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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What is the endgame with competitive dance for kids? Keeping it up through HS to get a scholarship? Julliard? Why would anyone go this route vs studying at a studio and doing non-competitive performances once in a while? So many questions because I am not a "dance mom." With youth travel sports the endgame is recruitment.[/quote]

There is no end game. It’s purely to do an activity that our kid loves and is skilled at. (I am speaking on behalf of the other dance moms I know). Much like how kids join club soccer or volleyball or whatever. We will switch to the high school dance or cheer team.  In other words, it’s not for college.

This is one reason I am so irate at competitive dance. Most of these kids dance because they love it, and they’ve worked very hard and done everything “they’re supposed to” and yet Studios see families as a meal ticket. They constantly move the goal posts. There is favoritism. They demand their time to inappropriate levels. We sign a ONE YEAR contract. We must get approval to go out of town.

I highly discourage anyone from competitive dance. If you have a young dancer, join a studio that eschews competition. [/quote]

This. I posted above about just joining a studio that teaches technique and will do performances but does not participate in competitions. That makes perfect sense for any kid who loves dance even if they never "do" anything with it -- it's okay to just have interests and hobbies. I also think dance is wonderful for children because it's active and artistic at the same time, teaches them rhythm and appreciation for music. Enjoying dance, having some grace on a dance floor, feeling comfortable moving your body and awareness of it -- all of that has social and mental health benefits. I think of my DH who has always felt incredibly self conscious dancing, even just at a wedding, and once told me he felt it was "too late" for him to learn. I think he would have benefited from taking some dance classes as a kid and learning that not only is it okay to dance, it's fun.

The competition teams strip the fun out of it. It's a money grab and they will take and take and take and take, as much as you can give them. They make dance stressful and competitive (for absolutely no reason! the only circumstances under which dance *needs* to be competitive is if you are professional track dancer who is competing for spots in a school, roles, or meaningfully prestigious scholarships like YAGP or similar -- it's not a sport and for any kid who doesn't intent to pursue it professionally, competition should really be at a minimum). Also, has anyone mentioned how common injuries are in competitive dance? Because they don't teach proper technique, overtrain for performance, and often don't care about the dancers at all? Because that's part of it too.[/quote]

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