DIVA... A new Chapter in Dance Competition History
At 25 years of age I knew two things well, dance and dance competitions. Early on I dreamed about one day having my own competition, but I didn't want it to be like all the others. I started thinking about how I could make mine different, but because there were so many out there already, that was practically impossible. Even with the knowledge of what made one good, and another bad, I still couldn't fathom a different angle. I closed the door on that dream for just a minute and told myself, "there are too many competitions out there anyway".
One day shortly after that, a friend asked me to make him a video of me dancing. I said, "no problem", and went to my closet to pull some videos off the shelf. As I turned on the light I was amazed! I saw about a gazillion videos in there just collecting dust. Some were from when I started dancing, others were performances I had done around the world. I stayed in that closet for a long time and it was in that closet where I had an epiphany. Suddenly I realized that I couldn't possibly be the only one with a closet full of dance videos. It came to me then what the dance world needed.
I was going to create the world's first online dance competition. It would operate in the same manner as a regular dance competition, except that now it would all be virtual using existing videos from already completed competitions. Now you could have a dance competition at the click of a button. This would not be just another competition but a competition revolution! For the first time, every dancer would have the opportunity to compete against every other dance competitor regardless of which particular competition they had originally entered. This was exactly what the dance competition world had been waiting for. There would finally be a definitive way to level the playing field, so that all dancers could effectively compete in the same venue, comparable to the way that the Academy Awards allow films to compete against each other. This would be the Oscars of the dance world.
I quickly drafted up some rules and found a name I loved. DIVA, Dance International Video Awards. I created six divisions starting from Mini and spanning to Professional, separating the females and males. Then anyone wishing to compete could just upload or send in a video of their dancing. A qualified panel, including Rasta Thomas, Adrienne Canterna, Danny Tidwell, Nick Lazzarini, and others, would then review the video and award the best videos, prizes in each division. This would be the next "big thing" in the world of dance competition.
Ultimately it is my hope that DIVA will raise the bar of dance and make great dancing more accessible to everyone. You've got to admit, "Competition at the click of a button", sounds pretty hot... and hopefully in the future DIVA will annually archive the best of the best in the world of dance each year and preserve it in cyberspace for all time. This will allow the next generation to use DIVA as a learning tool to take dance to the next level. Dancers need to be pushed.
Please join me in raising the bar. DIVA's Mission: To encourage, inspire, and reward the most promising dancers in the world today. Come on, be a part of the competition revolution!!! www.DIVACOMPETITION.com