This is my first year in a Dance Company, and there are a lot of things that I've learned in the past seven months about studio life & competition that I didn't know before. So I've put together 5 things for each to share with you all. I hope if you're a dancer or wanting to get into dance that this will benefit you!
When it comes to the many classes you will be taking:
1. Bring extra clothes, tights & shoes. There could be something wrong with your outfit (rips, spills, tears), or someone else might show up to the studio coming from somewhere else and forget to bring their bag. So having stuff for them to use is also good.
2. Bring a large water bottle (trust me you'll run out of water fast!), bring snacks if you have a break in between classes & also extra hair ties and bobby pins.
3. Try and focus the ENTIRE time you are in class. It is really disrespectful to talk to your friends who you've seen all day at school or you're going to see after class, and not pay attention to your teachers who are genuinely wanting to teach you things that will benefit your dancing life.
4. SPOT. Not much too this. Just wanted to throw that in there.
5. Don't skip your classes, and show up early. I admit, I've showed up some ten minutes late to my classes on more than one occasion due to the fact that I live half an hour away from my studio, or I was doing something before hand. And I don't know about anyone else, but it stresses me out a bit. I like to show up early and have time to put on my shoes & stretch a little bit, not rushing in and putting on my shoes while the class has already started.
When it comes to competition this is what I've gathered.
1. You are going to be in a hotel with a TON of other people! Try limiting the amount of times you have to use the elevator to get to your room as much as possible.
2. If there are extra classes being offered on the first day you're arriving, TAKE THEM. Also attend all of your classes. Your parents, or whoever is paying for you to be at convention are paying a lot of money for you to be there, so you might as well get the most of it.
3. Make sure you have plenty of time to get ready before you compete. If your teacher or studio owner has given you a time to get to the dressing room & you know you have time before that to get ready, get as much of you ready as you can. From my experience, getting ready in my hotel room is a lot less stressful than in a room with what seems like a million other girls.
4. Again with the elevators, if you're done with your dances before the competition is over, go ahead and pack up your stuff and take it up to your room. It will save you the stress of standing in a really long line with your giant suitcase trying to get up to your room. Then you can come back to the competition room or dressing room and support the rest of your studio.
5. This is one that a lot of people stress over. Besides you, the other people in your dance, and your choreographers. NO ONE knows how your dance is supposed to go! If you make a tiny mistake, or everyone starts it on the wrong beat, the dance is not ruined & most likely no one is going to notice. Because they have not seen it before so they have no idea how it is supposed to go.
(I know I said just 5 each but this just came to me)
6. Prepare meals and snacks to bring to convention before hand. For someone who's first competition experience ended up getting stuck at the hotel for 3 extra days, I can say only eating hotel food is not what I would recommend!
Plus it will save you a butt load of money since hotel food isn't necessarily cheap either.
So there are my tips and things I've learned from my first year of being in dance company. I hope this helped some people, and if you have any other tips or things that you know as well I would love to hear them!
-A
