Why this year I said "Yes" to competitive dance.

So I wrote a long and well thought out post last year about why I said “NO” to competition dance for Skylar. Several things have changed since then, which led me to saying yes this year.

Going in to middle school this year meant she had more opportunities for sports, and she put lots of thought into the things she would like to choose as extracurricular. She ultimately decided that she would not have time to do both dance and another sport, like cheer or soccer, and she wanted to keep dancing.

While not something that would scar her for life, all of her best friends are on the competition team, so she has often felt left out. Last year at the recital she was in a dressing room all by herself, while all of the competition girls were together down the hall. That sucked. She had a great attitude about it though, which helped soften my resolve, she is a great kid!

At last year’s recital she won a scholarship for her Jazz abilities. It was worth $200, which is only a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme, but it was a testament to her talent and abilities.

One of the biggest deciding factors for me is that both my girls are getting older, and soon we will be faced with summer and after school jobs. One thing I cannot abide is either of them having to take a job at one of the local fast food places here where we live. I have no problem with them learning to work hard for their pittance of a paycheck like the rest of us. What I cannot allow is them to be treated badly for the sake of earning that dime, bullied and spoken down to for a dollar. What I’ve seen of the treatment of the kids working around here is horrendous. When a young friend came crying to me about it a few years ago I knew immediately my girls would never work in one of those places because they deserve to be treated with respect. I want them to learn that they deserve to be respected, even if they are working a minimum wage job. What I realized this year about the dance studio is that the young ladies who have risen the ranks through the dance classes are now going to college and teaching dance at the studio they grew up in. They are loved, respected and at home with their dance family. And they were allowed and encouraged to start helping around the studio after school years ago, when they were not much older than Skylar. I can definitely feel comfortable with that kind of potential as a short term future for her. The icing on our competition dance cake, though? The owner of the studio called me the day of auditions. I was not even aware auditions were to be held that day because it was completely not on my radar, I hadn’t paid attention. But she called. She told me that Skylar was so very talented, and she felt that with the guidance and experience she would get as a part of the competition team would be extremely beneficial for her, and the sky is the limit for what she could accomplish…pun intended I think.

I had 2 hours to make a decision and deliver her to the studio if we were going to do it. My mind was racing the whole time. I knew she wanted to do it, but we had never discussed it as an option for NOW. In fact, we had agreed that if she did well in her first year of middle school I would do whatever I had to do so she could try competition the following year. I called my dad to get his opinion, and after several minutes of discussion he asked the pivotal question: would it make Skylar happy? Ah, happiness. Ok, then, lets go kid! At that point she had one hour until auditions, which she spent in the waiting room of her sisters afternoon appointment stretching and practicing. She was so nervous! Moreover it was the beginning of the new dance season and we hadn’t even made sure her dance gear still fit…it didn’t. But, she wore it anyway and I dropped her off a the studio for an hour and a half audition.

Turns out, my Skyar is so talented that in her first year of competition she skipped the mini and junior companies and was selected to go straight into the advanced company. She has classes every day of the week, often until 8. I spend 3 hours driving the two girls from place to place after work every day and I work on Sunday to pay for her dance tuition. So far I’ve earned the other fees through fundraising, lets hope that continues! Her grades are all A’s for now, and she is finding the time to do homework after school and before dance starts. I look at all of it as my duty to her, and I consider it an honor to support what she loves, and do whatever I can to be the wind beneath her wings and help make her dreams possible.