The thoughts and stereotypes surrounding competitive and noncompetitive dance are very misdirected. One example of this misdirection is the popular tv show, "Dance Moms". Abby Lee Miller portrays the dance world in a completely different perspective than what it truly is. Coming from a previous competitive dancer, it is frustrating to watch this show because it exhibits the dance world in an inacurate way. Any competitive sport is full of competition and passion, but her methods that are shown are not reality.
1. The Pyramid
The pyramid is a system that shows (in Abby’s opinion) which dancers performed the best and who needs to improve. The pyramid systemically changes every week and produces favoritism amongst the dancers. This, in turn, causes an unhealthy amount of competition between the dancers (which I will explain in more detail later). In reality, there is no pyramid nor any system similar to it. During technique class, usually the dancer themselves know what aspects of technique that they need to improve on. The choreographer/teacher is there to guide each dancer, not embarrass them in front of their peers.
2. New dances every week
In the show, Abby choreographs a new group dance every week and chooses specific individuals to have a solo/duo/trio. Her decision is based on the pyramid for that specific week. This is unrealistic and everyone in the competitive dance world know this. In reality, you are chosen to be apart of a dance at the beginning of the dance season and every week there are specific time slots for each dance to rehearse.
You continue to learn and practice the SAME dance every week in order to perfect it for competition. Once you complete the dance, you can be nominated for regionals and eventually nationals. Learning a new dance every week would be incredibly hard and there would be no time to clean or perfect the dance.
3. There is more to dance than competition
Competitive dance is not solely about competitions. Every week, you spend hours in technique class and then even more hours practicing and learning your routines. In addition to the technique classes and rehearsal, many dancers have the opportunity (and sometimes are required) to attend a dance convention. A dance convention is a workshop that focuses on advancing your technique and skills. There are some conventions that offer competitions as well as the workshop.
"Dance Moms" is a show that is mainly focused on the moms of competitive dancers. In the show, the moms are mainly focused on winning which implies that competitive dance is mainly about winning. Competitive dance has many more aspects than just winning. Every time I went up on stage, I was doing what I loved. I performed to the best of my abilities, not solely because I wanted to win but because I loved to dance and I wanted to express myself in the one way I knew how.
4. Friendship
One of the most important things about dance is the value of friendship. With all of the dance moms causing drama and Abby creating the pyramid, the environment for the dancers is very harmful and misleading. There is an unhealthy amount of competition that surrounds those dancers. In reality, competitive dance creates life long friends.
Although you are competing against each other, you wish the best for each and every dancer on the team. For example, there was one competition where I was doubting my abilities and I was so nervous to hear what award I will receive. One of my fellow teammates (in the same age group as me) was comforting me and then she said, “You are going to win. You did amazing. I want you to win”. I realized in that moment that even though we are competing against each other, there is some part of us that wants our friends to win even if that means we lose.
In my opinion, this strong and empowered sense of friendship is not shown in the show. Or if it is shown, it is covered and deemed insignificant due to all of the drama and competitiveness that the show stems from.
Dance, in general, is a form of art in which one can express themselves. "Dance Moms" has twisted what dancing is all about. The show is surrounded by drama and toxic competitiveness which changes the fundamentals of what dance truly is.
