The Dance Mom Thread

[BuzznBelle'smom]

My DD has been helping out for a few years now. For the little kids, she ties a lot of tap shoes and might help line them up, that sort of thing. Maybe escort a child to the bathroom, in addition to modelling the correct steps. She doesn't correct the dancers. the teacher sometimes likes to watch the class from the back, to see how they look, and the students watch DD while the teacher watches them. It's also helpful when they turn.

I don't know what our new studio will do, but I like the idea of "Helper Dollars".

 

[dreamer17555]

Our studio does something similar, they help in the preschool and youngest rec classes. They tie shoes, model the steps, take attendance. They have to be in 6th grade and up and for every 4 hours (1 hour a week times 4 weeks) they spend they get half off an hour class.

-Becca-

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

The things we do for our dancers!!! Our studio changed ownership over the summer and one of the changes was the dress code for the younger dancers in ballet. And it affected both of my girls. Instead of wearing black leotards with pink tights, they now want the younger dancers to wear black leotards and white ankle socks. Not that big of a deal except that the only white ankle socks we have are thick cotton socks and their ballet slippers (both got new ones at the beginning of the summer) have been fit to their feet wearing tights. So yesterday I found and bought white nylon ankle socks for both of them to wear for ballet. Well of course, white nylon ankle socks in kids sizes come with cute little lace cuffs. DD2 (6) doesn't care. DD1 (9) was horrified at the thought of cute little lace cuffs! So I spent an hour with 4 paris of socks and a seam ripper detaching cute little lace cuffs from DD1's socks! So now the lace-free socks are in the washer and will eventually land in her dance bag so she has them for her ballet class tonight.

Remind me again why we do this!

 

[pixiepower1971]

The things we do for our dancers!!! Our studio changed ownership over the summer and one of the changes was the dress code for the younger dancers in ballet. And it affected both of my girls. Instead of wearing black leotards with pink tights, they now want the younger dancers to wear black leotards and white ankle socks. Not that big of a deal except that the only white ankle socks we have are thick cotton socks and their ballet slippers (both got new ones at the beginning of the summer) have been fit to their feet wearing tights. So yesterday I found and bought white nylon ankle socks for both of them to wear for ballet. Well of course, white nylon ankle socks in kids sizes come with cute little lace cuffs. DD2 (6) doesn't care. DD1 (9) was horrified at the thought of cute little lace cuffs! So I spent an hour with 4 paris of socks and a seam ripper detaching cute little lace cuffs from DD1's socks! So now the lace-free socks are in the washer and will eventually land in her dance bag so she has them for her ballet class tonight.

Remind me again why we do this!

Just be glad she isnt asking you to change schools! DD10 would stop dancing before she wore socks with her ballet shoes!

Did they say why they are doing this...just call me curious! I have only seen this done with really little ones...3/4 year olds.

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

Just be glad she isnt asking you to change schools! DD10 would stop dancing before she wore socks with her ballet shoes!

Did they say why they are doing this...just call me curious! I have only seen this done with really little ones...3/4 year olds.

I understand your DD's reluctance. DD1's age group is right on the dividing line. Her age group and down have bare legs with socks for ballet. But her age group and up have to wear the hip alignment belts.

The reasoning they are giving is that they want to be able to see the dancers legs and that tights hide too much. Also, it apparently has something to do with Russian tradition as well. Both of my DDs are actually thrilled to not have to wear tights, so both are more than willing to deal with socks. As long as the 9yo's don't have lace cuffs! Again, this is a new owner/director. And her ballet director wants this dress code. We'll give it a year and see what happens. But right now, the girls are very excited.

 

[dreamer17555]

So our studio did the big move last night. New location. I was a little worried about it, to be honest the outside of the building has none of the charm of their old location but man oh man was I won over.

The inside has three studio rooms, one specific for ballet and another room that will be used for rec dancers. But its the third studio room that got my heart pounding. It is huge! Nearly twice the size of any stage they will be on, huge mirror with an electric stage curtain to help them get ready for competition, and stage lights so they can really get the feel for everything. Wow oh wow.

We also have a brand new homework room which is too cute and is tucked away from the parent waiting area so the girls won't hear constant chatter. A new store complete with a snack shop that make amoung other things Smoothies! Cat totally died and went to dancer heaven.


Jessica- You are such a nice mom. I do think the sock thing is a little odd but at least she doesn't have to go in with ruffle covered ones.

-Becca-

 

[missypie]

So our studio did the big move last night. New location. I was a little worried about it, to be honest the outside of the building has none of the charm of their old location but man oh man was I won over.

The inside has three studio rooms, one specific for ballet and another room that will be used for rec dancers. But its the third studio room that got my heart pounding. It is huge! Nearly twice the size of any stage they will be on, huge mirror with an electric stage curtain to help them get ready for competition, and stage lights so they can really get the feel for everything. Wow oh wow.

We also have a brand new homework room which is too cute and is tucked away from the parent waiting area so the girls won't hear constant chatter. A new store complete with a snack shop that make amoung other things Smoothies! Cat totally died and went to dancer heaven.


Jessica- You are such a nice mom. I do think the sock thing is a little odd but at least she doesn't have to go in with ruffle covered ones.

-Becca-

Sounds like a lovely studio...hope they can pay for it all. One of our local studios built TWO lovely buildings....then jacked up the tuition so much to pay for it that girls are leaving in droves.

 

[dreamer17555]

Sounds like a lovely studio...hope they can pay for it all. One of our local studios built TWO lovely buildings....then jacked up the tuition so much to pay for it that girls are leaving in droves.

I hope not. Apparently they are paying a ton less for this building than the space they were in but all the worked they put in... whoa I can see that running them into the red.

-Becca-

 

[AZMickeyfans]

Sounds like there are a lot of studio changes this year.

Becca, WOW what a studio! Very cool. I can imagine how excited Morgan would be in that place. When we moved to the one where we are currently at they added a cool homework room and a dressing room. I swear the dressing room has a hidden door to a party room in the back because the girls get lost in there and take forever to come out at the end of the night. Its like they have a hidden disco in the back!

Jessica, Are you guys doing LA Dance force or KAR coming up in Nov? I believe they are the same weekend. Morgan is going to do her solo at one of those. Right now they are leaning towards LADF because some of the girls have scholarships from last year.

I'm so nervous because Morgan has never done a solo before and its pretty difficult for her. The director is confident she will have it ready and says it will be good for her to get the first one out of the way. They are only bringing a few solos and duets to the competition in Nov. The rest of the girls dont start competing til Jan.

I'm also nervous because we will be in WDW for half the month of Oct. We will lose that practice time.

anyway, if you go I'll be the nervous wreck in the audience til she makes it through her dance.

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

Jessica, Are you guys doing LA Dance force or KAR coming up in Nov? I believe they are the same weekend. Morgan is going to do her solo at one of those. Right now they are leaning towards LADF because some of the girls have scholarships from last year.

No, we won't be at either of those competitions. With the change in ownership at our studio, things are kind of up in the air as far as competitions go. The new owner/director is still trying to get a handle on what she has for dancers. As of right now, the only competition on our calendar is NYCDA in May. I am not sure about other competitions yet. We are still waiting on a final decision. I suspect this year will be scaled back from previous years. We aren't even starting competition choreography until Dec at the earliest. The owner/director is concentrating on technique for the beginning part of the season.

Best of luck to Morgan though! Taking on a solo is pretty big. DD1 has been asked to do one this year, and it will be her first, so she is both nervous and excited as well!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

No, we won't be at either of those competitions. With the change in ownership at our studio, things are kind of up in the air as far as competitions go. The new owner/director is still trying to get a handle on what she has for dancers. As of right now, the only competition on our calendar is NYCDA in May. I am not sure about other competitions yet. We are still waiting on a final decision. I suspect this year will be scaled back from previous years. We aren't even starting competition choreography until Dec at the earliest. The owner/director is concentrating on technique for the beginning part of the season.

Best of luck to Morgan though! Taking on a solo is pretty big. DD1 has been asked to do one this year, and it will be her first, so she is both nervous and excited as well!

Thanks Jessica! LADF is one of our optionals in Tucson but the solos have to go. I think LADF is smaller than KAR. Maybe you know. I'm hoping for the smaller one for her first competition with this dance since we are still new to the whole competition world. They will bring a couple of last years dances too if we can convince the other girls to come along. She is really excited. I'm a nervous wreck!

 

[dreamer17555]

Wow this tread has been so quiet lately. I hope everyone is having a great start to the dance season and is loving their new routines. My DD got two spotlight parts and is thrilled to death.

So I have a question- to those that go to competitions what do you bring to lug everything needed? I was looking into the Dream Duffle, Rac N Roll, or Costume-izer. Anyone have any of those? What are your thoughts?

-Becca-

 

[Sneaky3]

Hi I have the Rac n Roll. I have had it for two years and love it. My DD is 8 and has alot of costumes for comp and they fit perfectly well here. When she has quick costume changes she throws everything underneath and I havent lost anything.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Hi All!

Congrats on your 1000th post Becca!

Hope everyone is enjoying their start to the year. We too moved locations. Our old one merged with another studio and we are at their location. It's a bit cramped with a definate "us against them" feel. The owners need to do some serious P.R. I hope it all works out but I'm feeling a bit sorry I didn't just switch studio altogether.

DS10 has two group numbers and two duets. The dance instructor talked me into the second duet selling it like it was a ballet number. The other mother and I had visions of classical music and tutus. I try to focus on the tutu and ignore the spandex tights that I knew DS would have to wear. Speaking of which we got him his first Ballet Belt-it's a thong. The poor boy is so uncomfortable in it. It's so funny to watch him as he is normally very graceful until he goes to re-adjust it. Course he would faint of embarassement if he knew I told anyone about it so shhh.

DD8 is starting to compete this year too. There is a fair bit of competition between them and as DS10 is older, has had more years of training, got chosen as one of 7 boys accross Canada for a summer program and of course the elephant in the room he is a boy means that it is hard for DD8 to keep up. I've kept them in different numbers and classes. But you know, how it is with siblings. It's a love/hate thing. No one is comparing them, we are all trying to encourage them to do their best and have fun and to encourage each other.

Here's to a good year!

 

[taximomfor4]

hi fellow dance moms! Just dropping in, because I miss the dance world. We just switched my girls to a new Irish Dance school, which means they are now banned from competing for 6 months. I am living vicariously through you guys now (even though it's mostly other dance forms!)

 

[missypie]

Wow this tread has been so quiet lately. I hope everyone is having a great start to the dance season and is loving their new routines. My DD got two spotlight parts and is thrilled to death.

So I have a question- to those that go to competitions what do you bring to lug everything needed? I was looking into the Dream Duffle, Rac N Roll, or Costume-izer. Anyone have any of those? What are your thoughts?

-Becca-

How old is your daughter? Just make sure that whatever system of organization you start is something you can wean her to do by herself over time. Having to keep track of all of her own costume pieces, shoes, etc. has done a lot for DD's organizational skills.

One thing I'd recommend for anyone competing for the first season is to unpack the dance bag as soon as you get home from the competition, rather than the night before the next one. At some of the comptitions the dressing rooms are extraordinarily crowded, and it is very easy to get costume pieces in other people's bags, etc. If something is missing 2 weeks before the next competition, it can be replaced. If something is missing the night before, it's a disaster.

 

[dreamer17555]

Hi I have the Rac n Roll. I have had it for two years and love it. My DD is 8 and has alot of costumes for comp and they fit perfectly well here. When she has quick costume changes she throws everything underneath and I havent lost anything.

Aww that sounds like Heaven! We are looking at the dream duffel- Its basically the Ran N Roll with extras. Here is a link,http://www.dreamduffel.com/ , I think the rack is lower but that doesn't worry me too much.

Congrats on your 1000th post Becca!

Hope everyone is enjoying their start to the year. We too moved locations. Our old one merged with another studio and we are at their location. It's a bit cramped with a definate "us against them" feel. The owners need to do some serious P.R. I hope it all works out but I'm feeling a bit sorry I didn't just switch studio altogether.

I've kept them in different numbers and classes. But you know, how it is with siblings. It's a love/hate thing. No one is comparing them, we are all trying to encourage them to do their best and have fun and to encourage each other.

Thanks! 1,000 posts... I guess that means I am on here way too much.

Sorry about your studio. I would go ahead and look into a new one for next year in case things don't improve.

Sibling rivalry is really normal and I think you are handling it great!

hi fellow dance moms! Just dropping in, because I miss the dance world. We just switched my girls to a new Irish Dance school, which means they are now banned from competing for 6 months. I am living vicariously through you guys now (even though it's mostly other dance forms!)

I hope your girls are loving their new school and a break from competition might do everyone a lot of good. I know it would help my stress level for sure. Keep us updated.

How old is your daughter? Just make sure that whatever system of organization you start is something you can wean her to do by herself over time. Having to keep track of all of her own costume pieces, shoes, etc. has done a lot for DD's organizational skills.

One thing I'd recommend for anyone competing for the first season is to unpack the dance bag as soon as you get home from the competition, rather than the night before the next one. At some of the comptitions the dressing rooms are extraordinarily crowded, and it is very easy to get costume pieces in other people's bags, etc. If something is missing 2 weeks before the next competition, it can be replaced. If something is missing the night before, it's a disaster.

She is 6 and this is our 2nd Comp year. I think we are going to get a Dream Duffel. I think your idea about unpacking right afterwards is great. We lost an earring last year and did not realize until a day before State. It was a giant mess. This year I am buying double earring and hair clips just to be on the safe side.


-Becca-

 

[jen0610]

DD11 is not a happy camper right now. Our studio always performs at a local Christmas show. It's always been an honor to be one of the classes selected to perform. They usually have the production groups - tap, lyrical, ballet and the jr group - and 5 or 6 other classes perform. DD has been really excited because her ballet class, doing last years routine, was selected to be one of the classes to perform. There are 6 girls in the class, with 4 of them having been in the same class for the last 3 years. Of these 4 girls, 1 also take tap, 1 is in jr production, 1 is in 5 other dances plus jr production and DD is in 2 other dances plus jr production.

Last week, they worked on last years dance. The two who just take ballet, did nothing but complain about having to do last years dance. The one comment that has my DD upset, was that they don't want to dance at "the stupid tree show, just so the others can show off." If enjoying other forms of dance and being able to take more than one class and/or being apart of a production group makes them show offs to the other 2, so be it. I take the comment as a little bit of the green-eyed monster rearing it's ugly head. The one girl told DD she wasn't going to perform correctly, if her mom make her go. They do have the option of opting out, the teacher will just adjust the dance as needed for any who drop out, which was explained to the parents, when we got the info on performing. When DD reminded the girl this, she got a 'tude and told my DD that she wasn't dropping out, she wanted to make sure they didn't get asked for next year. No one else heard her make this last comment.

DD is upset because she doesn't want to say anything to the teacher just in case this girl is just making a mean comment to cover up the fact that she does have a case of the green-eyed moster and doesn't really mean that she is going to intentionally mess up. But she also doesn't want the dance not to get done right, just because someone doesn't want to perform, doesn't have to perform, but won't bow out just to be spitefull.

It's hard to get a read on this girl, as to which she really feels. I told DD to wait and see how this week goes and if she is still complaining and making comments that she's gonna mess up, then we'll call the teacher and talk to her. Only 1 of the girls has made the comment about messing up, the other was just complaining about having to do last years dance.

One of the reasons this class was picked is the costume was one of everbody's favorites from last year and every body loves songs from Disney. They dance to Mulan. I can't post attachments, but here is a link to pictures of the dress.

http://harberfamily.shutterfly.com/116?startIndex=50

http://harberfamily.shutterfly.com/102?startIndex=50

 

[Diamondintheruff]

The whole jealousy issue comes up alot even in so called "group" dances.

These are life lessons your DD is learning. I imagine it is awfully hard watching your DD learn them. But what a great conversation starter to talk about with her.

 

[JeannieNM]

HI Everyone,
I have never posted on this thread. I found it the other day. Now I have a mini crisses and I thought you might be able to help.

My DD joined/made her school Dance Team this fall. She is the only 7th grader on the team. The rest are 8th-12th graders. Her school goes from 6 -12 grade. When she made the team she was told she could not compete in a dance competition on December 13 due to her being in 7th grade. They call it "State" so I guess it is a state school competition. She was fine with that. I double checked since we had plans to be out of town then anyway.
Our winter break starts on Dec. 12. We have a cruise booked for Dec. 14 out of Port Canaveral. We are leaving Dec 11 so that we can have some time at DW before we leave on the cruise. We are traveling with another family and dd is bringing a friend from yet another family with us. We could have cancelled everything with no financial penalty up to the begining of October.
Last night DD came home and said that her coach (also the middle school drama/dance teacher) said she could compete. I could have killed him. She is so upset. And so am I. They practice 13-17 hours a week. He should have had this figured out before. Now we can not cancel our trip without losing thousands of dollars. Even if we give up going to DW, we live too far away to fly in the day of the cruise. So no matter what, we have to fly on Dec 13. I am so mad and frustrated. DD is heart broken. She has 3 perfomances today of the middle school musical which she is also in. That will at least distract her while I think about this. Grrr

Any advice, comments.
Thanks for the help. Jean