What is UWD?

Dear Parents, Dancers and Fans,

We welcome you to another exciting season of JUST FOR KIX Competitions. The name UNITED WE DANCE was created many years ago with the thought that competition promotes striving for excellence. By pulling together, we all become stronger. It is an event where we can showcase how hard all the dancers and directors have been working. It is important to remember that DOING YOUR BEST IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEING THE BEST!! Let’s join together in praise of all the teams.

It is our goal to have a quality event that runs on time and provides a large scale performance venue, allowing great exposure for our dancers. Thanks for being a part of this competition!

With Kix,
Cindy and Steve Clough Founder

Category Groupings:

We have modified our categories somewhat this year. In the past, we have always grouped categories by class and then by team size. New this year – in categories where we have a large number of teams (ie: Mini Kix or Middle Kix), we are grouping teams by their average grade, and then by team size. This puts one more level into the grouping – alleviating teams of all 5th grade from competing against teams of all 4th grade. The spread in team size is a bit larger than in the past, but the average age of the dancers is much closer. Directors were very excited about this addition, and this brings us one step closer to make the playing field more level.
Sub-categories (1A, 2A, 3A) are determined based on the teams sizes that the Director submits. Numbers may change from their original registration, but we group based on registration numbers submitted.

Jazz Categories:

Our Directors have the opportunity to offer two different styles of jazz programs, and we are offering different categories at our competitions as well.

• Club Jazz – this is for programs that only group their jazz teams by grade, similar to how we group our core kick teams.
• Studio Jazz – this is for programs that group their jazz teams by ability and grade. Most of the younger teams are grouped by grade, while many of the older classes are grouped by age and then by their ability.
• Wee Jazz is the exception – as all programs group their youngest dancers by grade, and not by ability.

Schedules

Photos and Videos

2011 Photos

FAQ

Why is there a charge for UWD?

The expense to run an all day event like this one are many;rent charges for the facility, clean up charges,payroll/mileage for judges & tabulators,payroll for all of the workers you see today as well as room & board for the trip to the event, hiring an announcer & sound equipment,videographers & video equipment so instructors & dancers receive feedback on their performances,liability insurance that is needed just to rent a facility like this one, ribbons,informational mailing to all the dancers & coaches, food for the coaches, judges & staff that spend their entire day at this event, plaques & numerous hours spent by the home office staff organizing & facfilitating this event. Thanks again for participating.

Why isn't this covered in my mothly class fees?

Your monthly classes fees are set to cover the weekly class instruction only.In the past we have considered raising the registration fee to $40-$50 & then all the competition fees, etc would be included, but we have felt the fairest & most economical option for parents is to only charge dancers & parents for those things they participate in. Whatever it is prop, show admission or a UWD event like this one,you are only charged a minimal expense for the events in which you are participating.Many dance studios around the stste charge $10-$15 to watch a show and $25 competition entry fee or more per dancer/per routine. We strive hard to keep our rates reasonable and affordable in everything we do. We wish we could "give" this away,but if we did, we would quickly be out of business.

Where do we sit?

If the schedule indicates that team is performing away the sound table, you will want to sit in the bleachers opposite from the announcer(sound table). If the schedule indicates that the team is performing towards the sound table, you will want to sit sit in the bleachers behind the announcers( Sound Table).

Are UWD competitions are only for large Just For Kix programs?

Our goal is to give as many dancers and programs the opportunity to perform and compete with other teams.Performing in front of different audiences is essential to the growth of a dancer and competetion teaches many great skills and lessons like teamwork and great sportsmanship!

If a kick routine does not have more than 20 kicks will the judges will take off points?

There is no set number of kicks that a group needs to do. all Directors are given routines and choreography to choose from early on and may slightly modify routines to fit their own groups.

Do teams with the glitziest costumes get extra points?

There is no place on the judging sheet to enter a score to give credit for the team's uniform. Criteria are based on kicks, skills/tech,executions and projection.Often the judges cannot even see the added glitz from their viewpoint.

What are the judgin criteria?

There are four categories listed on the judging sheet that all come into play equally when judging. Errors are just one aspect of the criteria. The judges are trained in advance and it is explained that these teams do not hold try-outs for the kick classes, or for front row spots.They are not to judge necessarily on the performances of an individual dancer but rather the overall performance of the team.

Where are the judges from?

Just for kix takes the hiring of judges very seriously and selects judges from many different areas and from varied backgrounds for each event.

Is there an advantage to having custom choreography?

There is no place to judge choreography on the judging sheet. All just for kix instructors receive their choreography on DVD from just kix and have the option to pick any routine they wish. It is just common for many Directors to like a particular routine or for kids to like a particular song.Jidges have no knowledge of how current a routine may be.If a hair binder or shoe falls off a dancer is the team disqualified? Although from a coaching standpoint, this is a frustation at this level of competition this is not the end of the world for a team should a shoe or binder become dislodged.

Admission Prices

$5.00 Adults/ $3.00 Students - Brainerd, Eastview, Bloomington
$6.00 Adults/ $3.00 Students - St Cloud, Rochester, Waverly, Jamestown, Wahpeton