Amateur Association/Data Base

[Rhythmdancer]

I have an idea and I am not sure if it has been started in other cities also or if some USA Dance Chapters do this already but. I learned how to dance in college and after leaving college I wanted to continue competing. The only choices I had were either contact people I went to school/competed against in the area or go Pro/Am. I was lucky enough to find a partner that I get along with, but I don't want to begin to think about what if I split with my partner. I've met quiet a few ladies that have been looking for a partner and have met a few guys looking for partners yet everyone has been having trouble.

Basically:

• Has anyone leveraged USA Dance to create some sort of Amateur dancer registry for their area?
  
• Have people started non-USA Dance unofficial associations?
• Has this been tried and failed miserably?

 

[Loki]

Not USAD specific, but there is (or was) a site called partner dancer(s) dot com where you could post your "creds" and advertise for partners. I knew a few people who posted there but they all came up empty. Perhaps a USA specific site would work better. Don't know about other existing registries.

 

[Rhythmdancer]

Maybe Amateur Association/Data base isn't the best word that I'm looking for. I am talking more of a club. Kinda like a college team outside of college. A central point of communication for people that are looking for practice partners or guidance. I know there are quite a few competitors here in Chicago but they never social dance so I do even know where to find them or if someone comes from another town wanting to continue competing and wants a partner.

 

[Bailamosdance]

This is how it is done around the world - and is why in most cases the USA finishes routinely in the bottom 25% of international competitions. The club format, the group lessons and interaction with all the competitors is anathema to the US style which is all about private lessons.

Perhaps it is up to you to start up a club - the US organizations and chapters are really all about social dance etc.

 

[Rhythmdancer]

That's what I miss about dancing in college; you can either mentor someone or be mentored which is very useful. Not only that but people will get way more mileage out of their privates. I'm to see what I can do to start one in my area.

 

[middy]

The closest thing I can think of is when studios host supervised practice time - then, sometimes, pretty good competitive couples come out to run rounds and things, and you can get to know each other that way. This is not all that common though, I think. But definitely does happen in DC and NYC.

 

[dlliba10]

The closest thing I can think of is when studios host supervised practice time - then, sometimes, pretty good competitive couples come out to run rounds and things, and you can get to know each other that way. This is not all that common though, I think. But definitely does happen in DC and NYC.

Yep. The Smooth rounds on Wednesday nights at MBD in Manhattan feel particularly club-like -- everyone knows everyone, everyone welcomes new couples / dancers, we train with a group class first and then a set of three rounds, we support each other at comps. Pasha Pashkov and Daniella Karagach's Latin rounds seem to have the same feel too, though their rounds seem to skew more towards the junior-youth age range.

 

[Loki]

I know there are quite a few competitors here in Chicago but they never social dance so I don't even know where to find them or if someone comes from another town wanting to continue competing and wants a partner.

Yeah. Virtually none of the Pro-Am ams I know do socials, which makes sense if they have no intention of going am-am. And all the am-ams I know are already coupled up. Sort of a chicken and egg thing.

Supervised practices sound like a good idea, but people might not be inclined to drive an hour or more across the metro area if they have their own studio to practice at.

Or is it that the first rule of Comp Club is you don't talk about Comp Club?

Seriously, maybe a FaceBook or MeetUp group would be the way to go.

 

[bluslu]

I know for the Midwest collegiate circuit, there's a Facebook group where you can post looking for a TBA partner for comps and/or just looking for a partner. Sometimes it's successful (found a TBA partner for bronze standard and Latin at a comp) and sometimes it isn't (couldn't find a partner for silver American anything). However, it's not very organized and it could be difficult to find someone who posted many posts ago who is actually in your area. A data base would be sweet, but I don't know enough about the actual am circuit to know how useful/plausible/difficult it would be to create and get running and known.

 

[Rhythmdancer]

I talked to someone at my USA Dance chapter about creating something like a personals list for people seeking partners. The person I talked to liked the idea and wanted to talk to the board about placing it on the chapter's website. Apparently, they used to place stuff like this at the in the back of the American Dancer magazine.

I'm taking baby steps. Hopefully I help mold the local USA Dance chapter into something more.

 

[snapdancer]

There are a number of Facebook groups for people seeking partners.

 

[Meagan]

"Dancesport Partner Search" is fairly active with posts on FB. Not exactly what you're looking for in terms of a club but perhaps you can guide some of the ladies you know there. Not sure how much action your area gets on there though.