Placements, Pros, and how it matters

scullystwin42 said:
not gonna lie, it does feel taboo to say on here that placements matter.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry you feel that way. My experience is different. I've always said placements matter and never felt judged for it here.

In my case, feeling good on the floor usually means feeling competitive, but not always. There are heats when I just want to enjoy being present and dancing with my Pro in the limelight. There is also a big difference between ME FEELING competitive and wanting to place well versus SOMEONE ELSE IMPOSING various rules on me and creating a dancing environment in which I'm pressured to win. I was a competitive athlete in my youth, I've been there, done that. Now, I want autonomy and I want to feel happy. If I feel like I want to move up, I should be allowed to do that, thank you very much, as long as I am 'good enough.' Which really boils down to the question, could I handle the higher-level syllabus? Could I perform the routine 'good enough,' feeling and moving with stability and self-confidence, happy and artistically expressive? Because if the answer is yes than that is all that should matter, in my opinion.

But if we want to get all technical, if I ran a studio, I guess I would ask my students to place in the top 50% versus the bottom 50%, that's all. And knowing myself, I would probably be flexible even with that if I felt someone was clearly happier dancing at a higher level, despite placing in the bottom 50%.
 
Last edited:
@scullystwin42, please don't get me wrong....it's not taboo to say here that placements matter. I want to place well too. It matters to me a lot. But there have been times when I've place absolutely great, and then there are times that I don't. I've been doing this a while, and it really mattered a lot to me to place well. But it got to the point that I didn't want to dance anymore because all the joy went out of it. I realized that there are a lot of people training and working just as hard if not harder than me that also wanted to place well. So actually I stopped competing for a long while and reset priorities. I'm happier now. But I totally understand wanting to place and win and I don't judge anyone for being honest about that. I just have to keep reminding myself of why I am doing this, and writing posts about it keeps me centered.
 
Misspendragon said:
Also, based on the videos I saw, you used your arms beautifully.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
Warren J. Dew said:
How can he expect you to be be competitively successful in Silver before you've even been taught Silver?
Click to expand...
Exactly!
Warren J. Dew said:
Also, if you go to OSB again, NDCA rules actually require you to move in some way rather than repeating the categories you won last year - you won some categories, if I recall? - though you could move to a lower age category instead. You can always ignore the rules, of course, but there's always the outside chance that a competitor notices the infraction and protests to the chairman.
Click to expand...
I’m not someone who ignores the rules. If I go to OSB again, I am not eligible to compete in the World Dancesport Series Pro-Am Closed Bronze Rhythm Championship in L-C, because I placed first in that event last year.
 
ProgressNotPerfection said:
I’m not someone who ignores the rules. If I go to OSB again, I am not eligible to compete in the World Dancesport Series Pro-Am Closed Bronze Rhythm Championship in L-C, because I placed first in that event last year.
Click to expand...
I'd forgotten it was only rhythm, though I vaguely remember you were better at rhythm at the time. Maybe that has to do with why your pro is moving you up in Rhythm and not in Smooth? Maybe your pro wants a chance to win a Bronze Smooth Championship with you in a big event, and Empire doesn't count as "big" to him.
 
Misspendragon said:
If you ask me, how I feel matters the most, how I look on the floor matters second, and how I place matters third. Placements DO matter but being happy on the floor matters more AND there should be some flexibility with placements. I like to use Winnicott's term for mothering applied to dancing: perfection is unnecessary, one should be 'good enough' the advance, that's all.
Click to expand...
Well said. :)
 
I feel like there's a big difference between "it would be nice if I could place in the top 3" and "the only reason I came to this comp is to win the title". Both of those are different from "I am curious how I place in this field", which is different from having a goal like "I want to make the final" or "I want to make the first cut" or even "it would be great if we got one mark".
 
Misspendragon said:
There are 3 very different versions of what matters I hear from studio managers.

Version 1, during conversations on my advancement. "We have rules and if you want to dance here, you have to accept them. You must place first in at least for comps in a final or top three with a semifinal."

Version 2, during lessons: "Let's address how your dancing looks like, because ultimately that's what matters, not how you place and not how you feel on the floor."

Version 3, during the comp before I dance: "Just go out there and have fun!"
Click to expand...
I think all of these are focused directly on placements.

Version 1 is after the fact, when you know what the placement is. Versions 2 and 3 are based on optimizing the one thing most important, and most achievable at that point in time, to improve your next placement.

Purr said:
It's not a good feeling to attend an event, and place last in every single event entered.
Click to expand...
It's not a good feeling, no. A placement oriented approach can still help, though; placing last can be a good opportunity to really examine one's dancing and focus on what needs to be improved to place better.

What's really bad is placing last and having no clue about how to improve, or feeling that improvement is impossible.
 
Warren J. Dew said:
I feel like there's a big difference between "it would be nice if I could place in the top 3" and "the only reason I came to this comp is to win the title". Both of those are different from "I am curious how I place in this field", which is different from having a goal like "I want to make the final" or "I want to make the first cut" or even "it would be great if we got one mark".
Click to expand...
Yes, exactly. All scenarios you mention are slightly different, and the same competitor may have slightly different goals with one comp than another. For example, I had originally the goal of making it to the final with USDC. Now, because I got do fed up with studio policies, I decided to make it my goal to 'dance with my heart' and see how I place in a competitive heat. That's it. The fact that I got COVID and cannot train solidified that goal. But there will be comps when I will want to place in the top 25 percentile or even win.
 
Maybe you can do a silver scholarship in Rhythm with bronze routines (maybe a few silver figures)? Years ago I did a silver scholarship when I transitioned from bronze to silver using only bronze routine. It was a very good experience and got me very motivated. Yes, I had to compete with fancier girls on the floor but that's fine.
 
singndance said:
@scullystwin42, please don't get me wrong....it's not taboo to say here that placements matter. I want to place well too. It matters to me a lot. But there have been times when I've place absolutely great, and then there are times that I don't. I've been doing this a while, and it really mattered a lot to me to place well. But it got to the point that I didn't want to dance anymore because all the joy went out of it. I realized that there are a lot of people training and working just as hard if not harder than me that also wanted to place well. So actually I stopped competing for a long while and reset priorities. I'm happier now. But I totally understand wanting to place and win and I don't judge anyone for being honest about that. I just have to keep reminding myself of why I am doing this, and writing posts about it keeps me centered.
Click to expand...
totally not taking it wrong :) and i totally get your take on it.
 
Very well said. That would really suck. Placing last isn't that bothersome as long as one understands the reasons and feels that the issue can be fixed with time and effort. While I never placed last, I did place in the bottom half sometimes when I moved from closed bronze to open gold after six months (yes it was stupid, I outlined the reasons elsewhere), and I remember that what depressed me wasn't the placement but the realization that I couldn't achieve on the floor what I wanted and that I didn't belong there. I knew it would take me years to be good enough for open gold, and my Pro at the time had no interest in silver or anything closed, so I felt trapped.
Warren J. Dew said:
What's really bad is placing last and having no clue about how to improve, or feeling that improvement is impossible.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah I’ve placed last ummmm more than once and to me it’s not a big deal. I know that my dancing is improving and someday I won’t be last! Plus “last” in a very small field sometimes means losing to two people also competing and placing well in gold which I refuse to let bother me overly much.
 
bronzesusie said:
Yeah I’ve placed last ummmm more than once and to me it’s not a big deal. I know that my dancing is improving and someday I won’t be last! Plus “last” in a very small field sometimes means losing to two people also competing and placing well in gold which I refuse to let bother me overly much.
Click to expand...
How people can compete in both bronze and gold?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Dance Ads

Advertise on Dance Forums Reach dancers, teachers, studios, event organizers, and dance-friendly brands. View ad options
Back
Top