Is it just me... same music at every comp?

5678dance

5678dance

Active Member
Are there many DJs that will play more current tunes at competitions? Is it more "unprofessional" to use current music for comps? I, for one, definitely dance better when I hear a song that I heard on top 40 radio (we play it until you like it!!), since it puts me back into the mindset of just having fun dancing in my car (um... not while driving... :D hehe) And i mean, who doesn't want to have fun? We all dance because it's fun, no? I mean, i know demi lovato isn't everyone's favorite musician (curse her and her catchy melodies!) but if i heard that song at a comp i just wouldn't be able to help but smile the entire time!
 
if her songs are

strict tempo and or can be made such without ruining the song too much
and the user rights can be bought

then a Dj will start using it give an example of a song you would like to hear and in which dance
 
We had a recent thread on this topic for ballroom in general, though not comp-specific. I won't link, because it got a bit testy, but you'll find it if you just search for "music" in the thread title. It's my impression that most DJs are constantly working to build and update their collections. But as Mr 4 styles pointed out, there are practical/legal considerations that take top priority. I also feel that comps are the environment where I'd prefer the least experimentation as far as fitting the character of the dance. I want my foxtrots to feel like foxtrots and my quicksteps to feel like quicksteps -- for me, for those two especially, that usually means the old standards (maybe with new covers). But all those newer movie-theme waltzes are lovely and waltzy, so I'm good with those. Yes, there is in fact a cheesy stodgy extreme that is preferably avoided, but I also think it makes sense to avoid the opposite extreme of people on the comp floor trying to dance their best to a song that doesn't feel at all like that dance to them. Better to push the style/character boundaries at socials, or even better, showcases.
 
I see the point, though. Some DJs, IMHO, don't choose music that can fully bring out the best in a style now and again. The stately, classy foxtrots and Viennese waltzes are better suited for Standard than they are for Smooth. The point in competition is to be able to interpret the music as you get it through your body the best that you can, even if it's a song you flat out hate (and there have been plenty of songs I have flat out hated at competitions). We can only impose our desires to a certain extent on a DJ who already has his/her collection and does with it what he/she can. I agree, I'd like to see more updated music too, but I see where that can go wrong and I also see the value in music that favors character and feeling of the dance over popularity -- when the DJ gets the character and feeling of the dance right.

Gold Latin Cha at Yale was Gangnam Style. Anyone's perception of a classic cha cha? Heck no. But it certainly got the spectators and dancers on the floor super psyched and extremely energetic. Playing to your crowd -- that's another important aspect of DJ-ing.
 
The bone I have to pick with comp music is I like samba music to be dirty...and it very rarely is. I mean, I guess it makes more sense not to give dancers anything too heavy, but personally...those bossa nova type sambas with no bass hurt my heart.
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thats why in the modern genre i like when they use reggae ton
 
dlliba10 said:
I'd like to see more updated music too, but I see where that can go wrong and I also see the value in music that favors character and feeling of the dance over popularity -- when the DJ gets the character and feeling of the dance right.

Gold Latin Cha at Yale was Gangnam Style. Anyone's perception of a classic cha cha? Heck no. But it certainly got the spectators and dancers on the floor super psyched and extremely energetic. Playing to your crowd -- that's another important aspect of DJ-ing.
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Exactly. Some of my favorite songs from comps are things I would not expect for the dance in question, because often, they bring out alternate interpretations to the dance. Yale's Gold Latin Cha is a perfect example; there were two rounds, and neither one had a song that I would have expected to be "chacha-able" ("Barbara Streisand" in the semi and "Gangnam Style"in the final). Both worked, because both are rhythmic, clubby sort of songs. What do you do in the club? You have fun and flirt with members of your preferred gender. Sure, it is a different type of flirtation than we normally associate with the Cha Cha, but the song choices maintained the fun, flirty character of the dance. It's why country jives and swings are so fun, and the bold, dramatic Smooth V-Waltzes work. Sure, you can do Viennese as happily ever after, but you can also do it as the struggle to slay the dragon, climb the tower, and rescue the princess. "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty gives the former feel, and the theme song from Game of Thrones gives you the latter.
 
A lot of my favorite jives/swings (mostly jives; in fact "Bible Belt" might actually be too fast even for that at its original tempo) are by Travis Tritt. "High Time For Gettin Down", "The Girl's Gone Wild", "Time to Get Crazy."

I think with Demi Lovato specifically, as the OP mentioned (or a lot of the Disney girls and recent ex-Disney pop stars-I mean, heck I could find some Hannah Montana songs that would work) is at least with NDCA comps most dancers would be like "Huh?" I mean, I'm not THAT old and I got no end of stick from NP when I commented on how much he'd altered the tempo of "No One", never mind I knew it was by Ally & A.J.*

And with some current songs it can be a tad jarring when they use the radio edits with drop-outs over words the FCC doesn't like being broadcast. I was laughing at Harvest Moon with the REALLY obvious cuts in "Keeps Getting Better". (And then they'll use "Candy Man" without actually LISTENING to the lyrics...)

*It was the opening-credits song from "Ice Princess." Shut up.
 
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