing kind of lost its luster after like once it once the piece was set in stone and everything was perfectly polished, it wasn't as exciting for me as performing during the creation process, if that makes sense. So I, I kind of love, I guess, a little bit more complexity than just going on stage and and performing something that's already perfectly fine tuned.

Loren  11:39  
Right. It's the journey that makes it

Katie  11:41  
yeah exactly

Loren  11:43  
that's great. What has been the biggest highlight of your career, or maybe one thing that you never expected?

Katie  11:52  
Well, I'm gonna kind of play on what I just said on the previous answer, and I guess for me the biggest highlight and thing that I never expected was getting to play rock star. So, kind of later in my career, I ended up working pretty extensively as an associate choreographer and movement coach for a few big pop stars, namely Katy Perry and Pink. And in my role on the choreography team, I was very involved with choreographing everything the dancers do. But I was also kind of directly responsible for what the pop star did at all times. You know, I would I would create their movement, I would teach them their movement, and a lot of times that process involved me performing their performance or their entire two-hour concert for them. So, like when when we opened one of when we when we were prepping for the Super Bowl, like I literally performed the 15-minute Super Bowl halftime show, playing the role of Katy Perry with all of the tech and all of the dancers around me, and flying around the arena. Like I did, I got to do that first, you know, and it it was really cool to get that sensation time and time again of you know being a rock star and getting to really kind of put all my skills together. Yes, I had I had been involved in creating the movement, and then I was also getting to perform and kind of sell it to the artist.

Katie  13:42  
And another, another another time that was just wow, such a highlight for me was for Pink's American Music Awards performance in I think it was 2017, and she performed on the side of a building in downtown LA with this incredible dance company called Bandaloop that's based up in Oakland, and I mean, with Pink, she does all those incredible aerials, and in playing that role on her team, you know, I got to kind of be guinea pig for a lot of those situations. So, like, I flew up to Oakland and trained with Bandaloop for a week, and my very first time rappelling was rappelling down the face of a building in downtown Oakland and dancing and flipping on the side of the wall, and then again taking it back to L.A. and rappelling on the side of the J.W. Marriott Hotel and performing for Pink and showing everybody what it was gonna be, and it was just really cool.

Loren  14:48  
Wow! Yeah, yeah. I hope some of the dancers listening are inspired because that is just

Katie  14:57  
yeah, and I mean certainly nothing I. Would have imagined for myself, so you know, tying it back to that open mindset, people.

Loren  15:07  
Right? Yeah. Now we have many dance teachers who are listening that are also mentoring and helping their dancers move on from a studio dancer to post-secondary dance major or careers in dance and even beyond, which we know there are many different paths that one could take. Is there one thing in particular that you think dance teachers should be reinforcing with their students in order to help them be successful as they move forward on whatever path they choose?

Katie  15:40  
Yeah, gosh, dance teachers are so influential and powerful, and gosh, mine were just so meaningful to my life path. So first, dance teachers are amazing, and I appreciate all of you. And I think it's really amazing just what you do for kids day to day. I guess, kind of as a broad theme, yeah. The one fundamental thing I would most value is diversification, and I can kind of separate this into a few themes. I guess. So first and foremost, I would say, kind of life diversification and encouraging a healthy balance of social, family, and school life with their dance life, creating that open atmosphere where your dancers speak to you about how they're feeling and and celebrating their dance successes, but also celebrating their successes outside of the dance studio. I think that's really powerful to show them that it's a good thing and that what they're doing outside of the dance studio is wonderful and even helps make them an even better dancer.

Katie  17:01  
And then, of course diversification of their movement training. You know, we know now that I'm in like the sports medicine side of things. We know that movement diversification is the best thing physically for kids. I mean, I remember when I was growing up, I had certain teachers that thought it was bad that I also played soccer, but now we know via pediatric sports medicine that the more sports a kid plays, the better they're less likely to get overuse injuries. They're less likely to experience mental burnout. You know, maybe they're doing other sports as well, but even just diversification of movement within their dance training, you know, that also will serve them if they are one of the few that go on to pursue a professional career. More movement diversification means they're more employable, and they're just more adaptable to different working environments and situations. And then I guess the last thing I would touch on on this theme of diversification, teaching your students to have this this balanced training and this balanced life, and getting into a a habit of diversification will better set them up once they are an adult, when they start to have to worry about finances and even thinking about income diversification, and so you know, like like I said, growing up, all I knew is I love dance and I think I want to be a dancer, but what I've really learned as as a working artist, that income diversification is a very important thing, and it's great to make a living dancing, but it's also great to make money doing other things in addition to my dancing, and that might make my dancing more sustainable. So you know, this is these are big topics, but I think all in all, just having that setting where you speak really openly with your dancers and encourage them to really pursue all of their interests is very powerful.

Loren  19:17  
I can tell you're really passionate about this topic, and you already mentioned that you had great mentors. So, when you were a young dancer, what did you learn from a mentor that you believe set the stage for allowing you to get where you are?

Katie  19:36  
Is it okay if I highlight a few different mentors?

Loren  19:39  
Yes. Yes.

Katie  19:41  
First of all, Tyce Diorio. What I really learned from him was the power of being present in the moment, and choosing kindness and calm in the moment, and fun even. So. Just kind of sustaining that love of dance in every present moment, and not losing sight of that. From Mia Michaels, I I really witnessed and learned just having incredible integrity with your craft, and you know, really really pursuing excellence, working with Mia, I feel like I really first experienced like the just the sheer thrill of the creation process and those moments of discovery. And then the final mentors I want to highlight and thank our Nick Flores and R.J. Durrell. Nick and R.J. are creative directors who I worked with a lot with Katy Perry and Pink, and from them I really I learned the importance of being professional and organized and confident and caring yourself with this professionalism, because that that really feeds the team around you. You know, if you project confidence and positivity, it really heightens the level of play for everybody around you. And from them, I also observed the importance of having a balanced personal and professional life, and I think their example really played a big part in inspiring me to go on and become an entrepreneur with my husband and really pursue that that work life balance that I observed in them.

Loren  21:45  
And speaking of what you have created with your husband, I did mention yeah you have a company called Sugarfoot Therapy, and I believe you and your husband co founded it. Can you tell us about it and how it came about?

Katie  22:00  
Yeah, when Nick was a newly practicing physical therapist in Los Angeles, he he quickly started treating a lot of my dancer colleagues because when I was in rehearsals or class or on jobs, and you know somebody would get hurt, I would go, "Oh, let me call Nick, and you know he would help him out, and so then by the time he was really practicing, he he had kind of made a name for himself with a bunch of dancers as the guy that can help dancers. Now he did not have a dance background, but he's a great PT, and like any great sports physical therapist, he was eager and inspired to learn about our sport and create really custom programming. So all of these dancers were were rehabbing with Nick, and several of them would get through the rehab process and go, "Oh man, like I feel incredible! I feel stronger and better than I did even before I got injured. I would experience the same thing because any time I sprained an ankle, he would give me some exercise programming, and I would do it. And lo and behold, I felt incredible. So you know, after this response time and time again, and these people are going, well, why didn't my dance teacher tell me to squat with weights? And you know, I didn't even know about this before. And we thought, well, yeah, like we need to put something out there.

Katie  23:30  
And at the time, we Googled, you know, dance conditioning programs or physical therapy programs for dancers, and we were coming up with nothing. So we figured let's put it online so it's accessible to everybody, and then also like for all of the dancers who had rehabbed with Nick, it was a way for them to keep getting you know customized exercise programming, but very affordably. We have a subscription based website. The monthly subscription is is less than what most patients would pay for a single physio visit, so that was that's what drove us to do it. So now, gosh, I think seven years in, we have a very extensive library of workouts and exercises online, and a few years ago, we started doing teacher trainings because, again, just recognizing the power of dance teachers-you know-in the day-to-day influence on their dancers-that has been so incredibly fulfilling because dance teachers are so intelligent and open and capable, and so just to share to share some of the PT expertise with them to empower them in a way that's very practical that they can take back to their students has been just so incredibly fulfilling, and has really given me. Like a whole new purpose and drive, we also have lots of content on CLI Studios, so that's another great way to check out our program.

Loren  25:11  
Okay, and would the website be the best way to start looking at Sugarfoot Therapy?

Katie  25:17  
Yeah, that's probably where you're going to get the most comprehensive view of everything we do, so it's just sugarfoottherapy.com. Yeah,

Loren  25:25  
perfect. We'll add that to the notes so that people can look it up.

Katie  25:28  
Perfect.

Loren  25:30  
Now, as you know, or you might have guessed, at Acrobatic Arts we are all about acrobatics and acro dance. I'm really curious to see what you have seen with regards to the evolution of dance and the inclusion of acro in choreography.

Katie  25:46  
yeah. Well, gosh, I mean, it's everywhere now, and acrobatics and aerial work are just continually becoming more and more present in dance productions. So I've experienced that personally immensely on the tours I've worked on, and especially working with an artist like Pink. Hello, lots of acrobatics, and then you know I still judge dance competitions, and I see more and more acro being incorporated. And I think you know I can bring this back to the importance of diversity, and you know, training in a lot of different movement skills. You know, it makes again if they're one of the few that want to pursue a profession, it makes you more employable. But I also think staying ready for any possibilities by being fit and constantly working new skills, it makes you more physically adaptable. So, if you understand that process of training progressions towards a skill, even if you don't do that exact skill on a professional job, having gone through that process and established the strength and control and adaptability to pursue that skill will make you more likely to be able to execute what's being asked of you on the job. You know, a lot of times, like with aerial work, for instance, you're performing on an apparatus that was custom built just for this performance. So yeah, you've never before done the skill on this exact apparatus. No one has, and we create it in the creation process. But if you have a background of acro and you maintain, you know, a healthy, adaptable body, you're going to be more likely to be successful and safe in that professional setting.

Loren  27:45  
Agree. Now, Katie, we have a few questions from our listeners. Peyton, who is 13 years old from Boundless Dance Studio in Calgary, Canada, she actually has two questions. The first question: What's your biggest inspiration?

Katie  28:03  
Well, now my biggest inspiration is my two kiddos because I'm a mom now. But I think what I found is my biggest inspiration is the people around me. And a lot of times when I'm asked to reflect on career highlights, the moments that stick out have more to do with the people I was collaborating with than you know the steps I was doing, or even the venue we were performing at. So I think just that ability to recognize the brilliance of of the people around you is is really powerful, and and has been for me, and has definitely been what has kept me inspired.

Loren  28:47  
The second question is, what has been your biggest challenge? Always having to up the bar since you have done such amazing things.

Katie  28:57  
Well, yes, and this is a this is a tough thing with being an artist, and and the nature of what we do is is freelance. You know, you do one project and then you move on to the next, and and that is a challenging thing because you might you might do the Super Bowl halftime show, but then guess what? That show ends, and then you're you kind of feel like you're back to square one. So this idea of having to up the bar-it's important to to have a healthy mindset about that. I think we just have to focus on ourselves more than we do on our accomplishments. We can can and should take pride in each project and each accomplishment, but again, they all come to an end. So, the challenge is staying focused on yourself, on your physical, mental, emotional wellness, because that is what is lasting while you know each individual. Experience is is fleeting.

Loren  30:03  
Thank you, Peyton, for those questions. We also had a couple of listeners asking the same questions, and I would probably include myself in this group as well.

Katie  30:13  
Okay,

Loren  30:13  
and you sort of touched on on it anyway, but I'm going to ask, what was it like to work with Pink?

Katie  30:20  
Ah, incredible! She's as awesome as you think she is. Her talent is, you know, just out of this world. Her singing talent, her physical talent. But I'll tell you what really sets her apart, and is probably isn't going to be what you expect, is her appreciation of everyone around her on every single project. She knows every crew member's name. She knows about every person on her team. She knows about their families. She knows where they're from, and she creates this environment where people really lift each other up. And I think her excellence and her outlook really bring out excellence in everyone around her, and she knows that. I learned a lot from from her as a leader.

Loren  31:12  
And the other one people want to know about is what was it like working with Mia Michaels?

Katie  31:17  
Mia also incredible. I feel like I got to work with her at a very exciting time in her career. When So You Think You Can Dance was starting, so just being a part of her creative process. I mean, she is so incredibly creative and brilliant, and and really does have that undying pursuit of excellence. She she has just very high standards for herself, and is always pursuing like the highest integrity in her work. There are certain phrases of Mia's that are still in my body, like that I I did 18 years ago with her, and it's it felt so good in my body, and the the creation process was so magical that like it's still in my muscle memory, and I could still do it right now if you asked me to. So just that I'm so grateful for those experiences and just that sheer physical joy I got to feel in working with her.

Loren  32:25  
Great questions, everyone. Please keep them coming. One more thing before you go, Katie. I know you are also involved with the Bridge Dance Project. This organization has an upcoming conference in August in Denver, can you tell us a little more about BDP, the conference, and why people should consider attending?

Katie  32:48  
Bridge Dance Project is is a group of really passionate people like myself who are either dancers themselves, or were dancers, or just specialize in working with dancers, and our mission is really to create resources for dancers and dance teachers. Bridge Dance Project. We are bridging the worlds of dance medicine and competitive and commercial dance. So this is something that I have seen either lacking or, in some instances, present in the professional arena, you know, like on pop music tours, they would have an athletic trainer and a physical therapist on staff, and that is amazing for the dancers. Some Broadway shows have the same, but on a lot of jobs, there's no medical staff. There's no team there to help the dancer athletes the way that we need it. This mission really aligns with what we've created with Sugarfoot and our Modi physiotherapy clinics in LA. It's creating resources, connecting dancers with the experts that can help them. So there are 1000s of these experts in the United States, in Canada, in and beyond worldwide. There are 1000s of dance medicine practitioners who all they want to do is help dancers and dance teachers and share their expertise. What we're trying to do is just bring these two worlds together, so that you know the practitioners can help the dancers, and also the dancers can give the practitioners a clearer idea of their needs and wants in the in the wellness sphere. So this conference coming up in August is going to be in Denver, and it's going to be really exciting to bring these two worlds together. We have Catherine McCormick as the keynote speaker, and she'll be teaching some classes. And then we have just an amazing schedule o f classes and lectures, you know, some movement classes, some educational lectures. We're going to have a lot of just roundtable discussion to learn how we can all help each other even better. A great place for dancers and teachers to come for for just really practical resources and inspiration,

Loren  35:26  
and I believe people can find out more at thebridgedanceproject.com.

Katie  35:32  
That's right,

Loren  35:34  
Katie. It was a pleasure to meet you, and I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with me today.

Katie  35:41  
Thank you so much for having me. It was a joy to speak with you, and I appreciate all that Acrobatic Arts does. It's really an honor to be here. Thank you.

Loren  35:56  
If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode. And if you know a dance teacher, student, or parent who would love to hear this discussion, send it their way. Sharing the show is one of the best ways to support the podcast.

Loren  36:14  
Until next time, find power in your strength, freedom in your flexibility, and know that we are here to support you on your acro journey.

Loren  36:26  
Thanks for listening, everyone, and have a great day!