I’m not asking for a participant award, here. I feel like they already give those out. What I’m wishing for is deeper than that.  I wish that others could see my dancer the way I see her. 

Hear me out. Some of you won’t get this because your dancer is always placing and being recognized. They work hard and they definitely earn it, I’m not discounting that. In fact, you’ll find me cheering loud for them because I’m proud of them too. 

What if the dance community was MORE encouraging. What if we focused LESS on placements and more on recognizing that EVERY dancer has an ability or strength that brings something to the table. 

In a perfect world, everyone would encourage everyone. Placements wouldn’t be forefront of everyone’s mind and it also wouldn’t be the thing that I see so many people, including myself sometimes, get hung up on.

I challenge all the dancers, teachers, dance moms and dance industry leaders with this:

Throw out meaningful compliments, be kind to other dancers, acknowledge growth and strive to do better. Congratulate fellow dancers on milestones and be encouraging to others. If you can do that, you’ve already WON in my book.

I’m not a dance teacher, I’m not a judge and I put away my dancing shoes along time ago and traded it in for my magic wand to make dancewear in a sport and in a passion that I still love with all my heart. I’m just writing my perspective. 

If you’re working hard and you feel like no one sees you, I’m proud of you.

If you’re working hard and you are getting recognition, I’m also proud of you.