Would recommend against. Integral to the design.
Competition dress choice; heel height; re-wearing dresses; & salsa/mambo question
- Thread starter ProgressNotPerfection
- Start date
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
Actually, a whole separate thread might be overkill. I had a fantastic time at Manhattan and am extremely happy with the outcome, but maybe I should just discuss it in the thread I started a few years ago named “Post-performance thoughts, feelings, analysis.” Not sure I could write enough about my experience this time to require a thread dedicated to it.In response to several requests, I’m gonna start a separate thread soon to narrate my comp experience this time, like I did in the past for OSB. Consider yourself warned, You’re welcome.
Ok, that last sentence is blatantly untrue. I definitely could write enough about my comp experience this time (or pretty much any other topic, tbh) to fill many many many pages, but those pages would be filled with the sort of minutiae that nobody but me cares about. Anyway, I’m gonna start a draft and see how lengthy it is, and then decide where to post it.
For those of you who like to skip to the last page of a book to see how it ends, or if you’re one of those people who really aren’t interested in the whole comp experience and just want to know about placements, click below for the summary.
The results are available online, of course, if you care about the details of scoring, I haven’t studied them yet. I glanced through them, and our placements in the 24 singles ranged from first (one time) to last (7 times), and mostly somewhere in the middle (16 times). In the two sets of singles that started from semifinals, we were recalled to the finals for 5 of those 8 dances.
The championship and scholarship both started from a semifinal, and we were recalled to the final in both; and placed 6th out of 6 in both.
So MY take on it - what matters to me wrt placements - is this: based on my heat list, I knew we would have 16 opportunities to dance twice; and we achieved that goal 13 out of 16 times. That is a HUGE success in my view. (Remember, I don’t have to pay for recalls, so I get way more value for my money that way, and way more enjoyment due to the extra unexpected dancing I get to do.) On top of that, this is only my second-ever comp in silver C smooth (L-B1 in singles), and I made it into the finals in both the championship and scholarship!!! That is thrilling!
But I cannot emphasize this enough: COMPS ARE NOT ALL ABOUT PLACEMENTS FOR ME. I wish everyone could love the experience - the excitement of being on the floor, the glamour of being dressed up like a princess, the magical feeling of moving to music with a skilled partner - as much as I do, without worrying about who will be “first” or “last” in the scoring.
Anyway, for my own post-comp narrative, my placements are among the least interesting topics.
The championship and scholarship both started from a semifinal, and we were recalled to the final in both; and placed 6th out of 6 in both.
So MY take on it - what matters to me wrt placements - is this: based on my heat list, I knew we would have 16 opportunities to dance twice; and we achieved that goal 13 out of 16 times. That is a HUGE success in my view. (Remember, I don’t have to pay for recalls, so I get way more value for my money that way, and way more enjoyment due to the extra unexpected dancing I get to do.) On top of that, this is only my second-ever comp in silver C smooth (L-B1 in singles), and I made it into the finals in both the championship and scholarship!!! That is thrilling!
But I cannot emphasize this enough: COMPS ARE NOT ALL ABOUT PLACEMENTS FOR ME. I wish everyone could love the experience - the excitement of being on the floor, the glamour of being dressed up like a princess, the magical feeling of moving to music with a skilled partner - as much as I do, without worrying about who will be “first” or “last” in the scoring.
Anyway, for my own post-comp narrative, my placements are among the least interesting topics.
singndance
Forum Master
I am absolutely delighted for you!!!
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
Welllll....my draft (so far) covers 10 pages of a Word doc (typed single-spaced in Calibri 11). So yeah, I'm gonna spread it out over several posts in a brand-new thread.
Am requesting suggestions for the new thread's title...the most accurate would be something like "PNP's discussion of her experience competing at Manhattan Dancesport Championships 2026," but more fun (albeit less informative) titles might be something like, "look out! PNP is on the loose writing books again," or "excerpts from Ballroom Barbie's diary at MDC 2026," or "see - I TOLD you blue dresses were the best."
Or I suppose I could start a new thread with whatever title I want, then ask one of the Admins to change the title later (since they have god-like editing powers to which we mere mortals can only aspire).
I think you need something click-bait-y, like "You are not going to believe this" or "Watch what she does next".
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
Nah...I understand the point of clickbait, but I prefer the opposite. I totally understand that if the title is "click here to read someone's meandering thoughts about something they did that is interesting only to a very small group of like-minded individuals, and just barely interesting even to those people, and you probably won't agree with half of what she writes anyway and it's not directly relevant to your own life," then nobody would ever click. That would be click ANTI-bait. (Click-repellent?)
#6 of the DF guidelines says: "New threads should have a title which reflects the overall subject of the post (i.e. should not be vague)."
But if you really want clickbait, how about "If you are thinking about entering a pro/am ballroom comp, You MUST Read This First!!!"
joy
Forum Master
I was wondering where your post was.
singndance
Forum Master
My vote for title consideration would focus on that magical blue dress, which has a history of positive outcomes! 
PnP's Magical Manhattan Blue-Gown Mystery Tour
PnP and Her Gown Do Manhattan
The Beautiful Blue Gown Of Happiness Does Manhattan (PnP Comes With)
PnP and Her Gown Do Manhattan
The Beautiful Blue Gown Of Happiness Does Manhattan (PnP Comes With)
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
Laughed so hard at these I almost peed myself!
But the two movies that first came to mind were The Muppets Take Manhattan and Debbie Does Dallas…neither of which do I want associated with my experience at MDC….
MaggiWrites
Well-Known Member
But those are titles that I avoid looking at on FB! They always turn out to be ads. Or at the very least, they say "Wait for..." and then I get to the end and still haven't seen anything much happen. So now I don't watch at all.
I've been finding the series hilarious. So different from my own competition experiences, which have all been in my own city. They may be held in hotels, but I don't need to stay there. Drive from home to venue. Have done own hair and makeup at home, put on dress and shoes in dressing room at venue. Dance. Hang around long enough to hear if I'm getting called back. If so, dance again. If not, change back to own clothes in dressing room, drive home. Scrub off makeup to reassure the cat who thinks a bizarre stranger has kidnapped his Mummy. Take bubble bath and wash hair (allergic to all but one brand of hairspray and several brands of makeup, which is why I do it all myself at home).
Like Pepys, "and so to bed". A different ballroom planet, I think!
Sister!