Daughter Dance Update

[Appa23]

For ShinyCar and anyone else that cares.

This weekend saw my daughter's dance studio compete in a gigantic, 4 day event, with approximately 700 dances. (Thankfully, I only had to watch a handful, as I was on duty with the other kids.) There were dance studios from Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and South Dakota at the competition.

Her small group was the highest rated Musical Theatre Under-12 small group, and took 6th place overall in the Under 8 category. They had fixed nearly all of their problems from the last performance, except that their kick line near the end had a rough start and a few moments of non-synched kicking.

The Production Category ended the performances on Saturday night, and it was a humdinger. There were 13 productions. The main competition to our "Under the Big Top" number were: a Legally Blonde number; The Muppets Show (which was really well-conceived and fun, albeit too busy at points); and, I kid you not, . . . . The Time Warp.

"Time Warp" came from a studio for which I can not imagine my daughter dancing. Based on some earlier routines by this studio and some others, some mothers started to talk about the girls being in "FSA" -- Future Strippers of America. Well, as I work on the stage crew for our production number, I happened to see the dancers ahead of time in their costumes for "Time Warp". I immediately dubbed the dance: "Hookers-in-Training". Imagine, if you will, fishnet stockings, garters, bustier-type tops, bright red lips, and makeup troweled on by the inch. No real difference in the costumes for the 18-19 year-old dancers and the 6-7-8 year-old dancers.

In the end, we took third (plus a special Judge's award for "Inventive Choreography" in bringing Cirque du Soleil to Nebraska), with Muppets being second, and "Time Warp" taking first. (The announcer said that the scores were unbelievably close, but I wonder whether that was just something to make the 2nd and 3rd place feel better)

My wife did say that the "Time Warp" performance was really good and technically proficient (I did not see most of it as I was moving our production items to be stored on a truck). However, the younger kids apparently did very little dancing in it. The dance predominantly focused on the dancing of their HS Junior and Senior dancers, as well as the college dance majors from UNL that are affliated with the studio.

Some other highlights and lowlights from the weekend:

- Four boys dancing to "Men in Tights". Un-freaking-believably hilarious!

- With boy dancers being so rare, two of them cleaned up in their age divisions (10-12 and 13-14), with solos, duets, and group wins. Both were very flamboyant on and off stage.

- On the "Are they going to get struck by lightning?" front, there was a large group dance to "Hallelujah" (some female's version) that featured a large wooden cross. At a point in the dance, the cross was put flat onto the stage. Then, a girl laid herself on the cross, and the rest of the group lifted her up, into the air, while she was on the cross. After she came down, the cross again was laid flat. Throughout the remainder of the dance, dancers would dance on the cross as they did the routine. It won 1st place for its age division.

- Ellisa (the girl who ran my daughter's b-day party) landed awkwardly during her first jump of her solo on Friday night and injured her foot. However, she continued dancing her solo, re-choreographing the entire routine, on the fly, so that there would be less stress on her foot (changing landing feet et al). She still finished in the Top Ten for her age division (15-16).

- If there ever was doubt, I can tell you that suburban white kids really need to stop trying to hip-hop dance. There were maybe a handful on actual hip-hop routines, with the rest being jazz routines masquerading as hip-hop. (Of course, many of the jazz/hip-hop routines scored well or even outcored the real hip-hop routines)

- I love watching a lyrical dance. I hate watching 10 lyrical dances back-to-back. Much worse than waterboarding, in my estimation. We get it. It is all very emotional. Now, move on!

- We purchased a DVD of my daughter's dances. We watched it this evening. My son has decided that he might end his "retirement" and join the competition team. (Of course, he also saw the girls in the Hooker outfits, so maybe that is a selling point, I don't know. ) So, we will need to investigate and ponder that idea. We are thinking that he is going to need to show some commitment to it before we take the huge plunge of having him join his sister.

[silvercamaro]

It sounds as though your daughter and her group did great. Congratulations to all of them. Thanks to you, as well, for being such a great stage-crew-helper-dad.

Although I don't have any personal experience with the kind of competition you attended, I agree that some themes, presentations, and costumes are not appropriate for the age of the dancers. My secret and as-yet-untested theory is that perhaps a few choreographers want to stage these things for personal reasons. That is, they want the DVD of a rather adult-appearing performance to use for applying for professional jobs in larger markets or universities. Whoever is paying them for the work has to have the common sense to say, "No, that won't do," though -- and, as long as some of them are rewarded with trophies, there's little reason to expect that trend to slow down.

I've noticed some effort to reverse the tartification of young Irish dancers this year. In recent years, even the younger age groups were starting to wear fancier and glitzier dresses and wear so much makeup that they looked very much like child beauty pageant contestants. The announcement for an upcoming feis that appeared in my e-mail this week included rules stating prominently that contestants under the age of 12 may not wear any makeup, with the possible exception of light lipstick, under penalty of disqualification. (No doubt some 10- and 11-year olds, and some of their mothers, are wailing at this very moment.) I will be interested to see if this turns out to be a Noble Experiment or if it catches on and spreads.

It's great that your son is taking an interest again. If dance for boys had absolutely nothing else going for it (and IMO it has many other advantages, as well), then building strength, increasing endurance, and improving flexibility yields better athletes in almost every sport down the line.

[Appa23]

I forgot to post one thing that I leanred over the weekend.

I was watching a lyrical large group perform in the 11-12 category. With the averaging of the ages, the group appeared to have girls ranging from 10-14.

I said to my wife, "Have you noticed how thin the girls from this studio are?"

My wife then proceeded to tell me that she she knows someone who had a daughter who used to dance for them. They do not select any girls who are overweight. They have regular weigh-ins, plus a regulated diet and exercise program. Apparently, there are several studios who mandate weight et al.

Moreover, this is not just for the older dancers, but their petite (8 and under) dancers as well. My daughter still has some baby fat. She has a naturally powerful build.

[gsabc]

I forgot to post one thing that I leanred over the weekend.

I was watching a lyrical large group perform in the 11-12 category. With the averaging of the ages, the group appeared to have girls ranging from 10-14.

I said to my wife, "Have you noticed how thin the girls from this studio are?"

My wife then proceeded to tell me that she she knows someone who had a daughter who used to dance for them. They do not select any girls who are overweight. They have regular weigh-ins, plus a regulated diet and exercise program. Apparently, there are several studios who mandate weight et al.

Moreover, this is not just for the older dancers, but their petite (8 and under) dancers as well.

This is a shame, and a pox on the studio's owner. Two of the best dancers in BD's Company troupe were, well, not svelte. They more than made up for it in talent and personality. The Company wouldn't have been as good without them. They got lots of gold medals with them.

[ulysses5019]

Catching up on threads....

Congrats to the appadancer. Here is an inspiring video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c

[silvercamaro]

Here is an inspiring video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c

Wow.

Wow wow wow.