Our competition team provides our most driven students the opportunity to hone their skills through increased performance opportunities, adjudicated feedback, and a high energy team environment.

Why do competitions?

Competitions are what takes dance from a recreational activity and art form, to a sport. We expect our competitive dancers to be in the studio training 3-5 days a week, similar to the way sports teams practice. This level of commitment and in-studio time leads to a higher skill level and faster improvement for our dancers, teaches time management and discipline, and allows our dancers to bond and form a true “dance family.”

Outside of the studio, competitions are a great place to get feedback and improve as a dancer as well. Our dancers train with a limited number of instructors, so getting judges critiques gives them an outside perspective and additional things to work on or consider. Being in a competitive and adjudicated environment also gives our dancers something to strive for throughout the season. While the trophies are fun, we hope our dancers will score just a little higher each time! We are competing against ourselves as much as (if not more than) we are competing against the other studios at each competition. Competitions also give students the chance to be inspired by other dancers in our area, and even make some new friends!

We also plan to take our competitive students to attend at least one dance convention per year. These weekend events have master classes during the day and competition at night. Students will take class in all styles with professional instructors to learn new choreography, show off their skills, and even audition for scholarships. These are great learning opportunities, and are also lots of fun!

If your student loves to dance and is ready to take it to the next level, we encourage them to audition for our competition team!

Who is eligible?

Students need to be at least 6 by January 1, 2026 to compete. All students meeting this age requirement are invited to attend placements! We are not going into placements with a specific thought about what our team(s) might look like - rather, we would like to build around the talent that we have. We currently have rehearsal time blocked off on the schedule for up to six competition group routines - 3 for older students, 3 for younger. This may be adjusted after placements. More information about placements coming soon.

Time Commitment

Competitive dance is a year-round sport. We encourage all dancers interested in competing to take summer classes. We will then begin training in August with auditions August 18-19 and Choreography Camp August 25-28 (mandatory), and the competition season runs February - May, with nationals in the summer. We will have our full competition schedule by October, but we are looking at attending 3-4 competitions in 2026, including one right here in Buckhannon. We ask dancers/parents to commit to being available weekends February 15th-May 15th.

Dancers on our competition team will have one weekly half hour weeknight rehearsal per dance in the fall semester. Beginning in January and running until the competition season ends, we will add longer Saturday rehearsals as well. During the week, competition dancers are also required to take TLC and ballet, as well as technique classes in whatever genres they compete in. For example, a student who competes in hip hop and lyrical would have a minimum weekly training schedule of ballet, lyrical, hip hop, TLC, and 1-2 competition rehearsals per dance.

Attendance is imperative at this level. A dancer missing class not only affects them, but all other students in the class. Dance is a team sport and we rely on each other for spacing, timing, and emotional execution - not to mention parter skills and lifts. All dancers are expected to attend their regularly scheduled classes in addition to all rehearsals and performances. No more than six (6) absent days per dance season may be missed. Of the six (6) days, no more than three (3) may be missed from their team class/rehearsal. Any team member with poor attendance will be dismissed from the program. Dance requires consistent ongoing training and dancers who excessively miss class will not be able to perform at the same level as those who attend all their classes regularly.

Cost

  • Annual Fees

    The annual team fee is $200 per dancer. This fee covers the costs of team jackets or a replacement if needed (or as determined by the studio when new team jackets are forthcoming) and team t-shirt along with administrative costs for students throughout the season. The annual team fee is nonrefundable. Your dancer CANNOT participate in choreography camp without annual team fees paid in full and signed handbook on file.

  • Costumes

    Costumes are not always going to come directly from a costume company. Costuming will be created to fit the style of the routine, meaning some costumes may be pieced together and some may be ordered from a catalog. Costumes are chosen to fit the style of the routine and pricing may vary accordingly. We put extra time and energy into our competition costumes as costuming is part of the competition score. These costumes will also be worn multiple times, as opposed to just once at recital. We estimate costume costs to be $70-$130 per costume. Costume fees will be due in October.

  • Competitions

    Competition entry fees vary. Group routines typically cost $40-70, duos and trios $60-100, and solos $100-160. These prices are per dancer. We will send out the total due for entry fees along with our schedule once we have it finalized. These will be due two weeks prior to each competition. Some competitions also charge a mandatory “media pass” for photos and videos to be made available. These typically run around $50.

    We will also be staying in hotels for 2-3 competitions. You will need to budget for hotel stays and meals on the road. We will send out the hotel information for each competition and you will be responsible for booking your own room. 

  • Registration

    Participation on the competition team is considered one class for tuition purposes, regardless of how many numbers your child competes in. Students who choose to compete a solo, duo, or trio will have to pay for private lessons as well. Teen students participating in our Studio Apprentice Program receive a tuition discount proportional to the number of classes they assist with.