Last weekend I attended an event that I had heard about for the longest time, and I was finally able to go this year, and my expectations were far exceeded! :) I attended both the 2-day convention and the competition portion of the event. However, there is an option to attend only the 1-day convention, although, to compete you are required to take both days, but for me I didn't mind because I love dancing all the time anyways, and I'm sure if you're reading this, you're probably the same way too :) Also this years convention in Vancouver was held at the Vancouver Convention Centre. One of the best parts of the convention is the variety of classes and the different teachers they have for each of the styles of dance. For instance, the day starts out with the registration, as most of the dance events do, where they give you a wristband, that is super convenient, as you can easily take it off, without having to re-register, or keep it on consistently for two days, which I really liked. Also the registration begins on everyday of the convention being Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, however unless you have your competition time slot on the Friday, most people register in the morning on Saturday, which is open from 6:30am-8am.
Then based on your age, level, and city, they have different rooms for each category. The different categories are as follows: Jumpstart (Ages 5-7), Mini (8-10), Junior (11-12), Teen (13-15), Senior (16-19), and Teachers (18+). As for the workshop rooms, they had 3 rooms: Jumpstart; Minis and Juniors, Teens, Seniors, and Teachers. There was also the option for observers (a.k.a. parents or guardians) but this was mainly for the younger kids who needed supervising or help, but was a great addition for them to be able to watch. :) Although, the only section that the observers weren't allowed to watch were the Audition Combo Class and the VIP AUDITIOn, where the teachers collectively decide on who will receive scholarships for Dancer Palooza in Laguna Beach in July 2016.
After registration, they also had "The Jump Off", where they have a video with all of the faculty introductions on all of the main screens in the Teen and Senior Room at 7:30am. Then promptly at 8am the first class began, and since I was in the Senior Room, we started off with a ballet class with Katy Spreadsbury. The class ran from 8-9am and was easily one of my favourite classes of the entire event. We started with plies, tendus, allegro, pirouettes, etc. Mind you, I am a little biased, as I love ballet classes in general, and they always seem to be my favourite classes. :) Right after that came Musical Theatre with Al Blackstone, where we learned a musical number that incorporated a dance quite similar to the genre, which I thoroughly enjoyed, as I haven't taken a musical theatre class since I was 12. It was fun to revisit, as it's so different from ballet, where there are lots of exaggerated movements and gestures, which make it both unique and fun to do at the same time, that correlate with the words.
Soon afterwards came the third hour of classes, which was to learn an audition combo that would be used evaluate everyone for scholarships and awards on Sunday. There we learned a jazz combo with Andrew Winghart, who was very nice and helpful. The combo was only for those between the ages of 13-19 in the Senior Room, and you had to be apart of the 2-day convention and the competition, in order to qualify for any scholarships. However, the class was still free to those who couldn't to participate in, as it was only for 45min. Briefly after this, came the VIP Audition with Katy, Andrew, and one of the announcers, to help make a decision. The Audition process was about an hour long, and involved putting on a number that was given to each contestant, as a sticker. They were given in envelopes and were required to be worn throughout the entire convention, and I was relieved to find out that they gave 3 of these to each person, as it can be difficult to keep track of them, especially for a 2day convention. It was a very well thought out and interesting process, similar to the VIP Dance Events, with an hour evaluation until lunch time at 11:30am for an hour.
After lunch time came a hip hop class, which I was a bit hesitant at first to attend, as I haven't been formally trained in hip hop, but I thought it'd be nice to have a full experience, and decided to try it out anyways. The teacher for Hip Hop was Wildabeast, and he was an amazing teacher, and altough, I don't know a lot of hip hop, he made it very enjoyable, and even those who seemed very advanced seemed to learn quite a bit. He brings a great energy and passion for dance, that was quite contagious. We learned an awesome routine, and I would highly recommend taking one of his classes, if you ever get the chance.
Quickly after that, came Contemporary class with Mia Michaels, who was very inspirational. Her class was a bit longer than most at 1hour and 45min, but I could see why, as she had a lot of experience to share, and was a nice close to the end of the classes for Saturday. I was excited to hear about her emphasis on technique and emotion, as it has been slightly lost for the past few years due to a recent emphasis on tricks and flips, which are quite amazing, and I've even tried to learn to do myself. However, the main concept of dance has always and always will be about the ability to express yourself and having the technique to do so, will help to prevent injuries in the long run. At the end of her class, there was then a break before they started the JUMPstart performance for the JUMPstart kids who are 5-7 years-old, to help them become familiar with the atmosphere of being onstage, which was quite adorable, as they had mini capes and blow-up guitars. :)
Then at 4:30pm came the competition time which ran until 10:30pm, leading to a long night! Lucky for me, I only had to wait a little bit in between, as my competition time was at 5:48pm, and since I had to be there 30-45 before my perfomance time I wouldn't need to wait too long. Between putting on makeup and my costume, warming up and stretching, and rehearsing, there really wasn't that much time left to wait around. Once it was my time, I was quite determined to stay calm, which as anyone knows is easy to say until you actually get onstage, especially since this was my first time onstage for a competition. Fortunately, everything went well and I felt invicible onstage, and I literally danced, as if no one was watching, as the mist in the room, definitely helped, and once I was done, I knew that I had an unbelievable experience, and I was glad that JUMP was my first competition. Afterwards, since my dad and I knew that the awards and rankings wouldn't be presented until 10pm, we decided to go home, as we would have to be there early in the morning tomorrow, for another day of classes. Although, since the competition has a Live Webcast, we were able to watch the results at home. Along with that, my friends and family were able to watch me perform throught the webcast, and were very supportive of me afterwards. Another cool feature of the JUMP Competition!
On Sunday, we went straight to the Senior Room, since as long as you register on either the Friday or Saturday, you're pretty much set for the rest of the weekend, as long as you still have your wristband on your arm. The day then started at 9am with a Lyrical class taught by Doug Caldwell, who was an excellent teacher, who brought an enthusiastic and joyful atmosphere, unlike anyone else. I especially loved hearing his many stories about working with many famous singers and actors like Beyonce, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie! I especially loved his combo, and it was definitely my favourite combo out of all of the classes. Then came a contemporary class held by Kirsten Russell, which I enjoyed as it helped me explore interesting positions and techniques that I hadn't experienced before. She was also an extremely authentic and genuine dancer, which made it that much more interesting.
For the third class of the day we had a musical theatre class with Al, where we continued from where we left off on the previous day of the combo. Where we were able to finish all of the details and break down some of the steps. This was nice to have, as many times in conventions, you never get a second chance to try a combo again. For the fourth class, came an interesting component, tap. Now, for me I've always loved tap but I just haven't had a lot of training in the genre, so I was actually unsure at the beginning if I would participate in it. I was also very surprised that many others also felt the same way, and left as soon as Al's class was finished. Now, since I have tap shoes I thought, ehh, why not I'll try it out and see how it goes, what's the worst that could happen. In the end, I'm actually overjoyed that I took the harder path, as I soon found out that many just like me didn't know much about tap either, and I didn't feel very alone. However, I also felt a little bit of sympathy for the teacher, Mike Minery, as he told us he could tell the difference of those who loved, weren't sure about tap, or absolutely hated tap! Especially, since I find that tap is a lost art but is also one of the most interesting, in my opinion :) By taking the class, I did learn a lot, as I didn't know much, but it was worth it :) Although, those who did know and love tap were inspirational to watch, as their feet were mesmerizing, and I hope to further pursue learning tap in the future. Also, Mike was an excellent teacher, who helped to break down some of the more difficult steps, and added his own flair, which I loved.
After the fourth class came lunch time again, and then finally our fifth class of the day held by Bobby Newberry, with a Jazz funk combo. This was still quite new to me, but all the same enjoyable, and just made me want to learn that much more! For the closer class we finished off with a contemporary class by Andrew, which helped to bring in all of the loose ends of the day together. I especially, loved his speech about how whatever you leave on the dance floor isn't for anyone else, but yourself, and whatever you give is what you get. Which I believe helped to inspire a lot of the dancers there :) For the last section of the convention came the closing and scholarship awards, which was a 45min presentation. I was especially impressed with the announcer who not only knew what to do, but how to present, which I find to be an important quality. During the ceremony, it was interesting to see the different performances of some of the student teachers and the best performances of the competition, which were very inspiring and crowd pleasers. I was in shock, especially for one of the student teachers and the mini best overall dancer, as they were amazing! After that, came the scholarships and awards, which were given out to a lot of dancers for each genre of dance, some for the audition, among others.
Other well done aspects of the convention were the staff, who were very polite, kind, and helpful, despite the numerous questions I had asked throughout the competition process! Another cool feature was the fact that they record your competition dance, along with taking pictures, which you can purchase as a DVD or MP3 to upload to your computer, that you can buy online or there. Since we were there, we decided to buy it there, and it was worth it, as I find it extremely helpful for both myself and my teachers to see what I'm doing, as they can't always be there, and I can't always tell what I'm doing. Additionally, they have a feature that comes with participating of having judges comments for the teachers done by each of the judges individually, while the videotape of you or your group is dancing. I found this to be way more helpful than the judge sheet, as it can be very vague at times. Right after hearing the corrections, I became extremely inspired, and have since been correcting myself in all of my dance classes, which my teachers have said created a huge difference :) My teachers, also found this helpful to help let me know what to look out for, when I'm not able to see it :)
Overall, I had an excellent experience at the JUMP competition and Convention, and I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone else who loves dancing as much as I do :) Especially, for those looking for a challenge, as all of the best dancers come to compete, which will only help you to improve :) In conclusion, my favourite aspects were the video of my dance, commentary from the judges, classes, and photos, so pretty much everything, but I guess there wasn't much I didn't like :) I hope that you enjoyed this review and make sure to keep checking for more reviews!
JUMP Dance Website: jumptour.com
Instagram: @jumpdance