Pro Competition Question

[danceislove]

When you are a competing professional does everyone compete at gold levels? There does not appear to be a level system for pros as there are with pro/am and am/am; it all just says "open". So basically if you are not a superstar pro, then it is a waste of time to compete, is that a fairly accurate assumption???

 

[tangotime]

levels

We essentially have 2 categories-- Rising star and an " open " Division. There are however " closed " comps, which generally imply, are for residents of that particular country .Prof. are not governed " material " wise, by the same standards as students . The choices are those usually suggested by ones coach, although, you do have the freedom to choose your own material .And, its never a waste of time to compete. What governs the pro. mind set, is generally, cost. Meaning financial and realism. In other words, no one would fly to a distant comp. with unrealistic expectations .It can be a very expensive proposition to enter the world of " Pro " competition .

 

[Joe]

There's also the occasional Professional Basics division, i.e. Syllabus/Gold.

 

[tangotime]

basic

That would probably come under the banner of rising star .

 

[Joe]

No. Rising star is an open-material category, just as Open is. Basics is just that--basics. Separate and distinct.

 

[tangotime]

I was referring to the level of performance of the participants, that idea was tried in the u.k many yrs back , trying to get top pros to dance a round of basics ( like ice dance ) fell flat, no one wanted to participate .and, I think, for obvious reasons .

 

[tangotime]

basics

let me make my position very clear-- as an adjudicator, I would really like to see the inclusion of a " basic " thru silver level , precede most championship events ( exclude National ,World , British and the International, time constraints may not allow ) think, compulsaries shown off to their best advantage ( or maybe not !! ) would be very enlightning to the lower divisions .

 

[Chris Stratton]

I was referring to the level of performance of the participants, that idea was tried in the u.k many yrs back , trying to get top pros to dance a round of basics ( like ice dance ) fell flat, no one wanted to participate .and, I think, for obvious reasons .

I wonder if you suspect the same obvious reason that I do?

(My reason: good clean basics are actually harder than much of the more popular open material - plus they are more transparent. It is much harder to achieve the kind of large flowing movement to which experienced dancers aspire using for example foot closure waltz elements, than it is using the passing and syncopated elements often chosen)

 

[alemana]

danceislove - your general impression is right. larinda said it well and clearly- there isn't an elaborate hierarchical system for pros like there is for pro-am and am-am.

there are attempts at times to introduce additional divisions (i suspect mostly for moneymaking reasons) like "future champions," which are intended to be super-beginning-pros... but there usually aren't enough people to enter these divisions to make them worthwhile (from what i've seen.) "beginner" pros typically start in Rising Star, but they compete in the Open division as well. once they win enough in RS, or decide they want to be taken "more seriously," they stop entering Rising Star and just do Open.

 

[tangotime]

chris

Ya got that right amigo !!!!, thats part of the reason ( I,m guessing ) that it got rejected here many yrs ago .

 

[Twilight_Elena]

What kind of level of dancing are we talking about in the Rising Star category? The fact that it's open doesn't say much...

T_E

 

[Porfirio Landeros]

danceislove - your general impression is right.

And to add to this, there are also no age categories in the pro ranks, but now there's precedent to petition to turn Amateur and compete as a senior on the USA dance circuit, so who says you have to retire ;-)

 

[alemana]

Porfirio: haha *meow* haha

my understanding is that the Rising Star pros are those who are either a) new to the division or new in their partnership and/or b) aspiring to the the finalist level but not quite there. the level of dancing is still... pro. It varies by style, like everything. the more competition there is in a given style, the higher the level of dancing will be in the rising star. the level of dancing in RS smooth and rhythm is lower, in general, than RS latin and standard.

RS couples are not necessarily younger than the batch of Open finalists. if the top 6 in a given style has been 'set' and unmoving for some time, you can get a backlog in Rising Star.

To take an example... the couple who won the Rising Star in latin at the US Dancesport Championships at Miami last year, Christian Baerens and Krystina Staykova, are ranked 8th in the US overall and 58th in the world.

 

[danceislove]

So one should be through gold syllabus if they expect to do well when competing pro, correct?

 

[alemana]

quite a few professionals never work their way through the syllabus system at all. they debut as professionals!

so i mean, i guess the answer to your question is not necessarily *no* or *yes*....


have you been to many open pro events, out of curiosity?