Rasquinha, Allison, John G. H. Dunn, and Janice Causgrove Dunn. "Relationships Between Perfectionistic Strivings, Perfectionistic Concerns, And Competitive Sport Level." Psychology Of Sport And Exercise 15.6 (2014): 659-667. PsycINFO. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

This article talks about the comparison of levels of competitive sports to levels of perfectionistic strivings of each individual student/dancer. There was an experiment done to try and figure out if there was a relationship between competitive sports and children being more of a perfectionist when it came to that sport. Each person explained what competitive sport they were involved in and what level of perfectionism they would categorize themselves in. Each person was an undergraduate student and half were female and half were male. The results concluded were that the level of competitive sport does have a relationship with the level of perfectionistic strivings for each student. When the level of competitive sport was more serious or vigorous, the level of perfectionism increased. This article will help with my documentary because it talks about some downfalls to competitive dance. Even though my issue is saying that competitive dance is good for children, I think that being able to state some opinions of downfalls will help. I think that sometimes being a little bit of a perfectionist can be a good thing in dance because it allows for the lines of dance look more clean and together. This helps the dance look more organized and better practiced. Therefore, this article will be a great addition to my documentary as well as my research speech.

Weeks, Janet. "The Judges Weigh In." Dance Magazine 79.10 (2005): 6-10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

This article is about Michelle Caruncho experiencing her first competition and her opinions on how judging works. She talks about how different dance competitions actually were than what she originally thought. She talks about how dance competitions are places to learn tools to become a better performer as well as broadening experiences of each dancer. According to Caruncho, choreographers use tricks and turns in order to place higher on dances. However, judges look more for musicality and level of difficulty in performances, not tricks. Caruncho also states that judges do take into account the level of appropriateness of dance costumes and song choices. Caruncho says that the main things judges look at are technique, ballet training, and execution. Caruncho talks about how competitions have started to award kids with different high awards that they do not deserve. She says that every dancer is here to be critiqued and improve. If every dancer got an award then there would be nothing to work for. Caruncho believes that competition dance is a great activity for children to get involved in. This article helps with my project because it talks about some benefits of dance as well as some negatives of judging and awards. This article will allow me to pull certain things out about judging and how it affects children.

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A COMPETITVE DANCER

The art and community of dance twirled into existence during the Romanticism period. Over time, the community of competition dance emerged.  The idea of competition dance was created by merging tradition and non-traditional styles of dance and adding competitive sport elements. To fully appreciate the competitive dance community, it is necessary to understand the birth of dance competitions and explore the advantages and disadvantages of participating in competition dance community. 

The art of dance was created as a means of healing and expression for the educated and wealthy, but overtime it has been transformed into various styles and across all socio-economic groups.  In its conception, dance was mainly enjoyed by royalty and consisted of ballet.  During the Twentieth century, dance moved towards a style known as modern. Modern dance uses strength and physical elements along with basic ballet technique to tell a variety of stories.   Many middle class families enrolled their children in recreational dance studios in an effort to offer students exposure to artistic expression and physical activity afterschool.  As a means to combine dance with the organized youth sport movement, the dance studios began participating in local, regional and national competitions in the 1980’s. 

As a member for 19 years of the competitive dance community, I can personally attest to the many advantages gained from being a member.  Studio owners instill a strong work ethic in every student.  Students form stronger friendships with their teammates because they share a common goal of being the best.  While students might begin dance to just make friends, they eventually learn how to express themselves without using words. “This allows students to feel a sense of satisfaction for the need for expression and physical exertion and release”(Brooksher 1).  This picture depicts a lyrical small group performing a number on stage.  Each member has a specific pose that combine to tell one story to the audience.  Each member receives the thrill of putting on a costume and hearing applause thus enjoying “star” quality.  However, they also are sharing a common experience of working together to arrive at a common goal of telling a story and winning first place.  As a result, their respect for each other deepens.

   The drive of working toward being the “best” instills a need to push their bodies a little harder and to encourage every team member to develop as an athlete and artist.  All members must master technique, flexibility and physical strength in addition to expressing emotions.  These skills allow dancers to pursue careers such as public relations, acting, physical therapist, counselors and teachers.

 Finally, the training and competitive quality allows members to gracefully receive praise, accept defeat and maintain a sense of calmness in stressful situations.  All these skills learned through competitive dance last long after the curtain is drawn and they leave the stage. 

Unfortunately, competitive dance has a few pitfalls as well.  First, there are no standard requirements for common elements in all competing dances to determine an outright winner.  The judges usually are experts in only one style of dance and tend to judge on personal likes and dislikes rather than on a set of criteria.  Dance is not just a sport but an art.  It is to judge art because art is subjective.   Competition dance places lots of importance on the trophy received.  At competitions different levels are created based on level of dance.  Each level is awarded trophies.  Being the number one competitive team and number one recreational team do not mean the same; however, many studios will enter in the recreational level just so they can win the trophy.  This undermines the value of the trophy and rankings.

 In addition, teams are sometimes penalized for physical qualities, social view point of the dance or relationships with the judges rather than just on their technique.  Since competition dance involves families, then it can involve parents and children engaging in immature and harmful actions toward other studios, team members and studio owners. This picture shows dancers, judges and studio owners who have become friends.  This tight relationship could lead to biased judging.    

Competitive dance has become an extremely expensive endeavor.  Families spend on average around $20,000 a year on competition dance consisting of fees, props, costumes, technique classes and travel.  This places a financial burden on families and limits who can afford to participate.  Unfortunately, competition dance also can cause the students to develop a poor attitude or a win-at-all-costs mentality (Huggins 1).   Students compete for spots on team, placement in lines and parts of dances along with individual solos.  As a result, some students develop an attitude to win at all costs and do whatever it takes to earn the top trophy at the competition and in within their studio. 

This mentality creates lots of drama among teammates, with parents and studio owners.  This picture shows teammates lined up in their order of solo placement for the competition.  The competition became not about their team accomplishments, but their individual placement over other team members.

Dance has evolved over the last 100 years to include many styles.  With the birth of competition, students are given the opportunity to use dance to express their feelings and emotions while becoming physically fit.  Today, all cultures, sexes, and economic levels of children are members of the same studio and compete as one unit.  Even though the sport is costly, students are learning how to become friends, work and socialize with every culture, sexual orientation, and economic level of families within their community.  While the need to win needs to be kept in check, the work ethic required to be a competitive dancer can lead to dancers becoming successful, productive and creative professional adults.

SOURCES:

Brooksher, Natasha. "Competitions --- Pros & Cons – Brooksher Ballet." Brooksher Ballet. 11 May 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Huggins, Marcie T. "Negatives of Competitive Sports." LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 23 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.