we've been bronzed

And not the good kind...

Tonight I went to competition and watched a couple of my jazz classes that I taught for half the dance season. An awesome girl took over for me end of January (and thankfully our dance styles are quite similar), and she did amazing with the choreo considering I dumped everything on her since Isla came so suddenly. I've been checking in and subbing every once in awhile, but I was still excited to see them perform. Well, they did fairly well...I was guessing high silvers or so. But no...bronze. Ouch. Haven't had one of those since my first year of dance...you don't see them handed out too often these days.

It was disheartening because I feel they truly didn't deserve a bronze, especially considering the rest of the category (all silvers and one gold.) The adjudicator is local, and in my mind, had one particular style of dance she liked. Cookie-cutter anyone? That's all I'll say; after all, it's only one person's opinion. It's just a little frustrating when even the choreo award goes to numbers with not much thought or passion behind them...they follow the numbers and stay within the lines.

Me and Nat at competition a couple years ago.

Ok, that's off my chest! Perhaps I shouldn't care as much, but I just can't help it! I feel so invested in every student. I was just hoping our girls could've got a boost tonight. But then again, maybe this will make them work harder? It's true: motivating them and seeing them dance FULL OUT has been a challenge and they're just not there yet. I think we've got through to a few though...looking forward to watching a hardworking duet I taught this Sunday, and meeting my old dance teacher for lunch with the Isla-bean.