American Smooth

Lots of shake-up in American Smooth. This past week-end, at Desert Classic, JT Damalas and Thomas Melnicki beat the brand-new, first time out on the floor, combination of Valentina and Eddie Stutts. I am sure the Stutts/Valentina combo were a bit uptight, as this was their debut, and there is no doubt in my mind they are going to be a formidable, wonderful couple. JT and Thomas also beat Mazen and Irina for the first time, and recently beat Julia and Steve Doughterty, so the Pro Smooth division is moving all around. So much more exciting than when every spot is marked in stone, which it is these days in Standard, except of course for the top couple who prefer their spot marked in stone. To me this year's USDSC is going to be more exciting in Smooth and Rhythm than in the other categories. Jose and Joanna won against an easy field at Cherry Hill, but what happens when they come up against the top 3 ranking couples, and when Emmanuel and Julia settle down a bit? That's what dancesport competition should be, everyone judged as they dance that day.

everyone judged as they dance that day...a concept for which to always hope

I am going to tag my question here on this thread instead of starting a new thread for what I am sure is a simple question. What is the difference between Smooth and Standard? And I have presumed that Rhythym is the same as Latin. Is that wrong?

Take pity on a newbie,

FBG

Smooth is called american style...W,T, F, VW...you can separate from your partner...things like free spins

Standard is called International style....you stay in closed position all 4 of the above mentioned dances but add QS


this is the watered down answer...am sure others will come along and give you a more responsible answer


rhythm likewise is american style....you will see people "stepping onto a bent knee"

latin is international style....you will see folks stepping onto a straight leg

again an oversimplification but I am betting it is mainly what you want to know

gingerbread said:

Lots of shake-up in American Smooth. This past week-end, at Desert Classic, JT Damalas and Thomas Melnicki beat the brand-new, first time out on the floor, combination of Valentina and Eddie Stutts. I am sure the Stutts/Valentina combo were a bit uptight, as this was their debut, and there is no doubt in my mind they are going to be a formidable, wonderful couple. JT and Thomas also beat Mazen and Irina for the first time, and recently beat Julia and Steve Doughterty, so the Pro Smooth division is moving all around. So much more exciting than when every spot is marked in stone, which it is these days in Standard, except of course for the top couple who prefer their spot marked in stone. To me this year's USDSC is going to be more exciting in Smooth and Rhythm than in the other categories. Jose and Joanna won against an easy field at Cherry Hill, but what happens when they come up against the top 3 ranking couples, and when Emmanuel and Julia settle down a bit? That's what dancesport competition should be, everyone judged as they dance that day.

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I agree.

And other newcomers include John and Irina

Returnees - Hunter and Maria??

I was really excited to see Thomas and JT's result - I haven't seen them perform terribly many times but loved what I saw. A great new perspective for the style - modern, young, and with a very solid foundation (to please the purists and skeptics.)

As the original poster said, there's soooooo much interesting going on in Rhythm and Smooth right now, it's just fascinating. The movement amongst the finalists in standard and latin is much less and even the 'rivalries,' such as they are, are getting old - I think the partner-switching stunt in the rumba final at Manhattan is a good indicator that the Max/Yulia and Elena/Andrei throwdown is old, old old. Everybody already has their favorites and nobody is changing their minds, and almost anyone can predict who will win based on the circumstances of a particular comp (domestic vs European, judging panel, which dance, etc.)

Stagnation. If they were really on fire to beat each other, they wouldn't be trading partners at a major event.

Same in Standard. I don't believe I will see the day when Victor and Anna will beat Jonathan and Katusha (and I have no opinion whether that's as it should be or not, to tell you the truth.) So even when both couples are on the floor together in front of me, I'm doing what everybody else is doing - admiring the dancing but not wasting any anxiety on the inevitable result.

fascination said:

Smooth is called american style...W,T, F, VW...you can separate from your partner...things like free spins

Standard is called International style....you stay in closed position all 4 of the above mentioned dances but add QS


this is the watered down answer...am sure others will come along and give you a more responsible answer


rhythm likewise is american style....you will see people "stepping onto a bent knee"

latin is international style....you will see folks stepping onto a straight leg

Click to expand...

Simple and succcint-- way it should be

tangotime said:

Simple and succcint-- way it should be

Click to expand...

well, thank you

fascination said:

Smooth is called american style...W,T, F, VW...you can separate from your partner...things like free spins

Standard is called International style....you stay in closed position all 4 of the above mentioned dances but add QS


this is the watered down answer...am sure others will come along and give you a more responsible answer


rhythm likewise is american style....you will see people "stepping onto a bent knee"

latin is international style....you will see folks stepping onto a straight leg

again an oversimplification but I am betting it is mainly what you want to know

Click to expand...

Just to add, regarding R vs. L:

R = (American style) cha & rumba, ECS, bolero, and mambo

vs.

L = (International style) cha & rumba, samba, paso, and jive

There's also an exciting new partnership coming to the floor soon in Smooth...won't say who it is yet, but it's an interesting combination.

You are right, I forgot that Hunter and Maria are supposedly returning. wow, this is great! Sorry, but who are John and Irina?

I agree about the stagnation, I personally can't stand it, it's as if the judges aren't even watching. What does it take for a couple to move up in Latin and Standard? If you look carefully, there are couples truly improving who should be noticed, and often place higher in Europe. In any case, I think that in Latin at least, only the top 2 couples are so-called locked in place. I think there is a little more moving around from 2 - 6, no?

Rhythm and Smooth though, wide open!!!!

How about ProAm and Amateur? Is the judgment more open-minded, less locked in place (I don't want to say pre-decided)?

gingerbread said:

In any case, I think that in Latin at least, only the top 2 couples are so-called locked in place.

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I think you meant that they are locked in place for the top two spots; however, they keep trading 1st and 2nd place results, so neither of these couples are a lock for 1st come Nationals.

Smooth

gingerbread said:

Sorry, but who are John and Irina?

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John Selby and Irina Chalkevitch from California. Irina and Troy Baeten won the US National Rising Star title a few years ago. Troy retired from competition and Irina and John teamed up. Their first competition together was at Wisconsin State this past April, where they competed both Pro Smooth and Pro Standard.