Has anyone ever achieved gold status on most of the 10 styles in 1 year?

FancyFeet said:
Try to keep in mind that it's one thing to expose yourself to great and varied sources of information, it's quite another to internalize and be able to integrate it with what you already know. IMHO, you'd be better served by spending practice time consolidating and mastering what you've learned... then add more, then rinse and repeat.
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Thank you Fancyfeet.
This is the advise of my teacher also. I will do :)
 
I appreciate your passion and your determination...I would still maintain that dance at the highest levels is far more nuanced than you might imagine, particularly within a partnership...in a way that is somewhat different than athleticism
 
I want to thank you all for your responses. I however don't want anybody to think that I am trivializing the depth and detail and intricacy that is involved. The more I advance through this exactly as RiseNFall has said... the more that I realise that I do not know yet (More known less understood)... I have a lot of hard work to go through and know it will take a while but nevertheless.... It's exciting to say the least...
 
At minimum it's 1000 hours of practice considering you're both amateurs. And that's with previous dance experience and minimal time spent on actual basic movement (which will take up a bulk of your time - and can take years to develop properly in some people).

Just be patient, but determined.

Edit: I just read that it's 10 dance - Double that to 2000 hours then. And that's at the very minimum time interval.
 
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I think it's achievable in the collegiate circuit in the US (can't speak to the UK), if you have excellent mentors and coaches and take lots of private lessons. Having some sort of dance background (ballet) or training in martial arts certainly helps to accelerate things, in terms of body awareness.

Trying out gold (assuming you're doing well in silver) after two years is very reasonable.
 
Doesn't hurt to aim to be as best as you can, but dance is a little bit different than sport in the sense that it's not enough to just physically do the "movements" or the "steps". At the highest levels everyone can technically perform the movements, but it's all about the extra "something" that you can inject into your dancing which really captivates the audience, and it comes down to something like artistry that develops through life experience and your dance journey with your partner. So yes, Arunas wins not because he technically correctly completes all the manouevres but because of the breathtaking quality of the dance that is created both Arunas and Katusha. At the very lowest levels, yes, you will probably win some competitions if you manage to put one foot in front of the other :D

And don't forget to enjoy the process! Because that's a fundamental part of dance :D
 
If you're trying to compete as a pro in the big leagues- I can't name a single person in the top 20 couples in any of the 4 styles who hasn't been dancing at least 10 years. Most of them are 20 years.
 
rels77 said:
If you're trying to compete as a pro in the big leagues- I can't name a single person in the top 20 couples in any of the 4 styles who hasn't been dancing at least 10 years. Most of them are 20 years.
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*NB: None of the following is fuelled by arrogance or ego, simply an immensely heightened will to improve. Nor am i trying to act like I know more than I do about dance. I just know about sports and the human body at cellular level and how it works (Physiology) as well as having read an immense amount about the mind.

There is always a first time for everything and greatness achieved which paves way for others to do the same
.... At times when I think of tasks that people claim to not be dooable eg staying awake for 4 days straight.... I don't mind in aiming for this if it is not detrimental to health. It stems from elimination of any negative aspect that would be a hindrance to self development aside from the mere base amount of caution needed eg to avoid facing a lion in it's own natural habitat with no weapons and things that are unlikely to be of success or survival... A lot of our own lack of development can come from boundaries imposed by others or the self...

On Strictly Come Dancing, they train rigorously for 8 hours straight per day for a week and have their performances down to a great standard....

Yesterday I was put up to the improver level 1 and 2 classes with a month's experience. I am seeing similarities in styles with reverse turns, naturals, spin turns, tumble turns and i absolutely love the flow of International Foxtrot (slow). It makes sense to me. The continuous walking with figures inserted rather than clean breaks between figures....

As for 10,000 hours to mastery... I think the following factors make up for shortening these hours involved..
1. Process speed of visual stimuli to recreate steps and an output of motion
2. Determination
3. Desire levels fuelling the willingness to achieve
4. Focus
5. Amount of time spent out of class/lesson repeating steps in brain and in essence visualising the practise
6. Bio-mechanical awareness levels (especially if complete knowledge is obtained by knowing all muscle names, insertions, origins, actions amongst having control of muscles individually to be able to slow the body down making for smoother movement eg with Foxtrot)
7. Shortening time between repetitions of the same figure
8. Myelin quality in nerve tissue
9. Storage space in consious thought with which to be able to think about other things whilst carrying out daily activities
10. Ability to retain information in muscles (memory)
11. Energy levels

I don't know.... this is what goes on in my head on a daily basis behind my conscious thought... if anyone wants to tell me I am insane or riding on the wrong train.... I am delighted to read to the contrary.... My degree is in Physiotherapy and Biomechanics....
 
FancyFeet said:
Lol... I was seriously pondering typing "how tall are you and will you move countries?"....
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:cool: 6 feet, 6.1 in cuban heels, based in the UK... would I move... unsure however answer may change and I am open to change occurring naturally. It's sunny for now in the UK so if in Siberian area of Russia.. maybe the UK is a welcome change:p
 
If you are motivated, enjoy it, have the time/money/energy, etc, by all means go for it. No harm in aiming higher than most people think is achievable on the time scale you are talking about.

Since you mentioned an example of lack of sleep as something that people claim not to be doable - realize that there are certainly health consequences of things like that. And there can also be health consequences of pushing into any new sport or activity very heavily in a very short period of time. (It is often better for the body to have a bit of time to adjust through gradually ramping up frequency and intensity.)

So go for it! But do keep an eye out on your body and your life to be sure you are not unnecessarily pushing yourself into injuries or other problems that could be avoided by being disciplined and motivated while watching for and avoiding problems.

Good luck, hope you let us know how it goes!
 
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carlosyabrudy said:
:cool: 6 feet, 6.1 in cuban heels, based in the UK... would I move... unsure however answer may change and I am open to change occurring naturally. It's sunny for now in the UK so if in Siberian area of Russia.. maybe the UK is a welcome change:p
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Well, then... if you are still this passionate when you can see why the performances on Strictly are not great and/or get to gold +, reach out. Canada is great ;)
 
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