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  • Gold Star Competition


  • 4.0 - Average Ratings
  • 80 Total Reviews
    Parent : 32.5 %
    Dancer : 11.25 %
    Studio Owner : 41.25 %
    Teacher : 15 %

  • 444 E Third St
  • Boston ,MA
  • 781-231-0211
  • carol@stepup2dance.com

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STEP UP 2 DANCE TOUR

Mar 24 2024

We have been competing for years now and Step up was an awful competition and we will never return. Unorganized, random, no scheduled breaks for the judges so you never know if you will be sitting backstage waiting for 20 minutes etc. Communication was poor between the dancers/parents and the people running the comp. Was hard to know what number they were on. Merch was low quality and top dollar. They didn’t have programs to download or even buy, just one randomly taped on the wall that we were instructed to use our phones to take a pic of.. it’s 2024 people.. The worst part of this competition was the scoring/awards. It was disjointed, confusing and made ABSOLUTELY ZERO sense. They group novice, intermediate and advanced dancers together in overalls so that entirely defeats the purpose of categories. Their adjudications were done like I’ve never seen, they were called up routine by routine and given a trophy (it’s usually a pin per entry) and it confused the dancers into thinking they were winning, which i found distasteful. Then they would pull the overalls out of that very overcrowded line but it was so confusing that I don’t even think the dancers understood what was happening. These are not first time competitors, they are seasoned. It was truly disappointing and a massive waste of money. Also there were no judges awards which I found disappointing as the connection with the judges is so important. They can’t be bothered to recognize anyone? A cheap plastic sash was awarded to overall soloist winners that didn’t even say overall winner on it.. And one of the worst offenses is they only give ONE PIN PER DANCER, not per entry, even though they collect entry fees PER DANCE. Dancers collect pins as a road map of their dances over the years. Thank you Step up for being the speed bump in that road map and a solid reminder to never return. Save your money and go to a comp with categories and awards that make sense.

Venue : 3
Judging : 1
Staff : 2
Awards : 1
Communication : 1
Step Up 2 Dance Tour
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Mar 24 2024

May 08 2023

WE LOVE STEP UP ! They feel like home to us! Very helpful, family friendly, great venues. Carol is the best with communicating. Their staff members are top notch!

Venue : 5
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
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May 08 2023

Nov 21 2019

Great Nationals in Phoenix, AZ this summer!! Fantastic staff running the competition, workshops and Future Stars program. Awesome experience for all! Excited for next season!

Venue : 5
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
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Nov 21 2019

Jul 24 2019

Perfect Nationals! Thanks to Carol and team for the great experience. Our parents and kids had a great time.

Venue : 5
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
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Jul 24 2019

Jun 17 2019

I went to SU2DT last year, and I have to say that it was a pretty good competition. Venue and stage were small, but nice quality. Considering I was Novice/Recreational, it was a good competition to introduce me to the dance world. I will have to say that we DID NOT place in overall, because Novice and Advanced were all put together. What is the point of levels if you are just going to put them together? For an advanced dancer, this is a good competition.

Venue : 4
Judging : 4
Staff : 5
Awards : 3
Communication : 4
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Jun 17 2019

May 21 2019

Different Competitons offer different things. If you go into this competition expecting it to be “easy” because you’re in novice or intermediate, I could understand your disappointment. However, levels didn’t used to exist in the competition world and doing overalls by combining all levels, as SU2D does, really shows where you’re at as a dancer. Competition dancers should receive realistic scoring and placement to help prepare them for the professional dance world. I personally have had my competitive dance beaten by a novice routine simply because their scores weren’t as high with the judging curve, I told my kids, if you have a perfect score, no one will be able to beat you. I have also won first overall with my competitive dancers and they feel TRULY proud to look on stage at the other dancers surrounding them knowing that they won over more than just 4 routines. IMO combining is a healthy reminder that levels don’t exist in the professional dance world. As a parent, yes you are spending all this money to compete and be recognized but look at how much you’re spending on training...if you’re unhappy with the results, perhaps your dancer needs to take a different approach to his/her training or work with other choreographers. Reading a lot of these reviews made me cringe as to how far off and negative they were. This competition is educational via seasoned judges, fair via scoring, and timely ALWAYS. I have attended almost every venue in NJ and return to atleast one SU2D event every year. (6 years now) Carol is caring and patient. There are glitches in running things perfectly in Category and putting holds on certain numbers but that is more so the studios fault for not pushing their dancers to be ready on time. The staff is ON IT and ready to accommodate. SU2D has never ended late in my experience, have even competed on Mother’s Day a few times. Everyone always leaves happy and ready for more. If you want to keep your dancers motivated, this is a great competition experience. My comp team is 10 kids...there’s no special treatment to big studios. As far as choreography/costumes/special awards...each studio is recognized individually with a well thought out speech at the start of each awards. This competition is about THE KIDS and their DANCING. I appreciate the roots of Step Up 2 Dance and will continue to bring my kids/parents here annually as it is a wonderful experience.

Venue : 5
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
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May 21 2019

Mar 18 2019

Had a great experience this season. I Love that the STEP UP 2 DANCE SHOW runs on time with reasonable hours. The crew does a great job of handling hundreds of dancers finding extra dressig room space and the owner goes out of her way to make sure that every child is recognized, have their trophy, medal , ribbon. It’s inspiring to have recognition for all the dancers instead of just the super strong teams. My students left there happy and feeling accomplished. I loved how instead of individual special awards they acknowledged something unique and special about each studio. We really appreciated it!

Venue : 5
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
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Mar 18 2019

Sep 30 2018

This was an excellent competition!! My DD had a blast!!

Venue : 5
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
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Jul 31 2018

This was our first National Competition, and we had such a positive experience! There were so many additional events and opportunities that made our dancers feel like stars. The awards were of higher quality than other competitions we've attended. Judging was fair, and our girls and their moms went home extremely happy. Going back next year!

Venue : 4
Judging : 4
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 4
Step Up 2 Dance Tour
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Jun 01 2018

I'm really shocked and saddened to see that your competition does not feel that special needs kids are appropriate to attend your event. May I make a suggestion to reword your 'Who Should Attend' guidelines? I don't find that ANYONE would deem a crowded high school as comforting. To suggest a special needs child not attend this event, makes your event an unwelcome competition for my family, and many others who have special needs children who dance or like to support their siblings/friends. I am a studio owner, mother of a special needs daughter, and a competition team director for over 25 years experience. Over these years, have found many other competitions who will welcome us with open arms. I really hope you consider removing this offensive guideline from your website.

Venue : 0
Judging : 0
Staff : 0
Awards : 0
Communication : 0
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Jun 01 2018

I will start out by saying that I was considering bringing my team to this competition but have since changed my mind since reading the rules on their website. I also wanted to point out to others their inappropriate and mean-spirited comments. In one section of their rules about people who should not attend, they state, "Those with special needs may not find a crowded high school comforting." As a studio with a special needs team, I find this comment abhorrent. This competition does not have the right to say that special needs children should not come to a dance competition. Every child is different and it should be up to the parents to decide what a child can handle. That rule is ignorant and rude.

Venue : 0
Judging : 0
Staff : 0
Awards : 0
Communication : 0
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May 30 2018

We love this competition, Carol and her staff are so helpful, encouraging and supportive of all the dancers and studios. We are not a large studio but have never felt less than because of this. The judges comments are always helpful and match the scoring and over the years Carol and her team have streamlined the awards so they flow nicely. LOVE this competition and cannot wait to attend again next year!

Venue : 4
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 4
Communication : 5
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Apr 12 2018

We have been coming to this competition for many years. As a studio owner you want your dancers and parents to have an amazing competition experience. They always run on time or ahead of schedule. Critiques are uploaded immediately no more waiting for weeks. I have always taught my students it is not about the award, those are just someones opinion. It is about the critiques that drive you to be a better performer so its great to receive them so quickly! We experience great judging, awesome staff, organized backstage handling, and overall a fun show! Definitely a must to add to your competition schedule.

Venue : 0
Judging : 0
Staff : 0
Awards : 0
Communication : 0
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Apr 12 2018

This weekend was our first time attending Step up 2 Dance and we just loved it! The event went smoothly, ran on time or a little ahead, the staff were available and attentive, and the awards ceremonies was quick and fun for the dancers!

Venue : 0
Judging : 0
Staff : 0
Awards : 0
Communication : 0
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Apr 12 2018

This competition is one of the most organized and professional competitions I have been to in a long time. From the stage crew to the lobby workers you are always greet with a smile. You can tell this is a competition that truly cares about the dancers and studios. It was refreshing to have my child be part of such a positive atmosphere. I cant wait to attend nationals!

Venue : 0
Judging : 0
Staff : 0
Awards : 0
Communication : 0
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Apr 12 2018

This competition is not worth any hard working parent giving their money to. The announcer wasn't paying attention to know what she was giving out (had to keep asking the other announcer what award she was at) and talked unprofessionally. My daughter never got a trophy for her solo because they ran out. There was also no special judges awards or any type of "heart" to any awards that were given out. They just rattled down the metals, gave out trophies (until they ran out less than half way through) and called it a day. I can't imagine how anyones kids have any fun there. When we went to listen to her critiques, her video stopped at 45 seconds and all the judges said NOTHING in that time besides a generic welcome to the stage about 15 seconds into the dance.

Venue : 0
Judging : 0
Staff : 0
Awards : 0
Communication : 0
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Apr 09 2018

The competition is well organized and runs smoothly and on time. When conflicts arose they were resolved with a smile. The staff truly cares about these dancers, and it shows by those who attend. Dancers of every age, level, size, etc. were in attendance. The judges critiques were compassionate, supportive, and fair. New dancers were given comments that are easier for them to manage and advanced dancers given comments that will push them to work harder but also lots of praise to lift them up. Carol, the organizer, is kind and communicative. She is quick to answer questions via e-mail and she tries her best to remember her studio owners. She puts her heart into this competition and it shows. We will be back for sure!

Venue : 5
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
Step Up 2 Dance Tour
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Apr 08 2018

The competition offered three levels of competition for dancers to enter, however, when they announced the overalls they put ALL levels against each other and did one overall instead of overalls in each division. Why even offer levels if a first time soloist is going to be scored against an advanced dancer in the overalls? Where is the equity in that? The overall groups were also scored with all the levels against each other. As a parent, this competition is a complete waste of my money. I'd rather spend my money and my time at a list of other competitions that offer a more equitable and appropriate competition.

Venue : 0
Judging : 1
Staff : 0
Awards : 1
Communication : 0
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Apr 08 2018

Review Removed - Violation of Terms of Use

Venue : 0
Judging : 0
Staff : 0
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Sep 20 2017

Been going for 10 years! The kids have a great time!

Venue : 0
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
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Aug 19 2017

A wonderful competitive experience for all levels of dancers. They have a staff that is extremely knowledgeable and always helpful and friendly. Carol and Phil, the owners are very personable and always make everyone feel welcome and at home at each venue. Step up 2 Dance goes above and beyond to accommodate the studio owners, dancers and parents with thought out scheduling and beautiful performance venues. Their awards ceremonies are a fun Way to end the day with a one of a kind dance party and beautiful awards for every routine along with sashs and sparkling crowns that are awarded to the overall soloists.

Venue : 5
Judging : 5
Staff : 5
Awards : 5
Communication : 5
Step Up 2 Dance Tour
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