2008 Univ of Michigan Competition

[rainerng]

Registration is now open for the 2008 Univ of Michigan Comp. This year, we will be featuring a performance from Arunas and Katusha.

http://www.umich.edu/~umbdt/CompSite/UofMFeb2008.html

[wyllo]

This will actually be their first show since becoming partners. So come be part of history. :)

[rainerng]

Last day for registration for the comp is tomorroW!

[wyllo]

Our team just got back from the competition. It's a long trip for us at 7 hours (plus a 1 hour time change), but it's well worth it.

-The venue is a huge field house with a wooden gymnasium floor. The room was large enough to fit the competition floor, a practice floor of approx. the same size, dressing rooms, tables for competitors and a shoe/clothing vendor with plenty of room to spare.

-The dressing rooms were new this year a big improvement as the bathrooms in the venue are small.

-Large projection screen showed callbacks.

-For the evening session they had lighting that created a very nice atmosphere. The sound system also was excellent.

-For spectators, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. The organizers used a combination of chairs and risers.

It would have been nice to have a full heat schedule listed in the program. At minimum, it would have been very helpful to list upcoming events on the projection screen.

They also had some issues with scrutineering in the morning that caused some delays. I heard the computer system crashed and they had to revert to doing it by hand for part or all of the competition. It was unfortunate, but they were able to recover and the rest of the day went smoothly.

Of course, the highlight of the event was the show by Katusha and Arunas, which was just breathtaking.

In addition, the Michigan team hosted a "leadership summit" before the competition. It was a chance for officers from all the teams to meet each other and share ideas. This was an excellent idea and I think the meeting was a huge success. The teams will continue to meet to share ideas and concerns at upcoming competitions (Notre Dame, Northwestern, etc.).

Overall, I think the Michigan team is really helping to set the bar high for collegiate dancing in the Midwest. I know our team was very energized by the event and is hoping to make some changes based on discussions we had during the summit. And maybe if we're lucky we'll be hosting our own competition soon!

[rainerng]

GLad you enjoyed the comp and the detailed review! Yeah we had some technical problems with the scrutineering in the morning :|

[standardgirl]

any results available?