COMPETITION DETAIL

We attended the Portland event after a break from Onstage to give it another try, but I really wish we had not! The staff was not friendly and the judging was literally the most inconsistent judging I have ever seen at any comp we’ve been to. I’m not saying that because our dancers didn’t score well (some did), but because the placements were SO inconsistent with performances. And it was crystal clear there was no knowledge of tap judging on the panel. Anytime we had an issue it was also super hard to get a response from anyone before the event and to even get registered. This will be out last onstage.

Don’t go unless you want your child to leave feeling like crap. Judging was ridiculous. More than half of the routines got gold. Very few platinums. Especially hard on the beginners and very young ones who are easily discouraged. They give out very few overalls for soloists too. Some divisions were only a top 5 when there were 30+ solos but yet another division with the same amount would be a top 10. I get that some competitions may want to make scoring extremely tough to make Platinum scores extremely elite….however….be consistent! There were really, really talented dancers with technically clean, difficult, and well performed routines that got gold. Then they would give Platinum to someone who stomped around or did little to no dancing at all. Very bizarre…seemed like there was some kind of favoritism toward certain studios for sure.

I love that On Stage New York only has 2 levels. You're either novice or competitive. This keeps the leveling down to a minimum. Judging was fair and the competition was well ran.

First of all.... the one star is only because the MC was awesome.... friendly, fun, welcoming to all the kids and parents. A master class was scheduled and then canceled the 1st day of the competition... They had photos and videos for sale but not easily accessible to look at All that ok... whatever, no big deal! Here’s where I have issue.... the judging. 1st of all the judges showed up looking like they had just been on a target run.. did not look professional at all. On day 1, nearly everything scored a high silver.... ok tough judging I can handle that but after hearing critiques, they were ridiculous. If you are going to score dances so low, they need to explain and actually give critiques, afterall that is what we pay for. Scoring was very inconsistent. Also they only have a 2 point window for high gold Most irritating.... judges award. Lazy lazy lazy..... in 1 award ceremony they must have given out 12 “you’re cute” awards. Absolutely ridiculous. Don’t waste your money on this competition.

Not a favorite. Very few dances in the primary level. Judging was weird. Not at all consistent with every other competition we attended. Very crowded. Did enjoy that high energy elite numbers...crowd was very into it.

We just attended Onstage NY in Syracuse this past weekend. Overall I thought it was a good competition. The judging is tough and there were not tons of platinums and high golds given out, which I like. Having all the minis and preps dance (solos/groups/duo-trios) in one long 7 hour stretch was very hard. I imagine the comp is likely doing this deliberately in order to introduce how tough and hectic the world of dance can be, and if this is the case I'll give them a pass as that is what is happening. I enjoyed the judge's awards and the emcee. Divisions are very tough as well - you're either advanced (dance approx. 6 hours or more per week) or primary (beginner), so most of the primary kids were dancing against other kids in the same division who were nowhere near the same level as them. This isn't a complaint, just something to bear in mind. Personally I think it's great to dance against better. more experienced dancers. However, when you're at the high end of that skill level (ie, you've been competing for 5 years and you're going against kids in their first competition) it's not much of a challenge.

Love Onstage NY, EXCEPT JUDGES AWARDS!!!!!! Same routines getting recognized over and over and over again!!! Wish the judges conferred and only awarded a routine 1 special award. Give other routines a chance. Very discouraging..

My studio had the only dancers that made any of the tops with the singers... our studio did great. If you notice the only positive reviews try and make the things that everyone else complained about look positive..i swear wrotten by the competition lol. Not a fan and the parents opinions were all pretty much the same and the few that didnt complain had the same reaction when asked "would rather not do it again" . The singers mics were all way TOO loud and i have never seen a competition that actually had singers and dancers in the same top 10 AND have special awards and prizes just for singers...even judge special awards were all singers! It was as if it was a singing competition and the hundreds of dancers intruded! There wasnt very many good singers yet a lot placed and there were amazing dancers that ranked behind them?? Not sure what the judges qualifications are because they do not have them posted however based on the awards theyre singers im sure. I wanted to make sure our opinions werent based on just never doing it before but asked around and every i asked...even parents of some of the singers all agreed. We love NYCDA and figured since theyre sister competitions it would be worth doing ...wasnt. also not sure why...i didnt see any tappers...but there was what im assuming stage mic across the whole stage...and not at the edge of the stage but towards the middle! Backstage managers and crews rushed and rushed the numbers. ... so summery for anyone thinking about doing this compwtition.... Singers take over the competition and place in top 10 WITH dancers as well as any specials are all awarded to only singers even if it is 3 differnt awards from all 3 judges to the same singers and dancers dont qualify for specials or the prizes. Pushy stage crew rushing through the whole weekend. Awards are just matter of fact not really fun for the kids. Singer mics are overwhelmingly too loud. There is no reasoning for the lineups so if you have a group up a dancer's solo may be thrown in so the soloist has to rush to do her solo then rush to get back with her group for the next group number and i dont know about you but we teach our dancers that groups you're a team and have them stay together and act as a team during groups. No judges credentials posted anyplace throughout the competition. Boring awards. Unannounced breaks for no reason...example the one time the mc randomly started dancing ,danced into the rows...came in the row behind me and was daning for the people behind him but so rude didnt even care he was rubbing his ass on my head! The lady next to me was like "ate you serious apparently he is allowed to be rude" and i didnt even know her. NO CONVENTIONS LIES! We called the numbers that were going to win before they did because even if thry werent good musical theater but no matter what if it was in the category it won! Since that's what the judges preferred and did. No reasoning behind lineup just random dances solos in the middle of groups...productions etc...if other competitions can make reasonable lineups im sure you can! Awards all geared for singers. Stage had a HUGE wire (floor mic?) Across the whole stage in the way and there wasnt even tappers! There was one female judge and she looked down so much i had to check if the judges maybe had screens laying flat in front of them!!! ....they didnt! Too expensive for the kids to complain it wasnt fun and to hear kids have the same concerns as the adults when the kids only concern at competitions is to dance and have fun that just means they werent having fun. I tried to remember everything and tried to list it so hope it helps. Edit: i just googled the judges...shouldnt have to...but figured out why this competition fav singers because all judges are musical theater...its obvious they dont read their reviews same complaints for years....the paper awards are insulting...you have hundreds of dancers paying hundreds per dancer and youre the only competition to give paper!!! Just give them nothing!! This competition is like someone randomly said i want to own a competition they make money and started one but was a fast food bagger before. If connected with nycda then nycda is Banana Republic and this wood is Old Navy! I obviously could keep going

8 years of dance competition experience in our family. Attend our first Onstage NY competition at the Minneapolis Convention Center this weekend. This competition is different from others we've attended in several ways: *awards were confusing. They weren't consistent with overalls: sometimes there were top 3, sometimes top 10, sometimes top 15. Also they did so many configurations of awards it was difficult to keep track of what was what. *The description of group sizes was different from our norm. Not bad, but consider "conforming to the typical small group, large group, line and production descriptions. * Scoring was inconsistent. * START AND END TIMES: This is my number one problem. Awards ended at 1120 pm for the entire junior category, and teen category began at 730 am. Dancers often dance across categories. For us, that meant having to rent a hotel room, going to bed after midnight and getting up at 530 am. All of our dancers in the 730 am number were in the 11pm awards, so were dancing exhausted. I wouldn't be so bothered by this if the competition was busy. There were less than 500 numbers, and the competition ended at 330 pm. It would have been much better to end an hour earlier and start an hour later and be done at 530 instead. *Even though we were at the convention center, the dance competition was the only event (the other events being a Home Show and a Gymnastics Meet) that didn't have access to food. You had to buy a ticket to get into the other 2 events in order to eat! * Awards ceremonies were too long and there were only 4 of them for the whole weekend. *Last problem was that the Onstage website advertises that there are free workshops/classes during the competition. Nope. Not in Minneapolis. *The kids did enjoy the special awards-there were alot of them.

I was very impressed by ONY in Syracuse this past weekend. The event ran ahead Of schedule and the competition staff was friendly and professional. They did free Master classes which were a great warm up for the kids competing and made them all feel comfortable on the stage. We received some of the most real feedback I have seen in a long time - adjudication given ranged from High Silver (which I haven't seen in probably a decade) to Platinum. I'm not a fan of ego-inflating competitions so I appreciated having a more strict score system. It made the kids who got platinums feel like they EARNED it. They gave out a lot of judges awards which I liked too. Very generous with scholarship money as well in my opinion. Our kids loved doing the little number at the end with the judges singing! I think this competition is perfect for the studio that sees competition as an opportunity for GROWTH rather than an opportunity to win. We will definitely be returning next year!

Our studio just attended this competition this past weekend in Kissimmee, FL and all I can say is I hope that we NEVER return to this one. So many things i disliked I have no idea where to start. I guess I can start with no, I am not a disgruntled parent mad about how their dancer placed....mine placed very well actually. 1. One awards ceremony for everyone competing that day is ridiculous! So kids who maybe only had 1 dance in the morning had to wait around all day for awards at 6pm. 2. Overall and judges Awards printed on a piece of Paper is even more ridiculous!! My family personally paid $549 in entry fees to attend this competition and the competition can't give a plaque or a pin or something??? They do give a paper certificate to everyone, a ribbon for everyone in the number and a plastic trophy for the adjudicated award. 3. Like someone else mentioned Judges...please stop performing...it's terrible. Please give the MC a word limit as well. ***The MC completely pulled a Steve Harvey and told one little girl that she was the title winner when in fact it was someone else....He then proceeded to make up for it by singing a song....REALLY?? 4. Merchandise was pathetic and as with any competition way overpriced... but this was the most expensive I have seen for basic t-shirts. Pictures were the highest I have ever seen as well. $150 for the video and photos per routine. 5. Judging was a joke. In listening to some of the critiques I was appalled to hear judges picking on what kids were wearing, just singing along with the music or saying nothing at all (the girl judge). They should be judging the dance not saying whether they like or dislike a kids shoes, hair piece, sequins, etc. 6. Look back at previous years results and see it is a lot of the same studios who win year after year....seemed as if if you weren't part of the chosen few you didn't stand much of a chance (again no we did not placed badly just an observation) I'll stop there but I could go on. Such a waste of money, time and energy to go to this competition.

Awful. This was our studios 1st year to this competition. And hopefully we willnever return. Judging and scoring was extremely low and very off. MC was terrible.

4 full days of competition is just way too long. Especially for those of us traveling to compete. All the hotels were booked months in advance. 900 entries? Seriously. Definitely NOT returning.

Wasn\'t that impressed. Hated how they didn\'t have the solos all together - I know for a fact those judges started judging easier towards the end of the comp. Waited around over 6 hours for awards. With over 50 kids dancing in solos they could have broken up the division better.. So many things they could change to make it more desirable to attend

This was an amazing competition!!!! I would definitely recommend it to other studios. They are very fair with awards and the entire staff is very friendly.

Just received my daughter\'s score sheets from Onstage New York, and they are extremely confusing. The scoresheet claims that the dancer receives 40% for ability, 30% for performance, etc. However, the scoresheet does not provide the breakdown of the calculation of the score, it just gives you a raw overall number. For example, one of my daughter\'s routines was scored a 98.67 by one of the judges. How exactly did the judge arrive at this seemingly random number with such a detailed decimal? From the perspective of a teacher/dancer/parent it would be very helpful to know how the judges arrive at these numbers, and what areas the dancer needs to improve on. I do agree with the previous comments that we have been to much better organized events with much more welcoming staff. Judges getting up and singing during the award ceremony we could definitely do without. I seriously hope that we don\'t return to this event.

We\'ve attended New York City Dance Alliance many times, and have enjoyed that convention/competition very much. Knowing that Onstage New York is run by the same people as NYCDA, we were really excited to attend this event. Unfortunately, this event turned out to be a huge disappointment and, although we did very well, we were still left with a sour taste in our mouths. First off, they put every single senior and teen number (solo, duet, group, production etc.) into one day-long session. There was only one award ceremony at the end of the day. This made for one excruciatingly long day. To make things worse, they kept taking unscheduled breaks, which made for an even longer day. The awards seemed a bit skewed. The studio who brought the most numbers (i.e. paid the most entry fees) seemed to win most top spots. It is worth mentioning that his same studio happened to be listed in the program as a donor to the NYCDA Foundation. Backstage staff was a bit snippy and unwelcoming. We\'re definitely not returning next year.

This competition was good. I did like the judfes critiques as they were very specific. The awards were rather quick and the stage personnel were helpful.

This competition was well run and organized.

First I need to say our studio did quite well at this competition (Attended: 2/20-2/22/2015). But some of the Judges comments were so off putting that I doubt we\'ll return. My daughter\'s jazz was basically told to be more suggestive in their interpretation of the dance. Everything else about the competition was okay, but compared to others we do during the year not really one we\'ll miss.

Not my favorite competition to date. A couple dances missed their call because no one called them in the dressing room where they were waiting. Workshop was not leveled and was super overcrowded so the smaller dancers were overwhelmed or squashed in a corner. My dancer hated the workshop. The event overall was HUGE, over 900 competitors, and very long. Was also difficult to find a hotel that wasn\'t sold out 8 months in advance. Dressing rooms were large.

I was extremely disappointed this year as the competition in Portland, Oregon was so large we were not able to attend even though we had our entry fees in before the deadline. Being so big they started on Thursday and went through Sunday. Talking to another studio owner in my town she said she had to stay in Portland all four days and it was very crowded. I hope they add another stage next year or make it two weekends.

Great competition! Fast, runs on time, and great staff! Dancers and Parents are always very kind! Judging was very tough.

Okay but not great. All 3 judges were proficient in musical theater style so naturally they all gave highest scores to the MT dances and the other dances got low balled because the judges cant appreciate other dance styles. I feel that they should have more diversity with judges so the scoring is fair and even. Each judge should have a different specialty so all the dancers have a fair chance to be judged on what they do best. The other odd thing was that they had all the same age categories go on the same day. All senior dances on one day-solos, duets, small & large groups. Teens all on the next day-solos, duets, small and large groups, etc. It make for an extremely long and exhausting day and awards took forever!I would prefer we dont do this competition in the future but I have no say in what the studio decides. Also, the scoring is really whack. High Gold is only 2 points 288-290. So there are mostly Golds and High Silvers and very few Platinums. We attended a school function the following day at the same venue and there were High Silver trophys in the corner of the gym (ie Dressing Room) that were left behind by some unhappy dancers.

I attended Onstage NY for the first time this competition season and had a good experience. The dressing rooms were nice and in classrooms, but there was no food allowed into the dressing rooms and they threatened to take points away from the dancer/dancer\'s parent who had the food\'s dance which was unprofessional, and extreme way to handle the situation.(Disclaimer: That did not happen to anyone from my studio, but from the studio that we were sharing the dressing room with.) A parent had approached my coach and told her that the judges were very strict and technique based which would\'ve been nice to know because we were upset with our scores because we would be a point or two off from the next adjudication level. The backstage crew was very enjoyable and we had a great chat with one of the backstage managers which told us all about his first competition. But the competition was highly enjoyable and awards were quick and very fun. For many of the kids on our junior team, they loved the competition and had a great first competition experience. We received the scores and judges critique very quickly and each dancer got a certificate for participating. I would attend Onstage again, and I think our studio plans on next competition season! One of the best things about the competition was that the competition was being streamed live to the dressing rooms through the projectors onto the whiteboard so you didn\'t have to sit in the auditorium to watch the dances, or your could see what number they were on because it said on the screen instead of having to send multiple people backstage or parents into the aud. The dances spent more time watching the dances from the dressing room while hanging out, stretching, etc. I wished they did this at every competition!

Very professional. Good critiques. Ran on time.

Always a good time at this competition.

Seems to be well run, but it was obvious that the studio who brought the most dances (i.e. paid the most in registration fees) won all of the top awards. Not a lot of respect for that.

Competition was so-so but I was totally annoyed by the bouncers at the doors who wouldn\'t let you in or out during a number. I get the reason behind this, but the doors were SUPER far away from the audience in a huge convention center, so it meant that if you left right after a number ended, you literally could not make it to the door by the time the next one started. Additionally, they only let you enter/exit through one door, so the lineup was huge each time. We literally missed our girls numbers a couple of times because they would shut the doors before the whole line up got through. It was maddening. Not worth returning

Security at venue was not good. Meaning too over the top! Competition started at 8:00. Wouldn\'t let us in till 7:30. Felt judging was low. Seemed vocal groups/entries got more credit than dancers.

I went to Onstage New York in 2013 and it was a fun dance competition to go to. I like how it just wasn\'t a dance competition, but also a talent competition that is open to singers. The singing really broke up the dancing, which I liked because I wasn\'t seeing the same thing over and over again. I also like how the staff got up and sang before the award ceremony. Another cool thing was the master class on the morning of the second day of competition. Onstage New York is highly recommended to studios who are looking for a fun and positive experience.

Absolutely love this competition. We tried it for the first time last season and can not wait to get back this year. The staff was helpful and nice, and the judges were very educated. I loved how they are supporters of every art form, dancing, singing and acting. AMAZING weekend.

Hard But Great competition

This was a great competition.

Love OnStage NY! Very professional and I like the fact they don't give all the self promoting and fluff during awards. They get to it!!

WE loved attending this year. Great experience!

I loved the judges singing during tabulations!!! It was so cute. And they brought parents up on stage as well. I thought it was a really fun competition. And loved the free master class in the middle as well.

Competition ran great!

Great competition! The judges were awesome and the whole thing ran smoothly. I can\'t wait to take my dancers back next year :)

Ran on time. Judging was fair. The critiques were awesome!!

Judging was fair. Ran close to on time. Sound and lighting were terrific. The judges each give out their own individual Special Judges awards instead of one combined Judges award. So there are 9 judges awards in each age group instead of 3. My only complaint is how late at night it ended. Plus during the tabulations, instead of getting the kids and audience pumped up and awake after a long tiring day of dance and standing around- the staff gets up and sings! They put every to sleep!! Please stop this!