THE MOVEMENT DANCE COMPETITION
We are The Movement. The inspiration for the name is two fold. First, dance is, obviously, movement. The founders of The Movement Dance Competition, with their over 30 years of cumulative experience as professionals in the dance world, looked at the competition world and noticed some thing, “The younger generation of dancers are getting really GOOD!” It is our observation and opinion that the dancers today, through the tireless efforts of the studio directors and dance teachers, in the industry, have created dancers that are far superior technicians and “trickers” than we have seen in the past. That has been the result of years of competition as well as the focus on technique and tricks in young dancer training. This has been amazing and pushed the envelope of dance as an art. And we have pushed that envelope to a point where we are moving into a new, “Envelope” that we can now explore and push, just as we have with, the technique and tricks aspects of dance.
What is this new “Envelope"? What is this NEW area of exploration in dance? It is…. “Quality of Movement.” I know what you are thinking, “What does that mean?” The easiest way to describe it would be, “the communication behind the movement”. What is the feeling of that movement? What is the intention? What is the emotion? Why are you moving like that in the choreography? Are you dancing with your whole body or just your extremities? The reason that this is the “new” area of focus in the competition world is simple, it’s because it is already a factor through out the professional world. We, here at The Movement, absolutely believe that technique is important. Without the technique as a base it is extremely difficult to reach into the higher levels of communication in movement, intention in movement and exploration of movement. With that said, quality of movement is part of our critiquing system. The Movement, being on the forefront of the trend, is excited to watch your young artists in training and share their passion.
Another thing you might find a little different is our approach to “judging”. Dance is an art form, as such it is a completely subjective thing. Just as some people like Classical music and some like Rap music. Neither is wrong for liking it, right? So we like to think of our critiques as “Mini Master Critiques”, meaning, for the 2.5-3 minutes they are on stage performing each routine, they are receiving a short master critiques session from each judge to help them on their journey as they hone their craft of dance. And we are honored to be a part of that journey with them.
Secondly, the word “movement" has another meaning: a group of people moving with a common goal, working together to effect change! It's a little cliche, but for lack of better wording, we are in need of a renaissance in the arts. One of our founders said, "Dance is what music looks like. As dancers, don't take for granted the impact your ART can have and the time you have to share it." And it’s true, very few dancers get to experience that freedom and artistry like the dancers on stage in competition each weekend. That is unfortunate. Lets change that. Join us this competition season.
