Couple leaves floor during 5 Dance event.

Pherin

Pherin

New Member
Another competition question…
I went to a collegiate comp this past weekend and was in a five dance latin event (SCRPJ). One couple left the floor for Paso and returned for Jive. Said couple ended up placing second, knocking out two couples that competed in all 5 dances. To me this does not seem fair, but I am not well verse in all the competition rules. What should happen in a case like this?
 
Pherin said:
Another competition question…
I went to a collegiate comp this past weekend and was in a five dance latin event (SCRPJ). One couple left the floor for Paso and returned for Jive. Said couple ended up placing second, knocking out two couples that competed in all 5 dances. To me this does not seem fair, but I am not well verse in all the competition rules. What should happen in a case like this?
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Are you sure all the couples were competing in the same category? Sometimes one level will compete SCRPJ while for example a lower lower will compete SCRJ. If there are a small number of couples, both categories could be on the floor at the same time, and the couple(s) doing the category that doesn't include Paso, would leave the floor during the Paso.
 
They'd have been marked last in the paso. How they place overall is just a function of how ballroom scoring works. If they'd stayed on the floor, but danced the worst paso the outcome would have been the same

I suppose you could argue that they had more energy for the jive, but I'm not convinced that an improvement in score for that wouldn't be outweighed by coming last in the paso.
 
raindance said:
Are you sure all the couples were competing in the same category? Sometimes one level will compete SCRPJ while for example a lower lower will compete SCRJ. If there are a small number of couples, both categories could be on the floor at the same time, and the couple(s) doing the category that doesn't include Paso, would leave the floor during the Paso.
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All four couples on the floor were there for the same event. I have been at comps where they have done multi event heats before, and Its pretty cool to see.
 
I think it would come down to "do they have a paso?" and "was there a four dance category available?".

I think it's unsporting if you have a paso, and know you'll finish last in that and want to save energy. But if it was because they didn't have a paso but wanted to dance the other four then I'd probably be quite impressed.

I've seen people miss their first waltz heat (by accident!) and get through on the strength of their other dances before, so it does happen at other places in the competition too.
 
Alstroemeria said:
They'd have been marked last in the paso. How they place overall is just a function of how ballroom scoring works. If they'd stayed on the floor, but danced the worst paso the outcome would have been the same

I suppose you could argue that they had more energy for the jive, but I'm not convinced that an improvement in score for that wouldn't be outweighed by coming last in the paso.
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I guess thats just the way the cookie crumbles, as they say. Its a good point you make about them being placed last either way. It’s just a bummer because I would have loved to step off the floor when I did Gold Standard (WTFQ) and Open Standard (WTVFQ) back to back. I guess its my personal ethics of not “quitting” clouding my judgement.
Thank you for explaining.
 
Alstroemeria said:
I think it would come down to "do they have a paso?" and "was there a four dance category available?".

I think it's unsporting if you have a paso, and know you'll finish last in that and want to save energy. But if it was because they didn't have a paso but wanted to dance the other four then I'd probably be quite impressed.

I've seen people miss their first waltz heat (by accident!) and get through on the strength of their other dances before, so it does happen at other places in the competition too.
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Well I know the couple in question was a super last minute tba pairing. There was Gold Latin (SCRJ), but I believe the follower placed out of syllabus. I know the leader and wouldnt doubt he had a paso routine up his sleeve. He is usually an Open Standard dancer but was good enough to place second in the four other latin dances. So I have a feeling there may have been a mixture of both situations.
 
I don't know. I'm a fairly hard-nosed competitor, but if there's anyone out there who prefers to maximize winning chances by selectively *not* dancing, as opposed to dancing at every opportunity, more power to them.

I'd rather dance. Most of the joy lies in playing the game, not winning it.

As to the "can it happen" question. Yes, if they win first place in all of the dances, and nobody else is a consistent runner-up. In that case, again, I'm not super upset by it, because they probably really are the best on the floor overall. At that level, physical conditioning is not going to be so uneven that 120 seconds of Paso makes a huge difference in the quality of the Jive.
 
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