2007 US National Amateur DanceSport Championships

[reb]

Today I received the paper entry forms in the mail.

Interesting statement on the front page:

Sanctioned by the NDCA US Closed Amateur National Titles Sub-Liscensed [sp?] by the American Ballroom Company

Experienced amateurs know this part, but for those not intimately involved in amateur comps, this is not to be confused with the "2007 USA Dance National DanceSport Championships".

March 8 - 10
BYU
Provo Utah

Anyone going? Comments??

 

[Katarzyna]

Trying to decide.. I hear it might be small this year. Courious what people think?

 

[Joe]

No point.

 

[Ithink]

Probably not. Never have been, don't really want to go. Pre-champ standard is on Thursday so that's pretty inconvenient...

Plus, the whole issue of meeting the stupid dress code is very irritating!

 

[guille_bdancer]

I'll be going with my partner... just to have the experience of being there. Although having to get new costuming or altering the ones we have (specially my partner) is a little annoying. But I have to admit that it will be our first big one (hopefully) out of state that we would have to fly to, so I'm a bit psyched

 

[samina]

can you guys give an abbreviated definition of the costume requirements for the utah comp?

i'm familiar w/ the reasons why... just curious how radical the modifications are for costumes that would normally be worn at the champ level...

 

[Laura]

Straps going over the shoulders must be at least 1" wide. Back can't be open too low or two wide (they have very specific dimensions, and they are stricter than what the IDSF/USA Dance allows). Certain rules about use of mesh. No halter-top styles. I'm sure I'm missing some things but those are the ones that stick in my head.

 

[samina]

thanks, laura.

and this is probly the perfect time to ask a question i've wondered about for awhile...

what is the difference (including how the status of the comps is *perceived*) between the utah comp and the national comp in minneapolis.

i still haven't gotten a crystal-clear picture of the difference between some of these competitive & organizational circles... and believe, i've been reading the threads & trying. it's just so darn... *confusing* at times.

yeesh. maybe it'll sink in better once i've started the comp ball rolling for myself.

 

[Kitty]

trying to decide as well...

on one hand it is a good comp to go to and from what Kat is saying not too expensive (zside from flight and hotel, but I'm sure I could find deals).

on the other hand on the same weekend there are 2 local comps I'd like to attend: Harvard and Stony Brook,
and also not sure if it is really worth it going that far to attend a comp...

 

[Dancebug]

Utah comp is a NDCA event and National is USA Dance Company. The national will be held in Louiville, Kentucky this year, not in Minneapolis.

 

[samina]

Utah comp is a NDCA event and National is USA Dance Company. The national will be held in Louiville, Kentucky this year, not in Minneapolis.

thanks, DB.

this is an example of what gets me so confused: http://usabda.org/press_center/press_releases/ndca_related_articles/index.cfm

it's the usa dance website talking about ndca... if ndca is not a subset of usa dance, then why the reference. if ndca *is* somehow "under" usa dance in some fasion, then how can there be two separate national comps?

am remembering a few months ago mentioning that my amateur partner at the time wanted for us to compete at the ndca comp, and someone i know said "oh, that's not the *real* comp" and was rather snooty about it. actually, she said the "real" national comp was in california...

?????

 

[callen]

what is the difference (including how the status of the comps is *perceived*) between the utah comp and the national comp in minneapolis.

Well, USA Dance is the one that has the authority to declare national champions and representatives to the world championships, so its nationals tends to be of higher status. Most of the finalists and semi-finalists in Latin and standard have been about the same at the two events. Many of the smooth couples don't tend to end up in Utah, though I'm hoping this year's change in my work schedule will allow it. I don't know about rhythm. However, many more BYU competitors show up to the NDCA one, which helps to refill the ranks, and many of the BYU competitors are very good.

It is important to note that the US national professional standard title used to be determined at the NDCA competition. That is no longer the case. Not only that, but when I read through the schedule earlier today, I could only find an invitational Latin event and an invitational Latin showdance event for the pros. Did I misread that?!?!?! If those are the only pro events, then some of the best spectating has disappeared. Could someone else check to confirm that? Plus many students who would prefer compete when their instructors are around won't be as motivated to go. I hope this doesn't ruin what to my understanding has been one of the best competitions in the country.

Hopefully I'll see some of you out there.

Christopher

 

[NielsenE]

on the other hand on the same weekend there are 2 local comps I'd like to attend: Harvard and Stony Brook,

OT:

Stony Brook moved to the week before Harvard (so same weekend as Binghamton, but different days Bing=Sat, SB=Sun)

 

[Porfirio Landeros]

I could only find an invitational Latin event and an invitational Latin showdance event for the pros. Did I misread that?!?!?!

Hey Chris, you read it correctly... last year, it was a Pro Standard invitational, with the top 4 standard pro's there, competing in a showdance (I posted pics of this in the dance-forums photo gallery).

It looks like this year, they switched to Latin so that it would have a different flavor... will it be smooth next year??? ;-)

I went to this event the past 3 years and have to say that it was the most physically challenging of any event [for smooth]. You're in high altitude and in very crowded early rounds. There was a quarter in amateur smooth, and I think it was slightly bigger than the USA Dance nationals in this division. As mentioned, many of these dancers are BYU, with a very few that crossover between both circuits.

I felt it was worth going to because of the size of the divisions and the size of the crowd (the biggest you will probably dance in front of in the US), even though most of them are cheering for BYU ;-)

Anyway, now that I'm pro, I won't be going this year... the costume rules from USA Dance, NDCA, and especially BYU are certainly things we will NOT miss ;-)

 

[Porfirio Landeros]

Hey Chris, you read it correctly... last year, it was a Pro Standard invitational, with the top 4 standard pro's there, competing in a showdance (I posted pics of this in the dance-forums photo gallery).

P.S. There was a regularly judged round and then the audience had ballots and contributed in the final results - I think audience results determined the winner of the showdance. So it was Waltz, Tango, Fox, Viennese, Quickstep that were traditionally judged, and audience ballots for Showdance... the champion was chosen based of their scores in all 6 dances.