Yeah, I fell for this line too with my former independent pro.
This feels hauntingly familiar. I think we need another one of those memes with what "fun" means to instructors depending on their background.
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- Thread starter ProgressNotPerfection
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Yeah, I fell for this line too with my former independent pro.
This feels hauntingly familiar. I think we need another one of those memes with what "fun" means to instructors depending on their background.
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
This is a murky issue for me. Part of me agrees with you 100%. But other parts of me are thinking things like this:
- Those other comps where other students danced were all live, traditional comps. They all took place in the pre-plague world, where the studio had certain procedures they routinely followed wrt social media. In the current world of virtual comps, the studio has no experience yet. They aren’t thinking along the same lines as before.
- More importantly, I assume the studio has much bigger things to worry about these days; i.e., cash flow. Many students have still not returned for lessons (and might not ever). The studio has not resumed the weekly social dances, which were a steady stream of income. The spring mini-match and summer showcase, both of which would have generated a lot of money for the studio, didn’t happen. Other revenue-producing events (trip to Blackpool, scheduled NDCA comps) were all canceled. So the possibly-hurt feelings of a single student simply aren’t registering on their radar.
- I’m the one who instigated the studio’s participation in the HOA virtual comp. I approached them, not the other way around. I pushed the issue by telling my pro that if he wasn’t going to enter the comp with me, I would enter it with my LongDistancePro (LDP). This may have created some unintentional friction. When I mentioned possibly competing with LDP as my partner, I did not intend it as a “threat.” I was using that to demonstrate how serious I was about entering the HOA comp. But in the current climate of uncertain revenue, the studio might have seen my actions as a threat to take my business elsewhere...even though I emphasized that I would only compete with LDP if I couldn’t compete with my first choice (local pro). My point is, it seems possible the studio might be - deliberately or not - punishing me for my pushiness. (Although like I said above, I doubt I’m high enough on their radar that they’re even thinking that way. Also, punishment of that sort would be distinctly counterproductive, as it could lead to the very thing they wanted to avoid.)
- The fact of whether or not anyone, anywhere, any time, ever posts on social media something about my dancing, should not affect how I feel about myself and my own progress. This is true regardless of what anyone, anywhere, at any previous time, has ever posted on social media about someone else’s dancing.
This started much earlier for me. At my last NDCA comp a couple years ago, the owner/stylist at the hair/makeup vendor I was using was completely decked out in swag (hat, pin, shoes) supporting a controversial political candidate that I do not support. She was the first person who ever did my comp hair and it was phenomenal the first time, but this last time she did not work on me at all. I was not unaware of her support for this politician (and I suspect she came to know my leanings - my pro's wife was also one of the stylists, hence the connection), but it made me glad that this would be my last comp (I knew I was quitting that pro) and I pretty much vowed that I would not use that vendor's services again. There's a time and place to be a billboard, and this is/was not it.
fascination
Site Moderator
She had a right to wear the hat ...you had a right to be impacted by it...ya live by the sword ya die by the sword
I don't disagree... I didn't think it was appropriate, and yes, we both move forward with our respective decisions.
On the hair dresser: The big problem for the client is you are stuck in the chair presented with overt messages. If you disagree you will certainly not want to engage because that will be unpleasant. So the whole situation becomes uncomfortable.
Customers who disagree are going to decide they aren't going to deal with that hair dresser. So it's unwise for the hairdresser to wear that both because she's making clients uncomfortable (which is not fair) and because she will ultimately lose clients (which is bad business.)
Customers who disagree are going to decide they aren't going to deal with that hair dresser. So it's unwise for the hairdresser to wear that both because she's making clients uncomfortable (which is not fair) and because she will ultimately lose clients (which is bad business.)
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
Well, apparently once again my perception was colored by my inexperience. A couple of my much more experienced ballroom dancer friends who saw that part of the video laughed. One even said, "great save, Pro!" So I guess what felt to me like "being unexpectedly and forcibly manipulated into a specific position in the middle of the floor during a heat" is actually called "partner dancing."
Re: Energy/Nerves/Pros Dancing “differently” at Comps/Showcases. Having competed as a Pro/Am Follow for a good number of years, I can say that I have seen instances (including myself) where the Student is actually the one who is dancing differently. There's extra adrenaline floating around, and yes, it feels “different” until the Student learns how to work with it - and it can be hard to replicate an adrenaline rush during regular old lessons and boring old practice.
The first Am/Am competition that I did with my current Am partner was her very first dance competition ever. No, she wasn’t nervous, or heading to the restroom to throw up, or frozen with fear, or anything like that. But she’d never danced before having to cope with an adrenaline rush. Our first event was the Bronze Waltz/Quickstep multi-dance. Oh! My!! God!!! She rushed through everything, lowering way too early, popping all the rises, blocking my swing, and totally “ran away” from me at corners, almost pulling me off-time. I kept saying “Wait for me! Wait for me!” and had to pause and literally hold her back in a couple of corners so that we could regain our position. It was one of the most difficult, tiring heats I’d ever danced. When we left the floor, she complained that I had no energy out there and that I needed to move more, there was too much bumping between us, and that I wasn’t dancing the way I did when we practice. As she headed away to line up for our next event, my Pro came up to me and (somewhat sympathetically) said, “NOW you know what it’s like!”
Pro has told me that, as difficult as it is to get through heats with a Follow who rushes, he said that it’s actually much harder to get through heats with Follows who won’t move.
The first Am/Am competition that I did with my current Am partner was her very first dance competition ever. No, she wasn’t nervous, or heading to the restroom to throw up, or frozen with fear, or anything like that. But she’d never danced before having to cope with an adrenaline rush. Our first event was the Bronze Waltz/Quickstep multi-dance. Oh! My!! God!!! She rushed through everything, lowering way too early, popping all the rises, blocking my swing, and totally “ran away” from me at corners, almost pulling me off-time. I kept saying “Wait for me! Wait for me!” and had to pause and literally hold her back in a couple of corners so that we could regain our position. It was one of the most difficult, tiring heats I’d ever danced. When we left the floor, she complained that I had no energy out there and that I needed to move more, there was too much bumping between us, and that I wasn’t dancing the way I did when we practice. As she headed away to line up for our next event, my Pro came up to me and (somewhat sympathetically) said, “NOW you know what it’s like!”
Pro has told me that, as difficult as it is to get through heats with a Follow who rushes, he said that it’s actually much harder to get through heats with Follows who won’t move.
Exactly. And I would like to preface my remarks by saying that of course anyone, anywhere should be able to speak their mind. But there is a big difference, imo, between a comment/remark that invites conversation (i.e., wearing a pin) and head to toe regalia (and I have seen the stylist in question) and *especially* in a role in which said individual will have a captive audience who has no choice but to look at her/himfor 30-60 minutes. That is just obnoxious. Confrontational and obnoxious does not add up to good business sense to me, regardless of whether proprietor's personal POV coincides or conflicts with my own.
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fascination
Site Moderator
Thing is... they know that...so implicit in their choice is "agree, shut up, or leave"...for me, if I felt their view was unethical not just political, I wouldn't put money in their pocket... I would be glad to know so that I could stop handing them my income
fascination,
In the case of a new hairdresser who was scheduled in advance of a competition, this could mean not having your hair done and having no time to find someone else. If you can do your own quickly, that might not be a huge problem. But generally, those who schedule a hair appointment with the competition hairdresser feel they can't do their own hair adequately. That's why the scheduled.
So it is inconsiderate for the person selling this service to force essentially captive clients to be their audience.
It's really not the same as someone merely putting a sign in their yard, posting something of their facebook page or doing something that others would see but can decided to ignore. It's not even like a hairdresser plastering her own shop with signs. Usually, the need isn't as urgent in normal life so any new client who found you on the web, phoned in an appointment and was shocked can likely just turn around when they see they've arrived at what looks like political party headquarters!
I'm sure that hair dresser found that her choice of attire affected repeat business at comps, though perhaps not as much at it would in real life. (I don't know how many people pick a competition hair dresser based on reputation). It may also have impacted tips alot. A hair dresser with the opposite point of view would also find they got less repeat business. The magnitude of the business impact would be affected by the strength of feeling on the part of clients.
It's definitely not a good business practice in sizeable part because it's not fair to treat captive-audience money paying clients this way and objecting clients will see it that way.
In the case of a new hairdresser who was scheduled in advance of a competition, this could mean not having your hair done and having no time to find someone else. If you can do your own quickly, that might not be a huge problem. But generally, those who schedule a hair appointment with the competition hairdresser feel they can't do their own hair adequately. That's why the scheduled.
So it is inconsiderate for the person selling this service to force essentially captive clients to be their audience.
It's really not the same as someone merely putting a sign in their yard, posting something of their facebook page or doing something that others would see but can decided to ignore. It's not even like a hairdresser plastering her own shop with signs. Usually, the need isn't as urgent in normal life so any new client who found you on the web, phoned in an appointment and was shocked can likely just turn around when they see they've arrived at what looks like political party headquarters!
I'm sure that hair dresser found that her choice of attire affected repeat business at comps, though perhaps not as much at it would in real life. (I don't know how many people pick a competition hair dresser based on reputation). It may also have impacted tips alot. A hair dresser with the opposite point of view would also find they got less repeat business. The magnitude of the business impact would be affected by the strength of feeling on the part of clients.
It's definitely not a good business practice in sizeable part because it's not fair to treat captive-audience money paying clients this way and objecting clients will see it that way.
I would like to add, that in this particular occurrence, all (or at least several) of the hair/makeup vendors for the comp were located together in the same hotel conference room. So even if this was not your stylist... no escape.
Regardless of one's opinion on any topic, at this point I don't think anyone can declare with a straight face that political differences are on par with say, what sports team you like or your favorite flower or some other expression of personal preference. The notions represented by political stances are deeply personal to people, since politics has now boiled down to which groups/cohorts of people should have which rights/value. So hand-waving that away as "agree to disagree" or "do what you want and face the consequences", given the precarious state of our hobby's industry (and other industries) doesn't seem like it will just result in everyone just going about their merry way and business as usual.
Also, I say this as someone who is in the political/religious minority of my geographic region, so I'm under no delusions about people agreeing/disagreeing with me. It's interesting to hear what people actually say when they assume they are in like-minded company.
fascination
Site Moderator
I get your point on a first visit...you pretty much have to put up and ignore or settle for a hair disaster...but, after that appt you now have good info on who to avoid
...personally, as long as she wasn't discussing it, I would just ignore the first time and then never use her again if I felt that she was endorsing someone who was a deal breaker for me..I am certainly not arguing that it is good business practice, I am simply stating that she has obviously weighed that...I suppose if I was really disturbed, one way to handle it is to make sure that the organizers who use her know that you won't be able to attend their comps unless you have more than one choice for hair because you don't appreciate vendors being political (or you simply don't care for her, if you don't want to reveal the reason)..shrug...they may or may not care...and then you will know that as well
fascination
Site Moderator
don't get me wrong, I would love to see an absence of politics as a guideline for vendors...I don't see it happening...and I also think that it is a community in which I wouldn't want my views widely known if I cared about there not being implications...I am not really debating whether or not it SHOULD happen...I am simply talking about how I would adjust accordingly...I would be glad to know so that I could avoid giving my money to someone who A) wasn't considerate of persons who hold opposing views and B) supported causes that run counter to my own deeply held convictions