Clogging TV shows show love of dance vs. fear of losing

I had a brief moment to watch a new reality TV show called Down South Dance it featured two rival dance companies Sole Impulse Dance and SouthernDanceAcademy.

First the dancer's are great and they have all had excellent training, so my kudos go out to their teacher's Chip Harrison and Sarah Darby and to the students who have obviously worked very hard on their Clogging skills.   But here is my observation... aside from the Dance Mom's wanna-be this show did unveil difference at least in my eyes to why some groups win at competitions and some don't.

At the end of this show it was revealed that Chip's dancers at Southern Dance were beaten by Darby's Synergy Dancers by something like one tenth of a point.   Chips reaction was that Darby should be scared.  They'll get'em next time...he said it came down to Showmanship.   I agree in part.

I would argue that it came down to passion. Chip's girls are scared to disappoint.  They fear Chip and fear their own parents reactions - knowing they have a lot on the line.  Ms. Darby's girls are much more relaxed, enjoying the heart of competition and loving what they do.  You can see it in their faces in the movements they do together as a team.  Yes, a judge might call it showmanship.  I call it lack of fear.

Chip tries to get girls to leave one school to come to the other. I didn't know that he was a lawyer until I read up on him afterwards...now he and his actions makes a little more sense to me.

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So, Chip Harrison, if your reading this - try sharing the love of dance, the love of the pounding of feet, the love of the rhythm.  It wouldn't kill you to give the kids some kudos, love and praise either. They obviously RESPECT you, but they don't LOVE you...they fear you and don't want to disappoint. You have a beautiful gift of talent that you've cultivated, now take them to the finish with pride not fear. 

And if you think those other girls are going to jump ship from Ms Darby well.... if they did they'd be a bit crazy since she is home to the winningest record.  And her kids can smile for real not fake.  I did think your distraction strategy was interesting, twisted but interesting.-- hope those Mom's and girls don't fall for it.
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You should check out the show SouthernDance...it was good.  Maybe it will make it as a series after all.  If nothing else Clogging will get some new found respect up here in the North vs.only in the southern states. Break-a- Leg ya'll.

Dancingly Yours,
Ms. DeAnne


www.instructdance.com

Hey Ms. DeAnne, do you watch Dance Mom?

At class this week I finally had a young student ask me if I watch Dance Mom on TV. Here was my response: "Yes I have watched it but I really don't like it much." To which the student replies, "I like the dancers but that teacher really scares me! I'm glad you aren't like that Ms. DeAnne"..."Well at least most of the time," she added with a smile. To which I smiled back because I know I'm not at all like that teacher, Ms. Abby. "The parents scare me more," I responded.

I shared with the student that it's great for her to watch the dancers for ideas on choreography, but that she shouldn't compare herself to them unless she practices as much as they do. I reminded her that they practice everyday and take classes every day. "Did you know that?", I asked her. She replied, "Well I know they practice a lot more than I do because they have better turns."

I'm glad she noticed that the other dancers were better than her and that they are good because of their work ethic in the classroom. I made sure to remind her that she could be just as good as them with more practice and boy did she SMILE!

I know we've bashed the Dance Mom TV show before in other posts, but perhaps there's a light at the end of this tunnel afterall. Students can learn that to get to a level of dance they see on TV they are going to need to make sacrifices and put in the studio time to do it. Not a bad lesson to learn. Disney Channel and all the other cool dance shows do make it all look so easy - they don't show the hours of rehearsal that it takes to make it all look so great. Dancing with the Stars is doing a great job of showing the hard work it takes. So, while I don't have time to watch that show either I do like it on premise.

But for the record, I still don't like the Dance Mom show on TLC - I think it has become like Desparate Housewives- full of Botox, big lips and big hair. Those Moms are really scary.

Dance Mom's TV Show - will it hurt or help your business?

The new reality TV show Dance Mom's has a lot of dance school owners up in arms or laughing, depending on which side of the fence they are sitting on. My Linked in dance studio owners group is a buzz with people saying this is bad for dance and that competition team focused studios are losing busines because of it. "Parents are afraid to get their kids involved..."

I should make a disclaimer that I'm a studio owner that has never, ever supported dance competitions. In fact, my brochures say we don't do competitions, period. When I first opened my studio ten years ago, some asked, why not? My response has always been the same. "It's not that we don't have the talent, we do. It's just that I want my kids to love to dance for the love of dance, not for a trophy." We do a recital instead. It like the art of dance, not the sport.

So, I sort of laughed when I first viewed the show, until I realized that at least 50% of this reality TV show is actually real. Then I get sad. If kids want to be professional dancers, dance on broadway and be big stars can't they can do that without all this fuss and drama of nasty competitions? Where are the exhibitions?

Don't even get me started on the inappropriate costumes, moves and music many choreographers choose for the students. I think the Dance Mom's on the show and around the country need to speak up for their little girls and boy's on what's appropriate for stage. I applaud this reality TV show for showing this, maybe it will help.

Reality TV shows are not real. Well, not totally. So, for that 50% of the show that is real - I see amazing dancers, a nice studio, a teacher that knows her stuff and has successful dancers to prove it. These Dance Mom's have sought out a teacher that they think will make their little dancer famous someday. That's good marketing. They are getting what they pay for, what they ask for. It is for them to decide what winning looks like.

Competitions are what create the difference between dance as art and dance as a sport. My own children compete in sporting tournaments (and yes even in rough sports there is drama.) It's the hair, costume and make up that throw you off at first with dance. This is dance for the sport. Hard core competitons to get your dancer noticed - get the scholarship -- same as a young basketball, fastpitch or volleyball stars. You wouldn't tell those kids in sports not to compete would you?

It's clear that these Dance Mom's who are on the show to be famous themselves. Have you seen their hair and make up, outfits...they are the true performers here. And what a performance it is. I think these Mom's will be embarrassed later in life for exploiting their dancers. Or maybe they will all be rich and famous...the world of reality TV is not rational.

As for competitions - there are good ones and bad ones - so if you are planning to have your dancers compete you may need to set the stage for your dance parents who have watched this show. Tell them why you are competing -- what's the goal? Why did you select this particular competition vs. others? What will be success for all of you?

The dance competition industry is huge. And the dance magazines that could talk about this show might not because much of their revenues are based on dance competiton full page ads.

Lifetime's Dance Mom's TV Show will either make competitions more popular or more scrutinized. Either way, I think all dance teachers will need to become very clear about WHY they do competitions.

So, WHY do you compete?