Feedback on piece for America's Ballroom Challenge website

[ABC ballroom]

Happy Holidays everyone!
This is a link to a mock-up of a piece I wrote for the America's Ballroom Challenge website. It's a little dry/scholarly in its tone, but my goal was to write something comprehensive and factually accurate. I welcome any and all feedback on the content and style of the article, especially the part about the World Chapionships, the origins of which were greatly disputed in the texts I consulted. There is a somewhat disproportionately sized paragraph about our show, but PBS seems to want that if we're going to publish it anywhere prominent.
http://ballroom.history.googlepages.com/home
Also, does anyone know of any good public-domain images I could put up? I don't want to use pictures without permission...
Best,
Roxanna

[caityrosey]

Feedback 1:

United States Amateur Ballroom Dance Association

No longer called USABDA however...goes by "USA Dance" these days.

http://www.usabda.org/

[caityrosey]

Feedback 2:

Careful of how you refer to "amateur" dancers. In some instances, "amateur" tends to refer to dancers compete on an amateur basis (i.e. not paid, or whatever criteria you like that seperates them from "pro"). It sounds funny to refer to non-competetive dancers as "amateur". Most often I hear them referred to as "social dancers".

This is a thorny issue. I can already hear the diagreeing hordes chiming in.

[ABC ballroom]

That's an excellent insight, one that I wouldn't have identified on my own. I will scrutinize the final draft for such references and make changes. Thanks!
(I implemented your frist change...good catch!)

[caityrosey]

"Many competitors will practice for eight or more hours a day, and supplement their training with weight lifting, cardio workouts, and yoga."

I might mention pilates as well--very common.

[caityrosey]

Feedback 4: planning to include links in the article?

[ABC ballroom]

I probably won't put links directly into the text of the article. We're updating the "links/resources" page of the show's website, so that's where I hope to list relevant websites.

[caityrosey]

Feedback 5: There's also a very active collegiate ballroom scene

Harvard
University of Michigan
Purdue
Brigham Young University

To name just a few

[ABC ballroom]

Unfortunately, I had to take out my paragraph about that world because of another show that PBS might be developing. (I actually went to Harvard, and was really surprised when I saw a girl from one of my classes in the elevator with me at the Ohio Star Ball!) I'm going to see if I can sneak it back in in a later draft...

[star_gazer]

I thought it was a pretty good overview. Nothing jumped out at me except the leading (line-spacing) in the middle of the first two paragraphs.

[Laura]

Excellent article!

Here are a few things that caught my eye:

In 1950 the International Council of Ballroom Dancing (ICBD, now the World Dance and DanceSport Council) was formed, and in 1959 it took over control of the World Championships.
The World Dance and DanceSport Council recently changed its name to something else...it's called the WDC now, but I don't know if the "D" stands for "dance," "dancing", or "dancesport." I'm sure you can check it out on their web site, which I'm guessing is either still wddsc.org or possibly wdc.org (you can also Google for it).

Today, most professional and amateur dancers are registered members of ballroom dancing associations, which organize events, review competitions, ensure fair practices, and represent dancers’ interests on the national and international levels.
This is a little incorrect to state as a fact, simply because there are so many dancers out there who are not part of any organization. I am referring to the huge salsa, Argentine tango, west coast swing, Lindy hop and other swing dance communities, and then there is the collegiate ballroom system, and the pro/am ballroom dancers (students competitors don't have to join anything) -- not to mention ballroom social dancers. Based on the numbers of registrants I've heard quoted for both the NDCA and USA Dance, I'd think that most dancers in the US are not members of a ballroom dancing association -- even if they do dance ballroom.

Dancers in the beautiful Emerald Ballroom at Blackpool, England.
Is it the "Emerald" Ballroom or the "Empress" Ballroom? The only reason why I ask is because the most famous ballroom today in Blackpool is the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens. I tried Googling for an "Emerald Ballroom" in Blackpool and couldn't find one. Although, that doesn't mean that it didn't exist at the time the photograph was taken.

In 1922, the competitions began to distinguish between amateur and professional competitors, and in 1936 the Championships became official.
As a side note, I'll comment that at one point in this time period they also had a "mixed" Championship, where a professional would dance with an amateur. Unfortunately the book I have that talks about this has been packed up so I can't look up the years or the reference. Still, I find this bit of history interesting as it was the original version of Pro/Am competition. :)

Thanks for the article, and thanks for asking us to take a look at it!

[White Chacha]

Feedback 5: There's also a very active collegiate ballroom scene

Harvard...

To name just a few

People always seem to forget the little technical school up river
called MIT. Arguably some of the best competitive results in the
northeast collegiate scene these days :-)

[dressgirl]

Empress Ballroom in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool

[SDsalsaguy]

Empress Ballroom in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool
Ditto this, as Laura has also pointed out.

P.S. ABC ballroom, please check your PMs.

[IlyZislin]

Feedback 5: There's also a very active collegiate ballroom scene

Harvard
University of Michigan
Purdue
Brigham Young University

To name just a few

and some other Northeast schools: NYU, Georgetown University, University of Maryland, etc

[Porfirio Landeros]

I realize that the piece is written for the PBS ballroom dancing program, but I'm not sure that it's entirely accurate that PBS "pioneered" competitive ballroom dance TV coverage. I know for a fact that the California Star Ball was televised in the 1960's... in fact, I have a screen capture:
http://lh3.google.com/image/porfitron/RVYHDWCbABI/AAAAAAAAAY4/zReFzsgoC6U/s288/P4160224.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/porfitron/SantaBarbaraVisitAndDisneyland/photo#4996188590650884114)
(Shiela Sloan dancing on TV with her star student, Ken Ota)

I'm not sure if these 60's telecasts were national or regional... maybe our forum resident Tangotime or John Morton himself can answer this.

[Laura]

Oh wow, would I love to see that tape!

[tangotime]

Sorry gal, but that is a very parochial viewpoint. Surely you realise that the dances you mentioned, by and large, are danced primarily ( in numbers ) only in the states. The reference to " Most " encompassed a world view, meaning primarily International style , in which case, the statement holds true .

As far as the calif star--- I danced at that event, and it was televised as a local/ regional thing. There was a local station that ran a "dance " contest on a weekly basis, and you were allowed to compete in the dance of your choice.They were the ones who filmed .
I entered ( did q/step, to my dismay, too small a floor, to create any semblance ) we got beat by a swing dancer .
p.s. sheila is a very good friend, we worked together on several occasions ,she at a/m in Pasadena, me in Wilshire , a delightfully sweet person .( p.s. Ken was the #1 male pro/ am and I had the # 1 lady amat, in the region, looking back-- I now wonder why we did not put them together ???-- probably studio politics )

[caityrosey]

People always seem to forget the little technical school up river
called MIT. Arguably some of the best competitive results in the
northeast collegiate scene these days :-)


Not forgetting, just naming the first few I thought of.

[alemana]

You can always count on Tangotime to preface any response with a put-down. So reliable.

ABC, I sent you a long private message with my response.

[tangotime]

Thanks for your " kind " words. If someone points out an erroneous impression, Thats a put down ? . That was my opinion, just as you have yours. Many people that read these sites , are not from the states , and are not aware of the dance " makeup " .
I dont agree with many things that are stated on the forum, but one thing i do not engage in , is personal attacks .I thought the purpose of these sites, was to engender discussion, apparently, you have other views .

[Laura]

Sorry gal, but that is a very parochial viewpoint. Surely you realise that the dances you mentioned, by and large, are danced primarily ( in numbers ) only in the states. The reference to " Most " encompassed a world view, meaning primarily International style , in which case, the statement holds true .
Well, considering that the article was written for an American television show made for an American audience and is not being broadcast world-wide, I took my point of view from that. After all, the show and the web site the article will be on is called "America's Ballroom Challenge." The entire article was written from a US point of view, what with mentions of US dance school chains and US ballroom dancing organizations, so it seemed very clear to me that the author's focus and point of view was on ballroom dancing in the US.

Also, considering how many non-American Salseros hang out on this board, I wouldn't say that Salsa is mainly only danced in the US. And then there is that big famous Lindy Hop camp that is held every year in Sweden. The "rock-n-roll" style is danced a lot more in Europe than in the US, Argentine Tango is still actually danced in Argentina, then there are all the people in Cuba/Dominican Republic/Columbia/Costa Rica/Nicaragua etc etc who dance rumba and merengue and all that as part of their regular life and culture....

Anyway, it's up to the author to decide what she wants to say and how she wants to say it.

[tangotime]

Hi laura, point taken. My reference was primarily towards the ballroom style ( international ) and having been raised in the u.k-- salsa apart-- most people in the dance industry, are very uneducated about the american system and its dances , which is, by and large , true for most of europe . ( also true of half the amer, public ) . Also , am not bringing to q. the authors intent .

[White Chacha]

Thanks for your " kind " words. If someone points out an erroneous impression, Thats a put down ? . That was my opinion, just as you have yours...

I don't think anyone's quibbling with your opinion, or the valuable information you bring to these forums. But starting off a response indicating that someone else's view is "parochial" is a bit put-offish at best. The word's sense is pejorative.

Perhaps that's appropriate with someone one knows well, but in the absence of being able to hear the tone of voice, it's easy to take that badly.