Dance competitions can be exciting, exhausting, stressful, hilarious and completely chaotic — sometimes all before your first routine has even hit the stage.

There's the missing hairpiece.

The last-minute position change because someone's sick.

The costume that suddenly doesn't fit.

The six-year-old who can't remember where she starts.

And, of course, the pressure to perform.

In this episode of the Dance Principals United podcast, Amanda and Bec are talking about something every dance studio owner with a competition team should think about:

What experience are we actually creating for our dancers at competitions?

Because it's easy to get caught up in scores, placings and cleaning that final formation. But when your dancers look back on their competition years, the things they remember might have very little to do with the trophy.

In this episode we discuss…

• The different types of dance teachers you see backstage at competitions
• How much rehearsal dancers actually need on competition day
• Why younger dancers may benefit from familiarity and routine
• Simple ways to make dance competitions more fun
• The story of Bec's accidentally ordered "Lucky Octos"
• Why winning can't be the only measure of a successful competition
• How teachers' stress can transfer to dancers
• Why complicated hair, costumes and quick changes might not be worth it
• What teachers should say when dancers come off stage
• How to set competition-day expectations with your dance studio team

Your competition culture doesn't happen by accident.

You build it.

Listen to the full episode of the Dance Principals United podcast for a very honest conversation about winning, competition pressure, Lucky Octos, crazy hair changes and how we can make comp days better for dancers, teachers and parents.

https://danceprincipalsunited.com/podcast/

If this episode gets you thinking differently about your own competition team, share it with your teachers before your next comp. And don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review so more dance studio owners can find the podcast.