We recently connected with Tara-Jean Popowich and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tara-Jean , thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

During my time on “So you think you can dance” Canada. Week after week I was given ballroom, krump, house, tap (yes, TAP), the “kiss of death” quick step… Everything but my style. When I finally got contemporary. The choreographer was Stacey Tookey. The story line was about mental health. To a song titled “it doesn’t hurt” by Katie Thompson. This dance changed my life. Personally, I had to dig deeper into my emotions. Like I turned on a tap of running emotions, I cried after every rehearsal. I had people from all over the world reach out to me about how this dance helped them. I would get stopped in random airports across the world, asking if I was “Tara-Jean, from the blue hospital gown dance?”. That sparked more of a focus on mental health for me. Which is one of the reasons why I started a dance convention called “Human first, Dancer second”. Finding identity in who you are, not what you do. My goal is to help even one dancer find more emotional stability in this wild industry.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Long story short! I was that little determined dancer. Couldn’t point my toes, but always had a lot of heart. I come from a small town, so big dreams seem even further away. At my dance studio we were told, if you wanted to be a professional dancer you had to audition for a cruise ship. We didn’t have Google, or phones with information at our finger tips. But I knew I wanted more than that. I was told at the age of 8 I would never make it as a professional. I had no other choice but audition for the competitive team in the big city of Calgary, alberta, Canada. I was accepted and moved away! Working at Starbucks 4am before school, then danced, and worked at Joey tomato’s as a hostess in the later evenings. I come from a single mom, very humble beginnings. After a few years there, I auditioned for a dance company in Vancouver! Doing the worm in the hip hop freestyle portion of the audition. Yep, that happened. Somehow I was accepted, and off I went. I had no fear. I did my first professional job at age 17 for a singer. I called my mom after the audition crying in a bathroom stall because I booked it! After meeting so many choreographers and doing dance styles I’ve never done before. I was asked to join a dance company in Los Angeles. I cried and cried, I thought. Yep I made it!
Living in my green sunfire car for weeks, sweeping up hair at a hair salon for 5 bucks an hour, cleaning studios in exchange for more dance training. Making 35 dollars a show. I made it!
My friends in Canada called and said there’s a TV show in Canada “So you think you can dance”. So I prepped, worked hard. Flew back to audition! I made it all the way to the end. They told me I didn’t have enough confidence. They cut me. A year passed, auditions again. My ego was bruised. And I didn’t have enough money to fly back to Canada to audition. So, my friends booked my flight. Here we go again. Different result this time. I ended up, winning the show. Completely changed my life. I didn’t realize I was on one of the biggest TV shows in Canada. I went to the mall shortly after filming, before going on tour and feeling like a rockstar! Got swarmed by people. Life was different, and it took a long time to kick in! Now I’ve been to 74 countries, 7 international TV shows, magazine covers, signing autographs! When I was a young girl, I practiced signing autographs in my journal. My goal was for one person to ask! Small town girl with big dreams. I’m very appreciative of my life and having the courage to go after it. It wasn’t easy, but sure as heck worth it.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that I wasn’t good enough. That people from a small town, stay in a small town. I still struggle with confidence, a daily practice. Now I understand, if you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t make it. Even with all the support from the people around you. It has to come from you! Being told at 8, that I would never make it. I remember how I felt. I had a little belly, and was told I was fat and “don’t eat that hamburger”. I would sit beside the water machine at home, thinking if I drank enough, I wouldn’t want to eat and not be “fat” anymore. Learning to love my body daily! If and when, I get that negative self talk. I ask myself, “is that something you would say to someone you love?”. The answer is almost always “no I wouldn’t dare”. So unlearning self judgment and loving myself how I would love others.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

We all have that little voice inside us. I think artists are crazy enough to listen to it. I know I have a purpose as a creative, and that’s to help others see how beautiful they really are. Nothing beats going after your wildest dreams. After having a paper route at 12, working multiple jobs to help my mom. As an adult, I feel like I’ve never worked a day in my life. It’s worth the hard moments. Embracing how beautifully imperfect life is, and loving life and ourselves anyways.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tara-jean.com
• Instagram: @tarajeanpopowich
• Facebook: Tara-Jean Popowich
• Linkedin: Tara-Jean Popowich
• Twitter: TJpopowich