Skylar started dancing with a local company a year ago. She absolutely loves it, lives for it. The child dances 98% of her day. She is more likely to kick you in the face practicing a dance pose or stretch than look you in the eye. She moves constantly, even during movie time, she literally can’t sit still. She is also very good. Naturally talented and graceful. I like to say that I “knew since she could walk she was a dancer…” and it’s actually true. Of course, you never know if your vision for your children will match their own, but I certainly saw the grace and form in her to be amazing. And I was right, she is! I have invested allot of time lately considering allowing her to move into competitive dance, and comparing the cost between dance as we know it and competitive dance. Right now she has one regular class per week, and stays after for 45 minutes of acro. As you can imagine given her love of constant movement, she really loves acro. My initial comparison figures were apx. $1,250 we pay now (by the skin of our friggin teeth I might add) vs $2,400 for competition, taking into consideration additional costume fees, Company fees and competition fees. That’s a big leap in price and does not include private lesson fees of $30 per lesson if she is chosen for special dances (which is completely determined by the Company, including lesson schedule and frequency), travel expenses to the competitions, or account for my time off on the Fridays of those weekends….or the necessary commitment of my time in general to do all this. I felt confident that my calculations were a thorough enough assessment of the costs involved. However, after I worked those basic numbers I read a long informative blog post from a seasoned “dance Mom” regarding the expense, specifically all the ones that you don’t know are coming until you’ve experienced that life…crazy! Her daughter’s first year of competitive dance cost $8,500 (her basic tuition costs were higher though, by about $1,000) and her kid only had 2 dances in the competitions! Each dance costs an entry fee, which I was estimating would be apx $165 bottom end (assuming she would be chosen for 3 group dances only, trios are double the price and solos are 3 times the price), but for this lady and her kid it was more like $250. Much of that total cost for her was one trip to a competition that fell on 4th of July weekend, due to inflated hotel expenses and the like the travel expenses were $3,000…again, my figure above does not include those expenses because I don’t yet know what they will be. I was fully prepared to let Skylar wow our Dad’s with her skills at the recital, which I cannot deny she has in spades, then hand them a copy of my cost estimate with a “since you think I should let her do this, we are gladly excepting donations” speech…but after much thought and deliberation, I’ve decided not to allow her to compete, but that decision has very little to do with the cost. To begin with, I want her to love dance long term. I just know in my heart she is meant to do this. I don’t want to push her at such a young age, or allow others too, past the point of enjoying it. I want her to continue dancing, but also focus on academics. I want her to have time for homework, which is a struggle on the one night a week she dances now. Kids need sleep, and in order for her to have a decent bedtime and get plenty of rest, she must get her homework done early…she can’t do that on dance days. On a normal day she is home by 4 p.m. and has time to wind down and play a little before sitting down with her homework before dinner. On dance days she doesn’t get home until 7 p.m. or later…past play time, homework time and even our normal dinner time! I have no doubt that she COULD do it, but I think its important for her to keep those grades up without so much of a struggle. Not to mention enjoying just being a kid, with normal playtime building forts and getting dirty. I also want her to have other experiences, such as volleyball or soccer. Maybe even cheer leading, which is similar to dance but she wouldn’t have time for both. After much research, I’ve concluded that a childhood career in competitive dance may be beneficial in terms of simple experience and practice, but the competition aspect will not give her an advantage whatsoever toward a future as professional dancer. If she is decides to attend an actual dance school or college, she will be judged on her audition and current abilities regardless of her background. I find it extremely hard not to want to show her off, allow her to shine in competition as my chest swells with pride. It’s hard to ignore comments like “she is so good, you have to let her compete…” But I prefer for her to love it and learn slowly, building her skills in preparation for a real future…maybe even Julliard, because yes, she is that good. Or she will be.
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