Country and Western Dancing

Yeah. I knew about Evenin Star. But he didn't. A really conservative guy, with twenty-five or six years of ballroom dance experience. Don't worry. As I get to know him better, I'll clue him in. :wink: :lol:
 
I love my Evenin Star Boots...love them. I have tried dance sneakers, but I went back to my boots. So comfortable. I would like to get some "regular" ballroom type lace up shoes too though.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one affected by great dancing.

My friend and I are doing our very first competition in 2 weeks. It's just a fun event but our coach wants us to put our brand new two step on the floor. I'm excited, I know we will do a great job...but I'm also nervous.
 
AnnieMarie said:
I love my Evenin Star Boots...love them. I have tried dance sneakers, but I went back to my boots. So comfortable. I would like to get some "regular" ballroom type lace up shoes too though.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one affected by great dancing.

My friend and I are doing our very first competition in 2 weeks. It's just a fun event but our coach wants us to put our brand new two step on the floor. I'm excited, I know we will do a great job...but I'm also nervous.
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AnnieMarie,
I love my ES's too! And they do have ES lace-up dance shoes, and I keep looking at them.

I will always like C&W dancing . . . the dances are fun and forgiving!

What dances are you competiting in? Is it a Local event or something like a UCWDC event? Let me know. And let us all know how you do.
 
The event is called "Da Dance Camp." It's sponsored by a club out of Chicago that cohosts the Chicagoland UCWDC event. It's just a fun competition, it's not sanctioned. Although my friend and I are headed for those this year as well :)

I have heard mixed reviews on the Evenin Star shoes. One of my friends got a pair and she ended up not liking them. Went back to the boots.

I am also going to be doing Pro/Am competition in addition to competing with my friend. I'm looking forward to both experiences.

If you want more info on the event my friend and I are attending just do a search for "Da Dance Camp" (I'm not sure what the policies are for linking to organization web sites on here...so I figured this was the safe way to go.)

I will let everyone know how we do at our "debut" performance. Thanks for all the good wishes.

Ann
 
I just realized that I didn't answer what dances we are comepting in. At this event, just two step. Eventually, we will be doing two step, WCS, and cha cha...and continue to add the Waltz, Polka, NC2S and Triple Two Step.

I know we will be working up to that though, in order to compete for Overall Placements.

Vince, I really hope that we will be able to cross paths at an event. :)
 
AnnieMarie said:
I know we will be working up to that though, in order to compete for Overall Placements.

Vince, I really hope that we will be able to cross paths at an event. :)
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Well let us know how you did . . . and get up to the minimum four dances - Waltz, Cha Cha, 2 Step, and WCS - so that you will place. Get started early in Waltz as that is usually the toughest to score well in at UCWDC. They are getting closer and closer to ballroom styling each year.

Once you get the four dances, as you say, keep adding . . . maybe adding the NC2S first, then ECS, then Polka, and if you are gutsy, finally the
Triple 2.

We should cross paths somewhere down the line . . . we try to do an event each month.
 
My friend and I are hoping that our first sanctioned competition will be in April. Which, for me, means it's also my first Pro/AM competition as well.
I will be competing a full program for Pro/Am but my friend and I have lots of practice to do.

Anyone have advice on how once you learn choreography, as a follow, you can then shut it out and let your wonderful partner lead? I'm running into this right now, and I don't want to be the queen of "anticipation."
 
Hey Annie Marie. This is a tough question. I've looked at this post and started to reply a couple times. I'm just not sure what to say.

Here's my experience. When I first started doing dance exhibitions, I depended completely on my teacher to get me through it. I memorized the material, but I leaned heavily on my teacher. Until the time we got in the middle of the floor in front of about 150 people and he went blank. :shock: :x Honest to Pete -- he forgot the whole routine. So he started leading me into some freestyle basics. eeek! Then I knew I'd better learn to just follow. Yikes.

And I've heard it said many times that any decent judge can tell whether you're following or just doing the routine on your own.

But still, I'm not sure how I made the mental transition. I'll think about this more, then come back and post again.
 
Jenn,
Thank you for your reply. IT seems in the beginning you have to learn the choreography and then I need to back out of it and follow. I worked really hard to break myself of back leading and anticipating...so I don't want to go back there. I am fortunate to have a coach that really "rides" me when he sees what I am doing.

I knew it would be a challenge for me once I knew the choreography to let go and follow. Which I have to do in the event that something needs to be changed up.

I appreciate any tips/advice that anyone has. It's certainly a challenge.
 
AnnieMarie said:
My friend and I are hoping that our first sanctioned competition will be in April. Which, for me, means it's also my first Pro/AM competition as well.
I will be competing a full program for Pro/Am but my friend and I have lots of practice to do.

Anyone have advice on how once you learn choreography, as a follow, you can then shut it out and let your wonderful partner lead? I'm running into this right now, and I don't want to be the queen of "anticipation."
Click to expand...
AnnieMarie,
Good luck in April . . . you will do a great job . . . what event are you attending?

As far as learning choreography, you need to know that what for us, may not work for the of you.

I would suggest that both of should be able to do your routine without the other . . . it is a team effort . . . and though you must know your own part, you should try learning your partner's part. Do not depend on him leading the entire routine . . . it is a routine for the both of you. But as Jenn suggests, you are the follower and he the leader. You may have to resort to this during the routine.

If one or the other, or even both of you at the same time, blanks out during the routine, just work it out before hand between the two of you what you will do. I would suggest a "vanilla" move or two, and then get right back into the routine.

Try walking through the routine 4 or 5 times before putting it to music . . .
Be able to do the entire routine(s) in your head - all the way through . . .
Practice, practice, practice . . . which will get you muscle memory . . .

For your 2 Step, I would suggest 4 to 5 songs . . . slower to faster. Find out what the range of bpm that you could get, get some samples of that music, and practice. If it's a UCWDC venue, the rules on their website will tell you the bpm range for your level!

Good luck . . . let us know how you are doing with your practice.
 
Vince,
Thanks for your words of wisdom. :) I know the routine cold, in my head, I can do it without my partner. I have written it out twice. My partner does not have such an easy time memorizing things, so I am trying to help him learn it as best I can.

We do need to discuss what happens if we both blank out in the middle of the song.

We are hoping to go to the Gateway Dance Festival in St. Louis in April, which is a UCWDC event.

It's a lot of work, but I am really excited to get out on the floor :)
 
Yeah. The hard part is that you have to know it, but you're not allowed to lead it (except in dire emergency, of course). It's a delicate balance.
 
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