At a February 2005 dance competition in Richmond, VA, attended by hundreds of school-aged children, 50 of them, including a 5-year-old first-time competitor, sported “Awesome Dancer” buttons that recognized their outstanding effort and performances during the two-day event. But not one student from the Chris Collins Dance Studio in Alexandria, VA, wore a button—and yet they were thrilled with that outcome. Why? Because they were the ones handing out the homemade awards and proving to themselves that it truly is better to give than to receive.

The idea began as a collaborative effort among the dancers, parents, and teachers at Chris Collins Dance Studio. They had decided that at competitions, studios shouldn’t compete against each other but instead cheer each other on and unite in their shared bond: the love of dance. Although the school has a 30-year history of earning high honors at local, regional, and national dance competitions, it shuns the win-at-all-costs approach and prefers to live by its own motto: “We measure success in smiles.” To put those words into practice, the school’s nonprofit Dance Company Parent Association created buttons emblazoned with a gold shooting star and the words “Awesome Dancer!” Each Chris Collins dancer was given a button and told to give it to a deserving dancer from another studio at the competition.

The gesture was designed to teach the students respect for their fellow dancers and encourage camaraderie beyond studio boundaries. Many students awarded their buttons to dancers who exhibited outstanding talent, while others sought out those who gave great effort, persevered through adversity, showed a lot of potential, or simply exhibited what they considered an award-worthy smile. 

The beauty in the Dance Button Project is that the children were given no criteria by which to make their awards. They alone determined who received their button that day and why. And in 50 private, impromptu award ceremonies held in hallways and dressing rooms, they spoke the words that told other dancers—their competitors —that they are awesome.

It was a powerful act. Some dancers were brought to tears by the gesture of kindness. Others commented that receiving this small recognition from a fellow dancer meant more to them than receiving a gold plaque from the competition judges. Students, parents, and teachers sought out studio director Chris Collins and said that they’d never seen anything like it before.

The effort didn’t stop there. Each individually numbered button was printed with a website address (www.DanceButton.com), where its history was to be recorded. At the site, recipients found notes written to them by their new dance friends on numbered message board threads that corresponded to the numbers on their buttons. They were encouraged to share their thoughts about what it meant to receive recognition from another studio’s dancer. They were also encouraged to share the button itself. The site suggested that each recipient pass the button along to another dancer from a different studio. The project’s originators hope that in time the buttons will become well traveled and carry goodwill to dancers far beyond their original home at the Chris Collins Dance Studio.

One young button recipient posted a message saying, “I would like to say thank you for the amazing button you gave me. I really needed it this weekend because I was sick with the flu and I couldn’t breathe when I was dancing. It made me feel better.”

A teacher wrote, “I want to give you all a huge ‘You are wonderful!’ button! I can’t say enough about how fabulous I think this is.”

“I could not be more proud of our dancers than I was this weekend,” said studio director Chris Collins. “Onstage, I thought they were all great as always. But it was offstage that they really put on a show, and I know they brought smiles to the faces of many dancers from other studios when they presented the buttons. I was approached by several studio directors and parents telling me that their students appreciated the buttons and what nice students I have.”

Within days of the competition, word of the project had spread and requests for buttons arrived from dozens of studio owners who wanted their students to become part of the effort. The Parent Association was glad to oblige, dedicating 100 percent of the proceeds to its Rising Star Scholarship Fund. This tuition-assistance program benefits not the parents’ own children but young noncompetitive dancers who aren’t a part of the dance company. The group calls it an investment in the future of dance.