COMPETITION DETAIL

Quit going a few years ago because I talked to a judge later who said the competition was not judged fairly. I even had score sheets where scores were marked out and changed. Shame on this competition.

Horrible! This was a nightmare of a competition. We have been competing for 6 years and this was the worst we have ever attended. Unprofessional! They couldn\'t figure out the music and kept interrupting dancers when the microphone over their iPod caused loud interference. They ran 4 hours behind. Awards were supposed to start at 2:15p, but they said they would have a whole other group dance in addition making those who were there since 6:45am wait even longer for scores. Awards finally started at 5:15pm after an hour of judge deliberations and hand written calculations. Finally, the awards started and dancers realized they were all messed up. The lady who refused to explain what the awards meant, sighed at how tired she was and could fall asleep on stage, and mentioned to a group who received a trophy \"oh hang on lets slap a first place prize on that trophy,\" when they actually won second overall. It was like being in a never ending twilight zone. This competition was disrespectful to the dancers, parents, and teachers. This was a complete waste of time and it left dancers upset. This was a nightmare of a competition. They should be charged with fraud as they do not deliver what they advertise. This was nota competition when dancers walk away not even knowing their scores. All entries on 4/18/15 should receive full refunds!!!

I will begin by saying that every single review of the April 18 event is perfectly in line with my opinion of this competition. Each detail and grievance I\'ve read matched what I witnessed also. I hate to be repetitive, but I will list a few of the key problems I noticed: Unacceptable dressing area (temporary black curtains that opened in every direction -- placed in a corner of the huge exhibit hall that was easily viewed by the upper level of the convention hall that overlooked the space they used as their makeshift auditorium), no stage lighting (used house lights, which were basically halogen lights from 2 stories above the concrete floor), unstable staging with no stage crew whatsoever, poor sound (inadequate for the size room, which was certainly not designed for acoustics and stage performance), virtually no staff (owner plus the sound person -- who also served as the check in person and announcer ... along with judges who were never introduced), poor management of time and illogical placement of sound tech (she was on the floor behind large speakers and equipment -unable to see the stage-with her back turned to the stage so she could also check in dancers, check in music, and answer questions .... too many tasks for one person), no programs, no photographer or video crew, inconsistent and confusing adjudication .... Endless issues. Somehow, they managed to book a smoothie vendor and pizza/sandwich cart vendor, but couldn\'t arrange for photography or adequate stage lighting and sound or programs? I was horrified to learn that it only worsened after the 3-hour delayed afternoon awards were completed. Dancers ended up having to perform after midnight, with some of them being forced to dance in as many as 8 routines back to back. In no way is that acceptable. Dancers dancing full out cannot be expected to change in the wings of an open vendor hall & repeatedly return to the stage within minutes of performing. The whole experience was a nightmare. Zero stars.

Very intriguing... My wife and I began attending these dance competitions with our daughter when she was 5 years old. She is now an instructor (soon to be 28-years old) at the studio where she grew up with a 7-year old daughter of her own. In all our years of attending such events, we (our entire family) have never experienced anything like we did on 18 APR... It was the most disappointing, disorganized, and disturbing event we\'ve ever attended. Disappointing because we expected a company with all their years of experience to deliver what they indicated in the announcements and advertisements for their competition ... they did not. * * * Disorganized because we expected that the program of the sequence of events and order of the routines would certainly help us keep track of when our dancers were to perform and when we could plan for meals and snack... it did not. There were no programs...! (sigh) * * * Disturbing because the actual \"dressing room\" area was an open area of the center surrounded by black material curtains on temporary stands through which anyone could walk at any time; additionally, the entry to the floor was down a set of stairs/escalators with a landing that overlooked the dressing area on the opposite end of the center... You know, it makes it clear to me that perhaps Dance Competition Hub might come up with a set of criteria that parents, dancers, owners, and instructors might use to give these competitions awards for their performance - much like they give awards to our dancers for their performance...? I\'m willing to offer something myself... Let me compose it, and offer it here (or a link anyhow)... Anyone else think this idea might be worthwhile? I understand that this forum is for exactly that purpose; however, we all have our own notions of what went wrong... perhaps a short list of major factors/components/concerns night give us all and better base from which to start... yes...?

It is an absolute joke to even classify Marvonna as a dance competition. We arrived to no programs because they had not arrived yet and we would be getting them as soon as they got to a venue which was a complete lie because we NEVER got them. Then they announced that they could not get their computer system synced up to do judging so they had to go \"old school\" which meant writing on paper. This allowed the judges to not watch the routines hardly at all. Then because they couldn\'t figure out how to add to get scores together our kids sat on stage for an hour waiting for awards that were already 2 hours late. They scrambled and asked STUDIO OWNERS to come help add up scores...not a conflict of interest at all. Then those same studio owners were up on stage handing out awards. The awards were all wrong. Overalls were not correct. The announcer started calling our adjudications that were not even in their rules online so no one knew what they were receiving. When asked the director said from stage she would explain after all awards had been giving out like that would make a difference. No backstage help or stage managers. You had to check each routine with the sound woman who had no idea what she was doing because the original sound person just didn\'t show up. Also wrong trophies were given because the trophy company they ordered from messed up their order...right. The judges were never introduced and you didn\'t even know their credentials so who even knows who they really were. They wore Marvonna merchandise from the store instead of looking professional. For all I know they could have been random friends of the owner since she couldn\'t get any of her staff to show up to work. This also meant they had no idea how to score ANY of the kids that were dancing. I seriously hope anyone who looks at these reviews take them into GREAT consideration. I have never dealt with such unprofessionalism in all my life.

This was the most disappointing competition we\'ve ever experienced! It also happened to be the most expensive. The information on the website was vague at best. But, did state that the competition was to last from Friday until Sunday. Then, TWO days before the event we finally receive the schedule stating the competition is actually a ONE day event. We arrive at the convention center, where there are NO signs to direct us and find that we are on the expo floor, on the bottom level on a concrete floor. They set up chairs in rows on the floor in front of a poorly constructed excuse for a stage. The \"judges\" were elevated between the make shift stage and audience, making it very difficult to see the performances. There were no programs or any sort of printed schedules. We had NO way of knowing when our dancers would go on or why the competition was running THREE HOURS BEHIND. They offered no explanations or apologies. The awards were a joke! They made NO sense at all and were nothing like what is listed on the Marvonna website. The \"dressing room\" was an area of curtains to the right of the audience where anyone and everybody walked through at anytime. No privacy what so ever! Left with a very tired and disappointed dancer. This is one very unsatisfied dance mom.

I\'ve never been so disgusted by a dance competition and I\'ve been competing for 10 plus years. This competition had no program so we had no idea when we were supposed to be on stage because the competition was running 3 HOURS BEHIND! Awards that were supposed to be at 9:15 started at 11:30. I didn\'t get home until after midnight! The dressing room was blocked off by curtains and men would walk into our dressing room and you could easily see straight into the dressing room from the balcony across the convention center. They had no \"working\" computer system so we had to wait an hour for them to add up scores before awards even started! They gave out the wrong awards and some kids didn\'t even get an award for their solo or group numbers! There were no stage lights and the stage was very shaky and small. The music messed up for several of the dances and wasn\'t loud enough to hear. The judges look at their writing more then the dancers and the director of the competition was very disrespectful. This competition was very unorganized and not fun at all.

Hands down the worst competition we have ever attended. I can confirm all of the complaints from all the other posters for this event. I would also like to add there was literally a dance teacher standing up in the audience coaching a dancer who was on stage doing her solo. She went through the whole routine doing this as the dancer mirrored her. It was that easy for dancers to see the audience. Then, that teacher was helping the Marvonna staff during award ceremonies? Seriously? Another thing that bothered me was the lack of security other than the doors being locked after a certain time. I wasn\'t expecting to be there as late as we were so I just had snacks and didn\'t go to get dinner for my dancer until late...around 11. I came back with her food to find ALL doors locked. I pushed a button to try to get the staff to let me back in with no answer. Luckily a parent was leaving and he was able to let me back in. I do not have one good thing to say about this competition. No programs,horrible set up, ridiculous and confusing scoring and I have no confidence that the scores were correct. My dancer didn\'t even want to keep her boxed trophy. Very unhappy dancer and mom here!!

1 star is too high! I also hate giving a review under the name Marvonna because I\'m sure they will change the competition name soon, if they even do comps again at all! This was by far the worst competition I have ever seen. EVER! No stage lights, no program books so no one had a clue who was competing against who, and in what level, sound system that was horrible and the person running it never turned her microphone off so the feed back was awful, awards were scheduled for 2:15 and started at 5:30, and the 9:15 awards started at 11:45. The director of the comp even said \"be sure to listen carefully when we call your name, as I\'m sure we have goofed up somewhere\"!?!?!? Wrong trophies were handed out, and some they did not even have. Wrong top overalls were called. The judges did everything by paper and were looking down way too much, and were raised up in front of the stage so no one could see, as guests sat in chairs and not stadium seating! Kids sat on the stage for an hour at least to wait to get the results. No apologies were given by Marvonna for the chaos. The line ups were sent out late. The staff was not kind. Disaster!!

If there were an option to give negative stars, I would. My daughter dances with the studio that was scheduled for 8+ back to back dances in the last hour of the show. What many of you don\'t know is that the competition was scheduled that way to begin with! We did not receive the breakdown until Thursday and immediately noticed that our dances were scheduled so close it would necessitate changes in the wings. My daughter\'s solos were just 8 minutes apart. In 7 years of competing, this was the worst experience we have ever had. No programs, mislabeled trophies STILL in their boxes, no way of knowing if adjudication is correct and other studio owners \"helping\" to tabulate scores, horrible sound system that gave feedback in the middle of some dances and was barely audible during others, unstable stage with TAPE ALL OVER IT in an expo hall when a performing arts center is in the same complex, MEN IN THE DRESSING AREA because it was merely a set of curtains, and unfriendly and incompetent staff. However -- THANK YOU to all of the other parents, dancers, studio owners, and dance teachers in attendance. I was very impressed with the way that everyone handled what was a very miserable day, pitching in where necessary and trying to be as positive as possible for our girls and boys and fellow dance parents.

WARNING: WORD ON FLOOR OF COMPETITION TONIGHT WAS THAT THIS WAS THE LAST MARVONNA COMPETION. Which explains all the information reported in the previous reviews of this competition. I will add a bit more. The venue was in an open exhibit hall. Curtains were used to create an open dressing area in the back of the hall. Unfortunately a balcony overlooked the hall, which made the dressing area visible. It appears that the organizers gave out their leftover trophies, because they all had the same rating on them. I am sure that they never ordered programs. The competition was changed from a 3 day to a 1 day, 2 days prior to the start date. The judges did not appear to be watching the dancers, and 2 of them were wearing matching sweatshirts that appeared to be from a dance studio. And as mentioned before, one studio was forced to perform the last 8 dances. Several of these dancers were injured during the last dance, and event coordinators ignored them as they lay on the floor. And then the woman who announced the awards had the nerve to carry a chair onto the stage and sit because she was tired. And finally, there were no instructions on parking for this event. The parking deck across from the entrance to the Convention Center was locked up when we returned at midnight, leaving my daughter and I to wander through a poorly marked maze of stairwells and corridors to get to our car. Not only did all of today\'s dancers deserve more respect, but this was a dangerous situation to put dancers in. Shame on Marvonna. Not sure how you can live with yourselves after today. And I did not give this competition even one star. It seems that this site will not allow you to give less than one.

Where to even start... This is how NOT to run a competition. The owner didn\'t bother to double check her own reservation with the venue, there were no programs available whatsoever (Kinko\'s anyone?), no runners and/or stage manager(s), and they went completely out of order without any regard for studios with multiple numbers. One studio was left, and the end of the night, with 5+ dances back to back with girls literally changing costumes in the wings. This was after running almost 3 hours behind schedule... Not to mention their computers wouldn\'t sync, so they recruited instructors from another COMPETING studio to help tally scores and hand out awards. (Conflict of interest??) The sound tech had a VERY negative attitude, the awards that were given out did not match those on the website, and due to having to having to do it all by hand, MANY awards/overalls were either incorrect or missed completely. With 11 years as an instructor behind me, I can easily say this was by far the most unprofessional experience. I wouldn\'t even call this a learning experience; it was a flat out waste of time, energy, and money.

STUDIOS BEWARE: There werent any programs available so we were on our own to stay on track, there was no stage manager (you had to check in dances with the sound technician up front), awards system based on something NOT on their website listed in their rules, judges who were writing more than they were watching, ran three hours behind schedule, teachers from other studios assisted running the awards ceremony because they were short staffed, and skipped around so much that they left one studio running back to back dances with the same dancers (they were literally stripping side stage). The most unprofessional and most unorganized event I have ever been to in my 10 years of teaching! Don\'t waste your money!!!

If I could do negative stars I would. The most unorganized, unprofessional, mistake ridden experience we have ever experienced. Not to mention running three hours behind and keeping us there until past midnight! The scoring was not even what was reflected in their rules and they had assistance from other dance studio people to tally scores. How unethical is that? Sure they had computer problems but seriously?!?! Thank goodness for our wonderful studio for their hard work and we will just chock this up as a learning experience!

STAY AWAY!! One of the owners quit saying, \"questionable business practices by my partner\". We felt we were being extorted by the son (as it turns out he\'s a criminial with multiple aliases) to go to the convention Kickstart. Good thing we couldn\'t because all the teachers quit the convention! There are many other reputable companies out there to give your hard earned money.

This is my favorite competition!

Very professional, great staff and super organized!

Weird vibes around this comp........

My first Marvonna...Awesome!! Sooo professional and I can\'t say enough about Marianne and the fabulous staff that was so friendly and helpful. The opening group act was beyond all expectations. I dearly loved little Alicia giving out trophies. The competitors entered in this were so talented.

I was recently at a Marvonna dance competition in Louisburg, NC and was quite impressed with their operation. The Marvonna folks seemed to really have their act together. Everything started on time, was well paced and, from my viewpoint, went glitch free over two full days. Really looking forward to the next one!

Awful.....

We compete with them every year and the atmosphere is very professional.

Love it! My daughter had the best experience this week-end in Louisburg, NC. I can\'t say enough about Marianne and the professional staff that was present. Thank you for putting the minis in the afternoon instead of bright and early in the morning. The awards, scoring, and stage was great!!! Can\'t wait til Supply, NC in June....

I enjoyed Marvonna dance competition in Louisburg NC. The judges were fair And the scores were based on knowledge from judges and precision in each dance It was a great competition with some wonderful talent !!!

Loads of Technical Issues, Weird Scoring System, no category awards. 2 of the judges on the panel had clogging backgrounds, only routines that clogged scored high. Jazz routines scored very low then when we received our video critiques, the judges said nothing. I have 3 videos of almost silence with the occasional \"nice\" \"good job\". Very disappointing for a competition that has been around for 15 years.

Started earlier than they had told us, then ran 45 minutes behind schedule.

Had a blast! Fun and organized.

Love taking my daughter to Marvonna, they are amazing. The staff is always helpful. Love how they recognize all the dancers.

So much fun! They are the best. Can\'t wait for Nationals!

Wonderful competition that recognizes dancers at every level. The owners and staff are friendly and helpful. The judges are fair and knowledgeable. My daughter always has a positive experience!

I honestly can not say enough good things about this competition!! We just spent the weekend with these guys, and it was an amazing experience. Everything as usual ran smoothly and on time. We have never had an issue with this competition the directors are amazing the back stage manager was so nice and attentive which made the day so much better. Are scores were exactly what i thought they should have been. Im sure the judges were top par as usual but we haven\'t gotten the critiques back yet. We will have them monday and I will stop back buy and leave another comment. THIS is how you run a competition! EVERYONE on staff is so nice and professional!! Even the sound guy knows how to run a competition the music is always right for each type of dance (for example loud for the cloggers soft for the lyricals and tap and BUMPING for the hip hop!!) We will be back and i strongly urge everyone else to join them as well!! Love Maryann and Lavonda as well GREAT GREAT GREAT competition!!

Judges appeared to be knowledgeable, ran on time

Changing my review. Although we did have a positive experience at Marvonna\'s comp, they tried to shake us down with their convention Kickstart (which never happened). Weird vibe around this competition.

I love this competition!! The only issue was understanding their scoring because it was so different!! :)

Fun competition. Only wish that they would change their national weekend to another weekend it is the same time as another national that we enjoy competing so we always have to choose between.

Always a fun competition. We attend every year and everything always goes smoothly and the staff is grrat.

Awesome competition! Great, fun and caring staff! Had a wonderful time! For some reason.. didn\'t seem as stressed and chaotic as most comps.Loved it!

We just tried it for the first time last month and I am so glad we did. They ran on time and most of the time ahead of scheduled which was fantastic. Excellent critiques, with specific feedback about what needed improvement and what to do and work on. The best we have ever received actually. Our parents were so pleased. Overall, a great experience and we will surely be back!

Best competition my studio has ever entered. The staff is very friendly and accommodating and make the day fly by. The show ran on time. (actually finished a little early) The judges were very knowledgeable and fair. I will be going back!