Preparing for Dance Competition Auditions

We’ve entered March! This is when the questions start about our dance competition team. “Do you think my child is ready?” “What are the financial and time commitments?” Well, you’re in luck. This blog will give you some more information!

My first recommendation if you are interested in competition is to let them audition early. To be honest, it is easier to get on the team the younger they are. If you enter our beginner recreational class and our mini competition class, their abilities seem to be about the same. However, as they increase in age, you can start seeing a big difference in our older recreational dancers and competition dancers. They’ve simply trained more and have more stage experience. When they are young (5-8 years old), we are looking at their flexibility, focus, and ability to pick up choreography. After these ages, we are looking for them to keep up with our already established team. For example, by the time they are 15, they need to have all their leaps and be able to hit or close to completing triple pirouettes. That’s tough!

So, how do you know if this is right for your child? Let me ask a few questions:

·Do they dance everywhere they go?

·Do they love shows like World of Dance?

·Are they usually excited about going to their dance classes?

The answers to these questions are good indicators. My next suggestion is to bring them to our Training Camp on April 6th. It is a laid-back class with me where we cover what we access at auditions and how the audition process goes. We put this class on the lobby television. Parents are usually able to see if their child can keep up.

A good thing about our team is that even if they make it, parents attend a meeting where all costs and time requirements are laid out. Parents know exactly what they are getting into before joining the team. For some approximate information, students train about four hours per week. They attend three competitions (with Mobile being the farthest away) and one convention. A new competition student only competes two group dances. Tuition ranges from $95-$105 per month. There are extra hip hop and tumbling classes that are optional. Costumes cost around $85 each as we add custom elements to them. There is also a four-day master class session in July at Soar they must attend. The competition team does not take over your life. However, it is hard for students to be very involved in other activities as they often conflict. For example, I would not recommend them playing sports at the same time they do this. That being said, we do have competition students who have molded art and music lessons at Soar around their competition rehearsals.

If you are still unsure, set up a time to talk to me. I would be happy to give an honest assessment of your child’s strengths and where they could improve. Last reminder, students must be 6-19 years old by December 31, 2019 to audition. Auditions are in early July at Soar. Visit our Facebook event to learn more details about auditions. We also have a page on our website devoted to information about the competition team.

Even though this blog was about competition dance, this may not be right for your family. Our studio cares about our recreational classes just as much. You just have to find your fit!