Judgement Time!

You perform all your dances in from of 3 to 6 judges that are experts in their field of dance. The competition are judged the same way they are performed. The award ceremony are divided by age and sometimes there will be three awards a day for each age. The dances go by average age of the dancers in them. That's why as a teen and senior soloist you may still be in different aged dance numbers based on the average with the younger kids in the dance. Each dance that is performed gets an award like (from highest to lowest) platinum, gold, silver, or bronze.

Some dances get overall, normally top ten, and those are the highest out of all the award given out in that age. Overalls are not based on category normally, although some competitions give category cups which re the highest dance in that style like jazz, lyrical, hip hop, and so on. Some competitions give out stars rather than gold, silver, and bronze to each dance. Dances are judged based on performance. technique, showmanship, and style, some competitions vary. That is a bit about how dance competitions are judged.

Competition Time

My favorite thing about dance was competing. to be a dance you do not have to go to competitions. I know many great dancers that didn't compete like I did. Basically at a competition they go by age, category, and by group size. The ages of the average competition are mini (2-6), junior (7-11), teen (11-15), and senior (16-19). A competition, depending on how many studios register and how many numbers there are, can last up to 4 days. 

Solos go on day one from youngest to oldest in categories. Duos and Trios go the next day by age followed by small group, large, and lines the nest couple days. The largest competition I have been to had thousands of dances. In bigger cities that's normal. I have only competed in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas so they usually only go a weekend. The competitions I went to most were Starpower, Talent on Parade, Nextar, and Bravo. I went to about 5 a year beginning in February and ending with nationals in June. I have gone to bigger national competitions in Florida, Sandusky, and Las Vegas which are normally the bigger competitions that last a week out of the summer. Starpower is the largest competition i have attended in my time as a competition dancer. 

picture by Starpower National Talent Competition 

Dress to Impress

Costume also has an impact on the routine. Whether you are being judged or not it's great to have a sort of costume to go with a dance number. Jazz has a wide variety of costumes depending on what fits the dance. I have worn trench coats for a mysterious jazz and it was very fun! That was a very serious dance, I have worn a leggings and a sparkly sport bra for a sassy jazz. Really there is no and to the costume possibilities. Lyrical costumes can vary too. I have worn a flowy dress for a pretty number and i have worn shorts with a skirt and a lace bra for a more serious lyrical piece. the most fun costumes are musical theater type costumes depending on the song you get the opportunity to wear anything or dress up. I always loved dressing up like a character. For hip hop its usually more street style of clothes, sometimes even jeans if you do less movement. I have worn leggings, combat boots and a leather vest for a rock themed hip hop which was my favorite hip hop dance I've done.  Here are a couple of websites that have catgories that go with styles of dance.
http://www.discountdance.com/
https://www.weissmanscostumes.com

Face It

Performance is a very important aspect of dance. Along with your body movements, your face plays a large role in the performance. I have don't sad dances and the very happy ones. It is important to use your face otherwise you look uncomfortable or boring. Sometimes if a dancer has a great facial performance the small mistakes they make in the movements wont matter as much. Don't leave it all up to one dancer int the group either. With a solo, of course you are the only one that has a performance. With a group, although, every dancer needs to have the right facial features. Most dances a smile will suffice. My dance instructors used to say that if you don't know what to do, smile. depending on the song and style the faces differ. With lyrical it's usually a more subtle smile or comfortable face. With jazz the face can be anything from a big cheesy smile to an angry piece. It is very important that your face shows that you are comfortable and know exactly what your are song even if you make a few mistakes.

Some of my experiences

Since I just did a post about how dance has changed me as a person and giving me confidence, I thought I'd share some of my experiences in the styles I have already talked about. Like I said my personalfavorite is Lyrical and I did many solos in the lyrical style.  This first picture is of my lyrical solo my senior year of high school it was to a poem with no music called The Slant.

picture by Talent on Parade National Talent Competition

 My favorite lyrical group I have performed was called Lamentation it was a sad form of lyrical that is what the second picture is from. It was a small group meaning there were 4 to 10 people on stage and in this case there were 6 people.

Talent on Parade National Talent Competition 

 I have done many jazz numbers as well one of my favorites was a line, which means there were over 20 people in the number. It was to a mix of kesha songs. Most lines are a mix of may songs that have a theme with them and they can sometimes be like a small play. They are usually about 5 to 6 minute long dances with people going on and off stage to allow breaks while other ages dance. Here is a picture of my Kesha routine.

Talent on Parade National Talent Competition 

One more jazz number I have done was called Red football. Kesha was an upbeat fun jazz number, but this one was more softer with hard beats to hit. We had a prop in this dance. It was a large cage that we danced on top of and inside.

Talent on Parade National Talent Competition

Open Up

Dance requires a sense of knowing who you are and really impending up and leaving it all on the floor. I struggled with this as a kid. Dance has been a very important part of my life! One of the reasons I decided this blog was to show the wide variety of dance and the abundance of aspects that come with it. People think that it's all ballet and tutus when it's so much more dynamic than that!  I wouldn't be the person I am today without it! Dance has a way of healing. I took a class from someone who was a dance therapist once and it was the most interesting thing. She used dance to really make us feel things and let go. It takes a lot for me to break out of my shell and I believe that dance did that for me. I was very shy to the point where I wouldn't even talk to my relatives out of town when I visited them until like the second day we were there. They were my family and I was still too shy to talk to them.

I started opening up more in middle school and even more in high school because I had a place like my studio that taught me no one was judging me and I could open up. I believe dance taught me how to open up and be myself. I am still quiet natured, but I don't consider myself shy anymore. If you talk to me I will talk back and I'm not afraid. I won a national title with the confidence dance gave me!  Dance taught me to open up and have individuality and not to care what others think and it will forever be part of my life.

Hip Hoppin'

Hip hop is a style of dance that uses the beats and rhythm of the music almost to the tee. There are many styles of hip hop like pop and smoothie hip hop. I, personally don't have as much experience in the style of hip hop, but I've done a few combinations and learned moves at various conventions. Hip hop is a difficult style to achieve in that it requires your body to isolate all parts. Some hip hop dancers are considered animators. They use there body and isolation a to create illusions and robotic like movements. Another type of hip hop in the crunk style. It seems to look messier in the movements compared to some styles of hip hop dancing. Here is a video example of a hip hop dance that is considered animating. It is performed by Twitch and Cyrus and it is called  robotic animation.