Dear Future Competitive Dance Team Member and Parents of Dance
Team Members:
All About Dance is excited to offer its dancers an opportunity to participate
in a competitive dance team. As a member of the team, dancers will
participate in dance conventions, compete in dance competitions, perform
in our annual showcase performances at a company level, and perform at
other venues during the year.
Competition dance requires a high level of commitment from both the
dancer and the parents. It is also a significant financial expense. This
packet will set forth the expected commitment, a tentative schedule and
expected expenses associated with being a member of the AAD
competition team. Please take the time to review this carefully before
making a commitment to become involved.
EXPECTED COMMITMENT
1. TIME. Our 2013-14 competition season will start in the Fall 2013 and run
through mid-July of 2014. Dance team members are asked to commit to
this ENTIRE competition season when they sign on to be a competition
team member. As you can see from the tentative schedule below, some
national competitions may be as late as mid-July. If we are going to take
competing seriously, we need to have our full team for all competitions.
We appreciate that this may mean missing the first session of overnight
camp, a family trip or other summer activities. So, please seriously
consider whether you are able to make this kind of commitment.
2. ATTENDANCE. The most important issue for team members is
attendance. We expect dancers to attend all competition related classes,
rehearsals and performances. While we understand that on occasion
unexpected things do happen – a dancer gets hurt or there is a family
emergency – we expect dancers to make attendance their highest priority.
It is not acceptable to miss a class or event for a birthday party, another
family member’s sporting event or other social engagement. If you are not
there, the whole team suffers. If you miss class, you are not improving your
skills, and you will fall behind the other dancers on the team. If you miss a
rehearsal, you are not learning the routine, which forces teachers to reteach parts of the routine that you missed. If you are missing at a
performance or a competition, the whole dance has to be restaged. You let
your teammates down when you are not there. It affects everyone’s ability
to give his or her best performance when someone is out of sync. A team is
only as strong as its weakest link.
If a director feels a dancer is falling behind due to missed rehearsals, the
dancer may be asked to schedule a private lesson to catch up. The dancer
will be charged the private rates shown in the rate schedule for any private
make up classes the director may feel necessary for the dancer to catch up.
Dancers may be removed from a team if they have too many absences. No
refunds to your bill will be made if you are removed from a team. If an
understudy is put into a dance because of absences, the understudy will be
able to use any or all previously ordered costume parts purchased by the
absent team member. A dancer’s removal from a team may be permanent
or temporary at the discretion of the choreographer.
If you are involved with other programs that require specific time
commitments, please discuss this with us in advance so we can help you
determine if you can participate on the dance team. Fortunately, most
school programs, including dance teams, cheerleading and sports
programs publish their dates at the beginning of a season so you will be
able to determine the extent of the conflict. Sometimes, we may be able
to accommodate your involvement in these programs. However, if they
will consistently create absences for team commitments, you may have to
make a choice between the AAD Competition team and other programs. If
you are involved with other school or sports programs, we ask that you
schedule a meeting with the directors before signing and returning your
team contract in order to determine if your other commitments will
conflict with our competition program.
3. COSTS. We have outlined the costs associated with our competitive
dance program below. If we decide to do additional competitions or take
on other opportunities, there may be additional costs. If this occurs, we will
discuss the additional costs with the team members and their parents in
advance. We have however tried to include as much information as we can
so that you can make an informed decision about whether you can afford
competitive dance. Again, please review this information carefully so that
you understand the costs that will be involved.
4. SIGNING UP: After you have reviewed this packet and have determined
that you wish to be involved in our Competition Teams for the 2013-2014
year, please bring back the signed paper work and a copy of your birth
certificate (certified copies or original birth certificates are not required.
Just a copy of the birth certificate is satisfactory.) All competitions require
that we have copies of birth certificate available in order to verify age if
there is a dispute at the competition. All paper work must be turned in by
August 29th.
Once we know who would like to participate, we will group the dancers
according to technical ability. Our decisions will be final. We will then send
out additional information about their specific team along with their
rehearsal day and time and what genre they will be focusing on first.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
NUVO
DANCE COMPETITION/CONVENTION
March 21st-22nd (Saturday & Sunday)
Hyatt Regency O'Hare
9300 Bryn Mawr Avenue
Rosemont, IL 60018
(847) 696-1234
Visit Website [GIVE WEBSITE ADDRESS]
NUVO NATIONALS: July 8th – 15th – (specific dates will be
determined if we make it to Nationals)
NEXSTAR:
DANCE COMPETITION (no convention involved)
May 9th-11th; Paramount Theatre – Aurora IL
National Competition:
July 14th-20th (specific dates will be determined if we make it to
nationals)
Hyatt Regency grand Cypress Orlando, Florida
COSTS
There are basically 6 categories of expenses associated with being on a
competitive dance team (1) convention fees, (2) competition fees, (3)
class/rehearsal fees, (4) costumes, (5) travel/hotel and (6) studio
participation fee. While we have done our best to outline these costs
below it is possible that there may be some additional expenses. But, we
hope that this gives you a good basis on which to make a determine if you
can make the financial commitment to participate.
1. CONVENTION FEES
For every convention that we attend, dancers are responsible for
paying a fee to participate which usually ranges from $250 to $400
depending on the age of the participant. The convention fees are
below:
NUVO Local Convention Cost:
Senior/Teen(13-15 yrs) $290
Junior/Mini (7-12 yrs) $265
NUVO Nationals Convention Cost (we will only be attending this
convention if we qualify at the local level):
Teen/Senior: 13+ - $395
Junior: 9-12 -$345
2. ENTRY FEES
For every competition that we enter, there is an entry fee. Most
entry fees for regional competitions are $40 to $50 per dance per
dancer. So if you are in 3 dances, your cost for one competition’s
entry fees will be between $90 and $105. National entry fees are
typically more expensive, usually between $50 and $60 per dance
per dancer. All About Dance plans to attend at least two regional
competitions with 1-3 dances. All About Dance will attend one
National competition in New York City or Orlando Florida provided
all dances qualify!
Fees for the competition are below:
NUVO Competition Cost:
Group Dance: $50/Dance
Solo/Duo/Trio: $125/dance
(We will only compete 1 dance at this Competition)
NUVO Nationals Competition Cost:
$60/group dance
NEXSTAR
Solos: $95
Duets/Trios: $125
Group Fees: $39
3. CLASS/REHEARSAL FEES:
Each Competition Dancer will rehearse for 2 hours per week with their
competition team. They are also required to take all 4 genres within their
companies and it is highly recommended they take the additional
technique class.
Cost of Competition Rehearsal/Year:
$1,370 2 hrs. /Week starting the week of September 30th – July 8th
4. COSTUMES
$75-$125/Costume – At times we will try to re-use old costumes however
you should anticipate purchasing 3-4 more costumes in addition to the 4
recital costumes they will need for company.
The costume cost does not include the cost of shoes, tights, jewelry (same
jewelry worn for all dances), or make-up. Hip-hop shoes or tap shoes are
the most expensive additional item. Most hip-hop or tap shoes tend to run
around $50 per pair; however, they are usually used for multiple seasons if
they still fit. Other shoe types include paws, which run around $18 to $20
per pair, ballet shoes, which are approximately $18 per pair, tights run
approximately $15 per pair. You may need more than one pair, depending
on the color being used for your dance. Sometimes, leotards are used
under costumes. Most leotards are approximately $20 to $30 each.
5. TRAVEL AND HOTEL:
We feel that it is important for everyone to travel and stay together to
bond as a team. We are going to require that everyone sleep at the hotel
during all conventions and competitions. There will be 4 girls per room and
one adult chaperone per 8 dancers. Chaperone room cost will be included
in the dancers room cost. All parents are welcome to stay at the hotel as
well, however, we feel it is important that the girls room together to help
bond as friends. We will assign rooms to the kids based on who we think
will room well together. We will also organize group transportation the
morning of the convention. Whether that means renting a conversion van
or a bus for the kids we want them to travel together. A team that travels
well together dances well together!
The estimated hotel costs are below:
Nuvo Nationals: New York Hilton, NYC (approx. $275/night split between 4
girls
Nexstar Competition: Aurora, IL. Paramount Theatre
Lodging: There is a chance that all of the dancers will compete on 1 day
over the weekend. In that case, no hotel will be necessary. We would only
be splitting the cost of transportation.
Nexstar Nationals: Hyatt Regency, Cypress Orlando, FL
Hotel approx. $250-$300 per night split between 4 dancers ($60-$75 each)
6. STUDIO PARTICIPATION FEE:
Each team member is required to pay a one-time $250 competition team
participation fee by August 29th 2013. This fee will be used to cover the
incidental costs incurred by All About Dance and its directors in connection
with competing. Such costs include local travel expenses, pizza parties,
music, and preparation of music for competition (cutting, etc).
EXPECTED EXPENSES BY EVENT
Cost Breakdown:
Convention/Competition 1: (Nuvo) Approx.: $525-$600
Includes: Convention Fee, Competition Fee, Lodging, Pizza Party,
Teacher/Admin Fee, Chaperone Room Fee, and Transportation
Costume Fees: $150-$300 depending on how many dances they master
Competition 2:(Nexstar) Approx.: $200-$300
(The cost will depend on how many dances we enter/our travel expenses
and if we decide to spend the night at a hotel)
National Competition: (Nexstar/Nuvo) Approx. $1,500-$3.000
(Nationals can last from 3-5 days)
Travel: $300-$400-You will be responsible for booking your own flights
Lodging: $300-$350/night split between 4 girls
Chaperone Lodging: $300-$350/night split between 4-8 girls
Teacher Pay: $1500-$2000/week/teacher-split between the entire
competition team
Convention: $400-$500/dancer
Competition Fees: $75/dance
Cost Schedule:
August 29th - $250 competition fee due
September 16th - $1,370 class fee due
January 5th: Nuvo/Nexstar Competition/Convention Payment Due
May 26th: Nationals Payment Due
We understand that this is a large financial commitment. The financial
commitment all in is approximately $5,000 with the additional classes,
choreography costs, and travel, costume, convention and competition
fees. Although it is a lot of money the experience is definitely a good
one. We promise to keep a healthy attitude towards competition. While
we will always strive for the best and keep our eye on the prize we will
always remember that the journey is most important. The skills and
expertise that will be embedded in the girls will create masters of art and
ultimately leave them better dancers, feeling more accomplished and also
with a vault of unmatchable memories with other dancers shooting for the
same goals sharing the same passion. We do have to note that we will
need a significant amount of company members to participate in order to
from our competition team so we will be notifying all families who would
like to participate if we have enough kids to move forward.
Thank you so much for your love and participation! We look forward to a
great year!!!
Lots of LOVE!
Jessica, Shannon, Claudia and All of our Amazing Company Dance
Teachers!