CDF Vs CDA

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Spookisgirl

Active Member
Is anyone able to explain what is going on in Canada right now WRT the CDF not sanctioning competions organized by amatuer associations (regional associations of CDA). Is this part of the WDSF and WDC issue?

Is anyone else competing pro/am in Canada affected by this? This limits the number of competitions we can attend.

thanks
 
I'm wondering the same thing - even though i compete in Amateur. I've only heard here and there some things but i don't fully understand (nor am i really clear...so i don't want to type anything because i'm not sure I even got it right). But we often cross the border to compete in the States and will this have an impact on our options there as well??
 
SIGH. Exactly.

In our area, we don't exactly have the numbers to split up the dancing community. :-( I would rather not see any sort of divisions, coming from my position as an amateur who just wants to do as many comps as possible with as many other competitors as possible.
 
In our area, we don't exactly have the numbers to split up the dancing community. :-( I would rather not see any sort of divisions, coming from my position as an amateur who just wants to do as many comps as possible with as many other competitors as possible.
Click to expand...

Completely agree, and this is causing issues in our region as well as two 'local' competitions that offer pro/am are now 'off the table' to any CDF Pros (and their Am students) due to this rule. Trying to keep comp costs down, this is really frustrating and limiting as it means having to travel more to compete.

For going to the US--CDF recognizes NDCA competitions, but not USADance comps (from what I understand).

I am not seeing how this benefits any dancer, and no seems to be able to explain it.
 
Yay a topic I know all about! First of all this 100% has to do with the fight between WDC & WDSF.

In short, what is happening in Canada now is what currently exists in the US. Two associations who will represent amateurs. One association under WDSF and one under WDC. So, Dancesport Canada (& its American counterpart, USA Dance) are under WDSF, and NDCC, which is the new amateur branch of the CDF (& its American counterpart, NDCA) are under WDC. Fortunately for amateur competitors, you can pay to get memberships to compete in both ($$$), and you won't be penalized if you do so. Additionally, for amateurs, NDCC rules only go into effect on january 1st, so you are free to compete at any competition (minus the ones sanctioned by Dancesport Canada)

As for competing in the US, you will technically only be allowed to compete with the matching association in the US (unless you pay for both memberships, or compete at collegiate competitions). However, in my experience, NDCA doesn't care if you have a number, although that might change now that NDCC exists.

I don't compete pro/am, but this will affect pro/am, mostly because pros CAN be penalized for competing across associations, so I assume they would have to choose a side and stick with it. On the amateur side, I can tell you that in Montreal, at least with those I have spoken to, most people (including myself) are not registering with Dancesport Canada/Dancesport Quebec this year, mostly because it's just not worth it.

For more information, I found this to be rather informative and explains CDF's reasoning behind the creation of the NDCC.
[I can't post links] dancecouncil ca /2014/08/ important-message-board-cdf/

Hopefully that answered your question!
 
Yes, nate, that is really helpful!

Myself, I don't understand why there are separate organizations for amateur and professionals to start with. Shouldn't being a certified pro be the ultimate goal of an amateur dancer and just one tier higher in the same organization and goal to aspire to?

I may be opening a can of worms, and being a pro/am competitor I will admit there are probably aspects of am/am I don't understand, but to me 'amateur' means unpaid, and a 'pro' is anyone who makes money from dancing. This doesn't seem to be the case in the dance world, except when it comes to pro/am (where the 'am' can't even volunteer for free to assist without risking losing ability to compete as pro/am).
 
Your definitions are incorrect. Pro and am are competion choices, when declaring which competitive events you want to compete, not 'levels'. Many ams are much better than declared pros, for instance, and many ams dance am because the quality the compete against is better, same with pros.
 
That's what doesn't make sense to me. You are saying basically that pros and ams are the same in the end and there isn't really a distinction between them except what they choose to call themselves. So why bother having a distinction?
 
I guess what I am saying is....if you choose to remain an amateur, are you not also choosing not to make money from your sport?

I apologize again if I am opening a can of worms, I am fairly new to the dance world, and quite frustrated to be caught in the middle of this strange fight, which means that when it comes to competing I have an option of competing less or paying much more--neither of which is appealing.
 
No. You are not. Read the first comment that am and pro are decisions on competitive tracks, not who makes money or who is better.
 
Spookisgirl - this thread explains the amateur and professional issue: http://www.dance-forums.com/threads/amateur-teachers.45234/

It's a long thread; the main points that I got from it are:
  • Top-level amateurs put in a similar amount of effort and money into dance as pros
  • If they were not allowed to make money from dance-related activities, then the only people that could become top-level amateurs would be independently wealthy people that have both time and money to devote to dance - any country that restricted amateurs this way would soon be uncompetitive internationally
  • Also, there would be all kinds of enforcement nightmares (consistency of enforcement, rule-followers being at a disadvantage compared to rule-breakers, etc.)
  • Some comparison to pro and amateur distinctions in the ice skating and equestrian sports
 
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