Podcast
Dec 1, 2025
Jamie Hodgins explores how verification can strengthen safety, fairness, and trust across the competitive dance community.
In a December 2025 episode of the No Starving Artist Podcast, host Jason Pickett welcomed Jamie Hodgins, Executive Director of the International Competitive Dancer Registry (ICDR), for a deep dive into one of the most significant opportunities facing the competitive dance industry today: creating greater safety, fairness, and legitimacy through verification.
Drawing on his extensive background as a competitive dancer, teacher, choreographer, adjudicator, host, and event owner, Jamie shared the journey that led to the creation of ICDR. Inspired by the accountability and structure inherent to organized sports, he began exploring how a similar system could support dancers, families, studios and competitions while still preserving the independence and creativity of the art form.
Jamie described competitive dance as a highly fragmented industry–often referred to as the "Wild West"--and positioned verification as a practical first step toward adding structure without introducing heavy-handed governance.
A major focus of the discussion centered on dancer safety and digital media protection. Jamie addressed the chronic challenges surrounding competition media, including unsecured access, shared links, and a lack of consistent safeguards for families.
ICDR's approach begins with verifying both dancers and their parents or guardians. This creates a solid foundation for stronger media protections, secure access controls, and improved privacy practices.
Jamie emphasized that dancers deserve greater control over their private information, and that ICDR provides a practical path toward these protections while seamlessly allowing competitions and media providers to maintain their existing workflows.
Without verified competitor information, event organizers are forced to rely on self-reported registration data that can be difficult to validate consistently. Jamie explained how ICDR solves this by introducing verified dancer profiles and unique identification numbers– a system Jason likened to the student ID numbers used in schools. These verified records support accurate age and level placement, reduce administrative headache, and provide greater confidence in the integrity of competitive results.
Beyond safety and fairness, Jason highlighted what he considers one of the most exciting opportunities ICDR creates: a new layer of legitimacy for the entire dance world. Just like traditional athletes who can point to official, verified records of achievement, ICDR allows dancers to build a trusted history of their competitive journey.
Jamie described these records as the foundation of a living digital resume that can house competition participation history, awards and placements, technical certifications and milestones.
For dancers and their families, having access to an official, verified record permanently recognizes a level of commitment and achievement that extends far beyond a single competition weekend.
The discussion also explored the natural challenges that come with introducing new ideas to a longstanding industry. While transparency, accountability, and shared standards can sometimes be met with initial hesitation, both Jamie and Jason agreed that openness ultimately strengthens trust. Jamie referenced ongoing conversations across the industry–including insights from Alberta-based safety advocate Tara Pickford–that highlight an escalating need for systems that support accountability and trust in youth dance.
Jamie emphasized that ICDR is not governance. It is a service built around three core principles: safety, fairness, and legitimacy. Verification, he explained, is simply the first step. Because safety is a right and not a privilege, our baseline protections are free to ensure we remove barriers for every single family in the community; and by establishing trusted identities within the competitive ecosystem, the industry can move toward greater structure, stronger collaboration, and increased respect for dancers and their achievements.
Reflecting its rapid adoption, Jamie shared that more than 38 competitions across Canada were already working with ICDR or implementing verification requirements. This momentum highlights a growing industry desire for solutions that enhance safety and fairness while strictly preserving the autonomy of individual organizations.
That spirit of collaboration was a recurring theme. Jamie highlighted initiatives like the Dance Educator Collective, where event owners and educators are actively working together to strengthen and empower the industry through shared dialogue. As Jason noted, when the industry focuses only on immediate, short-term needs, it risks overlooking systemic opportunities that could benefit dancers for years to come.
The conversation painted a clear picture of an industry at a pivotal moment of evolution. Through collaboration, transparency, and trusted verification, ICDR aims to build the infrastructure required to support dancers throughout their entire creative journeys. As more organizations align around these shared goals, the industry moves closer to a future where safety, fairness, legitimacy, and opportunity are standard for every single dancer.
Listen to the full episode here.
