About 140 local dancers will travel to Brookings to perform at the SHINE dance competition at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center on Saturday.
The SHINE dance competition is produced by the Madison Avenue Dance Company in Brookings and offers dancers an opportunity to be video judged.
“All judges are mic’d up during competition, and we hire a professional videographer,” said Brooke Burlage, owner of Madison Avenue Dance Company. “They overlay the video of the routine with the judge’s commentary.”
This creates a helpful tool for dancers to review their critiques, Burlage said.
This judging can be seen in person on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. There is no admission fee to watch the competition, but there will be different opportunities available to support the arts. Concessions will offer soda and snacks, and there will also be two vendors – Hand Tied Floral will be selling flowers and dancer gifts, and JBloom will be selling permanent jewelry and other accessories, Burlage said.
These competitions, “Give (dancers) the chance to take it more seriously, and we see tremendous growth through dancers,” Burlage said.
“Competitions add three to five additional opportunities to perform, and I see our dancers improve their confidence and performance skills,” Kimberly Miller, assistant manager at Madison Avenue Dance Company, said.
With this increased confidence, dancers can focus on storytelling, entertainment or musicality, which takes their performance from good to great, Miller said.
Competitor Laila Hodne, who has been dancing for seven years, has advice to younger dancers who may be competing for the first time.
“Honestly, don’t be super nervous. The best part is having fun,” Hodne said, “If you don’t get first place, it’s OK. It’s about the experience.”
There will be about 75 routines which will fall under the category of team, solo, duo or trio, Burlage said. The routines will be judged by three local judges with extensive competitive dance experience, Burlage said.
“It’s a whole different world than studio or recreational dance,” she added.
Awards are divided by age, category and experience level, so dancers are competing only against those who are of similar skill level, Burlage said. For each category, gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the dancers.
Overall awards are also given. These awards include Broadway Bound, which is a judge’s choice award for the most entertaining soloist and team, Burlage said. Other awards include best costume, best choreography and best music. The highest scoring solo and the highest scoring team will receive the Empire Award.
Winning is not Madison Avenue Dance’s sole focus. Growing and developing skills and friendships that will last is, Burlage said. The dancers “practice every week, so they get to be really good friends and become kind of a tight-knit group.”
From a parent’s perspective, Miller said, “I love getting to watch her personality shine when she performs.” The dancers also develop life skills such as discipline and perseverance, which are valuable for their future careers.
Burlage’s favorite part of this competition is getting to see everything come together – the setup, the video judge software, and the dancer’s performance. It is a great way to showcase the months of hard work that they started in August, Burlage said.