Dance Force 2017, round 1

Saturday was the 1st competition of Team DOS's season!

I call this post "round 1" because we'll be at Dance Force again in May.  We were originally planning on going to a different comp last weekend, but they cancelled due to not enough entries.  So the owner of the studio registered at DF at the very last minute.  The only thing is that they have rules against solos competing at 2 regional comps, so she had to find yet another comp to take the solos to. 

Dance Force this time was held just outside of Flint, which is about an hour away.  Half the team or so (us included) opted to stay at a hotel much closer to the venue.  Doors opened at 7am and the last awards were at 9:20pm.  There was no way I was going to drive home after that long of a day!

TeamDOS traditional pre-comp prayer circle

The videos for 4 of her 5 dances are up on YouTube if you want to watch them.  I grabbed some screenshots of my favorite parts.  Alas, my phone ran out of memory halfway thru tap, so it isn't on YouTube. 

Scoring consists of gold / high gold / platinum based on points and then an overall placing. 

The judges were really tough this time.  

We usually hear a lot of platinums during awards, but there were a whole lotta high golds this time and even some plain golds - those have been few & far between in the past.  

"Clue" - production

Platinum

So glad they changed that part ^^^ she was supposed to do a back walkover, then do a toe-touch jump off the table.  But they don't have time to lock the wheels on the table so it would roll a lot.  Plus she almost fell off way too many times. 

L to R -
Miss Green, Col.Mustard, the Butler, Miss Peacock, Miss White, Miss Plum & Miss Scarlet.

All those hairpieces were sewn into their hair so there was no chance of them coming off!

"Girl Power" - hiphop line

High Gold / 1st place overall

One of the other moms sat with some friends who belong to another studio.  She told us that they were appalled at this dance!  They said they'd never pay money for their kid to dress like this and definitely not to do a dance like this!  WTF?  Guess that's why their kid goes to a boring studio that only does modern / contemporary dance,
Beyonce is apparently too Thug-Life for them!
Anyhoo.  I think DOS is getting a well-deserved reputation of bringing out some kick-ass hiphop routines. 

She got thrown again. 

"Final Song" - Senior Small Group Jazz

Platinum / Division High Point in Jazz
(Angel's far right)

Far right again. 

This however, is *not* Angel!

"Where Feet May Fail" - Senior Small Group Lyrical

Platinum / Division High Point in Lyrical
(Angel's on the left)

3rd from the right, in front.

Angel with her flexed foot (eye roll)

"They Don't Really Care About Us" - Teen Small Group Tap

Platinum / Division High Point in Tap / 3rd place overall

(2nd from left)

I'm bummed that my phone cut off right as they were lining up to do a really cool hand-clapping segment.  I think for the next Dance Force, I'm going to take my regular camera to record.  There won't be any worries about running out of memory and hopefully will get a better video anyway.  I just won't be able to AirDrop the video to everyone.  And I'll make sure I chose my seat better.  More in the center of the auditorium, especially during production!

So now a small break before the next one!