Dance Competition 2022!

 Victoria's been waiting a long time to compete for dance. As I mentioned briefly in the last post, she competed for dance only one time, and then Covid hit. In the last competition, she only competed in the main group number. I was holding off on allowing her to dance in a solo or trio simply because dance competitions are so expensive! For each dance they enter, it's more than a few hundred dollars, not to mention costumes. This being her Junior year, I allowed her to dance in a solo, a trio, and the two large group numbers. So, being her first time competing in a solo and a trio, she was amazing! (Btw, I think trios are much harder than solos because there are only the three dancers to look at and they must be totally on, or it's very noticeable.)

Last weekend, it was the Empire Dance Challenge. It was held at a beautiful high school in Waterford, MI about an hour away. It took place all of Saturday. This was the one my mom came to. Victoria's trio was first and it was lovely. Her solo was next and I described it to her as "flawless", which it was. The group dances were after the lunch break: The Rose and Singing in the Rain. Our studio, Dancin' Feet was the only one wearing masks, as we knew we probably would be. George, the dance instructor, has been very careful due to his battles with cancer. Even though 1 week before this competition the mask mandate was lifted, he still wanted the girls to dance in their masks, mostly because they didn't practice without them and he didn't want them to have blank faces. Even though he was wanting to help them, which may have helped some, it probably did hinder Victoria more than others because her smile is so great and she has beautiful facials while dancing. No matter, she still did fabulously and this was her first solo competition, so we can only go up from here! I could still see her facials through her eyes. 

At Empire, all of the dances Victoria competed in, and most of them from our studio, won Platinum, the highest-ranking. The Rose won a judge's choice for their ending pose that looked like a rose, and Singing in the Rain won the best choreography. Dancin' Feet "cleaned the house" with the top highest scores for their level, Uptown Level. Victoria for 10th overall for senior solos (senior doesn't mean her grade in school, it's her level of dance) and her trio was second overall. One of her dance friends got first place and won $600!

Warming up before competition.

Celebrating at Tropical Smoothie Cafe afterward.

This weekend was the Cru Dance Competition. The solos were performed Friday night and the duos, trios, and group dances on Saturday. It was in Dearborn at a theater, which was nice because it was only 30 minutes away. It was a much bigger competition with better quality dancers overall. So the competition was harder. Even still, Dancin' Feet blew some minds! Her solo on Friday night was just as good as the week before, absolutely beautiful! She again won 10th place overall for her solo. The trio on Saturday was also fantastic and again won second place in their category. The Rose was another show-stopper that the judges loved, especially the ending rose pose and the scarves. The dancers were asked to dance it again, an honor only 5 other dances got to do, and they honored each choreographer before each dance performance. They told George that his dance was so beautiful and that his use of the props (the scarves) was brilliant, as well as his ending rose pose. I loved hearing this praise for him. He has worked so hard and gone through so much recently. He also has such high regard for keeping up with proper dance etiquette in the audience and for girls to do so off stage. He always encourages more modest dance costumes and never choreographs moves that seem sexual and risque (as we saw some that were and are just not appropriate for these young girls, or anyone, in my opinion).  The Rose won first place for its category.

Singing in the Rain won the special judges' award for the one that made them smile the most and it won the On Broadway National Company Award. Basically, if we want to, the girls can go to Universal Studios Florida to perform this next January. I don't think they usually go because it costs a lot of money and takes away from the next season's practices. From what I gather, at least one of our dances is chosen for that honor each year. Singing in the Rain won Best Technique for group dances and first place for its category. 

Again, Victoria's fellow dancers got many places at the top! Dancin' Feet is an amazing studio!

Solo night!

Jason got to attend with me!

Awesome George with his awesome soloists!

The whole group for The Rose.

Singing in the Rain group.

The Rose pose

Victoria's trio

After all the winnings!

With dance instructor Dana.