The Dance Mom Thread

[dislurker4toolong]

Ok so I see all these gymnastic mom thread on here, a cheerleading mom thread, a ice skating mom thread but no dance mom thread so here is ours

So lets post a little bit about our dancers

Ok so

DD age: 13 (known as disneydance on the disboards)
Dancing for: 5 years
Level: 4 in Jazz, 4 in Ballet, Beggining Pointe, 3 in Tap
Is DD Competitve: Yes she competes across America
How often if DD competes does she compete: 1-2 times a month
How many hours a week: 24-30

My dd is very competitive but was out with something they call something like a bruised bone(not sure but thats what the doctor said) and so was unable to compete last weekend in New York City here next comp is in Las Vegas next month cant wait to here from on the dance moms on here and hope we can talk dance

 

[dislurker4toolong]

Bump

 

[CraftyMouse]

Okay...

DD age: 15 (almost 16)
Dancing for: 10 years
Level: We don't do levels, but she is in the top-tier classes in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Modern and Theater at her studio She has also done Pointe, Lyrical and Contemporary at another studio
Is DD Competitve: Yes. She competes in both regional and national competitions.
How often if DD competes does she compete: 1-2 times a month
How many hours a week: 15-20

 

[cabanafrau]

DD13, dancing 9 yrs.

We don't have levels here, either. She dances ballet, jazz, lyrical & hip hop weekly. W/ additional classes for partnering, technique & assorted master classes sprinkled in.

Competes several times per year when dance conventions/competitions make their way through our area.

Our family's motto is quickly becoming, "I can't, my daughter has dance."

 

[dislurker4toolong]

Glad to see more dance moms out there dd was a Level 8 Gymnast before starting donce o and thats my dd's moto also lol she trains on Saturdays and so theres no sleep over here except on maybe Saturdays as theres no dance on Sundays unless competition or sometimes last minute practice sometimes i wonder why we do dance lol

 

[undercovermom]

Another dance mom here. DD is 15. She started taking dance when she was two. At various times she's taken tap, jazz, hip hop and ballet. She's on the high school dance team (it is NOT a kickline/pom squad, the team does jazz, hip hop and lyrical). The team practices at least three times a week, for two hours at a time, so consequently she no longer dances with her studio -- although she takes a private dance lesson once a week at the studio, one on one with the teacher.

The studio where she used to dance has a hip hop team, but for the most part focuses on being a dance "company". The big events of the year were the Christmas pageant and the end-of-year recital.

Our school dance team, on the other hand, is very competitive. Locally the high school kickline coaches association sponsors three competitions in December and January, culminating in an invitational championship. Last year our school's team took first place in the jazz and hip hop categories at the championships. The team also goes to Contest of Champions in WDW every March and the EDA event in Myrtle Beach. We're doing an EDA event tomorrow in NYC.

We see lots of dance studios at contest of Cahmpions and at the EDA events.

I naively thought that when she made the dance team, my expenses would go down. True, I'm not paying tuition to the studio anymore, but now I'm paying for two out of town competitions -- fees, costumes, travel expenses, etc.

 

[dislurker4toolong]

DD would love to do a school dance team but they dont offer anything like that where we live last year they competed in Myrtle Beach also and also in Chicago, Nevada, Washinton D.C., Baltimore, and they did Disneyland last year but dd was injured so she ended up not going dd was also injured last week during NYC and she was looking foward to that so much so i felt bad but what can we do it took time to heal what competition do you all do we do Starpower, Acess Broadway,L.A. Dance Force, Dancers Inc, On Stage,and Bravo, were also thinking about doing Wild Dance Convention has anyone done that??

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Both my girls dance. DD#1 is almost 16 and is in her 13th year. DD#2 is almost 13 and in her 10th year. They both do jazz, tap and lyrical at their studio. DD#1 is in the "elite teen" company and DD#2 is still in "pre-teen". DD#1 dances 2 1/2 hours a week; DD#2 dances 1 1/2 hours.
We could probably do better, but the kids have varied interests and this keeps them dancing without a horrendous commitment.
At present our studio only has competition hip-hop, which we do not do.
Dance has helped both the girls get into the chorus of musicals at their schools, and DD#1 is the best dancer on the JV cheer squad by a mile.
Robin M.

 

[Sleepy]

Another dance mom here. My son is 16 and takes classical ballet (no competition). He is on a pre-pro track, so due to rules, although he has taken 8 years of ballet, he can only count 4. For the last 3 years, he has been enrolled in his current ballet school here in Naples. He takes classical ballet in the French method (although previously has had classes in Cechetti and Russian methods)and he has a class of Russian character. In future years he will add modern as specified by the program. He currently has about 14-16 hours of classes each week. Classes are 6 days a week.

 

[mom2rb]

M son is also in a pre-pro ballet program. He is nine and has been dancing for a little over two years. He has ballet three hours a week. He also goes to a local dance studio for tap once a week. He loves ballet and tap but he hates Jazz and Hip-Hop.

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

Another dance mom here!

DD1 is 9, and she is in her 6th year of dance overall and 3rd year of competitive. She competes Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop. She takes all of those classes as well as ballet, Acro (tumbling) and Lyrical. She dances 11-12 hours a week. She just finished her first competition of the year (NUVO) and have 2 more coming up (Encore and Celebrity). We are also doing Celebrity Nationals this year in June.

DD2 is 6, and she is in her 4th year of dance overall and 1st year of competitive. Her group only competes Tap and Jazz, and she takes ballet, tap, jazz and rhythmic gymnastics for a total of 5 hours per week. Her company did not compete at NUVO (too young), but they will be competing at Encore and Celebrity. They will not be going to Nationals.

I agree with the PP who said the family motto is, "I'm sorry we can't, DD has dance!" That is our motto too.

 

[taximomfor4]

I am not sure if our family fits into this thread or no!!

3 of my kids (the girls) do Irish Dance.

DD ages: 14, 9, 5
Dancing for: dd14-Irish Dance for 4.5 yrs, but prior to that took other kinds of dance and gymnastics...dd9-Irish Dance for 4.5 yrs...dd5 (first year Irish Dancer!)
Level: In Irish Dance, you move up levels based on competition placements. Both of my older dd's have moved up a couple of levels so far.
Are DD's Competitve: Yes, Yes, and soon (May will be dd5's first competition)
How often if DD competes does she compete: 4-8x per year (depends on our schedule, money, and how far we're willing to drive)
How many hours a week: 1,2,&1 (at the studio)

 

[juligrl]

I'm not sure if we really "fit" here either, but all dancers (and dance moms) start somewhere right?

DD age: 4 soon to be 5
Dancing for: a little over a year of ballet and just started tap about a month ago.
Level: Beginning dancer.
Are DD's Competitve: Non competitive, purely for fun.
How often if DD competes does she compete: N/A
How many hours a week: 1 hour a week - 30 minutes per class.

DD just started ballet last year but had been begging me to let her do a class for about half a year earlier than that. This year there's a tap class that meets right after her ballet class. She always liked to stay and watch a couple of minutes of that class. Not surprised when she asked me if she could please take a tap class.
On a whim I looked in the used shoe bin one evening an found a pair of brand new looking tap shoes in her size. I asked her teacher if she could do a preview class for the tap class and of course she said yes, then I asked my daughter if she would like to try a tap class and gave her the shoes. Her expression and shock was priceless!
She's only been doing tap for a few weeks but she's been working her butt off and is nearly caught up with the rest of the class. It's great to see her having so much fun with dance.

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

juligirl, that is how my DDs started out. DD1 started at 3 for fun, and her sister started at 2 because I was having a tough time keeping her out of the studio! I figured letting her take her own class would be better than struggling to keep her out of the studio while her sister was dancing!

taximomfor4, our studio offers Irish too, and the girls that have been doing it for years are amazing! Neither of my DDs are interested in it (as of now), so they don't the class, but some of their friends do!

 

[luvmy2sams]

DD9 is in her 5th year of dance. She's currently taking ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop. She's not interested in competing at this point because it would take away from her time spent in other activities. I swear that half my life is spent shuttling her from interest to interest.

Her dance company puts on a spring recital every May featuring a company ballet along with group and solo performances. The owner always choreographs the ballet to a Disney film, and this year they're doing Alice in Wonderland. DD is currently competing against several other girls for a featured dance with the Cheshire Cat.

 

[Darcy03231]

Another dance mom here.

DD (16) is in her 13th year of dance. She does pointe, ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, tap, contemporary, jazz tech and musical theater. She dances competitively in jazz, lyrical, hip hop and tap. She's at the dance studio about 20-25 hours per week (thank the lord she's now driving and I don't have to get her there and back).

DS (14) is in his 11th year. He dances jazz, tap and hip hop and competes in all three. He's at the studio about 6-8 hours per week (and of course his classes never coincide with DD's).

 

[undercovermom]

Had a great competition yesterday. Our team took 3rd in hiphop, 2nd in lyrical and 2nd and 4th in jazz. We got our bids for final destination; we're not going to Virginia Beach, but still the recognition was nice. My one gripe -- since this was a very small scale competion, the high school teams comepted in the same categories as the dance school/studio teams -- at the larger competitions, they compete in differenct categories. Still, I love watching the competitions --= my other daughter is a cheerleader, on the high school competition team, so I spend a lot of time sitting in gyms watching young ladies do thier thing.

 

[coinkc]

Another Irish Dance mom here!

My daughter is 11. She is in her 6th year of Irish dance. She competes as often as I let her which is about 12 times a year as we must travel to all the competitions except one that is local.

Taximom4: what's your feis schedule? Maybe we can meet up sometime.

 

[mickeylove2]

Hi everyone! Both DDs dance, tap and ballet~ just for fun, no competitions. They are 6 & 4 and have only been dancing since September. They have their 1st recital in May and they are dancing to Disney music! They have dance class Mondays and Saturdays, an hour a day. They also twirl competitively and now want to start ice skating, with all of the other activities they do, I don't know if I could handle them dancing any more than they do! 25 hours a week, yikes!

 

[Xcited4Disney]

Finallly! A thread for the dance moms!

DD age 8, in her 6th year of dance. No levels here either.
She currently takes Tap/Ballet, Caribbean, Hip-Hop, and Company classes.
We are at the dance school 3-4 days per week, for a total of 5 hours/week. This is her first year in Company, it's a competitive Hip Hop team. Her first competition is next month. I'm not sure which other competitions they'll do this year but I know they'll dance at Six Flags for Dance Fest in May. She loves dancing and she does really well which is why I basically just hand my wallet over.