COMPETITION DETAIL

The longest lived in the industry…. Tradition but New, New, New elements added the last while! The new owner came up as a Platform Teacher (was wildly successful as such) and has brought a much needed revamp. Loved the Stones but by far time to go…. Time to go. That stuff worked in the early 80’s but not now. Todays dancers are very different and need different. Still need much discipline yet the intensity of needs in class has 100% changed. Great Job DADO! Congrats and thank you for listening to us. I’m sure that the fact no longer are the Judges allowed to have dancers they’ve privately trained or groups they’ve gone to their studios and setting pieces for them. Then turn around and not only be on Faculty, but judge the competition including Nationals. Just not right. We didn’t want to believe it until some of my teachers overheard the faculty talking one night in the bar-:( The supposedly (Top Female in the group… she wasn’t) was speaking about “just wait, just wait till tomorrow… there is a line number performing you will die for… it will blow every score out of the water.” She went on to tell the others the name of the number and its entry number/category. Very disgusting, we felt like it must feel to be robbed without a gun. Horrible. Those days are over, this owner has cleaned house of those types. Actually dismissed 1 judge at the lunch break during the last regional we attended. Told the crowd there was a strong conflict of interest on the judging panel and it wouldn’t be tolerated. Bravo

I have only attended two regionals, but I really liked it. I thought scores and points awarded were accurate. I liked that there were judges awards. The trophies were different and actually said what was awarded. Most comps do not do that. The judges awards were different than the placement awards, etc. The directors were very nice and accommodating and I thought that all of the dance schools really took pride in their work and were very gracious. Convention teachers and choreography good, too. A nice learning experience.

We tried to attend this event last year but it was cancelled a week before. We were assured the convention would still go on but that was cancelled last minute as well. It was disappointing to our girls.

Class act up through 2015. 2016 under new ownership was a huge disappointment. Regional was a train wreck. Announced scores were incorrect and took forever to get through them due to ineptitude. Audience was clearly bewildered and frustrated. Nationals were awful. Schedule was communicated extremely late. Very low turnout when compared with prior years . . . It was a ghost-town. Strange fixation by the new owner to \"take a picture so we can get this up on Facebook\", yet their social media presence is very poor. Many Facebook posts by owner(?) make no sense. The new owners seem to take a lot of pride in the history and achievements of the organization, but I\'m afraid they are going to run it right into the ground. If given a choice on team competitions, I will vote and advocate every time to bypass the \"new\" DanceAmerica-Olympus and instead participate in the new competitive venture that is now under the leadership of some of the \"old\" DanceAmerica-Olympus personnel. 2016 was really awful.

This competition used to be a studio favorite. however it got new ownership and ran awfully. HALF of the stage had marley, and it was laid down awfully. No information was given to teachers, dancers, or parents. We will never return to this competition

Love dance america. I do about 6 regionals and 2 national competitions each year and this is by far my fav! runs smoothly, great staff, and exceptional opportunity!

Luv the dance convention! Took so much from it! Had a lot of fun!

We love the convention piece. My daughter has also participated in DOTY and loved Sarah Jo.

We have been increasingly disappointed with this competition each year at regionals and nationals. The judging has been tilting more & more toward certain studios. It is evident that certain judges have strong relationships with studio owners and certain parents. We don\'t pay all of this money to be part of a popularity contest. Save your time and money & find a competition that treats everyone fairly.

Overall, Dance Olympus is a positive experience. I have attended 4 events. Pros: - Teacher/assistant room with real dance classes (not just talking forums) - The convention teachers are easy to follow. - The rooms are never over crowded. - The host hotel sets up a lunch buffet. You must pay for this. - Age appropriate combos - Less hype than larger conventions (for some attendees, this could be a negative) - nice, clean venue Cons: - The notes on cd do not always match what was taught in class.

We have attended Danceamerica and Dance Olympus for years! The judges teach at the conventions so the dancers can actually get to speak to them instead of only getting critiques. Many of the judges have helped my dancers in choosing colleges and preparing for auditions. They are instructors that work with professional dancers of all ages. The DOTY program teaches dancers the importance of learning choreography quickly, as well as getting them great interview experience! My dancers have made lifelong friendships and have run into other DOTY contestants at auditions where it is always nice to have a friendly face! On top of that, the kids have a great time participating in DOTY. The competition is run very professionally and fair. The staff has been there for years and are very friendly and helpful.

Convention is decent, not the best but certainly not the worst. Judging was fair, decent size competition, could pick better venues

This is my teams second year at this competition and we had a much better experience last year. I felt we placed correctly and were given accurate scoring and critiques. This year however we were over looked because we were a small studio. At this competition we brought 3 solos (1 junior and 2 intermediate) a duet and two groups. Friday night the two intermediate solos danced, the first girl went on in the acro division and the girls in her category had to be at least 16/17. Then the second soloist went on (me) and in the lyrical category there were 28 girls while most others has 3 or 4. The first solo went on at 9:45 and I went on at 11:15. Next morning we went for the junior solo. We find out the school had a b-ball torn event the same day so there was a cop there ticketing everyone. We looked at our pictures and for my solo they took 7 pictures compared to the 23 they took for everyone else. Other than that it was good up until awards were we placed poorly in places were we had better technique. And the MC insulted us by saying in first place was _______ from _______ who the heck are they? But the backstage crew was so so so nice. We got our critiques video back and one judge says two things it was awfull But the convention was amazing!

This was a fabulous convention ! We enjoyed all the great instructors and staff. Probably the best one all year . They did a nice job of making everyone seem welcome and special . The compeition was great and felt more like a performance for the kids . Good job

Some good points, but mostly negative. The convention is mandatory in order to compete at regionals & nationals. One female judge choreographs two of their production numbers for nationals and seems to have favorites who she features for most of the dance & then they end up winning for \"dancer of the year.\" It seems to be a money maker for the organization, but a waste of money and time for those who are not even considered or don\'t place in their top thirteen. If they already know who is going to win, they should spare the other dancers by not having or making such a big deal out of what appears to be a popularity contest. This same teacher was rude to the dancers at our studio at the convention and left us with a very bad impression. We will not recommend Dance America or Dance Olympus to any of our dance community and we will not return after attending their competition and convention for many years.

We love Dance Olympus! Great teachers with great knowledge and experience. Definitely a five star!

Really liked Dance America. They really know what they are doing and it was very enjoyable.

A very solid and organized convention. We enjoy it whenever we go!

Our studio has done this convention a few years in a row. Organized. There was 1 instructor who was a bit abrasive with some of our kids. But that was an isolated event.

Wonderful competition! The judges were great and my dancer left feeling like she learned new stuff in convention. The convention choreography wasn\'t watered down. It was challenging and fun!

I like this competition. It\'s run well and my dancer loves the workshop!

I had a mildly positive experience with Dance Olympus and Dance America. I attended Dance Olympus in the summer of 2013 and it certainly was an experience I\'ll never forget. I took workshops from the great choreographers and I even competed in the competition that was held the first day of the convention. The bad things is that the teachers were pretty strict and at times rude too.. As for the competition, which was called the Summer Dance Championships, it was small, but well organized and ran on time. The only negative point was the fact that we didn\'t perform on a stage, we had to perform on a wooden dance floor in one of the convention rooms. There were also no placement awards, just adjudications in bronze, silver and gold and overall high score awards in the junior and senior divisions for solo, duet/trio, small group, large group and line. I attended Dance America in March 2014 and it was a better experience. The competition was smaller than I\'m used to (but not as small as the competition at Dance Olympus) and I thought it was well organized and it ran on time. Their adjudication system was 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place. If there were only one person in a category, you would have to compete against the adjudication system. If there were lots of people in your category, the highest score would be awarded first place and all of the other placements will fall in descending numerical order, from highest to lowest. Only first, second and third place has trophies. 4th, 5th and merit are ribbons. I went back to Dance Olympus in the summer of 2014 and I had a much better experience than in 2013. They had an overhaul of new choreographers and teachers, which made the convention feel fresh and new. Plus, they weren\'t as strict as the ones from 2013. I also loved that the competition added on platinum to their adjudication system.

horrible! judges sucked!

Well run competition. Independent dancers welcome and treated well. However, very disappointed with pricing, especially with mandatory payment for workshops at regional and nationals as well as parents having to pay to watch their kids dance per session at nationals (very expensive!). Until this changes, never want to go back.

Professional & friendly. Organized. Have always liked this one.

Very well run event.

We loved their format, and the judging was right on. Really good job.

Top notch. We always feel like we have learned a lot and we love the teachers.

this is how a dance competition should be run.

Art and Nancy Stone and all of their staff are definitely the leaders in dance education through competition coupled together with workshops. I love this competition in every aspect. If you can only go to one competition in the season I would highly recommend this one. It will be a positive experience for all--dancers, parents and teachers. Thank you for being always such a class act.

This is an outstanding competition with very high standards. The backstage workers were the best that we have had to deal with. Everyone connected with the competition both regional and national have been a pleasure.

Wish they would come to OHIO

Used to be my absolute favorite!! Haven\'t been in years, but was such a great experience as a dancer!

So very disappointed! Over priced for terrible organization! We will NEVER be back! Nationals and convention combined is over a week long with convention mandatory. Sad experience.

have not attended in several years. I know 15 years ago they were the leaders! I am sure they still would be. They need to come to OHIO

Our dancers really enjoyed these. I feel they learned alot. Great interactions between the teachers and dancers. Highly recommend!

Smaller comp with tough but fair judging. Must score to place. The Dance Olympus convention is mandatory to compete and very well run with great teachers.

Nice well run competition. Some excellent critiques. Dance Olympus is the convention that goes along with the competition and it is a 5 star convention. Great teachers.

This is absolutely the best workshop and competition out there! My dancers have so much fun.