Help! Comp this weekend and not ready

[icequeen]

Well, it's Friday, and I just found a partner who wants to compete this weekend (in two days, on Sunday!). This is good, since I had also wanted to compete, and I was excited about the comp even though the preparation is really minimal and we are pretty much doing lead/follow instead of routines.

However.... we just found out that the collegiate division we were going to enter is now combined with the am-am because of lack of collegiate entries. The collegiate entry fee covered an unlimited number of dances, and since it was collegiate/fun/etc., we decided to enter in a lot of events, including rhythm, which I haven't done in years! We also entered both bronze and silver in everything, and certainly for rhythm we are not going to look even close to silver-level....

Yikes! Help! Any suggestions for what to do? I'm assuming that the level of dancing will be much higher am-am for collegiate--is this true? Should we pull out of the events that we're not ready for? Should we go for it and just have fun, and hope for the best? Now I'm getting nervous, and for both of us, this would be the first non-collegiate comp we're entering.

Thanks, everyone! Any advice would be really helpful.

[Ithink]

Just go and have fun. If you're talking about VA State, there won't be much competition for you anyway so it's low pressure...

[mamboqueen]

Just go and have fun. If you're talking about VA State, there won't be much competition for you anyway so it's low pressure...

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Enjoy yourself...and heck, it's a great way to get some comp floor time, inexpensively, right?

[LucyDiamond]

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Enjoy yourself...and heck, it's a great way to get some comp floor time, inexpensively, right?
Ditto

[mamboqueen]

Ditto

technically "tritto" :)

[LucyDiamond]

technically "tritto" :)
picky, picky, picky... :p

[icequeen]

I am all for having fun! And while both my partner and I have a competitive spirit, we worry more about doing our best than about "beating" other people, so coming in last wouldn't phase us too much.

But I guess I'm worried that the audience/judges will wonder what we're doing out there, competing in categories for which we are totally not qualified....

And costumes! I don't have anything close to a real latin/rhythm costume. Is a cocktail dress suitable even for am-am stuff too?

[NielsenE]

I wouldn't worry about looking out of place. Even if you are, its not an uncommon occurence in ballroom and I don't think anyone really thinks about it.

Costumes, check the rules, but normally am-am is more restrictive than collegiate at the syllabus levels, so a cocktail dress is probably not only completely suitable, but the recommended attire.....

[SDsalsaguy]

technically "tritto" :)
So let me add... quaditto! :D

[ACtenDance]

I am all for having fun! And while both my partner and I have a competitive spirit, we worry more about doing our best than about "beating" other people, so coming in last wouldn't phase us too much.

But I guess I'm worried that the audience/judges will wonder what we're doing out there, competing in categories for which we are totally not qualified....

And costumes! I don't have anything close to a real latin/rhythm costume. Is a cocktail dress suitable even for am-am stuff too?

Are they putting you out there with syllabus am/am couples? If so, there really isn't much difference. I'd even go as far as saying that collegiate syllabus dancers in general are more skillful than am/am couples that come out of studios. Pay attention to the winners at USA Dance Nationals this year. Most of the syllabus finalists and winners in the adult age category will be collegiate dancers.

[mamboqueen]

So let me add... quaditto! :D

lordy...don't think we've had that one before. :cool:

[saludas]

Er, you just found someone to dance with in the last 24 hours, and NOW you are concerned about how you'll look in 48 hours?

[icequeen]

Er, you just found someone to dance with in the last 24 hours, and NOW you are concerned about how you'll look in 48 hours?

I'm pretty new to this, and just wanted to advice for the advice of all of you who know much more and have had far more dance and comp experience. Sorry if my questions seem ridiculous.:(

[Laura]

The advice is NOT TO PANIC.

After all, you are doing a "pick up entry." So you really need to go in with a "whatever, I'm here to have fun" attitude.

Go and have a good time, and if you find yourself not having a good time or completely panicking, then perhaps you shouldn't do "pick up" entries for a while, or do them only at competitions run by colleges.

[SPratt74]

I'd say go and have fun and take everything in while you are there. Even if you don't win or even if you end up in last place, learn from it all. Get to know the people and watch what they are doing. It's all an experience in itself. So, don't panick or anything of the sort. If you go and even just watch, think about what you have gained from it all, and you have come out on top. ;)

Let us know how it goes!

[Terpsichorean Clod]

lordy...don't think we've had that one before. :cool:
Actually, we have. :razz:
quaditto (is that a word?) Feel better, Peaches.
Quaditto! Enjoy!
Um, since "tritto" is composed of the first two letters of "three" and "itto", wouldn't it make more sense to combine the first two letters of "quad" and "itto"?

Good luck and don't forget to smile, icequeen!

[liz]

I'm pretty new to this, and just wanted to advice for the advice of all of you who know much more and have had far more dance and comp experience. Sorry if my questions seem ridiculous.:(
Don't feel ridiculous!!! If you don't ask you won't know... go for it, and enjoy it.. you don't have anything to lose.

[SlowDancer]

Icequeen, I think what you are doing is very courageous! Go for it, and let us know how it goes.

[fascination]

me too

[Joe]

Are they putting you out there with syllabus am/am couples? If so, there really isn't much difference. I'd even go as far as saying that collegiate syllabus dancers in general are more skillful than am/am couples that come out of studios.
Things must have changed since my day. The winners may be products of college programs, but I doubt they're still in college.

[icequeen]

hey everyone,

Thanks for your advice and support. I ended up taking your advice to heart, and we did all our events with enthusiasm and gusto! It was a lot of fun, though nerve-wracking--to our surprise, our first four heats had us on the floor by ourselves. For a first comp (for me), that was pretty scary.... Most of our other events were contested. Rhythm didn't go so well (I didn't expect it to, but it did kind of suck to place last =), and we had some odd moments when my partner led me into moves that I wasn't familiar with and we got off time. Latin went great, though, and we won almost all of our heats in bronze and silver.

Some lessons I learned:
* You all's advice and the advice contained in previous threads on first cmopetitions is totally right on. Enthusiasm, having fun, confidence, and showmanship counts a lot. Plus, we had much more fun once we put these things as a top priority, rather than focusing too much on whether the step we just did was "correct".

* Posture, frame, and basic technique matter more than steps. We did basic bronze (actually mostly pre-bronze) to everything, and managed to win even silver latin where the other couples had entire choreographed silver routines.

* Preparation is important, and particularly so for people who are used to being prepared for things. I'm still really glad that we did the comp, but I think lack of preparation, including lack of partner time, contributed a lot to nerves.

* The video is an important educational tool. It was SOOOO expensive (and I only purchased the tape for a few dances), but I saw a lot of things on it that I wasn't expecting.

* I really enjoyed watching the other events. Pro-am is a new concept to me, for example, and it was interesting to see how it works. There were lots of great dancers, and I learned from watching them.

* Comps are fun, and I think I might have caught the bug! Already I'm looking into future opportunities.... Sound familiar, anyone? ;)

[NielsenE]

Congratulations! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the experience and thank you for posting the follow up:)

[LucyDiamond]

Ditto

[SPratt74]

I am so glad that you had fun! I read your post with high interest as I'm working on my competition routines right now too. So, you have been very helpful! I mean I've read lots of threads before, but it's still nice to know what other comps. are like for people just starting them. And thank you especially for mentioning posture, frame, and technique. That's exactly what I'm working on right now. I appreciate you saying all of that. ;)