A 360° Look At The Competition Experience

By Nancy Galeota-Wozny

 A Chat with Rhee Gold

1) Getting Started

The competition industry has really exploded, with companies making stops in every major city. How best to decide which ones to participate in? Are they really that different from one another?

RG: Start slowly by watching a few events, and consider taking some potential competitors/students with you. That way you and your dancers will know what’s expected and what’s not. Just like dance schools, competitions have personalities and you’ll want to choose one that fits with your school and philosophy. Some competitions are looking for a more L.A. style, others are looking for a classical style, while some are into technique and others are into presentation. The best way to figure out what is best is to observe and see what your gut tells you.

What makes a good starter competition?

RG: One that has a precompetitive, novice, or recreational classification. There are plenty out there, and the judges understand that the experience is new to the competitors. They are little gentler to this group, so the experience is encouraging rather than scary.

Do you have any suggestions for getting a team—and yourself—ready?

RG: First explain to the dancers (and their parents) that being a part of your competition team means making a commitment to be the best dancers they can be. All classes need to be taken full out; all rehearsals must be productive, with the entire group in attendance (both physically and mentally), with no excuses. You don’t want to become one of those teachers who realizes too late that they should have enforced their policies, but didn’t. Reversing a lax attitude is so much harder than enforcing it from the beginning. Start with the philosophy that participating in your competitive program is something your dancers work for, something that teaches them what dedication is all about.

Be realistic about what you and your dancers can handle. Don’t create choreography that is too difficult for the dancers and be sure the concept, music, and especially the movement, are age appropriate. Dabble with a few numbers the first time out; that way you won’t find yourself overwhelmed.

Sometimes there’s a divide between the competitive and recreational dancers that can be off-putting to the once-a-week dancers. How can studios create an environment where everyone is welcome regardless of their level of commitment?

RG: Teachers and parents often create the divide between those two groups. Teachers can bring it on when they focus only on the competitive dancers or when they lose personal contact with the recreational dancers and their parents, because they’re too busy with the competitive students. Parents contribute to it by acting like snobs and bragging about their children’s superiority to parents whose children are at a lower level, and by encouraging feelings of superiority in their own kids.

The solution needs to come from the top. Those who lead the school need to treat all students equally, regardless of their skill level or whether they are recreational or competitive dancers. Treat those recreational dancers with the same attention and enthusiasm that you would the more intensive dancers, and offer them the same great faculty. Don’t get so lost in competition that you lose sight of the lifeblood of your school.

2) Staying Motivated

Students’ experiences in the arts can teach them life lessons that are important whether or not they pursue a career in dance. What lessons can preparing for a competition teach them?

RG: We live in a competitive world where doing our best takes some thought and time. Some students and parents don’t realize that the process is more valuable than the end result of performances or competitions. The process is about challenging ourselves to take our talent further, to gradually become better through the classroom and rehearsal processes. Students develop an understanding that it takes work and commitment to reach a goal; they learn that they are part of a group and have responsibilities to their fellow dancers.

How important is attending a national competition?

RG: I think bringing young dancers to a national competition is a uniquely motivating experience for them. It’s so inspiring to see students from all across North America come together in one place. You can’t help but go home wanting to be better because the caliber of talent is so far beyond what you typically see locally. It’s the best of the best. I know teachers who have gone to an event for one day and couldn’t wait to start working on new ideas or improving their students’ technical excellence. I have also seen schools improve tremendously from one year to the next as they are exposed to new choreographic, costume, and musical ideas. It’s best to attend with the attitude that you are there to learn rather than win. Also, when you see students from all over the country, you feel like you’re part of something big.

Do you have any tips to avoid competition burnout? After all, this is supposed to be fun.

RG: Don’t make it so that any one dancer is in too many numbers. When kids have to rehearse every day and travel to competitions every weekend, some will lose their enthusiasm. It’s better to do less and keep them inspired than to make it so that dance is the only thing they have time for. Also, I believe that students shouldn’t perform more than one solo. I know many people would disagree with me, but I think the pressure of four solos is too much. I would rather see one good solo that has been worked on to make it awesome than four that are all mediocre.

How can you tell when a student is heading toward burnout?

RG: They start losing their enthusiasm; you can tell when that happens because they start missing classes or rehearsals. Often students will start off with a bang, wanting to dance all the time, but as they grow into young adults they find themselves having to make decisions between dance and those life-memory moments. They want to hang out with their friends, to be part of the fun stuff their non-dancing friends are up to. Another warning signal is when the students start to accept awards with a nonchalant attitude or go home before the awards are presented.

Giving the students a sense of balance, the opportunity to be “normal” while still keeping them enthusiastic about dance, is the best approach.

I notice that interest can wane during the teen years when social and academic pressures seem to peak. Teens are just coming into their social lives and may not want to spend every minute at the dance studio. Do you have any advice for weathering the teen slump? Did you ever feel like quitting for a while?

RG: It’s important for teens have the freedom to try something else. Adolescence only comes around once. A break can help them realize how much they need dance in their lives. I did stop dancing for a couple of months in my junior year in high school because I wanted to be a part of a drama production that was going on to a state competition. I loved it, but I was back in class 24 hours after the production ended.

In the precompetition days, kids performed twice a year if they were lucky; now they have many more performance opportunities. Since dancers grow through actual performance, can you speak to the value of frequent performing?

RG: I think it makes a huge difference, whether or not the kids move on to a professional career. If you poll competitive dance students, the majority of them are honor roll students who have learned how to manage their time in a productive way. They’re not the kids hanging out at the mall or on street corners.

Performance inspires a sense of confidence and self-esteem that a lot of the nondancers don’t experience. Students who perform are better prepared and more comfortable when doing those college interviews or making a presentation at school or on the job.

3) A Smooth Competition Experience

The logistics of planning a competition schedule can result in a lot of unpaid hours for school owners. Any tips on making it a smooth ride for all?

RG: Make the competition procedure very organized right from the beginning. Create handbooks and other literature that explains all the policies, deadlines, expenses, commitments, dates, and anything else you can think of, and distribute it at the start of the season. Have a meeting to go over your information with the students and their parents. Allow everyone to ask questions and be friendly and professional with your responses.

What can studios do to streamline the operation?

RG: You can create a page on your website for updates, schedule changes, reminders, pep talks, and all other communications specifically for this group of students and their parents.

Don’t procrastinate with your choreography, costuming, and paperwork, like entry forms. Set up an annual schedule for all responsibilities associated with the competition season. Set deadlines that are earlier than they need to be, because some stuff will fall behind.

The most positive result of being organized is arriving at the competition totally relaxed. It creates an image that trickles through everyone from your school. The parents, students, and you are so together that the competition experience is enjoyable for all. That impression on the hundreds of other students—and their teachers—at the competition is good for your business and reputation.

Sometimes the studio owner ends up picking up the slack and doing too much work, often unpaid. How can teachers recognize burnout?

RG: When teachers have to mass-produce choreography, leaving them feeling much less creative than when they started, it’s time to evaluate the situation. Also, if the school owner is always playing catch-up—trying to maintain business responsibilities, staying on schedule with costume ordering, preparing for the recital—and is unable to maintain much of a personal life or just seems exhausted all the time, then it may be too much. It’s especially a problem after several consecutive weekends of competition.

4) Dealing Positively With Parents

How do parents play a role in the students’ success?

RG: Parents have a key role, but it should be as a supporter of their child. Their role is to encourage them, help them keep their commitments to the competitive program, and support the teachers and choreographers. Most important, they need to realize that their children are learning life lessons and the awards are really a small part of those lessons.

When do parents get in the way?

RG: They get in the way of the success when they choose to criticize their child’s performance, the teachers’ abilities, or the choreography. Parents need to leave the dance education up to the teachers; let the experts do their thing.

Sometimes parents can become too competitive. They talk negatively about their child’s classmates because they’re jealous or make excuses for why another child is excelling faster than theirs.

Do you have any advice for parents?

RG: Appreciate that your children are focused on something that will only enhance their lives and knowledge, without regard to awards won. They need to realize that having a child with a healthy body who has a desire to work hard at something is a true blessing.

5) Making The Most Of Your Competition Experience

Can you recall your first competition experience?

RG: Yes, I remember it fondly. I was 10, performing a duet with my twin brother, Rennie. We weren’t very good, but I think the judges liked the twin thing, and we went home with a first-place trophy. That was the day that I decided I wanted to dance. I finally understood what my mother meant when she said, “Dance full out.” I wanted to take ballet classes and become a better dancer. That’s why I’ve always been an advocate for the competition experience. It can be a huge motivator for kids, if they have to work for it and if they are taught to respect others who are talented. I wanted to be like the good dancers; they were my motivation, my standard of what I wanted to accomplish.

When students stay and watch the other students compete, they see groups that are both better and worse than they are. Do you remember learning from watching other groups?

RG: No question—I watched everything. I was there for the little kids and the big kids; I never wanted to miss a thing. That’s the way it was back then for everyone involved. Sometimes I think a bit of that is lost, especially when some of the kids aren’t there to receive their awards.

Did you take what you learned by watching into your next performance?

RG: Yes, I feel like I got better every time I competed, because I was exposed to dancers who showed me how far I could go. I loved going home and trying new movements I had seen or trying to jump as high as someone I admired. For me, it was all about inspiration.

Let’s talk about teamwork; you are only as good as the whole. You have to get along with each other in order to dance well. Can you speak to the sports model of a team when it comes to dance?

RG: Dance is an art form subject to judges’ opinions, and in sports a winner is determined by who scores the most goals or home runs. But the team concept is still important in dance competitions. Learning that you have a responsibility to your fellow dancers is a lesson that will be important for the rest of your life.

Sometimes dancers are more into being sure that their solo performances are perfect, and they slack off when it comes to their group numbers. As far as I’m concerned, these dancers are going to grow up with the attitude that they put themselves first all the time, and that doesn’t work for any dancer, either in a dance school or at the professional level.

What tips do you have for a first-time competitor?

RG: Forget about the awards. Give the best performance you can and watch everything you can. Go home motivated to become the best dancer possible. I’ve seen so many kids go from being novice competitors to becoming the big winners. These are the kids who truly appreciate hard work. They are the ones who understand the process and set the example for the next generation of novice dancers.

Your mother’s school, Sherry Gold Dance Studios, brought home a boatload of awards. You were also heavily lauded. How did that affect your confidence?

RG: Yes, my family’s school has been bringing home tons of trophies for almost 40 years. It did give me confidence, but I think the biggest confidence booster for me, when I was competing, was when the judges would talk to me about how good they thought I could be and encourage me to keep dancing. The judges’ comments were more inspiring than the actual awards.

I’ve come to realize that the competition dancers from our school don’t get as excited about the individual awards they win; they seem to have a goal of keeping up with the school’s reputation. They want to make a lasting impression on the judges and the audience and maintain the school’s reputation in our area. I like that about our kids.

6) A View From Inside The Industry

Dance competitions have been around a long while. Yet the industry has blossomed and continues to evolve. What has surprised you the most about its fast growth?

RG: On the positive side, the biggest surprise has been how much the caliber of dancers and teacher/choreographers has improved, especially over the past 20 years. Dance education is no longer only about a once-a-week lesson and a recital at the end of the year. Teachers must keep up with a standard that has been strongly influenced by the exposure that dance competition offers. That standard has made it so that the majority of the dancers we see on Broadway, in the L.A. dance scene, and throughout the professional performing and choreography world have grown up with the competition experience.

Where is there need for improvement?

RG: Some schools and teachers are obsessed with winning. These people can feel successful only if they’re the big winner; often they resent strong talent and search out events that their school will do well in, and that doesn’t help them or their students grow. Teachers shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there should be satisfaction in seeing a young beginner student who does a single pirouette for the first time, and that winning awards isn’t what being a successful dance teacher is all about.

Studios now have a full array of competitions to choose from. Do you see this level of activity as a healthy sign?

RG: Today we see a much higher standard of excellence in everything from running events on time to the judges that are selected to the quality of customer service. I guess you could say that competition is good for the competition business.

What about medal inflation? Can we go overboard with the “everyone is a winner” concept?

RG: I am a big advocate for the benefits of dance competition, but what’s happened with the medal awards is hard for me to take. Some well-intentioned competition directors, often those without a background in dance, give everyone a gold medal because they think the objective is to make everyone feel like a winner. They’re missing the point of a competition. I understand that parents too want their children to feel like winners or feel good about themselves, but inflated awards aren’t going to do anyone any good. If we give every student a gold medal, then they will not be inspired to work harder, which is an attitude that realistic competition can instill. Also, how can 7-year-old children be technically proficient enough to win that gold, or in some cases platinum, medal?

It sounds like you are saying that too much winning doesn’t generate improvement?

RG: I would like to see this part of competition become more realistic again. There was once a time when students went home from a dance competition with no medal of any kind, and they didn’t quit dancing. They set a goal for themselves to win a bronze medal, and hopefully by taking more ballet classes and working hard for many years, they eventually reached that ultimate goal of receiving a gold medal. That’s true satisfaction. But nowadays the kids don’t have a lot to work for—they’re getting the high awards, so why work harder?

The industry is old enough to have people running competition companies who competed themselves. How do you think they carry their experiences into the industry? How did your experience as a competitive dancer shape your competition events?

RG: For me, it was the reason for my former company’s success. I understand what it is like to be a competitive dancer. I know what’s going through the dancers’ minds when they’re waiting for their performance or when they are performing, and I’ve shared the emotions they experience when the awards are presented. I also know what it’s like to be the teacher/choreographer, and that was a huge asset. I was always thankful that I had the inside scoop on what it was like to be the dancer and the teacher.

 What inspired you to start a competition?

RG: In the beginning it was a fund-raiser for our dance company, the Sherry Gold Dancers. As the years went by and I became the sole director of American Dance Awards, I just wanted to run the best competition I could. I loved the kids, watching schools and teachers grow from the experience, and spending the weekend with teachers and dancers. I made hundreds of friends throughout the years and many of them are still my friends, long after my involvement in competitions ended. I enjoyed what I did and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Can you share a favorite moment during your time with ADA?

RG: The most memorable moment in my 24 years of running a competition was watching a performance by a student who had a rare blood disorder and had had her lower leg amputated because of the disease. She had a metal prosthesis and she was bald from her treatments, but she came out onstage with such passion! She used the metal leg to balance arabesques, turn, and jump. The audience was stunned into a respectful silence that was like nothing I had ever seen. It seemed like this little girl was sent to show us that none of the awards mattered; it was truly the passion, and she had more of it than any dancer I’ve ever seen. Her name was Stephanie Smith; she was from Michigan, and I will never forget her.

The job of running a competition company is not for the faint of heart. It’s mostly a life on the road. How did that lifestyle work out for you?

RG: When I started I loved the traveling. My staff and I would travel the country in a beat-up, old, brown bus that leaked and broke down all the time. But for some reason, we had a ton of fun. As we grew and made money, we flew to most cities and that made life easier. However, after years of airports, delayed flights, lost luggage, and hotel room after hotel room, I became tired of traveling. To this day I get a little depressed when I go to the airport. The traveling definitely took a toll on me.

Why did you leave the competition industry?

RG: The constant traveling and complaints from parents and teachers were both factors, but there was also a feeling that I had done what I had come to do and was ready for the next step. I was satisfied that I had made a difference in the dance world through my competitions, but I felt like I needed to take that experience and knowledge and use it to inspire teachers to handle competition in the right way. I wanted to offer them information that would make the teaching experience more enjoyable, remind them of why we all started teaching in the first place, and help them be better business people.

How is the industry doing in terms of staying family friendly?

RG: Things have improved considerably. Competitions are better organized with less waiting around and several award ceremonies, making it fun for the whole family.

What is the single greatest gift to dancers from the competition experience?

RG: Dancers get more onstage experience, and more people see dance. In the end, more dance is a good thing for the entire field.    

Photo Captions (from top to bottom):  

Rhee Gold in DMA’s Mr. Dance Of America, 1982; Gold Announcing at ADA National Championships,1997;

Gold and Ashley Yeater, 1997; Gold announcing at a competition banquet in 1991; Gold competing, 1980.