#tilt drop

[rebeccalouisenicholson]

Messy room but practice, practice, practice. Ugly face and working on my bad leg

[theartofmakingdances]

Maybe I am an old lady but...

Competition dance... WHAT’S THE DEAL HERE?

Let me start by saying that today (well last weekend now) marks the first day in over a decade that I set foot in a hotel ballroom for the purposes of a dance competition.  As a child, I was a “high silver” medal winner and expert arm waver while other kids in my group were featured doing acro tricks. (Don’t worry, there was a small army of arm wavers, it wasn’t just me.)

Years later, here I am as a mentor to a group of 10ish year old girls doing a sassy jazz/hip hop piece, sitting in the VIP section watching group after group of TINY children skiphop their way onto the stage with duck lips and bra tops. Then, up goes a sea of right legs, one after another, and they reach 180 degrees, before dramatically jerking past 180 another 45 degrees with some contortionist insanity. (Need an example?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id6mdwxfS7Y  Try not to scream.) Extreme technique vs. artistry. A never ending dance battle.

Next, everyone booty pops, shimmies, twerks, and the like until I actually get nervous that these boob-less little children might lose their bras. 

Who teaches these 6 year olds how to dance like they’re in the club?! Who gives them promiscuous choreography and costumes?! WHAT PARENT/JUDGE/STUDIO OWNER IS ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN?!?!?

Maybe I’m just old, and I shouldn’t be shocked considering what is on shows like Dance Moms, but I just have to wonder what happens to these kids after the competitions. 

Then, the scoring. So I mentioned I was a “high silver” medal winner. In my day (here we go with the old lady thing again), It was bronze, high bronze, silver, high silver, gold, and high gold. That’s it. A little silly what with everyone trying to figure out the actual point difference between regular medal and the higher medal, but more or less everyone understood.

Nowadays.. Silver is the lowest. Then comes gold, platinum, and titanium. But really, these are just fancier names for the same things. But the concept is, no kid (nor parent who spent a pretty penny on their lessons and costumes and wasted HOURS upon HOURS of their year revolving around competitions) wants to get a bronze medal. There’s a sense of shame in that. (And unbelievable rage from parents.) So the idea is, everyone is a winner and feels good at the end of the day. Yes! This is great! But this is also terrible! Maybe some kids see through the new names of the medals and are spurred to work harder and improve their technique when they get a silver or a gold, but I am sure many go home satisfied that they are a “gold medal winner”.

To be clear, I am NOT saying dance is about winning, and I am pretty upset with competition dance as a whole. I am saying it’s never a good thing to believe you are already the best you can be. I am saying that a kid shouldn’t be sheltered from a bronze medal like it’s a bad thing. It’s a great thing to get any kind of medal at all. They should learn to appreciate the beauty of the bronze.

It’s mostly all subjective anyway... but still.

I could go on for hours about the politics of the competition dance world, and maybe someday I will, but for now my head needs to stop exploding. Bring on the hate.

[driflloon]

[prettiefaces]

x

[littledancergifs]

[littledancergifs]

[littledancergifs]

[dancedictionary-blog]

Tilt Drop or Drop Tilt

A move where one leg is in a leg extension/tilt position and the upper body moves towards the floor, while keeping the leg in the air.

Examples: x x x