I Love Dance Competition

Today's competition was different then any others we have done. The competition is in its 33rd season and is what some might call "old-school." Kaylee called it "vintage."

They use a hotel ballroom instead of an auditorium with a stage. There is no stage lighting and the audience was frequently told "the appropriate response to a dance performance is polite applause NOT hooting and hollaring." There were about 10 small studios competing not any of the Mega Studios in our area. We didn't really know what to expect but it turned out to be a really good fit for us. Our Studio won a lot of awards!



One of our Soloist got Best in Show!
Our Senior Small Group got 1st Overall in Groups.
Our Senior Duet got 1st in Student Choreography.
Several of our Soloists placed in the top 3 in their age groups.
Many of numbers place in the Top 3 in their category.

I had been nervous about this competition for two reasons. One is that they are very strict on their rules. Several of our numbers had to be modified to remove a move that was not allowed. One of the things that they don't allow is lip-syncing unless you are in the song & dance category. I was concerned because Kaylee does a very jazzy-pointe number and she lip-syncs. I was worried about her not remembering not to lip sync. The other thing I was worried about was the type of flooring. Kaylee is used to dancing on a marley floor or a hard-wood floor. I was concerned about her doing pointe on a ballroom floor, which can be very slippery. We were also told that they were not allowed to use rosin on their pointe shoes to keep from slipping.

When we arrived and Kaylee did a quick test on the floor, Kaylee, her dance teacher & I all agreed that we didn't want to risk an injury by dancing pointe on the floor. The competition director was very understanding and agreed to move Kaylee's number to the song & dance category. I was thrilled because this solved both of my concerns. It ended up being a very good competition.

Kaylee's Not-Pointe solo got a 1st Place Trophy in Song & Dance.
Kaylee's Jazz Trio got a 2nd Place.
And the Large Group number got a 1st Place in Variety Arts.
Her Lyrical looked good but didn't place in a very large, very competitve 15-17 age group.

We had a great day at I Love Dance!