This last weekend, my team and I went to our fourth competition this season. But this one included a dance convention. For those of you who don't know what that is, a dance convention or workshop is where the competitors (usually divided by age) take master classes from people who are big in the business. This includes people who have their own dance companies, people who dance for big stars, who are big stars, or might have been on TV at one point or another in their careers.
The competition/convention spanned over the entire weekend, including Friday. Because it's so long, I'll divide it up into two smaller blogs (although they'll both be kind of long... sorry.
-----------------------------------------------Friday-------------------------------------------------------------------
So I had a short day at school on Friday, getting out at 12:47. That gave me time to go home and pack everything my sister and I needed for the trip. We were staying at our grandfather's house which is only 20 minutes from the competition location: Hilton Los Angeles Airport, right next to the LAX airport. So in the packing, I had to include all the dance clothes I needed. snacks, makeup, hair stuff, and costumes. My sister got home from school around 3:30, so we had to finish getting ready and go to the competition.
It took us about 40 minutes to get to my grandpa's house, where we ate dinner and relaxed before making our way to the hotel for the competition. Neither my sister nor I were dancing that night, but we had to support our friends who were.
Unfortunately, by the time we got there, we had missed all but one of the dances performed that night. We stuck around for the time before that dance, and we watched the dance. It was performed beautifully. Our team has grown so much since last competition. We could not stay for the awards because it had gotten too late, so we went back to my grandpa's house around 10:30 that night. I texted my friends who did stay for the results of every dance, and our studio quickly learned that this competition would be difficult to score well in. The judging was harsh and the difference between a High Silver and a Gold was a matter of nine points. That could be two feet pointed or three legs straighter.
----------------------------------------------------Saturday-----------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, we got up at 5:50 in the morning, got in our dance clothes, did our hair, had breakfast, packed our makeup and costumes, and brought everything to the convention. There was no time to drive back to the house to get our stuff between the convention and competition, so we had to bring everything with us. We got to the hotel around 7:00, met our studio to receive our studio to receive our wristbands to get into the convention classes, checked in, and went in for warm-up and the opening ceremony at 7:30.
At 7:45 we had our first class which was contemporary. which was very hard. The teacher taught everything once, all at one time, and then we did it with music. It was hard to pick up, especially that early. I enjoyed the choreography, but it was hard to dance.
At 9:00, our second class was Jazz. It was a lot of fun because it was a very different style of Jazz than what we usually do in class. The teacher was very upbeat and was a lot of fun to learn from. Her view on dance was insightful and it was great to take a class from her.
10:00 was Tap. I have only been taking Tap for half a year and am not very good at it yet, so that was a struggle for me. And the fact that there were so many people that I couldn't see the teacher's feet and could only hear the terms (some of which I don't know yet) didn't help.
Following Tap was (sigh) Hip-Hop at 11:00. I am NOT GOOD AT HIP-HOP AT ALL. Granted, I have only been taking it for a year, but I am a more classical dancer. Contemporary and Jazz and Ballet are more my thing. And this Hip-Hop was so fast I just could not keep up. To make matters worse, I learned at the end of the class that we would be auditioning to be on the "Adrenaline Crew and Performance Team" with this routine. That mean we would have to perform it in front of the teachers who would judge us. And my teachers new in advance and didn't tell us. That was not fun at all.
From 12:00-12:30 we had lunch, which was nice. We just relaxed and talked for the first time that day.
We had our final class of the day at 12:30... another Jazz class. I really enjoyed this Jazz class. It was more Musical Theater Jazz style, but it was very enjoyable. At the end of that class, we learned we would be auditioning that dance as well, which was nerve-racking.
At 1:30, we had our audition. We started with the Jazz. I did alright, but the girls in our group were so good, I knew my chances were incredibly slim. Following the Jazz, we did the (sigh) Hip-Hop auditions. I got through it mostly by laughing because, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really know what was going on.
The winners of the audition were announced and someone from our school got in because of the Hip-Hop audition. We were all so proud of her.
Everything ran really late, so my sister's team had half an hour to crimp their hair, so their makeup, get in costume, and get everyone together. It was incredibly tight, but it was somehow managed. With less than one number to spare, they were able to get backstage and perform the best they ever had. With five dances to change, they changed costumes and got backstage for their second dance. It was the last time they would perform this dance, and it definitely had a proper send-off with tons of energy and great technique.
The Junior Hip-Hop Team performed next. This was their first time performing this dance, and I was really proud of the way they did. They were followed by the Junior Jazz team, this was their first time performing as well. They did a Musical Theater number which was very fun to much. The Mini Company went next. They were much younger than the rest of us and I was incredibly impressed with their maturity.
Acrobatics Team B followed the Mini Company. Compared to the rehearsal, it looked like a completely different team and number. They did so well. I had to get ready for my dance and did my makeup, so I missed the Pre-Teen Jazz dance, but I heard that they were really good. I was done in time to see the The Ballet Small Group. I had never seen the dance all the way through with the costumes and was pleasantly surprised at the grace that was presented with the dance. The last dance before awards was Acrobatics Team A (including my sister) and they were FABULOUS. It was a sassy number, and they performed it like they never had before. I was so impressed.
It was time for awards. I went on stage with my sister for the awards. They did well. Not as well as we had hoped, and definitely not as well as they deserved, but the competition was tough, and some of the people in her category were amazing.
It was finally time for my team to go on. According to the people watching, we did it better than we had ever done before. I was proud of the way we did and was excited to see how we did. I changed out of my costume just in time to see the Teen Hip-Hop group. This was their first time competing and I was pleased with their performance. The last dance of the night from our studio was the Small Group. I love their dance and think they did great.
We had about an hour between the Small Group and the awards so we just rested and hung out and talked. Awards started at 12:30 on Sunday morning, so by then, everyone was exhausted, though the minis had gone home three hours earlier. Like my sister's group, we didn't do as well as I hoped or think we deserved. But at the time, I was too tired to cared.
We got back at 1:00 that morning and didn't get to bed until 1:30. I fell asleep so quickly that I don't really remember crawling into bed.
Here's a list of most of the songs performed to these two days (I don't know them all. Sorry) :
- "Maniac" - Flashdance Michael Sembello
- "Every Heart" - Sara Haze
- "Alegria" - Cirque Du Soleil Francesca Gangnon
- "Uptown Funk" - Mark Ronson
- "Colourless Colour" - La Roux
- "She Works Hard For The Money" - Donna Summer
- "I've Got The Music In Me" - The Kiki Dee Band
- "Flying Without Wings" - Westlife
- "Father" - Demi Lovato
- "My Wish" - Rascal Flatts
- "Beautiful Girl" - Sarah McLachlan
- "Right Now" - Van Halen
- "You Can't Stop The Beat" - Hairspray Elijah Kelly, John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron., Amanda Bynes
- "Heroes (we could be)" - Alesso
- "Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats" - Cats Original Broadway Cast
- "Dancing In the Streets" - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
- "Spice Up Your Life" - Spice Girls
- "Clap Snap" - Icona Pop
- "California Dreamin'" - San Andreas Sia
- "Stranger" - Active Child
And a full list of the awards received those days:
- 22 Golds
- 2 High Silvers
- Performance Team Membership
Stick around tomorrow for the second half of this post! Thanks!
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