Amateur and Pro-Am Competition

[randomMysh]

Reminds me of the "proamitis" thread. :lol:

 

[alemana]

i am the one who initially said "pro partner" and i assure you i am fully aware of the ramifications of this poor choice of phrase... please, let's move on with my admission that it was an unfortunate choice of words.

back to the issues at hand.

 

[pygmalion]

Yeah, alemana. Sometimes we get sidetracked talking about the words rather than the ideas behind them. *shrug* It happens. :?

it's going to be curious to watch how my social salsa dancing changes as i get a big ol' ballroom infusion. i still feel more interested in salsa in the long term, but ballroom competition could be really engaging in the short-to-medium term, i guess.

This is the part of your post that intrigued me the most, to be honest. It will be interesting to see how you evolve as a dancer. 8)

 

[alemana]

i wonder when i'll be able to think of myself as a dancer without cringing.

 

[pygmalion]

You already are. 8)

 

[DancingJools]

Sorry, Alemana. I hadn't even noticed your earlier post, so I hope you didn't take my comment as personal. I was just going with the drift of the conversation, one of the disadvantages of popping in whenever time permits and just looking at the most recent discussions.
Actually, I was thinking of some dancers I know personally who are over-attached to their teacher, and they've been dancing long enough to know better. It's not necessarily a romantic attachment, either. Just a kind of being fully invested in the relationship, which I sometimes feel impeded their awareness of what should be their role. Instead of being active learners, they seemed to be too dependent, imho.

 

[pygmalion]

Yeah. I've seen that too, DancingJools. It seems like that's a difficult balance for a lot of students to maintain -- even the ones who are old enough/experienced enough to know better. :?

 

[alemana]

i have a lot of questions about pro-am stuff but am not sure where to ask them....

for instance, do pro-am dancers start with syllabus and work their way up, like amateurs? so do i have to locate the syllabus for my style my level, and, together with my coach, make sure our routine doesn't include any illegal moves?

 

[Another Elizabeth]

for instance, do pro-am dancers start with syllabus and work their way up, like amateurs? so do i have to locate the syllabus for my style my level, and, together with my coach, make sure our routine doesn't include any illegal moves?

I don't do pro-am, but my understanding is that there are both open and closed syllabus events at most levels.

You can see the ISTD syllabus lists for all four styles here. These lists are definitive for international style, but there are a number of competing syllabi for american style.

 

[alemana]

that link (and thank you for it) is from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. I also have a list called the 'official NDCA" syllabus.

how do i know which to use? does it depend on who is sponsoring the comp?

 

[Laura]

NDCA competitions accept "any published syllabus." So that means you can use NDCA, ISTD, Terpsichore, IDTA, DVIDA, US-ISTD, Arthur Murray, or Fred Astaire. Pick one

If you're doing Standard or Latin, ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) is the best way to go in the US.

 

[Purr]

1. how long from when you decided to dance with your pro partner until your first competition?

One year

2. did you dance just a few dances, or all 5 or ten in your category?

American Smooth: waltz, tango, foxtrot
American Rhythm: cha cha, rumba, mambo, bolero, east coast swing, west coast swing, hustle, paso doble, salsa, merengue

4 entries per dances, 52 total

3. how much competition did you have, or were you mostly competing against yourself?

18 uncontested, all firsts

34 contested, with 1 to 3 other ladies dancing in the heat.
9 firsts, 12 seconds, 8 thirds and 5 fourths

4. did you start at bronze or just jump to whatever level your coach suggested?

Newcomer bronze, newcomer bronze open, intermediate bronze, intermediate bronze open

 

[DancingJools]

i have a lot of questions about pro-am stuff but am not sure where to ask them....

for instance, do pro-am dancers start with syllabus and work their way up, like amateurs? so do i have to locate the syllabus for my style my level, and, together with my coach, make sure our routine doesn't include any illegal moves?

Pro-ammers start at the bottom of the ladder, just like amateurs. The most common set-up is to start at the new-comer level, which means you have never competed before in this style. Then bronze , silver and gold, then open gold, or what is called Open. Each level, except the final Open, may have more than one sub-level. You can spend as much or as little time on each level as you and your teacher are comfortable with, within certain limits which are rarely enforced. Most commonly, you will stay about 2 years at each level, less if you have some dance background, take plenty of lesson, practice a lot, and/or are ambitious and confident.
Your teacher is the one responsible for knowing the steps. If he doesn't, he should look them up in the official guides. But aside from that, if he doesn't know the steps for each level, and they are pretty basic, you should look for another teacher.

 

[alemana]

ok, thank you, that was immensely helpful. i think my coach knows the steps, he's a pro, but i'm an information top and i like to figure these things out myself.

i was just looking at the schedule for the United States Dancesport Championships in Florida in September, which i was thinking of heading to as a spectator - and then i wondered, maybe i could compete there too, since i'm going. But when i tried to determine if my events at my level were represented, i couldn't tell.

i'm a beginning adult rhythm pro-am dancer. here's what's on the schedule which may apply to me:

* “All-American” Rhythm One Dance Competitions.
Age Divisions: JA, JB, JC, JD, JE, PT, JR, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2
Closed Syllabus Levels: Newcomer, Bronze I, Bronze II, Silver I, Silver II, Gold.
Open Syllabus Levels: Open Bronze, Open Silver, Open Gold.

*"All American" Closed Bronze & Silver Pro/Am Rhythm Multi Dance Competitions.
Unisex Age Division: A (16-35), B (36-50) and C (51+)
Five dance competition in Cha Cha, Rumba, Swing, Bolero, Mambo

 

[Laura]

They definitely have events you can dance in. Ask your teacher. He'll be able to look up what age group you should be in, and can put you in Newcomer or Bronze I or whatever level he thinks you are ready for. And enter the multi-dance event for your level, it's fun and a great experience -- it's structured more like how you see Pro and regular amateur competitions.