When Kamille Upshaw arrived at The Juilliard School in 2007, she’d been a competition dancer for a decade. “There was still a bit of a stigma about competition dancers,” says Upshaw, who attended Baltimore School for the Arts and trained at Spotlight Studio of Dance in Millersville, Maryland. “We were seen as being all about […]
While full of excitement and fun, competitions are also mentally and physically taxing. It’s easy to find yourself run down after months of rehearsing and performing for hours on end every week. How can both teachers and dancers keep normal fatigue from turning into burnout? By recognizing the telltale signs and making small but meaningful […]
For many dancers, being part of a competitive team is just a short chapter in a long dance journey. But the personal bonds built at competitions and conventions can last a lifetime. These three pairs of dancers who forged their friendships on the comp circuit show that having a tried-and-true teammate in your corner can […]
With virtual learning and Zoom training as not-so-distant memories, an academic year free of pandemic interruptions is an especially exciting prospect this fall. But as dancers stack their calendars with in-person classes, competitions and social commitments, they may be asking themselves: How much is too much? “Coming out of the pandemic, an unusual number of […]
For decades, the worlds of ballet and commercial dance were considered separate and distinct, with little overlap between the two. This conventional wisdom has been challenged by the success of artists like Tiler Peck, who participated in competitions as a jazz dancer before joining New York City Ballet and becoming one of its stars. Ballet […]
For the first time since the coronavirus hit the U.S., competitions and conventions are meeting in-person once again (brimming with safety precautions, of course), and dancers couldn’t be more thrilled. We asked five standout comp kids about their recent experiences attending competitions around the country—and how they’re taking advantage of these long-lost opportunities. Hailey Bills […]
The competition world is filled with so many talented dancers that for one dancer to stand out, they need something special—not just legs up to their ears or seemingly never-ending turns, but something more. For many comp world standouts, it’s a certain, special confidence: The confidence in what they, and only they, can offer. Dance […]
It’s brave enough as a teacher and choreographer to start your own studio—and Natalie Fritz, studio owner of Tenth Talent in Monroe, NC, has accomplished that at only 19-years-old and during a global pandemic. We asked Natalie Fritz, studio owner of Tenth Talent in Monroe, NC, to share her story and offer some advice to […]