The term ‘Dance Moms’ is thrown about frequently now, thanks to the hit US TV show which follows a group of young dancers at a prestigious dance school and their pushy parents. This has caused some stereotypes to emerge of real life Dance Moms, but what are they really like? Read on for the five things real life Dance Moms want other people to know.
We're Not All Pushy Parents
Let’s get this one out in the open first! Just because we support our children and allow them to have a passion does not mean we are pushy mothers, or putting excessive amounts of pressure on them to win every competition.
Just because we invest a lot of money into sending our child to dance school, on getting to competitions and performances and buying brand new costumes, does not mean it is wasted when they don’t win 1st place.
In fact, not all of our kids even take part in competitive dance - some simply take ballet and tap grades and perform in the end of year recital. Yes you do meet some parents who are desperate for their child to be the best, but don’t believe everything you see on Dance Moms, we’re not all as bad as them!
Yes, They Do Need A New Costume For Every Competition/Performance
Dance costumes are very important to the overall performance and when you’re competing against hundreds of other people, it’s important to stand out. In some styles such as Irish dancing and disco, it’s just not acceptable to wear the same dance costume twice, and appearances are everything.
So that is why we’re willing to spend a lot on sparkly costumes to impress the judges. If you have any opinions about that then keep them to yourself!
It’s Not All Happy Tears And Bursting With Pride
Dancing makes our children happy - that is why we give up our time, money and effort to take them to classes and competitions and stick on hundreds of rhinestones on costumes and accessories at home. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re happy about it all the time.
Yes, we’re choking back tears when our little girl is dancing her first solo and receiving top scores from the judges, but guess what? We had to sit around for nine hours and watch a million other solos to wait for that. We had to deal with tears and tantrums in the run up to this day - it’s not all fun and games.
It’s Not Always About Winning
Abby Lee Miller may say differently, but sending our children to dance school is about so much more than winning a trophy or achieving dance grades. This is an opportunity for them to learn about commitment, dedication and hard work.
Rehearsing and performing really is difficult, and after all the hard work if it is rewarded with a trophy, that’s great. If not, it’s another lesson learnt that you don’t always get what you want or deserve in life.
We Make Great Friends With Other Dance Moms
Forget all the rivalry you think there is between parents - in fact it’s the opposite. Dance Moms (and Dads!) end up spending an awful lot of time together, from waiting around to pick the kids up when they over run at rehearsal, to entire days spent at competitions helping out. Just as children make close friends with other dancers, we make friends with their parents.
[Image source: http://dancemoms.wikia.com/wiki/File:Dance-mom-post.jpg]
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