My girls attended the onstage ny regionals in West Palm Beach and did a spectacular job! Im so very proud of them in so many ways. As we all know the judges at this comp. are known for being sticklers. I have to say I found the judging to be dead on.

So heres the problem before i list my results: The competition was held at the Americraft center which is right across the street from the "Sexual Predators and Sexual offenders registration site". Thats is so uncool! You would think that this is something they would research before picking a location. I was insanely mad when one of the fathers walked up to me with this picture on his iphone.


Now for the good news: We have only been competing for about yrs ad our girls only dance 5-7 hrs a week...
ONSTAGE NEW YORK- WEST PALM BEACH REGIONALS RESULTS

Our teens walked away with "critics choice" the bigest award of the competition and our minis won the backstage award
MINIS
"The Prayer of the Children"- Gold Award and Special Award for "Precision"
"Little Birds"- Gold Award and nominee for mini "Critics Choice" (Best of Show)
Sofia Gonzalez-"A Tiskit A Tasket"- Platinum Award- 4th overall junior soloist

JUNIOR
Felisha De La Paz-"Raise The Roof"- Gold Award

TEEN
Kaitlyn Morrell -"Gravity"- Gold Award
Isabella Mahmoud- "A Soft Heart"- Gold Award - 7th overall Teen Soloist
Rebecca Bulnes- "Tree Tops"- Gold Award- 3rd overall Teen Soloist- "Best Contemporary of Show" award- "Exceptional Concept" Award!
Zoe Pendas- "Pretty Dresses"- 5th overall Teen Soloist
Erin Morganthaler- "Held"- 6th overall Teen Soloist
Kaitlyn M. and Isabella M.- "The Desperate Ones"- 3rd Overall Duet
"True Colors"- Gold Award- 10th Overall in all of Teen Division
"Imagine"- Gold Award
"People Get Ready"- Platinum Award- Teen "Critics Choice Winner" (Best of Show), 2nd Overall in Teen Group Division, 3rd Overall in all of Teen Division, "Exceptional Focus Award"
Sofia Char-Daccarett- "Yesterday"- Platinum Award- Winner of "Triple Threat Award" and 1st place Senior Top Soloist.
"To Paris and Bach"- Gold Award- 9th Overall in all of Teen Division-"Exceptional Concept" Award
"Money"- Platinum Award- 1st Overall in Teen Line Division, 4th Overall in all of Teen Division
"Life of the Party"- Gold Award

Congratulations!! You must be so proud and so you should be!!

It is a little weird that is across the street, though. I guess no one ever thinks about that. I wonder if they will move it next season?

I don't know what the other dances were like, but you posted "people get ready" and I loved it.

Congrats.

Congratulations! I know how it is to be the underdog at competitions! When your dancers do well it makes you even more proud!

Congratulations on your results!

I don't know that the registration site bothers me. First, I don't blame the competition. I wouldn't think to check the surrounding businesses/buildings to ensure safety. I would be more concerned to ensure that the rental building was offering everything needed (including keeping the participants safe within.)

I also know for a fact that in many cases they rent facilities without the opportunity to walk through them. While on one hand it sounds kinda silly, I can understand wanting to avoid the expense of flying out and taking a day to say "Yep, there's a stage and changing areas... this will work." I would imagine that 99% of places are truly offering what they say on the phone. I've never run a competition, so I don't feel like I am in a position to know if this is the best practice or not.

Now, I assume, the competition knows. Certainly, I would factor the registration site into the equation, but I don't know that it would be a deal breaker. Rather than refusing to use this site in the future, I would be more likely to want to beef up security slightly.

Honestly, sex offenders are everywhere. Take a moment to browse your state's registration list... there's probably one living within a short distance of your school. They are partaking in our communities (in hopefully constructive ways.) I also imagine that a good number of these offenders are of no harm to the students (just people who made a stupid mistake.) I'm not trying to lessen anyone's crime, but I suppose what I'm trying to say is that the threat is pretty low. The competition's time would be better spent focusing on safety in general at the site and just ensuring that participants are cared for as best as possible. The normal things that we do to ensure our safety (ex: traveling in pairs) should be enough to secure things even in this situation.

Just my take on it.