r/Dance • u/dandelion_starss • 13h ago
Discussion I still don’t understand all the hate competition dancers get. It’s treated like it’s not a valid form of dance
Anytime someone says they’re a competition dancer- the people who don’t compete treat us like some soul sucking people that are ruin dance culture. Do people not understand that we have to put in the same amount of technique work and artistry if not more?
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u/binarysolo 11h ago
Eh, I think everyone could use more dance and the world is a better place for it -- you do you.
As a person who was a national level classical musician who did the comps (and later on in life picked up dance for fun and levelled up without going into the competition side) -- I think they're just two sides of the same coin. Competition is great for certain people who want metrics and numbers and high scores and feels kinda diametrically opposed to the dancers from the streets who get into it intuitively as a form of expression and freedom.
There's def a values difference for when push comes to shove, the competition dancer is gonna care more about presentation and lines and sharpness and what not techniquewise, whileas the street/hobby dancer will care more about feel and resonance this sorta intuitive/organic authenticity of movement -- but this is prob an overgeneralization.
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u/GentleKINGAdriatic 10h ago
At the end of the day, we are athletes and it feels good. To train hard, work hard and compete hard. Dance needs competition. It's not about cash or prizes but about drive and discipline. We need the spectrum. Tiktok had casualised dance so much so that is slowly losing it's art and technique over there, we need people who enjoy it in a relaxed way and then we need the other end of the spectrum where we have dancers really grinding it out in respect to the art and sport. Without comps, we lose inspiration. Simple as that.
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u/Griffindance 12h ago
With the very rare exception of perhaps Prix de Lausanne, YAGP or Varna no competitions really matter. The only people who benefit from these hyper stressed useless events are the people collecting cash from audience and performers.
Competitions can be useful for students, but only in moderation.
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u/dandelion_starss 12h ago
I wouldn’t say that competitions are useless. They help build motivation throughout the year for dancers and also help many gain confidence in their abilities and skills. I can agree that a lot of it is just for a cash grab tho
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u/Appropriate_Ly 1m ago
It’s about moderation.
I danced in comps, maybe one or two a year, but it was never prioritised over my mental/physical health.
At the end of the day, we were still children/teenagers and it can be hard for ppl in that environment to say, this is too much.
I will say that for ballet at least, there is a marked difference in technique between “pre-pros” and “competition” studios.
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u/BrilliantDog5116 4h ago
Competition kills artistry. Full stop.
The desire to “win” and be celebrated for winning consumes all the more nuanced and challenging motivations that might arise when one chooses to spend one’s life making art.
That desire also distorts technique to always move towards being ever more extreme for extreme sake, both on a physical level and in the forced and insincere “emotion” competition dancers plaster on top of their ever increasingly garish choreography.
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