Showcase 2026 - Dress Rehearsal and Competition Recital

Avery's dance school had their annual showcase this past weekend. It started off with a dress rehearsal on Thursday night. Luckily, this year, all her dances are in the same recital. So, she only has one show on Saturday (and one on Friday night for the competition team).

On Friday night, they had the competition showcase, which is a chance for everyone to do their competition dances one last time. It's a more laid back night and a lot of fun.

They still do an opening and closing number.

Dance Team Banquet

DPDC held their annual dance team banquet on Wednesday night at Neat Kitchen and Bar. They have a buffet, drinks and cupcakes. The dance teachers hand out awards for each of the kids. Avery got a lyrical award (they give each kid an award for the style they excel at). She also got a technique trophy. The final award is just for fun - the kids all vote on a name or description of the other kids. Avery got the "out of this world outgoing" award. :)

They have one last chance to perform their competition dances at the recital in a couple weeks. Then, the season will be officially wrapped up.

Showstopper Dance Competition

Avery's dance team participated in the Showstopper dance competition again this year. It's held at the Renaissance Hotel/Convention Center in Schaumburg. This was the last comp of this season. Because her schedule had her dancing really late Saturday night and then again early Sunday morning, we decided to get a hotel room for Saturday night. That way we could get a little more sleep and just walk to the dance comp instead of the 30 minute drive.

On Friday night at 10:20 PM, she danced her lyrical group number, Leave a Light On. We had to stick around until awards which were around 10:45 PM. They got 1st in category and 6th overall!

I made her take this picture - ha!

Avery's cheering section in full force!

Showstopper always changes up the backgrounds to match the songs/costumes

 

On Saturday we checked into the hotel around 5:00 and relaxed in the room until it was time to check in for Avery's dance call time. We ordered pizza to the hotel room and binge watched Pop Star Academy. Avery had her lyrical trio, Grow as We Go, at 9:55 PM. Awards were at 10:50 PM - another late night!  Matt met us at the dance comp - Morgan was staying in the hotel with Avery and me. Avery's trio got 1st in category and 6th overall (again!) The point differential between the places is very small. Like the difference between 5th and 6th place was 0.1 points (112.05 vs 111.95).

 

Morgan and I hung out at the bar in the hotel while we waited for the awards ceremony. The bartender made her some fancy juice drink with pina colada mix, which she loved!

Morgan also showed off her flexibility!

We had a very early morning on Sunday! Avery's call time for her dance was 6:15 AM. So, we got up early (Morgan slept in). Luckily, there was a Starbucks in the lobby of the hotel that opened at 6:00 AM, so we grabbed that on our way to drop Avery off. 

Hair, make-up, ready to go at 6AM

She had two dances Sunday morning. They were originally scheduled for 8:10 AM and 8:22 AM, which is really close together! The girls had to do a super quick change between dances. The dance comp let them go one dance later for the second dance, so they would have enough time to change and take a breath before heading back on the stage. For their jazz dance, 4+4, they got 1st in category and 3rd overall - which is awesome (and the best they've done all season)! For their hip hop dance, The Rhythm, they got 7th overall (they were up against the jazz dance for overalls).

Love this pic - they are all airborne!

 

Backstage pic from DPDC's Instagram

Showstopper wished the moms happy mother's day!

Avery had a lot of fun at the competition and being on the dance team again this season in general! I love watching her dance on stage!

Spotlight Dance Competition

While Morgan was playing soccer in St. Louis, Avery was dancing in Batavia at the Spotlight dance competition. She had her trio on Saturday and her group dances on Sunday. On Sunday, the dances were back to back with quick changes, so it was a little more stressful than usual. It also didn't help that she had forgotten her lyrical shoes in her costume bag from Saturday. Luckily, she could borrow some from another girl for the dance, so it worked out fine. But, still stressful!

They got Ruby for adjudication and they each got a medal!

On Sunday, we had to be there early! We picked up Starbucks on the way! :)

Typical dancer... she's got her bag and her Starbucks! Ready to go!

Hip hop was up first - The Rhythm.

 

Then, it was lyrical - Leave a Light On.

 

Last was Jazz - 4+4.

 

They got Ruby for all of their Sunday dances, too! Great job! :)

We celebrated the great weekend with Portillo's chocolate cake!