Competition Weekend Wrap-Up: Duet-Turned-Solo, Sourdough Muffins & High-Energy Reblocks

Shine Squad HQ
Mar 31
3 min read

There’s something about competition weekends that always keeps me on my toes—no matter how much I plan, organize, and prepare, there’s always a curveball waiting to be thrown my way. This past weekend was no exception. It was a whirlwind of surprises, quick adjustments, and resilience—but in the end, it became one of the most memorable competitions of the season.

💥 An Early Morning Surprise

The weekend started off with a challenge before the sun even came up. At 5:30 AM,

I got the dreaded message—my daughter’s duet partner was sick and couldn’t compete. 😱

Their call time? 7 AM. That meant less than two hours to figure out a plan.

Scratch the routine? Adjust? Panic? (Okay, maybe a little.)

But our studio owner stepped in with a solution:

✨ Turn the duet into a solo.

One problem... the routine was a musical theater piece called "Friends to the End"—all about friendship. The choreography? Built for two dancers. Now, we had to rethink everything.

🎭 Turning a Duet Into a Solo

With less than an hour to adjust, we:

✅ Had our dancer run the routine a few times, shifting the focus from an imaginary friend to the judges

✅ Tweaked small moments to make it feel more natural as a solo

✅ Told her to own it, no matter what

Walking into the venue, I saw the nerves settle in. This was her first time performing a solo—ever.

But then, she did what she always does: stepped onto that stage and gave it everything.

💎 Platinum score.

💪 First-ever solo.

⏳ Reworked in under two hours.

Watching her walk off stage beaming with pride made all the stress worth it.

⏳ Backstage Chaos & Quick Changes

After the morning madness, we had some downtime (aka snack breaks and deep breaths).

But next up? Production—a seven-minute routine with five costume changes. 🏃‍♀️💨

If you’ve never witnessed a dance mom pit crew in action, let me tell you—it’s organized chaos at its finest.

Dancers running, zippers flying, hairpieces being clipped in record time.

But somehow, everyone made it on stage in time, and the performance was a success.

🎭 Dance Competition Day Two: Reblocking & Big Moments

Sunday brought a little more breathing room, but also new challenges. With my daughter’s duet partner out, her group routine had to be reblocked last minute.

Cue a high-energy rehearsal with:

🌀 A lot of deep breaths

🔄 Formations shifting on the fly

🙌 Dancers working together to pull it off

Despite the stress, they nailed it receivng their highest ranking thus far this season.

And in between the chaos, we even found time for strawberry sourdough muffins (so good! 🍓) and a little shopping at a local market inside the venue.