Winning or Succeeding?

Over the past several years, I've noticed a trend in choreography, specifically when created for the purpose of competing. In my opinion, it is part of why this current generation of dancers has begun to see dance as a sport rather than an art form. We try to put more and more athletic and technically difficult skills into a routine in order to "earn more points". What if I told you that you were going about it all wrong? What if I told you that with a simple change in perspective, you could start seeing higher scores and improved self-esteem in your students? After all, isn't that why we do this? We'll come back to that.

First, let me say that I think there are many benefits to participating in dance competitions.

1. Opportunities to perform and work under pressure.

2. Team building.

3. Managing the challenges of working on a different stage every time you perform.

4. Learning to maintain composure and improvise after making a mistake.

5. Making quick changes and building stamina when performing many routines in the course of a day.

These are all things that benefit professional dancers greatly. They all cross over in one way or another to most other professions. Who in their 9 to 5 hasn't had to improvise after running into a roadblock? However, it is important to manage a student's and parent's expectations. Don't get me wrong. Everyone loves to win. But you need to keep in mind that those scores you value so highly are dependent upon the opinions of three people on any given day. You could put the exact same dancers doing the exact same routines on the same stage on a different day with different judges and have a completely different outcome. It simply relies on aesthetics and experience of those judging. So how do we make this change? Start paying attention to the critiques. Even the ones you think are ridiculous. That person saw something and cared enough to say something about it. Their offering of perspective should be more important than the number value they gave to your work. If you ignore it, you deny yourself, and your students, the opportunity for growth.

But what do we do instead? We try to impress them with technical elements our students might not execute consistently so that "at least they know we can do it". We attempt to execute movements and concepts to shock them into feeling something or remembering us. These impulses are natural in the process of creative maturity. We seek our own voice, our own style and seek to push the boundaries of what is possible. However, as judges, when we see the same exact movement phrase (or a variation of it) in 7 routines performed by the same kids in one day, we begin to wonder if they can do anything else. When we see 7 year olds executing movements that would make us uncomfortable in a night club, we feel nauseous. We want young dancers moving in ways that are appropriate and healthy for their bodies and minds so as to allow for a career in the art form should they choose it. Seeing 12 year olds with knee braces on stage is frightening for us. Protect their bodies and souls. We want to see them stretched and challenged musically and spiritually as well as physically.

Now, remember that change in perspective I mentioned earlier? Let's talk about that. What if I told you that you were going about the whole thing wrong; that this idea of trying to earn points was actually what was causing you to lose points? Here's the reality of judging a dance competition. You don't start at zero. You start at 100. You start with a perfect score. Amazing right? When mistakes are made, technique isn't perfect, or we feel something is inappropriate, we take points off. Your goal should be to maintain that perfect score. So why would you include elements in a routine that your students cannot execute properly, causing you to LOSE points? Why put that 5 year old in a sports bra and booty shorts? Why is that 9 year old twerking? What does that communicate and how does it serve them in their training at this young age? Is it more important that you make them happy and put fouette turns in their routine, or will they be happier after the event when they got a High Gold rather than a Silver?

Consider this. If you go onstage and execute a perfect single turn with control and ease, you will actually do better than if you attempt a triple and hop or fall out of it. We want to see what your students can do, not what they are working on. I'm not saying you shouldn't teach those elements or work on them; I'm just saying, don't put anything on stage that can't be executed consistently. When I choreograph for professionals, if I create something that doesn't look good or the dancers don't have the training to execute it to my standard, I change it. It doesn't speak to the dancers' talent or willingness, it only means that I got too ambitious. I wasn't considering the dancer I was working with in front of me. I only saw my vision. It doesn't matter what art form you are in, your medium is 50% of your final product. The clay, the marble, the water colors, the canvas, the dancers. They are all the same and you cannot sculpt marble with a paint brush. Your audience will never know what you originally wanted there. They only see what you give them. So why lower their opinions by showing them anything less than the best your students can do? We have to stop seeing competition as a chance to win, and start seeing it as an opportunity to build habits of success. Let's focus on more on being successful at reaching OUR goals rather than winning against someone else with completely different goals.