I See How It Is

I will be the first to admit that I don't know a damn thing about how competitive dancing is scored. I know what I like, I suppose, but I don't know what's hard or easy or whatever. I stopped paying attention to Alexis' dance classes right around the time she stopped paying attention to if I was watching or not, so whatever.

I am not an expert. At all.

That said, I have questions about how things played out on Saturday for Alexis' trio performance. I saw everyone in the category and I totally agree with a bunch of the judges' rankings ... but then there is that one. There is one group who ranked higher than Alexis' group and IT MAKES NO SENSE. I'm working solely off the fact that I could have joined in with the other group and gotten by juuuuust fine. If I can do it, we're talking about a certain skill level. I can't keep up with Alexis. That is a whole other level.

Whatever. It doesn't really matter, except that the one group ranking higher meant that Alexis' group didn't get in the top three (the top three all scored a "high gold" the same as her trio did, so it comes down to difficulty level ... I think). Only the top three stands up and gathers at the front of the stage for medals and WELP.

She medaled for other things. Just not trio.

But trio is the only award ceremony she was around to attend. She missed her chance at her medal on Sunday because of cheer. That means that Mila and I sat in the audience Saturday during the award ceremony and saw Alexis come up empty-handed.

Alexis was fine with it.

I was fine with it. I have questions, sure, but I'm still fine with it.

MILA WAS NOT FINE WITH IT.

Mila kept calling the award ceremony "the party" and she was SUPER excited that her sister was a part of the party. Except, they kept forgetting to give Alexis a medal. That was Mila's interpretation of the events. Each time they called someone up, Mila would whisper to me, "But they forget to call Sissy!" She was really very sad.

The whole thing continued for the entire length of the awards and then continued as we walked back to the car with Alexis. Alexis was perfectly happy and totally riding a dance competition buzz, but Mila was so sad. She was so sad she started crying as she told Alexis, "They forgot to give you an award! You did really good!"

If it hadn't been so heart-breaking, it would have been hilarious.

But then it did become hilarious. Sunday we were around for the cheer awards, which ended with Alexis' cheer team getting all of the medals. The had a zero deduction routine and placed second and all was well. AND THEN MILA STOLE ALEXIS' MEDALS.

Apparently that's all she wanted. She has decided that Alexis should win all of the things so she can take them. It's like doing all of the work, except Mila's version of "work" involves a lot more snacks and a lot less actually moving.

A Guide to Better Smiles

::Sigh::

There comes a moment at every dance competition where I find myself thinking the same thing ... STOP THROWING GLITTER AT THINGS AND TRYING TO MAKE THEM YOURS, WHITE PEOPLE.

Ahem.

So ... here's how the moment goes ... The Hip Hop section of the competition pops up and, inevitably, there is a routine that punches me in the gut with its raw emotion and power and energy. The performers of those numbers are always Black. Always. Hip Hop dance is a thing that is unique to Black culture and it is amazing and perfect and beautiful when it is reflective of its roots.

And then come the white people. There is always, absolutely always, a routine filled with little white girls wearing glitter tanks under their flannel shirts with bedazzled low-rise jeans. They absolutely always "cute up" what could be a great dance because ... I don't know? It's too Black if it's not cute? I honestly don't understand the need to glitter it up and soften the edges. But those girls look ridiculous and I'm not afraid to write the words where they can be seen because it's the most blatant example of cultural appropriation I can find in life.

Irish Clog dancing. It's uniquely Irish. You look dumb if you glitter it up and try to make it a suburban white thing.

Flamenco dancing. It's uniquely Spanish. You look dumb if you glitter it up and try to make it a surburban white thing.

Tribal rain dancing. You've caught the pattern by now and I think pretty much anyone with a brain could look at Native American rain dancing and think it would be a terrible idea to glitter up some feathers and perform a version at a dance competition. Terrible and racist.

Just like it's terrible and racist when you glitter up that Hip Hop dance. (I'm looking at you, Miley.)

To be fair, I think it's completely possible for a dance to properly respect the culture it comes from. I've seen lots and lots of dance studios that manage to walk the line in a way that allows their dancers to learn and respect a dance style from another culture. White girls don't look dumb dancing hip hop; white girls look dumb when they "white up" hip hop.

And while I'm angering Miss Candy and her legion of little white dancers, LOOK AROUND. If your dance studio is wall-to-wall white kids, maybe ask yourself some questions. Are there really no Black kids in your area who enjoy dance? Not a one of them wants to learn to get better at Hip Hop or Ballet or Tap at your studio?

Huh.

I wonder why that might be.