First out of the gate: how?

During the big competiton we were part of this past weekend, I observed the more experienced Championship dancers leaping out of the gate by starting to move the instant a song began, long before any kind of beat was established.

I was intrigued by this and wondered if some of you could shed light on how this is done without risking being off time. Do you simply put yourself on time a few seconds later with a foot change? If so, what's the signal for that to the partner? I thought perhaps they just recognized the song but after a while I noticed that some dancers just made a habit of starting first, so it seemed unlikely that they were merely basing it on familiarity with the music. There must be some other technique involved.

Can some of the high level dancers or teachers respond?

I've done it, but it's usually with someone I know and in a dance I'm fairly familiar with. Most of the time I wait until count 3 . . . like for a starter step in WCS.

However, I no longer do a normal starter step in WCS, so if in competition, listen to the MC, who may say something like:
"Dancers . . . . here's your music." And since the music is already keyed up by the DJ, within a pause, the music begins.

You should have been in position to "go." Regardless of what song it is, you can just step right into a dance step on beat. And if you "have " your dance partner, keep it simple (no chasse here), and they will get the message.

I believe you have already mentioned in another post about "hearing" the music and getting on count 1. I may or may not be dancing up to getting to this point. I could be doing some slow wind-up multiple turns, or any movement that will get me to where I can be anchored and ready for count 1 . . . and begin dancing. However, if I know the song, I can do "whatever count" thats left over (out of 8 counts) - a 4 count pattern, a 5 count pattern - whatever it is to get me ended up and anchored by count 8.

I really do not count, so I'm trying to make this understandable to you. And reading this back to myself . . . I think I'm confused now :wink:

I hope some of this comes through. It works for me. It may not work for anyone else. I like to be moving right now . . . catch a judges eye . . . and I make the music work for me.

I'm sure that d nice, SDsalsaguy, jon, and others have their way of doing this.

Good question Adwiz and good response Vince...

Most music played at ballroom comps starts on a 1 (some few songs have a brief intro), so many competitors find ways to use this and jump into their dancing as quickly as possible. As Vince says, if you're poised and ready to go, then you can just go before you ever hear anything beyond that first snippet of sound.

Let me just offer up, however, a contrasting viewpoint as well... different songs certainly have different feels and flavors so I know of some world finalists, for instance, who always pause to get a feel for that particular piece of music before swinging into action... this certainly has something to be said for it too, no?