COMPETITION DETAIL

Studio favorites to the max. Horrible comp.

Not much to like about the event that we attended. Only thing good was that my daughter scored and placed well. Venue itself was nice but poorly used by the competition. Dressing room was unbelievably crowded, so crowded it was dangerous. There are other classrooms since the venue was a large regional high school. The Gym or cafeteria was not utilized but rather all dancers were shoved into three small classrooms (400 numbers competed). Schedule was not released until a few days before the event with numerous errors. Petite solos were split between two days due to errors that could not be resolved! Running 1.5 hours ahead the first day of comp and comp didn't end until 11pm on a Sunday, probably could have used a Friday night for this one! Judges awards are not given by the judges making them very impersonal and not special feeling. There was no MC to fire up the kids, just someone reading the awards. Media is very expensive, while many comps include this with entry. No audio for judges critiques, just a few hand written notes scribbled down. Overall, I can't see the value that this comp offers over the hundreds of others to choose from.

Not what we expected. They were not organized, and the dvd took months.

Terribly disappointed with this competition. How can a judge who knows and performs with teachers from a company that was competing be considered for the panel? Am I missing something? Beyond a conflict of interest. Unethical. Unprofessional. We will be sure to do our part and spread the word.

Not impressed. There was a judge who dances with teachers from a studio that was competing. That is a huge conflict of interest and completely unfair. How can that judge be unbiased? We should be refunded our competition fee.

What an unprofessional event. One of the studios had 2 teachers that knew one of the judges...and surprise they won everything. How is that allowed?

This was the worst competition experience ever. On friday night they announced I was in the top 10 teen solos and then saturday they took it away from me because better dancers went on saturday night =( they also made one of my group dances re-perform for a "dance off" so we were so excited and thought we were going to win and ended up getting the lowest award and didn't place. it was so embarrassing, I don't know why they made us do that. I hope my teacher doesn't make us go back.

worst competition ever.

We will absolutely not be back. Special awards are a joke, not even given out by the judges but instead passed out by the director who clearly doesn\'t understand what she\'s talking about. Best part is, the director never made any record of our payment even though they cashed the check. I called four separate times in the two weeks leading up to the event and never received a call back. So therefore, since I was ignored, they demanded payment the second I walked in the door and even made me pull up my bank statement because they honest to god seemed to think I was trying to screw them out of $500 (that\'s right- I had FOUR entries). Finally pull up proof of payment, don\'t even get an apology from the director. Never seen such unprofessionalism in my life, what a joke.

Low level competition with poor communication. The entries are lower priced however.

LOVE this competition, they really care about all the competitors. They were super lenient with late entries and even if you only bring a solo you have just as much opportunity to win as the people who\'s entire studios are there. The scoring is super fair, and I really liked that only a couple people got 295+ platinum plus awards, it made them a really special achievement (especially how they are called up at the end of awards).

Attending this competition over the weekend 11/14-11/15/2015 in New Jersey. Competition was well run and the judges scoring was very fair and accurate. Useful feedback on the Judges forms. Ran very close to on time so it was easy to go grab lunch or dinner without fear of missing anything. Loved the fact the photography station also had the full video available for playback on iPads. Could actually see what you were paying for as well as review the routine soon after performing.

One of my favorite competitions. Gone there many years and they have ALWAYS run on time. Not an easy comp to compete at, many very good dancers attend here. Their nationals is one of the best. National workshop classes offered the entire week that are excellent and challenging. Very good judges everytime attended.

Pretty good comp, liked the free t shirts they threw out to the dancers. Way too many staff members, often saw them sitting on the floor doing nothing but they were friendly at least. Awards were long and they gave out rubber bracelets which got overwhelming after a while since they gave them out with your individual award AND with your placement in the overalls. Just ended up being way too many. Also were jipped on many routines and only given half of the amount we needed, ended up having to just group them all together and hand out random bracelets to everyone which doesn\'t help with remembering what awards we actually won. National team nominations also took a really long time. Overall it was pretty good but nothing special

Ridiculous from start to finish. We have gone to this competition for years, but this may be the final one for us and Nationals will NOT be an option. Where do I begin? In years past we looked forward to this comp because it was run relatively well and we could take pictures of our routines. Well the $90 per soloist isn\'t enough, no I was rudely told to put my camera away because they have professionals. LOL okay your 18 year old snot nosed kids are more experienced than me. Or is it that the $90 per routine wasn\'t enough profit that you needed to charge $14 for pictures? But wait the $90 is robbery to begin with. The judging was so unprofessional and this is coming from a parent whose dancer did exceptionally well. But when a routine begins and 2 out of the 3 judges are spending the first 30 seconds still writing notes from the previous dancer, that\'s just unprofessional AND disrespectful. Speaking of disrespectful. How about handing out medals that are just that, a hunk of metal on a ribbon. No insignia, no marking, no nothing. Just a piece of blank metal. And if you place 2 - 10 overall, you got a wristband. All for $90. Stay away from this competition, their pockets matter too much more than the dancers.

My favorite competition.

Just attended the November 2013 Moorestown NJ Comp. Loved it! My daughter did very well, all the staff is very friendly!

love, love, love it!!!!! So fun, always runs at least 1/2 hour to an hour early, so many special judges\' awards, so many scholarships and prizes, staff is so friendly and approachable, love the Dance Off, very fair.... We have been attending for years and years. Would highly recommend!!!

Went to Nationals and had a different perspective (not sure if we were at the same event lol)... my dancers had a great time!! The NDS staff were quick to address any issues that arose and were more than helpful!!! My daughter received a scholarship as well as a special award plaque. Also lots of cash prizes were awarded....we love NDS!!!! Nothing is perfect but truly NDS did a great job shifting and adjusting to make the event fun and exciting for the kids!!!

Went to Nationals @ Stockton College... what a Nightmare. The College staff were nasty, rude & threatening to say the least. The venue was too small, 500 seats with over 1000 routines. So many people missed performances since they weren\'t allowed in due to overcrowding. We felt like we were in prison. Air Conditioning wasn\'t working in the middle of a heat wave. There were major fights with the Stockton ushers throughout the week. NDS didn\'t get involved until the Police & fire depts. showed up threatening to shut the event down. It was then that they decided to split awards and have 2 showcases instead of 1 which meant we were ending much later then told. We had to enter the theater after waiting approx. 1 hr in single file, if you weren\'t in line, no seat. UNBELIEVABLE. The cost of the opening # was $250.00 which included a jacket for which only a few received. The practice were outrageous every night for approx 3 hrs. . There was a lot of downtime in rehearsal (which ended at 11pm) yet some had to be back by 7am to perform, not worth it. The dance was very amateur. Nationals is suppose to be fun but this was not, no special awards. This was definitely a money maker for NDS. Very Very disappointed. I hope they do the right thing by refunding or crediting fees for this terrible inconvenience. We will definitely not be returning. I feel very bad that I am even writing this but facts are facts and the truth must be told. Everybody/anybody that was present at this event, saw what was going on, the comp was stopped on a few occasions & the doors were locked - no one leaves or enters. This made people irate. The college staff told many that NDS is to blame for renting too small of a venue & not disclosing how many people to expect - of course an approximate.

Went to the Nationals at Stockton College. The auditorium was way too small for all the people. And it was very unorganized and very political

Love NDS.... we have attended their competition for years, always runs smooth and in a timely fashion!!! Keep up the great work NDS!!!

We love NDS. They have the a very well run event. I love that they have a dance off, impact awards, scholarships for nationals, etc. And their nationals is way better than others we have attended. Staff is great too. They know what they are doing have have everything just right. Love them!

Overall good, I wish they would have 3 levels instead of just 2.