By Evelyn Haedrich-Hoermann
1. Looking Back
Ballroom and Latin dancing have a long and proud tradition. These dances developed from social dance culture and were shaped through generations of masters, whose technique books still guide our training today. Their purpose was never to turn children into miniature adults. Instead, they aimed to teach meaningful, characteristic, and age-appropriate movement, allowing young dancers to understand the stories and character behind each dance and present them at a high level.
2. Tension
Today, however, children’s solo competitions in Standard and Latin dances are increasingly under criticism. A central question arises: What matters more – expression or pure technical display? Do we want to see children who truly dance, or children who appear trained and “staged” to impress at any cost? Dance is far more than excessive makeup, costumes, and strictly rehearsed choreographies designed by famous coaches.
3. Emotions
A cheeky, confident Cha Cha Cha is something very different from an artificially exaggerated performance full of suggestive “tits and ass” gestures taught to little girls simply to attract attention. The goal should never be to stand out at any price.An aesthetic Slow Waltz, on the other hand, shows elegant hands, a body that naturally swings downward, supported by meaningful footwork – creating the image of dancing with a thought partner.Dance should reflect the emotions that music awakens in children. Are coaches nurturing the natural emotional expression of childhood, or are they guiding children toward adult, even sexualized behavior just so they will stand out?
4. Becoming Personal
I deeply respect the decision of a very well-known and successful coach who, after witnessing the first children’s solo event as a judge, stated: “This is something I cannot and will not judge.” Do we really trust our adjudicators so little that we feel the need to exaggerate style, gestures, and presentation? Judges carry responsibility for taste, style, and the preservation of our dance culture. Professional and responsible dance education should develop children into strong personalities. This requires age-appropriate musical understanding, physical and psychological balance, and true dance quality. That responsibility lies with a team: coaches, adjudicators, and parents. At the same time, the spirit of our age pushes children toward constant self-optimization on the internet. We increasingly see children trained, dressed, and made up like adults. Parents must remain attentive to how media influences their children.
5. Summary
Ballroom dancing has its own historical identity. To tell the story of each dance, we rely on the foundations laid by our masters. Children in dance sport should compete with one another and be judged—but the goal should be quality, musicality, and character, not provocative gestures or attempts to impress judges and audiences through sexuality.Young dancers should learn basics that allow them to inspire a partner and create a dance together—not simply mirror movements like dolls.
Perhaps we should ask ourselves:
• Are the current competition costume rules sufficient for children?
• Can invigilators intervene in cases of inappropriate gestures?
• Should judges have the authority to give a zero for lack of character or inappropriate style?
Children could also benefit from improvisation training, learning to make their own artistic decisions and express themselves instead of becoming copies of their trainers trapped in rigid choreography.Only then can Ballroom and Latin styles continue to grow and evolve—while preserving respect for the art of dance.
Because in the end, dance is about one thing:
✨ Devotion for Motion.
Evelyn Hädrich-Hörmann
