To Compete or Not Compete. That is the Question!

Dance competitions are BIG DEAL these days. Well, actually they were a big deal even in the 80's when every child did not receive a trophy or a ribbon. Matter of fact, most only handed out a 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the age group. No extra awards. But things have changed and maybe not for the best.

One of the things that has changed is how a student gets to be a part of a competition team. These days, some studios just allow you to sign up, as if it is a regular class. Others hold a "clinic" or "audition" to see which one of the teams you will be on. While still those schools, that know  not every student or family is ready for the full commitment of competing, select students from recommendations from teachers, conduct interviews and meet with each individual parent and make an informed decision about their child's well being.

As an adjudicator for competitions and director of my own schools, I am of the opinion that studios that take all students into a competition team or company, no matter what level of dancer, can be doing great harm to the student as well as the industry.

Competing use to be seen as "the next step" for those students and families that had a plan toward dancing at the university level, auditioning for amateur and professional shows, etc. It was the "next commitment" level to work towards in fine tuning the dance craft of the young person.

Much care was taken in being sure that the student was ready for the regimen  of training, travel, scoring well and not scoring so well. Hours was spent in preparation and selection of the dance method, music selection and costuming so that everything was appropriate. Then there was the many hours of technique training.

Most of this seems to be gone. There is no plan, but maybe to get as many families in as you can to charge more for lessons and costumes. There does not seem to be as much work on a piece before it even hits the stage. Many times, it has been evident that an unfinished piece has just been placed on stage to "get the feel" of if the number is going to do well later in the season, or if it needs to be dumped and start all over just for the sake of receiving a plastic trophy.

Our students that have placed in top 10 and top 5 at nationals spent hours on a piece, maybe even a year, before putting it on stage for adjudication. They would perform at local pageants, festivals, fairs and benefits to fine turn their performance presence as well as the dance. And some even competed a number more than one year or season to allow the piece to mature with them.

So, maybe I am  "old school" in thinking that the idea of a "Pre-K Competition Team" or even a "Kindergarten Competition Team" is just a bit too over the top. Subjecting students at such an early age (now I do know that there are some exceptional kindergarten age dancers out there, but let them dance in a multi age level group and average the ages!) may just lead to a big decay in the whole dance competition scene.

All it takes is a hyper emotional child, whose feelings have been crushed, and an extremely emotional parent that their child's feelings have been hurt or their child was cheated, to manifest into the worlds largest mess in a studio and everyone is unhappy! If this happens, it is probably not even the child or parents fault. But the fault of dance professionals trying to push too much, too soon and not have enough courage to tell a family, "I am sorry, I don't think competing is something you should consider for your child just yet. But we will certainly track their progress and visit with you as soon as we believe that moment has arrived."

So no, we will never have competitive dance groups that a parent can just sign up their child for. We will never place a child on stage that is not completely ready for the experience. And we will always be up front and honest with the parents so that we can develop a working relationship with the student and family that lasts for years, maybe even generation.

You see, as a dance professional, our families deserve this respect. They deserve to have a dance professional that is working for the progress of their child's ability to dance and never, ever at the expense of a child's feelings or emotional well being.

After all, dance is an education and not another "traveling" activity. Enough said.