Beginner trying to advance

Because, as others have said, different people enjoy different dance activities. One of the teachers at the studio where I dance recently showed me videos from his first competition. Collegiate. While I thought he was excellent for the amount of time he had been dancing, let's just say he has improved a whole heaping bunch since then. ;)

Some people thrive on competing even if they are initially not (anywhere near) where they would like to be and eventually will be.
 
I just want to point something out and this everyone is assuming that the OP is from the USA. It could be possible that the poster is from the UK where novice is one up for beginner but is also a very competitive division.

Being realistic completely depends how well you think should do.
I started dance to compete and dos my first comp in 4 months where I did not recall once. My current ai,s are to make it out of round one. As a new competitor it may be better to set goals like performing each dance or maintaining good posture as realistically if you are not taking weekly lessons you may not get the results straight away. However doing badly at a comp can sometimes light a fire in you and the progression becomes quicker.

Hope this has helped
 
JudeMorrigan said:
Meh. If I hadn't discovered real competitions around the end of my first year of dancing, I probably would have faded away from the hobby entirely. Different people are different. The original poster sounds dedicated enough to the idea of competing that it seems entirely plausible to me that they'll find competing perfectly enjoyable.
Click to expand...

Yep. I can't really afford to keep competing, and honestly it's killing any interest I have. I can't imagine devoting time to an am partner, couldn't afford the coaching anyway, and social dancing does not seem worth the effort.
 
Hi - thanks again all for your comments - I have found them very useful and informative, and appreciate all of your words. I should have perhaps stated that as Helen mentioned, I am indeed UK based - I should have made the distinction earlier I'm sorry.
Competing will be important for us, but of course the main aim will be to continue to enjoy dancing and the challenges it bring - to that end, we will continue to practice and dance as much as possible, and hope to be able to compete in the not too distant future :)
Thank you all again for your advice :)
 
Kasharic said:
Hi - thanks again all for your comments - I have found them very useful and informative, and appreciate all of your words. I should have perhaps stated that as Helen mentioned, I am indeed UK based - I should have made the distinction earlier I'm sorry.
Competing will be important for us, but of course the main aim will be to continue to enjoy dancing and the challenges it bring - to that end, we will continue to practice and dance as much as possible, and hope to be able to compete in the not too distant future :)
Thank you all again for your advice :)
Click to expand...

I thought you would be UK based. Honestly maybe do both beginner and novice as you can do both and see how you do in both categories. Beginner is a good place as the restricted steps are similar to novice. I am currently on the medallist comp route as I do not have a partner but let me know if you hve any questions as Im hoping to have a partner in October when I move so I know a little about the comp circuit or know people that do
 
Lol... that clears up a lot! Novice in the US is the first open level, and comes right before Pre-Champ... it doesn't really exist in Canada, but I think of it as "gold without step restrictions"... though I could be totally off :)

So novice in UK = bronze in the US? Then I stand by my post - it's do-able, but some adjustments to the plan might be needed to be sure you're working as smart as possible.
 
It difficult to co-align them as there are two systems one which is medalist which goes: intro, bronze, silver, gold, gold bar, gold star then president award.
Then open circuit with is: beginner, novice, intermediate, pre-champ, champ.
but I think beginner is mainly intro and bronze and novice you quite a few silver as well as bronze as far as I am aware. I dont do open circuit just as yet.
 
Generalist said:
There is no reason to get depressed because what I said was reality. I think most of you are not giving the OP proper service by building false expectations. Come on folks, the OP has such limited resources and a lack of experience you know the result that competition will bring. Why not encourage the OP to experience the joy of dancing instead of the misery?
Click to expand...
I must also, and again, disagree. Why do you insist upon defining what is the OP's reality? Comps, for you, might be a road to a quick burn out b/c your goal might be just winning, for example; and, if you don't within a self-appointed deadline, then you burn out. Comps for the OP might be the road to something else entirely. Limited resources might get 'you' only a part of what 'you' need to reach 'your' expectations. I have coached students (some pros) practically gratis, just b/c of their dedications and desires to be the dancers that they sought to become. This was 'their' realities on 'their' limited resources.

If you take away a person's hopes and dreams, you have taken away that person's right to life. Who are we to define what the OP's hopes and dreams should be? I think that we would better serve the OP by being a support system (even perhaps helping them to find ways of reaching their goals) rather than by assuming that we are in a position or even have the right to be their dance parent, and insist upon what their realities should be.
 
Chiming in from my own experience:

- I went to my first comp (collegiate) woefully unprepared, and without anyone to really make me realize how unprepared I was (small collegiate team, not particularly good coaching though I didn't know it til after I moved on). Think: barely could stay on count, kinda knew some moves but barely a semblance of technique. I thought I was awesome though.
- I didn't get a single recall mark at that comp, doing Newcomer and Bronze; note, not just didn't get recalled, but not a single judge marked me once.
- Doing poorly lit a freaking fire under my bum. I became much more dedicated to practicing and taking every lesson possible by knowing how much better my peers were. It didn't cause massive improvements immediately (the next 3 semesters were still pretty underwhelming), but my junior and senior years (years 3 and 4 of dancing) I saw quite good results.
- I came to love the pressure of competition; even the most dedicated competition simulation in practice can't match the intensity of actually dancing in front of an audience (even a small one).

Tl;dr : like others have said, competing "too early" with too little preparation to do well was a net benefit for my dance progression. It wouldn't have the place of high priority it does in my life if I hadn't found competition.

OP, good luck, I have faith you can do it (although maybe on a slightly longer timetable than you'd like). With so long between lessons, make sure to get specific, actionable homework from your coach and see if he/she would be willing to review videos you send in between lessons to get a third eye perspective on your dancing (I'm taking it as a given that you can video your practices occasionally). Even once a week having the coach watch a 3-minute video and provide a couple pieces of feedback could be helpful; my partner and I do that with our main coach who we see no more than 1 weekend a month for lessons (granted, usually for 6-8 lessons in that one weekend). Also, if you trust the advice of your group class instructor, you could ask him/her to keep an extra eye out for things you could improve and see if he/she is game for that (I've found most dance teachers love knowing a student is open to getting more feedback!).
 
Generalist said:
There is no reason to get depressed because what I said was reality. I think most of you are not giving the OP proper service by building false expectations. Come on folks, the OP has such limited resources and a lack of experience you know the result that competition will bring. Why not encourage the OP to experience the joy of dancing instead of the misery?
Click to expand...


download.gif
 
Ha ha, nice try.

Generalist is assuming that losing automatically results in misery.
Everybody loses sometime. Even winning doesn't guarantee happiness. The world of dancing is multifaceted. You cannot paint us all with the same brush.
 
So people know what novice really is look up on YouTube stars of the future novice ballroom or latin. Or champions of tomorrow
These are big comps that include the lower levels so you can see what level you need to be. Bare in mind that the depth of competition in the UK is tough especially in 16-35 age range
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Dance Ads

Advertise on Dance Forums Reach dancers, teachers, studios, event organizers, and dance-friendly brands. View ad options
Back
Top