Youth America Grand Prix

San Diego, CA

General

Reviewer:

Parent

Dancer Age:

Competition experience:

2-5

Event Details

Round:

Regional

Season:

2025-26

Location:

San Diego, CA

Traveled to compete:

Yes

Regional was the closest:

Why this location:

Our studio requested we go to this location

Regionals attended:

Who encouraged multiple regionals:

Entry affiliation:

School

Rules Easy to Access?

Yes

Did Dancer Miss School?

Yes

Days of school missed:

Attended master classes:

Yes

Master Classes

Master Class Types:

Technique, Contemporary

Master class teachers:

Master classes were a great experience

Distance from venue:

More than 10 miles away

Received corrections:

Teacher engagement:

They were very energetic and walked around the room and we were very involved with the dancers

Crowding:


Really Crowded	Plenty of Room to Move

Master Class Feedback

Technique:

Contemporary:

Additional master class comments:

There was for sure favorites in class, both classes were as expected, the contemporary teacher was more involved with the dancers and had some really fun movements

Performance Details

Venue name:

Jaon b Kroc theater

Venue description:

Seating and lobby were great, old space and no seating in the lobby but it was okay.

Stage description:

The floor was Marley, it was very slippery

Off-stage warm-up space:

The space was so hot and no airflow for warmups. No space to warm up not the best backstage experience

Dressing rooms:

They were very crowded

Parents in dressing rooms:

Male dressing room:

Yes

Parents backstage:

Onstage warm-up:

Open stage was run very smooth, no issues with open stage other than it was crowded. Stage felt smaller.

Schedule adherence:

Tended to mostly run on time

Other schedule comments:

None

Staff communication:

Great

Parent seminar offered:

Judging

Judging rubric clarity:

Judges' attentiveness:

Some of the judges watched and some seemed distracted

Feedback turnaround:

More than a week after the competition

Type of Feedback:

Brief written feedback, Numerical scores

Feedback helpfulness:


Not Helpful At All	Extremely Helpful

Main takeaway:

Pretty basic comments, some judges didn’t leave any comments at all. Most comments were positive

Scoring felt fair:

Why Scoring Unfair?

The scores were very different from one judge to another. Seemed like the judges that weren’t paying attention during the competition had scores that were significantly lower. Also watching judges during competition they had their camera out before the dancer would come on which tells me that they had already known they liked them and were ready to film them. That makes the other performers feel they aren’t good enough right off the bat to be filmed. One thing that really irritates me, there was one judge who got up and left the competition mid performance, another judge came to step in and as we compared score sheets from all the dancers from our school, the performers that performed before the judge left all had scores that were at least 5 points higher than the girls who had the replacement judge and these girls were in the older age division than the girls who had the first judge and were significantly better and should have scored higher. It was a very bad experience and total unfairness for all who competed.

Awards & Scholarships

Awards ceremony:

No parents were allowed in the ceremony which is always annoying.

Won an award or training offer:

Yes

Festival offer:

Gala offer:

Invited to finals:

Award or Training Offer Description:

Oklahoma and Houston summer intensive. ICE summer intensive

Final Comments

Best aspect:

It helps my daughter improve in so many ways

Worst aspect:

Its judging is totally biased. I’ve seen it in multiple location and multiple years. They do not go off scores, they go off their favorites.

Competition culture:

The culture seems to be biased for one specific type of dancer

Attendee culture:

Very accepting and kind and supportive

Suggested changes:

Judging based off technique in master classes and awards going to scores vs favorites. Also please seperate the men from the women’s awards. Two totally different and shouldn’t be competing or compared to each other

Cost vs. expectation:


Significantly More	Significantly Less

Time worth it:


Not Worth It	Worth Every Minute

Overall rating:

Anything else?

It’s hard to know if it’s the right thing to be involved in. I’d love for parents to be aware of the unfair system based towards social media favorites and I’m not sure it’s worth it.