Be a Showstopper at your Dance Competition

By: TheFerg Click author's name for more of his/her articles

When it comes to a dance competition, don’t leave anything to chance.

There are many career paths for dancers, including Broadway and choreographers, among others. One path of a dancer is dance competitions. This article has some basic dance tips that will build you up to be a dance competition showstopper. As always, I’ve consulted with my entertainment industry pals (i.e. they vent to me while I go temporarily insane), and I have written this article with their “suggestions” in mind.

Before the Dance Competition:
This tip should be followed way before you get to your competition. It’s obvious, but some people, who get too big too fast, may come to the conclusion that they know best…that’s called ignorance (I also have some other words for it). Listen, learn and listen again to your coach / teacher / mentor. Whoever is training you probably knows a little something about dance competitions and should be taken seriously. This is assuming you’ve hired an experienced, knowledgeable person, and not your uncle who gets his expertise from watching his extended DVD version of “Step Up”.

Just Before the Dance Competition:
Before you go sky diving, play tackle football or any other activity that could potentially set your dancing career back a few years if you get hurt, don’t do it. Yeah, let’s train all year and just before the big dance competition I’ll go skiing and sprain my ankle, break my elbow or worse. Being a good performing artist is not all about discipline within your art, but also within your personal life. The decisions you make outside your dance studio can adversely affect your ability to dance inside the studio. The sooner you learn that, the better.

It’s also important to take a breather before you go out and perform. I remember when I was preparing for a test in college, I used to take a break from my studies and let it all sink in just before the exam. Learning choreography is very similar to studying for a test. You study your choreography until you do it in your sleep. It’s important to give your mind a rest, so that when you get out there you don’t look robotic or simply draw a blank from exhaustion. Giving yourself a rest will allow you to truly perform the routine and not just go through the motions like a zombie who’s been training nonstop.

For the Dance Competition:
Dancing, like acting and any performing art, is all about making the audience feel something. When your emotion is felt by the individuals watching you perform, you know you are a great dancer. Getting to this point means understanding the movements you are performing, becoming familiar with the music, and coming up with compelling dance choreography. The end product should have varying levels of contrast between the opening and climax so the audience can perceive and appreciate the differences. The choreography itself should be interesting to a broad audience. To accomplish this, try being creative and have fun with it. Combine different genres and styles of music and dance. Tap dance to hip hop music. Bring people together who normally wouldn’t be attending the same event.

During the Dance Competition:
In any performance, confidence and presentation is key. You have no reason to be afraid or ashamed so there is no need to project that feeling to the judges or audience. Just have your head up, make eye contact and smile. This is your moment, and no one but you can take that away. Make sure your costume and appearance are finalized and ready to go. You don’t want a wardrobe malfunction! Your demeanor should always remain professional, but don’t be afraid to show them your personality.

To be a dance competition showstopper means you must prepare and be passionate more than anything else. It’s your passion that will drive you to train and prepare yourself for competing. This entire article revolves around that theme. Champions across all fields of talent will tell you the same thing. It took a lot of heart, sweat and tears to get to this point, but it’s always worth it. Remember, the learning doesn’t stop when your training is complete or even when the competition is over. Watch your competitors, evaluate and learn from their performances. For more tips about how to excel in your talent, look at some of my other articles located on Talent Trove. Thanks for reading and good luck with your competition!