2004 USABDA National's, Aug 13-15

D

DanceAm

New Member
Just checking to see of anyone is interested in discussing this years National's. Many Amateur Titles will be competed for and the International Style Champions will represent us around the world.

Victor Fung and Ana have turned pro since last year, that means the Standard title is up for grabs.

Eugene and Maria will surely take the Latin Title as they have for years.

I predict Andrew and Michelle Tate will take the 10 Dance title again. They are both such good dancers and seem to work so hard on all their dances. They compete in both Standard and Latin as well as 10 dance and I don't think they ever made the semi-finals last year in those catagories. I guess that shows there is something to be said for specializing in category.

I think the American Rhythm is up for grabs this year. Jeff and Alison Small from Atlanta are the reigning champs but now only compete 35 and over Latin. The 2nd place couple from last year I don't think are even competing together anymore.

I am not sure about Smooth. Anyone have a guess?

9 dance might just be the Andrew and Janie Nordberg again. I don't know if anyone is able to take that title yet.

I think the Northeast wants to claim all the titles this year. Anyone think differently?
 
USABDA posts a list of those qualified to compete at the nationals on their website... I am surprised at some names that are missing from this list, with respect to smooth. These people are either going to show up to the s/w regionals this weekend, which would be awesome since it would be a good practice run for nationals, or they are not doing nationals since this weekend is their last chance to qualify (I'm hinting that I can't see where the current USABDA champions have qualified yet).
 
pygmalion said:
Hmm. Never been. Can somebody give a synopsis? :)
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This is THE mecha for amateur dancesport in the USA. It's held in a very large, arena atmosphere, and all the best that want to represent the US abroad will be there, along with any takers on the other titles (smooth, rhythm, bronze/silver/gold, etc.).

My first time was last year, and it was great... the town was a little boring... I guess I'm spoiled by all the west coast comps that are in vegas, the bay, or LA, where you can party afterward ;)

Anyway, I haven't booked my trip yet, since I have some work commitments, but I hope I can make it again, since I gotta hopefully crack the final again, and maybe place a little higher... if not this year, there's always the next.
 
SDsalsaguy said:
Yup, and next year its in SF where are own DF member Laura is part of the steering committee! :banana:
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I thought we had to wait one more year for San Jose to host, because MN had a 3-year agreement... I hope I'm wrong :?

Laura did a great job with her team at the San Jose regionals last year... they can certainly tackle the national event!
 
The 2005 Nationals will be in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The 2006 Nationals will be in San Jose, California.

Hope to see many of you in San Jose! I won't be at Nationals this year because I'm going to New Zealand. But I'll be there in 2005, whether I'm dancing or not :-)
 
Were you there last year Laura?

If you were going this year, would you be taking a lot of notes and getting behind the scenes? Are you planning to run your National's like they run their's or are you going from past experience?
 
Nope, wasn't there last year, either. But I am definitely going in 2005 no matter what, as I really do need to observe one in person before helping to host one.... When I go next year I fully intend to pay a lot of attention to what is going on and how things are run.

NorCal has run Nationals before, plus many other comps, so our goal is to combine what has been working for us with what is working in Minnesota and with what the USABDA GC/EC requires of us. (Not sure how much latitude that actually gives us :-) ) I'm always open to ideas, so if there's something that you particularly like about how things are done in Minnesota, be sure to let me know. Ditto for complaints.
 
The only thing I had trouble with last year was with proficiency point verification. There was a couple with 4 proficiency points that was allowed to compete and it wasn't corrected until after the comp. I had the comps and the points earned written down for them. I had contacted a comp official and he did a very cursory investigation. If I had access to the Internet 45 min before the start of the heat, I could have shown the discrepancy. Instead they simply asked the couple and the couple replied that not all the heats they competed in had semi-finals.

Either have the results of USABDA comps saved on a PC for as many comps as you can or have access to the Internet or be prepared to check this out. The problem with On-line sites is results over a year old are replaced by the next years comp.

I know it is not the comps responsiblity and technically not the responsibility of anyone but the competitors.
 
hey this is like 45 min frmo my house. i'm gonna go check it out. if any of you are up here fro it and would like to go out dancing that weekend, we should meet up. idk if you do that sorta thing on this forum though.
 
The thing about enforcing proficiency points is that in the absence of official documentation of results, and clear understanding of the what are actual rules and procedures vs. people's personal opininons about what they should be, it's hard for an organizer to know what to do in the instant when a decision must be made. Organizers are actually bound by a rule which enjoins them from preventing anyone from dancing something for which the _are_ elgible - so with competing claims they could land in a pretty tight spot.
 
Porfirio Landeros said:
I am surprised at some names that are missing from this list, with respect to smooth. (I'm hinting that I can't see where the current USABDA champions have qualified yet).
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Must be Jon Medlin/Lauren Rand. I somehow thought I saw their names on one of the Regionals in the south, but could be mistaken. They are awesome smooth dancers, so it is hard to imagine they would miss nationals '04.

This Nationals is going to be a wild event. So many possibilities for the Open Standard that predicting the winner is impossible. Even picking out the final is tough. For 10 dance, the Tates may be challenged by Pasha/Inna. Though a very young couple they are tremendous.
 
Since I see Jonathan Medlin, I will ask him about Nationals. I do know that Lauren is getting married in the near future. At least when it comes to getting the "official story" from them, I'll see what I can find out.
 
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