COMPETITION DETAIL

I wish I could give zero stars. The absolute worst. Poorly run and organized, and a particularly rude staff member. My daughter has danced for eleven years and been in competitions for half that time, attending at least five per year, and I can say without a doubt this was the worst experience. I will never spend another penny on this.

I love NRG Dance project! I love all the teachers and Rustin is my favorite! I love the venue as well! The backstage staff is very helpful and nice! They also accommodate changes if needed. I would give it 5 stars but in convention, they seem to focus on their prodigies a lot. When picking smaller groups some teachers just pick the prodigies and don give anyone else a chance. I also kind of don´t like how they put seniors, teens, and adults in the convention. Other than that I love the competition! I also like the auditions, I love doing it on stage! Overall I would recommend this to anyone!

This was my first convention ever!! It was so fun and the faculty was so nice and inclusive!

NRG is a smaller convention, just one day, but the staff is wonderful! The classes are information and challenging, which is one thing my daugter loves. It has been a while since she has attended but because they haven't been close to us recently. They are touring in Des Moines this year which we are excited about because it is close! Several kids in our studio are attending this weekends event in Des Moines and looking at their schedule, are very pumped! As long as they continue to come close, we will always try to attend their event!!

We have attended twice and both times had a great experience. My daughter really loved the classes and teachers. Definitely one of her favorites!

I don't just give out 5 star ratings, but NRG earned EVERY. SINGLE. STAR. We have been to this competition/convention multiple times over the past 3 years, and they have been consistent. I think my favorite part is that each teacher that steps into the room wants to be there! They are focused and positive, engage with the students and offer corrections to individuals. I feel like their message is about the love of dance. The competition portion of the event runs smoothly, and they offer free photos and videos!!! But most importantly, this is hands down my dancer's favorite place to be! We love NRG!

Best convention we have been to so far, fun and exciting. The staff is courteous and very active with all of the children. My daughter and the entire studio really enjoyed our 2 day weekend. It was our 1st time going and I must say we are definitely going back next year. It was pretty exciting as a parent to be able to watch the audition process and to see a glimpse what the girls are actually doing while auditioning. We didn't do the competition this year, but will be doing it in 2018. Nick and Russ way to go!!!

Best Convention out there! Always giving corrections so the dancers can grow and always a positive experience. As a parent of an older dancer we have been to many conventions/competitions in over a decade. Staff at NRG do not label your dancer with a number, they learn your name for a more personal experience. Also, where else can you get free pictures and videos? I can honestly say we feel like we are part of their Family every time we attend!

2016-2017 SEASON: We did not attend this season, but my friend took her daughter who won a scholarship last season for classes and let her compete her solo as well. My friend knew going in that her dancer would not be eligible for any cash prizes because there needs to be at least 10 dancers attending from a studio. However, she discovered during awards that this obviously disqualified her dancer from placing in the overalls all together since all overalls receive a cash award. Dancers who placed behind her daughter in category made overalls while her daughter did not. VERY DISAPPOINTING. Will have to take a star away for this. ***2015-2016 SEASON: Attended for the first time with our entire studio. My daughter (7yo) had a great time, and we both loved how they had the minis dance in the closing showcase. Also, the free pics and video (including very nice NRG banner pics) were a great treat! These guys seemed to be geared towards hip hop and tap, as well as teens/seniors so I think my dancer will enjoy more as she gets older.

We are a brand new studio. NRG was our studio\'s first convention experience. The students loved the faculty and the classes. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The photo and video quality from the competition was outstanding. In fact, we used many of the photos/videos we received as promotional materials for our studio. The only negative was that the competition seemed heavily hip hop oriented. Also, the staff seemed to be on a first name basis with many of the students which felt a bit like favoritism. Overall a great experience.

NRG was our first convention experience. My daughter enjoyed the classes and the competition but we all felt the awards ran very late making it a really long day. We would have liked it if the awards could have been broken down a bit more.

We like this convention...we don\'t love it; but we like it. I think it is great that the teachers are very focused on technique. However, sometimes (both in class and on the critiques), it almost sounds like the judges/teachers are making fun of some of the kids who do not have the best technique. I think this is unfortunate...it\'s not the message that I am opposed to, it\'s the delivery. It\'s great that this convention offers pictures and videos as part of the competition experience! My daughter did very well here and we will definitely be back! I think that things improved from last year to this year. Last year, our studio Director would not even let us listen to the critiques because we were told that some of the comments were \"mean\". This year, we obtained access to critiques, so that is a plus! As I said, we will be back!

This was out first time attending the NRG convention/competition, so we didn\'t know what to expect. We\'d heard good things, and as a whole we weren\'t disappointed. The competition was well-run, although very early in the evening we were an hour behind schedule, and awards ended at midnight. For the most part, we thought the scoring was hard but fair across the board, which was refreshing. The convention classes challenged my dancers, and other than a comment made about the fact that the students\' technique \'sucked\' (I think instructors just lose the students when they speak to them like that), the kids enjoyed them. We were happy that the classes weren\'t so jam-packed that the dancers couldn\'t dance, although the teen/senior room was humongous and it was hard to see unless you were right on top of the stage. The audition experience was a bit overwhelming, but I\'ll chalk that up to it being new and different than other auditions. With regard to critiques, we were a bit disappointed at receiving almost no usable critiques from one dancer\'s solo other than \'point your feet.\' At one point during her solo, the judges began to discuss another dancer\'s performance. It\'s disheartening to receive a lower score than expected and then receive no tangible reason for it within the critique. The dancer has nothing to take back to the studio to incorporate into future practices so she can improve her performance. The hotel staff was wonderful. The dressing room being down a level from the performance area was a bit of a challenge with some quick changes, but it was manageable. The backstage staff was lovely, as well, and very helpful. The pictures and video were included with our entry fees, which was nice. The videos are good, but the pictures really weren\'t that great. There were too few, to be honest, and many were too dark, badly timed, or badly framed. I\'m sure we\'ll return to NRG, since we enjoyed it overall. I just hope next year\'s critiques are more helpful.

My daughter really enjoyed her first NRG experience!! She loves Hip Hop and really loved the classes. Hip Hop reigns supreme at NRG, Hip Hop routines score better at this competition than any other genre. The free pictures and videos are great!!

Great classes and wonderful staff

We did this competition last season and it really was fun I liked the video quality.

We had fun at NRG, but didn\'t love groups competing on Friday night. Other than that, the convention was fun and the classes were well run. Worth going back for sure!

This was our first year at NRG. We liked it pretty well. The scholarship audition process was a little bit of a mess, and there was a lot of emphasis on hip hop, but we will most likely go back. I wish that they had more tap instruction.

This year was our first time attending and overall it was pretty well done. I loved that they do not nickle and dime for every little thing. They offer free schedules and programs,pictures,parking validation,and videos.They also offer perks for buying the \"observer pass\" which was nice.The teachers were energetic and great with the kids,however for the price we spent to attend,I feel like the auditions should have been a little less confusing for kids that have never been to this convention, as in my experience this was the first time the kids were auditioned in his manner,the other major problem was they had over 350 juniors in one room,which was extremely chaotic and dangerous.I saw several kids come out in tears with injuries,bloody noses and feet,several kids including my own were pushed and kicked,and the biggest problem was that in order to learn the combinations from each teacher the first half of the kids would have to sit and watch-instead of marking it or dancing while the other half learned it and then they had to take turns while the next half danced and they sat.The teachers seemed to only \"notice\" the kids that had literally pushed and kicked and elbowed to the front and I felt that my child did not gain much of anything in this crowded environment.They did break the kids into smaller groups to run the dance,but because there were so many kids by the time all 11 groups went once,it was time to move to another class.The audition process was confusing as previously mentioned,but seemed to be fair,I just felt like most kids that were in the audition groups unless in the very front did not get noticed because even in the smallest groups there were up to 40 kids on stage with only 2-3teachers watching so most kids really did not have a fighting chance since if your group was later to go there was no way for you to be in the front so you were cut.I would attend this again but feel this age range needs to be split in two 8-10 and 11-12 like Nuvo and jump do.

Our studio has attended several different competition/convention combinations over the years. Since our parents seem to prefer competition only events, we have narrowed our conventions down to one each year. NRG is the hands down choice. Helpful staff, well run competition, accommodating when they can be. Definitely a lot of hip hop classes, which doesn\'t please my daughter (she\'s a ballet girl) but most kids love that. The instructors are great and very inspiring to the students. As a smaller studio, we often felt lost in the shuffle at other conventions against larger studios. NRG is a very family oriented event, and we have always enjoyed our experience. Their concierge, Melissa, is wonderful to work with, and we enjoy seeing her each year. I highly recommend NRG if you are a smaller studio looking for a good atmosphere where you studio will still feel valued even if you don\'t bring 100 dancers and 50 routines.

Great convention, fresh teachers. A bit heavy on the hip hop but kids seem to like that

Loved the free pictures and videos. The staff was great. Teaching staff guy with Mohawk (sorry I forgot his name) did not work well with younger children. (No patience!) other than that, it was on time professional and fun!

The free pictures and live stream was seriously awesome. However some of the acts had me scratching my head. Many \"hip hop\" routines were really cheer routines. That category needs more clarification.

My daughter loved NRG! Great faculty, everything ran on time and free pictures and videos! They have the best set up stage with huge screens on each side so you can see everything. Will definitely go again!!

Love the energy and the faculty. I love that added Pro (for professional dancers that still want to attend dance conventions). I really recommend everyone to attend NRG :)

Never emailed back!! Emailed them several times this summer about next year!! I don\'t know if I will be going!!

One of my favs! Love the positive NRG! Love that they focus more on the art form than on the trophies, etc. Love that they give away a lot of cash and that their photos are free!

Love the convention piece of this organization. The teachers are energetic and challenging. The competition part needs some work - sometimes stages have cords taped down which get in the way, and the awards ceremonies go on FOREVER. The teachers are the best part of NRG.

Outstanding! Organized, teachers for workshops were fantastic. My daughter enjoyed this convention and cannot wait to return next year. Even better free pictures!

Great convention. Excellent teachers. Well run and organized.

I agree with A below on the pros of NRG - that said, it\'s one of the hardest conventions out there. We had four kids get seriously hurt doing combos that they said were the most difficult they\'ve ever seen. One injury came first thing Saturday morning when they were doing major moves before they were really warmed up. We\'ve never seen anything like it. Don\'t send any dancer that isn\'t advanced, or at least pretty intermediate - otherwise they\'ll be lost and not get much out of it. Our studio won quite a bit of money … not sure how I feel about that but the kids were happy. And they really are trying to show the positive side of dance and treat people well, which I appreciate.

Very quality choreography from teachers who really pushed the students at each level (I had a Junior and a Senior at this contest/workshop). I felt like both children learned a TON from their weekend. In addition, they were introduced to some new styles of dancing and the audition experience. I also liked how Rustin and Nick both clarified expectations of the dancers while in the rooms for choreography - some workshops we\'ve attended elsewhere, the teacher just taught the choreo and my kids could do it incorrectly. I pay to have my kids get better at these, so I genuinely appreciated the feedback provided if they were being sloppy or didn\'t do the choreo correctly! The parent \"VIP Room\" is AWESOME too!! What a terrific idea to have the parents able to access snacks and drinks! This a marvelous addition to any dance convention. Finally, it\'s nice to have a concierge who is available to answer questions. She was so friendly and welcoming. Thanks for a terrific experience NRG - my kids are better dancers thanks to you!

This is an excellent competition/convention. The instructors are full of knowledge and energy. We would go to more if there were more closer to us.

We have been to several of the NRG DANCE Project competition and convention. Have always been awesome, keeps the dancers energized thru the whole weekend.

This was a rather enjoyable convention and competition. The teachers were good and kept it fun. It was not too crowded which was nice. Competition awards, while on the long side, were enjoyable because of the director\'s humor. On a negative note, the judges tapes were awful and unprofessional. The judges talked to each other during the tapes and the comments were not helpful. The audio was about 8 seconds ahead of the video, and the video was awful quality.

My daughter really enjoyed the teachers. The competition went smoothly and quickly. The staff seemed unorganized at times. We had to ask several people where the dressing rooms were and no-one could help us. I know they said they were a competition for all genres but I definitely think they favored the hip hop dances.

Classes are great, good choreographers, and very challenging. I\'\'m giving 3 stars because as far as scholarships: who you know and how many times you attend trumps technique and the ability to pick up choreography. If they plan on giving scholarships to the kids they know just do away with the audition. The kids who are first timers are working hard and actually take this serious! Chicago junior and teen room you know what I mean and I hope you taped it to see how obvious this was. This was very clear. Overall learning experience was great!

One of our favorites. They judge hard and expect a lot out of each dancer. But the classes were fabulous and the people who run it are some of our favorites.

Excellent!!! Very cool dance combos and love the choreographers!!!

Very cool, challenging choreography taught by teachers but the teachers for the most part were not very supportive of the kids there. One of them didn\'t even dance and only used the assistant the entire time. Auditions were an especially bad experience - teachers were very harsh and negative in the senior room. Although many people might say that it\'s good for students to be told the cold truth, I don\'t think it impacted anyone very well. I don\'t plan on returning.

Most of the staff was good but one of the teachers was bad. The Competition went smoothly.