SHOWCASE FEES & GUIDELINES

UNIQUE FEEDBACK DELIVERY

1 LIVE FEEDBACK + 2 WRITTEN

our performance feedback supports our mission of education and community

This is achieved through active dialog with the panel reflecting on a dancer(s) performance where they will be encouraged and respected for their work as well as provided with LIVE AFFIRMING, POSITIVE, AND CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK ON THEIR PERFORMANCE. Our live feedback is unlike any other in the industry and is one of the most special experiences we offer at sds.

Dancers WILL ALSO receive WRITTEN FEEDBACK from 2 faculty who put thoughtful notes together for each routine focusing on guiding artists to continue to grow in their movement and in their specific pieces.

STUDIO SHOWCASE AWARDS

our panel will select standout routines to be further recognized at our SOULCASE Closing Show at the end of the weekend with scholarships, and featured performances.

SHOWCASE RULES

showcase dancers must be registered for the full convention weekend to be eligible to perform

Showcase fees must be received before the event's PRIORITY PRICING deadline to avoid late fee.  Registration is on a first come, first serve basis, and final payment in-full is the only method to guarantee your participation for an event.  

The studio showcase registration is on a first come first serve basis and once the maximum number of pieces have been reached registration will close. we strongly suggest registering your studio showcase pieces as early as possible to ensure your spot.

All music must be submitted to sds at least one week prior to the event date.   (Please be sure to have a back-up for all of your music with you at the showcase) 

No dangerous props may be used during the showcase. No liquids or powders are permitted on stage. General props are allowed, but must be taken on and off the stage quickly. It is the sole responsibility of each studio to ensure that its props are taken on and off the stage. Please do not build props backstage as this can be hazardous to the performers. For safety, props weighing over 200lbs and/or that stand above 8 feet may not be permitted on the sds stage.  

There will be strict adherence to the Studio Showcase program order. Please be ready to perform when scheduled.

All studio showcase awards, except Faculty Picks that reperfrom will be NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL LATE SATURDAY NIGHT.

SHOWCASE SAFETY STANDARDS

ZERO TOLERANCE:

Music, costumes, themes, props, and any form of performative element  discussing racism, othering, discrimination of race, gender, or sexual orientation WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ASKED TO LEAVE THE STAGE WITH NO OPPORTUNITY TO REPERFORM, OR CONSIDERED FOR ANY SHOWCASE AWARDS. 

AUDIENCE CARE POLICY:

At SDS we celebrate storytelling and the creative process. We have an understanding that work can sometimes deal with sensitive subject matters and ideas. We ask that choreographers and studio owners create subject matter that is appropriate for the age of a dancer, but we also recognize that maturity and appropriate content is extremely relative. We all have varying views, lenses, and life experiences that render our assessment of appropriateness with much variance. While we understand this variable, we also understand that what is appropriate to someone, may not be appropriate to someone else.  We do not want to minimize work that feels important and significant to a studio, a choreographer, or their dancers in any way. In order to be mindful about the impact of a certain subject matters for our audience, dancers backstage, the SDS team, and our faculty panel, we require pieces that are centered with themes listed below follow our audience care procedures so that their work can be showcased and celebrated AND we can alert our audience and #soulciety of sensitive subject matter. 

1. Studio Owners/Choreographers/or a Studio Rep must fill out our Sensitive Subject Matter card, and turn it in to a SDS team member PRIOR to the showcase starting. 

1. Studio Owners/Choreographers/or a Studio Rep MUST prepare their dancers that an Audience Care Announcement will be made prior to them performing, and inviting audience members and faculty panel, to excuse themselves should these themes or messages feel triggering to them. 

1. Should a Sensitive Subject Matter card *NOT *be turned in and a dance performs that is deemed to fall into a sensitive subject matter category, the music will gradually be turned down during the performance, and dancers will be invited off the stage. At that point a studio representative may come backstage to fill out a Sensitive Subject Matter card, and should there be room in the showcase order to put them back on stage, we will re-invite the performance back to our stage after extending an Audience Care Announcement prior to their re-entry.

MUSIC:

Music should refrain from derogatory language and profanity of any kind. 

Music is required to be age appropriate for story content and dancers age. 

CONTENT, STORYTELLING THEME:

We encourage every choreographer to work and create stories that are meaningful and age appropriate. We understand that we do not have the capability of accessing what is too “mature” for studio teams, and we trust our clients' intuition and wisdom in setting pieces that are appropriate for their dancers. We also understand that what is “too mature” for one junior aged group, does not mean it’s “too mature” for another. We want to honor all stories and creative processes on our SDS stage, as we believe the creative process is powerful and medicinal, and an important component to moving through difficult and challenging life experiences. However, should your work include or address, in part or in large, to any of the below themes your work MUST follow our AUDIENCE CARE POLICIES. 

• ABUSE (physical, sexual, or verbal)

• MENTAL ILLNESS

• GUNS AND VIOLENCE

• MATURE CONTENT (physical movement or in music theme)

• SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• USE OF MAKEUP THAT SUGGESTS ANY OF THE ABOVE

• USE OF COSTUMING THAT SUGGESTS ANY OF THE ABOVE

COSTUMING:

We encourage studio owners, teachers, and choreographers to outfit their performers in costumes and attire that THEY FEEL THEIR VERY BEST IN! We understand that everyone has different levels of comfortability, and that there is “no guideline fits all” in how to costume a dancer. SDS also believes in empowering dancers in their body and we encourage dancers in our classrooms and on stage to wear clothes and costumes that make them feel confident, comfortable, and like themselves. We ask and trust that there has been great care by the studio leadership team in making dancers feel safe on stage, and that dancers are invited to our stage with awareness of their comfortability and thoughtful vigilance of child development and combating the hyper-sexualization of kids in dance.

In order to keep our dancers safe AND spaces safe, SDS has a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for nudity or costumes with partial nudity. 

PROPS:

We encourage every choreographer to work and create stories that are meaningful and age appropriate. We understand that we do not have the capability of accessing what is too “mature” for studio teams, and we trust our clients' intuition and wisdom in setting pieces that are appropriate for their dancers. We also understand that what is “too mature” for one group, does not mean it’s “too mature” for another. We want to honor all stories and creative processes on our SDS stage, as we believe the creative process is powerful and medicinal, and an important component to moving through difficult and challenging life experiences. However, should your work include or address, in part or in large, to any of the below themes your work MUST follow our AUDIENCE CARE POLICIES. 

• ABUSE (physical, sexual, or verbal)

• MENTAL ILLNESS

• GUNS AND VIOLENCE

• MATURE CONTENT (physical movement or in music theme)

• SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• USE OF MAKEUP THAT SUGGESTS ANY OF THE ABOVE

• USE OF COSTUMING THAT SUGGESTS ANY OF THE ABOVE

/ DANCER