History, Fun facts & Faqs
Jason Marquette and Garrett ‘Spaghetti’ Minniti co-founded MPower Dance Workshops in 2011, however they had already been working together for 8 years before that! The two famously met in 2003 on the national touring production of Broadway’s 42nd Street — singing and dancing next to each other as Cops in ‘the Ballet.’ As the story goes, Garrett (who had just joined the tour as a replacement) met Jason backstage warming up before a performance.
‘I followed my ears,’ Garrett recalls, ‘through a maze of costume racks in the loading dock to find Jason warming up in a corner. The rhythms — clearly on another level from the hoofing we were doing in the show — and I remember instantly assessing that I wanted to know this guy, and learn from him.’ Their professional relationship quickly grew into mentorship and ‘brother from another motherhood,’ as they performed closely together on stage 8-shows a week and became family while experiencing ‘life out of a suitcase’, for over a year.
From 2006-2010, Jason and Garrett began teaching at various dance schools in and around the Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) and adjudicating for an up and coming dance competition called NYLA Dance. Also during this time the two produced several Off-Broadway productions and workshops (under the names of In It For Life Productions and Marquette Productions) both together, and in assistance to the other. This ultimately laid the groundwork and desire to create Jason’s concept of a dance training experience that would link the training we get IN the dance studio to our lives OUT of it in hopes of guiding young dancers to create successful lives beyond their ‘studio years.’
From 2011 to 2020 Jason and Garrett traveled across the country and internationally (Canada and Guatemala) as MPower Dance Workshops and connected with dozens of dance studios, dance teachers and aspiring young dance artists. Especially during the first few years the two would often teach together, bringing a unique chemistry balanced in Garrett’s raw emotional energy and Jason’s logical pragmatic approach to the classroom. This is where the original 5 workshop themes (Connect, Grounded, Evolve, Expand and Explore) were developed and eventually turned into week long summer dance intensive experiences — which MPower hosted in New York City from 2016-2020.
And then…Covid happened.
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In 2021, MPower hosted a final dance intensive experience completely online and over zoom. Considering the circumstances, CONNECT (that years theme) was a resounding success in continuing a sense of normalcy and connection for the MPower Dance community during an unprecedented event — a time which ultimately not only changed the trajectory of MPower Dance Workshops, but of the entertainment industry as a whole.
“Over the last several years we have observed this shift develop in both the students we teach as well as in society as a whole. We have come to understand that our youth are dealing with an entirely different set of circumstances — both in life and in pursuit of their careers — than they were when we began this journey almost 15 years ago. Being a kid has changed. Parenting has changed. AI is upon us. Social media continually steals more time and energy from our lives and politics have become pop culture. However, ART brings people together. Art inspires hope and action. And art can contribute much more to our relationships and society than there is opportunity for it to be produced and nurtured.”
“Our mentors instilled in us both the responsibility to pass along the knowledge and personal mentorship that guided us through difficult times in our lives. The next chapter of our journey focuses on a deeper level of connection with ourselves, our relationships and the creation of our craft. It’s about focusing on the things that bring us together and finding space for art in our lives beyond the dance studio. It’s about showing young artists not only how to do the dance — but how to truly love it, respect it and develop a relationship with it that will grow with them their whole life.”
Fun Fact!
The video below features Jason teaching Garrett the very combination he was working on the night they met :)
Fun facts & FAQs
At the end of each workshop experience we take a moment to CONNECT and journal about the day. This includes a Q&A where students and parents are invited to discuss anything that’s on their minds. These are important moments to the CDP experience and have lead to funny and memorable hours of conversation and connection. Here are a few tidbits that have come up over the years :)
Crazy story #1 — Jason and Garrett once found themselves lost on a back road in rural Alabama while driving through the Deep South on an MPower tour. This is only a slight exaggeration…
Do you either of you have kids of your own? Jason and Garrett are both father’s to ‘only daughters.’ Gives new meaning to the song ‘My One and Only.’
Crazy story # 2 — Jason once dressed up as Garrett for Halloween. And, yes, there is photo proof.
What’s the ‘M’ for? The ‘M’ in MPower actually comes from Jason and Garrett’s last names — Marquette and Minniti!
Favorite styles of dance? Tap. A first love in dance that they both share.
Where are you both from? Jason is from Reading, Pennsylvania and Garrett is from Culver City, California.
When did Jason begin loosing his hair? Who truly knows — perhaps Mama Marquette — however rumor has it Jason has been bald his whole life.
When did Garrett stop growing? He had his last growth spurt at 10 and a 1/2 and has stalled ever since. It was great for his parents though, they didn’t have to keep buying bigger shoes.
