California Dance Classics

San Diego

General

Reviewer:

Parent

Dancer Age:

Competition experience:

More than 10

Event Details

Round:

Regional

Season:

2025

Location:

San Diego

Traveled to compete:

Regionals attended:

Who encouraged multiple regionals:

Entry affiliation:

School

Rules Easy to Access?

Yes

Did Dancer Miss School?

Attended master classes:

Yes

Master Classes

Master Class Types:

Technique

Master class teachers:

This past season it was Ms. Busch from Houston.

Distance from venue:

At the same venue

Received corrections:

Yes

How corrections were given:

Group mostly

What corrections were about:

Technical and artistic corrections, no coded language used.

Anatomical language:

Yes

Correction tone:

Positive, Neutral

Teacher engagement:

Very engaged. Great class.

Crowding:


Really Crowded	Plenty of Room to Move

Master Class Feedback

Technique:

Additional master class comments:

The classes are on stage which is a good opportunity. They are observed by the judges for an opportunity to qualify for scholarship finals.

Performance Details

Venue name:

Joan B Kroc

Venue description:

Very nice venue.

Stage description:

Marley. Good stage.

Off-stage warm-up space:

There is a large backstage space.

Dressing rooms:

I don’t know if there was a dressing room for males.

Parents in dressing rooms:

Yes

Male dressing room:

Yes

Parents backstage:

Yes

Onstage warm-up:

It is a little bit less crowded than the other competition open stages are.

Schedule adherence:

Tended to mostly run on time

Staff communication:

Great! They are kind, communicative, and accommodating to change.

Parent seminar offered:

Judging

Judging rubric clarity:

Judges' attentiveness:

Yes, all judges were actively watching

Feedback turnaround:

A few days after the competition

Type of Feedback:

Numerical scores, Audio commentary over a performance video

Feedback helpfulness:


Not Helpful At All	Extremely Helpful

Main takeaway:

There was excellent judges feedback. Many of the judges give commentary throughout the entire variation. This is such a valuable benefit of this competition. No coded language was used.

Scoring felt fair:

Yes

Awards & Scholarships

Awards ceremony:

I like that they have the award ceremony broken up into different age categories on different days. The ceremony is respectful and mature.

Won an award or training offer:

Yes

Festival offer:

Gala offer:

Award or Training Offer Description:

1st place neoclassical Classical honorable mention. Milwaukee Ballet SI admission Ellison Ballet SI partial scholarship

Final Comments

Best aspect:

The staff that is working in the wings are incredibly kind and encouraging.

Worst aspect:

Nothing. This is a great competition.

Competition culture:

Kind, relaxed, and supportive. The staff keeps the dancers backstage informed of what number they are on which reduces stress for the dancers. They allow parents backstage, which helps some dancers.

Attendee culture:

Everyone is happy and supportive of each other because the competition fosters kindness.

Suggested changes:

I wish they didn’t allow teachers and directors to submit a request for the judges to keep a look out for a strong dancer. We never took advantage of that because it never felt ethical. I don’t know what sort of advantage it gave, but it didn’t feel right. This is literally my only complaint. Otherwise, great competition.

Cost vs. expectation:


Significantly More	Significantly Less

Time worth it:


Not Worth It	Worth Every Minute

Overall rating:

Anything else?

This is both my favorite and my dancer’s favorite competition, regardless of placement and outcome. It just feels better.