How To Compete At A Dance Competition
When you compete in dance competitions for almost thirteen years, it begins to become a part of you. You take for granted the people you dance with as well as the abilities you attain over the years. To keep from taking all of this for granted, you must not only look at it as a “process,” but also evaluate the deeper rewards you gain through competing in dance competitions. The system of competing changes as the years go by, but the hard work always pays off. Competition day begins before the sun comes up. Depending on where the venue is located, one may need to leave the house as early as four in the morning to get there on time. Upon waking up, you quickly get dressed in your sequin-embellished sweat …show more content…
To give a clean first impression, the group walks out in the exact same counts of eight in order to reach the starting position simultaneously. This is the moment, before the music starts, that you will become the most nervous. In the one and a half to three minutes that follow, your nerves are overcome by adrenaline and emotion. Your previous fear of forgetting the dance is taken over by muscle memory built up throughout the past year of continuous practice. In order to excel throughout the performance, you must be overcome with emotion related to the concept of the dance. For example, if a dance is about brokenness, one must portray to the judges that they are broken themselves. The mind becomes focused on so many things at once that it all becomes slow motion; all building up to the most difficult component… the turn section. Because the entire group must turn in an identical rotation, this is the most complicated part of the entire dance. Saying a prayer during the preparation of these turns you begin spinning on your toe, making sure to lock your knees and point your toes to the best of your ability. You stay in sync with the person in front of you, hoping that the others around you do the same as the crowd erupts in applause. During the moments following the conclusion of these turns, you wait for your dance teacher to scream as she always does when the turns hit as they are supposed to. As you complete the rest of the dance, you cannot let your energy or commitment to the moves fade in front of the judges. No matter how tired or breathless you are, you must make it invisible to the audience as you finally complete your
When you compete in dance competitions for almost thirteen years, it begins to become a part of you. You take for granted the people you dance with as well as the abilities you attain over the years. To keep from taking all of this for granted, you must not only look at it as a “process,” but also evaluate the deeper rewards you gain through competing in dance competitions. The system of competing changes as the years go by, but the hard work always pays off. Competition day begins before the sun comes up. Depending on where the venue is located, one may need to leave the house as early as four in the morning to get there on time. Upon waking up, you quickly get dressed in your sequin-embellished sweat …show more content…
To give a clean first impression, the group walks out in the exact same counts of eight in order to reach the starting position simultaneously. This is the moment, before the music starts, that you will become the most nervous. In the one and a half to three minutes that follow, your nerves are overcome by adrenaline and emotion. Your previous fear of forgetting the dance is taken over by muscle memory built up throughout the past year of continuous practice. In order to excel throughout the performance, you must be overcome with emotion related to the concept of the dance. For example, if a dance is about brokenness, one must portray to the judges that they are broken themselves. The mind becomes focused on so many things at once that it all becomes slow motion; all building up to the most difficult component… the turn section. Because the entire group must turn in an identical rotation, this is the most complicated part of the entire dance. Saying a prayer during the preparation of these turns you begin spinning on your toe, making sure to lock your knees and point your toes to the best of your ability. You stay in sync with the person in front of you, hoping that the others around you do the same as the crowd erupts in applause. During the moments following the conclusion of these turns, you wait for your dance teacher to scream as she always does when the turns hit as they are supposed to. As you complete the rest of the dance, you cannot let your energy or commitment to the moves fade in front of the judges. No matter how tired or breathless you are, you must make it invisible to the audience as you finally complete your