Nando Morland
Shownotes
Nando Morland is a dancer, actor, and singer who has danced for Gallim, Madboots, and Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More. He has performed in the Broadway productions of West Side Story and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, as well as the Fiddler on the Roof and Wicked National Tours.
In today’s episode, Nando describes his experience making his Broadway Principal Debut, the feelings that arise after a show closes, and how he maintains a healthy relationship with his career.
He also expresses his relationship with movement and his body, what he values both as a performer and an audience member, and what he is currently healing in his life.
Follow along on Nando’s journey: @nandomorland
Transcript
Jessica Altchiler (00:11.658) - INTRO
Welcome to the story project. Today's guest is Nando Morland, who is a New York City based actor, dancer and singer who was born in Columbia and raised in Denver, Colorado. Nando received his BFA in dance from NYU. After graduation, he danced with prestigious companies such as Gallim, MadBoots, Stephanie Batten Bland, and Punch Drunk's Sleep No More. In 2019, he was listed in Dance Magazine's Top 25 to Watch. Nando began his musical theater career as The Fiddler in The Fiddler on the Roof First National Tour. He then made his Broadway debut in the 2020 revival of West Side Story Nando later performed in Bob Fosse's Dancin’ at the Old Globe and continued with the production when it transferred to Broadway. Most recently, Nando performed with the national tour of Wicked. In today's episode, Nando describes the unique path he carved through concert dance to musical theater, what it was like making his Broadway principal debut, how he recognizes and works through his current obstacles, and how he finds peace and magic in movement. Please enjoy this conversation with the incredible Nando Morland.
Jessica Altchiler (01:36.454)
Okay, so we are here with the one, the only, the artist, human, performer extraordinaire, Nando Morland.
Nando Morland
Hey, I'm so happy.
I'm so happy.
Nando Morland
I'm so happy.
Jessica Altchiler
So I'll just start by saying that how we came into each other's lives could not be more random or serendipitous. So I'll start by saying I met you because you were the titular role on the Fiddler on the Roof first national tour. He was the Fiddler and you were on the first year and I was on the second year and there was one fateful night where they had a party and it was a goodbye party for your cast and a hello party for my cast, which is really weird because you needed to just have your emotions and celebrate your accomplishments. And we were all excited and ready to come. So everyone was chit chatting. And then we just made our way to a little corner on a couch.
Nando Morland
To a couch, potentially an ottoman. It felt like an island. Like we located a planet in the space and we were like, let's find, and we were on the planet. And it really was like, we just went. We walked into the cave of knowing each other suddenly.
Jessica Altchiler
Yes. That is what it felt like. We just, there was this universe where we didn't know and then we walked into that Ottoman space in this random club.
Nando Morland
It was like a club. In Dallas, yeah. And it was so hot and the hors d'oeuvres were so sticky. Like it was just like a sticky icky kind of, but that part wasn't.
Jessica Altchiler
That part was not sticky and icky. It was Great and beautiful. And then, yeah, we just would randomly chat and meet up in the years to come. And you are such a special person. I feel so grateful for all the conversations that we've had. And I know that anyone who gets to talk to you or learn from you or see you perform is just blessed and so lucky. So I'm so happy to chat with you.
Nando Morland
Me too. Me too. And it's been so long too. And that's the thing too. I just like always love because, you know, like you said, we never really hung out. Like it was just we met and then we were, we never really, we maybe had one or two in-person hangouts, but I just remember having these phone calls and it was so great because I think in my life, it's hard for me to, to rev up my own engine for projects and for things like these little passions in these nuggets and it was so inspiring to always talk to you because like you're living one of the nuggets now it's Like become a beast and it's this podcast you're here live people and so that was so that's what was so cool too is like in these conversations just like poetry and projects and pieces and all these things It was I just I love leaving a conversation with you and just being like ignited being like I'm gonna fucking write it I'm gonna like, I have so much in me, like, let me use it. And so that's so cool that this is just proof of that, of that drive.
Jessica Altchiler
Wow. That's exactly how I feel about you. Every time we would talk, you're just sunshine. And I'm always saying, I'm trying to follow the sunshine. That's all I'm trying to do in my life. I'm trying to find the warmth and the sun. And every time I talk to you, and especially because most of the times I talk to you, you are in some insanely warm and sunny place. Like, physically. I think the first time we had a long phone call, you were on a beach in California, living your life there. You just got back from Cuba. I mean, you are a follower of the sun.
Nando Morland
I am, and it's so hard. I'm having a come down right now because that's where I feel the most beautiful, where the beast of comparison falls away in the sun. I'm like, the sun just loves everyone the same. The sun shines on anyone that's in it. So I just…And it's hard, like in New York, I just feel in buildings and behind walls and like in subways and I don't feel loved on in the same way. And I am on a come down of that right now. I'm like, wow, I felt so beautiful last weekend. Now I'm like, and it'll come back. Like there are spots to find it, but I definitely, yeah.
Jessica Altchiler (06:17.206)
Well, let's dive into that because you have had a beautiful, incredible, inspiring career already. And I would love you to, before we get into all of that, the first question I'm asking everybody is what is your human bio? So what's your bio that exists off the resume without those big credits you have? Off the res(ume)?
Nando Morland
Off the res, on the res of love? I would say like...I love people and moving. And if I'm in motion and around people, I'm great. In doses and then also.That's just it. I don't know, it's just the people. Like I just, and like, and I'm looking out my window and they're all doing stuff. Like that guy's moving something and they're like talking and that security guard, like everyone's just, I just love it. It just, that's my bio. I just love everyone. Not everyone, you know what I mean? Yeah. That's my reason for being, I would say, is like when I'm lost and then I come back to a conversation or a touch, or even like, people's art, like reading something or writing something, like when the connection hits, I'm back, I'm good.
Jessica Altchiler
That totally makes sense, knowing you. And that's how you make other people feel. When I'm around you, I'm like, oh, all the other stuff doesn't fucking matter. I'm like, oh, wow, it's so beautiful.
Nando Morland
Oh, wow.
Jessica Altchiler
Oh, wow.
Nando Morland (08:02.958)
Oh wow, you guys.
Jessica Altchiler
So with that said, can you give us a little background into your life and your early life of what brought you into being an artist, if anything did, or if it was just, you know, already there? And yeah, just give us a little bit about that background for you.
Nando Morland
*Loud noise* Whoa. I think someone just literally built a bridge in 30 seconds over my house. That was the most construction I've ever heard. Okay? So, early life, it just kind of hit. I remember I had a birthday party when I was six years old. This may be one of my first memories. And it was a cat-themed birthday party, not to be confused with Cats the Musical, like Cat the Animal. And it was just like moving. We were crawling around my backyard with whiskers and like...I loved the way like shoulders looked like, I remember that being one of my first feelings of like movement being so beautiful was like, I remember seeing people's shoulder blades like move, like when they were pretending to be cats and stuff or, I don't know. And so that was the beginning and then I just loved to run and climb and jump and I started dancing and I didn't want to, because I was so nervous of like popular girls and like, I don't know the beginning, my mom was like, let's go to a dance class and I saw. I was like, no, shy, I'm gonna die in there. I can't make it out of there alive. And then once I was in, I was in, and I've just been dancing. I don't remember really a moment where I knew I was supposed to keep doing it. I just kept being like, this was the best day ever. I wanna do it again. And then tomorrow is tomorrow is tomorrow is tomorrow's today. And I'm still doing it. I haven't danced really right now for a bit, but just in terms of a life, what brings me back to my life and to my body, it's just, it's just was in there, I'm doing it a little bit.
Jessica Altchiler
Also, when you say you haven't danced in a bit, what, it's been a couple months? And I'm sure you're doing it, yeah. And I'm sure you're doing it like you do for yourself.
Nando Morland
Yeah, which feels really good too. And that's a practice like, and you know, usually in my life, that's what's been tough about this. One is usually that space between the jobs or between like dancing on the stage or in the studio feels so precious. And right now there's a strain. Like I do feel a strain and a pain with it. That's, but we can get into that. But yeah, that was my, that was the beginning of everything.
Jessica Altchiler
What's the strain and the pain right now?
Nando Morland
Right now the strain and the pain is deeply physical because the show I was doing, I was doing dance and it was the hardest, it was so hard. Like I just, at the end of that show, walking up a flight of stairs was like running like a, like in a hundredth mile. I was like, this is so hard. And I would get home and fall asleep like a brick. Like there was nothing left to give. And it was so tough and obviously so rewarding at the same time. But just physically, like my body was peaking. It was just like, whoa, my heart rate is going places and hasn't gone. And it's purely the come down of that. Because then I did that on a Sunday and on a Monday, the show didn't exist anymore. And then I've just had to rebuild my own movement practice. And it's really hard to get physically to that high that I was at. Like it's just, especially with the people too, it's like you're at a physical high and the people are, and make your around people that are at the high. And it's like this ceremony of exhaustion that's so exciting as a performer and as a dancer. And so that's what's been tough is I'm like, yeah, like, you know, I'll go, I took a dance class the other day and it was fun, it was beautiful. But then after an hour and a half, it was over and I'd done the combo three times. And I was like. I don't know. And so it's finding the richness in the space, like the richness in the fact that there isn't as much structure and there isn't the same demand. But it's good. Like going out dancing always helps me like going out to a bar or club or like a party where people are social dancing always brings me back. But the rigor I miss.
Jessica Altchiler
And you were in that process for a while too, because you were in San Diego before. Can you tell us a little bit about what that process was? And also, let me just quickly say that I was with you, I think, the day of your audition for that, because we met in the park.
Nando Morland
Oh no.
Jessica Altchiler
And this is my funniest thing, and this is the perfect way to describe you. You're like, oh yeah, I'm going in for this audition for dance and it's the Bob Fosse show, they're bringing it here and then to Broadway. And yeah, I have this like crumpled up headshot I just got printed. I hope it's good enough. Here's my crumpled up resume. I don't even think it's updated. And I was like, this is amazing.
Nando Morland
It was so like, yeah, I didn't even know what it was. But that's also what was so crazy about it too, is like, it was like my, because I had this surrendered attitude towards the show, because I really didn't know what it was, and I was just like, I don't know if I'm supposed to be on this path. Like it was just all these beautiful questions of uncertainty that going in, I was just like, all I can do is be me. Like I came in the wrong outfit. I don't even know, I barely know what a LaDuca is. I thought that was like an Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side, like LaDuca. So I just was like, I just don't, I just don't have it. Like I just, and so I was like, okay, so all I can do is just like dance and actually have a blast. And that moment has been hard to refine because like… You know, when you do care about a project, it is really different. And I'm saying like, once I was in it, there was so much care, but going in, I was like, it's a, it's a crap. It's a crap shit. I don't know. Like maybe I'll move to Miami if I don't like, it just doesn't, it doesn't have like a, a solid stone in my heart yet. And so that was so beautiful about it. Yeah. I was just like, I'm just going to go and I'll try it. And I just like, I'll laugh and have a good time. And so that really ended up, it was like that energy of authenticity that I think brought it to me. Because I'm really not so much a jazz dancer and I don't, you know, there are so many things that I felt like were working against me in that space, but I think when you shine as you, it's like that will always work for you. Like if you're you, it's gonna work. For like, it's gonna work. In terms of like, if you're not supposed to have it, it'll be so clear and if you are, it'll be so clear. So I think that's, yeah, and I remember meeting you in the park, I remember exactly where we sat too. And…
Jessica Altchiler
Yeah, I just have to say, I can't even talk about how devastated I am that I was away at the end and I couldn't see it. I can't, I can't talk about it. But my mom and my sister saw it. And they I told my mom yesterday that I was interviewing you today and she's like, please tell him how amazing he was.
Nando Morland
Thanks, mom. Thank you.
Jessica Altchiler
She’s like please make sure to tell him.
Nando Morland (15:09.146)
Oh, mom, thank you.
Jessica Altchiler
Oh, mom.
Nando Morland
Oh my God, oh mom.
Jessica Altchiler
So what was that process like? When was that audition was two or three years ago?
Nando Morland
Yeah, like October, 2021.
Jessica Altchiler
2021, okay. And then can you tell us a little bit about what that audition process was like and then leading into California and all that? Y
Nando Morland
eah, the audition process was like, everyone was shaking in their LaDucas because it was the first audition like back. And so the vibe was like a hunger game. It was like. This is really like no one. But I think, yeah, it was really fun too. It was very like, and I just connected to the team. It was just very fun. It was really fun for me and all the callbacks and it was just so. Exciting to be back in a room and to be back on like the edge of the edge of something like, yeah, the edge of glory. I was like, I'm opening it. I was like, this is, and then we got it and then it started and we worked on it in New York. We did the lab in the fall. And I think what was so cool about it for me was that it existed in these different seasons of my life. Like, it started in the winter of 2021. And it was like, I remember that first day, I was like, I am an Olympian. Like we started warming up and I was just looking around me and there were like these 22 other, and I was just like, oh, we're like fucking athletes. Like this is an Olympic team. This is like an Olympic team of artists. And then that was this first era of like learning the material and being so new. And then we took that break and stuff happened to me in that time and like a lot of growing and then I revisited it and it was a different version of me and a different version of the show. And I was still in it. And then we took another, it was like six months or so that we took off and then we came to Broadway and so it was just so cool to live inside these movements and these songs and these people in these different seasons. It was, and I've never had that before. I've never really been with a show or with a job or with anything that's seen me through a chapter and chapters of my life. And this wasn't even that long. People are in shows for like eight years and like this was, you know, sporadically too. But yeah, that was really special to the, and then the last show, like it was so crazy. The last show we gave, I like ended that last big deal. I ended it and I moved my hat like that. And I felt the alchemy of all that time hit. Like it hit, like I was like, I'm diff, I literally like did and I was like, I'm different. Like it was so crazy. Like it was like all of that time and space and who I'd become as a dancer and as an artist just landed like a, like a wave. And it was so, and I think people process so differently but it felt like so much processed in that six, seven, eight, oh my God, me, a dancer, sorry, like, okay. But like really, you know what I mean? Like really, like I was like boom, and everyone's clapping and I'm like, wow. And so that was really cool to feel that like all that time had distilled and like become a new me, it was cool.
Jessica Altchiler
Yeah, and many of the top dancers of our entire generation were in this production. And I think that when you're in this industry it can become so much about getting the job and being booked and blessed and all that bullshit that I can't stand. And so hearing you in this top show with these top performers talking about this internal, visceral, spiritual, energetic change you've had is unique and it's important to hear.
Nando Morland
Yeah. Yeah, it was really, it was really special. And I think, but also too, that's what's so hard, is that like the booked and blessed and stressed and all that stuff. It's so good to take space from that. Cause I think that's what really sucks the heart out of dance and out of doing it. And that, and that happened to me right after dancing. I felt it so much. And I was just like, people were getting into new shows and doing new things and, or even, or not doing new shows and pivoting and like, you know, going back to their kids. And it felt like everyone was re-igniting this purpose and this pleasure for life and all these things. And I felt so lost. I was like, and I didn't expect you, because I think I come at the world with a sense of flexibility and freedom and like really rolling, really rolling with it. And I was rolling, but then I was also like having diarrhea and not sleeping and like not feeling. And I stopped meditating. Like I like, I had been, had such a strong meditation practice and the show ended and I like couldn't sit still. And so I really needed to like be in the silence and be separate from New York and from the scene and from that. And I still feel that a little bit. Like I went to Cuba and that really moved me and moved me back into my own rhythm and my own sense of being and my own reason. But yeah, it is hard. And even like here, like I just did this Broadway show and everyone's like, take a break. And I'm like, aren't I supposed to like keep the momentum going? I'm not, right now I'm not. Like in this moment I'm tending to other things. I feel, finally feel like some peace in that where I'm like, okay, it took a minute. It took me a month to release the stress of the booked and blessed mentality, but I feel more in it. And I'm like, okay. Be.
Jessica Altchiler
What do you feel would be a dream for you to do tomorrow?
Nando Morland
Tomorrow? Tomorrow. Priva Salsa dancing lesson in Central Park with this person I've been talking to. We're just going to go. That's my, so that's a little bit of a dream. And then what else? Oh, I want to have a big, I've been, I'm nervous to host stuff, but I really want to have a big tie dye party with music and like, I just want to host and everyone brings their, like him, whatever. But I don't know if there's like, I don't know. I don't know tie dye is also toxic, but sometimes you have to be toxic to be free. And so I want to just get some, you know, if it can be cruelty free, bring it on, but just get some tight eyes and just like have a, I don't know, that feels like what would bring me, what's bringing me, me a little bit. Yeah.
Jessica Altchiler
Those both sound incredible. It's something I keep coming back to and I've been talking to about with my friends and my students. We are human beings first and we're artists and then we happen to get a job and we happen to be able to make a living doing this. That's not what it's all about. We're humans first. Yeah, get that tie-dye party, get that salsa lesson, do those kinds of things. And with that said, can we rewind a little bit and go back to, and go back to what was your training like? Cause you've had a very technical career, as well. It's not just like you're moving and grooving. You've had to do very technical things. Clearly you've had a lot of great training. So what was that like for you, the good, the bad, the ugly, both growing up and in school and everything?
Nando Morland
Mm. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I started and I was just so scared all the time. Like I literally would, I remember, like I would go into, I would remember the feeling of like, my forearms would kind of go numb and my feet a little bit. And I would just get very light, shallow breath. And before I performed, before I, and part of it was that like I was doing very hard, like I will still say the hardest type ever danced is when I was like 14, just in terms of like what, like, you know, you're dancing so, like there's no, it's like a three minute dance, but you're doing like back flips and like, you're young, but it's also whatever. So that was part of it. And I just remember really in those moments, like not having, or trying to cultivate the tools to feel peace and to feel grounding, but not really having the tools to do it. But then also a lot of joy that's combined with just like the intense excitement of being young and dancing with young people and like having energy and having a safe place to go after school where you're like, I'm about to like, just like go crazy with these kids and. And then I went to NYU. And so that was the beginning. There was a lot of ballet and jazz and competition world and super technical. And then I got to college and we started just, they were like, lay in an X. I was like, I'm like, like lay in an X to then pop up and pop up and do a kip up or like just lay, like we will just lay. But also that's what's cool too, because then also in high school, I went to an arts high school. And so I did have like, there was competition and choreography and those things that started, you know, that were getting sewn into my practice, which was really cool. And so I came to NYU actually feeling pretty prepared and feeling really excited to dig into both sides of that, of the coin of like dancing really hard and then also like just laying and watching my finger do this for like three hours and like letting that be the dance. And so it was really cool to have both of those backgrounds and then to come into college because, um, I don't know, it was just such a place, NYU especially. It was just like, do what you do what you gotta do. Do what you want. Which I think for some people showed them that they didn't want to do it. And for other people, like me just showed me, I was like, oh, I want to do it. And I want to like kind of go pretty hard. And that was really cool. That was a cool wake up moment. Because I think before it's like, you know, my studio is so structured and so like you have to show up or like, and I'm in high school. It's like, if you don't turn in a piece of paper that shows how many hours you've danced, you get a, you get a, you get a zero on that for the week. And so to just suddenly be like, I don't have to come to class and then being like, I actually really want to though, cause I love it. That was cool. And then at NYU, you know, it's like, everyone's rolling around and I did a piece where like, I drank a gallon of milk on stage. This was pre, this was pre plant milk, not pre, but you know what I mean? Like the oat milk, almond milk movement, like wasn't as strong. And...
Jessica Altchiler
But you would have done oat milk otherwise, for sure.
Nando Morland
I think now, I think now. But it's also like, I don't know, the less you know almost. Because I wasn't lactose intolerant until someone told me I should be. And so. And I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. Important things you learn along the way. But yeah, that was the training. The training, yeah.
Jessica Altchiler
And then what happened after school? How has that transitioned into the real world?
Nando Morland
The transition for me, for some reason, was really seamless. It was really like I was ready. Also, this was part of it too, is that I went to this dance school and then I was really blessed to be dancing right after. Like I wasn't making any money. I was making actually negative money. But which was really fucked up. And that's like a different thing. And like I actually still have so much or not so much. But I just am like, wow, people aren't awake sometimes when you're out there. But anyways, I was with a good friend and I was just dancing, I was doing Gallim and it was an environment for me that there was a lot of intimidation which didn't feel good. And I reflected on it and realized later as I entered more in different spaces that like, oh, I wasn't, I kind of lived in fear. And I didn't because I had friends around me. Like I was very much with people I loved and the dancers I loved, but like the way the company was ran, I didn't feel safe. Not unsafe, but I just was on edge. I was just on edge and that isn't a great feeling to have in the workplace. But I was also dancing how I wanted to dance and it was also rewarding for other reasons. The show I got to do and the people I met, I was so grateful and then I left and I was like, I think I wanna get paid now. Yeah. Because that was the time in my life where I was going to rehearsals and working at night. By Chloe that vegan place and like, which was great. Yeah. And you know, the, and actually the vegan chocolate cookies, the gluten free chocolate cookies were better than the regular ones. I would always have a gluten free chocolate cookies from there. And, and then, yeah. So I freelanced in New York. That was like the time after like the next two years, I did Gallim and Madboots and I danced in these companies that I dreamed of, which was such a blessing. And I was so excited and I was just like, wow. I'm like. And I danced for Rashaun and Silas and I loved them. And it was so like, we just had like an improvised score and we had mics and it was just like anything goes and everything doesn't go and it was really cool. And then Fiddler came, but that was the first little chapter was like the freelance dance.
Jessica Altchiler
Awesome. And then you stumbled headfirst into musical theater by accident.
Rashaan and Silas
I fell in there by total mistake. Like I was like, whoa. So I have this friend Allegra, like my best friend. And she was my, she's actually been my audition shaman for like years and she will bring me somewhere and bring me and she says, it happened in freshman year with earth sophomore year, senior year with Ballet Hispaniaco, she was like, come to this audition with me. I was like, what is this? And then I got the job and I wasn't supposed to take it. It was like so wrong. And the guy yelled at me because I was in basketball shorts but like she brought me and she waited outside and I was like, I got it. And she was like, right. And then she was like, come to the fit of the audition. And I was like, what? I don't think I'm, she's like, you should go. And I went and it happened. And then with West Side Story, too, with the West Side Story on Broadway, she was like, I was in Miami for one night. She was like, come to this audition. I was like, I just feel like, I don't know. And I went and I didn't get it that night, but then they had me on file and I got it the day before the job happened. And so she's my like, and she has a very, very intense, high spiritual compass and sensibility and love this stuff in her life and so I know that like she brings me to the space because I'm supposed to be there and I'm supposed to have it but yeah then she brought me into Fiddler and I went and I was like okay and I actually said no to Fiddler at first and I was like I think I'm good I was like I was just and I didn't have another job it wasn't like I think I'm good like I'm I have another thing coming it was just like I don't think it's me even though it was my favorite show I've ever seen on Broadway to this day I've ever seen yeah like the coolest thing I've been a part of and um I said no. And then Jason Styres hit me up. I was like on tour somewhere. I was in like the UK with an ex and he was like, are you sure? And I remember he emailed me, he said, he said, it's worth noting that Fiddler is on your track or your track notes Fiddler, the Fiddler. But I was so new to me. I thought track meant understudy. So I thought like, he was like, your track, he was like, it shows that you could understudy the Fiddler. And I was like, okay. And then I don't know, I was sitting under a tree in Glastonbury and I was like, I think I'm supposed to do it. And it was almost too late and I had like 30 hours to let him know and I emailed him and I was like, I'm doing Fiddler. And then I immediately tried to book a trip to Brazil because I was so scared to be stuck in the US for a year. I didn't go to Brazil. No total panic, total panic mode. I didn't have the money. I was like, I couldn't have gone.
Jessica Altchiler
And then Fiddler. And how was that for you?
Nando Morland (30:57.418)
Mm. Love bomb. It was awesome. It was like love. I honestly like, it was so special. It was so special. Like.It was the traveling circus, but with like amazing choreography and beautiful singing and like wonderful direction and amazing people. I felt like it was just traveling with my family. Like I was like, this is cheaper by the dozen on crag baby. Like this shit is amazing. Like this is so special. And I loved it. The moving, the traveling, like I, you know, as you're, you know, you move around and you know, like you move around. And that environment and your reflections are changing like every week and every time you get somewhere new and you're dropped into this familiar unfamiliar where you're like, I'm gonna go to this theater tonight and I'm gonna show this entirely new group of souls and people this thing. And I'm gonna walk around this new city but I have these people next to me doing it. And it's such a high, it's such a high, I loved it. I loved it. But I also, that was a year too, I was transitioning. Not sure, but I was in the musical theater thing. And so also I think in that year, I also missed and was longing for the concert dance thing, but not longing for it actually. I was just like, oh, I miss moving. I miss it because before then I had just been dancing differently all the time every day, like doing a show and leaving it behind. And so it was also that part of it too. And I think a lot of us dancers on that first year felt that. And so it was cool to warm up together and have that time. I also was like, you know, you do a show, and you know, you do that show like 300 times and you're like, it just goes through a whole life. You hate it and then you love it and then you need it and then you literally, they're like, I can't even put that fucking boot on again. I'll like burn the theater down. And then you mess up and you laugh and then you mess up and someone out there is, that you love and that's how you cry. And then like, you're just like, the whole spectrum. But that's, I think what's so cool about the consistency of a show is that it teaches you a thousand lessons in a year.
Jessica Altchiler
Do you have any funny or embarrassing moments on that tour?
Nando Morland
Yeah, the very, very first night we had a show and we recorded the B-roll. My bottle fell off as soon as it touched my head. I didn't move. I put it on and it hit the ground. And so I wasn't a part of it. And so in all the promo for that year, the bottle dances for people. And I just am sitting on the side like. *Snapping*
Jessica Altchiler
Snapping away to your heart's delight.
Nando Morland
And then also, this one too was so good. I was doing the beginning. Damn, I haven't thought about what I did. Oh my God. Wow. So anyways, but the beginning, you know, like, dun, and like, whatever. I remember I did, I was going to, bum, and I threw the bow all the way across the stage and it almost hit Yehezkel like that. Like I threw, I was like, boom, and it was like, nyeh, like a torpedo and just like went to the other side of the stage.
Jessica Altchiler
This is him right at the top of the entire musical and he's the Fiddler and he's doing the fiddle and he's playing the violin and he's going and it's this huge moment and he has the last note before a blackout and so he's saying that he just chucked it. He just chucked that bow.
Nando Morland
I threw that thing. I threw that bow. I threw it so far. And then just other ones, you know, like someone farts on stage and you can't stop laughing for like an entire year. Like just, and then yeah, it was just a bunch of, a bunch of, Yeah, it's the best part.
Jessica Altchiler
I love when things went wrong.
Nando Morland
I mean, the best part. Yeah. What about you? Oh my God. Oh my gosh. That's so crazy because we were inside of the same skeleton. We were inside the same body, but just like in different bodies. It's so crazy.
Jessica Altchiler
Yeah. I had, well, I was a swing. So I, basically every time I went on was some shit show. I mean, I think I had one, my last time I went on, which was right before the shutdown. I think that was the one and only time where I didn't mess something up significantly. And I didn't go on that much. So I didn't have that much practice. I went on for each of the female dance tracks four times each all year. That's it. I think I went on 13 times total, including covering the sisters and I covered Michael one time last minute. So that was fun. So that was, and we had some, yeah, we had just some crazy things. So I think as a swing, every time you go on is some shit show. But I think my favorite mess up story is that I had, let's see, we were in Seattle and there's this huge theater. We were on the ladies dressing room was on the fifth floor and the elevator was broken. And so I was an onstage swing. So I still went on for certain parts but I didn't go on until sunrise, sunset which is at the end of act one. So I had the time and it's about to be the dream. So it's right at the beginning of the dream.
Nando Morland
Right, oh my God.
Jessica Altchiler
And I hear this like shh on the intercom. Like clearly something's trying to happen on intercom and we can't hear anything. And I'm like, oh, that's kind of weird. All right, don't think anything of it. I just start to slowly go down the five stories and I'm like, hey, Bielke, did you hear what they said on the intercom? She's like, no, I didn't. Okay, cool, I keep walking down, taking my time. And I finally get to the deck and costumes and everyone's like, where were you? You have to go on. And I'm like, uh, the intercom wasn't working. I had no idea. I don't even have to be down here yet. Cause I would come down to sing, but I didn't have to sing quite yet. And they're like, you have to go on right now. And so I run back and I'm changing and the person who had, she just was sick and she just couldn't keep going and I had no idea. So I'm putting on everything. I don't have a wig prep on. I don't have anything. They're trying to like, hair is coming over, wait, try to figure out what to do. I stuff and it's happening so fast because they're trying to get me on before I have to be a ghoul in the dream. And it's already the start of the dream. And so I eventually just make all the executive decisions. I'm like, I'm going to stuff my hair back. I'm going to throw this giant head on. I'm going to put everything on. And I'm going to not go on for that in-between scene, between the dream and the wedding. And then I'll figure out how to become a boy in that time. So I'll do the dream. And then get on for the wedding. So I go on for the dream. And you can't see anything out of those masks at all, it's terrifying.
Nando Morland
Oh my God.
Jessica Altchiler
I'm just like praying to something. I'm like, please just let me not fall off the stage right here, please just let me. So I go on for the dream and I run off and I'm like figuring out how to get my hair back. So what we decided is I just put my hair in a ponytail and I stuff it down my jacket. And so when I put my hat on for the wedding, it's not filled out enough. So everything is wobbling. So I go on for the wedding and I'm on the boy's side and I'm looking at all the women for Sunrise Sunset and they're all looking at me like, what the hell are you doing on the stage right now? Like they're all confused and we're all making eyes at each other. And so the show, the dance happens and it gets at the very end of the dance. And I like, okay, almost made it through. And I get into a slightly wrong spot before we do that circle where you're in this circle facing the outside of the circle and you're holding each other's hands across your body. And so if one person lets go, the whole line flings open. So guess what happens to me? The line flings open. I am catapulted all the way around. There is no circle. It's just a line with panic. And the best part is that this is the night our associate choreographer Chris Evans decides to come and see the show.
Nando Morland
Oh, no.
Jessica Altchiler
Yeah, that's my favorite one.
Nando Morland
And you were cannonballed.
Jessica Altchiler
I was cannonballed. I was out of there. Flung to the yeah. Flung out.
Nando Morland
Thank God he's the nicest man in the world. But I know what you mean, like you're doing so you're just like.
Jessica Altchiler
I was like, you've got to be kidding. And actually, there were a couple of people who were annoyed at me, which I think is kind of funny because as a swing, you're just trying to do your best. I had been in that space maybe once, maybe probably twice at that point. I had been in that space and they've done it over a hundred times at this point. So I'm like, I'm doing the best I can. Anyway, so that was my roller coaster.
Nando Morland
It's crazy, I get you. I get you. It is so...Yeah, that is the swing thing.
Jessica Altchiler
I think it's fun though.
Nando Morland
It's so fun, I know. And then you look back and you're like, what, like I was so on the edge of like existence. It was so like, it's so, you're just like on. You're like, okay, go mode, baby. Like we are like, everything is on.
Jessica Altchiler (40:36.954)
Yeah. And I remember when we came, so you guys were finishing your run. You had about a week and a half left when we arrived.
Nando Morland
Yeah, yeah.
Jessica Altchiler
We had learned the whole show in New York, and then we were spending some rehearsals in Dallas when you guys were performing at night, and then we would come and see at night. And I remember seeing it for the first time with you, because I'd seen it on Broadway. And I saw it with you, and I was like, this is going to be one of the most special performances I'm ever going to see. And this is one of the most special dancers I'll ever get to see, seeing you do it. There was something deeply moving and magical about you. This is before I'd even met you. And I knew no matter what you did in your life, you were going to just continuously bring magic. And you did, and you do.
Nando Morland
Oh, shit. Oh my God.
Jessica Altchiler
I remember it so clearly. I probably journaled about it. I should find it. I journal everything.
Nando Morland
I remember talking to you after so many, you're like, it's so, you're like my. You're like my only memory from Dallas. It's so creepy. And I was like ending a show. I was just like, whoa. But I remember speaking to you after and feeling so seen and like, and like just with, I don't know. It was so, that was a really resonant moment for me too, to like drop in. Because I think also too, you know, you're in a show and you know, like you perform and people come up to you and like people tell, and it's like, and it's just like, and it's beautiful. And like, it's really important to like sit with and hear those things. But then, I don't know, to be seen for my light in my, I don't know, it was such a different, it was so different. Like, what you're saying, I believe and I feel and I felt too in sharing that together. Like it was not just like, you did so great today. You know, cause which that happens a lot and you know, people do great tonight. But it is like, yeah, like there's, cause yeah, it was beyond the, I felt that. Like I really, I remember that. That had some effect on me too. That was really beautiful.
Jessica Altchiler
I think what's important is, you can have all of the technique in the world and you can have beautiful movement quality and you can have all of that. But if there are only certain people who have the capacity to impact an audience member cellularly and viscerally, it's not just technique. It's not just that you move well. There's something else. It's the soul. There's something else that comes out and it's very rare to have all of those things, and you obviously do. So you finished Fiddler, and then you stumbled into something else shortly after.
Nando Morland
I stumbled. Head first. I really, yeah, I'm just falling into falling. But I finished Fiddler, and I actually went through, yeah, I finished Fiddler, and I was like, wow, everything is really quiet. And then I got back to New York and I remember being so disoriented and being like, I just had this. Like the city doesn't wait for anyone. Like, you know what I mean? Like New York just kept pumping her fucking blood like every day that I was gone. And so to return, I was just like, well, I'm in this beast. I don't really know it. I don't feel like I know it anymore. And then I went on this tour. I was like, but I still wanted to dance. And I think that's what's also shifted is like in that silence. I was like, all I want to do is dance. So it's the only thing I know how to do. I want to do it. I want to keep moving And so I was on this tour with Madboots, like really briefly, like right before the company disbanded and I remember I'd walked by the West Side Story Theater. Like I walked by it and the posters were up and I was like, oh my God. Like I was like, I let that ship sail. Because I got a call back to come to New York and I couldn't go. Like back way in Miami, it was like February of Fiddler. I was in Miami, they had an audition and I got a call back and I was like, I mean, I can't go to New York. And also like, I don't know, at that moment too, I didn't. I wasn't thinking strategically or financially about my life. Or even passion. I was just like, I'm in Fiddler and all I can see is the next city. And so I let it go and I was like, how could I fly there? It's ridiculous. I'm not going to miss a show. I don't know if I could get it. Whatever. And then I saw that. And then whatever, flash forward six months, the show's going up soon. I was like, wow, I really, really wish that I had seen that through. And it was also because I didn't have a job at the time. So I was just like, whoa, I really, really like. But whatever, I was like, it's done. It's, I mean, it's like, it's done. And so I was on this tour with Madboots and I was in this grocery store. I was in King Super's and I get this email. It's a West Side Story call. And I was like, and it was this email and I was like, we're looking for a swing. If you'd come to this audition, like come to this audition. And so then I'm like, oh no. In this King Super's and like, and then I'm prepared. Like I'm like, I learned this song about a vocal lesson. I was like, I, I'm going in for this. Like I really want to try. And I went in and there were like, like 16 of us or so. And then by the end it was two. And I sang the song and like, it was, I worked so hard on the song. I remember that because I was like the timing, the timing was so hard to learn. It was Tonight. It's like, I was just like, I couldn't, the entrances, I was like, this shit is like, why is this like a beatboxing, like extravagant, respect to Sondheim, such an icon. But just like, I was like, this is really tough to learn. And I got it and I did it and I finished. And then that was it. There was two of us in there and we left. And then, the rehearsal started Monday. So, this was on a Thursday. So Thursday night I'm like, let it go. I like hit the joint. I went to see a show. I bought myself a shirt. I was like, you did what you, like you did that shit. That was the longest, hardest day ever. Like went to a show. And so the next day I'm like, well, I have to find out it's before the weekend. So Friday I'm like, it's a scary and radio silence. And I'm like, okay. And then Saturday hits and I'm like not sleeping and I'm like, okay. And then I email them and I'm like, hey, like, when do we find out? And they're like, sorry, like we have a lot of creatives flying in because rehearsal starts Monday and they're in Europe and different places. So we need to sign off from everyone before we let anyone who gets it know. So I'm like, okay. Just trying to distract myself, like just a deep nausea of like, I need to know. And then I didn't know. And then Sunday morning, 24 hours before the rehearsal begins, I get an email that's like, you got it. And I was moving sublets that day. And so I wake up, I'm like, I pack all my bags, I get in a car, I call Jason Stiers because I get the contract. I'm like, I don't know how to negotiate. I didn't have an agent, I don't have an agent. I didn't have an agent at the time. I didn't have an agent, I was like, what do I do? I talk to this agent on the phone, I'm like, I remember taking this Uber all the way to Brooklyn and unpacking everything, going. And then I got the flu that night as well. So then I had the flu.
Jessica Altchiler
Oh my God.
Nando Morland
I had a fever, but I was also so excited. And I like, my parents are crying and like, I called Mel Wayne from Fiddler and she's like crying. I'm like, I'm doing Broadway, like this is crazy. But also very sick and also just transitioned to apartments. And like, I went and got myself ramen and I showed up the next day and I was in West Side Story on Broadway. And I was like, a swing. And I was like, this is, this is the craziest thing that's ever really happened to me. And I was so sick and I, and I had aches and pains and really rough, but that's, I got in and it was in, it was on.
Jessica Altchiler
When was that?
Nando Morland
I don't know, that was 2020, or 2019. 2019, yeah.
Jessica Altchiler
What was that like, that experience? Incredibly stressful, incredibly stressful. And just like, I also like, I don't know, I'd never swung before and a lot of us on the show hadn't. And now I know I've been in multiple shows and I've seen people have these beautiful Excel sheets and like there's like maps. I was just writing everything into long form pros into Google Drive. Like I just wrote, I just made like essays on what I'm supposed to do, which is incredibly unhelpful. Like, you know, if you're going to go on for a track, like I just like wrote like, be near this person. When you see this walk towards the like, just like some shit you aren't supposed to. Like I didn't have a map. And then I had printed out pieces of paper with the map, but it was like all in different, there was no coding, it was just like scribbling. Like, but that, all that being said, I think I was really prepared when I went on and I did feel decently good. And I made my debut as Chino, like in this principal role. And my parents surprised me, which I was so mad about. But then when the pandemic hit, I was so happy because I was like, well, you wouldn't have seen me in the show, because that was really, and it was really hard, but also like, I don't know, it taught me a lot and I don't know, it was just a very, and I grew so much in that short time, just because I was like, I have to do it. Like I'm in a fear and I'm living the fear and I'm like making it, I'm making peace with it. And I don't know, it was really special. And the people were, it was just a big cast, but it was cool.
Jessica Altchiler
What was it like to go on for Chino?
Nando Morland
Like actually very funny because I, at first, my buddy, and now we're super tight. He's like one of my good friends, but like I didn't know him at the time that well. We went out to Bare Burger and he was like, cause he was like, yo, I have to leave this weekend. It was the first weekend of previews. This is the first weekend he plays Chino. Yeah, and you know what's so funny too, is that we were in Dancin’ together in the first weekend of previews in San Diego. I also went on for him in one of his dances. So we have a thing where like he calls out, or you know, he was sick the first, I don't know, whatever, but he wasn't there. And we go to Bare Burger and I'm like, yeah, I think I can do it, I know it pretty well, it sounds chill. And I was kind of doing it at the show, and I remember I was like, we're so excited. And then we had our preview party, our opening preview party, and I was going on that weekend. And I smoked a joint, I'm like, hi, I'm chilling. I'm like, at the preview party, just like going around, Steven Sondheim was like eating a chip in the corner. I'm like, we're just like, oh, like in this beautiful, like we had icons there, it was so beautiful. Like it was really this beautiful night. And then the casting, and then I'm talking to the Telsy people, I'm like, yeah. And they're like, are you excited to go on this weekend for Chino? And I was like, yeah, yeah. I think, I think so. I think I'm ready… I don't…. And that's when it hit and I literally got this wave of nausea, nervous chaos where I was like, oh wow, I'm like making my Broadway debut in this principal track in the show where I have to fight and speak and scream and run in the rain and it's in front of a Broadway audience and it's like in this cast of people that like inspires and intimidates me. And I was just terrified. I was like, terrified. I was terrified. But then I did it and it went okay and I finished and at the end of it, I went home. I remember being on the train and I was like, oh, and I started crying. But I was crying because of how much love I felt from the people. Like people, and you know they champion you. They're like, you got this, you can do this. Your makeup station's covered with cards and love letters. Before you go on, people lift you up. When you bow, they lift you up. I was just in the arms of the cast. I was in the arms of these people and that's, I mean, I was like, they just wanted me to, they just wanted me and they love me and that's, and I was reading the cards and that's what got me. I was like, wow. It's just like, and I don't think I did very, I mean, the third time I went on for Chino, I felt like I knew, I was like, okay, I can do this, but no, I did not do well. I was lost and my mic was, I don't know, but it was that. I was like, wow. And I just remember crying on the D train as it went into like Brooklyn and I was like, wow, this is like, it's the love, like it's the love between them that.
Jessica Altchiler (52:15.854)
Can you identify anything either in your training or in any of these shows that you think really worked well and that you would encourage teachers and choreographers and directors to continue? And is there anything you can identify that you think did not work and that we should start talking about to try to change?
Nando Morland
I think for me, I don't know, I took a class the other day, I took Billy Griffin's class and at the beginning he had us, I had never taken his class before, it was awesome, but he had us lay down and breathe and so much of the beginning was like shedding comparison and like of course you start doing it and it rises, it's like lava, it comes up. But I think in those environments really or teachers and choreographers and people inspiring everyone to find their path to peace in those spaces because they're inherently not crazy peaceful. To like perform, to be in a flow state and performance feels amazing and I think once you've done a show a lot it happens but like as you're getting out there like that is not really taught. Like it's not like... And I think that's part of it, like it is this fine line because there is the thrill and there is the like, there is this exciting nervousness that comes that like we can totally eat and feed on but then when it falls into like i'm scared to do it or like i am so scared of being judged or like i hate myself for how i like there has to be modalities and ways and techniques and space for people to hone love back into that and like i think that's the main thing like that's what i would say and i and i and i have been in environments where that hasn't been the case and that hasn't been you know, to make time to do that. And so I think that's a big one. And for some people it's breathing, for some people it's improvising, for some people it's like talking a lot, for some people it's, you know, it's so many different things or writing even, like, you know, and, or sometimes you just have to feel it and then let it flutter away. But I think that so often it's skipped. Cause I think that's where so much harm comes in. Like it's like, you know, it's like, yes, teach, you know, there are these external forces, but then also it's like, not like how do you bring yourself back? If the environment's the environment, which like you can change by leaving it or change by asking, which are all such important things to do, like having a voice and speaking up and like all of these things, but like in the in like the ecosystem of your own body, like how can you love yourself and be patient and excited and peaceful in that space?
Jessica Altchiler
How can you?
Nando Morland (55:05.614)
Breathe, breathe. And then also I think so much of it is finding, is leaning on the people. Like even yesterday, like I was in this class and like I've done, you know what I'm saying? Like I'm not, but like of course I get nervous to do the combo, like, oh my God. Like of course, like a little bit. And so for me, it's like supporting people. And like, you know, I find someone in the class and I'm like, I'm like, I'm kind of scared. Like, I'm just like, you know what I mean? Like, it's just like. It can be the people, it can be the breathing. It can also be like, just shaking, like, I don't know, shaking it out after, like doing these things and for everyone it's different. And it's also hard, like there are times it doesn't hit and it doesn't work. And like, you know, there was a time, I did an audition yesterday, where I had to sing. It was like only, it was for acting and singing. And it was like three songs, or two songs, or three songs and two sides. And I was in a, I only I had one and a half of the songs and one of the like, and I hadn't, and I'm not a Singer and I actually have a voice lesson at 12. Like I'm going to sing today and I want to get better at that. I'm learning it, but I haven't been there and it makes me nervous. And I was, and I was cracking. I really didn't know the lyrics. I was like, and I was just like, I was like, Hey, actually, can I stand by the piano? They're like, yeah, sure. And I'm like, okay. And then go to the piano and I'm like, wait, I'm like, Hey, can you do the timing for like, I just like coming back and being like, and honestly leaving earth and like zooming out and being like, I'm in Ripley Greer in New York and on earth and like, it isn't so precious. And it's hard to do in the moment, but to like really like go back into like the spaceship and be like, oh, it's so little. Right now it's so little. And like, I can give myself a minute, 40 seconds, an hour to like get where I need to be. And I didn't kill the song, but being by the piano helped and asking if I could do it again, you know, it helped. And I was still like, oh, whoa. But like, and then leaving it and being like, it's okay. Like I left and then other things happened. Like I talked to the woman and we had a really connected conversation and one of the scenes went really well. And so I left that being like, okay, I gave what I could and now I can go eat and I can go have my burger and I can go reward myself for like, showing up and that's like huge.
Jessica Altchiler (57:24.646)
That's something that's super easy to forget. Because we're so focused on what we've booked and what we can check off our list of accomplishments. But showing up is enormous. I can't tell you the amount of auditions I just didn't go to because I was so nervous. Showing up is huge.
Nando Morland
It's huge. It's huge. It's actually the only thing. Like everything is fate, but everything, like if you show up and like, it's just, it's huge. It's really, it's a big deal to do it. And I think other, another thing for me recently has been like, being okay with feeling an aversion to those spaces if they're triggering. Because I think part of us is always like, I wanna be in there, I wanna push, I'm a dancer, I can do it, I'm tough, I've moved through it, the trauma is like, but then also being like, it is too much. Even the other week when I went to Cuba, it was like, I was supposed to go to Broadway, I was supposed to do these things, I was supposed to like, I need to just like be, I need to eat this sushi and lay in my bed and like let the world go and like let the environment go and let the people go because it's doing more damage to me right now than it is bringing me light. That's the part too, like when it starts like casting darkness into you, like walk away. It's like so it's, and it's hard to do. Like it's not so easy to do it, but I really feel like I definitely feel that. And like we all have different experiences and times and like, you know, processes and healing those things. But if it's, you don't have to be in it. Like get out of the water. It's like, if the water's not warm, you don't want to be in it. Like get in, go lay on the grass. Like, and that's tough.
Jessica Altchiler (59:33.042)
What do you feel like you're still healing?
Nando Morland
My body. Like I think, and I even feel it right now. Like I've, you know, in the pandemic for me was a time where I really, I was working out and eating. I was like in a, I was in a rhythm of a day that felt so good to me. Like I was swimming and biking and doing yoga and there's so much for my body, there's so much I need to release and sweat out to come to a grounded, peaceful place separately from like how I look just like in a day. Like I just need to do the yoga class and you just like to take the bike ride and If I accomplish the motions, I feel good. And recently I haven't been doing that. And then it's brought up a lot about, like there are these spaces in which, and I've been feeling it a lot recently, where it's like, I feel like my insecurity is like I was becoming a man and then my body stopped. And my emotions and my heart and my mind have all continued to mature into a loving, mature person, into like the man I'm becoming and wanna be, but that my body halted because I'm like short and I'm like thin and I'm like, I'm not covered in tattoos and I'm not like, you know, there are these certain things and that comes up for me a lot. And when I'm dancing, when I'm actually, and I was thinking about, that's what I was telling you today at the beginning of this podcast, I was like, there are these certain spaces in which I feel so much love for the body I've been given and for the body I've been gifted in the sun. And when I'm like, when I'm actually dancing, like not when I'm like watching a video of myself dancing or like comparing or at an audition, but like when I'm just dancing. When I'm in the sun, when I'm swimming, when I'm biking, when I'm like hugging a person I love. Like, yeah. And so, but for me, it's really hard to like be in that. Like to be like, oh wow, like, and even yesterday I auditioned, like this dude walked out, he was just jacked, just like, he looked, he was, he's beautiful, like he was, but I was just like, I'm not that, and I think it comes in more when I'm not feeling how, like I haven't been as inspired to move and inspired to like do the movement practices that feel good to me. And so then I think it feeds into like the visual component because then I'm like, well, I don't feel good. So I must not look good. And that's a big one for me. Like that's a huge one. And then also to moving through this because one of my wounds or pathways is like in a professional sense is being too scared to care. Like having this fear of caring too much. Because I see people that do care too much and I see how much that harms them in moments. Being so, so attached to a show or so attached to a career and if you can't do it the next day, you're demolished. And I think I've been so scared that I have, that I literally, when dance had ended, I suppressed it. Like I was like, you know, people are like, are you good? I'm like, yeah, I'm good. You know, life happens this way. But then my body felt otherwise. My body was sick. Like I was like, it came out in all these other ways. And like I said, like it's like, there's a loss there. And like material wise, like I'm good. Like I don't, the show was in my life or I didn't need to do the show longer, but the experience, there was a loss there. And like to really hold space for that, like it's so hard for me. Cause I think I just want to know that I'm okay and to move on to the next thing, to come back to all forms of life. But That's a one for me too, to really sink into the vulnerability of loss, of rejection of those things.
Jessica Altchiler
Thank you for sharing all that. I think it's fascinating too because from the outside, I would never have pinpointed those things about you. And it's so beautiful to share it. And that's why I, it's just literally the reason I wanted to start this because I'm looking at you from the outside and I'm like, his body is perfect because it's his body, because it's his vessel. It's the way that he can move and express. And it's really profound to hear that internally you can feel otherwise when you have had all these successes and you are this inspiring, beautiful, inside and out artist. So I can't thank you enough for sharing those wounds and those pieces that are still in progress. But I think I would be surprised if anyone could not relate to that in some way.
Nando Morland
Yeah, definitely. It's huge, it's like, it's everywhere. But I think so much of it now, like I do, there is this collective, and so much of it is in the heart of your podcast, which is to share it and to recognize that, so much of our healing process feels so…It's just so us, like it feels so in our path and in our karma and in our privacy. And there are moments of it that have to be, but then to also be like, like that is so felt and so communal. And like there are wounds that like, I have just like sliced all of us.
Jessica Altchiler
What do you think is something that someone could say to you a stranger on the street or a person in your class or in your show, what's one thing someone can say to you that would light you up? That would light me up.
Nando Morland (01:05:12.126)
Like, you look so happy. Like that was some of my, that was actually my favorite, some of my favorite feedback I ever got from dancing. Like was just like, you look so happy up there. Like you look like, or even like, I remember the show I did at the Joyce right before I left for the Fiddler. Like the, one of the, the dramaturges came up and they were like, you look like you were floating on your back at the Joyce. Just like so happy. Just like you were in the ocean at the Joyce. And I was like, yeah, that's what I want to be and bring. And I think in moments, like it's hard to get not cut up and like people like, no one, no one, no one, no one loved dance and was like, your technique was, which is good, which is okay. Like they make, you know what I mean? Like, and that's like not in my, that's not in my, in my like life to death. But like when I tap into what I do want to bring and what I do, that compliment to me is like. Like what would light me up is like someone commenting on the light or being like, you know, you feel like you're inspiring a freedom in me or like you, you're making me want to enjoy more. And I think that would be the main one. Cause I think there are other people. It's so different.
Jessica Altchiler
You kicked your leg so high.
Nando Morland
Right. And, but there are times too where it's like, and I want to say that too, where it's like some people's like, there is. And again, it's so on those things, but there is people, there are people in our shows specifically where it's like, when I watched Peter Chursin, this stunning, like when I watched him do that Fosse, like his His weight and his beauty and his lightness was so technical, but in such a prophetic deep way, where I was like, the way you've honed and crafted the shapes and the angles of your body to dance like this is breathtaking. Like, it inspires me in a different direction. It inspires me to find a lightness in my step, or to, I don't know, to bring back simplicity and to not feel like I need to show. Like it's just like, so everyone has these different angles and like this beauty, but I think that is mine. And like, I do want to continue to like move that and to hone that and to like be that.
Jessica Altchiler
And also just to say about the technique or kicking your face or whatever it is, it's not like that's a bad thing. It's just like, it's not what makes someone a good dancer. For example. If that is the expression, it's where you've worked your body, it's how you can fully realize a certain emotion or pull of energy, whatever it is, it's the expression that is what matters. Your leg is really high. That's great. But it's not, oh, I'm kicking my leg high for the sake of kicking my leg high and that's what makes me a good dancer. That's not true.
Nando Morland
Right, right, right. Exactly, exactly.
Jessica Altchiler
Well, I absolutely adore you from the bottom of my heart, the depth of my being. This has been so glorious. This is part one of I Hope Many. Oh my God, yeah. And you are one of my biggest inspirations to move, to actually live my life.
Nando Morland
You too. We reflect that. Like, I feel like we have, that's like the bridge we like share. Because I feel that for me too. I really feel that way. It's like
Jessica Altchiler
And it inspires me that you even say that about me because I feel like I just get it from you.
Nando Morland
But that's why we have it. Like, it's so crazy because we both are it and then we both give it and then it's just like, exactly.
Jessica Altchiler
Exactly. So I know that you are going to gracefully and perfectly stumble and dive headfirst into your next endeavor whenever it happens and I look forward to your tie-dye party and I hope you have a great salsa Experience tomorrow whenever it happens .And I just can't thank you enough for being who you are and sharing your light with everybody.
Nando Morland
Thank you
Jessica Altchiler
– and your heart and your soul and it's how you it's how you live your life And that's such an inspiration in and of itself
Nando Morland (01:09:31.85)
This was so, this was so like, I feel so good. Like this was so, cause also I'll say this too, like I was in a cloud this morning and like, like literally like when I got on, like, I'm not wearing pants. Sorry. Like, can I say that on this?
Jessica Altchiler
Of course!
Nando Morland
But I'm not like, you know what I mean? Like it's just like, well,
Jessica Altchiler
I’m wearing a dress and slippers.
Nando Morland
Okay. There's proof is in the slippers. Wow. Um, but that it is so, it's so nice to have a, uh, a loving open receptive space to speak and to like bring up what sometimes doesn't bubble unless like it's talked about, you know, and so that's really, it's really, this has been so helpful to me.
Jessica Altchiler
Good, I'm so glad. And yeah, especially as dancers, but really as any performing artist or artist in general, like we don't usually use our voices. Yeah. That was something as dancers, it was like be seen, not heard. And then all of a sudden you're stumbling into musical theater where you're singing and then you're stumbling into a principal role on Broadway. And also we didn't get into this, but we'll get into this next time, how we're both interested in pivoting towards some acting and writing in that regard. So we have a whole other, a whole other topic.
Nando Morland
And we didn't even talk about Sleep No More and like about, and about consent and nudity and, but that's on the next one.
Jessica Altchiler
Oh gosh, we need a part two immediately. Let's put it on the cal. We'll hang up and we'll put it on the cal.
Nando Morland
We'll put it on the cow. Jess, I love you.
Jessica Altchiler
Well, I love you so much. Jinx.
Nando Morland
I love you.
Jessica Altchiler
Okay, bye.
Jessica Altchiler - Outro
Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It's a dream come true to share these stories with you. And I hope that there's something that you can take away that betters your life. We'll see you next time.