Getting Wild – A Dance Intensive

Conventions offer great opportunities for dancers to grow their skills by immersing themselves in a range of classes taught by master teachers over a short period of time. While many traditional conventions span a weekend or several days, the Wild Dance Intensive condenses the experience down into a single day!

According to the Wild Dance Intensive website: “At WILD, our main priority is offering your dancers a one-of-a-kind dance experience in an encouraging, fun, and creative environment. Our faculty is made up of world renowned dance choreographers and educators who are committed to the future of young dancers. At WILD, we offer multiple classes, styles, and age groups. There is something for everyone at WILD!”

Star Dance Alliance is the parent company behind the Wild Dance Intensive. The event tours across the United States; in 2022, host cities included Cleveland, Baltimore, Long Island, Buffalo, Reston (Virginia), the Meadowlands and Atlantic City (New Jersey), Detroit, Lakeland (Florida), and Kansas City (Missouri). Marinda Davis, Jill Wolins, Casey Askew, Manny Castro, Gianna Martello (of Dance Moms fame), Shannon Atkins (one of our personal favorites), Danny Vazquez (another favorite) and others comprise the faculty.

For the past two years, my girls have attended the event in Atlantic City, New Jersey. What follows is a summary of our experience. Please keep in mind that the faculty members do change per location, and the schedule is subject to vary. Other differences (no Wild Child program, different class lengths, etc.) are always possible as well. For up-to-date information about your local event, consult Wild’s Schedule page.

Registration

The registration desk usually opens around 7 am or so. One designated adult per team (a teacher from the studio, a team mom, etc.) should check the group in. If you’re attending alone, you can go ahead to the registration desk yourself.  

You’ll receive a thin plastic audition number for your child to wear to be eligible for scholarships, awards, and to be an apprentice finalist. To complete your child’s registration, scan the QR code on the card and complete the Google Form it brings up.

Wild Child

In some cities, your 8-and-under dancer will have a special session known as “Wild Child.” In our experience, Wild Child dancers report directly to their room (they do not participate in the common warm-up for Juniors, Teens, and Seniors). 

To start their day, a staff member introduces the faculty, and the children begin their warm-up. They usually bang out three classes before lunch, and three more afterwards. Your child will have about 30 minutes for lunch. Each class lasts about 45 minutes, with very little (if any) breaks in between. In this room, your dancer’s day will end earlier than the junior, teen, and senior rooms. For several of the cities this year, the Wild Child-ren had their last event at about 2pm. You’ll have a couple of hours to kill if you need to wait for a dancing sibling in the Junior, Teen, or Senior room.

Just like the older dancers, the Wild Child kids experience a variety of genres in their dance classes. These may include ballet technique, contemporary, hip hop, jazz, musical theater, and more. Consult your city’s schedule far in advance so you can plan and pack accordingly. 

The Wild Child program has its own special awards ceremony at the conclusion of their day. Master teachers may give out “Wild About You” or “Wild Child” awards at their discretion for technical mastery, work ethic, etc.

Some cities may not offer the Wild Child program. In that case, all dancers age 11 and under will be grouped in the Junior room.

Juniors, Teens, and Seniors – Beginning the Day

The J/T/S dancers begin their day with an opening show, where an emcee introduces the staff members and leads a group warm-up. The energy is absolutely through the roof in this opening show, really helping to set the tone for the day! Right after the warm-up, the dancers report to their age-group room to begin their classes.

Juniors, Teens, and Seniors – The Classes

In the JTS rooms, the dancers can expect about seven classes with a lunch break somewhere in between. The classes were about 50 minutes long, with a five- or ten-minute break in between each. 

Your dancer can expect a wide variety of classes, including jazz, musical theater, commercial jazz (one of my girls’ favorites), ballroom (another favorite), funk fusion, hip hop, tap, and more. The schedule varies by city, so be sure to check yours when it publishes.

The instructors will typically begin teaching a combo, with apprentices on stage to help demonstrate the movements. They teach at a fairly quick pace, so your dancers need to stay focused and attentive if they want to keep up! 

After a while, the teacher will break all the dancers into four or five smaller groups (usually by birth month or age). This allows the staff to better see each dancer, and gives the kids more space to perform. Each group takes a turn performing the combo in the middle of the room. 

At this point, the staff members might record the numbers of individuals that catch their eye. These dancers may later be “called out,” or become eligible to receive an award, scholarship, or some other type of recognition during the finale. When all the groups have gone, the instructor will continue teaching the combo if it isn’t finished already, and repeat the group process. 

At the end of each class, the instructor may “call out” dancers that he or she took special notice of at some point. This smaller group of kids performs the combo for the rest of the room. 

During our event in Atlantic City, nearly all of the teachers were willing to take photos with individual dancers after each class ended. The one teacher that was an exception had a very valid excuse (he had to catch a plane to Los Angeles). All the dancers were asked to take a group photo with the instructor at the end of the session. 

The Finale

One of the classes that your dancer will take will be an audition class (it’s typically the last class). During this session, the students learn a combo that they will perform before a panel of judges and spectators during the finale. In addition to the choreography, dancers will be expected to improv for a few 8-counts. 

Each age group (Junior, Teen, and Senior) followed this procedure during our event:

• Small groups within the age category – Each small group performs their audition combo. Depending on the number of participants, this could average about four to six groups. 
• The emcee announces dancers that earned special recognition during the day (“Wild About You,” for example). 
• Scholarship recipients are announced.
• Apprentice finalists are announced.
• Apprentice finalists perform a section of improv (about 45 seconds or so) individually for the panel of judges.

When all three age groups are done, the Apprentice Winners are announced. These children will help demonstrate at Wild events the following year. New for 2022, any dancer that had their number recorded in all the day’s classes would automatically become an Apprentice. Apprentice Runners-Up receive a scholarship to a Wild Dance Intensive the following year.

And that’s how the day ends!

But What About…? Questions and Answers

What are the age divisions?

For 2022, the participants’ ages are however old they were on September 1, 2022. In 2021, it was as of January 1, 2021. Wild Child (may not be available in all cities) is 8 and under. Juniors are 9-11 (or 11 and under, in cities where there is no Wild Child program). Teens are 12-14, and Seniors are 15-19.

Dancers may choose to dance in an age division above their real age, but cannot dance “down.” Dancing in an age category that is NOT their actual age affects their Apprentice eligibility (see website for details). 

Are there observer bands?

Yes, parents of registered dancers can purchase an observer band online. If you’re planning to buy one at the door, check in advance as they are not always available. You may attend the opening show and finale without an observer band. 

Can you bring your own food?

Bringing your own food is a smart way to save money. But you’ll need to check with the specific venue you’re attending to find out if they allow outside food and drink. For us, our studio director had shared an email from Wild a few days prior to the intensive. They did let us know that our particular venue (the Atlantic City Convention Center) would not allow us to bring food or drink in.

Quite frankly, we stashed a few water bottles and snacks in my girls’ bags and they went unnoticed. However, one dance mom was quite displeased about being asked to put her large rolling cooler back in her car, as they would not allow her to enter with it. Check in advance to avoid such an inconvenience.

A Little Advice

While my girls were warming up with the rest of the J/T/S dancers in the Junior room, I took their belongings to the Teen room to save a couple of chairs for them. You might consider doing the same, even if you don’t have an observer band. If you don’t, just be sure to clear out before the first class begins.

Most of our phones wouldn’t scan the QR code on the audition number. Instead, visit one of the large boards that bear the QR code; it was much easier for the phone to read.

Because the Juniors, Teens, and Seniors were mostly on the same schedule at our event, I made sure to visit the food kiosk pretty early for lunch. If you can’t bring outside food into the venue (see the question about food above), devise your food plan early.

Bring water! At our event, the kids were on their own for hydration (I didn’t see a single water station).  

Don’t forget to bring safety pins to affix your child’s audition number to their attire. The plastic number cards we received had pre-cut holes to poke the pins through, which was helpful.

To make sure you’re fully prepared, check out What to Pack for a Dance Convention. Even veteran dance moms might see something they hadn’t thought of!

Hope your dancer has a great experience getting WILD!