You Don’t Have to Do Dance Competitions

BusinessLeadershipDanceMotivation
Written By Chasta Hamilton

If you don’t want to participate in dance competitions, you don’t have to.

This is your permission to quit, walk away, and create or be a part of something different.

Dance Competitions are NOT required to be successful in dance.

When I wrote Trash the Trophies (2020), I listed the following reasons as my top reasons for extracting Stage Door Dance Productions from the competitive dance world:

  • Cost

  • Competitive vs. Recreational

  • Dance Moms

  • Hypersexualization of Children

  • “Penis Points”

  • Lack of Original Material

  • Skewed Adjudication

  • Who Gets the Glory?

  • Levels

  • Conflicts of Interest

  • The Rise of Social Media

  • There Is No “I” in Team

  • Topical Routines

  • Formulaic Pay to Play

  • The Devaluation of Academics

  • Event Decorum

  • Inflexibility

  • The Consideration of Family Values

  • Bad for Business

  • The Big Bucks

My studios stopped competing in 2015-2016.

The wildest part is that everything on this list has intensified or worsened since we exited.

For the past 6 years, through my speaking, research and consulting on the topic, I hear from many of you.

Stories you’re afraid to publicly share.

Worries you feel about your business, your child(ren), and your reputation.

The desire to do what’s in the best interest of the children: as a parent, as an educator, as a business owner, or as a judge or a person that’s part of the industry.

Many of the concerns are layered with the fear that you’ll be judged, abandoned, or shamed.

I’ve heard it all!

Say this 3 times:

You can walk away.

You can walk away.

You can walk away.

There simply aren’t enough people telling you that you can walk away and do something different.

So, I’m going to say it louder.

Why?

I’ll borrow a quote from my book:

You will not hear many counterarguments for the dance competition industry in the secular dance space, because it is financially dominated by the competitive market.

Think about it.

  • Who sponsors and/or owns many of the teacher training events and summits?

  • What are the majority of ads in dance magazines and media?

  • Where are the conglomerates emerging within the industry?

There’s no regulation.

No accountabililty.

Simply control that relies on the endorsement of dance studios and their families to survive.

And, it is spiraling.

If you’ve reached a point of fatigue, the most powerful thing you can do is to stop funneling dollars to these events.

Reinvest your time and funds in a way that makes sense.

Be a part of the community that wholly believes dance, and dance education, deserves better that what the majority of dance competitions and conventions have become.

When I ask people why they compete, the #1 answer is to get more performance opportunities, followed by resume stacking and networking.

You can do all of this without dance competitions.

There are many, powerful ways to use dance for purpose, passion, and impact to differentiate from the crowd.

(And, yes, like everything, I do believe there are good people involved in dance competitions; however, they’re trapped in a system that is unwilling to make necessary shifts and changes.)

As the dance season winds down and you anticipate the hundreds of “nationals” that will be taking place this summer, I ask you to honestly ask how you’re feeling

Are you excited, anxious, full of dread, annoyed, or questioning how you can continue in this cycle?

Be honest with yourself.

Think about getting back what you love about dance.

Think about doing it differently.

A decade after removing dance competitions from my studios, I stand firmly in that it was one of the best decisions we've ever made.

It could be the best decision you ever make, too.

This is your permission to do it!



Chasta Hamilton
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