Off Topic Anyone know anything about competitive dance?

[MaryA]

My gymmie's twin sister will be old enough to audition for her dance studio's competitive dance team in the fall. After 5 years of going to her sister's gymnastics meets, she's dying to be on the team. Does anyone know anything about it? I am totally clueless! It's a fairly low-key studio, so it seems like it will probably be a low-key team. I know they only practice 3 hours a week, but they're also required to take ballet, which is another 3 hours. So this seems low-key, though maybe my perceptions are skewed by the hours required by gymnastics. Anyone have any experience with this? Even though this is still more than a half-year away, if she even makes it, I would like to start to get my head around what it may take to juggle an optional-level gymnast (eek!) AND a competitive dancer.

 

[gymnast4life94]

My older sisters and i were all on competitive dance teams. Its a completely different scene than gymnastics and usually much more supportive (with the exception of the Abby Lee Dance Company or the Dance Moms show) because most studios require you to be on a team before you compete solos at dance competitions. The dance should be easier to maintain, my sisters and I competed in both dance and gymnastics (we have all concluded she was insane cause she also has my older brothers who were in sports). Dance of course brings alot of opportunities and you could be there alot (some moms were there EVERY night....and their daughters were homeschooled and traveling to NY to audition all the time). So anyways before I ramble dance could be alot of time it just depends on what exactly you daughter plans to do with it and how much to dance instructors will have her there for but usually dance is more low key than gymnastics but can be equally as crazy.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

I don't have PERSONAL experience w/it, but one of my best friend's two daughters are VERY heavily involved in dance. I think gymnast4life94 brings up a very valid point. I think it depends on how "competitive" your studio is and what YOU want to do w/it. My friend's two daughters are travelling all over the country for competitions, the team has even been invited to perform at the Olympics this summer. At every competition they go to, her older DD competes in no less than 17 dances per competition!! I don't know how she does it... both from a time-wise AND a financial perspective. The DD is in 7th grade and she dances 7, yes, 7 days per week. She just dropped her "ballet intensive" class because she told her mom she doesn't really enjoy ballet. Anyway, between the two girls, they spend about $20,000, yes, $20,000 per year at the studio!!!!! You KNOW that studio owner just LOVES her!!!

So... lilke gymnastics, I guess you can go to a very competitive studio, or a more laid back/fun one. It all depends on what you and your DD want out of it.

 

[UnoMas]

Hey Mary A. My oldest DD is competing in gym and dance this year. She switched over to Xcel gold from USAG Level 5 to give her a little less pressure with the gym hours. She just turned 11. She goes to dance 2 days per week. 4 hrs one day and 2 hrs the next. We have not hit competition season yet, that starts in January. We only have one competition for dance per month in Jan, Feb, March, and April. So it is more spread out than gym tends to be. Competition fees are expensive but depend on the number of dances your child is in. My DD is doing 5 dances so it is the entry fee times 5 for each competition. It works out to be about twice as much as entering a gym meet. Our dance place is fairly low key also. For me the biggest challenge is the hair and make-up...oh, and the costumes and shoes and tights, etc. It is just so high maintenance. For gym you just throw on a leo! However it is not as all-consuming as gymnastics. I will let you know how the "competition" season goes. We are literally going to be at a gym meet or dance competition every weekend in Jan, Feb, and March!!! EEK!

 

[gymboymom]

My oldest dd is on a noncompetitive dance team at her studio. They are only required to dance 2 hours a week, but she and most girls are there 4-5 nights a week. They go to 1 convention a year (3 hours or so travel). I know the competitive dance studios are at several of those a year plus they have to travel to nationals each year (which can be pretty far away). My dd's team got invited to dance at a bowl game half time show last year, it was an amazing experience for all of us! But expensive. Costumes are crazy expensive at times. I thoughts Ds's gym comp stuff was expensive this year (our first time doing team gymnastics) until I got dd's bill. It was so high and that wasn't including all her different dance shoes!

 

[gymgurl]

I did competitive dance for a year when I was 8 so about 9 years ago, it was fun, team building. At the dance studio i was dancing at at the time you would only have 1 extra class than the non competitive girls, it was fun but i can imagine it could get very very competitive

 

[monkeysmom]

Dance Schools

The other options for dance not mentioned are the classical dance schools with preprofessional training programs. Many metropolitan areas have one or a couple, and have programs from 3 or 4 years old on up. They usually train both ballet and comtemporary, with preprofessional training programs for the older kids. They don't compete, but may be partnered with a professional company which gives them opportunities to perform. The training there is equal to, if not more rigourous than gymnastics in terms of commitment, passion and talent required, and hours. And cost. That is generally where professional dance companies and college programs tend to recruit from for classical and comtemporary dance. Sometimes a competitive studio sort of has a similar program, but from what I hear that's not the norm. The classical dance training is rigourous and builds slowly on mastery of the skills. It's about the quality of dance and artistry and perfecting technique, rather than rushing "tricks" since they are developing potential professional dancers.

 

[MaryA]

The other options for dance not mentioned are the classical dance schools with preprofessional training programs. Many metropolitan areas have one or a couple, and have programs from 3 or 4 years old on up. They usually train both ballet and comtemporary, with preprofessional training programs for the older kids. They don't compete, but may be partnered with a professional company which gives them opportunities to perform. The training there is equal to, if not more rigourous than gymnastics in terms of commitment, passion and talent required, and hours. And cost. That is generally where professional dance companies and college programs tend to recruit from for classical and comtemporary dance. Sometimes a competitive studio sort of has a similar program, but from what I hear that's not the norm. The classical dance training is rigourous and builds slowly on mastery of the skills. It's about the quality of dance and artistry and perfecting technique, rather than rushing "tricks" since they are developing potential professional dancers.

Thanks. I'm not really interested in her changing dance schools. Nobody from her dance school goes on to be a professional dancer, but that's not her goal. Her dance goals don't go beyond going en pointe (when she's a little older and her feet are not growing as much) and being in the studio's competition group. Most I was just curious what it was going to be like, for her and for me.

 

[TexasRose]

Sorry for the late reply- I just saw this . My DD is on a competitive dance team- we're in our second year of it. As everyone else said your experience is really going to vary based on your studio and how competitive they are. Last year DD was on the "tiny" team and they practiced one hour a week, learned 1 routine, and attended 6 competitions January-May. The competition fees are all added up and averaged out over 10 months so with tuition and that we paid $75 a month. The competitions were all within 3 hours drive.

This year they are making the team more competitive. DD has team practice once a week for 1.5 hours. They're competing a jazz and production routine at competitions (that means double competition fees!). She also takes 1 hr ballet and 1 hr jazz a week. So it's a very low # of hours compared to other teams in the area. But it works for us. She has 5 competitions and 2 conventions from January to May. With the competition fees averaged out over the 10 months plus tuition we pay $200 a month. Plus the costumes are all around $100 each- so 4 of those. Make it 5 when you add in the duet costume that DD had to do with her friend. Our older girls on team practice 4 hrs a week with team and then also have various technique classes. Our team only competes the 2 routines all season. We do not learn a new routine every week like on Dance Moms, lol.

DD loves it. She loves wearing the costumes, getting her hair done, and wearing make-up. She just loves being on stage. So we have a lot of fun with it. We only go to competitions that are less than 4 hours away- no plane rides for us! I would ask the dance teacher what their competition season is like- how many and how far away and how much $? I have fun with it too because I'm friends with the other moms so it's a big social event when we're at competitions.