Members Area

Welcome to the Storm Dance Alliance Members Area

The SDA Members Area is a private area created for current members of performing groups and parents. In here you will find details and required information necessary for a successful Competition Season.

Access to the SDA Members Area is a priviledge. All content is the property of Storm Dance Alliance. Any unauthorized distribution or sharing of the content or access to the Members Area to non-SDA Members or anyone unauthorized by Storm Dance Alliance will be penalized and subject to termination.

The Members Area is a private area for SDA company members and parents only. Please be respectful to your teammates, SDA Staff Members and the studio with the sensitivity of the content provided within the Members Area.

Thank you,
Storm Dance Alliance Management

Dance Competition 101

THERE IS A LOT OF IMPORTANT INFO! YOU NEED TO READ THROUGH ALL OF IT THOROUGHLY.

We are so excited to finally be starting our competition season! If it’s your dancer’s first competition and you find yourself feeling nervous, you may not know what to expect at these events so going in prepared can be difficult. Do not worry, we are here to help you every step of the way. We have some tips and tricks that should help assist you with your exciting, upcoming weekend. Even if you have been doing this for years sometimes a refresher can be helpful.

Packing
Talk to your dancer about packing and organizing his/her things. If she is older or independent, she may not ask for your help. The best way to make sure they aren’t forgetting anything (while giving them space) is to have a physical dancer’s checklist. We have provided one below. It helps if you and your dancer sit down prior to competition and go through the checklist together to make sure you have it all.

Arrival Times
All dancers have an arrival time of 2 hours before scheduled performance time. This time is NOT optional. You must be there at your scheduled arrival time with full hair and makeup done. If someone else is doing something for your dancer you need to schedule to meet before your arrival time.

Parking & Getting In
Lookup parking beforehand. While many venues will have dedicated parking lots, sometimes you’ll have to pay or resort to street parking/ parking garages. It does not cost to get into the competitions!

Eating at the Competition
Many dance competition venues don’t allow outside food, which can be a pain if their only options are nachos and pizza. Luckily, there are things you can do:

• Check the Schedule
  If there is a long break between your dancer’s performance times, you may have time to run out and grab a healthy option. If not, try to coordinate with other moms or dads beforehand.
• Pack Healthy Snacks in Your Dancer’s Bag
  Eating a huge meal between dances might not be a good idea anyway as it can make your dancer sleepy. Instead, snack on fruit, veggies and bits of protein throughout the day.
• Snack Table
  Our studio will be doing a snack table - Separate email will be coming out later explaining this.

At the Competition

• Seating
  Dance Competition seating is always theater seating. Seats are not assigned. People are able to sit wherever they please. However you may NOT reserve any seats.
• Dressing Rooms
  Where we are located for dressing rooms will be sent out via our remind text system! If your dancer is 10 years old or under you are allowed to be in the dressing room to help with costume changes, however if your dancer is 11 years old or older parents are NOT allowed in the dressing room. NO EXCEPTIONS! This is a studio wide rule. We have done this year after year, and we have found it is very helpful on the dancers during competition. Too many parents can be overwhelming and it also helps teach the dancers a new level of responsibility and being independent.

Awards
All dancers must stay through their awards! We do check when they are up there too make sure everyone is there so do not try to leave before. Warmups must be worn for awards ceremonies. Each teacher will select one dancer from the group to go up and get the award for that competition. It is their responsibility to hold onto the trophy/pins/ribbons/medals/ until the following week of classes where they will bring them back and place them in each dancers mailbox from that group. We have a lot of dancers and will spread it out as much as possible - but it is impossible to get to everyone. We do our best. Please remember that we are proud of dancers no matter the score or placement. It is a competition - not everyone can win! Please be supportive and cheer for all of our dances as well as clapping for all studios. There dancers have worked just as hard as ours to be on that stage.

Parent Etiquette
Your dancer has worked hard to prepare for competition. They’ve worked on their technique, learned their dances, cleaned their routines, and worked on conveying a story or mood for each dance. They’ve put in the time and done what they need to do to represent themselves and their studio in a positive way. They are ready and excited for a successful weekend, but what can you do to contribute to the success of your weekend?

1. Prepare – Whether it’s a local competition or an out of town convention/competition, start checking things off your list no later than the weekend before the competition. A little planning ahead will decrease your stress level.
2. Read All The Communication From The Studio – It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the email that may be filling your inbox, don’t miss important details or save the dance emails to read later – read them immediately and make notes or screenshot any important details.
3. Be On Time – Allow yourself plenty of time to arrive at the venue. Be respectful of when the Studio Owner has asked you to be there. Don’t assume it’s too early and make up your own arrival time. If there are any final details that need to be worked out with dances, or perhaps a dancer is unable to perform, this is valuable time for the team. Part of being a good teammate is not stressing your team out. If you’ve ever been in a dressing room when a group is waiting for a dancer to arrive, you can see the stress on their faces. Decreasing the stress of the team is always beneficial.
4. Show Your Support To Everyone From Your Studio As Well As Other Studios – If you can arrive to watch the younger dancers, awesome try to do so – they love it. If you have a younger dancer and can stay to catch some of the older girls performances, that’s great too. If your child is competing a solo, duet/trio, he/she will be competing against her teammates – support them all. It is unavoidable that someone is going to place the highest and someone else the lowest of the group. Someone will be thrilled and someone else may feel like it was the worst day ever – yes, it’s a competition that’s what it’s about, but some of the stress is alleviated when all the parents are supportive of all the dancers.
5. Be A Positive Reflection Of Your Studio – Dancers may wear the team jacket, but if a parent has an attitude, it is a reflection of your studio. Be kind. Be patient. Be flexible. Breathe and it will all be okay. It’s supposed to be fun – and at the end of the day, it is a dance competition – a day to spend time with people who are supporting their children who happen to love being on stage just like your child. Never talk about other studios, dances, dancers, costumes, etc. It is unacceptable.
6. Refrain From Coaching and Critiquing – A group of dancers don’t want to hear from anyone’s parent something they could have done differently or something that looked “off”. Let the teachers handle that.
7. Have Fun – Enjoy the other parents, families, dancers. It’s fun – competitions are so much fun and talking and enjoying your fellow parents also makes your dancer feel like you are a part of things and enjoying yourself.
8. Be Understanding – if your child, tween or teen – has a “moment” of exhaustion, attitude, sorrow, frustration etc. At some point it’s going to happen – learn to read his/her body language and decide what works best for the two of you as a team. Do they need space, is it better for another friend to help, is it better to let them vent etc. etc. Probably the worst thing you can do is make a scene and upset them to the point that they lose focus on what they are there to do – perform to the best of their ability on that day. If you don’t like something about their behavior, a conversation later that evening in the hotel room or on the drive home may be a better place to address that.
9. Be Helpful – If there is a mom having a hard time don’t be afraid to step in and offer to help out, whether they are from our studio or not. We are all in the same position and could use a little help once in awhile. Be the one who offers to bring a teacher or some of the moms coffee or lunch etc. If someone forgets something, happily jump in and offer to help. Last year, we had dancers tights rip right before going on stage and some of the girls quickly ran to the dressing room to bring her one of their pairs so the team would not get deductions for ripped tights. They didn’t have to do that, but that swift offer to help was awesome! Be awesome.

At the end of the day, we all have our moments, we are not perfect, but a little preparation and a positive attitude can go a long way in contributing to the success of your dance competition season! If you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask!

Please email any questions you may have to me, Brook Langkan, at [email protected] or call the studio at 630-554-1772.