Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do it. That is my best advice.

+1
They lure you in with the claim of no experience necessary—and they select accordingly. But the next thing you know they are yelling at the kids and making them cry! And be forewarned that it won’t be long before they pressure you into adding 2-3 more classes….. an additional class for ballet fundamentals, another class for conditioning and strength, another for stretch and flexibility……in addition to the team practice she already goes to twice a week. They’ll remind you that you signed on to a “competitive team” and your daughter needs to demonstrate her commitment and develop her skills so she can catch up and stay on the squad.

Dance moms, do I have that right?

100%

That’s my exact experience. And I will add it is all to line the pockets of the studio owners.

Nope- not my experience

Anonymous wrote:Competitions are a joke and money grab. Everyone gets first place.

Just find a good dance studio that teaches well, perhaps that puts on very good productions in your own community.

No, not everyone gets first place.
Where are you getting your information??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure you understand the commitment required. DD’s bff is in competitive dance and it’s really harmed her social life outside of dance. Evidently she’s only allowed to miss two practices PER YEAR for dance company classes. So that means she has to miss birthday parties and movie nights and Girl Scout activities and family events. That’s an unreasonable commitment for a 10 year old, in my mind.
I have no idea if it’s just her studio or if that’s standRd, but I’d want to be very very clear about that first.

It’s the way A dance studio works.
Love it or leave it.

However, as with my daughter, a lot of her social life is with her dance team. She dances 4 days a week (15 hrs) and there are 3 more days in the week for socialization outside of dance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do it. That is my best advice.

+1
They lure you in with the claim of no experience necessary—and they select accordingly. But the next thing you know they are yelling at the kids and making them cry! And be forewarned that it won’t be long before they pressure you into adding 2-3 more classes….. an additional class for ballet fundamentals, another class for conditioning and strength, another for stretch and flexibility……in addition to the team practice she already goes to twice a week. They’ll remind you that you signed on to a “competitive team” and your daughter needs to demonstrate her commitment and develop her skills so she can catch up and stay on the squad.

Dance moms, do I have that right?

100%

That’s my exact experience. And I will add it is all to line the pockets of the studio owners.

Anonymous wrote:Also: maybe wait until your DD is older. I would not do it prior to 5th/6th grade.

But this will hold her back because most girls start younger.

Anonymous wrote:Hi - Can you share which ones are toxic?

Anonymous wrote:Auditions at our studio is to determine placement in routines.

I agree with picking one close if possible. We were there 5-6 days a week last month and it was exhausting and we aren’t even that far away.

Make sure you go to a studio that emphasizes technique over rehearsing dances to death. Competition dance can be toxic if you end up at the wrong studio. Chat with parents in competition dance if possible. They will be able to give you the jist on each studio. There’s some in our area that are amazingly talented, but we’d never go there because the environment is so toxic.

That’s the problem, PP……no one really wants to share which ones are “toxic” because the owner of the most toxic one in our area 100% stalks this board. But she also has a loyal band of DCUM moms. They know who they are. The place has a lot of competitive teams that do very well. But it doesn’t mean they foster a healthy atmosphere for young dancers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure you understand the commitment required. DD’s bff is in competitive dance and it’s really harmed her social life outside of dance. Evidently she’s only allowed to miss two practices PER YEAR for dance company classes. So that means she has to miss birthday parties and movie nights and Girl Scout activities and family events. That’s an unreasonable commitment for a 10 year old, in my mind.
I have no idea if it’s just her studio or if that’s standRd, but I’d want to be very very clear about that first.

It’s the way A dance studio works.
Love it or leave it.

Missing 2 is 2 too many unless the lid has the flu or something.

And even then, you know the owner is telling the girl she better just show up anyway. She can puke in the hotel room
later. #truestory

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Competitions are a joke and money grab. Everyone gets first place.

Just find a good dance studio that teaches well, perhaps that puts on very good productions in your own community.

Is the everyone gets first place actually true or only feels true?

No it isn’t true.
It only starts to feel true when you realize that by the end of the season, there are very few groups who do not “earn a bid” to the national competition. (For some it happens sooner in the season and for very few it doesn’t happen at all——but the national competition doesn’t work if they don’t have teams to go there! So a LOT of teams are “invited”) Still, they don’t just give first place to everyone. And NOVA has a couple of dominant teams.
You will know if Winning is important if they advertise and emphasize competition and commitment like one of the PPs said.
Don’t try to join a “dance family” with the intention of half-assing the commitment or you will be miserable because they want ALL of your time. The “two missed rehearsals MAX” is real! And don’t even think about not showing up to competition day. There are no conflicts that are okay to miss for ! Maaaaaybe death if an immediate family member, but not a wedding or a bday event or a vacation!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Competitive dance" like in Cuties?

Soccer is "competitive" too, and everyone gets into a team, but it's not because it's a money grab, it's because it's a sport and competition is fun.

For dance, you can join a class and perform at a recital, or audition for a group that gets paid gigs.

No, not like cuties.
Like Velocity, Adrenaline, Dynamic, Born 2 Dance, PowerWorx, etc. and they work on skills and technique once a week and then practice a routine that incorporates a bunch of choreographed dance skills and practice the same routine all season and perform it on stage for dance judges in competition against other dance teams. Winners get a bid to national competition$…..and then they do it all over again the next year.

Not sure it trains anyone for a career in dance (other than NFL cheer/dance teams or maybe background dancer in a video in LA), but it’s a team like any sport and great way to keep fit and have a tight group of friends.

My daughter dances competitively for one of the studios PP mentions and loves it. It's a big time and $ commitment though. Probably no more than other competitive sports though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure you understand the commitment required. DD’s bff is in competitive dance and it’s really harmed her social life outside of dance. Evidently she’s only allowed to miss two practices PER YEAR for dance company classes. So that means she has to miss birthday parties and movie nights and Girl Scout activities and family events. That’s an unreasonable commitment for a 10 year old, in my mind.
I have no idea if it’s just her studio or if that’s standRd, but I’d want to be very very clear about that first.

It’s the way A dance studio works.
Love it or leave it.

Missing 2 is 2 too many unless the lid has the flu or something.

Anonymous wrote:Make sure you understand the commitment required. DD’s bff is in competitive dance and it’s really harmed her social life outside of dance. Evidently she’s only allowed to miss two practices PER YEAR for dance company classes. So that means she has to miss birthday parties and movie nights and Girl Scout activities and family events. That’s an unreasonable commitment for a 10 year old, in my mind.
I have no idea if it’s just her studio or if that’s standRd, but I’d want to be very very clear about that first.

It’s the way A dance studio works.
Love it or leave it.

Anonymous wrote:"Competitive dance" like in Cuties?

Soccer is "competitive" too, and everyone gets into a team, but it's not because it's a money grab, it's because it's a sport and competition is fun.

For dance, you can join a class and perform at a recital, or audition for a group that gets paid gigs.

No, not like cuties.
Like Velocity, Adrenaline, Dynamic, Born 2 Dance, PowerWorx, etc. and they work on skills and technique once a week and then practice a routine that incorporates a bunch of choreographed dance skills and practice the same routine all season and perform it on stage for dance judges in competition against other dance teams. Winners get a bid to national competition$…..and then they do it all over again the next year.

Not sure it trains anyone for a career in dance (other than NFL cheer/dance teams or maybe background dancer in a video in LA), but it’s a team like any sport and great way to keep fit and have a tight group of friends.

Anonymous wrote:Auditions at our studio is to determine placement in routines.

I agree with picking one close if possible. We were there 5-6 days a week last month and it was exhausting and we aren’t even that far away.

Make sure you go to a studio that emphasizes technique over rehearsing dances to death. Competition dance can be toxic if you end up at the wrong studio. Chat with parents in competition dance if possible. They will be able to give you the jist on each studio. There’s some in our area that are amazingly talented, but we’d never go there because the environment is so toxic.

No they won’t.
The parents at our studio have to sign a contract agreeing not to speak negatively in any way about the studio, coaches, staff, management, or it is cause for your dancer to be dismissed.
I get the idea behind why you would want to avoid parents spreading negativity. But if you get to the point where you have to threaten parents not to speak negatively, it miiiiiiight be time to evaluate why a contract is more important than FIXING the problems they complain about.

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do it. That is my best advice.

+1
They lure you in with the claim of no experience necessary—and they select accordingly. But the next thing you know they are yelling at the kids and making them cry! And be forewarned that it won’t be long before they pressure you into adding 2-3 more classes….. an additional class for ballet fundamentals, another class for conditioning and strength, another for stretch and flexibility……in addition to the team practice she already goes to twice a week. They’ll remind you that you signed on to a “competitive team” and your daughter needs to demonstrate her commitment and develop her skills so she can catch up and stay on the squad.

Dance moms, do I have that right?

What about high school competitive dance teams, not teams from dance studios? Are those just as toxic?