Competition Season

"Don't practice till you get it right. Practice till you can't get it wrong" -anonymous
     With competition season on rise this time of year is particularly one of the busiest for adolescent dancers: extra rehearsals, people striving for perfection, and stressed out instructors come along with this. However, I can assure you this will all pay off once you are on the stage with the stage lights warming your skin, doing what you love. The gift of performance will always be more rewarding if you work hard before hand.
       Another thing sometimes dealt with around this time of year at studios is restaging. Dancers get injured or may have a conflict with a competition and have to miss one. This creates and immense amount of stress for the other dancers in the group and tests their maturity and ability to adapt, which is important in becoming a great dancer. This is another reason that extra practices are scheduled. Restaging doesn't always mean just new spots but it also means learning new parts most of the time; occasionally dancers might basically learn a whole new dance.
   These mandatory extra rehearsals will definitely be time consuming but they will be crucial in your groups success. This may mean giving up you Friday nights with friends or Saturday and Sunday mornings, or ever Tuesday and Thursday school basketball games for a couple weeks. Yes, that sucks and you are only in high school once but later in life you are not going to remember having to miss a basketball game that your friends are in; you are going to remember doing what you love and doing it well and succeeding.
     Keep in mind through this strenuous part of being a competitive dancer that you must work now and be rewarded later. Before you know it competition season will come to an end and you want to make sure you give every last ounce of energy to your team like they will do for you. Unfortunately not everyone gets the opportunity to dance competitively so prove that you indeed do deserve it. You won't get to compete forever so make it great while it lasts so you can bathe in the memories later.