Recommendations for East Coast Pro-Am competitions?

[Dancey]

I'm looking to compete in 1 or 2 larger Pro-Am competitions this year, I'd like to find some that are better attended in my age group (I'm 32, usually 'A' I think? Currently dancing silver). It seems like that is a smaller group in general, but I was wondering if any competitions along the east coast might have a larger pool of competitors in that age range?

I was looking at Manhattan Dance Championships as a possibility, maybe Ohio Star Ball? I live near DC and I'd prefer something within driving distance... but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[JudeMorrigan]

The A age category is tough. In my experience, there are very few comps that consistently have larger fields in that age category. (I tried Millennium one year partly because the fields hadn't been too bad the year before. That was like four years ago and I'm still whining about the tiny fields I wound up with. ) Ohio is probably your single best bet if the drive is acceptable. If you're in DC, I assume you've tried Capital? It's probably about as good as most other non-Ohio, non-USDC east coast comps.

 

[raindance]

Fields may vary with style, too, so it may help to let people know which style(s) you are competing.

 

[jump'n'jive]

Virginia in July, Ohio in November , capital , millennium,

 

[MaggieMoves]

I'm in the same grouping as you... Probably Ohio is the best bet for a large field on the "East Coast."

 

[Dancey]

Thanks everyone! I haven't tried Capital yet, I will look into that one too.

Competing in Rhythm & Smooth.

 

[danceronice]

Ohio is the one that will be HUGE no matter what age, style or ability level we're talking. Manhattan is well-attended in my experience. BBC&C in Boston in September seems to be pretty good, but I don't know about A specifically. A tends to be a tough one--there just aren't a lot of people in the age range with the time and money to do a lot of competitions.

 

[JANATHOME]

How about Tri-State in CT. The heats are getting quite large, but cant speak for the A category.

 

[Mengu]

Ohio is a good bet, but even at Ohio, not all categories are huge... For instance, last year, L-A1 Pre-Silver smooth had 2 couples, intermediate silver smooth had 8 couples, full silver smooth had 6 couples. L-A1 intermediate Silver Rhythm had 6 couples, and full silver had 7 couples. That's just a handful I could look up from results. Well attended compared to most others probably, but A1 is not likely to be huge.

On the bright side, in about 4 years, you will have a lot more competition.

 

[Loki]

Virginia in July, Ohio in November , capital , millennium,

Except for the weather. Yeesh.

 

[Dancey]

Thanks everyone, this was really helpful. At least I know I'm not missing something. I'll probably pick one or two of these for my best chances at getting some competition, but also not get my hopes up too much

I suppose I should just enjoy the easy scholarship prizes and focus on improving so that when I do have more competition in a few years or so I'll do well

 

[Spookisgirl]

Any recommendations for Canadian east coast comps with good attendance at Silver B?

 

[FancyFeet]

There's not much on the actual east coast, but more eastwards... La Classique (Feb) and Dancesport Montreal (June) are the big ones for pro-am. Pretty much all the serious Canadian pro-amers are at those ones, and quite a few Americans travel up too. Decent competition at all levels, with the exception of higher-level open A, which gets a bit sparse.

Toronto Open (April) is well-run, and while still pretty new is getting bigger every year, though fields there can be small depending on level/year - but the organizers are also pretty open to letting you switch to a level with more competition. (They let me switch all of my events after heat lists came out last year, though I will note that I was switching up a level, not down.)

Canadance (Oct/Nov) and Toronto Grand Prix (May) are newer, so risky, and I hear Can-am Gala (July) is not great for pro-am. I doubt I'd travel a long distance for them.

 

[Spookisgirl]

Thanks for the tips--eastwards is what I meant. Do you know much about Maple Leaf or Le Chic? how are they for comps?

 

[FancyFeet]

Le Chic is fun, especially the amateur team match, but I went last year (or the year before? - depends on how you count) and wasn't overly impressed... I was dancing silver (and bronze, maybe?) A at the time, I think, and was against myself. I seem to remember pro-am standard being really small in all ages and categories. And the live band - amazing, and a big part of why I picked it - is only for the evening sessions, so I danced to the regular taped stuff. There was also something that happened with entry tickets that left a bad taste in many mouths, and struck this comp off of my - and many other's - list. Hopefully it was a one-off incident, but I haven't been back.

I don't hear many talk about Maple Leaf, but I just checked the heat lists from last year... it looks like it's mostly local (Toronto) dancers, with small pro-am fields.

And I forgot to mention Extravaganza Montreal (October). It was my first comp ever, so holds a special place in my heart... I haven't been back since that first time as the floor was small - and as I improved, floor size became a huge consideration for me - but I hear that this past year it was a new venue, new floor... and "huge and amazing" were words that I heard used to describe it. I may check it out again this year, as I'm shopping for a new fall competition. I'd expect the field sizes to grow again (especially for standard) as word on the new floor gets around.