Did You Literally Create Competitive Dance In The 70's?

Responding To This Question From A Facebook Dance Teacher Group Post

YES I DID!!! Thank you for asking!!! In 2025, there are thousands of dance competitions based on my original design, including an outdated score system. Others claim their mother created it or they worked long and hard to develop their systems, but basically they are plagiarizing what I designed for my AMERICAN DANCE INVITATIONAL®. Read on for my historical outline of how dance competitions originated and how you and your friends can own a new model, with a new design. The vendors tried to copy it but they are clueless.

Back in the day, comps were part of the dance teacher organizations, I belonged to DMA 5 New England. The focus of these organizations was soloists, then as now. Groups, classes, and lines were limited. I was part of the executive board for Chapter 5, someone handed me a typed slip of paper and asked, can you fix this? The scoring back then was subjective, but a judge just put down the score he/she wanted. After one executive board meeting where one teacher was complaining that her competitor put in the local newspaper she won FIRST with a score of 76 and the ONLY entry in the category, and her soloist had a score of 92 out of 18 entrants, I suggested a more formalized scoring method, thus the first ADJUDICATED Score System was born.

I was working as a long-term sub in a 4th grade, so I suggested a score system based on a bell curve. I did add criteria for the scores, as I have now, but it was somehow lost along the way. The year was 1976, the score was first used without my permission in 1978. I was working for EAR Corporation; their legal department licensed it for me. The attorneys felt it was going to be big, I guess they were right. To date no one has ever paid me, they were somehow under the mistaken concept that all they had to do was change something and it covered them legally, it doesn’t.

Prior to this, Bev Fletcher, teacher of Michael Bennet of “A Chorus Line” fame had a private competition as did Richard DiSarno and Sam Fiorello called Dancing Deb, again the focus was on the soloists, titles. Richard later became the director for Dance America, the competition for the Art Stone Costume Company.

After an accident in 1990, I transitioned into public education full time. My competition, which I began in 1978 was called American Dance Invitational®. There was another MA area comp called Terpsichore, started by three friends. One woman became ill with breast cancer, so the son of one of the other partners opened a comp called American Dance Awards which he later sold due to some sort of financial issue in 2003 after a national held in Boston MA. I kept my comp on a limited basis until 2006 when teaching English at the high school level, traveling for the Gates Foundation, and attending the Harvard Kennedy School for a master’s degree became overwhelming.

After attending multiple basketball games as the dance team coach, I began to think of a simpler way for dance comps to be one day, teams only with a specific score system based on the content of the routines. American Dance Sport Games® events were born. I felt there had to be a better way for dance studios to show their dance students could achieve, a simpler, happier outcome for those who do not want the intensity of what is currently being offered and something parents would understand in 2025 and beyond.

I feel that the current comp model is now in an oversaturated market. If you are interested in PROFITING in multiple ways and entering a different comp model send a message to me using the CONTACT FORM Or Email

Contact Jann

info@janndaviscompany.com

American Sport-Dance Games® are the ALTERNATIVE to current studio dance competition model offering teachers, studio owners, school dance team coaches, and after school enrichment programs event ownership. It is a competitive achievement for what you offer in your dance classrooms, based in proper ballet/jazz training for the five domains of dance education.

READ MORE ABOUT AMERICAN SPORT DANCE GAMES® DESIGN

https://www.americansportdancegames.com/game-basics

In 2025, I am offering a new studio dance competition model which I decided to create, an ALTERNATIVE to the current over saturated, plagiarized dance competition model, which offers an added incentive, PROFITTING to dance teachers and studio owners who choose to do what I did in 1973 be a pioneer! As many know I do not think that studio dance competitions are worth it, financially or as a business model. As a member of AADI, I am offering you a chance to operate and own if you wish to a chance to be that pioneer for the dance studio industry.

Keep it simple, follow what school districts in your area are doing. Stay away from those who only care about making bank on your efforts. You can make up to $40K or more annually, a new income stream!

Thanks For Visiting And Please Share Us With Others

©Jann Davis, March 22, 2025, All Rights Reserved

#JannDavisCompany, #JannDavis, #AmericanSportDanceGames, #HireMeProject, #44WeekDanceStudioSuccessPlan, #DanceMeets, #ProfessionalDevelopment, #DanceTeachers, #DanceStudioOwners, #DanceTeamCoaches, #DanceStudioIndustry, #SmallBusiness, #DanceStudioTrainingSolutions, #DanceStudioOwner