dance competitions/conventions

[luvflorida]

My DD14 is on a dance competition team this year. She has danced before, but not competitively, so this is all new to us.

Their first competition is the NYCDA Convention in Boston. It runs for two days and will include classes and competitions. She is very excited to be a part of it all!

I was just curious if anybody has a son or daughter who competes in dance, and what we can expect when we attend this competition. What do the parents usually do when the classes are going on? Do you find the competitions fun or stressful? Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[Nancy]

Been there, done that. We spent 8 days in NYC last summer for a comp. There was alot of downtime during those days, but in only 2 days you probably won't have alot of free time. While they were dancing I always watched the whole thing. As far as classes went, they were not mandatory for us...out of the whole week the owner only asked that the girls try to get 5 classes in. Classes were all different hours so there was plenty to pick and choose from...again with only 2 days, probably not as much. While they were in classes I just hung out at the hotel, the class lentgh was only an hour so there wasn't much I was going to do in that time. I think it was more stressful on me then the girls. I ran around like crazy making sure they had all their pieces and were where they were supposed to be at the right time. The girls had a blast and really came together as a team during the whole thing. It was a great experience, expensive, but once in a lifetime for us. (especially since they decided to stop dancing this yr.) Not to mention winning an Ultimate Gold and taking 2nd place for overall in their age group. (they actually won 6 Gold and 1 Ultimate Gold)

 

[janette]

This is my 13yo DD's first year of competing but we've gone to a convention the last 2 years. This year we'll have at least 3 that are mandatory, maybe more.

These are a few things I learned after the first time.

There really isn't much to watch, there are 100's of kids in those rooms with an instructor on the stage. If you are lucky you might see your DD in the middle of the crowd but not likely. The first year I paid an observation fee. I won't do it again.

Try to get a friend for her to go with, the first time we went none of the other girls were good friends of hers and we got the room for just us. The next time I brought 2 of her friends they stayed in the room with us. I bought some pictures I needed to sort and worked on pictures that weekend. I barely left the room except to watch the competition. Had my own little vacation and didn't have to worry about her coming & going by herself.

We also brought a cooler with plenty of quick heathly snacks. This saved $$ eating at the hotel and the girls really needed to eat small amounts often rather than big meals.

So far they've been fun without stress but this year since she will be competing it will probably add a level of stress. She's pretty self sufficient so I don't have much to do with getting her dressed etc so it shouldn't be too bad.

My DD loves it, they work hard but if your DD enjoys dance she'll have a great time.

 

[Pop Daddy]

they started my daughter in competion classes last year at age 11, I loved them, looking forward to more ths year. I like watching people dance that no how

 

[luvflorida]

Pop Daddy- That's a long post for you!

I agree, though, it is fun to watch good dancers.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

My dd is 9 and this is her first year in company. The competions her school goes to are just weekend events. We haven't done it before, but I am pretty sure they don't run classes, etc since the competition only runs two days.

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

My dd is 12 and has competed for 5 years now. We love it! It is expensive and we do the little things like packing snacks, and even sandwich stuff. We usually do 4 competitions a year. The stress verses fun depends, to us depends on the company sponsoring the competiition. We encourage every competition to be FUN! FUN! FUN. However, if you have a company that calls a lot of dances out of order, that adds stress. If the other dancers there are negative, that adds stress. If the location is small and/or difficult to get in and out of seats, that adds stress.

I do go backstage with my daughter to help her get into costume, and usually help those girls that don't have anyone to help them. But I am ALWAYS back in the audience to see the dance on stage and to cheer them on.

I strongly feel every experience in life is what you make of it. I have a real problem with parents or other adults are negative about their dancers or ANY of the dancers. I also have a problem when the dancers are negative to other dancers! That is the worst! We always have our pep talk about how to act postively NO MATTER WHAT! Walk away from the negative. JUST HAVE FUN!

Good luck
Ellen

 

[janette]

Originally posted by LOVETHATMOUSE
My dd is 9 and this is her first year in company. The competions her school goes to are just weekend events. We haven't done it before, but I am pretty sure they don't run classes, etc since the competition only runs two days.

If they are just competitions they usually don't have classes, the conventions do have classes. They start early in the morning and end in the afternoon, the competitions are in the evening. Only kids that love dance would consider one of these conventions fun.

pop daddy is right about watching, they are all very good dancers!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

My DD#1 and 2 are both in dance companies at our studio, but it is a very low-pressure studio and there aren't a lot of competitions. In fact, last year DD#1 went to her first one. It was two days. There were classes in jazz, ballet, and tap, plus some hip-hop. She takes jazz, lyrical and tap, and took 2 years of hip-hop, but no ballet so she was completely lost in that one (I don't care, ballet bores me, I love the tap/jazz stuff). She did really well in the jazz class and was the last one eliminated for scholarship consideration.
Only one group from our studio actually competed, and they did pretty well. They did pick a "competition" hip-hop group in the summer, but we took a pass--it had to be in addition to regular classes, and we are already there 2 nights a week. I don't want to force the kids to choose between dance and all other activities like some of the studios do--our neighbor girl is only 9 and has had to drop all her other activities except girl scouts because of the demands of her studio.
You can really pick out the people that live for this stuff, the studio owners who are drill sergeants, etc. in these crowds at the conventions. Also, be prepared for the vendors selling stuff that your girl will "have to have, please please mommy".
I agree with the snacks; we brought stuff for the hotel room and went to Subway for lunch--they brought pizza in, but we didn't think that was a good idea in the middle of a day of dancing.
Robin M.

 

[missypie]

DD11 is in dance company. Last year they did one convention where they didn't compete, and 4 competitions. DD wasn't thrilled about the convention because they did lots of hip hop and she doesn't like hip hop and doesn't take it.

BUT bring your credit card or lots of money. They sell TONS of cool dance wear at the conventions. Your daughter will surely want lots of stuff and it could actually give you a good jump on Christmas.

Please report afterwards what you think of the competition. Lots of the companies at your DD's age and older (even younger!) have very sexual routines. VERY sexual. I always say that if teenaged boys ever discovered dance competitons, there would be no room for the parents. DD's company DANCES. NO sexual writhing; no pelvic bumps and grinds. Our Elite Company tied for 1st at Nationals last year by doing a very traditional jazz dance...but the the group they tied with appeared to be depicting drug addict prostitutes.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

It's good to read about your experiences with competition dance--DD9 currently takes with a wonderful instructor who is getting a jazz team together--her teenaged girls, but she hopes to develop talent for future years, and she's told me Belle's on her list, which is nice to know since Belle loves dance, and we love the instructor!

I've often wondered about the sexualization--it did seem that the past couple years, they were moving away from the "trampier" costumes (on the college level, where you can see it on ESPN).