Failing at Dance Mom

I never thought I would be a dance mom. Well, I never thought any of my children might be a dancer or good at dancing. My first daughter took ballet and tap and it was not a great fit. She is a fabulous strong swimmer now. I have two sons and neither of them wanted to try dance at all. My second daughter decided to dance as she loved tumbling. We had a friend who owned a dance studio in town and I actually used to watch her dogs when she had to go to competitions. She told me to get my daughter in one class to see if she liked it. So, we started with a hip hop class. Well, my daughter did like it.

After her first recital she was hooked, she loved her hot pink pants with a black sparkly top to do her hip hop in. She wanted to join the dance company. I, however was new to all this, and wasn't sure how to do the side pony perfect or the perfect bun. Our studio had a meeting for the dance moms to learn to perfect this. We had a list of makeup to purchase, with false eyelashes an option. We had a class to go over the proper way to apply the eyeshadow — gray on lids — maroon highlighter, and dark gray to add on (I'm not sure where). Then we had glitter to add. Glitter glue over the lid and glitter on top. Black mascara and apply the perfect black eye liner with a slight cat eye. Pink or red lipstick depending on the dance. High pony with ponytail as high as possible. High bun also, which has to look perfect, then add a net and pin down with lots of hair spray. Mine never looked perfect. I knew I had a lot to learn when other moms offered to help. At that stage, I pretty much let the pro moms at it. They knew how to do a perfect bump to bun or bump to pony or all of the above and more. Don't get me wrong — some moms even have a spray glitter they use all over the daughters arms and more. We got the perfect large sparkly ear rings, and are good to go.

I never knew there was so much involved. I mean, ladies to go competition with bags that have stools, and pop up into a wardrobe, so they can hang costumes. I did finally get costume bags with each costume so all the things needed can be together at all times. With every costume is different shoes, hair pieces, and some times accessories. The first competition we did had a huge chemistry set that the dance owner had made. It was awesome until we realized we had to lug that to each competition. Competitions are also interesting in and of themselves. The girls are in certain categories based on age and how many hours they dance in a week. Categories consist of jazz, tap, hip hop, open jazz, contemporary, and character. I'm sure I might be missing out on a few of them, and each category can be solo, duets, and small or large groups.

Watching dance teams get together with the faces, hair, costumes, and more is an amazing thing to witness. My daughter loves it. And awards are another bizarre thing to experience. Awards are based on each category and depending on the venue, they have different awards of each. Each child usually gets a pin or ribbon based on their dance. It took me awhile to realize. Then they judge them based on age group, and sometimes based on how many are in their division. Awards can take hours and it is exhausting. You can tell a dancer who has been dancing forever by the pins on her dance jacket. Each competition costs money. The costumes are a cost, the hours dancing a cost, and choreography fees all play in when joining a dance company. Each company differs in how they charge. But, I will say, being in a dance company is no joke. These young ladies learn a lot about being on a team, and hard work. They have injuries like everyone else, and it looks a lot like what I would imagine pageants, but dance companies are only for people who love it. Because if your child doesn't love it — you are not in the right place, at all.

I still struggle with the perfect bun and we have been doing this for several years now — but I know my dancer is learning and growing and enjoying it every step of the way.