FAQs

Q Are you for real?
Very much so. We realize that dance competitions can be a lot of fun,
but have always felt that they could somehow be a much more fulfilling
experience. We want to teach our children and yours to look beyond the
trophy, and that doing one’s best at something you love is the true
measure of a champion. We also wanted them to realize that whatever
gifts or talents you are blessed with do not reach their true potential
until they are used to help others. So we decided to put those ideas
together and create a competition where all entrants dance for a
charity. (Ok, so this idea “came to us” while watching a bunch of
celebrities playing for charity on “Celebrity Poker.”) The time to
do this is now. Many non-profits are struggling right now in this
uncertain economy. If we can funnel $150,000 a year or better of dance
competition entry fees to organizations that will put it to good use, we
will really be making a difference, while teaching our children life
lessons that are far more important than a perfect pirouette, a
sensational saut de basque, or a tip top time step.(The preceding
sentence courtesy of “Corny Writing 101”, Tuesdays & Thursdays,
1-3pm, Professor Heddlebacker) We’ve assembled an UNBELIEVABLE group
of associates who believe as we do in harnessing The Power of Dance. So
yes, Virginia, The Power of Dance is very much for real.

Q So some charity will get $5,000 at each event? Will there be just one winner?
Not necessarily -- the $5,000 Grand Prize is based on a full weekend. If
we only have enough entries for a full one day event, we’ll have a
donation of $2,500. (I’d walk you through how we arrived at that
figure, but the math might be over your head. It’s pretty complex.)
Shorter events would generate less, but never less than $1,000. In
addition to the main prize, the charity of any studio that has entry
fees totalling $3,000 or more will automatically receive an extra $100
and we plan to make additional donations of our own choosing, searching
out local causes where possible. So there could be quite a few charities
that receive donations at each event, and the total money raised at each
location could well exceed $5,000. (But that’s only if studios
register! You’re coming, right?)

Q Is this strictly a charitable event, or will there be cash prizes for
the dancers?
In addition to the donations made to the various charities involved, we
will be awarding cash prizes to top scoring soloists, duos, trios, small
groups, large groups and productions in various age categories. Please
see our rules for further details. We’re exactly like a “normal”
competition, except we hope to divert a whole bunch of money each year
to places where that money can do some good.

Q So your competition really is different?
Absolutely not. Every competition out there claims to be
“different,” so if we were different we would really be the same. So
I guess we consider ourselves “the competition that is the same,”
which of course makes us different. But you didn’t hear that from me.

Q You’re not very smart.
No. No I’m not.

Q Are your judges all going to be Broadway performers, who might not necessarily know what skills a nine year old should have mastered?
Hey, watch it! You often hear that “celebrities” coming in to
competitions don’t make good judges. But we’ve gathered a select
group that seriously know their stuff, and have impeccable training and
credentials. They’ve made it to the top of their profession, and their
comments will be invaluable to your students. That said, there will
probably only be one Broadway Veteran judging at each event. The other
two judges will be drawn from an equally qualified pool of experienced
dance teachers and judges.

Q Will they be teaching Master Classes?
With the amazing staff/faculty we have, we do want to incorporate Master
Classes into our program, but we will just start with select cities this
year.

Q How exactly do you determine the highest scoring studio?
We will average the five highest scoring groups under age 13 and the
five highest scoring groups aged 13 and up from each studio. If your
studio has less than 10 dances, you will be put in the “Supergroup”,
which will dance for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or a local cause
if one can be found.

Q What’s the deal with the Pizza Party thing?
Glad you asked! We take teaching good sportsmanship pretty seriously,
and have sometimes felt that the Sportsmanship Award was given either to
the studio with the most entries or as a sort of consolation prize to a
studio that didn’t win anything. Well, we’re leaving the selection
of the Sportsmanship Award up to YOU! Each studio will have two votes
for the Sportsmanship Award, and the Studio exuding the Best
Sportsmanship will receive a Pizza Party courtesy of The Power of Dance.
In the event of a tie, our backstage crew will cast the deciding votes.
So if you are in reality a nasty, unpleasant person, at least pretend to
be nice around the crew. Or no pizza for you.

Q Why do fools fall in love?
I wish I knew. (Note from Kevin’s wife, Lorinda -- You just have to
read this once. THIS IS WHAT I LIVE WITH.) (Note to self from Kevin -
figure out how to make a password so Lorinda can’t come in here and
add stuff.)

Q Is the competition adjudicated? (In other words, will
everybody get “Gold”?)
The Power of Dance will NOT be adjudicated. We will be announcing first,
second, third, etc.. in each category.

Q What???? Are you insane???
Well, that depends who you ask, although I’m fairly certain that the
general consensus would be “yes.” But we have watched with
bemusement over the last few years as “bronze” has disappeared,
“silver” has become an insult, and Double Platinum has swept the
land. I’m sure you’ve all been at competitions where dancers with
huge differences in skill level all received “gold.” And we were
once at a studio owner meeting at a competition where an owner flat out
said “if we ever got a bronze we would never come back.” So the
motivation for a competition not wanting to give ANYONE a low score is
obvious. (Cha-ching.) But what we want to know is this -- why do we have
to know the score of every dance? Why does some poor child have to
suffer the humiliation of having it announced to all assembled that
theirs was the lowest scoring dance? And does giving everyone a
“gold” make that any better? Of course not --the kids usually have
some idea about how well they really did, and seeing a group of dancers
with much poorer technique receive the same score as you is extremely
frustrating.

So what we plan to do is this -- we will announce approximately the
highest scoring two thirds of each category.(Age 9-11 Lyrical Duo/Trio,
for example.) 15 dances we announce the top 10. Ten dances, we announce
the top six. If there are only three dances, however, we will announce
first, second and third. (See Rules for more detail.) Make no mistake --
everyone will receive their critique and a score, its just that we will
not announce them all.

An added benefit -- you won’t have recreational dancers and
competitive dancers each seemingly getting the same medal. They will
simply be competing against other members of their same training level.

We may indeed be insane to be doing this, and the fact that virtually
EVERY other competition out there gives each dance a trophy and a medal
placing is a little frightening.Time will tell, but we believe in our
hearts that this system is best for the kids.

Q Wait, no trophies?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn’t say that! Rather than give a trophy to each
dance to gather dust at the studio, we will give one trophy to each
dancer at each event, which will bear their name and read “Today I
danced not for applause, but for a cause.” For those that finish
first, second, etc.., there will be placement ribbons. For the overalls,
there WILL be plaques and trophies. We also plan to recognize dancers
with special judge’s awards.

Q Is The Power of Dance a non-profit organization?
No, but we may go that route in the future. Right now we just do not
need that kind of paperwork in our lives! We do have an Advisory Board
of professionals from the non-profit arena to help guide us. Check our
Who’s Who page to view their credentials.

Q Anything else I need to know?
Well, as you can probably tell, we take ourselves very seriously and do
not like to have any fun. I, personally, have the strength of ten men
but the stamina of a two-year old, and I utilize only chocolate-scented
ink. I wrote the songs that make the whole world sing, and I am woman,
hear me roar. (Well, I am not really woman, but I hereby reserve the
right to roar none the less.) I glow in the dark, but not brightly
enough to read by. Newton’s laws of motion do NOT apply to me.

Q Okaaaaay. I’m going to go now.
That would probably be best.