I was obsessed with Chubby Checker and old dances, like the twist.

I'm a tough coach, but on the other side of that is me telling them to go all out, "because you're great, because I don't want you to fail, because you were born to do this and you have a dream."

People were being so mean as a result of my ability - a gift, really. So I think that's what makes me fight harder to provide an option to aspiring kids or artists. I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I went through... to see a little girl or a little dancer experience such unnecessary rejection.

I was very disenchanted in the industry for a long time before I met GaGa. Everyone wanted a "Single Ladies" for their artist, or a Puffy move.

I was obsessed with Chubby Checker and old dances, like the twist.

Back in the early days like for the Temptations, Supremes and Four Tops, artist development was alive in record companies. Every artist had a moment to develop the record visually. When the web took over and camera phones, it stripped the artists of the power to figure it out. So there's a need to bridge that gap and that's my job.

For me, a dancer is part of an artist’s entertainment - “backup dancer” isn’t even in my vocabulary.