All England Dance Finals 2024

[JaneDance1904]

After many many years of attending the AED finals, I can honestly say this year has been the worst organised event ever. 
A total shambles from start to finish, the venue is totally unsuitable for the size of this event.
Safeguarding and safety of the children has gone out of the window, this has been raised separately by many parents and teachers. 
Also The cost of the tickets at £14 a session has priced out many families from watching their children dance. Why does it seem that this event has become about making money and not celebrating and showcasing the fantastic talent of our young children in the UK. 
As far as judges are concerned, where is their knowledge of certain dance genres… ie.. Greek? Why would you let them judge something they don’t know? 
I have enjoyed watching some of the event so far, although many of the results have seemed very very strange. 
I for one and also many others I spoke to have just about had enough of AED.. 

please someone else organise a national fun festival for all children, judged fairly on each genre and accessible to all. 
And just to note, no I do not have family dancing at the event. I attend to support friends and have previously enjoyed attending these events previously. 

[DDL23]

I completely agree with everything you have said. It’s been the worst I’ve ever experienced. The venue is completely unsuitable in more ways than one. How could they not know until the finals started that stage 2 wasn’t safe for some of the ballet sections? Stage 2 is so small, expecting the older end to dance on that and have to practically leap on the spot, travelling movements that are part of the choreography can’t be danced to full because of the stage is just really not okay. Finals use to be special and it didn’t feel like it this year. The amount of money they must be making is disgusting. I’ve heard nothing but disappointing comments, stressed teachers, children, families and supporters! If you have more than one child dancing at the same time in different theatres you have to chose which one to watch or just not watch atal.

It also normally brings local schools together so that they can support and celebrate with eachother but you are so all over the place that’s not been there this year.

 

 

It’s such a shame that there are some amazing adjudicators out there that specialise in specific genres and they haven’t utilised them for those sections.

 

You're right also about the safety and safeguarding of the children, where is that?!

Such a real shame for teachers and students who have worked hard to reach this for it to have been an experience they didn’t think would be a negative one. Finals use to be special, it’s completely lost what it once was!

 

 

Edited July 29 by DDL23

[JaneDance1904]

Thank you for agreeing with me. I didn’t know about the stage on Theatre 2 that sounds awful… it was very hard watching older dancers having to adjust their solos to fit such a small space. 
Yes, finals used to be a very special experience for all the young people. They have worked so hard for 2 years to get to that point.. they deserve to have fun.  I also thought years ago all the dancers used to get their own lanyards with their name as a nice keepsake… I didn’t see anyone wearing one this year. 
I hope teachers and parents put complaints in to AED… I certainly will be sending in my thoughts. 

[dancefanatic]

I 100% agree.  Whoever thought that this year's venue was remotely suitable needs their head examined!  Surely there is a handbook given to each region detailing what is required for a venue as they have run this festival for enough years now.  Yesterday morning was bedlam with a section brought forward to start at 8AM (not all parents got the message as it was sent out late on Sunday night!) and then taking the groups in for a 9AM start but holding them at the door for 10+ minutes at a time, holding parents outside, only allowing parents to watch their dancer's session and then them having to collect their dancers to wait outside again until their next session as the dancers had to vacate their dressing area (another joke) to allow the next lot in to use the space etc.  No food or drink allowed to be taken into the Halls but very little made available inside including no tap water to refill dancers' water bottles either. 

 

And I've received a message this morning that the door security today has been ramped up further too, not necessarily a bad thing after what happened yesterday in Southport, but does add to the general sense of frustration and confusion.  But it certainly has soured the feeling of accomplishment for the dancers getting this far when all the qualifying and regional venues have been nicer, more accommodating and even more nurturing.  It certainly does make me wonder about doing the next cycle again when the overall impression this year is one of it being nothing more than a money-making enterprise amid chaos.

[Pointeshoe24]

Totally agree with everything that has been said. The last finals we went to was a lovely experience. This is our last day today and I'm dreading it as my daughter is in a group dance.

Edited July 30 by Pointeshoe24
Spelling

[Kitty70]

I entirely agree and will be writing a letter of complaint. The rules changed throughout the day depending on who you encountered, yes to going through that door, then no, yes to food, no to food etc. Marking system was so chaotic as well with marks changing because of the iPads? I didnt realise but a few of the sections were won by children at full time vocational schools but entering under a local school. Why is this allowed? How can a recreational child at a fabulous standard on a couple of hours of ballet compete? Comes down to money again with some parents waiting outside as they couldn't afford to watch.  Dance teachers looked so stressed and were having to miss some of their pupils dance because of running between theatres. 

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

I totally agree as well. We were only there for one day and I was glad I didn't have to go back. The main issue for us was trying to navigate from the changing room in Theatre 2 to the holding room (through the Theatre 1 holding room and down some stairs), then outside and round to watch and then back to the holding room to pick up our children. There were no signs showing where to go and I just felt lost and confused. They had run out of programmes on day 2 - how??? Some merchandise was only being sold in Theatre 1 so, again, we had to figure out how to get there to get it. The lack of signage really baffled me. At our Regional, there were signs everywhere showing where to go. 

 

@DDL23 I only watched juniors on Stage 2 and they were struggling so I have no idea how the older ones coped. 

[Rainbowmum]

22 hours ago, BalletGirlAndBoy said:

I totally agree as well. We were only there for one day and I was glad I didn't have to go back. The main issue for us was trying to navigate from the changing room in Theatre 2 to the holding room (through the Theatre 1 holding room and down some stairs), then outside and round to watch and then back to the holding room to pick up our children. There were no signs showing where to go and I just felt lost and confused. They had run out of programmes on day 2 - how??? Some merchandise was only being sold in Theatre 1 so, again, we had to figure out how to get there to get it. The lack of signage really baffled me. At our Regional, there were signs everywhere showing where to go. 

 

@DDL23 I only watched juniors on Stage 2 and they were struggling so I have no idea how the older ones coped. 

My daughter was stage 2 and I am gutted for her. She (and many others) was re blocking her modern, ballet and lyrical in the wings and whilst  dancing because she physically could not fit her routines on the stage. There were so many panicking 12 year olds because of this. 
 

They should have be dancing to their potential after two years of hard work, the reality was they were worried and focused on not falling off the stage or dancing in the wings. 
 

It is just not ok. 

[Dancemums]

I can only echo everything said above.  There were so many issues, not least the venue.  It was obvious that the venue and its staff were geared up towards rock gigs, not dance competitions.  The initial ban on bringing food and drink into the venue just underlined this - how could dancers who are there from early in the morning to late in the evening cope without these?  The venue only offered bar snacks and didn't have a water fountain - totally inadequate.  The staff seemed to relax as the week went on in terms of food and drink, but understandably the security measures were ramped up.  Nowhere for people to sit down between sections - no cafeteria or communal area - meant that you often had no choice but to stand outside in an enclosure that felt like being in a zoo!

The second stage was laughable - not suitable for most solos let alone small groups!  How this was deemed to be acceptable for the national finals is totally beyond me.  We missed so much as there were clashes and our stress levels were through the roof as we were trying to run from one theatre to another to see our kids.  Totally unacceptable when we've paid a lot of money for tickets.

The changing areas were absolutely rammed on the first day - so much so that it was a safeguarding issue.  Things improved from the second day but only by allowing groups in at certain times.  Perhaps scheduling back to back group sections wasn't such a great idea.

The list of adjudicators did bring some hope - plenty of specialists in particular genres - but then they weren't present when those genres were being judged - such a shame for the dancers who would have welcomed that focused feedback.   And it was obvious that one of the AED adjudicators who seemed to be judging many of the sections knew some of the competitors personally - big hugs and kisses when they got medals!  Impartial?!!!

The new marking system was also questionable - far too easy for the results to be skewed by one judge and the typical lack of AED transparency.  This might explain why some of the results were hard to fathom.  Perhaps they could take note of the Dance World Cup marking system which looks at a set of criteria and the performance is marked accordingly.

I agree about the point about including dancers in full time vocational training - hardly a level playing field.

AED were trying to get money out of their supporters all the way through the Regionals and Finals - it's clear their plans to expand the scale of the competition are proving to be costly, but they have to realise that bigger isn't necessarily better.  Both the Regionals and Finals are more like an endurance test.  They are losing sight of what made the AED competition unique and I fear this is going to come back and bite them when their supporters who have been there year after year might decide that the negative experience outweighs the positive.  Some schools would rather do Greek and National (yes, National not Global!!!) instead of acro and street, and you'd hope that AED would help keep these genres alive as part of their reason for existing in the first place.  Sadly, I think money is the driving factor now.  Even if our school decides to do it again, we are thinking that we might not and we've never felt that in the past.  I'm sure we're not the only ones.

Edited August 9 by Dancemums
More to say

[Jan McNulty]

Hello @Dancemums and welcome to the Forum!

 

[HopelessMummy]

We were theatre two; the stage was tiny although we did have advance notice of this. I didn't have a problem with adjudicators etc. as others have commented but the changing facilities were woeful. We were advised to change in the toilets. It was absolute carnage trying to get to the toilets to even change. Children were changing in corridors which was totally inappropriate.

 

Also, the venue was right next to the Law Courts. Children were changing outside, applying make up and were walking around, unsupervised, some dressed in no more than a crop top and small shorts. It was absolutely horrifying to watch but I'm not sure that could be laid at the door of the AED.

[HopelessMummy]

On a completely separate note, the volunteers were fantastic and it was great they enforced the no walking in when dancing is taking place rule. Also, their social media announcing of winners quickly is also to be commended.

 

Just trying to add a bit of balance.

 

Also my DC had a lovely time and I can't take that away from them

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

@Dancemums and @Kitty70 Re dancers in full time vocational training being allowed to compete - I had no idea this was allowed or that it took place. Does this refer to dancers taking part in group dances for their old local school or are there dancers in full time training performing solos? I must be very naive because I thought the whole point of All England was that it is for dancers not in full time training! I'm possibly even more disillusioned with the whole thing now. 

[Rainbowmum]

1 hour ago, BalletGirlAndBoy said:

@Dancemums and @Kitty70 Re dancers in full time vocational training being allowed to compete - I had no idea this was allowed or that it took place. Does this refer to dancers taking part in group dances for their old local school or are there dancers in full time training performing solos? I must be very naive because I thought the whole point of All England was that it is for dancers not in full time training! I'm possibly even more disillusioned with the whole thing now. 

I thought this was the case too that children from full time vocational schools can not enter?! I am led to believe they were solos and placed too. 

[drdance]

Children at vocational schools have always competed in AED under their old dance school / 'other' dance school. I'm not sure whether there's anything explicit in the rules about it. I first encountered it over 20 years ago in Hertfordshire where children who were day pupils at Tring then continued dancing at their old school and competed for them at festivals. I'm not sure if the individual vocational schools have rules against it but I think it's always happened.