Frequently Asked Competition Questions
Q. How many dances will my student compete in?
A. During the required summer intensive, your student will have the opportunity to learn several dances. At the end of the summer, your student will perform a snippet of each of these dances and then you will have the opportunity to determine which dances you’d like your student to participate in. Solos/Duets/Trios are at the discretion of the Instructors, but once selected you can choose which of these dances you’d like to see your student compete with.
Q. How much is competition? Do I pay extra?
A. The studio charges tuition based on the number of classes the student takes. No matter if the student is a competitive student or recreational student, the fees are determined by the number of classes taken. However, the students are required to take technique, ballet and acro dance classes outside of their normal classes.
The competition has dance entry fees that are determined by the competition and are set depending on the type of dance (solo, duo/trio, group and production). Solos, duos/trios have higher entry fee costs, while group/production numbers are the least expensive. Parents are not required to have their students compete in each category, only the group dances. Most group fees stay around $50-60, duo/trios $80-90 and solos $90-110. These are not carved in stone because they change routinely and from comp to comp, but these fees are representative of what they were last year.
Q. How will I know what dances will be taken to competitions?
A. The choreographer will make the ultimate decision on taking a dance to competition. If an instructor does not feel the dance or dancer is prepared enough, the instructor can hold taking the dance/dances to the first competition and opt to take them to the remainder of the competitions.
Q. Where will the competition be, when and for how long?
A. Dates of competitions are normally decided early in the summer, but due to Covid, competitions have been somewhat slower in setting their dates and venues. The competition will state they run Friday thru Sunday, but this does not mean the dancer will need to be there all three days.
Q. When will I be aware of my child’s call times for competition?
A. Competitions continue to accept entries about a week or two before the actual competition. Once they have all the entries, they will normally separate them by age and category (solo, duo/trio and group performances). The studio will notify the parent as soon as they are notified of their call time. The studio requires that the student show to the venue 2 hours prior to their scheduled competition time.
Q. What do I do to prepare?
A. Competition is similar to recital in that you must have all of the necessary things: costumes, tights, accessories, shoes. Unlike recitals, your venue will not be in your hometown, so forgetting these things would be nightmarish. The studio recommends spending the week before the competition to collect all of the student’s costumes, tights, shoes, hair bows, etc. The studio will send a list of important things to have on hand at the competition. The student is expected to show in stage makeup and with the hair style decided prior to the time of competition.
Q. Do I pay an extra fee for competition costumes?
A. Your costume installments cover the cost of all costumes and not just recital costumes. Additional accessory fees are usually necessary to cover costs of earrings, hair accessories, rhinestones and/or props.
Q. Do I have to stay overnight in a hotel?
A. Staying overnight depends on your call time and whether you dance more than one day. If your student has dances all three days or has a 7am call time (in which cases competitions do start at 7am), then you would want to stay overnight to keep your student from being overly tired from having to wake early and make the trip.
Q. Where are most competitions located?
A. The majority of competitions are located within SC and are at most 2 hours away. Occasionally, our competition team has traveled to Rock Hill, but this was for a National Competition.
Q. Does the studio offer fundraisers?
A. Yes. Fundraising opportunities occur throughout the year and can be used toward competition fees, costumes and/or tuition. Fundraisers do not work themselves, so effort must be put forth to see the pay off.
Q. What happens if I owe tuition, but my competition fees are due? Can I pay my competition/costume fees first?
A. Any money collected will be applied to any outstanding tuition/fees due to the studio first. If tuition or other fees are outstanding, the money will be applied to those and competition fees will not be paid.
Q. I can’t pay my competition fees right when they’re due. Can I establish a payment plan?
Unfortunately, if competition fees are not paid at the time they’re due the competition will not hold the student’s slot and the student will not be able to attend. If you wish to set up a competition payment plan at the beginning of the year with the studio, the Office Manager can make arrangements to tack this on to your tuition bill.