Dance Competitions. *insert Liz Lemon-style eye roll*

Sweeping declaration: Blossom & Bloom will never participate in dance competitions.

For the majority of dance competitions, there are little to no safety measures taken to ensure children are safe. Anyone can walk backstage, into the dressing rooms, or watch in the audience. I’ve never come out of a competition situation and felt better for it. There’s always a conversation that has to happen as to why what we saw was inappropriate or dangerous. The feedback given from the judges is rarely helpful because they’ve been judging for hours and no longer have the capacity to give well thought out advice other than, "Point your toes, tighter turns, we need to practice more but overall great performance."

If you see a studio that has bazillions of awards from competitions, that’s great for them! But can I let you in on something? EVERYONE. GETS. AN. AWARD. There are always 12 “#1 Top Dance Team” winners. There’s 24 “Level 1 Diamond Sapphire CHAMPION” winners. It’s all a cow’s opinion. It’s moo.

Dance is a performing art. Why bring competition into your art? It’s demeaning and unnecessary. Bottom line: I will not put children (anyone under 18) in that situation. Performance opportunities? Yes. Conventions? Sure, if it’s sponsored by a group/company that I trust. Competitions? Never.

And that’s what I said.

p.s. You’ll find 4 (maybe 5?) pop-culture references in this post. Let me know if/when you find them! It will distract me from the quiet rage I feel towards competitive dancing!