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hsealover

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
Does anyone have any experience competiting at Star Systems? DD is competiting there in Columbus the weekend of March 31-April 2. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews and we haven't attended before. Any ideas on what to expect or anything we should know before going? Feel free to share experiences as well!
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theyarg

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
Awards used to be pretty late back when we used to go. And very loud. The music seems to get louder as the day goes on. Bring earplugs and/or Excedrin if the volume tends to get with you. The days can be exceptionally long.
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hsealover

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Quote:
Originally Posted by theyarg
Awards used to be pretty late back when we used to go. And very loud. The music seems to get louder as the day goes on. Bring earplugs and/or Excedrin if the volume tends to get with you. The days can be exceptionally long.


Thank you! Noted, I'll be sure to keep that in mind as we pack. I'll be more worried about my DD, she's 14, but she's very sensory sensitive. Good news is she's only doing 2 groups and 2 solos so she won't have to be in the auditorium all day. She's really sensitive to loud noises, which is actually pretty funny because her best styles are tap and clog. Anyways, how late did awards (usually) start? The venue is only about an hour(ish) away from our house, just trying to plan ahead haha.
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ChelleB70

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Def very loud but this is one of my favorite comps.  Well run, on time, professional.
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Suzit42

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Fair judging, well organized, friendly staff but it ran late. It took them a minute to get the next dancer onstage. Add that to hundreds of dances and you are running behind. I remember awards being long too. Bring a book.
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HTownDanceMom

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
We LOVE Star Systems! I agree with ChelleB70...on-time or a bit early, well run and they are fair in judging.
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Bubbasmom

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
Hi,

How is the schedule this year? Are solos, duos/trios on Friday and small groups, large groups and lines in Saturday?

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sandj

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Great competition! Loud, but fun.
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hsealover

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubbasmom
Hi, How is the schedule this year? Are solos, duos/trios on Friday and small groups, large groups and lines in Saturday?


Okay, we got the schedule everyone! I know that junior, teen, and senior solos are on Friday, I assume mini is as well. I also know there's a senior duet from DD's team competing Friday. Just a heads up, at DD's comp, they are starting at 11am on Friday. She doesn't compete until 7 something pm though. Saturday is all 12 and under other than solos and Sunday is all 13 and over, not including solos.
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Bubbasmom

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Perfect.

Thank you so much. We are going to Star Systems in a couple of weeks.
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hsealover

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
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Originally Posted by Bubbasmom
Perfect. Thank you so much. We are going to Star Systems in a couple of weeks.


No problem!

Fair warning though, our venue is WAYYY overbooked. Be prepared for some crazy times. Friday as I mentioned before they're starting at 11am, awards are scheduled for I think 4 something pm and 10:45pm. They're planning to start at 7am on Saturday and last awards will be 11:45pm, 11:30pm on Sunday.

Good luck to your dancer(s)!
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momcrew

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
Has anyone done their nationals and if so could you share your thoughts? 
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hsealover

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
Hi everyone! This is just an update on how our weekend went.

Here's DD14's review: I had an amazing time at Star Systems but there are some things they could definitely improve on. They seemed to get louder as the night went on, it was to the point where it hurt my ears. The scheduling was not very good. Starting at 11am on a school day is not okay. I do online school, so that's not a problem for me, but most people would not be happy about having their kid miss school to perform their solo. They started at 7am on Saturday and Sunday and didn't start the final awards sessions until 11:45pm ad 11:30pm. Once again, school becomes an issue. Not my problem, but I still don't want to be competing that late. How ridiculous is that? They ran 30-40 minutes ahead on Friday, 15 minutes late on Saturday, not sure about Sunday. My main issue was the CHEATING. There was a studio that was leveling down so badly. Elite dancers in the novice level is NOT OKAY. I don't care how I place, but it agitates me that people just willingly break the rules and then they are awarded for it. The competition is teaching every kid on that stage that cheating is being rewarded. The saddest part is, those dancers are so talented, they would have probably won in the elite division, so they literally are not benefiting from this at all. The only reason I can think of is that they're taking home more first place trophies, that's about it. We all know that a novice dancer cannot just whip out 12 PERFECT al a seconde turns, switch leaps, and custom costumes. Seriously? I'm very annoyed that the competition did absolutely nothing about it. Those same exact dancers competed in the elite category earlier that day. Ridiculous.

My thoughts: I agree with DD, that studio was cheating terribly and it was very unfair. Star Systems did not follow their rules which say they will bump a dance up if they find it to be in the wrong category, and will escalate to disqualification if it occurs multiple times. They did not do this at all. Those kids were amazing, but I just can't respect that studio after what I saw this weekend. It was a great competition; wonderful staff, a positive atmosphere, nice awards. I'm just saddened by the amount of cheating going on, and the fact that no one did a single thing about it. Several studios from multiple levels brought it to the competition director's attention and nothing was done to change the situation.
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Billpayer2000

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
Seems like leveling down is the new norm. I think the decision is rooted in that no one wants to be disappointed with not placing and so, if on the fence...go down a level.

We were supposed to be at star systems in c-bus, but it was sold out. Ended up elsewhere.
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judie

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
Appreciate the free ballet, but not going back.
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momcrew

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
Quote:
Originally Posted by judie
Appreciate the free ballet, but not going back.


Can you elaborate as to why? This will be our first time going. 
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dancemomGO

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
We were at one this weekend. Extremely late awards Friday and Saturday nights with early start times the next day. Sunday they were a little ahead for the 5 pm-ish awards. Some HUGE studios there. I think they need to cut off registration earlier to avoid those crazy times. Judging seemed fair, but Sunday in particular there was a studio who was "dancing down" and I swear could not have been an averaged 10-12 group. Saw the same exact dancers in 13-15 year old groups with only 1-2 additional dancers. Maybe that was enough to tip them over into the next age division, but very suspect. And the 2nd to last awards on Sunday had a very weird vibe at the end that left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth.

ETA: the late awards ( both supposed to begin at 11:30 pm- Friday night they were very late and didn't begin until at least midnight) contained 10-12 year olds in the Shooting Star middle level. Typically late awards are teens or seniors and often the highest elite level of the competition. I don't think it's right to have awards scheduled to start that late have kids younger than teens. Just wanted to clarify why I thought they were too late.
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hsealover

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dancemomGO
We were at one this weekend. Extremely late awards Friday and Saturday nights with early start times the next day. Sunday they were a little ahead for the 5 pm-ish awards. Some HUGE studios there. I think they need to cut off registration earlier to avoid those crazy times. Judging seemed fair, but Sunday in particular there was a studio who was "dancing down" and I swear could not have been an averaged 10-12 group. Saw the same exact dancers in 13-15 year old groups with only 1-2 additional dancers. Maybe that was enough to tip them over into the next age division, but very suspect. And the 2nd to last awards on Sunday had a very weird vibe at the end that left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth. ETA: the late awards ( both supposed to begin at 11:30 pm- Friday night they were very late and didn't begin until at least midnight) contained 10-12 year olds in the Shooting Star middle level. Typically late awards are teens or seniors and often the highest elite level of the competition. I don't think it's right to have awards scheduled to start that late have kids younger than teens. Just wanted to clarify why I thought they were too late.


We went to Star Systems last weekend in Columbus and had the exact same experience. DD and I were so agitated.
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Emmie46

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dancemomGO
We were at one this weekend. Extremely late awards Friday and Saturday nights with early start times the next day. Sunday they were a little ahead for the 5 pm-ish awards. Some HUGE studios there. I think they need to cut off registration earlier to avoid those crazy times. Judging seemed fair, but Sunday in particular there was a studio who was "dancing down" and I swear could not have been an averaged 10-12 group. Saw the same exact dancers in 13-15 year old groups with only 1-2 additional dancers. Maybe that was enough to tip them over into the next age division, but very suspect. And the 2nd to last awards on Sunday had a very weird vibe at the end that left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth.

ETA: the late awards ( both supposed to begin at 11:30 pm- Friday night they were very late and didn't begin until at least midnight) contained 10-12 year olds in the Shooting Star middle level. Typically late awards are teens or seniors and often the highest elite level of the competition. I don't think it's right to have awards scheduled to start that late have kids younger than teens. Just wanted to clarify why I thought they were too late.


Don't you usually have to enter birth dates in registration? Doesn't that make dancing down more difficult?
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judie

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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
It was ridiculous. I don't want to speak negatively about anyone, but the awards ceremonies were ridiculous and long. You do NOT bring an entire line up for overalls. It was absolute chaos. There were 700 numbers during the weekend. The critiques and scores were all over the place. I am particularly annoyed with the studio that we saw at YAGP competing their dances in the intermediate category. It was shady. Even more so the studio that had one number in intermediate and the exact same kids in their elite. That wasn't necessarily the comps fault, but a simple audit of dancers registered would have prevented. Photos are ridiculously expensive.

Ridiculous appears to be the word of the day.

They ran late every day except Sunday, and even managed to al,out completely blow an hour long lead on Sunday. I felt terrible for the judges.

We were there until after midnight on a day of solos and duet trios. How that happened I do not know, but they crammed 250 numbers in on Friday, alone. Then we had to be back at 6 am the next morning. That happened the next day, too.

I was annoyed at the way they did Title, and even more so at the lack of the way they explained it on their page...I would have entered solos WAY differently. Like I said, we did well, but it was a s--- show from minute one.
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