We Started Our Own Dance Competition.. Here's What We Got Wrong
Updated: 7 hours ago
Behind the Curtain: What It Really Takes to Run a Dance Competition
From the outside, dance competitions look pretty glamorous.
The lights. The costumes. The trophies. The packed auditoriums. The dancers running around backstage with one eyelash hanging on for dear life.
But behind the curtain?
Absolute chaos. 😂
And we would know.
Between the two of us, we’ve spent more than 30 years in the dance world as dancers, teachers, studio owners, judges, and competition directors. We’ve pretty much seen every side of this industry.
And that’s exactly why we started Beyond the 8 Count.
We wanted a place to talk about the things everyone in dance talks about privately, but not necessarily publicly.
And this week, we’re talking about Dance Nation.
“I Could Run This Better.”
Yes. Those were basically the famous last words that started an entire dance competition.
While sitting at a competition, Paige had the thought:
“I could run this better. I’m going to start my own dance competition.”
What started as one random idea eventually became Dance Nation, and we had absolutely no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
Turns out, running a competition is a little more complicated than finding a venue, hiring some judges, and handing out trophies.
Who knew?
The Part You Don't See From the Audience
When you're sitting in the audience waiting for your dancer's number, you probably aren't thinking about everything happening behind the scenes.
Schedules.
Music.
Judges.
Awards.
Scores.
Studios checking in.
Dancers changing costumes.
Parents asking questions.
Teachers trying to figure out where they're supposed to be.
And approximately 847 things going wrong at the exact same time.
The goal is for the audience to never know any of that is happening.
But trust us…
It is.
And Then There Was the Injury…
Because apparently starting a dance competition wasn't dramatic enough, there was also the time Paige managed to seriously injure herself while teaching.
And if you know Paige, you can probably imagine how calmly and rationally she handled the situation.
Spoiler: she didn't.
At one point, her instructions were basically:
“I need to get out of this studio, but you don't touch me.”
Completely reasonable behavior. 😂
The entire story is one of those situations that was absolutely NOT funny while it was happening…
but is very funny now.
Would We Do It Again?
Absolutely.
Running a dance competition has taught us more than we ever expected about business, dancers, studio owners, parents, pressure, problem-solving, and ourselves.
We've made mistakes.
We've had things go completely sideways.
We've learned what works and what definitely doesn't.
And Dance Nation has changed a LOT since that first competition.
That's actually one of our favorite parts about this industry: you never stop learning.
There isn't one perfect way to run a studio, teach a dancer, or host a competition.
Sometimes you figure it out by watching other people.
Sometimes you figure it out by trying something new.
And sometimes you figure it out because everything goes terribly wrong and you swear you'll never do it that way again. 😂
Want the Whole Story?
We get into ALL of it on this week's episode of Beyond the 8 Count, including how Dance Nation actually started, the things we completely underestimated, a FEW injury stories, what we've learned after years of competitions, and the behind-the-scenes moments most dancers and parents never see.
If you've ever competed at a dance competition, owned a studio, taught competitive dance, or wondered what the people running the event are actually doing all weekend…
this episode is for you.
🎧 Listen to the newest episode of Beyond the 8 Count now.
And tell us:
If you could ask a dance competition owner ONE question and get a completely honest answer… what would you ask?
We might answer it on a future episode. 👀
— Paige & BrianneBeyond the 8 Count
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