Not All Dance Competitions Are Created Equal

There are a multitude of dance competitions available in South Africa. You have beginner competitions, advanced competitions, student competitions, formal and informal competitions, recognised and unrecognised competitions. For someone looking in from the outside, it can all become a little confusing because they can all look very similar. There is a stage, there are dancers, there are judges, there are medals and trophies, and sometimes there is even an opportunity to travel overseas.

So how do you know what actually counts?

This is only a brief overview, but hopefully it gives you a better understanding of the difference.

There are some very large, commercially focused dance competitions operating in South Africa. These include platforms such as Hip Hop International, World of Dance, DanceStar, Dance World Cup, Dance Waves and many others. These competitions can be fantastic experiences for dancers. They provide performance opportunities, exposure, competition experience and, in many cases, the opportunity to travel overseas and compete internationally. There is enormous value in that. I have seen first-hand how much dancers learn simply from being exposed to other dancers, other countries and different environments.

But there is another side to understand.

These competitions are generally commercial operations. Their model depends on attracting dancers and spectators, so naturally they want large numbers of people participating. That means creating lots of different age groups, categories, divisions and awards. It makes the competition accessible to more people and, quite frankly, gives more dancers a reason to enter.

You can end up with some wonderfully specific titles. I'm deliberately being facetious here, but you get the idea: "Under 9½ Pro Platinum Immediate Fairy Dust Champion of Johannesburg North Subdivision A"!

Everybody gets to be a winner somewhere.

And that isn't necessarily a bad thing. A young dancer winning their first trophy can be incredibly motivating. A dancer travelling overseas for the first time can have a life-changing experience. Families are often willing to make enormous sacrifices to make those opportunities happen, including fundraising and sometimes taking on significant financial commitments.

But there is an important distinction.

Representing South Africa at an international commercial competition does not automatically mean that you have been officially selected to represent South Africa.

Those are two very different things.

So what makes something officially recognised?

South Africa has official sporting structures and recognised national federations. Within dance, there are recognised bodies operating under the appropriate sporting structures, and this is where the pathway towards official provincial and national representation comes into play.

The process is generally much longer than simply entering one competition and winning it.

A dancer might start at a regional level, progress through provincial competition and then qualify for a national championship. At national level, there must be meaningful representation from across the country rather than simply having the strongest dancers from one particularly well-developed area competing against one another.

That matters in a country like South Africa because we have nine provinces, and dance development isn't necessarily equal everywhere. Some provinces have more established dance communities, more resources and longer histories of competitive dance than others.

A national championship therefore has a different purpose.

You aren't simply competing against whoever happened to enter an event.

You are competing against dancers who have come through a structured pathway and earned their place at that level.

And then, if the structure allows it, the very best dancers can progress to an internationally recognised championship.

That is where the distinction becomes important when we talk about official colours.

Colours aren't simply another medal

When a dancer earns official provincial or national colours, there is a process behind that achievement.

It isn't simply because they entered a competition, won their section and were handed a certificate saying they represented the country.

There is an application and recognition process, and importantly, qualifying and actually representing are not necessarily the same thing.

If you qualify to represent your province or country but don't actually participate in the competition, you don't simply receive the colours because your name appeared on a selection list.

You have to go.

You have to stand on that floor.

You have to represent.

And that's something I think deserves a lot more respect than it sometimes receives.

In some other sporting codes, being selected into a squad can be enough to earn recognition even if you don't necessarily take the field, court or pool. You might be part of the squad but never actually play in the match.

Dance is different in this respect.

You actually have to participate.

You have to put yourself out there and perform.

There is something quite fitting about that because, ultimately, dance is a physical discipline. You can't represent a province or a country from the sidelines. At some point, you have to put your body on the floor and do the work.

So what should we celebrate?

I am not suggesting that one type of competition is "good" and another is "bad".

That isn't the point.

Commercial competitions can provide incredible opportunities, and I think dancers should take advantage of as many appropriate opportunities as they can. They can learn, travel, perform, compete and experience things that they might never otherwise experience.

But we should understand what each achievement actually represents.

Winning an international commercial competition can be a fantastic achievement.

Winning a recognised national championship and being selected to officially represent your country is a different type of achievement.

Both can be valuable.

They just aren't the same thing.

So the next time you hear that a dancer has earned official provincial or national colours, perhaps pause for a moment before treating it as just another trophy.

There is a pathway behind that achievement. There are qualifying events, selection, competition against dancers from across the country, administration, eligibility requirements and, ultimately, the responsibility of actually standing on the floor and representing your province or country.

And that is why I think those dancers deserve the recognition, respect and applause that comes with it.

Because in dance, as in most things worth achieving, the title means more when you understand the journey behind it.