Dance Dance Contributions

I am writing in reference to the “Dance Dance Competition” article in the April issue. Although I appreciate any visibility that dance receives in this community, I do not feel this article speaks to the comprehensive nature of dance education available to my students at Summit School of Dance nor to the positive benefits gleaned from the competition experience. Let’s face it, why in this community where education and the arts in general are so valued, would so many students and their parents spend so much time, sweat, and money if the value of the experience was as limited as the article implies?
At Summit School of Dance our students train in a conservatory-level ballet program alongside their competition classes. They are exposed to creative movement, improvisation, and modern dance from a very early age. Instead of participating in “nationals” our students travel during the summer months to study at many prestigious conservatory programs. Last year, four out of the forty-four students attending the Juilliard summer program were Summit students. This year, we have three students heading to Juilliard with an additional student accepted into the freshman class.

Just as in any conservatory program, not all Summit students pursue a career in dance, but they do build skills that translate into valuable assets in the corporate world. The competition dancers incrementally learn how to audition as it is a process they are required to go through each year to make their danceline. They learn to be prepared and thorough, presenting themselves as a complete package, confident and put together in spite of the “butterflies.” The rehearsal process builds team skills and students learn about their strengths/weaknesses, what they bring to the group and how to value what others bring. The ability to perform on unknown stages and having to immediately adjust without a spacing rehearsal is an invaluable skill for a professional dancer, but it also breeds flexibility and confidence in all competition participants.

My students are encouraged to pursue excellence regardless of venue and idiom. Competition dance is a much-beloved venue and something my students share with other dancers. It does serve a social purpose, but it is also an entrée to dance as an art form. By dismissing something so stimulating, and culturally invested, one misses the chance to create openings and bridges between the diverse dance worlds … and we all lose.

Finally, I resent the term “penis points.” I have never heard that reference prior to this article and find it infinitely demeaning and derogatory. I value the fact that I have young men to teach and that those young men enjoy and pursue their ballet training with gusto. They expand the training possibilities for our young ladies and offer me many choreographic options and opportunities. Outside of a competition studio, I have had very little opportunity to instruct male dancers. Thus, my association with Summit has expanded and nurtured my own professional artistic experience.