Came to this comp to check it out for the first time and truly hope that we don’t return next year. Every staff member we encountered must have been having a bad day except for the girl behind the counter. Just plain rude. My child placed in the top 5 and also received a judges award so we were looking forward to receiving the critiques. No positive feedback or areas to improve on from 2 of the judges. Were they even engaged in watching the dancers? I’m still trying to comprehend what kind of comp allows this to happen. Was looking forward to returning next year until the critiques or lack thereof were heard. Isn’t that part of what we are paying for??Videos and pics of a solo cost $75! Unbelievable! That’s just insanity...
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My 5 year old daughter participated in Leap San Diego at UCSD Mandeville Theatre on Saturday, February 15. If I had known that she was going to compete with the 8 year olds, I would have withdrawn from the competition to save my money and time! The overall vibe was just cheesy and I can instantly tell that it was not a very popular competition. The owner along with his staff looked like Richard Simmons. A blast from the past - super cheesy twilight zone vibe. And nothing about this competition seemed legit. There were 22 girls total ages 4 through 8 that all competed against each other under their "Skip Petites" category. That is just insane. None of the 5 and under girls placed in overalls. They only did a top 10 for overall for ages 4-8!!! AND the girls ages 6-8 were the ones that placed in Overalls. Please, tell me how is that fair? Everyone got a medal - a majority was awarded 4.5 stars - including my daughter who is a technically gifted lyrical dancer. The 3 judges (with background in broadway and theatre) highly favored musical theatre, jazz and hip hop. Maybe, Leap can choose Judges that have background in other genres. Having all 3 judges favor the more jazzy, broadway type pieces was not fair to the other dancers - especially the younger ones in other categories. The only lyrical that placed in overalls was 8 years old! Note to Leap - it would be in your best interest to have a Mini's category for ages 5 and under - and then have a category for your Petites ages 6-8!!!! Here was the overall placement that day: 1. Musical Theatre (age 6) 2. Open (age 7-8) 3. Musical Theatre (age 7-8) 4. Jazz (age 7-8) 5. Character (age 7-8) 6. Jazz (age 7-8) 7. Musical Theatre (age 5-6) 8. Lyrical (age 7-8) 9. Tap (age 7-8) 10. Hip Hop (age 6)
Our daughter has been competing at Leap! for the last 2 years. We love the venue, location (UCSD) and dressing room. The sparkly medals were very nice and beautiful. This year, we purchased a sweatshirt at the venue. Unfortunately, the seam at the wrist came undone after my daughter wore it only a handful of times (I learned that this is a new merchandise this year). My husband suggested to reach out to Leap! with a nice email and see what happens. I was surprised when Drew responded within 24 hours. Within 7 days, we received a replacement in the mail. We are very impressed and thank you, Drew for an excellent customer experience!
I really enjoyed this competition especially because this was my first competition. It was a very fun and exciting experience.
Such a fun event, and ran so well. Looking forward to the next one for sure!
The Leap competition is ran pretty smoothly and seems to be on time, but the judges were a little harsh on their critics. I feel you can't say, we did not like that dance at all
Overall I like Leap! We attended for the first time last year and loved it! Judging was fair and awards seemed fair. This year, the judging and scores just seemed off. Basically every single dance received 4 1/2 stars. On the second day 5 stars were being handed out like candy. They awarded overalls to pretty much everyone. For example, there was a top 10 for a category with 10 dances. A top 5 for those with only 5. And even an overall for categories with ONE Dance. Very weird! I guess it's that whole "everyone's a winner mentality", but I would rather my dancers learn to work their butts off to earn those overalls, rather than them being handed to them because they were in small categories! Judges had the worst feedback ever. Nothing constructive to help our dancers improve. Just a couple of "cools" "ha" "cute". If they could guarantee better judges, I would probably give them another shot, but we are going to try other comps next season! The owner Drew is very nice, and super helpful and accommodating!
Love this competition, especially in Norfolk, (close to home)
We have been loyal and loved Leap for several years.. This event was different. We attended a full event in Lowell, MA. The judging seemed very off, judges seemed disengaged, including on our silent critiques. Our dances had a back-to-back dance, they were kind enough to give us a 5 minute costume break in between. We promote professionalism to our students and they knew we needed to be back upstairs on time, we were there ready to go, and then the backstage manager told the dancers they would be putting several dances who missed their original call time before us. Something about this event wasn\'t normal with Leap, we had a very tough weekend explaining scores to our dancers and trying to understand the judging. We respect the \"a different judge, different day, different score\" mentality, but we couldn\'t get a grip on this one. We won\'t be returning to Leap.
We really loved Leap. Fantastically organized (ran almost an hour ahead of schedule) and great energy. Felt very personal and encouraging to all dancers. You can tell that Drew and his staff put a lot of care to every second of this event. Couldn\'t have asked for a better weekend!
Overall the competition was a good experience; however, there are a few items that could make it better. 1)Dances that contained a lot of inappropriate dance moves for the age category seemed to get the highest scores, so why have rules regarding appropriate material if you don\'t abide by them. 2) When our studio was signing up for this competition, the owner was told that if a dancer dances 5 or more hours a week they were only allowed to enter the Leap category. When we got there, there was one studio that had a bunch of dances containing the same dancers in the Skip category. I find it hard to believe that a dancer can learn that many dances in less than 5 hours of dance in a week. (They need rules regarding how many dances can be entered per dancer and still be considered Skip as other competitions do)
The positive- I like that it was in Tampa. We usually attend conventions in Lakeland or Orlando so it was nice to be in Tampa which is closer for us. I also liked the special awards given out. It doesn\'t cost them much being that only a certificate is given out so it\'s nice that they recognize special things in dances or dancers. Not all competitions do that and it\'s nice. The negative: The stage at Jefferson High School is too small. If a dancer was far stage right or left or higher on a prop, they were in the dark. Our large groups of 14-16 were crowded on stage with a medium size prop. The dressing areas were AWFUL!! The hallway our studio was in had NO AIR VENTS and it easily was over 90 degrees, hot and sticky! We discovered how hot it was on Friday night and brought in 4 fans for some relief for Saturday and Sunday but it was ridiculous how hot it was. Also, it was disappointing with the lack of trophies given out. I would expect top 3 (at minimum) to receive something more than a cheap, generic medal. The Neutral: the competition consistently ran at least an hour (sometimes much more) early. While that is nice for those there all weekend....I could see how that could have stressed dancers that might not have been there yet. We almost missed a few dancers in our groups because of how early they were running. Conclusion - it could be a good competition but the venue is enough for me NOT to want to return.
This is a wonderful comp and great staff and judges there! I think it\'s cool it was all male judges because you don\'t see that that often! They had fair judging there and made my first time at Leap super fun for me as well as my team mates! All I would change is where it was held at it was a small stage and not enough places to pratice your dances and also very hot and not enough room for people. It was a nice space tho I would just work on finding a bigger place! Overall it was a great experience!
Liked this very much last year. They weren\'t near our studio this year or would have happily returned. Hoping to see Leap! in the Cincy area next year!
The program moved very smoothly and really like that it was running early. some of the ratings were questionable but I understand the judges have hard jobs
On behalf of our teachers, parents and students, I want to thank LEAP for an amazing competition weekend in San Diego. Your competition was well organized with some of the most friendly knowledgeable staff. This was our first time competing at LEAP and you made us feel welcome and right at home. We will definitely attend LEAP again next year! Thank you LEAP!!! Tammy Smith, Metro Dance - San Diego
On behalf of our studio, all of our parents, families, and students, we absolutely had the time of our life at LEAP! Drew (owner) has created the epitome of what a dance competition should be, how it should be run, and why we do what we do! We received positive feedback from everyone, both from the professional staff Leap has assembled, as well as from observers and those attending Leap for the first time in our area. The whole event ran on time, actually ahead of schedule, which was fabulous! And the attention to detail was phenomenal, from the lights and videos played in between each dance, to the personal feedback from the owner, stage manager, merchandise booth, and more! We could not recommend Leap any higher, they are the BEST in the competition circuit!
We recently attend the competition in Roseville, CA. I\'d give it a three out of five. On the plus side; the director (Drew) was very nice, the competition ran early/on time, scoring was consistent, and it was organized and well done. On the minus side; the judges heavily favored hip hop and boys (good or bad), there were many dances with suggestive and inappropriate dance moves involving young children and those were constantly rewarded with 5 stars, our dancers were not given awards which they were entitled to. We had the only adult (20+) soloist so she should have received a first overall medal. She did not. We had two younger dancers audition for titles, but because they were the only ones, that award was also scrapped. My students left feeling that the competition was saying, \"I\'d rather throw this award away than let you have it.\" Everyone worked hard, paid the fees, and did a good job. Why punish them for being the only ones in a division? That is beyond their control. So, while it was well run and organized, the parents and kids have chosen not to return as we have never been to a competition that scrapped awards and that rewarded sexual and suggestive choreography on children that young.
Overall a good experience. The program ran fast at times and way long at times. The sound quality of the emcee\'s mike was terrible. Awards were nearly impossible to understand. The actual medals and trophies were nice. The Leaping contest was a nice touch. Scoring was a bit inconsistent -- seemed to favor large studios.
We LOVE Leap! and are headed back again this year. This is an on time competition, with knowledgeable male judges, very fair in their judging, and lots of awards to go around! The ONLY complaint is that as it is a smaller competition, it has been held in one day in the past, which is really tough if your dancer is in 11 dances...a whole day of quickchanges! We are looking forward to the 2 day, hopefully 3 days of dancing this season as more studios hear about it. Added bonus, charity Leap! competition is a lot of fun for the kids and for a good cause!
The judges seemed to really favor the darker choreography where many things were going on at once. If you are a studio who relies on technique and unison, this may not be the competition for you. I did like the stage set up - they had music videos playing on a screen during breaks.
Very organized but had too many numbers, which made the days VERY long. Overall, it was good. Nothing great, but not horrible.
Was a fun comp, but wasn\'t always fair. I do love that they provide a charity leap contest! Such a great idea. Love it!
Picked a great and professional theatre As a venue which was nice. Also liked the music videos between dances and the merchandise quality. However at one of their regionals a 13 year old did a provocative and inappropriate dance and nothing was done and she was rewarded for the performance with an overall high score. A lot of people felt uncomfortable during the performance. Overall it was decent, nothing too special, cancelled leaping competition that they are \"known for\" because of shortage of dancers. But there were at least three entered and nothing was announced saying there was room to sign up. We were disappointed with that.
good experience
We LOVE Leap and Drew!! They make each studio feel special and really try to make your experience enjoyable. They never fail to deliver a top notch competition! We plan on going to Leap for many more years!
Really love Leap! The staff is super friendly and helpful. The leap contest and special awards are added fun. Only negative is when they got over an hour ahead, instead of taking a longer dinner break, they started after only the scheduled 20 minute break, but then had to keep pausing between numbers because they were waiting for kids to show up because they were running so far ahead! Really fun comp though:)
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I really really really enjoyed this competition! It was an optional one and I hope this year will be required! Seems silly, but I also loved the "blinged" out medals! :) rn
I like the Leap! competition. My only complaint this year was that the venue was changed to a smaller auditorium with smaller dressing rooms.
Couldn't agree more with the previous review. Great atmosphere! We really enjoyed and will go back!
This is a growing competition and a diamond in the making! I loved that it was a little smaller than most of the comps we do, but still run professionally, ON TIME, fantastic awards, and the kids loved the opportunity to do the Leap! competition for something different than a dance down. We will be headed back next year - We Love Drew; he is always a pleasure to work with
Nice relaxed atmosphere. The scoring however was VERY biased towards the big studios. Also...the kids who won first an second overall got all the awards. The judges choice awards were they supposedly \"threw out the scores\" still went to the girl who won 1st overall. Spread the love a little bit! There are many talented dancers and all the awards should go to more than just 2 people.
Went there for the first time this year. We had lots of fun. Very relaxed setting. Looking forward to going back to this competition in the future.