It was a busy weekend of hairspray and false eyelashes as one hundred entries from Snap Dance Studios took the stage at the Dance For Dreams Charity Competition last weekend.

Alison Stutz, Studio Manager, shares most dancers were recognized as 'Stars of Excellence' and three received a grade of 'Exceptional' or a score over 90%. But more than the hardware, Stutz and owner Courtney Sproule were pleased with what they heard behind the scenes. "I was really proud of how the kids took all their hard work and brought it to the stage; even more than that was all the comments that I got about the teamwork of the kids and watching the older ones help the little ones and the kudos to other kids from other studios as they came off. So yes they did amazing on stage but it was really great to see our Snap community with those other qualities that are so important to us."

Creating a community of dancers that showcase those skills publicly is extremely important to the studio. "That piece is so important to Courtney and me, we see it throughout the studio but when you get out into the community and you see your kids helping each other but also being so kind to other studios is really heartwarming."

The first festival of the season is always great when young competitive dancers take to the stage for the first time. "Like the 'Burnin' Love' group, you can see that they're so excited but then they're so nervous especially those first timers, but it's so fun to see them out there and then they come off and saying it was fun."

When it comes to dancing competitively at festivals, Stutz says the takeaway message for the dancers is important. "Hard work pays off, they need to put the work in to get the result they want. The big message from Courtney and I is to keep growing; even if you had success this weekend we want you to continue to take the feedback, continue to push yourself and continue to grow over the next coming weeks because we do have two more. It is subjective opinions so take it with a grain of salt but take it and grow from it and the life lessons that come with it."

The dancers will spend this week back in training and review adjudicator pointers before they attend Dance Invasion on April 25-28 at RockPointe Church in Bearspaw.

The 8th annual Dance For Dreams Charity Competition is hoping to raise $65,000 in total for dancers chosen charities, with the Cochrane Activettes being the studio's charity of choice.