COMPETITION DETAIL

This competition was very small and felt very unorganized. I went with a group a couple of years ago. I reached out months ago to find out about independent dancers and never heard back

I have been to many dance competitions and this by far has been the weirdest one i have attended. The favoritism is strong and definitely out ways the actual scoring. By hearing the speeches at overalls (overalls lasted 5ish hours might i add) it seems that the judges are the same every year which seems unfair to dancers. There were dance studios who have been going there for at least 15 years which gives the judges a lot of time to pick favorites. The website had very little information about anything going on and it seemed very unorganized unless you have been there before and know what to expect. A girl on my team did title thinking all she needed was an interview/speech and she ended up needing to do so many master classes, an opening number for overalls (including a rehearsal every day that week), she was scored on EVERYTHING, and didn’t even end up getting an adjudication. The director thinks very strongly of “forever friends” but i personally don’t think they practice what they preach. She also does not understand the concept of consent. Another girl on my team was called up at awards to be a representative for our team and does not like physical touch unless it is someone she is close with. She ended up needing to give at leave 5 hugs to people she has never met before, including a 15 year old boy. She is 12 and was a little uncomfortable with that. The director does not know other people’s trauma and should not just assume they will automatically be ok with hugging. If you decide to attend this competition, know what you are getting into beforehand.

This competition feels very staged and they don't judge on the performance they just pick studios that have been there for a long time and give them everything like really high placements and awards, I did title at the comp and for NATIONALS we had to do all of this extra stuff like interviews and classes and it seems like it doesn't count for the score like they say that it helps your score, there was one other girl that was in my category and when they crowned her for the title, I figured out that she was from a studio with 100+ dancers have have been doing the comp for 20+ years, so the director knows them very well and the judges also know them. The "forever friends" thing is very weird and uncomfortable for younger and older kids. The director makes kids hug strangers so they can be "forever friends" when they know nothing about one another and have to hug and shake hands, also when opposite genders have to hug. This comp feels like a cult and the owners family is the only ones who run it. Everyone's family there and it sometimes is really creepy. Some staff is nice but owner is really forceful and announces awards differently to studios that have been there for very long. So overall not doing this competition ever again.

Aside from taking way too many entry causing awards after midnight with days that began at 7am I mostly want to comment on the choice of judges. Thanks to social media and dance being a small world it was easy to verify that one judge was the mom of a teacher at a competing school and she also goes to this school every summer to teach. This judge barely watched routines (not from her daughters school). No comments, riffled through papers the first minute of routines. Drank coffee and went through pocketbook etc during routines so it was no surprise there were no comments. Typically at the start of a routine they say the name \"this is abc\". I heard this at 1:11 in one routine as she started to watch. Speechless at this entire situation!

About the only thing I liked about this competition is the fact that the different types of dance were mixed in with other types, not 20 solos, 20 hip hop,etc, what most of our parents did not like was that it was local for us & the dancers had invited friends & relatives to come watch. we told them to come about 1/2 hour before their scheduled number. you ran around an hour ahead of schedule, so most did not get to see what they came for. very disappointing. during awards, microphone too loud & could not understand what was said as he talked way too fast. also, you should maybe let each studio designate one person who can take pictures of their dancers while performing . these families pay so much already for competition fees without having to buy your pictures as well.

My daughter attended this competition over the weekend to support her friend who performed. We have attended more dance competitions than I can count, and this was by far one of the worst I have ever seen. I\'m not coming from a standpoint of \"I wasted money\" because I didn\'t have my daughter competing. Before reading the other reviews, I was hoping that the director was just having a bad day. Now I see that this is just how she is! The setup of the entire competition is hard to follow-- solos and groups and everything else all combined. Comps that group by type of entry always seen to run smoothly. Then, it was time for awards- what a mess! The audience had no idea what was going on. Even having read the rules in advance didn\'t help! So my daughter\'s friend was crying on stage because she thought that she didn\'t place at all (turns out that there weren\'t enough numbers for overalls, according to their rules, as if her mother paid any less- not her fault the enrollment was VERY underwhelming). After awards were over (quite a bit ahead of schedule and generally an early time for a Saturday competition), as asked the director if she would just explain to me how the awards worked. She began to tell me and then stopped to speak to someone else. Rather than resuming she snipes at me \"You know, ask your director because if I start explaining to you, I will have to explain to all parents.\" At this point, my children run over to me, one on each side. She proceeds to grab each by the arm saying \"get away from there\" as there was a piece of equipment maybe a foot from us. NOBODY, let alone someone that runs a children\'s even, will put their hand on my children. She\'s lucky that I didn\'t press the issue and let her off with a warning to never put her hands on my children. Steer clear of this one, moms.

This competition is one that I hope to never attend again. First off the director is just not a fun person. Working in this business I feel as though you need to be very approachable and she is not. Usually I don\'t care to post a bad review but I am doing this in hopes of her seeing it. Your awards are way too long. That\'s what makes the comp terrible. It would be better to break up the day and do another set of awards instead of doing a 2 hr award segment at night. Also your awards you give out are cheesy and you should invest in something a little better. Hope you can take this criticism and help build your competition into something our studio would look forward to.

Terrible experience. Director cried, missing trophies for 2 title runner ups, they don\'t give awards to top five placers (even in competitive) and during awards, someone stole all valuable items from the girls dressing room! Entry fees are the same as other comps but they don\'t give out many awards. Never ever have been to a worse comp. Will never go back or recommend to anyone else.

We have stopped going. Director not a nice person. I kept giving the comp one more chance because it was local for us. The also need to invest in a floor to bring with them, most stages they use are way to slippery.

We do Dance Ovations every year! We really enjoy that they run on time and/or ahead! We start early but are done early which is a plus! The judging is fair and the critiques are useful. Only complaint is that some of the staff members do come off rather cold but we understand that it\'s difficult to run a competition for 3 to 4 days with minimal sleep. Overall, good experience.

Did not like this one at all- no top 5 in overalls, ran all over the place. Judging was very inconsistent. Director was difficult to deal with. Floor at venue was so slippery that our dancers were afraid to dance full out. Venue was old and dirty. Just did not enjoy this at all- also seemed overbooked

There were a few mistakes that occurred but i think they did god

The only positive is that they mix up the groups, so you don\'t have to sit through ten hip hop numbers in a row. You are there from early in the morning until late at night, with no time to go out for food, and the only options are hot dogs and meatball subs and chips. I could not believe the number of people who wandered through the auditorium during performances, had extremely loud conversations, etc. The special awards were clearly rigged for the favorite studios, and the scores, as well. Our girls said the special awards judge put her head down and refused to watch them dance, and the woman who did the stupid forever friends ceremony told our team of eleven year olds to put their hands down, as she wanted someone cute. Gee, thanks. I hope our studio never ever goes back. Welcoming, my eyeball.

Awards take too long. Comp runs ahead of schedule (they seem proud of that) but it would be better if they ran on time. Family members traveled to the venue only to miss the dances they came to see. Too much attention during awards given to studios and dancers who have been going there year after year. Don\'t like that they only give overall awards to the #1 dance, especially at such a big competition. Would have liked to see some recognition of top ten or at least top five.

Will never return to this competition. The comp was completely overbooked- running for 4 days. Venue was gross. Watched faculty leave building for cigarette breaks. Was not impressed!

We have been going to competitions now for over ten years and this one is my least favorite. It is not well organized. They \"mix\" in the solos for their Miss Dance Ovations title in with the group performances. This makes the competition extremely long. They should do the titles on Friday or Sunday night so that those who are only there for the group numbers or solos unrelated to the title competition can do them in a timely fashion. The awards ceremony is another thing that is so drawn out. I can not name one other competition that takes as long as this one for awards, by the time they are done no one wants to be \"forever friends\" anymore. The one in Fitchburg Ma last year was torture!

Good competition for the recreational dancers. The Director seemed overwhelmed and understaffed at last year\'s MA competition. Many adult dancers (18+) as well.

This is a wonderful, well run competition! This is one of my students favorite events! They offer 2 levels: recreational and competitive and have always felt the scoring was very fair. I have never had a bad experience in the 7 years we have been doing this competition!!!! Highly recommend!

Terrible! They don\'t practice what they preach. Forever friends? I don\'t think so. I brought a group of brand new competitors for the sole reason of being in their recreational division. We were told that the judging would be fair and helpful to these newbies who just wanted feedback. These girls truly don\'t care about medals, etc. they just wanted to dance. After the stereo was bumped by the music person, we were told the judges had enough info to rate their performance. They were not allowed to start over. They were barely into the choreography! So much for any helpful feedback. Never again!

We\'ve gone to Dance Ovations for a few years now. It always seems that they cater to the studios that frequent the competition. The judging is mostly fair, but awards take a very long time. Even when the competition is running ahead of time, we always seem to get out on time if not later.

Competition was ok. Staff was rude at times. the owner gets very annoyed very easily. They play favorites. If you are not a regular studio that competes with them, you don\'t get the time of day. There was one Mr. Dance Ovations title winner that helped out at a competition, all he did was yell and treat the dancers like he was way better than everyone else.