Pro dancing am partner?

[liz]

I know that am partners are allowed to teach. What would be the difference in someone who had competed as a pro then competing with an am partner? I know someone who is in a chain studio who said he should just start dancing am again we could dance am together. Just wondering if that is possible. If he has not competed pro outside of the chain. Since ams can teach, I don't understand how this would be ant different.

 

[Laura]

What would be the difference in someone who had competed as a pro then competing with an am partner?

The difference is that by competing as a Pro, the person has "declared" himself a professional, and so that puts things in a different category than someone who taught but never competed in a professional event. Dancing in Pro/Am as the pro is considered dancing in a professional event.

It's a good idea to start by looking at the USA Dance rule book, unless you plan to never dance in a USA Dance related event.

Rule 2.1.4:
A "Professional" is an individual who has declared him or herself as a professional, or who has competed as a professional at a competition. Professionals are ineligible to compete in USA Dance events.

Rule 4.3.1.2:
A Professional may be reinstated to DanceSport Athlete status by complying with the requirements of Rule 4.2.3. Such reinstatement to will become effective after approval by the DanceSport Council.

Rule 4.2.3:
If the applicant engaged in PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES within the past ten (10) years then:
a) The applicant shall submit a completed application in a form prescribed by the DanceSport Council and shall provide information relating to the entirety of his or her dancing activities including competitions entered, and the results of those competitions.
b) By submission of the application, the applicant authorizes the DanceSport Council to conduct a verification investigation of dance activities.
c) The DanceSport Council shall review the application, along with any other pertinent information it wishes to obtain, and make a ruling on the eligibility of the applicant to be registered as an Athlete.
d) Material omissions by the applicant shall be grounds for denial of registration.

So basically what this all says is that the Pro can ask USA Dance to be reinstated, and it's up to the DanceSport Council to decide if the person can dance again as an Amateur or not. I know of several short-term Pros who have been reinstated.

 

[liz]

thanks for the info.. One more question... I dance open gold ladies A...I know that the levels are different in am partner. What would be my level and what if I found a partner that was at a lower level or a different age ? Which level would we enter?

 

[Laura]

Pro/Am levels have absolutely no bearing on Amateur levels. You can start where you like, but people who know you are dancing with an ex-pro might think it's weird and even sandbagging if you pick too low a level to start with.

 

[reb]

Liz,

Laura's got the right stuff. Sandbagging isn't good.

I'd ask Eddie and Nancy directly - they know you and they know the competitors and they know how you'll fit in.

In the absense of any other advice from people who know you, your partner, and the Amateur field at Nationals . . . if you're entering Rhythm, you probably should start in Pre-Champ and earn your way into Champ level, dropping Pre-Champ as soon as / if its too easy.

However, I'd be more cautious about Smooth because the semi at nationals is full of talented and experienced couples.

If you're thinking about Standard or Latin, I'd go in really humbly and earn my way up.

*****

For readers reference to the rules, here is access to the USA Dance and NDCA rulebooks:

http://www.ndca.org/info.cfm?showsection=info&cfid=1525382&cftoken=79911926

http://usadance.org/

 

[Laura]

I forgot to mention age levels: USA dance has only a few levels:

(some youth levels, which I won't mention here because you are probably 19, right?)
Adult: 19-and-over (although 16-year-olds can dance up)
Senior I: 35-and-over
Senior II: 45-and-over

You can dance in whatever age category you both are eligible for.

 

[dldbm]

Hi Laura - Just a question on your last post...and Liz I'm sorry if this is a hijack of your thread...when you say age categories "both" are eligible for, if the pro is 29 and the am is 36, does that mean they can only compete in the over 19, under 35 category? I thought since the am is over 35, they could compete in Senior 1. Thanks

 

[Laura]

We are talking about the USA Dance amateur rules here, not Pro/Am.

In Pro/Am, the age category the couple competes in depends SOLELY on the student's age.

In Amateur, both members of the couple have to be eligible for the age category to compete in it. Adult is 19-and-over, so a couple where one person is 29 and the other is 36 can do Adult because both are at least 19, but they can't do Senior I because only one is at least 35.

 

[dldbm]

Oops! Thanks Laura!

 

[liz]

thanks for the great info..I am not jumping in the am field anytime soon. Just wondering how it is different from pro/am. As I have heard it is alot more cost effective than pro/am. I dance rhythm mainly... Haven't done smooth in over a year. Would like to pick it back up sometime soon. With the traveling to train I needed to have one main focus..
Guess I need to look into it on the USA Dance site.. PS Yep I am over 19 over 30,too. But I guess that is enough info. LOL

 

[Chris Stratton]

Another difference you might encounter is substantially smaller event sizes in amateur American style, especially rhythm. International style events will be larger, but then only at competitions that really get much in the way of amateur participation, which a lot of smaller ones don't. (Of course then there are also amateur-only competitions of varying size).

 

[reb]

Just wondering how it is different from pro/am.

Its different in many ways - its multi-dimensional.

As I have heard it is alot more cost effective than pro/am

Aside from some other factors . . .

Time = Money

Pro/Am - paying for pro's time:

1. practicing
2. competing
3. lessons/coaching

Amateur - paying for pro's time:

1. lessons/coaching (split the cost of the pro with your Amateur partner)

With the traveling to train I needed to have one main focus..

You'll do well!

 

[reb]

For moving up through the Amateur ranks [ syllabus -> novice -. pre-champ -> champ] . . . (copied from the recent USA Dance newsletter):

PROFICIENCY POINTS GUIDEBOOK
The all new step-by-step explanation to the new proficiency points system is available for download. This guidebook supports and illustrates the impact of all the rules on your proficiency level. Please click on the link provided and study this book. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email Ava Brennen, Eligibility Chair of the DanceSport Council, at ds-eligibility@usadance.org

 

[Laura]

I dance rhythm mainly... Haven't done smooth in over a year. Would like to pick it back up sometime soon.

Rhythm is the smallest division within USA Dance. You might want to check out various USA Dance competition results to see if there are enough people participating to make it worth your while. Of course, working on your dancing and going for the National Championship might always be worth the while, but I do know some Rhythm couples who quit/switched to Latin/do both Latin & Rhythm just so they'll have people to compete against regularly. It's not like Pro/Am Rhythm where there are a gazillion couples active in the style.

 

[Joe]

Are there proportionally more peeps in pro/am Rhythm compared to the other styles, than in Amateur Rhythm? I guess with the whole franchise thing it would make some sense for that to be true.