Competitive dance for 7 year old

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I’m also interested in joining a dance team for my 7, almost 8yo. We live in NOVA. She has been doing dance since preschool and loves it.

Comp dance is a bad idea at any age.
-dancer/choreographer

[Anonymous]

My DD loves P.O.M. in Silver Spring. The owner is a wonderful human being and coach, and the studio emphasizes positive self-image and body confidence. They have a performance squad (non-competition) and a competition team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:forget the naysayers - Competitive dance is so much more than dance moms - it can be a great activity for kids who love dance and want more than just a recreational recital class. There are a wide range of studio types and what each one makes you to commit too. Where are you located?

Agree 100%
I am part of the best group of "dance moms" and my daughter LOVES IT!! It is expensive. She enjoys several hours of dance / wk, and dances at home by choice when she is not in class.

Agree!!! Agree!! Same here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:forget the naysayers - Competitive dance is so much more than dance moms - it can be a great activity for kids who love dance and want more than just a recreational recital class. There are a wide range of studio types and what each one makes you to commit too. Where are you located?

Agree 100%
I am part of the best group of "dance moms" and my daughter LOVES IT!! It is expensive. She enjoys several hours of dance / wk, and dances at home by choice when she is not in class.

Agree!!! Agree!! Same here!

So, you go to these dance competitions and think what you are seeing is totally normal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Competitive dance is a road to nowhere. College programs avoid comp kids because their technical skills are usually terrible and they are injury prone. The professional world is openly hostile because they can only turn on one side, have odd convetion led quarks like the ridiculous shoulder rolls while entering the stage, and have no commercially useful movement skills. The top comp dancers end up on cruise ships or theme parks at best. Save your money for great training and college. Your kid and money will go alot farther.

Ugh. Yes to all of this. Poor technique when compared to students from serious studios that are focused on the art and discipline of dance. Plus all the weird faces they are trained to make on stage. And yes, road to no where and cruise ship work or Disney are where many end up

+1. I was in a college dance program. No "competitive dance kids" could get in. Their technique is terrible. Go to a studio that does actual ballet performances and has tap and jazz and modern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I’m also interested in joining a dance team for my 7, almost 8yo. We live in NOVA. She has been doing dance since preschool and loves it.

Comp dance is a bad idea at any age.
-dancer/choreographer

+1 (former college dancer and former dance teacher)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You folks are not well informed individuals at all. It all boils down to the dance studio. Competing has nothing to do with their training. At our studio, there is a strong focus on ballet, they get at least 3 hours of ballet and additional technique and stretch and strength training on top of that each week. The focus is not on the routines. They do a few routines, but nothing like some competitive studios. The focus is solely on training and preparing the dancers (who want it) for the professional world.

3 hours of ballet per week at what age? By age 12, I was taking 1.5-3 hours of dance 5 days a week plus rehearsals (at a normal dance studio with a pre-professional dance company). I still did not become a professional. 3 hours a ballet per week is a bare minimum for learning ballet properly from age 9 or so.

I would never put a kid in competitive dance. It ruins your technique and it is impossible to undo.

[Anonymous]

Dance is nit a competition. It is an art form. That's like saying competitive pottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD loves P.O.M. in Silver Spring. The owner is a wonderful human being and coach, and the studio emphasizes positive self-image and body confidence. They have a performance squad (non-competition) and a competition team.

Noooooo...good, well intended person...sure. good technical training, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:forget the naysayers - Competitive dance is so much more than dance moms - it can be a great activity for kids who love dance and want more than just a recreational recital class. There are a wide range of studio types and what each one makes you to commit too. Where are you located?

Agree 100%
I am part of the best group of "dance moms" and my daughter LOVES IT!! It is expensive. She enjoys several hours of dance / wk, and dances at home by choice when she is not in class.

Agree!!! Agree!! Same here!

So, you go to these dance competitions and think what you are seeing is totally normal?

You really need to take a hard look at yourself. Look at what your kid and other kids are wearing. Look at the rate of injury at comp studios. Look at your prioritizing your experience as a dance parent and how your social needs are overpowering the best interests of your child's well-being, whether she thinks she wants this or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone so negative. Is it written somewhere that you can’t succeed if you don’t start young.

It’s DCUM, you’re either a bee yatch or a troll. Occasionally you’re a real answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Competitive dance is a road to nowhere. College programs avoid comp kids because their technical skills are usually terrible and they are injury prone. The professional world is openly hostile because they can only turn on one side, have odd convetion led quarks like the ridiculous shoulder rolls while entering the stage, and have no commercially useful movement skills. The top comp dancers end up on cruise ships or theme parks at best. Save your money for great training and college. Your kid and money will go alot farther.

Ugh. Yes to all of this. Poor technique when compared to students from serious studios that are focused on the art and discipline of dance. Plus all the weird faces they are trained to make on stage. And yes, road to no where and cruise ship work or Disney are where many end up

My daughter’s friend did cruise ships when she was 23 and she had a great experience. Saw snippets of the world.

Same with my daughters’s friend. She wasn’t good enough to get a NYC agent or do well professionally but she started cruises and loves it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You folks are not well informed individuals at all. It all boils down to the dance studio. Competing has nothing to do with their training. At our studio, there is a strong focus on ballet, they get at least 3 hours of ballet and additional technique and stretch and strength training on top of that each week. The focus is not on the routines. They do a few routines, but nothing like some competitive studios. The focus is solely on training and preparing the dancers (who want it) for the professional world.

Ballet 3 hours a week is fine for young kids. By ten years old they need 1.5 hour classes 3-4 times a week and middle school add another hour class for pointe and 5 times 1.5 hour classes a week at least. Less than that and it shows in port de bras , turnout, bent legs. And the everything on the right side drives me crazy. It’s so noticeable.

But seven is a good time to try something and see how she likes it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Competitive dance is a road to nowhere. College programs avoid comp kids because their technical skills are usually terrible and they are injury prone. The professional world is openly hostile because they can only turn on one side, have odd convetion led quarks like the ridiculous shoulder rolls while entering the stage, and have no commercially useful movement skills. The top comp dancers end up on cruise ships or theme parks at best. Save your money for great training and college. Your kid and money will go alot farther.

All of this.