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Thinking Out Loud
By Sharon DiCrosta
Turn Back the Clock on Competition
As a dance educator for more than 35 years and the director of
a competitive dance team for nearly that many, I have become
increasingly disturbed by the direction the competition
industry seems to be heading in.
Let me qualify that statement by saying that this is by no
means a “sour grapes” discourse. Our school is successful, as
is our team, and we have had more than our share of accolades,
titleholders, and championships on both national and
international levels. I have taught master classes and
adjudicated for many well-known organizations, and I have
thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I believe that healthy
competition can enrich the lives of our children by teaching
them about their own strengths and weaknesses and how to set
realistic goals, cope with disappointment, and find acceptable
ways to react to the adversities they will encounter
throughout their lives.
When I began my career, there were fewer competitions and far
fewer “winners” than there are today. Competitors were
acknowledged with first-, second-, or third-place trophies or
ribbons, and everyone else congratulated them and went home to
work harder for the next event.
Enter the adjudicated competition, which seemed like a good
idea at the time. Dancers did not compete against each other
but for their own personal best. Now everyone could go home a
winner, with a gold, silver, or bronze medal or at least a
certificate of honorable mention. I watched many of my
students start off with an honorable mention and spend the
next 5 to 10 years working toward and achieving a gold medal.
Adjudicated competitions seemed to accomplish what they set
out to do—reward students for hard work by helping them set
goals.
But things changed when someone (now hundreds of someones)
realized that dance competition is a profitable business. I
have no problem with these entrepreneurs; we all go into
business to make a profit. My problem lies with the fact that
the children who participate are paying a much higher price
than an entry fee.
At one time the high bronze or high silver medal meant that a
competitor was only five points from the next medal
standing—an incentive that kept many a student working hard to
close that gap. Now most organizations have made it a 15-point
spread. The honorable mention award and bronze medal no longer
exist and the silver medal is on its way out. These have been
replaced by the high silver (also close to extinction), gold,
high gold, and platinum awards as well as the “Ultimate,”
“Elite,” and “Xtreme.” What will be next, a titanium award?
What could we possibly be thinking?
We now watch our children or students cry over a gold medal
because it wasn’t “high.” Even young children are distressed
to receive a high silver because it is the low score of the
competition, and they know it. It is becoming increasingly
difficult to find events that do not cater to the
“self-esteem” of all involved.
There are many ways to help children feel good about
themselves, but pretending that everyone is “the best” isn’t
one of them. Wouldn’t it be better to teach them that not
everyone is equally talented but that everyone is talented in
some way? I wonder what will become of these children when
they enter the real world—when they are not accepted into the
college of their choice, when there is only one job opening
and they don’t get hired, when they fail to attain the
partner, house, or car of their dreams. Will someone be
standing there to give them an extremely gold medal to soothe
their feelings?
I know that I am not the only dance educator with these
concerns, so if you are a competition organizer, I hope you
are listening. As I write this I am getting ready to leave for
yet another event with my students. After the first day
they’re a little nervous. The judges are scoring on the tough
(read “realistic”) side, and the high silver medal really is
only five points from gold, which is one of the reasons I
chose this event for our team. I realize that it is
unrealistic of me to hope that the clock will turn backward,
but as an educator I feel that I have a responsibility to help
my students be the best they can be—not just at a dance
competition, but every day.
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