Competition vs. Exhibition Dancing

[pygmalion]

After much pressure from participants, many ballroom competitions have started including a showcase, exhibition, or cabaret category, in which dancers can perform a solo (partner) routine, either judged or unjudged, without competing on the florr with other couples.

What do you, especially competitive dancers, think of this trend?

[Larinda McRaven]

I actually think there are far less of these events than there were ten years ago. Less and less dancers do them. Probably they will just vanish in a few more years altogether.

They are a nice way for students to perform a routine that they learned for, say a studio showcase. They spend so much money and time to perform at the studio show one time, and then the routine is wasted.

So to perform at the competitions in the solo showcase division is a great way to recylce your routines.

The unfortunate thing about the solos division is that it is generally the first thing at 8am and there are so few people in the ballroom to watch. It is a bit underwhelming.

The other good thing, though, is that the judges will turn in a critique sheet with some nice pointers.

[ratherbdancing]

I have done an exhibition and i really enjoyed it. Like Larinda said, they are good when you learn a routine for a showcase but you cant use it for competition because in most cases, there is to much open footwork. So exhibitions give you a chance to perform this routine. At most of the comps i go to, exhibitions are the first night (typically thursday), the first event (around 3 or 4 in the afternoon). So many people aren't even at the competition yet.

[Laura]

Like Larinda, I've noticed a huge drop-off in the number of entries in these types of events. I did one once, a number of years ago, and had a really good time planning for it. Picking a theme, searching for music, developing a routine, developing costumes...it was all really really fun. The actual performance was a complete let-down, though. First off, the organizers demanded that we submit our music on cassette tape, even though we could have burned an properly edited CD for it. Then, when they started our music, the tape deck ate the cassette. The Music Director then asked us if we had a CD, and we were like "no, you demanded a tape, and now your tape player is hosed!!" The Music Director got it working, but it played way way too slowly. We did the routine and it was okay, but between the music being messed up and there being about 2 people in the ballroom besides the judges I didn't see the point of ever doing it again. If I want to dance an exhibition style number I'll do it in our Studio's showcase, which as I've mentioned before is held in a real theater, has professional music and stage lighting, and runs for two sold-out shows of 500 audience members. Much more satisfying.