COMPETITION DETAIL

We have been in the competition circuit for 12 years now and attended this competition for the very first and last time this year. I could go on forever about cons; here are the highlights: 1) $5 fee at the door, which they say gives you the free program. Buying a program should be my choice, and after spending $100 for a solo and $50 for every group, I should be able to walk in without paying. 2) No adjudications! 3) Too many performance categories. It's a shame that a Beginner alone in the category walks away with a massive trophy when an advanced dancer is not even adjudicated and doesn't know how they stand if they are not top 3, which are the only placements announced! 4) Judges panel higher than dancer makes it so that the dancer cannot effectively connect with their audience (the judges). 5) Open ballroom seating makes it so that it is very difficult to see, especially if the dancer has a lot of floor work. 6) Top 3 dancers are the only placements announced; my daughter placed top 3 and received a RIBBON! Only first place gets a trophy. Are you kidding me? NEVER GOING BACK.

Ballroom style competition. The judges literally sit at the end of the floor where you can clearly see their faces as the dancers enter. As our dancers entered and our routines were different more dark you could their faces and tell we weren’t going to score well. One judge even danced along in her seat to a routine of a competitors dance which was not ok as our dancers were in the audience. No cheering and they’ll scold you to be quiet so not very comfortable even watching. Plus after a solo of an 8-9 year old before she even left the stage an employee announced she was disqualified because she did an Ariel! That should of been a private between her SO and not announced before she even left the room. Staff was not friendly and only one other studio showed up so we competed against ourselves in a lot of categories. Wouldn’t recommend.

My daughter has attended this competition twice, both were great experiences for her (2016 & 2017). We would have gone back this year, but I Love Dance isn't coming to our city this season. It IS a different competition, to be sure, but some of these differences are appreciated. For example, spectators are not allowed to walk into the ballroom during performances or yell and cheer during dancing, which seems more respectful for ALL performers, not just those from larger studios who have many supporting them in the audience. The audience is expected to applaud for all performances which is how it should be! Coming from a smaller studio with fewer students competing, we've never felt at a disadvantage--which hasn't been the case at some other competitions we've attended. As a parent I don't have an issues with paying the nominal entry fee to watch because you get the Program. If you want a hard copy program at any other competition you have to pay for it anyway. The I Love Dance staff has always been very professional and encouraging. The awards are beautiful. There are a few extra rules, so I would suggest making sure you read those carefully in case dance numbers need to be adjusted. As others have pointed out, the venues (hotels) without a raised stage and lack of technology, for example still using CDs, would be the main drawbacks. I would actually give a 4.5 stars if possible.

We were not overly impressed with this competition. The first complaint is them changing hotel venues and dates of the competition without communicating to the studios to secure new hotel rooms. The hotel they moved to was a older hotel that needed a lot of updating and not near the best area of Town. This competition would be good for naive teams that have never competed before to get performance practice. However, they have very dated equipment and competition rules. Dancers perform on a hotel laid ballroom floor in the middle of a hotel meeting room, no stage, no lighting or sound system. The audience is made to feel as if in a library, there is no positive upbeat energy at all that is felt at more progressive larger competitions. They discourage cheering for your dancers. Our team did well, but there wasn\'t a large volume of studios to compete with in all the categories. It did seem organized and ran on time, but if you\'re looking for a class act and competitive dance competition where your dancers are competing with the best studios around, this is not the one for you.

I\'ve had students competing with I Love Dance for many years and I wouldn\'t compete anywhere else. The professionalism of the judges and staff is fabulous. The event begins on time and ends when scheduled or earlier. I appreciate true a competition that doesn\'t award dancers for just showing up. Dancers and parents need to learn that everyone shouldn\'t receive a prize to make them feel they\'ve done a good job. Life doesn\'t work that way! Kudos to I Love Dance. Keep it up!!!

Very pleased with the professionalism and the warmth that my dancers experienced at this event. They made both my seasoned and first year competition dancers feel valued. As a smaller studio we had a wonderful experience and will be taking 35 dancers back in 2017 to the Manchester NH comp.

As a studio we have competed at I Love Dance for many many years. We have always had an amazing experience and the dancers always want to do this competition again! The dance floor has always been excellent and gives the judges a great unobstructed view of the entire performance. Also the sound is always top notch. The judging has always been totally fair and as a teacher I really appreciate the written comments on the score sheets. The recorded comments form some other competitions is a total waste of time, in my opinion! Kudos to I Love Dance!!!

I would like to thank \'I Love Dance\' for their professionalism. My dance studio has competed with them for 30 years. I feel the rules they have all abide by has contributed to the reputation my dance studio has now acquired in that they are always complemented on their manners, showmanship and respect for authority. The reason this competition selects ballroom floors is that it provides the judges with a birds eye view as the judges are lifted on platforms above the stage. They take great pains to ensure that all parents not only see their dancers but they watch from the very front row. No, not all dancers \"win\" at this competition but nor will they all win in all things in life. My studio has learned the value of appropriate behavior from an audience. I have been to other competitions where there is more action in the aisles of the auditorium than on stage. \'I Love Dance\' I thank you and I am honored to be a part of this competition each and every year !!!!

My daughter has been dancing for 12 years 8 of them competitive. We did 16 competitions last year. This was the WORST experience I have ever had. First they have so many rules that make it seem like you are in school when this is supposed to be fun, They have you dancing on a flat ballroom floor where your dancer cannot turn properly they frown upon props that take a lot of time and effort, they take a ton of breaks and fall behind, the venues picked do not have elevated seating so you can not even see your child or group dancing, Not to mention they charge at the door $5! And on top of it check it every time like you are trying to \"sneak\" in. They literally use things from 100 years ago the music was played on a tiny portable cd player!!!???? Sounded horrible .... Just wait gets worse! So you pay these fees to register your child and they do not even give every child an honorable message! No pin, no ribbon.... they group solo and groups together and only do top three and you get a 10 cent ribbon or a crappy trophy. The winners were also not judged on talent or experience when asked about how my child who wins titles and firsts at REAL competitions was not even mentioned they literally had no real answer except our company needs to get lower to the ground!!?? They were rude and miserable and looked at our company like we were nuts. Yes we danced different.... we danced like he modern day dance right now and clearly they are not caught up with technology, judges or people in charge. This was a scam to collect money. They are hurting kids feelings. It should not be about who they know and dances with them year after year it should be about talent. After the money you spend this should NOT be the outcome. I am embarrassed for this company and have never seen anything like what i experienced this weekend. It was pitiful and should be shut down. Did I mention the judges our writing results on paper and using a typewriter so they our not looking at the dancer!

worst competition never going again

as a lifelong competitor, this was the worst competition i have ever attended. no stage, outdates judges, rude staff, inadequate space in dressing room. the critiques are hand-written and absolutely horrible. critiqued costume, music and chores far more than actual technique. absurdly strict rules that are not up-to-date with current dance conventions or competitions. the rules restrict creativity and don\'t allow for \"acrobatics\" in contemporary/jazz routines, but the regulations make it so some common basic modern/jazz movement is prohibited or cause for point deductions. also, unnecessary point deductions. poor seating and just a really unwelcoming atmosphere. don\'t attend this competition unless you want your dancers to know how NOT to be dancer.

Great practice comp Weird rules No stage

I will say, I attended many many years ago. When then stopped performers before they finished their routines (not my kids) because they were not in the correct catagory....that made my decision not to return....ever. These are kids. It is not their fault if their teacher put them in the wrong catagory....let them finish their routine.

COMP HAD NO STAGE (CONVENTION STYLE FLOOR IN HOTEL BALLROOM)

Girls do love this comp

I would never attend this competition again. We won some very big trophies but the wooden ballroom floor had chunks coming up, the sound system didn\'t work and the judges kept rotating so that you didn\'t have the same judges for an entire section. Will never go back to that one.

My daughter danced competitively for many years and, hands down, ILD was her favorite competition. As a parent, I appreciated the professional atmosphere which prepared her for working in the dance industry. While it\'s true that at ILD not every dancer gets a trophy and they don\'t dance up on a stage, in real life not every dancer gets \"the part\" and some auditions are on less than perfect floors. We are now looking forward to my granddaughter attending ILD competitions.

I recently attended an I Love Dance competition in my area. I am age 16 and have been dancing for almost 3 years now. I do all styles except acro. This competition was very disappointing in my opinion- the floor is a wooden ballroom floor- extremely hard to land leaps or turn on without falling. I performed a 1st place lyrical solo, a 1st place lyrical group, a 1st place jazz group, a 4th place jazz student choreography duet, and a student choreography lyrical solo that placed 8th. I don\'t know how judges came up with those scores, though because they were writing the whole time. Dancers learn to make eye contact with the judges, but all I saw was the tops of their heads. The age categories are ridiculous- I was the only one older than 11, but we competed 15-17. Also, props and acro cannot be used in any category except variety arts. The director isn\'t nice at all. In fact, I remember standing backstage with my team and another company and the director walked by to see someone do a penche. They got yelled at and ridiculed in front of everyone walking by. When a team uses a prop or does an acro trick in the wrong category, the judges announce it to the audience. Also, there is no cheering at all- only clapping. Definitely not a fan, but our studio insists on going here every year because it\'s cheaper and closer than others.

Don\'t waste your time or money. Worse competition we were ever a part of. Such a disappointment. Mismanaged, chaotic, poorly run. The announcer actually gave a trophy to the wrong group of young girls and made them give it back, after they already announced them 1st place. Whoever she was she should be fired. She embarrassed parents and entrants multiple times. 100 thumbs down. Never, ever again.

wish I could cheer for my dancers...also not crazy about an entrance fee

Big Disappointment... Venue was not in a convenient location. Parents had to pay from $24-$36 for parking. There was no place to unload props and they had to be carried in from parking garages. Stage was very slick and had metal slats ( which actually injured some dancers). To get back stage you had to walk through a girls dressing room, making inconvenient for dancers, prop handlers, and BOYS! Director sat on her lap top all day looking at hotels and etc, not hardly watching any routines, yet she was responsible for picking special awards??(Not right)The director was also did not have a pleasant attitude and only spoke back stage when she wanted to complain about the dancers. All entries were assigned a number yet did not perform in that order. They were given another completely different order to dance in, which is very confusing for the dancers, parents, and observers. The director had to constantly cue the judges to make sure they had the correct score sheets in front of them. Final award ceremony was extremely late for a sunday night with young children. Had the competition started earlier in the morning rather than 10am it would not have been so bad. They also take breaks after each 10-15 numbers.

I say a small prayer of thanks every year that our studio no longer attends this competition. It had absolutely the worst performance space. If anyone did competitions 20 years ago, remember hotel ballroom floors for competitions? Yeah, this comp hasn\'t moved out of the early 90\'s. Or how about a crazy set of rules? Don\'t take off your hat or it becomes a prop. And props get you disqualified. The competition always ran incredibly late. The only thing I liked was that loud cheering wasn\'t permitted. It was nice to watch a dance without hearing a constant stream of, \"Get it girl! Work it! You go (insert name here)!\" I\'m all for cheering, but sometimes things get nuts.

I would not recommend this competition. There is an admission fee for everyone including small children and in some cases you are forced to pay up to 35 dollars just to park. Then the seating arrangements are so poor that only the first two or three rows are able to see the \"dance floor\". The dance floor is horrible, we saw several dancers slip and slide. The director is more than happy to announce a rule violation and point deduction after a number. I understand there are rules but do you have to call out a group dance over the loud speaker. They profess to be there to encourage and support dancers then publicly embarrass them. I watched the director as she watched a number go on with hand held props in the jazz category. Then after they were done announce the rule violation, why not say \"Please leave your props backstage or there will be a deduction\". The judges comments were very inconsistent from one another. It was like they were watching two separate dances. In fact, they watch very little, due to the fact that they write down their comments and evaluations during the dance.

Agree with all of the negative comments --and then some! The staff was rude and unprofessional, did not judge fairly, and the floor was awful. Go to any other competition but this one. They give out participation ribbons - who does that? Waste of money and time. Announcer spent more time harping on kids to clean up dressing rooms than she did on the awards. We have been to many, many competitions, and this is hands down the worst one we have ever been to.

What a downer. They bill themselves as \"professional\" but are anything but. They relied on the hotel ballrooms sound system (speakers in the ceiling) that sounded worse than being a teenager and blowing the speakers in your beater car. They screwed up the music several times. The judges kept their heads down scoring with pencils rather than watching the girls or giving any encouragement or smiles during the performances. Our dancers were so nervous prior to dancing because of the countless announcements about disobeying their rules. They were very disappointed that the judges \"missed some of our moves because they weren\'t looking at us\". Staff was rude, I asked a question and was asked if I was a director to which I replied that I was a parent which was met with the response, \"you\'re just a parent?\" Yes, \"just a parent who paid fees, drive over 40 miles to the competition and had to spend $5 to get into a ballroom where I couldn\'t even see my dancer dance. I love dance seems like they only love the money they make and the \"power trip\" their staff is on. What a waste of time and money and a sincere deflated spirit for our dances.

We attended this competition in 2014 and will never attend this competition again. What competition makes a rule that you can\'t cheer for your kids? Our studio was 1 day late in registering, which yes was our fault, however it was taken out on our kids dancing. Every time their number came on the judges were reminded that we registered late. Even other studios were getting tired of the \"late\" announcement. Definitely a waste of my money and a good weekend.

All I can say is waste of time and money... The rules were crazy and the staff was very rude. Don\'t know how judges could even score the dancers because they were looking down 99% of the time writing. Nothing positive came from this competition I actually think it brought our girls down.

I regret not listening to all the negative reviews about this competition. What a waste of my very busy Easter weekend. The \"no stage\" issue was the least of my worries. I understand having rules, but this competition is beyond ridiculous. Having to run to the door after your group performs so that you can make it out of the room on time before the door is \"sealed\" shut is stupid. No competitive studio worth anything should waste their time here. If you want to bring about 30 routines that should only be in a recital, then maybe you\'ll do great. Everything here was sketchy...from the announcer always seeming to \"clue the judges in\" to who was next to perform. To the same announcer seeming to be guessing at who placed in the top spots during awards. Again...just don\'t waste your time or money!!

If I could, I would give negative stars here! The most unprofessional competition we\'ve ever attended for the last four years. Kids dance in a hotel\'s ballroom... on the floor, while judges are sitting on stage. You can\'t see the performances properly anyway, as it\'s just rows of chairs for parents. There is no proper lighting, and music volume goes up and down during the acts. A lot of inconsistencies with the numbers, some of which are not even in the program. You have to pay $27 for valet parking, otherwise you\'ll walk forever to the stage/dressing room. The show goes terribly slow, is painfully boring, and it\'s freezing in that room! But the worst part is their scoring system. They recognize only the first three winners, so this is almost the same as saying that everyone else is the loser. It\'s awfully discouraging and the dancers\' confidence level goes way down. This is not a celebration of their abilities, and it is really frustrating. If a dancer showcased his or her talent, and there is a score right there, recognize and celebrate all, and not just the top performers. Wish I could get my money back. A truly worthless event, and not the experience we were looking for.

NO STAGE BALLROOM FLOOR

My team and I went to I Love Dance last year instead of going to Dance Makers. The owner of the comp supposedly wasn\'t there so the rules bent a little more than usual. The judges gave our sassy jazz dance dirty looks. They definitely favored one studio in particular who was actually a couple hours late and still one in the production category. Some of my teammates didn\'t get trophies nor ribbons because they didn\'t make it in the top 3. The ballroom floor was terrible for dancing. Hope my coach doesn\'t take us back again!

If I could rate this lower than one star, I would! It took more time to read the fine print than it did to choreograph our dances! Rude staff. My daughter forgot to throw on her warm up jacket over her costume and was reamed out by a staff member when she attempted to re enter the performances (it was not a revealing costume, but the could have reminded her nicely!) Judges were terrible- not sure how they judged since they were looking down and writing the whole time- didn\'t look up much. Our girls are teenagers. They can get loud and giggly. We had a hard time with the applaud quietly thing. Will never attend another one of their competitions.

I took my students two years in a row to this competition. The first year was ok but frustrating with the continous video taping by parents and rearranging of dances because of her set schedule. I also had parents offened by the extremely short skirt one of the judges wore. I was disappointed the second year by students not being recognized because they were not the top three of their group. All students should get at least a honorable mention for their work. I also watched a teacher correct her students\' placements from backstage before they started. Overall, not impressed with them.

I Love Dance isn\'t like any of the other competitions out there. The purpose of this competition is make everyone feel welcome and focus on the art of dance not the spart of dance. That is making it more a sport than an art. If you do a lot do competitions durning your season, you do need to read and pay close attention to the rules. The sad thing these days is everyone wants the quick fix and not pay attention to details. This competition does just that, it pays attention to details. I Love Dance focuses on the art and treats each performance as if they were stepping out on to a Broadway stage. Cheering and screaming does not occur in a professional theater. So they don\'t want to occur when a dancer comes onto the dance floor. Applause is universal and the dancer of the arts loves that sound and it empowers them to be better dancers. I Love Dance has been there my whole life. It has help make me the dancer, teacher, studio owner, show manager, and judge that I am. I Love Dance now for 37 years is been around longer than most of the competitions out there put together. Take a look at their website...it will give you more than any comments on this hub can. If you have any concerns or questions the office staff and Even Kim would love to talk to you.

Awful! Ballroom style is terrible. Kids are constantly being told to be quiet and sit still. Groups are punished if audience cheers for them during the dance. Only allowed to clap in between dances. This one is more about the owner judging up to her judges than the dancers. We got told same day we had to change categories if our girls sang a party of their song.got threatened to lose points for our kids nit being totally silent while waiting. Honestly the only comp where my daughter preferred to be in dressing room than watching others perform.

Not a fan of this comp. At all Too many rules for the parents. Hello... You can only applaud a certain way!!! Ridiculous ... This comp needs to get with the times.

This was our first very negative experience at a dance competition. Nobody was allowed to cheer for the dancers aside from clapping, and it just made the ballroom very stuffy and awkward. Points were deducted for doing tricks(and by tricks, a partial handstand was apparently considered an acrobat). The dancers were frantically trying to change choreography before going on stage for fear of getting points deducted. As mentioned in other reviews, the ballroom floor set up made it difficult to watch the dances. Seating was off to the sides of the floor. Because of this seating arrangement it was very easy to see that the judges spend a significant portion of time writing things down and not watching the dances. Out of the three judges, one watched the dances, only looking down occasionally to write, while the other two probably missed 1/3 to 1/2 of the dances. It was weird. I could go on with other negative remarks, but I feel that much of what we experienced was mentioned in other low rated reviews. I left the competition today feeling bad and frustrated for our dancers, who work so hard. They are a fun group of positive girls who manage to have fun regardless of scores, but today they left feeling picked on and defeated. The company should probably change its name to \" I Love to Take the Fun Out of Dance\" or \"Shh, We\'re Dancing\".

I Love Dance is definitely a generic competition, as they have a terrible floor, no video critiques, no stage or lights and judges that aren\'t really amazing, however, we have been going for five years now and truly enjoy every event that we have been to. Our dancers leave with a very positive experience and it seems to make the parents happy as well. Would recommend, especially to a studio who is new to the competition world.

Our studio has been going to this competition for at least 5 years! GREAT comp for beginner dancers to start out in! Wonderful judging and extremely positive to all dancers! Before going to the comp make sure you review your rules so the dances fit into a category. Love the staff… always a fun and positive experience for our studio! HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!!

I didn\'t like the Ballroom floor style!

not horrible as many have suggested. Small competition, but worth the experience

WORST COMPETITION EVER! The judges favor the biggest studios. You get disqualified for doing a trick. You get off the stage if someone cheers. Ballroom stage is terrible. Seating us on the sides is terrible. The awards is even worse! Only 1st 2nd and 3rd or every age category is awarded. Doesn\'t give much advice. So really, they don\'t tell you how you did. Stay far away from this competition.

Terrible Experience. I was rather excited for a new experience and came out very disappointed. The way that the awards were handled was very poorly done. The cost of this competition was equivalent in cost to the other competitions she is entered in and she receives a trophy for her solo as well as ribbons for each group numbers at those. This competition gives one participation ribbon for the whole day and a trophy for 1st place and ribbon for 2nd and 3rd place. So basically you pay for your child to get nothing if their is more than 3 entries in a category. Sorry but for 30 to 75 dollars per entry, I should get at least a ribbon for each entry for my money. The Rules were not followed by several dance studios and yet they got a studio award at the end of the night. So much for deductions for not following the rules. One Studio had a choreographer back stage the entire time despite the rules saying no. And he made the dancers nervous by looking at them the whispering to his dancers that were competing against them. Some of the parents and dancers were exceeding rude, IE.. Not moving from the front rows to allow others to watch their dancers even though they were asked by staff several times,talking negatively about our dancers as we were sitting right next to them. But the thing that bothered me most was that one of the judges was overheard saying that \"these were my girls\" in reference to a dance studio where she used to teach at when she lived in the area. The most of the dancers were very talented but it seemed that certain studios seems to rise to the top regardless of talent. My child has been competing for 7 years and is usually very positive and excited to compete but was a nervous wreck because lack of professionalism that this competition had. Will not EVER enter my child in this competition again.

First of all, I had to sign up just to set the record straight. A lot of the feed back about back to back dances not giving dancers time to change is incorrect. I have a daughter that has done I love dance for over 5 years. My daughter does over 8 dances and any time there is back to back dance or just one dance in between, they re-range the scheduled to give allowance for costume changes. My studio only does I love dance but we have in the pass done other competition but kids in our studio love the I love dance. I have never in my five years ever had any one of staff from I love dance be rude to any one from us. At time we many have gotten out of hand with cheering and an announcement was made to remind parents. All dance competition have there issues but year after year the I love dance is far better then most. The only thing that I would like to change would be that judges write done reviews and miss some of the dances but other then that its great dance competition that intend for the kids not for out of control parents. It wouldn\'t be fair for large studios to cheer when smaller studios bring less kids and they wouldn\'t get a lot of cheering. I realizing that this is a competition but at the end of the day we are talking about kids. Grow up people, the I love dance is not a waste of money. Its is more affordable then most without the drama. Try and you will love it.

My daughter only attended I Love Dance once, when she was 7, so it has been about 4 years. The fees are much cheaper which is a plus. They have some different things about them: the judges write their critiques and sit about 8 feet above the dance floor to look down on the dancers. The dance stage is a floor level ballroom floor, and there is no special lighting or dimming of the lights. The sound system was terrible. You have to pay for admission. The rules state that no excessive cheering can happen after dances or cheering at all during dances with the threat of disqualification...which can be strange for the dancers of the comp circuit and their families. It was a smaller comp, and everyone gets a score and a participation ribbon, but the dancers aren\'t adjudicated at awards like most we go to. They do give out a top 3 or 4 for each age group. We haven\'t been back, and honestly, now that my girl is older, she probably wouldn\'t tolerate the lack of proper stage and poor lighting/music. ETA (after reading other reviews): When we attended, our studio only brought 3 entries, and the dance my daughter was in won 1st place overall in the age group. Last year, our senior duet went by themselves and won 1st place overall in the age group. The seniors hated the cheering rule and wished there could have been more cheering. I don\'t have experience in the \"money talks\" reviews.

This competition is very small and had an unprofessional venue. It was in a hotel lobby with a floor taped onto the carpet. The rules were overly strict, although they had a nice panel of judges. There was no privacy in the dressing rooms between studios.

Only went one time and that was one too many!!

not bad but rules are very strict so do your homework and review your dance prior to event so you categorize it correctly. We saw numerous routines dinged bc they were placed in the wrong category. Rules on props and sets is a little ridiculous causing some dance numbers to compete against vocal performances??????

OK

WORST EVER! Besides the bad floor, the music the rude staff and everything SO many others said, the worst thing was the last award was actually for the studio who brought the most dancers!! To top it off, I waited 15 minutes for them to "find" our score sheets!! I would never ever go back!

Although this competition has cheap entry fees it is still a waste of money. I don’t think I need to repeat many of the negative comments that have already been provided. I do agree with many of them. I truly believe that this competition is not designed for young dancers in mind but is not challenging enough for more experienced dancers. It seems like it is aimed at getting mediocre dance studios for their money.

WORST EVER. They staff were SO RUDE. I had a friend on the team with a hand deformity, (they had to stamp your hand when you walked in) and the woman asked how she is supposed to stamp her hand. SO RUDE. Also, there was no cheering allowed. The sound system was terrible, and if you did a somersault, it was considered acro so one of our dances almost got disqualified! The person running it had my dance teacher in tears, and to make up for it, she gave her an award at the end. We did not go back.

Definitely the worst dance competition experience we have ever had. The floors were horrible, the no cheering for your team rule is crazy, the awards are slim. They did have a nice selection of reasonably priced dancewear for sale is the only positive I can give this one.

This competition is dreadful. We went to this competition when I was very young, and I still remember how horrid the people who worked there were. I was probably around 6 and I had just finished my solo, I went to go into the audience to find my mom, and the lady at the door screamed at me because I didn\'t have my \"sticker\" needed to enter (it was on my jacket with my mom). I had to wait in the hallway for my mom to come get me. Based on the way the lady acted towards me at that young age has given me a VERY bad taste in my mouth. Horrid.

Absolutely awful. While I agree with comments about \"no cheering\" and I have no complaint about scoring or prizes, this is, beyond a doubt, the WORST COMPETITION EVER!!! The Director scheduled Productions (with young children) at 9PM on a Sunday night but then let one studio compete early because they \"had young dancers who needed to get home.\" The other studios\' productions also had young dancers (and MUCH longer drives home) but they were not afforded the same courtesy. The competition was delayed as a parent (!) tried to fix the floor with duct tape after several mishaps. Instead of using a sound mixer, the Director simply places a microphone in front of a CD player, resulting in false starts and missed music cues. One dancer was discreetly called out of awards when her mother received a call that her toddler was being rushed to the hospital. As the dancer was trying to quietly leave, she was told, \"Sit down! I\'m talking now!\" The poor kid was mortified and the mom was frantic. I could go on and on. Instead, I\'ll just say that this is one competition that I\'ll gladly forgo in the future.

Very old fashioned and set in their ways. Floors are in poor shape and music system is very outdated. Without proper, safe environment, the dancers can\'t focus on their routines.

Terrible. Canceled competition a wek before time. Had to scurry to find one for weekend.

There are many positives and of course negatives with ILD. I do love ILD. It is the only true competition left. The kids have to work to earn their awards, and not get a trophy just for showing up. I like the fact that cheering isn\'t encouraged. It is a dance performance not a sporting event! And it is very annoying to have a baby or toddler start screaming in the middle of a performance. I like that the front row is reserved for TEACHERS/CHOREOGRAPHERS only. If you follow the rules, which are clearly stated in all the information the studio director receives then you have no problems. The claim others have made in regard to only the big studios do well - that is not true. I closed my studio and 3 years later my daughters decided they missed competing at ILD so we entered as independents. Just the two of them doing a solo each and they both won their age division overall. Even beating out those who were their with lots of dancers and dances. And in years past a studio that always only brought soloists and few numbers was consistently the winners of their divisions and overalls, so it isn\'t about numbers! Now the drawbacks. I do dislike ballroom competitions, but they are a necessary evil as we as dancers many times must adjust to the stage we are given for performances. Being a former professional dancer who toured, you never knew if your stage was big, small, slippery wood, splintered, or marley. You just had to adjust, a big part of being a professional performer! But yes I prefer a good stage with marley. I do believe the critique delivery is very antiquated. Tremaine has the absolute best critique system around. I have always disliked that the judges are missing so much of the performance because they are writing. Other than that, I still am a fan of ILD!

Worst competition ever! Can I give it negative stars? First of all please let me tell you that even though Kim is from Portland she does not represent our city or state well at all! What an embarrassment! We are truly nice, encouraging and supportive people here in Oregon and please dont think this nut job represents us! I have never seen a more unprofessional person in my life! The flooring was horrible, it had huge divets out of it and pieces kept popping up which the dancers were expected to fix! My daughter\'s toes were bloody after dancing on the floor because of the divets, cracks and unevenness! It was hotter then hell in the main room. When feathers came off another studios costumes she told them to clean it up an. made a huge deal about it and scolded the studio. After a junior team danced, over the speaker in earshot of everyone including the judges berated the girls choice of music and proceeded to give a speech about how she thought the song was inappropriate. The song was NOT about drugs, teen pregnancy, cheating, lying, stealing, or sex like many of the other songs were that day!!! Who does that? She thought she was sending a message to the girls in the audience about domestic violence and that gave her the right to humiliate this team! However had she researched the lyrics she would of found that it is a woman empowerment song! I could not believe my ears! The entire room was silent and stunned. charging to get in when you cant see a thing. No clapping or praise allowed. There was probably 5 studios tops competing there but all the awards went pretty much to the same 2 companies which Kim herself bragged how these companies had been with her competition for years and how each year the top studio award just goes back and forth between them. She gave sweetheart titles to girls she had watched grown up. Hmmmm interesting!?! Dont waste your money or your time. Outdated, No Fun, A joke, Insane, Unprofessional.

Worst.Competition.EVER! I have attended many over the years and will not go back to this one. As a parent, the dressing rooms were awful, not allowing for privacy. I couldn\'t see my daughter dancing if I was seated in the back and if we stood were told to sit. No cheering of any kind. Every little thing was a deduction, and you can only enter from one side of the floor. No wings. No marley making injury greater. Telling the entire ballroom of any deductions that were going to be taken off because of not \"following the rules\" made the dancers more anxious as their dance came closer, with should we, shouldn\'t we. The director Kim McKimmie was rude and made no allowance for any changes to HER schedule even if the dancer was in back to back dances not allowing for costume changes, or even shoe changes if necessary. Telling us cheering for our team was annoying to the judges was unbelievable, we are a team, we cheer, we yell and we support. So behind the times and so full of herself, felt like I was being \"Punked\" the entire day. Maybe she should start judging \"Toddler and Tiaras\" as this seems to be the speed of the competition. (A show I\'ve seen once and turned OFF!)

As a studio owner, we take our dancers to I Love Dance every year, and have been for the past 20 years!!!! Our parents and dancers LOVE this event, and especially love their scoring system. Yes, we go to other comps as well, where everyone wins something, and you basically compete against yourself, but with ILD, you are actually competing against other dancers of your ability level, and there is a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place award system, not multiple golds or higher in same categories. Our dancers feel if you can place at ILD, then you have accomplished a lot!!! Also, I am so tired of getting judges critiques on videos or DVDs--they take up too much time to listen to, half the time they don\'t even work or you can\'t clearly hear the judge, and the kids hate the fact that as they are dancing, the judge is sitting there pointing out every little thing they are doing wrong--it kind of brings them down as they are performing. The judges sheets at ILD are very clear--you read their comments and work from there--you don\'t have to rewind anything. Also, I can file them and look back on them from time to time, whereas the videos and DVDs, it takes too much time to go back and look at them again. We have had nothing but fond memories with ILD, and will continue to build new ones in the years to come!!!!

I read some recent reviews and I don\'t understand where they are coming from. I Love Dance is the most organized dance competition. Their prices are the lowest compared to other competitions. The information of rules comes with every mailing and they are so simple to understand. The confirmation comes several weeks before the competition begins which makes organizing the dancers times to arrive very helpful. I enjoy the fact that there is no screaming allowed. I won\'t attend any competition that encourages such behavior. There wouldn\'t be a broadway show in NYC or one who comes to your town that would allow screaming during the performance either. By paying an admission fee and receiving a program book, I feel the audience shows respect to the dancers. I Love Dance is the only competition that I would want to attend.

This is one competition that I will definitely attend again. I love the fact that their rules are clearly stated and enforced. I am tired of attending comps where large schools are allowed to break every rule that the rest of us follow. I particularly love the fact that I can sit and enjoy all the performances without some idiot screaming in my ears. The applause only rule should be the norm. Do they scream at profressional dance company performances too? I have a small school and feel like I got the same treatment as everyone else. That has not been my experience at other events. It is an organized, on time event with friendly and professional staff. I can\'t wait to go back next year.

I am a mother of two professional dancers (broadway), a dance teacher as well as a professional choreographer. My daughters competed annually in several competitions, including I Love dance. Although there are attributes and detriments to each competition, My daughters will each tell you that of all of them, I Love Dance best prepared them for the professional world. First, although a wood floor is sometimes slippery, often times auditions are held on slippery wood or tile floors in NYC. Next, because I Love Dance score sheets attribute 25% of your score to technique and 25% to Stage Presence, a dancer who does consistently well at this competition, does well at auditioning where technique and stage presence are most heavily weighted. As a dance teacher, I always appreciate the consistent set up and fairness of I Love Dance. i certainly appreciate the reserved front row for Dance Teachers . Although I also enjoy professional theatres, the glamourous I Love Dance hotels offer spacious and convenient dressing areas, comfortable seating, and a well lit dance area. As a choreographer, i think it\'s great that dancers are exposed to an audience on three sides, and that the audience is up close and personal. In closing, I Love Dance is a first-class competition that treats each entry as an artistic presentation.

I LOVE DANCE is the only competition my parents like going to. They hate attending competitions where people scream, yell and act like low-lifes like the people we see on TV these days. I have competed with I LOVE DANCE as a teacher for over 6 years, but I also competed as a student for 19 years. I have never seen a better run more professional competition. Everyone is genuinely nice and pleasant to each other. We have tried other competitions and we all agree I LOVE DANCE is the best.

WORST DANCE COMPETITION EVER! Do not waste your time. The director is so old fashioned and the competition is so outdated. Terrible stage, judges write critiques so it takes FOREVER to calculate scores, rules of no cheering or having fun of any kind are RIDICULOUS. I wouldn\'t recommend this competition to anyone. The director is so mean and impossible to work with. In her emails to you before competition she actually says \"Do not call me, do not email me with questions.\" WHAT?!!! NEVER going back!

We found that if you were first timers and bringing many many dancers we did well with numbers/trophies, but then the following year brought less dancers (some chose a diff location that conflicted) and our scores were way low? Same dancers from previous year.... But we got the impression that money wins?? We also thought the help to be unprofessional looking.

Before I begin, my daughter won 5 first places and a first place overall in her age division. I am not writing this because I\'m upset over scoring. This was, hands down, the most horrific competition I have ever endured. The stage was a slippery ballroom floor where numerous dancers fell. It was not elevated, yet the judges were. The judges comments were all written, meaning that the judges missed half of all the performances while they were writing. The music was played on two tiny speakers and the volume was inconsistent. The staff was extremely discourteous and rude. They were unpleasant to families with small children, as they don\'t think kids under 3 should attend. No cheering was allowed. Do yourselves a favor and stay away from I Love Dance.

Wow -- what a disappointing competition this weekend for the parents, dancers and teachers. The dancers danced on a ballroom dance floor (which is completely unsafe) that was not elevated, but the judges were elevated! No lighting, no backdrop, no sound system. The music was piped in through the hotel system and who ever was in charge of the music had no idea how to be consistent...it was quiet, then it would get louder and then softer. It was way more of a talent show/variety show than a dance competition -- there were kids singing while dancing and lip syncing while dancing. It was a sad way to end our company\'s year of competition. Dance is about energy and there was absolutely none of that there this weekend thanks to the ones who ran the \"I LOVE Dance\" weekend...

This competition was anything but about loving dance! Where to begin 1- Competition director was so unfriendly and terribly rude to the dancers! 2- There was no stage. The dancers were expected to dance on hotel dance floor- not a competition or standard dance floor. This puts all dancers at risk for injury. Plus they had the front row marked off so the team competing could sit there to watch. Basically ppl camped there the entire day and we could barely see our numbers perform because there was no stage elevation. 3- The Rules-- a. no cheering- only loud clapping. b. it\'s recommended not to bring younger kids. So sorry if you like to come as a family to watch your child perform, young kids are frowned upon attending. c. Extra payment of daily admittance + parking with no in-out privileges d. Our studio owners said the rules for where numbers were placed were challenging to understand and the comp director basically refused to work with anyone (even sent out an email that directly said \"Do not email me with any issues or changes.\" then wanted to charge them $20 to make a change to ensure we were placed correctly and the number didn\'t get scratched.) 4- The judges write everything down. So behind the times! Seriously- use technology- it makes the reviews better. I watched the judges (only) for 5 numbers and they missed nearly 75% of all dances because they were WRITING! We performed well, got a lot of 1st places, overalls, and a top division award so I\'m not writing as a disgruntled parent who\'s child didn\'t win. I\'m writing as a parent who observed a competition that was flat, lacked any energy or fun for anyone participated. It was quite sad and the worst part is that when you read the program guide, the competition company/directors have no clue. They\'ve written it like they are some high-end competition and unfortunately they are not. It\'s the furthest thing from it! I would not recommend this competition to any studio!!!!

Probably the worst competition I have ever been involved with! I can not think of one positive thing to say about this experience. The kids are not having fun or being rewarded for the hard work and devotion to the sport. Too many rules, you can see the dancers, strict categories, parents are no allowed to cheer... Will never go again!

Hated this. No cheering allowed. No costumes to be seen anywhere but on stage. And the floor was not elevated. Only went once. Never went back.

This competition is so prissy and want-to-be fancy that no one can have a good time. There is no cheering allowed, only clapping. It costs $5 for the audience to watch the competition. The staff is not very nice to work with. I had a little three year old who was scheduled to go first (it was her first competition). She wanted to watch someone dance first before going out on stage. Instead of letting act two go first, the director scratched her dance from the competition and refused to let her dance. The judges still write everything down, which takes forever. They also miss a lot of the dance since they are writing things down. The floor is ballroom flooring not marley, which if very slippery. They do not allow for averaging of the ages. You must enter the age group of your oldest dancer. They do not allow scheduling changes and sometimes only two or three numbers for dancers to change. If you are not ready to go, they instantly pull your dance. They also have crazy rules about lip-syncing, tumbling, and props, and they take off 25 points if he rules are not followed exactly. THIS COMPETITION IS NOT FUN AT ALL!!