There are many different types and styles of dance and many career paths within that. I am a competitive dancer who travels competitively within the country and sometimes overseas. Being a competitive dancer, it is required to travel to competitions, conventions and auditions. As this Dance season has been majorly affected by COVID-19 it has been up in the air for many dancers, for some more than others. As I am a graduating senior this is the biggest year for me and the rest of my graduating year. Since we have been affected tremendously we aren’t going to be able to be celebrated as much as the years before. Lucky at this moment in time we have been able to travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a dance competition. We also are traveling to Mobile,Alabama towards the end of October for another dance competition. Even though we are able to go to these competitions it doesn’t mean that we will be able to attend more. At this time, COVID-19 has been getting worse and only time will tell if it’ll get better from here. 

 In the two competitions that we have been able to attend this COVID-19 season they have great protocols and regulations. They require face masks to be required at all times unless on stage, this prevents any risk of spreading COVID-19. Usually during competitions they have every dance studio’s dancers in random orders spread out throughout the day. They have changed that this year and allow one dance studio per “block” which is all the studio’s dances at once. After the studio finishes they sanitize the stage each time. All the judges are required to wear face coverings at all times in order to stop the spread of the virus. During the day most competitions have dance classes that are called a convention. It consists of all the dancers that compete in your age category. They have limited the convention to 50% occupancy and create taped boxes that are 6 feet apart from each other. Although there is still an ongoing pandemic going on and dance competitions/conventions are not mandatory they have accommodated it to be safe and minimize any risk. As this is my last year attending dance competitions/conventions I am hoping that they are able to continue out the season with the accommodations they have made.