When did you start competing?

[lcdancesport]

I'm wondering when everyone here started competing.

I apologize in advance if a thread has already been started for this, I'm new here!

Age when you started dancing:
Age when you first competed:
Style (American or International):

What was it like to compete the first time, I'd love to hear some stories!

[BM]

I started dancing a little over two years ago, and I competed for the first time about a month after that at Harvard Beginners. It was a good comp: my partner and I competed in American Foxtrot and Swing, and made it to semis in Foxtrot. We might have made it to the final had my partner not decided to go against the line of dance for a good portion of that round . . .

Very confusing, almost overwhelming, for a newcomer, but the energy level was amazing, and I'm so glad that I've kept up with it. :)

[samina]

here's one thread with some stories... http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=820&highlight=comp

My first comp was the Northeastern Open in CT this past January. Age, 42. Started dancing at 41. Competed for the first time this past January, at 42. International Standard. Here's the thread from that time... http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=15698&highlight=comp
And I posted pix from my first comp here: http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=16000&highlight=comp

My first time out I just did Waltz, Tango, and Viennese Waltz. I rented a dress from Katarzyna, I kept my hair & makeup simple (I was panicked about how to pull myself together, so thought minimizing was a good strategy the first time out). And I learned that the comp floor is NOT the time to hold back & be conservative... it might seem like you're moving like crazy, but you're not.

I competed three times this year, and each one was easier & more enjoyable, I'm happy to report. :)

You making plans for your first comp??? :)

[Terpsichorean Clod]

Here's another thread:
Remember your first? (comp,that is!) (http://dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=12099)

I was 25 when I started. 27 for my first and only (so far). It was reverse-role (I followed) Standard waltz/tango/quickstep.

Welcome to DF, lcdancesport!

[JohnLL]

I started competing several years ago at Arthur Murray showcase events and eventually found my way into the college circuit. I started dancing when I was 18 and did my first competition when I was 19 but didn't get into the college circuit until a year or so after that. I dance/compete American style since that is what my studio teaches but have been trying to move into International Latin which is WAY different. :-)
My first competition through Arthur Murray I only danced two dances (Waltz and swing). I danced the whole swing off time and never knew it but the waltz went pretty well. My first college competition was MIT I think, back when it was in their old location (old gym with no a/c as I seem to remember) and THAT got me totally hooked on competing. :-)

[lcdancesport]

here's one thread with some stories... http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=820&highlight=comp

My first comp was the Northeastern Open in CT this past January. Age, 42. Started dancing at 41. Competed for the first time this past January, at 42. International Standard. Here's the thread from that time... http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=15698&highlight=comp
And I posted pix from my first comp here: http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=16000&highlight=comp

My first time out I just did Waltz, Tango, and Viennese Waltz. I rented a dress from Katarzyna, I kept my hair & makeup simple (I was panicked about how to pull myself together, so thought minimizing was a good strategy the first time out). And I learned that the comp floor is NOT the time to hold back & be conservative... it might seem like you're moving like crazy, but you're not.

I competed three times this year, and each one was easier & more enjoyable, I'm happy to report. :)

You making plans for your first comp??? :)

I'm thinking about a comp coming up in my state this Spring, but I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. I may just have to bite the bullet and see what it's all about.

ps- I love that red dress you wore at the NE Open!

[Indiana_Jay]

I'm wondering when everyone here started competing.

Not everyone here competes! :)

Age when you started dancing: 46, if you don't count the ballroom class I took for physical education credit in college
Age when you first competed:n/a
Style (American or International):Social American style

[lcdancesport]

I like your signature Indiana_Jay lol :lol:

I realize not everyone competes or wants to be a competitor, I have yet to compete myself. I just want to hear about past experiences. :)

[lcdancesport]

Indiana_Jay I see in your profile you have an amateur radio license. I have one myself, I just never use it since no one I know uses it anymore!

[rjcbear]

Hmmmm let's see.

I started 5 years ago with DW together at 40 and we started competing 1 year ago.


Well compete in American style Smooth and Rhythm.

The first time I took the floor I was very nervous I can feel my knees shaking my pro partner then took at me and she said breath and relax. Once the music started and dance feet steps very stiff I relax and I had the best time ever and since then we been hook.

First dance in competition was the Cha-Cha

[Twilight_Elena]

Huh, that's funny. My first comp is in 10 days, so I can't really say I've begun competing yet...

[etp777]

Started dance lessons at 26 (last november). Did first competition, closed FA regional, this past march, so just under four months later, american style. Had dance pants and reversible vest (black pinstripe for smooth, black satin for rhythm), just regular black and white french cuff shirts from macys.

[fenixx]

First comp was at 13 in 1994. It was the only time I competed in American style. From 1995 until now it has been International.

[suburbaknght]

I'm wondering when everyone here started competing.

I apologize in advance if a thread has already been started for this, I'm new here!

Age when you started dancing:
Age when you first competed:
Style (American or International):

What was it like to compete the first time, I'd love to hear some stories!

My blog entry from my first time competing, just nine months ago.
What the [heck] was that?

... and why does my [donket] hurt?

Swingers' Ball was last night (more detailed entry coming later when I get pictures uploaded) and something momentous happened: I participated in my first - and hopelly the worst - contest of my life.

"But Alex," you say, "aren't you still a beginner at lindy? Isn't your swingout rather weak and your knowledge limited to barely a half-dozen moves?"

Yes, yes, and yes. But they were light on participants and after announcing that one of the contestants had only been doing swing for a couple months, I was told they were going to allow other swing variations. Now my lindy may be weak, but I'm very proud of my west coast, so after checking that west coast would be allowed and that they'd have appropriate music for us, I found Susan and signed us up.

"Who's Susan?" you ask. "Have you mentioned her before?"

No. No I haven't. In fact I only met Susan an hour before the contest.

Yeah...

At this point I start freaking out. I go call Holly who's had experience competing asking her how she keeps calm before competitions. While I'm on the phone another couple in the contest starts practicing aerials ten feet away from me. My jaw drops to the floor and the freak-out increases. I babble something to Holly on the phone, then go talk with Sarah who manages to calm me down. Soon the contest is called.

Appropriate music my [donkey]. West coast is normally danced at 28 to 32 measures per minute (4 beats per measure). Maybe 36, but that's pretty fast. They were playing 43-45 mpm lindy and charleston music. My eyes go wide as the set in front of us is called and people start pulling out flips and jumps and drops and lifts and all kinds of acrobatic [stuff] that I've never even seen before. Oh [dang].

Our set is called. Somehow the music gets faster. Susan and I are actually doing pretty decent despite the fact the music is completely unsuited for our style. "Hey look! I can do a basket whip into a wrap. It's sensual and kind of sexy if - Hey, why is that girl ten feet in the [freaking] air?" Then there were the judges who don't seem to have been told we were doing west coast and not lindy, and so they evaluated us for what must have looked like a very poor lindy hop.

Needless to say, we didn't make the cut.

On the plus side, a bunch of things did go well. Except for one instance where I missed our call for our spotlight dance I was able to tune out distractions. The entire time I was able to stay focused on Susan and ignore the crowd. Nervousness dissipated once the dancing started. Also, having done a competition and having had pretty much everything that could go wrong happen, save personal injury, I feel more confident about the next one.

And next year, when Battle of the Coasts resumes, I intend to bring it.

[Terpsichorean Clod]

"Hey look! I can do a basket whip into a wrap. It's sensual and kind of sexy if - Hey, why is that girl ten feet in the [freaking] air?"
:uplaugh: :uplaugh: :uplaugh:

[elisedance]

I started learning to dance pro/am (Int Standard) seriously in 2001, changed coach/partner once, and was thrown in the deep end with my first competition at the Emerald Ball near LA in 2005. I was terrified and the videos are totally embarassing! I did 12 pro/am comps before finding a partner for AM and have done three since then.

[etp777]

I was terrified and the videos are totally embarassing!


HAHAHHA. I JUST got done thinking that I should finally break out dvd of my first comp again, even though I hate watching it now (Have improved HUGELY since then, if I do say so myself ;) ) to pick up on the thigns that I haven't fixed yet and get my butt on fixing them. Well, ones that I can with limited practice space, no partner, no pro, etc. Hoepfully can fix first two, don't want to fix last one, I have my pro, dont' want anyone else. :) Just have to wait until July to get a lesson with her again.

[elisedance]

Huh, that's funny. My first comp is in 10 days, so I can't really say I've begun competing yet...

Au contraire, you sure have! The competition starts the day you decide to compete, not at the day you walk onto the floor. :)

[lcdancesport]

Au contraire, you sure have! The competition starts the day you decide to compete, not at the day you walk onto the floor. :)

Ah, nicely put Elisedance. The Wisconsin ballroom comp is here this coming April, I think I'll have a go at it. :)

[lcdancesport]

Started dance lessons at 26 (last november). Did first competition, closed FA regional, this past march, so just under four months later, american style. Had dance pants and reversible vest (black pinstripe for smooth, black satin for rhythm), just regular black and white french cuff shirts from macys.

Black pinstripe, love it! Good idea on having a reversible vest, saves time and money.

[etp777]

Yeah, a properly fitted vest (actually tailored to fit, not the little slide adjusting straps like on most "formal" vests from tux shops) looks great, and if reversible, can be one less thing to pack. Course, I only wore it on the satin side tha tone time, i'll be wearing a latin shirt when I start competing again, with no vest, so won't wear it that way again. Will still wear the pin striped side though. :)

There are certainly advantages to having a mom who's been a seamstress for years, and is one who got whole family started in ballroom (and hence has changed her primary sewing from wedding gowns to ballroom costumes). Vest and dance pants were my birthday present this year.

[tanya_the_dancer]

I started competing 4 years ago. I was about to turn 31 and I have been dancing socially for about 5 years at that point. I am now 34 (well, almost 35) and have done probably 18 comps.

[elisedance]

Ah, nicely put Elisedance. The Wisconsin ballroom comp is here this coming April, I think I'll have a go at it. :)

go for it! Once you've done the first one its all down hill (fun, thrills, time, - and money!). :)

[etp777]

Wisconsin Dancesport or whatever? Definitely do it, everyone who went this year loved that comp and had a ball.

[lcdancesport]

Wisconsin Dancesport or whatever? Definitely do it, everyone who went this year loved that comp and had a ball.

Yeah it's the Wisconsin DanceSport Championship, I went last year just to watch and it was a beautiful ballroom. Did you participate in it etp777?

I took a ton of pictures too, does anyone know how to post them in an album on here?

[FatBaldGuy60]

First comp will be SC Regional in June. By then my wife and I will have been taking lessons just about a year. [I am 46 - 47 in two days, and she is...well a little younger than me]

FBG

[samina]

I'm thinking about a comp coming up in my state this Spring, but I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. I may just have to bite the bullet and see what it's all about.

ps- I love that red dress you wore at the NE Open!

thanks! i loved it too... my fave so far. katarzyna has great gowns. :)

[samina]

Huh, that's funny. My first comp is in 10 days, so I can't really say I've begun competing yet...

really???!!! how exciting, TE... good luck with it. :)

[elisedance]

Yeah it's the Wisconsin DanceSport Championship, I went last year just to watch and it was a beautiful ballroom. Did you participate in it etp777?

I took a ton of pictures too, does anyone know how to post them in an album on here?

Just click on the 'photo album' link at the top right corner - your space is created automatically and all you have to do is follow the instructions. Its a good idea to keep the pictures reasonably small so that they will fit on the screen in one piece (its not so fun to see a detail of a nose hair :)) but there are instructions there.

Please do post - and also do visit the new sticky 'photography threads' that Larinda has created in the 'Dancers Anonymus' forum off the main page.

[lcdancesport]

Ok I posted a number of pictures from this years Wisconsin Ballroom Comp, just waiting for "approval" then they should show up.

[I'm Still Dancing]

I started Dancesport around 1998. I was a freshman at Rutgers University (about 19 years old). My first competition was in the collegiate division at the Ohio Star Ball about 3 weeks after I started dancing. It was one of my fondest memories. I came home with a blue ribbon for open cha-cha. There were other ribbons but that one was the most memorable.

I competed in about a dozen competitions in the course of those next few years.

Unfortunately once I left college and entered the "real" world, dancing took a back seat. I haven't set foot on a ballroom floor in over 6 years.

So now, at 28 years old, I am finally going to start lessons again and hopefully be back up and competing early 2008.

[lcdancesport]

I started Dancesport around 1998. I was a freshman at Rutgers University (about 19 years old). My first competition was in the collegiate division at the Ohio Star Ball about 3 weeks after I started dancing. It was one of my fondest memories. I came home with a blue ribbon for open cha-cha. There were other ribbons but that one was the most memorable.

I competed in about a dozen competitions in the course of those next few years.

Unfortunately once I left college and entered the "real" world, dancing took a back seat. I haven't set foot on a ballroom floor in over 6 years.

So now, at 28 years old, I am finally going to start lessons again and hopefully be back up and competing early 2008.

I wish my college offered ballroom stuff. I think they had swing classes every once in a while, but I didn't think much of it. Congrats on going to Ohio Star after just a few weeks! That's great you're taking classes again, dance seems too difficult to give up. :p

[samina]

So now, at 28 years old, I am finally going to start lessons again and hopefully be back up and competing early 2008.

wishing you lotsa luck, still dancin'... :)

[danceronice]

I started ballroom...a year ago either this week or last. My first competition was the Seacoast Classic in Dover, NH in February (doing cha cha, rhumba, swing, smooth waltz, tango, foxtrot). Switched to my current pros a couple months later, and my first competition with them and first "big" competition was Manhattan, in July. (Added the Viennese Waltz, temprorary dropped swing and picked up bolero.) I just got home from my third, Ohio Star ball, where I competed two levels of all five Rhythm and all four Smooth and am quite pleased with my results. (Recall in five for pre-bronze Rhythm, recall in all four at both levels in Smooth, one second and three firsts in pre-bronze Smooth.)

On to next year!

[I'm Still Dancing]

wishing you lotsa luck, still dancin'... :)

Thanks! I will surely need it.

[etp777]

My studio did not go, so I didn't compete there, lcdancesport. Bunch of people went from other FA studio in area though where friends teach, and they loved it. Of course, most of those same people are in Ohio this week. :)