Amen!
D20 does ballet and competitive dance. While I’ve never any negative feelings toward the instruction part of this activity, I have occasionally thought that the competitive side was a waste of time and money. But after this week, I’m second guessing that thought. One thing that dance competitions and Nutcrackers and summer intensive auditions teach is resiliency. The criteria is quite subjective, and kids learn early on that not winning a competition or not getting into your dream summer program or not being cast as Clara in Nutcracker does not define you as a person nor does it take away from your abilities and accomplishments. Sometimes you don’t get to be Clara because you are just too tall. Sometimes you don’t win the competition because you fall on your backside on a slippery stage. You learn to deal with disappointments all the time.
There is a saying that your audition is one person’s opinion of one moment of your dancing. Perhaps we need to encourage more arts in our children’s educations.