Dance company never gets awards at first (5)
I believe the answer is:
conga
'dance' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'company never gets awards at first' is the wordplay.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'at first' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'never gets awards' is 'nga'.
'co'+'nga'='CONGA'
(Other definitions for conga that I've seen before include "Long-line dance" , "Party dance" , "Dance performed in line" , "Line-dancing" , "Snaking Latin American dance" .)