Day 4: Morning Competing

This morning started the main competition. The Shely Pack Dancers were routine #1 competing at 7:30am.  Their first routine was a ballet number called Timelapse.  Here they are meeting up with Miss Grace before doing a quick run through. 

For a group of teens & pre- teens, rehearsing at 6:45am is well, kinda low energy. 

Team picture after competing Timelapse. It was a beautiful number but had a few issues with spacing on the stage & synchronization at certain parts. I still loved it! 

Here is the competition ballroom with the stage and two large screens on either side for those sitting further back. 

After the group number Zoe & Jordan competed their duet Ghost. It looked gorgeous. ❤️ They executed it perfectly in every way. It gave me chills. Not one bit of criticism I could give it. Well done girls!! 👏  So proud of you two. You have worked so hard on this number & it showed. 

This afternoon Zoe competes her pointe variation Giselle & then the team performs Flatline a modern dance number where everyone is a part of the body & Jordan is the heart. ♥️ Can’t wait to see it on stage! 

Until next I blog......

Day 3: Preliminaries, Modern Audition & Opening Night Gala

Such a busy day today with no time to blog. So here I go, power blogging before bed!!  Zoe, Jordan & team competed 3 group numbers in prelims. All 3 scored Platinums which is the highest score you can get. 

Had to start the day with hair & make-up of course! Thank goodness they are at the age where they both do their own make-up! 💄💋

Then a meet up with the team to rehearse. 

Here’s all the girls- Senior, Junior & Petite Company Dancers 

And the moms taking photos. 

First was Ice. An open extended number where they wear little lights on each hand. Very artistic number. 

Here’s Jordan putting her lights on her fingers. 

And Miss Grace having Tegan and Jordan practice the lift Tegan does with Jordan. 

Here’s the group heading back stage for Strings. Such a great dynamic number. Definitely a crowd pleaser! 

Debriefing with Shely & Grace after Strings was done. They really did great. However one of the elastic strings snapped on stage!  Luckily it snapped right on the count where they let it go so from the audience you couldn’t even tell. 

And last for prelims was a contemporary number called California Dream’in. Remake of the classic song with an eerie overtone. It was a subset of the Senior Co. in this number. They danced it beautifully!  

From 5:30p to 7pm Zoe had a Modern Dance audition. There were about 50 that did it and they pick one winner who is announced on Friday. Here’s Zoe on her way to the audition. 

Tegan and Sydney also did the Modern audition. 

Here’s the judges for the scholarship auditions. 

In the afternoon Jordan took a ballet workshop. When the title contestants are not competing or rehearsing they take workshop classes in different types of dance. 

At then end of the day was the awards ceremony for Prelims. They don’t give place awards for prelims, just an individual score per routine. Since most of the Shely Pack Dancer numbers have previously qualified for Nationals at other competitions this year, they only needed to compete 3 in Prelims today. 

Sunday evening was the opening Gala where all the title contestants do a procession on the stage. Here’s Jordan on our patio before we left the room. 

And with some of the Junior contestants prior to lining up for the procession. 

And here’s all the Junior contestants on the stage. 

There’s Jordan. The one with the long legs in the purple. 

And our Chapter 1 girls. 

Sisters!

Dance friends. 

And lastly, a cheers from some of the dance moms. 🥂

Tomorrow the girls compete their first number at 7:30am. They are first up with routine #1 in the competition. Zoe & Jordan will also compete their duet Ghost tomorrow. Very excited for that!  Brad and Grandma Kenlynn also arrive tomorrow.  Another action packed day ahead. 

But now I must say nighty, night to all! 😴

Day 2: Ballet & Jazz Auditions for Jordan

Saturday afternoon Jordan had her last 2 auditions for Junior Miss Dance, one in Ballet & one in Jazz. Jordan was ready to go & happy to be on day #2. 

After stretching outside the ballroom, the contestants were all called back in to start the auditions. 

Jordan thought both auditions went really well. She said it felt good to feel like she did her best. Whew!  All the major competing for Junior Miss Dance is complete. Now she just has rehearsals for the opening number for the Tuesday night Junior Miss/Mr Dance competition which of course includes the solo portion of the competition.  

Jordan concluded the day with another 4 Hour rehearsal from 5pm to 9pm.  What a day!  Here are all the Junior contestant parents getting instructions for tomorrow night’s Gala celebration which marks the official beginning of PAC, the Performing Arts Competition for DMA. There is a parade of all the regional title holders at the start of the gala where they all wear their dresses, crowns & banners again and everyone participating in the competition is in attendance. It’s a fashion show of gowns, sequins, sparkle, colors, bling & poof. I love it!  💕

Tomorrow also begins preliminaries for any group numbers which have not previously qualified at a Dance Masters regional competition. Zoe, Jordan & the Shely Pack Dancers Senior & Junior Co. will compete 3 numbers tomorrow.  Should be an exciting day. 

Well it’s 11:30pm, I am pooped & the girls are both asleep. All in all, it was a great day but time to pack it in. 

Group competing here we come!!  👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️

Day 2: Zoe Wins the Ballet Intensive Scholarship!!

Today Zoe had her 2nd day of the ballet intensive. At the end of the day the teachers pick someone to win a full scholarship & someone to get a half scholarship for DMA next year.  Zoe won the full scholarship!  So proud of her. 👊❤️ She did more pointe in the past 2 days than she’s done in a long time. Tonight she is VERY sore!  Thank goodness for Tiger Balm. Our room smells like a keg of menthol exploded in here!  😵

Here she is doing a winners photo shoot with Densil Adams & the competition photographer.  

Here is the amazing Densil Adams who taught part of the intensive. Zoe took a summer intensive in Dallas, Texas when she was 13 years old & she met Densil for the first time.  She loved him as a teacher/choreographer.  Below is a picture of the 2 of them from 3 years ago at the intensive and one from today. So cool!  

Day 2: Interview with the Judges

On Saturday Jordan started her day with an interview with the judges.  Each contestant needed to submit a resume as part of the registration process.  For the interview they are called into a room one at a time & the panel of judges are sitting at a table.  In typical panel interview style each judge asks them a question. For a 12 year old, Jordan’s resume contains things on it like years of taking different types of dance, interest & hobbies, any special performances she has done, along with school activities.  

Here’s Jordan reviewing her resume on her phone & getting into "interview mood" prior to heading down for check-in. 

Feeling confident & looking interview ready. 

Wishing Courtney good luck prior to her interview. 

Once the contestants check-in they wait until their contestant number is called.  Again, no observers in the room, just the judges. 

Jasmine is contestant #24 for Teen Miss Dance so she had awhile to wait for her interview. But she was looking very sharp & per usual, in a good mood with lots of smiles. 

There’s Jordan is in the background of the picture up next to go in. Best picture I could get from a distance. 

     Jordan felt really good about how she did in her interview.  They asked her about choreographing for her school musical, what her contemporary solo called Fear is about, and what her favorite & least favorite parts of the competition are for her. Man, she had some really great answers for all their questions. So proud of her! ❤️

After her interview we had little time to kick back on our hotel patio & decompress prior to afternoon audition classes. 

We met up with Zoe to have lunch outside during her break from her ballet intensive. There is a big area out in front of the hotel where they have a bunch of glorious smelling food trucks and places to sit & eat in the shade. Just another beautiful day in So Cal with a light breeze & about 78 degrees. Had a very yummy Greek salad with gyro meat on it. Delicious! 😋 The girls split a gyro bowl & an açaí bowl. Extremely satisfying lunch had by all. 

After lunch Zoe gave Jordan a little pep talk in prep for her jazz & ballet auditions this afternoon. Tips on her posture for ballet, arm positioning & flow as well as lots of personality & confidence in jazz. All very valuable big sister who’s been there, done that pointers.  

Now back to the room for hair, make-up and outfit change for Jordan’s afternoon auditions. 

More later....

Day 1: Tap then Acrobatics Auditions

This afternoon, while Zoe is back in her ballet intensive, Jordan has 2 audition classes. One in tap, then one in acrobatics.  Each class is an hour long and is scored on a scale of 1 to 20 points. The format of the class is like the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance".  They are all taught a combination, they run through it a few times, then they call their number in groups of 4 & they perform it to be scored by the judges.  They throw out the score of the lowest scoring & highest scoring judge and take the 3 scores remaining. A perfect score for the class would be 60 points. 

Jordan felt pretty good about how she did overall in her auditions.  She said the tap combo went well. She just put a big smile on her face & went for it.  Unfortunately they also wanted to see each contestant go across the floor individually doing a short combination of a few different steps. Bummer for Jordan that one of the steps they were asked to do she’s never done before.  Not what you hope for, doing a step for the first time, in a audition & by yourself.  Definite character builder!  

The evening ended with Jordan having a 4 Hour rehearsal from 5pm to 9pm for the opening number that all the contestants perform at the start of the Junior Miss Dance Pageant which will be Tuesday night. The choreographer is the amazing Ashley Wells who was a Rockette & is a fabulous choreographer.  Here’s Jordan ready to go off to rehearsal.