COMPETITION DETAIL

Without a doubt, AMP is my favorite dance competition experience to date! So here is the story: I live in Vegas, My parents live in AZ. Due to my parents’ health (my father is disabled) they are no longer able to make the trip to Vegas. So I thought, maybe I could go to AZ and have my girls do their solos there. The first competition I contacted said, “NO” They said they had a minimum entry requirement. Even after I told them my circumstance! Ugh! I then came across AMP. I received a speedy reply to my email that the would love to have my two daughters at the AMP comp in AZ! We arrived, everyone was so friendly, it was so organized, so fun. Every detail thought through. Thanks to AMP, we wheeled my father into the handicapped section of the theater, and both my parents got to watch their grandkids dance on stage with tears streaming down their face. It will live in our family memories FOREVER, all thanks to AMP! We are forever grateful!

For the past 3 years my dancers have competed at AMP and each year they absolutely love it!! The staff is so nice and welcoming! The atmosphere of the whole event is very positive and uplifting. The judging is fair and accurate, but they make sure that every dancer feels love and support no matter what level they are at. They do a great job of making all the dancers feel seen and recognized for all their hard work. I personally love that they give out all 4 adjudication awards, and don’t just award everyone the highest title. I know that not everyone may agree with that, but it really is beneficial for the dancers. For my dancers that score a lower adjudication it’s helpful for them to hear that they are getting critiqued on things that I have been trying to tell them for weeks in rehearsal. Sometimes they just need to hear it from someone else for it to click for them. And for my dancers that received the highest adjudication, it makes them feel like they truly earned it. I also appreciate that the judges actually give critiques and feedback, rather than just saying “good job” or “wow so cute”. They actually give notes that are beneficial and helpful to work on in the studio, so that we can improve before we hit the stage again. They do this really cool thing all weekend called “Pay it Forward”. At the beginning of the event they give each studio these keychains and stickers and they encourage the kids to hand one out to a dancer they don’t know and is not from their studio. It really helps teach the kids that it is kind to support other dancers, because we have ALL worked hard to be there. So when one of my dancers sees another dancer kill it in their solo then they can go hand them a sticker or keychain and tell them good job. and then the hope is that dancer in return does it to someone else. I really love how much AMP focuses on sharing the love. All in all a great experience for everyone that attends! I highly recommend them!

I’ve been competing at AMP for the past 5 years and It is by far my favorite event of the year. The energy from all the staff and judges is unmatched.

I’ve been competing at AMP for the past 5 years and It is by far my favorite event of the year. The energy from all the staff and judges is unmatched.

As a parent, this is the GOLD standard of dance competitions!! They were above and beyond organized! We received our schedule 2-3 weeks prior to the competition which is amazing for planning as a parent with multiple kiddos. The staff personally took us to our dressing rooms and were above and beyond friendly. The vibe, energy and positivity is ABOVE and BEYOND any competition we've attended. Regardless of score, my 2 teen daughters (which is hard to please ever) left feeling so good about themselves. They were entered in the intermediate level, and though they may never be a "Top 10 Overall" scoring soloist, they left feeling recognized by not only the competition with their creative awards, but by the AMP staff cheering them on backstage and by OTHER dancers participating in AMP's Pay it Forward Program. Kids from other studios were given keychains to go hand to other kids that inspired them -- for my girls to receive recognition from their competitors made them feel seen and so special. I know that as a parent I don't choose our studios competitions, but I certainly hope we get to experience more of AMP again!!! Hands down a HEALTHY competitive experience with AMP. Thank you!

Hi All, Studio Director here, running a competitive program of about 144 dancers. AMP was new to our area this year, so we decided to test it out with our middle track, or advanced level dancers. (about 60 dancers) We had a wonderful time and will definitely be returning next season with more of our dancers! We are a studio that values honesty, and works hard to teach our dancers to not live and die by scores, placements, or trophies. Personally, we LOVED that this event ACTUALLY gave out all 4 adjudications. (Voltage, High Voltage, Extreme Voltage, Blown Speaker). We had dancers within our studio receive all 4 of these, and we were just as happy receiving our voltage scores as we were our blown speakers. I can't tell you how frustrated our kids feel when they go to other events and everybody gets a platinum. They know when they give a gold or a high gold performance, and will always respect when adjudications feel honest! Receiving constructive criticism is something that is essential to our program. From AMP Raleigh, we had dancers receive Blown Speakers at this event that nailed their routines for the first time, and that validation really has done so much for their confidence! We also had some dancers receiving a voltage on a solo, which we felt was equally helpful. I know it's easier for dancers when they all get the same score, but for us, a dancer getting a lower score can help us encourage them to rehearse more! Or to explain to a parent why certain skills might be doing more harm than good within their choreography and in the end their overall growth as a dancer is fed in these moments. The staff were all extremely friendly, positive, and encouraging backstage and even during stressful moments. (We had a tap dance we had to hold because a dancer couldn't find their shoes. She ended up wearing a shoe 4x bigger than her foot....never a dull moment!) As other studio directors and owners know, registration, uploading music, etc can be a very challenging task, and mistakes can be easily made. In a perfect world, we wouldn't make any mistakes, all cuts would be correct, and entries added with the exact titles and categories correctly. Our studio does struggle with this, and a lot of times we feel that admin staff of the event gets frustrated with us for the constant updates and changes. We tend to register everything as early as possible and then update the information later. AMP was incredible assisting us with getting all of our entries correct, ensuring correct cuts were right, and even having to sub out dancers and routines last minute due to a stomach bug going around school!! I believe our Admin team was getting email responses within the day, even leading up to a few hours before our event!!! We were never made to feel bad or that we were burdening them by reaching out, asking questions or needing help. What shocked me the most though, was the promptness of when we received critiques. Our studio attends a lot of events where we don't receive anything from the event (media OR critiques) until at least 3-4 days later. I was shocked that critiques and photos were up the Monday after the event by noon. We had another competition the following weekend and were actually able to workshop routines and apply critiques in every single class!!! The critiques themselves were helpful, specific and we received no parent complaints about lack of commenting or lack luster feedback. Honestly can't say enough great things! From our end, we have been doing competitions for 20 years, and currently this year our goal was to try all new events in an effort to see what else is out there. I think we all get stuck in repeating the wheel, going to showstoppers, star systems, etc year after year because that's just what we always have done. Personally, I am so happy we took the risk to try this event this year. I love that it is an event that values passion, story telling and commitment as well as technique and execution. We can't wait for next year, and hope other studios will give it a chance!

Our studio had a wonderful experience at AMP! The students loved the master class and the improv challenge!! The staff was wonderful and our critiques were a great mix of constructive and positive. As a teacher, I loved having the "teacher" judge as well!

From the moment our studio arrived, I was blown away by the level of organization and attention to detail that went into AMP. Rich helped us get checked in, explained their pay it forward program (which we loved) and lead us to our dressing rooms. He even helped us unload props backstage! The venue was perfect, the judges were knowledgeable and fair. Awards were quick and all of our soloists and groups felt accomplished and celebrated. The AMP Girls made backstage check in easy and were so encouraging to our dancers. Jessie and Sarah were always quick to Say “Great job” or “You killed it” after all performances. It was evident that you and your team went above and beyond to create a memorable experience for all participants and attendees!! Thank you for creating such a fantastic event and providing a platform for dancers of all ages and backgrounds to showcase their skills. I am already looking forward to next year's San Antonio competition and am excited to see what you have in store.

We attended Amp for the first time this weekend in Tulsa. The entire experience was great. Krista checked in with myself and our competition director on Thursday. Our Competition director checked in and Rich at the desk was helpful and got everything taken care of for her. Our dancers participated in the master class. The competition was great. It ran on time, it was organized backstage, and the team was great! I loved that they gave out all 4 levels of awards. We look forward to attending again in the future!

We love Amp! We’ve attended Amp in Texas for the past 5 years and have had such a positive experience. They run a professional and organized event and my parents have always loved going to their comps.

We have attended AMP Dance Competition for years are this February were reminded again of what a FRESH and VALUE DRIVEN organization it is! AMP stands out from all other competitions in so many ways! They allow budding dancers to feel the joy and reward with competing against peers at their same level, rather than being blown away by more experienced dancers. AMP staff is friendly and helpful in every way. They are organized and say everything with a smile! Competition weekends can bring anxiety and stress for dancers, families and staff and they do everything they can to help people feel taken care of and proud of the hard work that led them to AMP. I also love that AMP nurtures kindness and giving back to the dance community. My dancers and I will go back year over year and if you are looking to spend your dance weekend with dance experts, caring people and the highest quality experience...look no futher, AMP should be on your competition schedule.

Finally a competition out there that is doing things for the right reasons!!! They not only care about the dancers experience but also the studio owners and the studio families. Loved the way they encourage more than just the competitive aspect (which is at such a high level) with modeling a culture of kindness, inclusion and sportsmanship. So refreshing to see a competition company in the industry that is making such a positive impact. We will be back for sure!

AMP is such an exciting and energetic competition. As a studio we love to take part in all the experiences they have to offer! We always have such a great time!

I absolutely LOVE Amp! The culture they create with a focus on kindness, paying it forward and level of professionalism is amazing! We love the staff and organization! They are always so kind and helpful.

10/10 dance competition! They are kind, fair and well organized. Love love love this business, staff judges and owners. They bend over backwards to make every event special. Go here!!

AMP dance competition is one of the most organized competitions I have been to in my 30 years of owning a dance studio. They are professional in all of their practices and have such a positive culture. I love that they limit their number of entries so kids don't have to miss school to participate. Their values, mission, and the entire organization is top-notch!

Long review ahead! I’m not sure I can speak enough on just how much my studio and I love AMP. They are the gold Standard of competitions. We have been for a few years now and compete in Phoenix (where there is a LOT of great talent) and my kids (who are beginning and intermediate levels) walk away feeling so great about their performance. AMP has such an amazing culture and I know that it’s hard for studios to venture out and try new comps, but let me just give y’all the rundown: -the BIGGEST thing we love about this comp is their “pay it forward” program. When we checked in at the beginning of the weekend, we got AMP Keychains for ALL of our dancers. They were encouraged to hand it out to other dancers and meet a new friend throughout the weekend. It’s so great and helps combat some of the toxic competition culture out there. -Next is their judging. They use ALL of their adjudication levels which I personally prefer it helps my students understand their levels and routine placement better. It is hard as a teacher to explain why an intermediate dancer can’t be in the small group with all the advanced dancers when we go to competitions and everyone gets the same top two Adjudications. They also have their judges do this “out of the box award” that they do at each set of awards. Each of the judges give out a couple of those and they have NOTHING to do with scoring and everything to do with what they each loved about a certain dance. They all have these cute titles and its amazing. -Lastly, their staff… THE BEST. I’m not kidding. They have such kind and attentive people working for them. They make it so easy and have everything so organized AND they make sure that the backstage area isn’t so crowded when group numbers are going! At awards, everything is so positive and they keep all the kids engaged and supporting each other--is refreshing to see. My kids absolutely love AMP and we will continue to come back again and again. Thank you for a wonderful event! GO CHECK THEM OUT!

I’m sorry but this was not a positive experience at all. Even to this day, three days after the event I’m still unclear who the actual Director of the competition was. I loved the MC, but I don’t think he was the Director. I believe it was the man that sat at the apparel table on his phone named Rich, he was very rude a check in, and I never once saw him backstage or in the auditorium. He did not introduce himself until Sunday, but never with a title. This was our first time attending, and between myself and my children we have seven studios. This was a test competition, as we did not bring everyone, just some teams. The lack of professionalism by the man named Rich was offensive. (again, I think this was the Director but Unsure) I can get past the advanced dancers not being moved out of the low divisions, because unfortunately that happens at every competition, and of course it happened here, and yes a lot of them were winning. When you bring recreational dancers, I think it’s obvious who those are. They are not going to be professional dancers, they’re wanting a good time. So I would recommend anybody bringing recreational dancers to put them in the highest level because they’re going to get the lowest score no matter what level they are in. My recreational dancers would’ve felt better getting a medium score in the lowest level versus the lowest score in the lowest level. Now they feel defeated, and aren’t sure they want to continue with dance. Had they been in the highest level and still received the lowest award, which would’ve happened, they would feel less embarrassed. And the experience that I had with Rich…..he stood in front of me and yelled at me about moving a dressing room sign. He blocked my view of my dancers on stage, and raised his voice so much that people around me asked me if I was OK. Why did I move a dressing room sign? Because you had 100 people in a dressing room, and the dressing room next-door had three people that were competing that entire day. I know this because it was my daughters studio. The other studio that she was with the previous day took it upon themselves to move. It’s a dressing room… You’re seriously going to act like that? It was very offensive and ruined the entire experience. and him standing directly in front of me, being unkind was very intimidating. He doesn’t know my history, he doesn’t know how it makes me feel to have a man inches from me yelling at me. and hold on, I just sent you a check for several thousand dollars and this is how you’re treating me over a dressing room? If you don’t make it into the overalls, there is not even a piece of paper given for the groups. And I would say the trophy/metal that you are given is less than par. It looks like a car speaker - very cheap-When you’re sending checks for thousands of dollars, something to remember the weekend is typically appropriate, that was not the case with this competition. Had Rich been kind, this whole review probably would’ve been avoided and we just would not return, but the way that he intimidated a woman in front of others was uncalled for. Again- because I attempted to move my dancers to a larger dressing room that had three people in it, versus 100. Many competitions that we go to do not have assigned dressing rooms, and everybody fend for themselves, that would’ve been appropriate in the situation because I’m pretty sure every fire code was broke with 200 people and Dream duffels I’m a dressing room- and I know the number is correct because I asked the studio owner that we were sharing with. She also was not impressed. Do these competitions think studio owners do not talk and share things? Because we do

Our studio had the pleasure of attending AMP Dance Competition in Madison, Wisconsin. We were completely blown away by every single aspect of the event. Everyone truly went above and beyond to create a positive and uplifting experience for kids. From start to finish, the competition was absolutely incredible! The positive energy was absolutely contagious. The competition was incredibly well-organized and the judges provided thoughtful feedback. What really stood out to me, however, was the company's commitment to creating a positive atmosphere for everyone involved. The staff members were incredibly friendly and supportive, always offering words of encouragement to the performers and their families. The emphasis was truly on celebrating each dancer's unique talents and abilities and fostering positivity. Overall, I cannot recommend AMP enough. They truly exceeded all expectations and created an amazing event. If you are looking for a positive, uplifting experience for your studio, this competition is definitely the way to go!