COMPETITION DETAIL

If I could give this competition below a 1 star I would. This is from the event in Lakeland Florida on April 11-13th 2025. On Saturday around 8:45pm, our competition director received a phone call from one of our dancers that she had been touched by a man she did not know in the backstage area. Two teachers from our studio sprinted from the hotel across the street to the venue to get more information. The dancer had found her mom in the minute it took for the two teachers to get over there. One teacher went backstage in the meantime to find that the prop opening pull up door to be open with multiple “prop dads” standing and hanging around. She took pictures of every man and brought them back to the dancer, where she told us exactly what happened. Our dancer was backstage with a different dance studio that she had school friends on, they were practicing in the backstage area by the open prop door about to perform and she wanted to cheer them on. When then she had a male touch her face grabbing at her chin where she asked him “why are you touching me I don’t know you” he proceeded to smile and look at her for about 10/15 seconds before she ran away and found a dancer from our studio she dances at to when the phone call was made to one of our teachers. Our teacher had the dancer circle from the photos whom it was that did this to her. As the dancer was physically shaken and had a full panic attack entering the auditorium to which you had to cut through to get backstage to truly identify this male. Security from the venue was with us at the point to help resolve and find out exactly how and what happened. Our teacher had asked a backstage staff member to speak with the competition director at the time but the answer we received was “she is getting ready for awards.” She stated that this was a very serious matter and the backstage (believe it was the emcee) said “she must not have her head set on.” We grew very frustrated at that time and continued with the venue security and their manager along with them calling the police. another teacher then asked again for the competition director and about 20 min after the first initial ask she finally came and talked to us. We briefly recapped the situation and her response was “it looks like security and the cops are handling it”. We then had to tell are other dancers to go on stage for awards. The cops came and talked to our dancer about what had happened out in her car with her parents as she was physically shaken to be inside the venue. They talked to the man who inappropriately touched her outside of the opened prop door. This man happened to be a male teacher at a dance studio in attendance to your event. The parents did not move forward with pressing charges as it was hard enough to watch their daughter be physically shaken sitting in the parking lot of the venue. The man was trespassed from the venue for a year. After the cops had everything they needed the teachers headed back inside to see if they could speak with the competition director once more to see if we could make some accommodations tomorrow since she did have groups left to perform in. The director didn’t once apologize or ask how are dancer or these two young teachers were feeling. Instead when we approached her she said “I have never had this happen before I had to call my HR person to see how to handle this”. “It looks like the cops handled everything” both teachers just felt these responses just had no care behind them and that a child just wasn’t inappropriately touched in your backstage area at your event. It no longer for our children felt like a safe place they could dance in. The dance director that this man did teach at did at one moment come outside and ask what was going on yelling and screaming at the teacher who told her to talk to security. She felt worried the next day that she may say something again and it would be in front of our kids right before competing. She asked the competition director if there was any way this could be prevented and the answer she gave was “well the judges don’t know about this situation so it won’t affect their scores” after that comment both teachers wrapped up the conversation and left for the night trying to think how we were going to get our kids on stage tomorrow. We had conversations with our parents in the morning before their call times and everyone seemed ok and did perform Sunday. No one on your staff asked how we were doing, how our dancer was, if we needed any accommodations throughout the day. We as teachers were grateful for our parents being supportive and our owner as well taking it step by step and being flexible throughout the Sunday competition. We feel and run our studio on creating a safe and positive environment and your event this weekend really put those values to the test. Not only was that the biggest issue this weekend but in addition, the organization of the backstage areas in both rooms felt very chaotic which could lead to why this happened in the first place. Our teachers following your rules in regards to levels and watching are intermediate kids go against other children with multiple pirouettes into aerials before they went on stage was completely unfair. We haven’t had the chance to listen to critics yet however every single one of our routines we brought received a double platinum. It just seems bizarre that almost every single dance out of the 757 there were received the same adjudication.

To be candid, we had a pretty terrible weekend at Applause. Not only was the competition extremely behind schedule on Saturday (1.5 hours), pushing 10-11 year olds to go on stage at 11pm, we found the judging to be incredibly biased and not a true reflection of what was happening on stage. Listening to the critique videos and viewing the scoresheets further confirms our perspective. From the videos I've watched so far, many compliments were given to our dancers on stage presence, performance, etc. No notes. But every score sheet takes off significantly in those areas, pushing almost all of our students to receive platinum, the lowest given that weekend. Gold/High Gold plaques and pins were not even set out on the backstage table. Meanwhile, we watched other (bigger) studios in our students' same categories literally fall on stage and receive double platinum or higher. As an adult, I know not to take scores so seriously, but to a child, witnessing something like that after they've given an excellent performance really takes a hit on their self-esteem. As a director, I won't be sending our students back to Applause anytime soon. It's bad for them and bad for my business and retention rate. Likewise, out of 78 scoresheets that we received, almost all of the "general impression" scores were nearly identical. No notes were given on Choreography/Dynamics, but all of our pieces received, once again, almost identical scores in those areas. We know how different our students and routines are. Identical scores across that many routines show that the judges weren't differentiating, or worse, using vague categories like "general impression" to ensure that larger/favorite studios came out on top. In addition, we were somehow put into the trophy opt-out program without our consent. Then, at the awards to acknowledge studios that participated, we weren't listed. When we asked (twice) we were told we would receive our plaques "if there were extras..." That's not acceptable, because it was not something we volunteered for. We went back at the very end of the night on the last day and they were not ready for us and we didn't receive our plaques, even after seeing an abundance of them backstage. We heard from other studios present and very much felt that Applause catered to a few giant studios; ironically, studios that were rude to our students in the dressing room and backstage. They even blocked the door and tried to claim the only bathroom near the dressing room entirely to themselves. It was a waste of our time and money to attend. In our portal it says I made an overpayment of $250. I find that baffling because I paid the exact invoice amount and contacted Applause directly to confirm the amount before issuing the payment. Seems like a tactic to get studios to return because they have a credit. Still waiting to hear back if they will issue that overpayment back to us.

We have previously attended this competition and had a great time. This year I found this competition to be very disappointing. There were multiple studios very clearly dancing their dancers down a level and the competition not only didn’t do anything about it but awarded those dancers with top placements. The judges feedback was not helpful and, at times, unkind. Overall a disappointing experience.

Well-run and awesome staff!

This was the worst competition I have ever been to. The judging was so biased to a few studios. When our dances consistently score well at other dance competitions, but yet absolutely none can here there is an issue. It was so blatantly obvious that the scoring was off. The dancers also commented on how cold the judges were with no expression and no talking during their dances. Absolutely ridiculous amount of time and money wasted.

We absolutely loved our experience at Applause. We are a smaller studio and we felt just as important as the large studios. The environment was friendly and supportive. We loved that adjudicated awards being given immediately following the performance versus during the awards ceremonies. It made everything a little quicker.

Absolutely the worst competition I have ever been attended. I will never recommend this company. The awards are cheap buttons what did we actually pay for., wish I could give no stars at all

Thought the MC was great and it ran on time.

Clean, nice Venue. Was organized and friendly staff. Pictures are expensive.

Nice competition, but needed more dressing room areas.

This comp was ok.

1st time at Applause. Enjoyed it. Ran on time, fair judging. Thank you for awarding 1st & 2nd place if only two dancers in a level, especially in the petite level. I know the dancers would have been sad if not called on stage for overalls. Same with title! Loved that awards are so quick and that there was several awards throughout the day. Loved the top 10 for solos! Super fun for the kids to get called up in no particular order.

Friendly staff and the competition ran on time but will not attend again, there were 11 dancers in the senior category and only top 5 were called even though top 10 were called in all other categories, no one over age 16 placed. They also made an error in announcing the score for my dancer that attended saying she had received platinum then said "wait never mind, High gold" and the trophy was stripped from her hands. She was devastated.

I as a parent and studio employee loved the Applause app for my Iphone but maybe it needs to be offered on other operating systems as well. The contest runs very smoothly and we were finished both days an hour ahead of schedule that was nice also. Staff was very nice and helpful couldn't have asked for better. The only thing I didn't like was that we entered a group at one level they sent out a tentative schedule then 5 days before the contest when the final schedule came out they changed our routine to a beginner level which caused it to change days so we had a dancer we had added because of the dance being slated for Sunday for over 3 weeks on the tentative schedule but the level change made the group dance on Saturday and we couldn't do anything but make large adjustments to the routine since the dancer couldn't be there on Saturday. We would never have paid to add her if we had thought they would make that change . Still a great event!!

I appreciate the fact that when there are a lot of entries in one age group/category, they announced more than just top five or top ten at overalls. For example, there were 50 entries in my daughter's solo category, and they announced top 15. However, on the website results page they still only list the top five. It would be nice if they listed the ones they announced at the competition. Rules and things such as age requirements are not listed on the website, which is frustrating. It is nice to be able to download the digital program from the website; however, they do charge $5 whereas it is free at KAR. However, I still enjoy being able to see/print a program for $5 on Thursday before the competition starts.

Great experience for our new team, they really had a lot of fun! Awards ran smooth, fair across the board as there were some larger studios there and we are small/new. The Judges comments were really helpful/useful to work for team improvement. Appreciate the digital download for music. Event ran on time and also ran ahead which is a bonus as a director being there all weekend long. Would like to see assigned dressing rooms if possible in the future. Will definitely be attending again!

Honestly I try to start with the positives in any review I write. This competition wasn't horrible. It was just okay and there were a lot of things they could have done better that I encourage them to look into fixing. The venue in Middleton was nice, however the main, biggest changing area was a gym which just so happened to be right next to the entrance for a basketball game that was being held the same day at the same time. So as the doors to the changing area were being opened constantly those in line to enter for the basketball game were fully able to see in. Not to mention many of these girls, many in skimpy costumes, were walking back and forth past these people waiting in line. It just made me as a mom cringe. The judging was strongly biased towards jazz dances. With what seemed like bonus points for twerking. Just saying that because I like to know myself. Judges all have different preferences but since we are fortunately with a studio that keeps things age appropriate I prefer to not go to competitions that prefer those types of dances. Timing was all over the place. The first night ran over an hour behind with many girls not getting back to the hotel until midnight. The second day they must have been trying to overcorrect and were very ahead. Seems others have mentioned how they do awards so I won't repeat that. Parking at the venue was good, prices for food/clothes/pictures were comparable to other competitions we have been to.

After 10 years and many dance competitions I would say that Applause is the worst competition we have ever attended for various reasons. 1 - The competition wasted a lot of time between numbers. We never got ahead of schedule and some studios took advantage of costume change times making everyone wait. 2 - The awards ceremonies seemed rushed and disorganized. Incorrect scores read. Trophies taken away and redistributed because they couldn't get passing them out correct. The method of recognizing the top soloists is the worst I have ever seen. To call up the top 10 and have the winners move forward of the lower scores is very ridiculous. To only acknowledge the fist place dancer shows that they care more about the $$ than the dancers. 3 - The director was rude starting with the morning ride in the elevator at the hotel. Her demeanor was not pleasant like many other directors we have seen over the years who wish kids good luck for the big day ahead. She took no interest in the dancers and was very rude every time anyone interacted with her. 4 - The judges never seemed engaged. I am not sure how you judge with your heads down. How can you not smile or interact with the dancers on stage is disappointing. No kid wants to perform for 3 stone cold faced judges who don't seem to want to be there or care what they are watching. Not once did they seem engaged until the end of the day when they packed up to leave. 5 - The scoring was very questionable. Dances that look plucked out of the 1980's with no technical difficulty beat dances that were technically challenging. The choreo recognized was usually very traditional and would not be suited for larger competitions like KAR, 24-7, Velocity, or Starpower. Overall, our dancer's absolutely hated this competition. So much our studio has decided to not waste any more money on their nationals. At one point many just wanted to go home and not waste any more time on this joke of a competition. Thanks to the competitions out there who go out of their way to provide an honest and fair environment for dancers. We appreciate you even more now. I know understand why many of Applause events are small with very little participation. It's because of how they run their program. Wish we had done more research before wasting many thousands of dollars with them.

While there are a decent amount of things to like about Applause, the problem we had was so big, it left every one of our dancers and parents uncomfortable and NO ONE wants to return because of it. When you have soloists competing for crowns, you either a- recognize them all with a certificate where they are sitting and then only call up the girls who are getting crowned, in the order they win (BravO!) or don\'t recognize any of them and just call up the girls who win in order (KAR). You do NOT call them all up in stage to stand there in a line and then pick out the queen and the 2 princesses while the other girls who lost just stand there and watch them get their music played and have their pictures taken. You especially don\'t do this in the petite age group where all the girls are under 8 and there are only four of them so 3 girls get a crown and one girl is left standing by herself as the loser. Losing is already sad enough. Losing publicly like that is mortifying. And the sad part is, I\'m not even writing this as the disgruntled teacher who\'s kid didn\'t win. My girl did win. All 3 of them who were entered in their respective age categories actually. My problem is when my studio doesn\'t even want to scream and cheer for our girl who did get crowned, because everyone was too busy being heartbroken for the one 7 year old who was the only one without a crown and was crying by herself on stage left because they had called her up for nothing. Cersie got off easy with her walk of atonement compared to this little girl. \"Shame! Shame!\"

We competed at Nationals. This year was our first year competing at Applause regionally and at Nationals. We are not a big mega studio. At no point, did I feel that there was favoritism for big studios or those with a long track record at Applause. My only issue is that one of the judges definitely had a long relationship with two sisters who competed. It was pretty obvious when they were onstage. Maybe he needs to be told to tone it down. But I never felt that the judging was unfair. Did tappers and Acro dances place? Yes they did. I found that refreshing. Most comps we go to do not have any judges who know anything but jazz and lyrical. Perhaps those who do not compete in Tap or Acro may not understand the technique, detail and stamina it takes to dance well in those styles. Fwiw, our studio brought approx 60 dances. Only one was Tap, one was Acro. Yes, I felt the judging was fair. I liked the awards ceremonies. The dancers were appropriately recognized but it didn\'t take too long. The entire week was really organized, thank you for that. A few of our studios dances were in the big show. What an honor. I super love love loved the introduction read before each dance. It made each dance personal and more interesting. None of our dances \"won\". My only beef is that only the first place winner was recognized during awards. To get to the big show means you are already a winner. I don\'t know why they do not give each dance a placement award at that point. To shove the losers off stage in such a brusque manner is inconsiderate. My only other issue is that only a top five is truly recognized. At the awards ceremony, I have seen top 10, top 20, top 8, etc.. But on the website, etc. it\'s only top five. Why give out the award onstage nut not recognize it anywhere else? Those are my only two beefs, they are small and easily fixable. I can\'t wait to give you five stars next year.

Great Comp!! Fair judging, also ran ahead of schedule.

After being very disappointed with how the competition had gone so far we were very excited to get into the best of the best. We danced the best we ever had and had a great day. Once it was time for awards they made all of us line up by category and wait while the finale preformance was going on. I was a little upset not to see the preformance and thought it took away from the appeal of having a finale number. After waiting for a while we were escorted on stage as they quickly announced our names. They had not told us how things would work and we were very surprised when they started to announce the winner. After finding out we had not won the staff put their hands on us and pushed us off the stage. After getting into the hallway they yelled at us to get against the wall and out of the way. There was no focus on the children\'s feelings or enjoyment of the ceremony and seemed very rushed. I believe it being so rushed and being pushed off stage takes away from the experience for both losers and title winners. Not a good way to end out the week with applause. Our studio will not be coming back.

It is clear that Applause is concentrating on building a clientele in order to generate income. There is an obvious bias to a few studios. Judging does not reward technical elements and ability. They do not work to make new participants feel welcome. Like most studios, we are part of a large network of dancers and studios and we spent a great deal of money to attend regionals and nationals. As a studio we will speak to Applause in terms they understand-- we withdraw our money and support of this company. We will not return, nor will we recommend this competition. In financial terms, Applause will lose at least $20,000 plus recommendations. Applause will not last.

Judging seems to not recognize technical difficulty. There were many times where our jazz/lyrical dances placed lower than a tap or acro that requires less technique,stamina and strength. Many children seemed to be in the wrong age or difficulty level. As a part time teacher at my studio I got very upset over how sad the 6-10 year old kids got when they knew that 13 year olds beat them. This is not fair. Walking down the hallway it was obvious that some studios knew the staff very well and other studios were ignored completely. Funny enough studios who knew the staff also did better at awards. Although they did have vip passes to get into the \"best of the best\" finals without the highest technical score it seemed like they defeated the purpose by choosing the same studio that already had many other numbers get into the finals. After competing in star systems Nationals for many years we feel we have wasted our money and time this year. We will not be coming back.

This is always my favorite competition! David and Angela did a fantastic job MC-ing; they were very clear. I have a hearing problem but was able to understand all the awards (that never happens). David even took the time to say a few words to my very nervous daughter before her solo. It made all the difference. Especially since one judge didn\'t even look up to watch my daughter dance (not the comp\'s fault). Can\'t wait for nationals.

There was a lot to like about Applause. Well organized, friendly staff, ran early and awards that don\'t take forever. They even recognized that a dancer was in too low of a level for their talent. It\'s nice when a comp follows their own rules. But, speaking of rules, I don\'t know why they have to be such a secret. They are not listed on the website or the program. Post them for us parents. The overalls seemed pretty accurate. But at least 90% of the adjudications were platinum. I find it hard to believe that most dances fell in that one category. Maybe if I knew the scoring system, it would make sense. I would return but please post those rules.

While I felt like judging was fair...I wasn\'t impressed with a lot of things at this competition. I couldn\'t find the scoring rubric online or in the program, but I am super curious what the platinum window is, it must be huge because almost everyone received platinum. I only heard a FEW people get high gold on Saturday. One would think the ones who got high gold likely were horrible, but they weren\'t...which left me scratching my head. The awards covered way too many categories in one sitting, solos and duets/trios were in with group awards and when there is 3 competing divisions you can only imagine how long it took. There needs to be more awards, in turn making them shorter ceremonies and less confusing. The trophies are super cheap and generic as well.... Wasn\'t impressed with this competition at all. I feel like they could easily turn it around by paying attention to details, such as improving the trophies (make it look like you actually care about what you\'re giving the girls/studios...maybe cut out the paper certificates too...) & sort out the awards ceremony mess...organization could be improved as well. I did like the way they gave the point score when giving overall awards, that doesn\'t happen often.

Applause was okay. It was well run and on time. However, it felt \"low energy\" and I am not sure if that was the venue or the staff? I felt the scoring was all over the place. Simple dance numbers with multiple mistakes scored higher than complex numbers with few errors, while in other spots it felt fair. I thought way too many people got platinum. The judging wasn\'t very tiered. It was very congested in the hallways and it was difficult to grab kid-friendly food to refuel them. The choices were limited and the line was very long at all times.

We just attended the Minneapolis Applause competition. It was an incredibly well run regional. The event personnel were friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. I LOVE that the MC/Music table is backstage! I am standing right there if there are issues...no running around to the front of the house. Also, all of the judges critiques and score sheets were uploaded and available by my MONDAY 4:00 class!!! That was awesome. Some competitions do not get these up until Wednesday. It was really refreshing to have these in time for class.

we went to an applause competition not 100% it is the same as this one but we sure did enjoy it

We really like this comp. They are always very friendly and tend to run on time and be super organized!

Always a wonderful comp

Love this competition!

My daughter has competed at this competition several times. They always are high on my list of favorite completions because of their professionalism in the way it is ran. They also have well rounded judges that know all dance styles.

We had a lot of fun at Applause... Will hopefully be returning again!

We are always enjoy Applause!! :)

Nice competition

Great first experience! Ran on time, very friendly and organized. Great venue!! Only negative was no food available for purchase but there is s greT pizza place that delivers!!

This is always my favorite competition!! Staff is super friendly, judging is fair, and MC is very understandable during awards (a rare occurrence in the dance world).

My team attended Applause\'s regional event in Batavia, Illinois back in March. Applause is definitely a quote unquote \"real\" competition. Your seasoned competitive dancers seem to be here, making competition a little more tough. Judging is hard, but fair. They give out many overall awards. Only complaint is that there wasn\'t much space for dressing rooms.

Terrible judging. Clogging won in every age and skill division. Very difficult to get a judges critiques.

We liked that they have top 5 for overalls. Also liked that they break it down by 3 different levels, which makes it fair for the top 5 overalls. We had a lot of fun and the judges seemed to be fair.

Applause is a fun, low-stress competition. Awards are quick and concise. They offer many scholarships, specials, dance camps and more beyond just the adjudications. Applause has an app that you can download to follow scheduling up to the minute, nearby food, etc.

Attended Applause in Orlando. I loved the venue and dressing area. The judges and announcer were friendly. The things that caused me not to like this competition much is as follows: They do not announce first place winners for each catagory when there are more than two routines in it as almost all other competitions do. When there is some tough competition at an event it is nice to at least know who won each catagory. Second, while they had other adjudication levels they only used TWO levels ALL WEEKEND LONG. They gave out only high gold and platinum. Really??? Why bother with levels at all. I saw stellar routines and ones that were hardly polished and they all fell within those two levels. Last, the title competition was confusing. Apparently, there was different scoring for title yet they didn\'t make that clear. I left confused and disappointed that I spent the extra money for a part of the competition I didn\'t understand.

Yes there is favoritism towards big studios and everyone has noted that. But the thing that I did not like about this competition is how they only do a top 5 instead of a top 10 for the overalls. And everyone in the top 5 is from the same studio. Hard to place for solos. It is nice how there are 3 different levels though. I don\'t really like the trophies they are kinda boring and have nothing to do with dance but overall it is a fun competition.

I loved applause judges critiques! I know they change from city to city...but still. As a teacher, I hate coming back with a score I\'m not happy with and nothing to work on, I feel like their critique matches their score and are very helpful!

just did this competition this past weekend. Very well organized, their focus is definitely on the kids, fun awards, friendly staff. They are on my A list.

We have done this competition for several years. This year more than any year before the favoritism to larger studios was obvious. Judges and backstage workers had traveled to some of the competing studios and worked with their students and it showed. Who knew you had to hire people so you could do well at a competition? We won\'t go back and it was going to end there but when I went the site and saw some others speaking to the same issues we had, I thought I would put this out there for what it is worth. Sadly for some competitions it seems that if don\'t have a large studio with 50+ numbers you don\'t get a nod. I have accepted that over the years. I am thankful there are now sites that you can go on and get teacher/SO reviews to help you make informed decisions.

Can I give them a -- stars this competition was the worst competition I have ever been too they care more about money than the kids. The scoring was so bad I could write down what every studio received before they even announced the accredidation.

Competition ran ahead of schedule which was great. Did not like this competition as it showed favoritism towards certain studios. Our kids did a phenomenal job, but did not get the awards they deserved.

Had a great weekend in SC. Ran ahead of time & smooth transitions. Excellent Judges did great scoring, very pleased! One of our favorite competitions!

The competition ran early, even with a mega studio and lots of quick costume changes. The venue was great! Felt that judges were low but fair and consistent. I really liked how many overalls they gave out also, they recognized the top 25 for teen and senior elite solos which I really liked since it was super competitive. However we only got one of the judges critiques and zero videos, competition did not respond to my emails after.

We love this competition! It moves somewhat slow, but they accommodate studios nicely. The staff members are very friendly.

Lots of dead time between routines. Too many intermissions. They have always favored larger studios, but this year it was very obvious. The judging was all over the place, again favoring larger studios. I HATE the new format ... They now do solos, duets and trios throughtout the weekend mixed in with small and large groups. LONG. HARD. BORING! WEEKEND!!! Thank goodness I love my dance family and we all get along. It took almost 2 weeks before we were able to access our judges comments!

I enjoyed this competition and would not attend again. It may not be my favorite but I do enjoy the organization of it. The one thing I do not like is the awards ceremony. During awards they called up the top five dancers in no particular order and then announced who won what place from there. When they get down to the top two left they make an effort to go out of their way and present them as the top two dancers. It is a little defeating standing up there recognized as one of the top dancers but then receiving second. It is more natural to have all dancers sit and wait to be called.

Overall, a fairly normal dance competition. Seems to favor larger studios. The staging and such is well done and professional. Photos and videos are of good quality. My biggest concern with this competition is transparency. It can be difficult to find their rules and regulations.

Attended their regional event. Ran on time. Some comps we went to last year have been between 1-2 hours ahead which can get frustrating. Liked the judges comments and venue.

Have gone to the regionals for 3 years now and this was our first time going to nationals. Judging is consistent and fair. Loved the classes offered at nationals (one teacher called out dancers for inappropriate moves). Very positive experience and I hope we get to return in the future.

Great comp!

This is a very organized competition that runs smoothly & on time. A request for one of our numbers to go earlier in the day (due to a religious obligation for one of our dancers) was honored & handled professionally. I do feel that they don\'t give out as many overall awards as other competitions of the same caliber do (they only do top 5, even in fairly large groups, where others will recognize a top 10)& I would like to see them place more dancers in the overalls, but otherwise, it was a good competition.

As a dancer I attended this competition, I loved it. As a teacher last year attended l raved about how professional they were, ran on time, judged fairly, loved the idea of donating trophies to a great benefit. This year was my first year owning a studio, we attended the competition that I raved about. My studio got robbed it was a sin. How do girls that were platinum winners all season long get golds? When I emailed the competition, they were just as rude. I will never go back to applause. I also didn\'t like how they favored certain studios.

We have always had a great experience with Applause, it\'s been one of my entire studio\'s favorites. That is, however, until this year\'s Nationals. It was very, very obvious that there was some favoritism going on. In addition to that, I personally believe they should regulate how many dances they put into one category, because I don\'t think it\'s very fair if one studio gets all top 3 spots, which occurred multiple times at nationals. I was very disappointed at judging, and thought many dances that were very good did not score as well as they should have. Favoritism is pretty obvious if the same 2 or 3 studios are taking top spots in all dance categories. Overall very disappointed at our nationals experience. Will probably return to the regional, don\'t think we\'ll be going back to nationals.

This year was our first experience with Applause and we really enjoyed it. Felt it was judged fairly and loved the venue it was held at. Will hopefully return next season.

This was my favorite of all our competitions this year! Right on time & judges were spot on!

As a parent we went before KAR bought and absolutely hated the experience--sold out comp, poorly organized with 8 and unders competing from 8 in the morning until 11 at night and an awards session at midnight!! However, we went to one in a new venue with KAR as new management and it was totally new experience. Much more organized with no late sessions and better thinking when scheduling. So I give them a thumbs up with new management.

Would have really liked a top 10 instead of only top 5

We have been to this one many years and this year their judging was the hardest I\'ve seen. They actually ran ahead of time even though they were sold out. Not the comps fault, but the ac could have worked better in the theater. I do wish even though it\'s the end of their season, they would still have a supply of t-shirts etc on had to sell.

Had a great time at this competition!

Good competition. Only complaints - no real judging (everyone, even bad dances, was scored high gold -- not a fan of the mentality everyone wins, give kids real feedback to improve) and not allowed to even bring water in to venue!

Liked this competition!!

I thought this was fun but the judges should critique more

This is our studios first year of competing ,and my daughters very first year of dance she just started dancing in august 2013 and I must say I am impressed with this competition I really enjoy watching all the dancers and felt it ran smoothly and professionally done great job!

run very well.Kids loved it!

Great competition! Ran smoothly and staff was very helpful.

It was nothing more than ok, but not bad. The last time I went there I didn\'t like how they only did a top 5 and not a top 10. Idk if it is still like that.

It wasn\'t bad or great. They need to work on making it more \"personal\".

We haven\'t attended this comp in several years but I liked it ok when we did.

We went here for the first year and we will be going back. The backstage folks are extremely nice and helpful. They interacted beautifully with the dancers and made it more fun for them. Well run-- good venue both for dancers and dance parents. Overall fair judging, attracted quality competition. Our studio has decided to attend their national based on the professionalism of this competition.

Good competition overall. The staff are very nice and my last time competing at Applause, they ran 45 minutes ahead of schedule! The judges score very high, which is nice when it comes to awards. The past few years it has been held in bad locations like crappy high schools. But the actual competition in general is worth while.

This USED to be one of the best competitions in the circuit. They sold out to KAR when the owner died. If you like KAR, which is all about the $$, then you may like this one.

It\'s a fun competition that myself and my students enjoyed going to. As time went on, they tried really hard to be like other competitions and it just kind of took the fun out of it.

Haven\'t been in years. The last couple of times we went I felt there was blatant favoritism to one studio. It wasn\'t just against us- I was feeling OTHER studios were better and could never come out on top when they should have. It\'s hard to call favoritism when it\'s you vs. them, but observing other studios and feeling bad for them just made it very clear. I don\'t think we will go back.

We go to this competition often.

Solid comp that attracts decent talent in our area. Nationals was small compared to others we have been to.

one of my studios favorite competitions! We attend applause usually every other year (to change things up a bit) but we\'ve competed at applause 5 times since I\'ve been on the team. The staff is so kind and friendly and helpful. The venues are always very nice, clean, etc. Other studios are friendly, fun award ceremonies, great judging, fair scoring. 10/10 would recommend :)

Enjoyable competition with high energy. Awards are long with the addition of dance-downs, etc, but otherwise, good judging and a wide variety of awards.

Good competition

We had a great experience at Applause. Looking forward to dancing with them in 2014.

This past spring was our first ever Applause competition. The staff was kind, however, the schedule was jumbled and out of order. They "lost" our best dancer's score and video. The comments were inconsistent on the videos and the contest seemed to reward faces and costumes over quality and technique. We will not be going back.

nice. My family has attended and gave it rave reviews.

Very nice competition. Had a wonderful experience here. Definitely recommend this one. Love they allow adult division

We very much enjoyed our first experience with this competition this year both at the \"local\" regional and again at nationals this summer. Both were run very nicely and remained either on or just ahead of time. Staff was friendly and the most important is the kids enjoyed it!

Lots of great feedback. Tends to run long.

We do this competition every year and love it!

Love it! Excellent competition.

Applause is such a pleasant, smooth running competition to attend. Love it!!

Very friendly staff. Competition ran ahead. Awards were normal length although I thought the actual presented award could have been nicer. (In some cases it was just a certificate). I\'m not one to think everyone should get a trophy but if you ARE going to hand something out it shouldn\'t be a sheet of paper. Definitely would attend again.

We attended last year & there were long waits between numbers (costume changes) but they didn\'t move ahead when other dancers were ready. Announcer kept asking if anyone was ready to dance to come back stage - seemed weird to me. Don\'t like that the rules & general information as well as the schedule isn\'t posted online.

Awards was a bit difficult to follow, but nice comp. I like that they use their facebook page to let people know when they are ahead of schedule.

The past few years, I've found the judging to be very inconsistent. Not unfair, but inconsistent, if that makes sense. It runs smoothly, though, and runs on time or ahead.

This comp has really grown in our area in the past couple of years. My only complaint is that they tend to go a long time between awards presentations, which makes for a super long day for younger dancers. That said, their awards move fast and are my favorite, no fluff.

We didn\'t get to attend this year, but have always enjoyed it in the past,