Judging the Youth Hoop Comp... Julie's Perspective!

​Today Zorena decided to ask Julie a few questions about judging the Youth Aerial Hoop Competition we ran on Sunday the 19th of February '17. Here are the questions Julie was asked, and the answers she gave... 

(To see the full report on the competition, as well as a few more sneak preview pictures and the blog from Zorena about how organising the competition went, please see the last blog post, or click here)

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Z: You've judged lots of other dance and gymnastics competitions before, what do you look for as a judge?

J: The Whole Package. Good technique, neat and controlled execution, performance and engagement with the audience, musicality, facial expressions if appropriate with the music, originality, if floor-work is performed then choreography will be taken into account.

Z: Did anything stand out from the Youth Aerial Hoop Competition you judged on Sunday?

J: On Sunday the thing that stood out most for me was the high standard of technical ability and the variety of themes, along with the lovely friendly atmosphere.
I was also simply in awe at what the children that took part could achieve, the strength determination, and the fearlessness.

Z: What do you like about judging?

J: The thing I like about judging is when I see the whole package within a routine and they win.

Z: What do you dislike or find difficult about judging?

J: The thing I dislike about judging is that I'm going to upset someone, this is why I find it difficult to judge very small children and have never given out constructive criticism to an under 8 year old, I always pick out the positives of their routines and concentrate on that side of it.

Z: How did you find judging hoop different to judging dance and/or gymnastics?

J: Not very different if I'm honest... with all genres I've judged I'm still looking for the same package; performance, engagement, originality, execution, facial expressions, musicality, etc etc.

Z: How did you feel before judging, and after?

​J: I actually felt so nervous before judging as it's the first hoop competition I have judged, but after the first few routines I settled into my role and felt fine, After the competition and the results were announced, I had the biggest headache ever but that is normal for me after I've been concentrating for a long time, The children put so much time, effort, sweat and tears into their routines I need to stay alert to ensure I get the right result.

That's all for now folks, so until our next blog post, thank you for reading and hopefully we will be seeing you in class sometime soon!! 

Zorena & Julie xxx