I've been a dancer for 16 years, a competitive dancer for 8 years, and a teacher for 4 years. Through that time I've noticed a few things at dance competitions that drive me crazy! I realized that when I look at professional dancers or competitors on So You Think You Can Dance or World of Dance, none of them do these crazy things. So why do we do them at competitions? From what the dancers wear to what they do in their routines, here are 5 of my dance competition pet peeves.
1. Tights
Aside from in ballet, tights completely ruin a dancer's line and look. They give a fake skin color that doesn't match the rest of the body, and in my opinion, are a little distracting. However, nothing is worse than tights in a hip hop routine!
2. Spoken word pieces
I absolutely cannot stand spoken word pieces! Most of the time, the dancer's movements don't correspond to the words. It is almost as if the sound guy could put on any song and it wouldn't make a difference. Yes, these pieces often have powerful messages, but the disconnected movements totally take away from the piece.
3. 5th position
I hate it when dancers place in the top ten and they stand in 5th position at the front of the stage. Too bun head-ish for me, sorry. Please just stand normally.
4. Buns
Buns make me cringe... ESPECIALLY during hip-hop routines. Buns are appropriate for ballet routines, but please change it up for the other styles. At least try a messy bun...
5. Fouette pirouettes
My biggest dance competition pet peeve is fouette and a la seconde pirouettes! Again, they are perfectly acceptable in ballet routines, but please stop using them in other styles. At most stick to some normal turns and fouette to an attitude to go to the floor or something cool like that. Don't stop the flow of your routine to prep into a turn combination! (Btw a la seconde turns are for advanced male dancers, not 8-year-old girls.)
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