“Dance Teams.” What are they?
A couple of weeks ago, Ballerina Girl’s dance teacher (ballet and tap) took me aside after class and told me that she would soon be sending out letters to students inviting them to join something called a “dance team.” She explained what it is (dance competitions with other studios), how much it costs (pretty reasonable addition to class tuition), and the time it takes (additional one hour rehearsal time after regular class). She also very clearly explained to me that not all the girls from BG’s class get invited to participate. At this stage (BG is only six years old), they don’t require the girls to audition and invitations are at the discretion of the instructor. To that effect, she asked me to keep our conversation on the down-low until the actual letters are sent, but that she wanted to let me know in advance as a heads up.
My first reaction was of course pride. As a dancer myself, I’m inordinately pleased to discover that I may have passed on the dancing gene to at least one of my kids, if not both. My second reaction was satisfaction—BG is paying attention in class! The tuition I’m forking over every month is paying off! But my third reaction, which is more gut reaction than anything, was ‘Uh oh, JonBenet Ramsey.’
Admittedly this reaction is pure hysteria, not to the notion that BG will be murdered, but to all the beauty pageantry/little girls in too-fancy clothes/too-skimpy costumes/mugging for camera/too much makeup/too much hairspray deal. Fortunately some good friends of ours have a daughter in BG’s dance studio’s dance team and it has been nothing but a positive experience for her. Her mom has schooled me on their experiences to date and her input has been invaluable. And I can see the benefits for BG—poise, confidence, and the ability to function under pressure AND in front of an audience.
But in SWOT-ing this scenario, I can see some threats too, mostly involving the time and money it might consume if BG really takes to it. I guess we’ll cross that bridge yadda, yadda. I also need to be on top of the costume and music selection for competitions. Plus there’s always the option to quit if things get too intense.
In the meantime, BG is enjoying her classes (her recital is in June, music to “True Colors” by the cast of Glee—yay!) and so we will deal with the dance team invite when it comes. And I’ll be doing some more research on this world of dance teams. My background is purely performance-based (we had shows, not competitions) so I’m sure I’m going to have to learn to speak whole new vocabulary and operate in a new environment. Plus blog about it too.
May 13, 2010 at 7:20 pm
I look forward to reading your accounts of her competition experience. My dd danced at a competition school until she was 9 yrs old. It was similar. She was asked to join the competition team every year from age 5 until 7 when I finally agreed. It was a committment of an additional performance class per technique class. She really did have a positive experience… always age appropriate costumes and movement. She moved on to a ballet school at 9. While she went to a good competition school, the difference in technique was like night and day. Enjoy!
May 14, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Hi Melissa, thank you for sharing your experience with dance teams. I’ll definitely be blogging about my family’s experiences here. I’ve actually never heard the term “competition school” before (my background is strictly ballet/technique/performance) so thank you for “schooling” me on the vocab. If you don’t mind my asking, why did your daughter make the switch? Was it so she could improve her technique? And did she ask to switch, or did you make the decision?
June 1, 2011 at 10:40 am
[...] I’ve blogged before about how last summer, Ballerina Girl was invited to join her dance school…. At the time, having grown up steeped in dance performances instead of competitions, I knew nothing [...]