Competition Routines?

[mochahontas]

Sorry if this was posted somewhere else, if so I couldn't find it - but I was wondering; during competitions, are the couples performing a routine that they've already been rehearsing (to completely unfamiliar music), or are they just going out there and freestyling? I had assumed it was the former, but sometimes the routines are so well-matched to the comp music that I can't tell!

And just to clarify, I mean Latin and American Rhythm dances where everyone is on the floor at the same time, as opposed to the showdances.

 

[latingal]

It depends on the level and the dancers. In my experience, at syllabus level you'll have a mix of couples doing rehearsed routines and lead and follow. At the open level, most of them will be doing rehearsed routines - though I do know there are couples that use "chunks" of choreography that can be used in different orders/times.

Part of the challenge when out on the floor is to "be musical" and adapt what your routine is to the music - and there is some aspect of lead and follow to that. You can also choreograph routines to be more musical, taking advantage of the accents in the music and phrasing inherent in the type of music....

 

[laucy.my]

I can't say for all of them, but generally they all perform rehearsed routine. Sometimes some of the competitors know which song will be played even before the competition day so they adjust their routine accordingly to suit the song. Otherwise they just perform it to the 'unfamiliar music'.

 

[drejenpha]

It depends on the level and the dancers. In my experience, at syllabus level you'll have a mix of couples doing rehearsed routines and lead and follow. At the open level, most of them will be doing rehearsed routines - though I do know there are couples that use "chunks" of choreography that can be used in different orders/times.

Part of the challenge when out on the floor is to "be musical" and adapt what your routine is to the music - and there is some aspect of lead and follow to that. You can also choreograph routines to be more musical, taking advantage of the accents in the music and phrasing inherent in the type of music....

This. I'm only a silver dancer and I have to lead... I enjoy dancing with TBA partners and that has to be lead and when I was competing more actively I was dancing with various partners so it was simpler to work lead/follow than to try to create/teach partners choreography in short time frames.


Once you've danced enough the music won't be unfamiliar, it'll just be a variation on the theme. What's coming up in the song is announced; sometimes the song will lie but for the most part it will let you know what's coming. From there you either change your choreography a little or just keep going... in competition the extra musicality is only a bonus if you're seen doing it and it doesn't interfere with your technique.

 

[canismajor41]

I'm a silver dancer and I follow. We have no choreographed routines or amalgamations in Latin. For Standard, we have a few amalgamations, but otherwise we wing it. Same for when I was in Bronze. When I eventually move up to Gold, I'm told that we WILL have choreographed routines

 

[suburbaknght]

As said it varies. Some couples do choreography, some do complete freestyle. Our Latin and rhythm routines are choreographed because we don't need to be concerned about floor craft as much (except in samba), though we will adjust for lead/follow when needed. Our smooth routine is choreographed though we know it will change on the fly for floorcraft reasons. Our standard uses amalgamations but we do them as lead/follow based on spacing.

As for how you match to unknown music, most competitions used strict tempo arrangements, meaning that the bulk of the music (most everything after the introduction) is going to keep the exact same speed (tempo) and phrasing. For most music, particularly at the lower levels, this means the music occurs in phrases of eight measures with a minor highlight in the fourth measure and a major highlight in the eighth. Even though I don't know what song will be played for our smooth waltz, I start with forward progressive twinkles that transition to back progressive twinkles on the fourth measure (to match the minor highlight) and end in an inside underarm turn on the eighth measure (matching the major highlight). We can do this for all the dances.

At higher levels the strict tempo music played often uses different phrasing, inserting an extra measure or two during bridges between phrases. The best dancers know how to incorporate those on the fly, thus keeping an element of lead-follow in their dancing despite doing routines.

 

[ajiboyet]

Sometimes some of the competitors know which song will be played even before the competition day.

Isn't that unfair? How exactly do they come about the music? Part of the challenge is in not knowing the music right?

Maurizio and Andra kind of danced like they choreographed their routine to the music, at the cha cha cha finals of the GOC 2010. Especially when the lyrics go "or else forget about it" and Andra does that fast backward-moving step. You can search for it on Youtube. What do you guys think about that

 

[Lya]

Musicality. They are able to listen to highlights and improve one or two steps or shift tempo. But the choreography is always the same.

Look at Maurizio and Melinda, same choreo, different highlights: (youtube)
/watch?v=xL94RTNnQp4
/watch?v=-mM6nMQ8DhA&feature=related
/watch?v=O9CDiUQRoGg

 

[jjs914]

What no one has mentioned yet, is the fact that dancing for several years means you become used to a lot of the music that is often used. There are a ton of songs out there, but you do hear a lot of the same ones over and over again. It's possible some people happen to be familiar with the songs they get.

 

[laucy.my]

Isn't that unfair? How exactly do they come about the music? Part of the challenge is in not knowing the music right?

Maurizio and Andra kind of danced like they choreographed their routine to the music, at the cha cha cha finals of the GOC 2010. Especially when the lyrics go "or else forget about it" and Andra does that fast backward-moving step. You can search for it on Youtube. What do you guys think about that

Most probably they know the organizers or the people in charge of the music. I don't think it's an uncommon scene. Of course, there are also cases where they are just familiar with the music because they have been dancing for quite some time.

 

[fire_dancer]

I think it depends on the couple - current DP and I made a conscious decision a while ago to only do lead/follow on the competition floor. (We dance standard) While it's a lot harder than learning a routine and "knowing" what's coming, it forces him to lead precisely and me to continue to "listen" to him on the dance floor or else we won't go anywhere. It also forces us to concentrate on each other while competing, and not just the judges/other people. The best compliments we get are when people can't tell we do lead and follow. In fact, 99% of the people we meet think we have routines. So I'd say... when you see couples on the floor, you never know!

 

[ajiboyet]

What no one has mentioned yet, is the fact that dancing for several years means you become used to a lot of the music that is often used. There are a ton of songs out there, but you do hear a lot of the same ones over and over again. It's possible some people happen to be familiar with the songs they get.

Very true. I think the Blackpool Orchestra writes their own music, which means they probably have a fixed number of measures before they blast the horns for a highlight. But I think the German Open is notorious for taking purely American pop numbers and putting a latin flavour on them, instead of recycling the same old tunes. Pretty much no one can completely run away from Espana Cani, but I've heard numbers like Lady Marmalade (off the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack), and others from Cher, Lionel Ritchie, Carlos Santana, etc at the GOC. The number at the 2010 cha cha finals has been extensively covered, though I heard it on a Casa Musica album. So with such a wide range of music like this, how do you accurately predict a highlight and match your choreography to it?

 

[suburbaknght]

So with such a wide range of music like this, how do you accurately predict a highlight and match your choreography to it?

Strict tempo music is typically arranged the same way: Eight measure phrases with a minor highlight (rise, drop, pause, etc.) on the fourth measure and a major highlight on the eighth.

 

[ajiboyet]

Are you sure it is so arranged on ALL competition music?

 

[suburbaknght]

Are you sure it is so arranged on ALL competition music?

I never claimed it was. I said, "is typically arranged," in such a fashion, and in my previous post said, "For most music, particularly at the lower levels." There are exceptions and how dancers adapt to it, especially at higher levels is part of the challenge, but this structure provides a starting point.