Competitive Dancer

Five Things You Should Know about Being a Competitive Dancer by Kaila Flores

Your life mainly consists of dancing and breathing. -Depending on how many dances you are in, you spend at least 5 hours a week at the dance studio. I used to spend 41 hours a week at my past studio. Even if I would have a practice cancelled I would always practice at home because it was like a built-in routine for me. Every morning when I was getting ready I would stretch and listen to my music for all the dances I had. When competitions start, that’s when you basically give your life to dance. I remember being pulled out of school early for mandatory practices. During every one of my classes we stretched all 3 splits. While I was sitting in my splits, I would do homework. Everywhere I went I was dancing instead of just walking.

The dance

-Since you do spend most of your time at the studio, you start to know every dancer and parent and faculty member of the studio. You create strong bonds with your teammates and see them as your family. Once I accidentally called my instructor ‘mom’ because I spent so much time with her.

You become very limber with serious leg muscles. -No matter what type of dancing you do, you will gain muscle. Dance conditioning is crucial for most people because you need to be limber. Not only do you have to be limber, but you need to be able to be sharp or fluid with certain moves. You have to be well-rounded.

It is not cheap..at all! -Not only do you have to pay for regular classes, but you have to pay for all of the necessities a dancer needs. You have to have the proper shoes, proper clothing, costumes, competition entrance fees, hair products, makeup, and props(depending on whether the dance includes a prop or not). There are lots of extra payments that have to be made for competitive dancing. I remember hearing my mom telling the other moms that we spent over $2,000 on dance alone in just ONE