Competitive dancers live a demanding lifestyle, with going to school everyday, and practice for three to four hours—then having to follow that same schedule again for the next week. Though the schedule is tough to follow, their passion for dance drives them to keep with it. But sometimes, competing allows dancers to take a mini-vacation and travel to places they love, as Sarah Chowaniec and I did past weekend.

Sarah traveled to Pittsburgh, Penn. to compete at Sheer Elite, while I traveled to Cleveland to compete and take classes at Velocity Dance Convention. We vlogged our experiences as competition dancers in out-of-state dance competitions to show what really happens when dancers travel to compete.

Along with blogging, Sarah and I took some time out of our weekend to interview fellow dancers and dance teachers about their weekends as well. When I spoke to my dance teacher, Colleen Ralyea, about what she was most excited for this weekend, her response perfectly summed up everyone’s excitement for the first competition of the season.

“The kids have been working so hard, working and rehearsing in the studio on all of their solos, duets, trios,” Ralyea said, “so its going to be exciting to finally see everything up on stage in lights and get some feedback from other professional choreographers in the industry.”

Performing is what dance competitions are truly about. Not winning first or second, but for expressing your love for dance through movement on stage.

So to see more fun like this, make sure to check out our dance vlog!