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Posted

I wanted to wish everyone 'Good Luck' who is competing in this week's BDWC event being held in Jersey.

 

The event brings together around 3,000 competitors from over 30 countries to compete in various dance classes. It's a unique chance to meet dancers/teachers/parents from other parts of the world and hopefully some of us can escape for a few hours to explore Jersey too.

 

This will be my DD's last competition with her local dance school before starting vocational training, so it will be an especially memorable time.

 

I know of one other Forum member who is attending - I'm sure there must be a few more!

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Posted

We are having an amazing time the standard is amazing and the atmosphere electric !!

Jersey is beautiful and the people so lovely .

And my DD has the added bonus of bringing home a bronze medal ! Her smile hasn't moved for days .

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Posted

I feel a bit awful and guilty because I have watched some of it and have not been particularly impressed by the standard. Admittedly I have only watched a few hours here and there. Some of the children are very talented but on the whole I havent been that impressed. I have never seen any of the previous world cups or ever followed anything like that etc so maybe my expectations were too high. Much of the dancing is equal to and in some cases not as good as some dancing Ive seen at small dance festivals. That doesnt take away from the joy and beauty of it all and the amazing experience and opportunity for the children. All that is really important, if not more important than the standard. Others may not agree and no offence intended so apologies if I have offended anyone. I am sure all of your DD's and DD's were wonderful. it just wasnt what I expected.

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Posted

Yes it's live streamed on the dance World Cup website .

I totally understand where you are coming from joyofdance , it's a very interesting experience . Some sections are amazing , some others not so much and the standard varies enormously from country to country . The ballet solos and the moderns are outstanding . I watched the boys ballet 10-13 today . If you can , please watch . The lad from Portugal who was awarded 98.7 for his solo variation, received a standing ovation from the audience including the judges .

Posted

I agree with the mix in quality. I thought some of the ballet and modern was wonderful, with some fabulous representations from far and wide. However I was shocked at the musical theatre, in which there were only a handful of stand out performances, With many being totally off key, although I accept that may have been the sound quality, which was awful in parts. Felt sorry for the competitors on Sunday!

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Posted

Wow! just peered round DDs shoulder to see she was watching Vale Dance's group ballet from Copellia (excuse my lack of ballet terms????). Looks like a wonderful school from the 2-3 minutes I saw of it!

Posted

How do dance schools get to compete? I've watched some amazing performances, and like other posters, some that are not so amazing. I was wondering what the criteria was, or can any dance school enter?

Posted

I think maybe the standard is variable in terms of different countries - England (& a few Scotland yay!) seem to be dominating tap, modern and Greek tonight was awesome, and places like Portugal have great ballet. I think overall the sections I've watched have been fabulous, the modern/jazz groups were great & I was blown away by some of the choreography & how clean it was! And that while some pieces have extreme flexibility & tricks etc, there is refreshingly award winners with age appropriate actual dance content! The award winners have all been of a great standard. One of the national solos, I think mini, she did a Russian dance - wow!!!

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Posted

I would like to see that 2littledancers. Is there a way of finding certain sections to watch that were missed? I watched a bit more this evening. I thought the ballet group that won, I think they were from Portugal, were really lovely. The greek solo;s were impressive as well. 

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Posted (edited)

While it all looks fun, I always wonder about these competitions with children who are being pushed so much and 'hothoused' when a career as a dancer is essentially an adult career (apart from a few roles). Children rarely get long term, full time work as a professional dancer so why should we expect them to be mini professionals? What's wrong with taking time to develop their dancing? Or gradually building up strength, flexibility, technique and artistry as a young dancer develops and matures physically, cognitively and emotionally?!

 

I understand the performance experience of dance competitions is valuable, and seeing others do well outside of ones own dance school can sometimes spur young dancers on to become more motivated, but when does it become too much?

 

By the way - I don't mean to be critical or offensive to any of the competitors of the competition. I have several teacher colleagues there with students who are very talented and hard working and I do commend them.

Edited by drdance
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Posted

I agree with the comments about the widely differing standards in some categories. This can partly be accounted for by the fact that some schools (like my DD's) let absolutely everyone from the school dance in their various groups - it's not just the most talented who are invited to take part. Therefore you have dancers of different abilities (but who are the same age) who join up together to compete. It may not produce the very best dance, but it ensures that everyone feels part of the event and supports each other.

 

Also each dancer is only allowed to compete in a maximum of 2 solos - even if they qualified for the final in several different classes. Often it's not easy for them to choose which 2 to dance, but it means that other dancers are given the opportunity to dance their solos.

 

I must admit I'm not a huge fan of dance competitions - I believe they do not bring out the best sides of human nature in some cases! But parts of this event are really great. After each couple of classes, all the competitors gather on the stage, loud music is played and the dancers and audience join in singing and dancing. It's quite different to other dance festivals I have been to!

Posted

We have been twice before but chose not to this year, although DD's school are there competing.

 

Its a lot of fun and we enjoyed our time as part of Team England. It's a great opportunity to meet dancers from different countries and lovely for dancers who normally compete against each other to come together and compete as a team.

 

Personally we wouldn't go again, but that is because DD is doing different things and our money is being channeled in another direction. It is very expensive, not just in the travel/accommodation costs, but the entry fees are too. I think if you are in a 'festival' school and that is your 'thing' its a lovely competition and a great experience. Its not going to particularly develop you as a dancer apart from in performance experience.

 

I have been watching the live screen and don't think the standard this year is as high as it was last year in Romania, the year before in Portugal the standard was even higher. Team England is a huge team of high standard dancers, who enter the maximum number or dancers in most classes. A lot of other countries don't do this, some seem to be specialists in certain styles rather than having an all round good team. This is why England do so well as the team is very diverse.

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Posted

Dance schools submit videos & a panel chooses who goes through I think.

 

It's quite expensive to go I gather.

Thanks.

 

we've found out that we know one of the English girls who won a gold with her team ( I don't know what for though! ) and her dance school has a very strong festival squad with only the best asked to join, and it always sounds very pressured.

 

Our dance school encourages anyone who wants to have a go, to join the festival team and have some fun but I doubt we'd ever consider this!

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Posted

I have heard that too Pixiewoo. My DD goes to school with a girl that is there with her dance school and she says lots of negative things about the pressure and bullying at her dance school. My DD.s dance school only do small local festivals and they are open to all children to join in with. I think that is much healthier.

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Posted

The thing with competitions of all kinds, is that it depends so much on how the participants (and their teachers and parents) view things. Something like this could be a wonderful chance to meet new people from all kinds of different cultures and enjoy a common interest - a kind of Scout Jamboree for dancers I guess - or it could be a cut throat nightmare. It really depends on how the experience is viewed by the involved adults, and how they pass their feelings on to the children I think. I don't think competitions are inherently wrong. In fact I think learning to deal with Kipling's "two imposters" is a key life skill and one that can be well learned at such events. But I have met some people with very bad attitudes at competitions, and I think it's them that create the problems, not the competitions themselves.

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Posted

I agree. I worry that the children may be set up for disappointment however. Telling a child that they are 1st, 2nd, 5th best in the world etc, at such young ages, is not entirely true in these cases, just in the group that they are competing with (and that qualified at that time), which can be as small as 4/5 groups/individuals and as big as 30, but its still not truly a representation of the best talent in the 'whole world'. I'm certainly not taking away from the massive achievement and commitment it's taken to get there, and proud posts and joyous kids make me really happy as we should celebrate everyone's success, especially children's. However I have seen others that are phrased in a way that make me worried for the children as they grow older once they realise that they perhaps are not the best in the world and the huge reality shock/pressure that puts on the child. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm always telling my dd, wherever she is training and whatever she accomplishes, that she should be confident but that there is always someone better, that she can always improve and that she should always be modest and never boastful. Hope that doesn't sound harsh on anyone else, or my own dd, just my opinion xx

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Posted

No it's not associated with All England but many of the same schools participate . And the organiser for Team England runs an All England affiliated festival .

If you can take the time to watch the mini and children's Gala , it's well worth a watch . The standard was incredible across all genres of dances that were performed . You can find this link on the DWC website and is available to view on demand .

When it comes to cost and expenses.... Yes it can add up , but that depends on a number of factors ie how long you stay ... Where you eat ... How many of your family go etc etc . But my DD raised every single penny it cost to go from doing cake sales , obtaining sponsorship etc so I can only commend her .

Yes , it is a competition and yes it does involve children but to me life is a competition and I believe events like these enable children's confidence to grow and able these children to learn a huge amount of others skills .

Yes it may not be a true reflection of the 'best ' in the world , but I'm sure a 100 metre runner still wins a race even if Yusain Bolt isn't running !!

All I have witnessed over the last 6 days has been positive and the party last night was a true reflection of what the competition is supposed to be about , and that is all nations uniting together through the love of dance .

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Posted

Yes , it is a competition and yes it does involve children but to me life is a competition and I believe events like these enable children's confidence to grow and able these children to learn a huge amount of others skills .

Yes it may not be a true reflection of the 'best ' in the world , but I'm sure a 100 metre runner still wins a race even if Yusain Bolt isn't running !!

All I have witnessed over the last 6 days has been positive and the party last night was a true reflection of what the competition is supposed to be about , and that is all nations uniting together through the love of dance .

 

Well said 2littledancers, i agree with you. 

 

Every step of our children's dance experience is competitive in some way even if its only in class when the considered more able dancers take an exam first or get a better position in a school show dance. Its the very nature of the dance world and to succeed our children need to get used to it. Dance is very subjective, what one teacher/examiner/adjudicator thinks will not always be the same as the next. Every audition they attend for associate places, youth ballet performances, vocational school places are competitions. Unless they dance purely for pleasure each one of them at some point will experience small successes and failures. Dance is not as clear cut as winning/loosing a tennis or football match. 

 

To celebrate our children's successes whilst keeping their feet on the ground and their expectations in check is the key. They may be 'World Champion' in one dance (or more if they are lucky) but equally will not be placed in another and yes I agree that maybe the 'best' in the world will not be competing at that time, but these children have worked incredibly hard to achieve their position on Team England. As the old saying suggests 'You've got to be in it to win it' any English school can apply, festival or non festival. 

 

The emphasis of Dance World Cup is very much on the 'Team' these children know they are competing for their countries team, they have received a letter from the Queen congratulating them on past successes. Lets hope Team England once again bring home the Dance World Cup.

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Posted

Just out of interest, how many countries are taking part? I feel like Australia, China, Japan etc all dominate at big ballet competitions - do they send younger dancers to competitions like this too?

Posted

Thanks 2littkedancers. I wasn't sure as the Federation of festivals logo is on the dwc website.

 

I watched live streaming on and off but couldn't watch as much as I wanted to unfortunately.

 

I loved a contemporary trio from vale dance but agree with some others about the standard being pretty mixed in some sections.

 

We moved away from a Competitve school as in my opinion the competition team ruined the culture of teaching, not just confined to the competition team rehearsals but the favouritism, mum-politics, bullying teaching style, impact on syllabus work, shows and lack of freedom to do other things.

 

The competition team were seen as 'the elite' and within that group and outside of it, things just became an emotional hot mess!!

 

However, we love a good competition :) it's so much nicer right now to attend a non-competing school and do comps independently even though it's just a few solos/duets.

 

DD can do her own choreo, which she loves, bring in paid help from teachers or choreographers of her choice (within budget) and not be committed to endless rehearsals, crazy pressure and the ridiculous drama that went with it.

 

We are starting to really enjoy competing as no longer tucked away in changing rooms and can watch a lot of events, make friends, and get some fantastic feedback.

 

There's no 'hot housing' going on here drdance :)

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Posted

I managed to watch some more of it. The portuguese dancers were amazing and really raised the standard. I have a feeling that they probably belong to full time ballet schools.There are far more entries from England compared to other countries so I imagine they will win overall. I have enjoyed watching although I struggled to sit through the Hip hop and street dance last night.

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Posted

Yet again though its major activity during term time (and around end of year exams at that). I expect a lot of dance schools would be put off by that as they know many of their dancers would not be able to get the time off school

Posted

Yet again though its major activity during term time (and around end of year exams at that). I expect a lot of dance schools would be put off by that as they know many of their dancers would not be able to get the time off school

Only in the UK - Most American (North and South) schools are all finished now, it would be amazing to see some kids from USA, Cuba, Mexico etc

Posted

Hello everyone, we're Club Wow and we provide the media, live streaming, photography and video on demand services for the Bloch Dance World Cup. We're really interested to know your feedback so we can improve our services. Please let us know :)

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