Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off
From a recent string of tween-friendly musical series, it’s clear that the Disney Channel loves music stars. First there was Hannah Montana, then Jonas L.A., and the cast of I’m In the Band (not to mention made-for-TV movies Lemonade Mouth, Camp Rock, and the High School Musical franchise). But the Disney Channel’s recent foray into the world of popular music, Shake It Up, is the first to focus on dancing rather than singing.
Promotional image for Disney Channel's Shake It Up, copyright Disney
Shake It Up is a sitcom that follows the adventures of best friends CeCe Jones and Rocky Blue (played by stars Bella Thorne and Zendaya) who pursue their dreams of becoming professional dancers when they land dancing roles on a local series, Shake It Up Chicago.
And now the Disney Channel is offering an opportunity for other aspiring young dancers to follow in the footsteps of CeCe Jones and Rocky Blue by launching a kid/tween talent competition, Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off ‘Shake It Up’ Edition. The winner of the competition will appear on an episode of Shake It Up which has just begun production on its second season.
From Friday, July 1st through Wednesday, August 3rd, aspiring dancers aged 8-16 (with parental permission) can go to MakeYourMark.disney.go.com/ to create and submit a 45 second dance video featuring up to five performers showing off their choreographed or freestyle dance moves. Other kids will be able to “like” their favorite videos with the most popular being featured weekly online and on TV.
The five-city talent search for dancers for the series begins in LA (on July 7th) and then heads to Chicago (July 9th), San Francisco (July 16th), Atlanta (July 23rd), and Detroit (July 30th). In August, six finalists will be announced on the Disney Channel and those finalists will compete head-to-head in front of celebrity judges when Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off premieres in October. Viewers will be able to vote on the winner from the three final contestants.
The Make Your Mark site hasn’t officially launched yet, but in the meantime, dancers can practice their moves with online step-by-step instructional dance videos from the Shake It Up choreographer. There are already ten instructional videos online, with new videos posted on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
“Watch Me”, a new music video featuring Shake It Up stars Bella Thorne and Zendaya, will premiere on the Disney Channel on Friday, June 17th, with the digital single becoming available for purchase the following Tuesday. The Shake It Up: Break It Down CD and DVD combo pack which includes the first series soundtrack, the “Watch Me” music video, and a series of instructional dance videos, will be released on July 12th.
Screenshot from the Shake It Up website, image copyright Disney
The online Shake It Up Dance Video Creator lets players create their own music videos by setting character dance sequences, backgrounds, and special effects to songs from the series. The controls aren’t very sophisticated and there’s only a handful of dance sequences and backgrounds to choose from, but it’s a fun diversion to try along with the Dance Burst (aka: “click the glowing squares”) game.
And even if dancing’s not your thing, it’s all but impossible to watch the Shake It Up cast having a blast, without wanting to groove along with them.
PLEASE VOTE FOR ME TO BE A SEMI-FINALIST FOR THE MAKE YOUR MARK CONTEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://makeyourmark.disney.go.com/s/1bgmoa#
@Mandy
That Was Sooooooooooooooooooo Good! I Wish You Luck & It Looks Like You Followed All The Rules. 2 Days Ago I Made 2 New Videos & Uploaded Them & Still None of Them Went Live / = So Im Hoping The Producers Still View The Ones That Aren’t Posted On The Site Yet
hey i am cierra 12yrs old i hope my dance moves blow yah away!ill make my vid in one or two days from this day!i also love Shake It Up! (;
Hi, My name is Darbie.
I LOVE Shake It Up! Just because, well……I ♥ to dance!!!!!!!!!! Being on the show would be my dream!!!! I think i’m going to enter! I am 12 and live in Utah. Please vote for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am begging you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey im ryan im 11 years old and have always been very musical i especially love singing and dancing!!! I entered and if you watch my video im wearing orange and green like my video plz i live in massachusetts k byeziez
i love to dance and i’ve heard im pretty talented with it, my brother’s gf has been dancing for 13 years now and had an oppurtunity to back up dance for hannah mntana we will be makine our mark 🙂
Hey my names Bailey and I LUV dancing. I’ve been dancing ever since I was little(this year makes my 10th year of dance). I do all the classes: ballet/pointe/lyrical, tap, jazz/hip-hop, and clogging. I love watching Shake It Up because of all the dancing and the people. Im thinking of creating a video for the dance off. It would be so cool to dance on the show!
I’m sorry for everyone who has been waiting for their videos to go live with no success; I imagine that’s very frustrating.
Again, I’m not affiliated with the Make Your Mark contest, and I only know what Disney has made official by posting online – which sadly, is very little. I have tried Googling for an FAQ related to video submissions and why Disney isn’t making all of the videos go live, but this is one of the few sites that has any sort of on-going dialogue about the issue!
Some people have commented that Disney is NOT publishing all of the videos, so if one of your videos doesn’t appear, you can try making and submitting another one with a different routine/song choice. Repeated uploads of the same video can get your video/account banned, so it is better to just wait and see if it goes live. When you upload your video, you should receive a confirmation that it was uploaded successfully, so you shouldn’t have to worry about technical errors.
If you know anything more than we do, please share! Best of luck to all of the dancers!
I LOVE SHAKE IT UP
I LOVE SHAKE IT UP
Mydajah, you are rly good!
Can you guys look at mine and see if it follows all the rules coz its been five days and its still not up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKaU75anbzA
Im So Excited Yet Nervous About My Video. I Really Want To Win,I Too Uploaded My Video Last Night And Still Have Not Seen It Online To See Did I Get Any Feed back.So Please Check it Out & Give Me Your Opinions… Should I Stick With This 1 Or Make Another?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UwYZcEHuMA
i uplaoded my video 4 days ago and im posotive i followed all the rules. i sent it like three times and the next day i sent it like five times. Why is it still not going up???
Hi Zendaya and Bella u guys are very great at dancing and so is alot of ppl, u guys i will like to say keep doing wht u do and u will have a great life.
Sincerly,
Aaliyah
Thanks Katherine! We’ll give it another day or two and maybe just upload again. Since it’s not the people judging at this stage, I guess it’s not that big of a deal… we just want to make sure it gets to them one way or another! She really worked long and hard at it… 🙂
What does the little star next to some of the videos mean? How do you get it? What is the little circle that shows a fraction of lime green mean? I know it means how popular the video is, but I have watched my video like a hundred times and it is still on the 1/2 mark. THANK YOU
Dear Andre33,
I have entered the contest as well, and it does take some time for it to upload. But as it said in the contest rules, not every single video will be posted. But I see your point on uploading it again, so what I would do is still following the rules. You should have your daughter perform again, but to a different routin. If that doesn`t appear, then you could enter the same video again. I entered my twice and only one of them posted, I am not disqualified. If you look at some of the other videos, you will see Disney Channel is not very strict on the rules. Good Luck!
Hi DisneyBlogger.
My daughter submitted a video on July 2, and it has yet to appear. We received a letter stating that the “video upload is complete,” but it still isn’t appearing. It’s been 3 days now and counting. The problem is that if we try to upload it again we run the risk of breaking the rules of duplicate entries and can be disqualified. We don’t know what to do. Can someone there verify the video was received and that is followed all the rules? We don’t mind waiting, and understand you probably have thousands to go through, but we just don’t know what to do. Please help! Thanks!
The audition videos won’t appear automatically on the Make Your Mark site because the contest organizers have to check each video that is submitted to make sure all of the rules were followed before the video goes “live”.
I’m not sure how long the approval process takes, but I would wait at least 24-48 hours after submitting your video, and if the video still doesn’t appear, and you are sure that you followed all of the rules (http://makeyourmark.disney.go.com/make-a-video), then you can try uploading again in case there was some sort of technical error. Try to be patient – it may be that the contest organizers are swamped and they are approving audition videos as fast as they can!
Hi everyone,
I did some independent research to make sure I answer these questions correctly. I hope this is helpful!
If you are chosen as a semi-finalist, according to the audition procedures (http://makeyourmark.disney.go.com/audition-procedures), the contest organizer will provide travel arrangements, lodging, and transportation for the semi-finalist(s) and one parent.
The dates and locations for the five city auditions (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit) are here: http://www.makeyourmarkaudition.com/ In small print at the bottom of the page, it says: No judging will take place at the Audition Events. Participants will receive a code to download their audition video online and will need to follow the Procedures on http://www.DisneyChannel.com/MakeYourMark to submit their audition video.
So, it sounds like all six semi-finalists will be chosen based on their online audition videos, and the contestants who audition at one of the five city locations will be given a video of their performance to submit online.
Does it cost moneyto go to Los Angeles if you become a finalist?
I uploaded a video of my little sister on the make your mark dance off and it is not showing on the site. How do I find her video?
check out my video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KIPZ8PtPn4
i’ve uploaded my video for a few days now and it says it will take a while for it to be processed. i checked through all the rules and guidelines, my video is following all of them but i havent seen it on the website.
wait so im confused, so the only way to be on shake it up is to go to one of the cities and audition. or do they pick the 6 contestants from the videos online?
how come I submitted a video but I cant find it anywhere?
I have only taken dance once and hated it. I couldn’t express my self and was told what to do,, but i believe it’s not just about moving your arm here or your leg there.. it’s an art that you can feel the rythem and creativity in your soul. But not being able to show the world your talnt and know your potential, well it eats away at you. The music just over comes you and the rythem just guides you through it, weather its hip hop, ballet, jazz, it’s an amazing feeling. When others are just looking for a way for quick money.. this is something i would do for the rest of my life. DANCE.
I wish luck to all, who knows what could happen if you made it in.. dreams come true(: <3
How do I make a video on my phone ps.I love you rocky blue
The competition has officially begun! http://makeyourmark.disney.go.com/
The video on the Make Your Mark homepage explains how the competition works. If you follow all of the rules for submitting your audition video online, your video will go live for everyone to see. If your audition “makes the cut”, you’ll be one of six acts chosen to go to Los Angeles to perform in the part of the competition that will be broadcast on the Disney Channel. Kids watching at home will vote for the grand prize winner who will be featured as a spotlight dancer on an episode of “Shake It Up”.
Good luck, everyone!
me and my friends made a video of the shake it up contest i uploaded it on u tube its called twist my hips shake it up contest we really worked hard on the video it really u guys should check it out plzzz vote for us for the contest we really wont to meet the cast we watch shake it up all the time and if we dont win well cry cause my friends hav never been to LA and we really want to win this
I have been dancing and taking dance lessonss since i was 2! Thats 10 years! My cousins and i have taken hip hop, jazz, ballet, tap, etc. I love dancing and its so much fun!! I am almost 13 so my time has come!! watch out!! Dancing and Fashion is my life!! Im the perfect age for this and im ready to show what i can do!! 🙂 <3
yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I have been waiting for somthing like this forever! I’ve been a amazing dancer since I was 6. I’m from a small town so this never happens. I really hope I get picked!
Hi..I have been a dancer since I was 7..when I found out about the Make your Mark Dance Off I got right to making up a dance and im waiting for july 1st to come!!!..However there is one thing I dont understand..the five city talent search..is that where their going to pick the 6 dancers..or are they going to pick the 6 dacners from the online submissions?? thats what im confused about..i hope you can help me with my confusion.
Thanks Have a great day!!
hi im a good dancer i would like to be on the dance off ” ShAKE IT UP ” is my fave shows i got good moves to shows you guys so please and thank you for your time i want to shake it up over there
hi i am a great dancer and my age is 9………Pick my video please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for your time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! disney shake it up is my show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi i have recorded all your epsoisodes. I know all the words to the shows.I know the dances. I also know the song. I also like Cece aka Bella acts.I am 9 and i am creative. I world love to be dancing with Zendaya also Bella aka Rocky and Cece. It would be the best thing to be dancing with you. I am a great dancer. I even got a 1st ribbion for dancing.It would be a life opritumity to be dancing with you.I hope my video gets picked. I am a good actor. I even know how to fake cry
hi my name is angle andiam 13 i have been a fan of your show since my little sister showed it too me now im entering this contest because you have inspired me to dance hopefully im one of the top 3 if i get picked or not i will still be dancing and training for another opritunity like this wish me good luck.
hello my name is briana an i allways wanted to show the world how goodi can dance an to be danceing with bella and zendaya is such the best thing that can ever happen 2 me an this could be my big break ever sence i was 5 i wanted 2 be a actor maybe if they see how good do on shake it the will make me be on the show or something i just hope my video get pick if it do im going 2 be so happy maybe even cry!!!!!!!!!
Hi Madison,
If you want to submit an audition video online, I believe that you can live anywhere in the US. There are currently no location restrictions on the official contest site, although more information will be announced soon at http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/shakeitup/cds/makeyourmark/
If you want to audition in person, you will have to make it to one of the cities in the five-city talent search. Last month, Disney announced that those cities would be LA, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Detroit. Good luck!
Hi Moses,
Your audition video HAS to use one of the song clips that can be downloaded here: http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/shakeitup/cds/makeyourmark/downloads/
The song choices are: “Shake It Up” / “Watch Me” / “Break Out” / “Twist My Hips”
The official contest rules can be found here: http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/shakeitup/cds/makeyourmark/dosanddonts/ And most importantly, you MUST have your parents’ permission to submit an audition video. Good luck!
hi my name is kyndal and i feel sort of threaten from all of u, u guys have een dancing since u were 3 i really want to be on the show I just hope I dont embrass myself on tel
vision
Ummmm first I want to say how excited I am about the Make Your Mark Compitition and second are you allowed to live in states other thanwhat they said like la and chicargi and stuff cuz i live in the eastern side of the country…
Hi do you know is there a requirment for the song
hi my name is makayla i love to dance i love shake it up it is my fav show
Hi my name is Taylor and i love to dance. Me and my BFF show our performences to are neighbors. We will audition for America’s Got Talent next season. I have always loved Shake It Up. I have always watched since it came out and said i want to be a dancer and be on Shake It Up.
hI MY NAME IS MEGHAN and I love to dance I’m not the best but I have wanted to be on this show when the show came out. I also want to be a actor my family say that I could be cause I been in alot of schoos plays.
Hi my name is Kayla and I am from Wa and I love to dance, i’v been dancing since I don’t remember I love watching your show and I’m fifteen and I really have wanted to be on this show before. You can even look me up on youtube under Stanwood High School talent Sho/ Kayla. thank you so much I hope you like my dancing.
Hi Macey and Yaileen,
Unfortunately, I am not affiliated with the Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off competition, so I can’t help you in that regard. If you are interested in auditioning, you should go to the official website at http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/shakeitup/cds/makeyourmark/ and follow the directions on how to submit your audition videos between July 1st and August 3rd. You will need your parents’ permission to participate. Good luck!
Hi, my name is Yaileen and i will love to be in shake it up. dancin is my dream. i’ve been dancin since i was 3 years old. i dance all subjects. and i will really appreciate to be in shake it up. i just hope i get picked to dance with u, u guys r my favorite dancers since it first came out!!!!
i am a great dancer i have been taking dance for a year now and i am advanced it is something that i enjoy doing a lot ~!!!!!!!:)