Spring is officially dance competition season. It’s a time of long rehearsals, sparkles, hairspray, and, sometimes, drama. Of course, the nature of the competition is stressful. Dancers can compete in large or small groups, duets, or solos. Rehearsal times are used to perfect the routines and add as many impressive trick steps as the dancer can handle before the piece is brought on stage and performed in front of a panel of judges that watch and critique every move. Usually these competitions are held in big hotels and convention halls, meaning that running into competitors from other studios is highly likely. For the most part, participants are friendly and encouraging to one another, even though everyone wants that gold.
Still, dance competitions get a bad rep. Maybe it’s because of shows like Abby Lee Miller’s “Dance Moms,” or maybe it’s the fact that increasingly younger girls seem to be improperly dressed and performing dances that are inappropriate for their young age. Somehow, over the years, some competitions seem to have transformed from wholesome competitions based on dance skill, to high-drama contests for who can wear the least clothes and dance the most grown-up.
What happened to little ballerinas in pink tutus and natural (or no!) make up? What about dancing for the enjoyment of it and working together as a team to perform a routine? Cheering on other dancers and learning from what the judges have to say? Dance is certainly not about sexualizing young girls, and while a lot of people remember that, some don’t and unfortunately the ones who forget are the ones in the paper and on TV.
In an open letter to youth dance competitions, one woman writes:
To the organizers of the competitions and the judges, I can tell you this for sure- if you lose the makeup you might not see bright pink lips or electric blue eyelids but I can guarantee you will have a much better view of the pure and unaltered joy on the dancers faces. You will see natural smiles and cheeks flushed with effort and excitement. You will see their eyes lit up with happiness and passion. And at the end of the day – isn’t that what it’s really all about?
Luckily, this trend is starting to turn around in some areas. Last year, for example, my studio attended a competition called Dance Excellence in Los Angeles, California. Instead of being scored against each other, each performance is scored holistically against itself- a certain number of points constitutes a gold, and more than one group could get a gold, silver, etc. In addition, Dance Excellence requires dancers to take master classes from different teachers and other ways to enjoy dance and be inspired through the art of dance.
Hopefully this trend continues in other dance competitions and the respect for young girls and their impressionable sexuality is restored. Dance is fun and dance competitions should remind people why they love it, not make them compete against each other in degrading clothing.
Although I suck at dancing and generally have no interest in it, I found this blog entry very interesting. I’m glad you are out to promote the integrity of dance as a traditional form of expression of human artistic ability. Unfortunately, the greater sexualization of pop culture is a trend that has not stopped since the Middle Ages, but I’m glad people like you are trying to reverse the trend!
I agree that dance competitions should be about the dancing not about how much makeup the little girls wear. I am thankful to hear that this “sexualized” trend is starting to turn around. Personally, I hate Abby Lee. I think she is awful to the girls and gives dance competitions a bad name.
The fact that there is a show about little girls dancing is ridiculous. Abby Lee is the biggest joke of a woman. I have unfortunately seen the show for a few minutes before and the fact that she screams at little girls is terrible. I think that dance or any sport should be fun. This is one of the problems with current athletics is the one sport trend that has occurred and full year training.