For my fifth inquiry post, I decided to focus on the idea of competitive dance. I have been doing competitive dance since I was 7, and am lucky enough to have continued with this after graduating high school. Personally, I have only ever known the competitive side of dance, and I have varying opinions on it. I think there are many benefits to growing up in the competitive dance scene, but I think there are also some negatives. To discuss the pros and cons of competitive dance, I have designed two graphics. All images used are from the graphics collection on Canva. All information is sourced from personal experiences, or experiences I have seen or heard of from people I know personally, or people I have seen online.

Dance Seasons:

In general, the dance season starts in September, and ends in June. Competitions typically start around March and end in late May, however there are some that start earlier or end later. There are also nationals in the summer, but I have never been at a studio that attends nationals. Nationals are something that you can qualify for, which I have before, but never chose to attend. Dance often takes place throughout the summer as well, but that is more for training and taking class, not for competing. Dancers often train throughout the whole year, but the dance season is typically September to June.

Scoring, Placements, and Levels:

Scoring, placements, and levels of dancers at competitions varies between where you are. Each competition places dancers in different levels, and gives out unique scores. However, the levels are often similar. Levels often start at novice or pre-competitive, then competitive, then advanced or elite. How they vary is what experience you have to have to be placed in each level. Each competition does this differently. Sometimes levels are based on how many years you’ve been dancing, or how many hours per week you dance. It differs drastically between competitions.

Scoring and placements are often two different components. Not only will you have the chance to place in the top 10, or the top 5, or even 3, but you also get a score and a medal. Medals are drastically different between competitions, but can include gold, high gold, platinum, diamond, and many more. The score you achieve at a competition determines what medal you get. I have included some screenshots from some different local competitions stating how they determine medals below.

Conclusion:

As a competition dancer, I can see both the positives and the negatives. I love competitive dance, but there have been times in my life where I have thought about quitting. It is not something that is easy, which I think is often overlooked. Dance is hard, and takes tons of time and effort. Going to multiple competitions can get confusing with all the different scoring methods. However, I love dancing competitively, and hope that when my competition journey is over, I can teach a dance team.

I have added a couple videos of me dancing at competitions below!