question on picking a comp

[liangjz]

My wife and I are thinking about going to(competing at) a competition, but don't know which one to go to, how to pick, or even what we should be looking for.

We competed several years ago at some collegiate competitions( about 20, I think), but it's been nearly 4 years and we don't have any real experience as non-college competitors.

So far, the main thing I'm hoping for is just a large competition with many people to compete against and reasonably stiff competition. What comps are good for that? What other things should I be looking for?

[fascination]

My wife and I are thinking about going to(competing at) a competition, but don't know which one to go to, how to pick, or even what we should be looking for.

We competed several years ago at some collegiate competitions( about 20, I think), but it's been nearly 4 years and we don't have any real experience as non-college competitors.

So far, the main thing I'm hoping for is just a large competition with many people to compete against and reasonably stiff competition. What comps are good for that? What other things should I be looking for?hmmm you are in the wrong region for me...out here heritage(NC) , osb(ohio) and hotlanta(Atlanta) are on my to-do list

[SDsalsaguy]

So far, the main thing I'm hoping for is just a large competition with many people to compete against and reasonably stiff competition. What comps are good for that? What other things should I be looking for?
Can you specify what level/events you two are looking to compete in? Some events offer stronger fields in different events.

[delamusica]

You guys aren't too far away to join us for the Colorado Star Ball in Denver this June . . . what events do you do, and at what level? There's a studio in Santa Fe called Strictly Dancing that usually brings a bunch of people up.

[standardgirl]

I would suggest some competition in California as you are fairly close to the west coast. Since I am not from that area, I don't really know which competition in particular is large at certain levels. But I am sure, there are several pretty decent size competitions in CA and someone on DF should be able to point you to those. :D

You might also want to check out some of the collegiate competition around your place. College teams often host their own competitions, and those comps are almost all the time open to public. Non-student just pay a higher entry fee. Those competitions are also usually pretty good in terms having lots of couples.

Where I am, I have to agree with Fascination, Ohio Star Ball is for sure the largest for all divisions (pro/am, am/am and pro/pro). Heritage and Hotlanta are large only for pro/am (and perhaps pro/pro at Heritage) from what I remember.

[Laura]

USA Dance South West Regionals will be in Anaheim in June. If you are dancing in amateur events, it will be a good one, as west coast couples seeking to go to Nationals (which will be held in San Jose in August) must dance at Regionals before they dance at Nationals.

Emerald Ball, in early May in Los Angeles, is a good big comp for Pro/Am and for Amateur couples.

If you tell us what style and if you're amateur or Pro/Am, we can give better advice.

[liangjz]

Cool. I guess I can start looking at comps.
I'm pretty sure my wife & I will be dancing amateur silver standards.

I've heard of comps where there are only 4 or 5 couples in a given event actually competing against each other. Is this common?

[standardgirl]

Cool. I guess I can start looking at comps.
I'm pretty sure my wife & I will be dancing amateur silver standards.

I've heard of comps where there are only 4 or 5 couples in a given event actually competing against each other. Is this common?

Yes, unless you are at a majoy comp or in a major city......
But even if you are in a major city it's still not unusual to be competing only against 4 or 5 couples.

[Laura]

I'm pretty sure my wife & I will be dancing amateur silver standards.

I've heard of comps where there are only 4 or 5 couples in a given event actually competing against each other. Is this common?

It depends.

If you go to a college comp, chances are you'll have a whole big lot of people to dance against. It's quite common to have quarter-finals in Silver Standard out here in California.

If you go to a USA Dance run comp on the west coast, the size of the field really depends on if there's a college student presence. I've been to some comps that have 8 couples in Silver Standard, and some -- where all the college students turned up -- with quarter-finals.

If you go to a NDCA run comp, you have two options. One is to dance in the "student/student" events, which are run as part of the rest of the Pro/Am program. I do not recommend entering these if you are looking for decent-sized fields. Chances are very high that you will be uncontested. However, if the competition runs an amateur syllabus event, that tends to attract more people. Out on the west coast, you can tell the difference because the "student/student" events are listed on the Pro/AM form, and the amateur syllabus events are listed on the amateur form. Anyway, out here on the west coast, the vast majority of the NDCA comps do not offer separate Bronze, Silver, and Gold syllabus. Instead, they have one combined event that is usually called "Pre-Novice" and sometimes is called "Closed Syllabus." These events are restricted to syllabus moves only, and costumes are usually not allowed. I've danced in a few of these over the past year, and the size of the field has ranged from 5 couples to starting in a quarter-final.

Things are a little different with respect to syllabus competition at NDCA competitions in other parts of the country.

One good way to see what competitions tend to draw people is to look on their web sites, and see what the previous year's field looked like.

[redhead]

I've heard of comps where there are only 4 or 5 couples in a given event actually competing against each other. Is this common?
huh, I see only 2 couples quite often... sigh

[caityrosey]

huh, I see only 2 couples quite often... sigh

especially at the higher levels

[redhead]

especially at the higher levels
yep, anything past silver

[liangjz]

Yes, unless you are at a majoy comp or in a major city......
But even if you are in a major city it's still not unusual to be competing only against 4 or 5 couples.

<sigh> I was afraid you'd say something like that. I really miss college. I think I was once in an event with ~50 couples... Oh well. I'll try to keep my eyes open for a well-attended comp.

[standardgirl]

<sigh> I was afraid you'd say something like that. I really miss college. I think I was once in an event with ~50 couples... Oh well. I'll try to keep my eyes open for a well-attended comp.

You can still most likely compete at most college-organized comps, if there is any around your area.

[liangjz]

You can still most likely compete at most college-organized comps, if there is any around your area.

NM? Nope.