Loved DECA.... we participated in their Wayne NJ event this past spring and loved it. The judging process was so cool, as they offered a personal on site critique for each genre by one of their judges.... this was supper nerve wracking for the first few of our dancers, as they had never experienced this before. The judges were thoughtful and caring in their delivery and right on with their corrections. The kids actually loved it. The O'Mara tap stage was amazing for our serious tappers! Samantha and her staff were caring and supportive. Overall, I highly recommend this comp for all size studios!
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Deca is such a great experience for any type of studio, small or big. Samantha puts her heart and soul into providing a positive environment for all types of dancers to perform in. Every year gets better and better. The Tap floor alone is amazing and we cannot wait to tap on it!! The feedback is always top notch and you receive 4 judges feedback! On top of having judges that actually specialize in certain genres like Hip Hop and Tap! Samantha and her team are always looking for ways to improve their business and the relationship being built is professional yet loving and genuine. We are looking forward toany of our dancers growing with Deca!
We had a blast at this past seasons Deca regional competition and faces of Deca event! Love on stage critiques! Entire staff was super friendly! Competition ran smoothly! The staff also is very speedy at answering any questions you may have! We look forward to attending their convention in the fall and are signed up for a regional and nationals competition!
I have never been to a more unorganized event. How could the schedule be off for 2 hours. We did not leave the competition until 12:30 am. We got there at 2:30 pm.
We attended this comp this season in Feb 2022 in Middlesex, NJ at the college. We have been to deca before, but this time around it was honestly a hot mess. There were a lot of technical issues and glitches which really slowed things down. I know they were trying their best, but they should have had it done before comp started. There were issues on both days. Our kids like hearing the live judging for solos, but as the other reviewer mentioned, the feedback really didn't match the scores. Dancers that were told they were incredible, seemed to score very low (especially compared to other comps we have been to this season). Overall, judging was very inconsistent. During the first day, scoring was much higher than on day 2, and since we watched the livestream, we saw that the talent was as good, if not better on day 2. Those studios were really amazing. As the other review also mentioned, the comp only recognized top 5 for every category, even when there were way more than 10 numbers in a category. Our dancers were so confused - they received blank medals or medals with the wrong stickers. I'm not sure why they changed how the operated this time around, it has always been amazing in the past. Very sad because we have always enjoyed it.
Our first time with this comp in Feb 2022 in Middlesex, NJ. Lots of technical issues which could have / should have been addressed before hand to avoid delays. We thought live judging for solos was a plus (new experience for us) but were surprised when adjudication did not correlate with live feedback, which was confusing. Overall, judging was very inconsistent. Scoring was much higher on first day of competition, significantly lower on next days; though talent was as good, if not better. Most disappointing of all was that they only recognized top 5, even when there were more than 25 numbers in a category. Some of our dancers received blank medals, others had super imposed stickers, very disheartening for the kids. They are relatively new on the competition scene, so they have some kinks to work out. Can’t recommend until they do.
Hi there! We are so sorry that you had less than an enjoyable experience in season 3 with us. We can assure you that all of the issues from the event have since been resolved and the end of season 3 and all of season 4 were much more organized and professional and each judge was spoken to about consistencies between their scores and their live critiques. We hope you and your dancer(s) have had much more enjoyable experiences over the last two seasons and hope to bring you the proper experience in the future!