I was just on a post about writing into comps, so I hope that this led some of you here, because I have a rant!!

We were just at Dance USA in Reno this weekend. I am being specific because this studio will know who they are and maybe do something about their dancers attitudes.

There was a studio there that brought over 100 dances. If they weren't there it would have been a dinky outcome, so I appreciate the competition. And before I rant, I do have to say that this studio had some of the best tapping I have ever seen!!! All their dancers could do at least 4 pirouettes and could get their legs up their nose....and they showed that they could do that in about 6 dozen dances. They are great at what they do, but they all do the same thing.

But now it comes down to awards. This is after the final ceremony where they announced Overall Entertainment (not that studio) Overall Choreography (ME!!!) and Grand Champ (not that studio.)

This studio got pretty much all Platinums and were division champs in every category except teen. Anyway, I hear after awards
I CAN'T BELEIVE THEY DIDN'T RECOGNIZE US FOR COMING ALL THE WAY OUT HERE. WE DROVE ALL THIS WAY AND DIDN'T WIN (insert explictive here.)
What are they teaching these kids? I would be ecstatic if all my groups got platinums and I had a bunch of overall dances. They were complaining because they didn't get the Highest award of all. What? I don't get it!

And then, this is personal, I hear WHAT THE (**^&%@) IS TAHOE DANCE SCHOOL GETTING OVERALL CHOREOGRAPHY FOR, THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING IN THAT DANCE!! True....I had no fuetes...I had no pirouettes....but I did have concept, staging, technique and students who put their heart and soul into this little dance of mine.

I have more I could say, but I don't want to be a cyber-bully. Just teachers, please remind your students that it is not about winning. If they expect recognition, then they are going to be pretty dissappointed when they head into the real world. Train your dances for love, not trophies, train your dancers for art, not trophies and train your dancers for self-growth.....not trophies.

I am stepping off my soapbox now.

First, congrats on your awards, second, I'm sorry that some "teachers" are all about winning and awards and showing tricks, not about instilling the love and joy of dance in their students. Like I saw written on another post, these are supposed to be DANCE competitions, not TRICK competitions.

I completely agree with you!! Students these days are not competing for the love, the art or the passion, they are competing for their ego's. It always seems as though their are some studios that never bother to teach their students the real reason why dancers compete. YES it will ALWAYS be partly for the trophies, but most of all its to show off the talent that you work so hard at! I think teachers drill it into the kids heads now that if they don't win every award out there then they aren't the best. Competitions are not about being the best studio out there, they are about each student and each dancer doing the best they can, and seeing what other people think they could work harder at. No one thinks about competitions as a growth experience, and to use it as a way to push yourself for better things. These students now think competitions are a way for us to get alot of trophies and the judges to tell us that we are the best dancers. It is really sad that teachers are not instilling the true value of dance into their students. We don't compete for trophies and ribbons and our names on the website(which is always nice don't get me wrong) but we compete because we have a passion to make ourselves into the best possible dancers we can be.

My students absolutely LOVE to compete. But they are very well aware that they are not the best dancers out there. At awards they respectfully clap for EVERY group and for EVERY award. This is something they do with no reminder from me. They understand that they don't win EVERY time and they also understand that it is appropriate to congratulate everyone for any talent they bring to the table. It makes me sick to see some of the studios that I do at these competitions with their noses in the air and just plain MEAN. This year at competition I (standing backstage while my dancers were performing) heard another group of students from one of these types of studios making VERY nasty remakrs about my dancers. IN FRONT OF ME! I don't understand how people who share the same passion can be so horrible! I am so sorry to hear about your experience. I hope your dancers did not see this type of behavior and if they did I hope you are very proud you and your studio have class! Congratulations on your award!

Thank you AHUSK for training kind and courteous dancers. Its not often you see it anymore-KUDOS! and also not to forget Congrats missfitz on your award! i would love to see the choreography sometime-especially if its not full of turns and extensions because I've seen all I can see of that this year!

^^^^^ I second that. I am kind of a hypocrite because I always tell my dancers when they aren't performing or getting ready that they should be in the audience watching and supporting other dancers, but I HATE watching them myself! Ha Ha. If I see another fouete I might puke!

First congrats on the award and your teams efforts.

I agree is is disheartening to see the bad sportsmanship that goes on, yes it is a competition but that is no excuse for meaness.

I think tricks are fun in moderation but it is the dancing - the story told with movement - that is important. We always tell our girls they are competing against themsleves - to do the best they can and do better than the last time. This is a chance to perform and learn from the judges - awards are just a bonus and EVERY one is a benefit to you as it makes you grow - Yes platinum is wonderful and keeps them enthused but it is the growth that is important and that includes cheering for a winner who is not you.

One of the other teachers at my studio says this well - if you only want trophies, you play ball not dance.

That is rediculous...A good teacher shares there love and passion for dance and tries to get their students to recognize the real reason why the are there. Those students' attitudes are reflections of their teacher and studio director and if that's what they are teaching their students, then they really are going to be disappointed in the real world. Instead of being grateful, they showed that they really weren't worthy of winning what they did. Seems like they are going to need an ego deflater (going up against better dancers) before they realize the real reason they dance, since the teacher odviously missed the boat on this one. My students aren't the greatest but they know that whatever they get, if anything, they earned it and are very happy and grateful for it, and if they didn't like the results, they are pumped up and know what needs to be done next year. I would be appalled if my students had that poor and nasty attitude. It is like poison and can make the other studens who didn't do as well, feel worse.

I love hearing when TRICKS don't always take the medal. For me it's too a point where everyone does the same tricks... yeah they're hard and impressive, but now it's more refreshing to NOT see those typical tricks in competition dances. Kudos for not always following the trend and bringing Real dance back!

Our kids take cues from us as teachers. They listen to what we say, they watch our actions. if we sit in the audience and applaud, they will, too. If we point out the wonderful qualities of other dancers onstage, their eyes are opened and they remember. If we wish other dances luck in the wings, our students will follow suit.

We train them to dance but we also must train them to be good competitors. That studio only did half of their job. That said, if certain students choose to behave on their own accord and act poorly, YOU can always say something to the student or the SO.

I know exactly what you're saying. It feels like if your student can't do a million leaps and spins and hold their leg above their head and spin around, they're not worth a decent score. And the kids who CAN do that stuff and STILL don't get all that they want seem to complain way too much.

We went to a competition over the weekend and our girls got mostly Gold and High Gold, where a lot of Platinums were given out, but in the end, they pick six dances that were most entertaining, and we were two of them.

I guess we work in the same style. I teach children to love dance and develop a passion, not tricks and flashy choreography that can go with ANY style of music.