Aldonya Dance Academy

+nice venue
- no afternoon socials
- party ended at 3am / the location was changed after 3am :(

Poor quality on the sound from the microphone. The leader on stage rarely had a microphone. The quality on the sound of music as well. But the worst part was that I could only see head and shoulders of instructors. How to learn new steps then? I did not learn much...

Too crowded and stage for teachers wad too low making it often impossible to see unless you had a very frontal position

I really enjoyed the festival! Beautiful organization as usual, great energy, and lots of amazing workshops. 😊

I do have a couple of thoughts that I hope can be taken as constructive feedback:

1. Creating an inclusive experience for all attendees

I feel that a festival should make everyone who attends feel welcome and that the event is truly organized for the whole community, including the people who come to learn, improve and enjoy dancing with others.

There were several occasions where I saw attendees asking artists or guest dancers for a dance and being turned down, only to see the same artists dance with other artists or higher-level dancers shortly afterwards.

Of course, everyone has the absolute right to choose who they dance with, and I completely respect that. At the same time, I think artists and guest dancers have a unique opportunity to make regular attendees feel included and connected to the festival. Since guest dancers are invited to participate in the event, I think it would be wonderful if they could also dedicate some of their time to dancing with the wider community, not only with other artists or advanced dancers.

2. More opportunities for regular dancers to have professional videos

I also noticed that most of the professional videos being created seemed to feature artists, guest dancers, or very high-level dancers.

I would love to see more opportunities for beginners and intermediate dancers to have beautiful professional videos of themselves too. For many attendees, these festivals are a big investment, and having a quality memory of themselves dancing at the event would be really special.

Ultimately, I think festivals should remember that the community is made up of everyone who attends, not only the artists and advanced dancers. The people paying full-price tickets are a huge part of what makes these events possible, and making them feel seen, welcomed and included can make an already great festival experience even better. ❤️

Thank you for all the work that goes into organizing the event!