Showstopper Results

What a busy, but fabulous day we had yesterday at the Regional Phoenix Showstopper Dance competition. The highlight of the day for us was winning over-all awards in our age groups. Sean and Savannah won the overall award for recreational 8 & under (Average age) with their Mexican Polka “Norteno” performed with their Folklorico class. Suzanne won the overall trophy for 20 and over competitive with her song and dance routine to “New York, New York”.

We were busy all day long. We arrived at the theater a little after 7:30 am for Savannah’s first performance with her Polynesian class at 8:15. Next up was Sean and Savannah’s clogging routine with their class at 9:15. They were thrilled to receive Gold Awards for both of these routines. The judges seemed to be scoring more strictly this year, and consequently we saw more silver awards given out to other competitors than ever before.

My Aunt Maureen and Uncle John arrived with his sister a little before noon, in time for Savannah’s “Power Hour”. Between 12:00 and 1:00 she performed the above mentioned, overall winning “Norteno” routine, her lyrical class dance to “I Call Your Name”, and that same classes jazz dance to “I Want Money”. She then had a bit of break until her large “Happy Feet” tap routine to “Hit Me Up” from that movie’s soundtrack. They performed that number with the older girl’s tap class. Aunt Marueen and Uncle John said they really enjoyed seeing the kids dance. I enjoyed chatting with my Aunt and Uncle about the competition, the kids activities, and how they are growing up so quickly.

They had awards for that session at 2:45. Again, the kids were thrilled to receive Gold Awards for all their performances, because they saw quite a few silvers being given out. After those awards they had to rush over to room two to see me perform my Song and Dance. I enjoyed watching the other ladies from my studio perform in the same session. Alma Dolores International Dance Center is one of the few studios that not only offers adult classes, but encourages them to compete at the Showstopper competitions. Some of us are moms that just enjoy doing the whole competition experience with our kids. Others are young adults that have chosen dance as a hobby.

Following my awards session at 4:50, the kids performed their Solos. First up was Savannah with her song and dance. I was actually impressed with her improvement in her singing over the last year. There were still a few rough spots in her performance, but I really liked her overall energy and expression. Sean was up next with his first ever Clogging Solo. He did an outstanding job with both his technique and expression. Steve thought he needed more levels in his expression, and not just a solid smile. Sean got a lot of hoots from girls in the audience. Most of the competitors are girls and they really like to see guys compete.

Savannah made a quick change between her two dances and came back to the stage right after Sean to perform her Hip Hop routine. Again, she showed a lot of expression and personality, and really made a connection with the audience and the judges. Before they could find out their scores for this session, Mama Suzanne still had one more performance with her Folklorico class. The teen/adult class, like the children’s folklorico class, did a routine to a song from the Norteno region of Mexico. The routine, “Tololoche”, featured lots of stomping and hopping to this rousing Mexican Polka. After this performance, we went out for a fun family dinner, and then headed back to the group awards, during which the Teen/Adult folkloric routine received a Gold Award.

At 11:00 they started the awards session for the kids solos. Savannah and Sean received all Gold Awards for their routines, with Sean’s clogging routine scoring highest with a third place over all award. We got back to the hotel around Midnight.

What an exhausting but rewarding day!!! Looks like we’ll be doing all of this again in July at the National Competition in Anaheim. When complete results are available from the competition, I will post them along with some photos from the weekend.