Between making sure your dancer has all their costumes and helping calm their nerves, dance competitions can be stressful for parents. Here are a few tips on how parents can help create a positive experience for both themselves and their child.  

Get Organized 

• Purchase new tights (and back-up pairs) before the start of the season 

• Make sure any sewing is done well in advance

• Create a packing list of everything your child will need for a competition weekend including every costume, hair piece, shoes, tights, etc. Use the list to help your child pack the night before. Creating the packing list gives your child the ability to double check their items on their own in the morning. #personalresponsibility

• Label everything with your child’s first initial, last name, and studio initials. 

• Make a small emergency bag with safety pins, bobby pins, small sewing kit, etc. Don’t go overboard! They don’t need a Costco sized box of Band-Aids. 

Encourage Healthy Habits

• The week of the competition, make sure your child gets plenty of rest and hydration. 

• The day before the competition ensure your child is eating nutrient dense food. Think of this as their fuel for the upcoming weekend. 

• Before the competition, pack mess-free snacks that will help keep their energy up between performances such as nuts, protein bars, fruits, and veggies.

Support their Mental Preparation

• Focus conversations leading up to a competition on the fun of dancing with friends and performing rather than the judges, scores, or trophies. 

• Don’t speak negatively about their fellow dancers or their parents. (This is a year-round rule too!)

• Teach stress-management techniques such as taking deep breaths or closing your eyes to focus on yourself and tune out the commotion around you.

• If they do not score well, don’t blame, disregard the judges, trash talk other dances, or claim there was a scoring mistake. Instead, encourage them to be resilient and work towards doing better at the next competition. Remind them that they get to grow and learn from the feedback they receive from the judges.

• Whether they go home with a trophy or not, tell them how proud you are of them for getting out on stage and performing, it takes a lot of courage!

Competition season can be so enjoyable if you are prepared and help your child stay mentally and physically healthy. Then you get to see them shine onstage doing what they love!