How many dances is too many?

[DanceMentor]

Whether it be the teacher or the student, do you reach a point where you have entered too many dances?

Seems like at some point for the teacher, he/she can't possibly do as good of job dancing say 250 heats vs. 20 heats. And for the student, seems like you reach a point where you are spread too thin in your learning. And of course, for the student, perhaps it is a waste of money to enter too many heats?

 

[jump'n'jive]

As a pro, it is my job. I better be prepared mentally and physically to do what the job demands, even if that is 200 entries. And honestly I wouldn't even bother to go to a competition and only dance 20 entries. I would make better money if I stayed home and taught.

Technically that depends on how you charge a student. I charge a flat fee per style. It's priced well above what a full day of teaching would bring in and I also charge for travel days since I'm not teaching.

I personally do not push my students to do a ton of entries. Two sets of single dances per style plus scholarship and championship.

My top student does 18 single dances, 2 championships and two scholarships. But at big comps that turns into quarter, semi and final. So times three.

 

[JudeMorrigan]

From a not-exactly-wealthy student's perspective, the question is less "how many dances is too many" and more "how many dances is enough". As much as I know the virtues of floor time and face time in front of the judges, I've always felt there's a point past which for me the money would be better spent on more instruction rather than more heats.

 

[FancyFeet]

I personally do not push my students to do a ton of entries. Two sets of single dances per style plus scholarship and championship.

That is a ton for some of us... or at least, more than we do!

For budget reasons, I usually restrict to 15 dances (pro charges per dance, plus expenses). My preferred way to distribute this would be all 5-dance multis, but thanks to pre-reqs, I usually have to burn 5-10 of those dances on singles. If I add my second style, the distribution goes to something like 10 (primary style) + 6 (second style).

Stamina-wise, I'm good to go for much more. Assuming a typical schedule, I could quite easily handle 10-15 singles, two 3-dance championships, and 2 5-dance events... but I never have that may options, and couldn't afford it even if I did, unless it was the only comp I did all year. I'd rather dance less at each one, but go to more comps - that gives me the chance to learn, improve, change things around, etc.

Pro maxes out at about 5 students per style, with everyone dancing between 9 and 18 dances. And when latin and standard are on the same day, it's about 6-7 students total. Any time he's tried to go above that number, it's been a bit of a disaster for those of us that have more athletically demanding choreo or dance in the evening session. He's admitted that (not to everyone, naturally), and is more careful about how many he takes when the open ladies are attending than he was in the past.

Edited to add: there is a local pro here who takes great pride in doing the ironman thing - as many entries as possible. He doesn't leave the floor... and he's barely moving by the end, let alone actually dancing. His students are absolutely free to do that and it seems to work for them, but there's a reason why I don't dance there. (Well, several... but you get the idea.)

 

[RiseNFall]

Pro I dance with can do an astounding amount and do it well, as long as you don't worry about the amount of sweat pouring off of his face at times.....

As we've discussed, this is very much a "to each his own" situation. I did a lot more when I began because I was trying to work through my sheer terror at being out on the floor. After a couple of competitions, I dialed it back to a level that would seem in the normal/reasonable range to most people, but still enough for me to work through fear/stress on early sets. Now I have to limit it because I would be crippled at the end of a comp if I did as much as I used to. This is partially because I put a lot more energy into each dance and partially because of foot issues.

There are students out there who do a gazillion heats of a gazillion different dances and it's all on a just-OK level. That is not what I want to do, but it is what they want to do. There are also students who can dance a lot of heats of a lot of styles, all to a high level. I wish I could that, but for a variety of reasons I cannot. I only fault somebody when a student is doing so much that they end up injured, and/or overwhelmed, and burning out. Teachers should not encourage that approach, but some do.

 

[DanceMentor]

Pro I dance with can do an astounding amount and do it well, as long as you don't worry about the amount of sweat pouring off of his face at times.....

As we've discussed, this is very much a "to each his own" situation. I did a lot more when I began because I was trying to work through my sheer terror at being out on the floor. After a couple of competitions, I dialed it back to a level that would seem in the normal/reasonable range to most people, but still enough for me to work through fear/stress on early sets. Now I have to limit it because I would be crippled at the end of a comp if I did as much as I used to. This is partially because I put a lot more energy into each dance and partially because of foot issues.

There are students out there who do a gazillion heats of a gazillion different dances and it's all on a just-OK level. That is not what I want to do, but it is what they want to do. There are also students who can dance a lot of heats of a lot of styles, all to a high level. I wish I could that, but for a variety of reasons I cannot. I only fault somebody when a student is doing so much that they end up injured, and/or overwhelmed, and burning out. Teachers should not encourage that approach, but some do.

I can recall a few teachers that got injured as well. A shoulder replacement was needed for one, hip replacement for another, permanent neck damage for another. Sometimes the money can be so good, the body comes second.

 

[fascination]

From a not-exactly-wealthy student's perspective, the question is less "how many dances is too many" and more "how many dances is enough". As much as I know the virtues of floor time and face time in front of the judges, I've always felt there's a point past which for me the money would be better spent on more instruction rather than more heats.

I like to dance and I like to dance a great deal but there is definitely a point of diminishing returns for me ...at open level, 3 sets and two multis per style is plenty...I could do more but, beyond 5 sets and 2 multis per style, I am going to start to look shabby

 

[scullystwin42]

I do one set of singles in smooth and rhythm, and a multi in each. Maybe two multis in each, depending on finances. Sometimes I get a bit envious of those who can do more, but at the same time, my endurance is not the best - i have enough to get me through 4-8 multis with no problems, but adding in 40+ single heats? i'd be useless. I am short-burst girl, good at sprinting and recovering, not a sustained pace. my teachers... i think sometimes they like the extra moenyt from tons of heats, but at the same time, they have horror stories of being sore and exhausted.

 

[cornutt]

I once saw a pro who was going to attempt ~300 heats in a two-day comp. He had pretty good stamina and routinely did 200 heats, but 300 turned out to be too much even for him. He wound up begging off of some uncontested Standard heats with the one student that was entered for those. Since the comp was running behind schedule, and they were going to be the only couple dancing those heats, the organizer was willing to refund them, and they worked something out.

 

[Mr 4 styles]

I'm with fasc. Even with my more advanced conditioning and mental toughness work by the seventh round there is some slippage of output. I am also super aware to replenish and rehydrate so that's not it. It's just a daily limit in open gold with my high level pros. Unless it's spread over more than three hours. Then I can reload

 

[Mr 4 styles]

Gatsby will be the test. Four rounds of singles and four multis per day two days in a row. Smooth then Latin. That's without any semis quarters etc. I'll let you know how that goes

 

[IndyLady]

Everyone is different, but I've discovered my max is 50 per day. Somewhere in the 40-45 range seems comfortable. Not enough heats, and I lose energy/momentum by sitting out too much, I need to stay mostly active during event.

I know a guy (retired) who always does 100+ heats, no doubt more if it's multiple days. I think this has been mostly the result of his instructor, uh, guiding him to do that many, and now it's habit.

 

[cornutt]

Everyone is different, but I've discovered my max is 50 per day. Somewhere in the 40-45 range seems comfortable. Not enough heats, and I lose energy/momentum by sitting out too much, I need to stay mostly active during event.

Yeah. One thing that's always a problem is when, due to the inevitabilities of scheduling, you get a big batch of heats clustered together, and then you have a long break followed by another cluster of heats.