Comp levels, divisions, categories, scholarship, rising star, multi-dance, etc.

[ProgressNotPerfection]

I’m looking for resources that describe & explain all of these & how they fit together. To my surprise, I can’t find anything definitive online, although several individual comps have detailed rules posted (but which I can’t translate yet). For instance, the 2020 Empire Dance Championship website says this:

“Pro/Am students may enter at any level of dance and only THREE higher in any one style of dance (American / International Bronze, Silver, Gold plus all sub-categories) in the closed single dance categories. Students may enter in completely different dance levels in the American Style between Smooth and Rhythm and in the International Style between Standard and Latin-American.”

Huh?
What is a closed single dance category? Is it different from an open single dance category (is there such an animal)? What about 3-dance, 4-dance, 5-dance, multi-dance categories? What do those mean? Does each comp choose which 3 (or 4 or 5) dances will be included in a 3-dance category, or is there a “universal” or typical/usual selection that is consistent for most comps? Is it the same for all NDCA comps, for example, but different if it’s a USA Dance comp?

I understand the age divisions, but not much else. What are scholarships and championships? That’s one of the headings on the Empire’s rules page, and starts off with this:

“For each scholarship a student enters, he/she must dance the same dances in the single dance events. Scholarships and championships are unisex and have different age categories than freestyle events. Scholarship events must have a minimum of 3 participants in order to pay prize money.”

Huh?
What is a scholarship? Who is eligible to enter one? What’s the point of entering one? Is it just for the prize money, or is there added prestige associated with winning it? Again, is that the same across the board, or completely different based on which comp it is?

On the United States Dance Championships website, 2019 Pro/Am results are posted. I found the name of one of the experienced students from my studio (her pro is not my pro), and looked at all her scoresheets. It’s VERY confusing to me, bcs she’s listed in a bazillion heats, such as “Pre-Silver American Mambo,” “Int. Silver American Mambo,” and “Full Silver American Mambo,” LA-3 and LB-1 for each. And then repeat for 4 other Am. rhythm dances, 3 levels of each & 2 age groups of each. She’s also in something called the “L-C Closed Silver US National Pro/Am Rhythm Scholarship Championship (C/R/SW/B/M) Final.” AND in a ton of American Smooth heats, Pre-Silver, Int. Silver, Full Silver, LA-3 & LB-1 in each. AND in something called “ ‘C’ Closed Silver US Open to the World 9-Dance Championship - Mambo Final” (ditto swing final, rumba final, bolero final, cha cha final). WHAT DOES ANY OF THAT MEAN? I’m not asking about her specific results - I just want to understand how this whole competition process works.

I don’t expect any of you to spend the time needed to educate me on this stuff, but if you could recommend websites or provide links, I would be extremely grateful. I don’t want to use my limited lesson time to ask my pro to explain it to me, especially since I think it would take several lessons for him to answer all my questions, as I’m starting from total ignorance.

Thanks in advance for any answers & suggestions for further reading!

 

[j_alexandra]

PnP, you are Me, 10 years ago, when I knew zip and was trying to figure this all out. I'll try to give you quick and dirty answers to your questions, which I wish someone had done for me back then.


What is a closed single dance category? Is it different from an open single dance category (is there such an animal)?
In each style, there is a syllabus, divided into "metal" levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold). The syllabus has certain figures for each level. These are called Closed figures. In each style, there are figures that are not included in the syllabus. These are called Open figures.

At an NDCA competition, you dance single dances, in which you are evaluated on each dance, and only the Pro-Am Student Competitor (PASC) gets marked, and you can dance multi-dances, where the couple is judged as a partnership* rather than just the PASC.

If you are doing a single dance within the Closed syllabus, you are doing a Closed Single Dance. If you are doing a single dance outside the syllabus, you are doing an Open Single Dance. Whether you are doing Closed or Open singles is usually not your decision to make; your teacher will make that choice.

What about 3-dance, 4-dance, 5-dance, multi-dance categories? What do those mean?

These are called multi-dances. There are usually two kinds: championships and scholarships. Usually, the scholarship offers cash prizes, but not always. Championships rarely do. It depends on the competition.

Does each comp choose which 3 (or 4 or 5) dances will be included in a 3-dance category, or is there a “universal” or typical/usual selection that is consistent for most comps?

I like to think it's pretty consistent throughout the NDCA, but competition organizers have leeway, here.

Is it the same for all NDCA comps, for example, but different if it’s a USA Dance comp?

USA Dance is a whole nother ball game. Let's just focus on NDCA, which is what you're most likely to encounter, and is reasonably consistent across the country.

Empire’s rules page ... starts off with this:

“For each scholarship a student enters, he/she must dance the same dances in the single dance events. Scholarships and championships are unisex and have different age categories than freestyle events. Scholarship events must have a minimum of 3 participants in order to pay prize money.”

If you want to dance a multi, you have to dance enough single dances, at the same level, to qualify. What that means is: if you want to do a Closed Gold Scholarship in Smooth, you have to dance a whole round of Closed Gold Smooth single dances in order to be able to do the scholarship. How well or poorly you place means zip.
"freestyle events" is single dances.
Multi-dance age categories are not the same as single dances.
Men and women dance against each other, not men against men/women against women

What is a scholarship? Scholarships are multi-dances that offer to pay prize money.
Who is eligible to enter one? Anyone who wants to pay to enter the event and has danced the right number of single dances to qualify.
What’s the point of entering one? Is it just for the prize money, or is there added prestige associated with winning it? $ (laughably small amounts, usually, but I've never turned down a check) and prestige.

Again, is that the same across the board, or completely different based on which comp it is? 99% of the time it's the same across the board.

On the United States Dance Championships website, 2019 Pro/Am results are posted. I found the name of one of the experienced students from my studio (her pro is not my pro), and looked at all her scoresheets. It’s VERY confusing to me, bcs she’s listed in a bazillion heats, such as “Pre-Silver American Mambo,” “Int. Silver American Mambo,” and “Full Silver American Mambo,” LA-3 and LB-1 for each. And then repeat for 4 other Am. rhythm dances, 3 levels of each & 2 age groups of each. She’s also in something called the “L-C Closed Silver US National Pro/Am Rhythm Scholarship Championship (C/R/SW/B/M) Final.” AND in a ton of American Smooth heats, Pre-Silver, Int. Silver, Full Silver, LA-3 & LB-1 in each. AND in something called “ ‘C’ Closed Silver US Open to the World 9-Dance Championship - Mambo Final” (ditto swing final, rumba final, bolero final, cha cha final). WHAT DOES ANY OF THAT MEAN?

I'll try to 'splain your colleague's entries.

Each single dance is at a "metal" level (bronze/silver/gold), and age level. Often, competitions divide "metal" levels into pre-, Intermediate-, and Full; sometimes, they divide even further, into Pre-1, Pre-2, etc. "Pre-Silver American Mambo" is a Closed Syllabus single dance, in American Rhythm style, at the Pre-Silver level.

So, apparently, your colleague danced Rhythm at pre-silver, intermediate silver, and full silver levels, at two different age levels: LA-3, which translates to Ladies, A-3 (which I'm guessing is somewhere between 40 and 50 years old but varies from comp to comp) and Ladies B-1 (which in many places is age 51-60). She was evaluated as a PASC; her teacher was not judged.

She then danced a multi-dance event, in Closed syllabus, American Rhythm style, dancing all five Rhythm dances, in a particular order. This multi was a final, which means the number of couples dancing meant there were no quarterfinals or semifinals. If there had been quarters or semis, those scores would have shown up, too.

And then she did it again in Smooth. Three levels of closed silver, at A3 and B1.

And then she danced a 9-dance multi, doing all 9 American style dances.

Hope this helps.

*debatable

 

[rels77]

One thing to know- NDCA and USA dance have VERY different ages/skill levels/multi-dance structure.

Also, this is a great conversation for your pro. They will explain everything to you.

 

[ProgressNotPerfection]

PnP, you are Me, 10 years ago, when I knew zip and was trying to figure this all out. I'll try to give you quick and dirty answers to your questions, which I wish someone had done for me back then.

MY HERO!!!!! Thank you very much! This is so helpful. Now I have a “study guide.”

 

[ProgressNotPerfection]

Also, this is a great conversation for your pro. They will explain everything to you.

Yeah, if I could get a couple hours of one on one time with him, that did not cost anything or use up my lesson time, there are many things I would like to ask him about. But our lessons are already too short as it is, so I’m not willing to cut them any shorter by spending time on conversation (no matter how curious I am). Which is yet another reason I’m so grateful to DF members!

 

[raindance]

j_alexandra gave you a great overview!

Sometimes you can also ask other studio staff some questions so it isn't part of your lesson time - is there a front desk/reception area with a staff member there?

And at some point, you will have to ask your pro about the parts of this that apply directly to you - you'll have to decide (or understand what your pro has decided) about what your competition entries are going to be, and what they will cost, if you're going to compete.

You can also learn a lot by attending a competition, buying a program, and hanging out with experienced students who can answer some of your questions as they come to you. That can be a fun part of the process!

 

[ProgressNotPerfection]

At an NDCA competition, you dance single dances, in which you are evaluated on each dance, and only the Pro-Am Student Competitor (PASC) gets marked, and you can dance multi-dances, where the couple is judged as a partnership* rather than just the PASC.
...
*debatable

Which part is debatable...whether the couple is actually being judged as a partnership in multi-dances, rather than just the PASC being judged? Sounds like maybe you have an opinion on this...?

 

[Warren J. Dew]

I was going to recommend the rules downloadable from the NDCA site, until I realized the wording in that would be even more arcane.

“Pro/Am students may enter at any level of dance and only THREE higher in any one style of dance (American / International Bronze, Silver, Gold plus all sub-categories) in the closed single dance categories. Students may enter in completely different dance levels in the American Style between Smooth and Rhythm and in the International Style between Standard and Latin-American.”

This just means that if you enter multiple proficiency levels in the same style, they have to be close together. No entering both Newcomer (open only to first time competitors) and Open Gold (usually the most experienced and most skilled competitors) in the same style. However, you could in principle do prebronze Rhythm and Open Gold Standard if you were a lot better at Standard than Rhythm, since Standard and Rhythm are different styles.

Huh?
What is a closed single dance category? Is it different from an open single dance category (is there such an animal)? What about 3-dance, 4-dance, 5-dance, multi-dance categories? What do those mean? Does each comp choose which 3 (or 4 or 5) dances will be included in a 3-dance category, or is there a “universal” or typical/usual selection that is consistent for most comps? Is it the same for all NDCA comps, for example, but different if it’s a USA Dance comp?

A closed single dance category is a competition category that includes only one dance ("single dance"), and is "closed" - limited - to syllabus figures associated with that category. An open single dance category is one that includes only one dance, but in which you are allowed to dance any choreography. Note that the terms "closed" and "open" mean different things in different contexts; that's just what they mean in this context.

Multidance categories in pro-am are usually scholarship or championship categories. There are a lot fewer of these categories, so the competition is a lot stiffer. They often offer scholarship money that you can use to buy lessons from your pro. Usually there is one per dance style - American smooth, American rhythm, International standard, International latin - rather than there being one per dance - American smooth waltz, American smooth tango, etc.

“For each scholarship a student enters, he/she must dance the same dances in the single dance events. Scholarships and championships are unisex and have different age categories than freestyle events. Scholarship events must have a minimum of 3 participants in order to pay prize money.”

If you're going to enter a scholarship category, you have to enter single dances in that style too. This is to prevent very good dancers from swooping in and winning all the scholarship money without contributing much financially to the competition by entering single dance categories, which can be resented by people who are doing a lot of single dance categories. Competitions don't have to have that restriction, though.

"Unisex" means female student with male pro dances and male student with female pro couples dance against each other in the same competition, unlike what is usual in single dance categories. Larger competitions may separate those categories, as female student with male pro is generally considered to have an advantage over male student with female pro. Prize money is that scholarship money I mentioned.

Who is eligible to enter one? What’s the point of entering one? Is it just for the prize money, or is there added prestige associated with winning it? Again, is that the same across the board, or completely different based on which comp it is?

In this case, anyone who enters the appropriate single dance events can enter the corresponding scholarship event. Winning is definitely more prestigious, as there are usually several times as many contestants in a scholarship competition as in a single dance competition. And, there's the chance of winning that scholarship money. These statements are generally true for most NDCA competitions. The specifics of how each competitions handles them - which dances are included, whether they are unisex or sex differentiated - vary by competition.

On the United States Dance Championships website, 2019 Pro/Am results are posted. I found the name of one of the experienced students from my studio (her pro is not my pro), and looked at all her scoresheets. It’s VERY confusing to me, bcs she’s listed in a bazillion heats, such as “Pre-Silver American Mambo,” “Int. Silver American Mambo,” and “Full Silver American Mambo,” LA-3 and LB-1 for each. And then repeat for 4 other Am. rhythm dances, 3 levels of each & 2 age groups of each. She’s also in something called the “L-C Closed Silver US National Pro/Am Rhythm Scholarship Championship (C/R/SW/B/M) Final.” AND in a ton of American Smooth heats, Pre-Silver, Int. Silver, Full Silver, LA-3 & LB-1 in each. AND in something called “ ‘C’ Closed Silver US Open to the World 9-Dance Championship - Mambo Final” (ditto swing final, rumba final, bolero final, cha cha final). WHAT DOES ANY OF THAT MEAN? I’m not asking about her specific results - I just want to understand how this whole competition process works.

"Int" here means "intermediate", so she's entered in the pre-silver, intermediate silver, and full silver levels of the dances. LA-3 is the ladies' A-3 age category, and LB-1 is ladies' B-1; she's probably in the LB-1 age category and wanted to enter the LA-3 to get on the floor more.

We can also conclude that she has a lot of money to spend on this competition, though that's typical of people gong to the USDC.

 

[lucia_l]

Which part is debatable...whether the couple is actually being judged as a partnership in multi-dances, rather than just the PASC being judged? Sounds like maybe you have an opinion on this...?

Anytime humans are judging, you'll find there are official rules. Then, there is how the judges think they interpret them. Then there is... how it really all works out. These are all related.

So the "rule" is in the singles, the judges focus on the Am's dancing "only" while in the multis (and scholarships) they focus on 'the partnership'. You can ask yourself if this sort of division is really truly 100% possible especially as in most pro-am couples the pro is much, much better than the am.

If you think it would be difficult to tease out the distinction, you'll put an "asterisk" next the rule.

I'm not a seasoned competitor by any means. (I dance bronze!) I wouldn't bother worrying about whether the "rule" says the judges are supposed to focus on me "only" somehow erasing my pro, or whether they are jusging the "partnership" between me and my pro. I just try to dance as best as I can-- which means both try to have a good 'partnership' and dance my individual best.

 

[j_alexandra]

Which part is debatable...whether the couple is actually being judged as a partnership in multi-dances, rather than just the PASC being judged? Sounds like maybe you have an opinion on this...?

Yes, I have an opinion, but it's not just me; you'll get different answers if you ask different people. Lucia's explanation above is excellent.

 

[j_alexandra]

MY HERO!!!!! Thank you very much! This is so helpful. Now I have a “study guide.”

I see that Warren gave some more depth in a couple of areas than I did; mine was more like a quick-and-dirty basics. (Warren's good at depth)

 

[j_alexandra]

You can also learn a lot by attending a competition, buying a program, and hanging out with experienced students who can answer some of your questions as they come to you. That can be a fun part of the process!

Couldn't agree more. It's in the doing. Go watch. I still have a notebook from 2008 with my notes and questions about wotthehell I was watching, when I went to the second competition I ever saw. (handwritten! pen and paper! that long ago!) Some of those questions were pretty basic. Like you, I would not spend lesson time/$ on asking my teacher for answers, so I went outside my comfort zone and asked the more accomplished dancers in my studio. They were very helpful.

 

[ProgressNotPerfection]

I still have a notebook from 2008 with my notes and questions about wotthehell I was watching, when I went to the second competition I ever saw. (handwritten! pen and paper! that long ago!)

Hahahaha...I had about 7 pages of handwritten notes and questions when I watched my first mini-match in November. (And I did use some lesson time to ask my pro about them, but I talked REALLY fast.) I make notes after every lesson, using pen & paper, & probably will still have that 3-ring binder (and its successors) 10 years from now.

 

[RiseNFall]

Before my first Fred Astaire comp, my teacher pulled out an entry form and explained it to me. He (correctly) assumed I would want to know, and also (correctly) assumed that I would be happy to explain it to other students. (There happened to be several new competitors at that comp, and some of the more experienced students who could have explained it weren’t going to be there.) The Bronze divisions have changed recently, so I will need to ask to see the new entry form and accompanying rules to be able answer questions in the future.

 

[scullystwin42]

Your pro should take the time outside of a lesson to explain it to you when you decide to compete. Or like someone else mentioned, have someone else at the studio explain it. You’ll learn the most, I’ve found, by going to a competition, perusing a program, and asking questions while you are there.