Dance is a competitive art form and everyone can and will tell you that. It's a constant battle for jobs and performance opportunities, but some people choose to be competition dancers in addition to that. That means we go and perform solos, duets, trios, or groups in front of a panel of judges and, at the end of the day, we get feedback from these people..... oh and we get giant trophies that say we are the best dancer at that competition..... can't forget that. Competition dancers get a bad reputation since we are stereotyped as snooty, stuck up, and just plain rude but, I don't think people see all the benefits of being on a competitive team.

First of all, we can put in hours of rehearsal time because we know how to pace ourselves. Normally, competition dancers are held to higher expectations and there are more classes or rehearsals you have to go to as opposed to a recreational dancer. Also, we tend to be more versatile in the styles we can perform. Since there are so many categories at a competition we like to learn a little bit of everything. This allows us to have the best chance of being put in more dances.

We know how to keep connections with people because we are constantly meeting new people. From judges to choreographers we know that in the future we may work with these names in dance. Therefore, we know how to make a good impression and stay connected with these people so that they remember who we are.

The last thing I want to talk about is performance. As a competition dancer we are judged based off our performance. We have to be able to tell a story or portray a character through, not only our movement but, through our facials and expressions. We DO go over the top, and yes, we ARE dramatic but that is how we have been trained for years.

We are more than just flashy tricks and shelves of trophies. We are story tellers and actors/actresses. So next time you think we are showing off or being a little overdramatic, please try and look farther into how competition may have influenced and shaped our perofrmance style.