COMPETITION DETAIL

THis is by far one of the best competitions we attend. We go every year. It’s organized, runs on time, incredible judges, fair judging, wonderful venues. A wonderful experience.

Our studio attended the most recent Shine competition in Gatineau, Quebec. Some positives: the judges were very engaged during the awards and seemed genuinely happy to be there. They were focused on the dancers and did not feel the need to talk about themselves which was refreshing. Negatives: One judge marked 5 points below the other 2 judges, consistently, throughout the entire competition. The competition owner should have addressed that after the first awards session. As well, one of the judges only had positive things to say in their comments, which is nice and encouraging, however, unless they received a perfect score, there should have been some critique as well, which is what parents are paying for. We appreciate the recognition of good work, but also hope for some critique so the dancers have something to work on.

We love Shine and attend it once or twice per year. The kids seem to enjoy it and we typically do very well. The biggest issue with Shine is that they seem to cater to the big studios and reward those who pay the most. The 2 biggest studios at the Peterborough location had dancers in more than one division or just lying about dancers hours and nothing was done about it. At this competition everybody leaves with a few awards with no clear winner at all. The judges are mainly dancers who have worked professionally but never taught so don\'t expect too much from their comments. Having said that, the director is an absolute pleasure and the staff is extremely friendly and on the ball.

We went to shine In Kelowna April 2014. Had a fantastic time. My husband, son and my kids godfather went with us to watch my daughter. Wasn\'t sure how the guys would do sitting through all the dances. But when they did the adjudication, the announcers were just fabulous. Every time they came out it was like a party on the stage and in the audience . They kept it fun and fresh every time they came out. My guys really enjoyed themselves along with my daughter and myself we are all looking forward to going to it next year.( hmmm they did too good of a job as I was kind of looking forward to just us gals going next year;-) ) I would have given it full 5 stars if it weren\'t for the seating not a lot of seats but they did a fantastic job making sure all the seats were being used. Great job shine!

We decided to try Shine in 2013 for both regionals as well as nationals, and we will not return. The regionals was fairly well-run and we did like that outside the theatre you could see a screen with the performance going on. It is frustrating as a parent to run back and forth and then not to be allowed into the theatre between numbers. I agree that it is distracting to the audience and dancers, therfore, we can honestly say that all the parents very much appreciated the ability to be in the lobby without missing any numbers. Also allowed for a quick coffee, which is also prohibited in the theatre, while not missing a single number. This is a good thing, and we would love it if more competitions that are located at professional theatres would do this. Now to the negative. We found the judging to be spotty at regionals. After many competitions, we are usually able to call a category reasonably well. This was not the case with Shine. It could vary wildly and, in our case, one of the judges was marking 5-7 points lower than the other 2 judges for the same routines. A competition director should be on situations like this and talk to the judge to see if maybe their expectations are a bit out of whack with the other judges. This should be a red flag to the director that perhaps this judge isn\'t experienced with a children\'s dance competition. And finally, national finals. This experience was truly disappointing. If we hadn\'t attended nationals, we might have returned another time to try Shine regionals. However, the judging was so very slanted that we won\'t return. Some of the dance styles that they favoured, especially in solos, were inappropriate for the age and were uncomfortable to watch. Good technique is important, but girating and provocative movements should not be rewarded. They favoured small groups and solos over large groups and seemed to like contemporary routines mostly. The judges obviously were unaware of the extra time, effort and difficulty that is involved with large-scale extended lines and productions with a wide age-range of ages from 6 to 18 yrs of age. The dance off was the last straw. It was not judged, it was rated. We have never seen anything like it. It was biased and we feel that the judges made some decisions based on what studios they preferred (it was obvious by the end of the week who was with what studio), and what studios they did not like.

My daughter has gone to Shine many times (both the regionals in several cities and the finals). I have always found this to be a very well run competition. The judges are qualified, the focus is a balance of strong technique and performance, the venues are professional, and everything runs on time and efficiently. Justine's customer service level is amazing and she is always listening to opinions of studio owners and parents on how she can improve the competition. I have also found that the photography service she works with is second to none and I have always got the best pictures from there. My only beef is that she doesn't use video for judges feedback. Especially when you attend a competition early in the season, the judge's critique is so important and one of the key reasons for going to competition.