Showstopper: Dance Competition March 1-3
Photo courtesy of StarQuest Dance
Alivia Rogers (‘27), Freshman Writer
From March 1-3, Showstopper Dance Competition took place downtown in the Oklahoma City Convention Center. Showstopper, is a national talent competition that has occurred for the past 45 years across the country. Showstopper was the very first dance competition to be held in history. Dancers attend this competition every year to strive for the top score.
Epic Dance Studio attended Showstopper in Oklahoma City last weekend. I participated in five dances. My first dance was a contemporary number, also known as a dance routine, entitled “Silhouette.” My Jazz number was entitled “I Would Die 4 U,” my hip hop number was entitled “So Fetch,” my solo, which was in the contemporary category, was called “Hit the Road Jack,” and my final performance was a production dance with everyone from my studio. The dance is entitled “Best of Halftime,” which is a Jazzy number with a football theme.
On Friday, March 1, I competed in my first dance of the competition at 7:48 pm. My first number was my solo, “Hit the Road Jack.” Miss Keri, my choreographer, choreographed my solo, and I have been practicing it since mid‐September.
After we competed all of our solos, the competition moved on to awards. Awards take place after each category has competed. Dancers can compete in the competitive, advanced, or performance categories. The competitive category is for less experienced dancers, while performance is for dancers with the most experience. My team and I competed at the advanced level. At Showstopper, there are 4 awards you can receive: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Double Platinum. Along with the awards, the judges also rank the solos, announcing only the top ten out of 20 to 30 solos. I received the Platinum award and placed 6th in my category out of the top ten.
On Sunday, the third day of the competition, I had four dances. My team had two quick changes during the competition; dressing rooms are usually very chaotic during competitions. This particular dressing room was a big open space with cement floors. Cement floors are very dangerous to practice on because the hard cement can damage bones practicing jumps. Most of the dancers had to practice on the carpet in the lobby. Our contemporary dance, “Silhouette,” was choreographed by Lauren Richards. My team started to learn this number at the end of July. We got dressed in our contemporary costumes, which consist of long white dresses, big earrings, and our hair in a slick back bun.
The contemporary dance placed 1st in its category and placed 2nd overall. The dance received the highest award, a Double Platinum.
Once we finished our dance, our teacher told us our next dance was really soon! We were all frantic with the fact that we had two dances before our next dance. Our next number was our Jazz dance, “I Would Die 4 U.” This number was choreographed by Lauren Richards, and the company also began to learn the dance at the end of July . Our costumes were inspired by the singer Prince with their bright purple flare leggings and top with white cuffs. When we walked up to the screen to see the order of the dances, we were horrified. When looking at the screen, we noticed that their hip hop dance was immediately after their Jazz dance. The choreographer was forced to pull the hip hop number until all of the dancers were dressed and ready to perform it.
Our Jazz number went well and placed 2nd in its category and placed 5th overall. The dance was given a Platinum award.
Thankfully, the issue with the hip hop dance was resolved, and the competition directors moved us three dances back to give us time to prepare. Alongside our other dances, we began learning a hip hop dance called “So Fetch” at the end of July, which was choreographed by Hannah Quisenberry. Our costumes consisted of white joggers, a tight, white, long-sleeve top, and neon pink, puffy vests. We also wore Nike Pandas for our shoes.
The dance was very successful, placing 1st in its category and placed 7th overall. The hip hop dance received a Platinum award.
The final dance was production. Production is a dance that includes every person who competes at the studio. We performed a Jazz dance called “Best of Halftime.” Each team has a 45-second part in the music, where only their specific team is on stage. There are also a few parts of the dance where there are multiple teams on stage at once. The costumes were inspired by a football theme. Each team had a different-colored cropped Jersey with white ruffled sleeves and black leggings with a white stripe down the side. The dance was choreographed by several choreographers, but mainly Kayla Quisenberry, Loren Sparks, Lauren Richards, Hannah Quisenberry, and Leslie Syring. The studio had two five-hour practices to work on this specific piece.
The dance placed third overall and received the Crystal Award. The Crystal Award is an award only given to certain categories and is the highest possible award.
The competition was a very successful weekend for Epic Dance Studio. Other teams on Epic Dance Studio received first place overall during many award ceremonies. These dancers have worked day in and day out in the studio. Competition season is an extremely stressful time for a dancer, but performing on stage makes all the preparation worth it. We can’t wait for the competitions that are to come.
Here is a link to our Production Performance:
