Splitting heats: what's your experience?

[twnkltoz]

Gumby and I are dancing in a champ smooth scholarship this sunday at SF Open with 13 couples. Turtle said once that the maximum number of couples in champ smooth is 14...but, have any of you ever danced an event at this level with this many people? What are the chances that they'll go ahead and split it?

 

[Another Elizabeth]

The last time I did a big championship smooth event was over ten years ago, so things have undoubtedly changed, but it was run as a 15-couple semifinal, with all the couples on the floor at once. It was like being in a pinball machine, and I took a terrible fall in the semifinal Viennese. Unfortunately, I didn't dance very well on the injured knee in the final, and we came in 8th. (We were 6th into the final on marks, for what that's worth.) It was very disappointing.

More recently, I think I've seen much more of a trend towards splitting the floor, especially for championship events. You could always ask the organizers what their plans are.

 

[twnkltoz]

Novel concept...ok, I talked to the organizer, and he says the floor is "huge" with "plenty of room," so they will not be splitting! :shock: :x

 

[dancin_feet]

I went to a comp on the weekend and they had split heats whenever there were more than 9 couples in the heat. Made sense so that the competitors could dance at their best and string a few decent figures together without colliding with other couples all the time.

 

[Chris Stratton]

Novel concept...ok, I talked to the organizer, and he says the floor is "huge" with "plenty of room," so they will not be splitting! :shock: :x

Hope that's not like the Boston school that filled the floor up with their newcomer couples the night before the comp in order to determine workable heat sizes.

 

[Dancing4Life]

Well... at many events the open level semifinals are danced with 12 couples on the floor at the same time... I have seen 15 couple rounds, but have also seen it split into two heats...

It will depend on how tight the organizers are for time, how many couples do actually show up, and if it is scheduled to be danced in one heat only with too many couples, how many pros voice their displeasure to the organizer prior to the heat: I've seen organizers bend under pressure if too many couples were scheduled to dance at once at open levels...

 

[Chris Stratton]

I've been in a number of events where after putting the first round on the floor, they pulled half the couples off to split it.

I've also been in at least one where they realized they had to do this after the first dance.

And at least one where they obstinately stuck to the plan...

 

[dancin_feet]

I have seen both those situations too Chris. Also latin rounds where they have split part of it into two heats, ie done cha and rumba as one heat and samba and paso as two.

 

[Laura]

Novel concept...ok, I talked to the organizer, and he says the floor is "huge" with "plenty of room," so they will not be splitting! :shock: :x

Hope that's not like the Boston school that filled the floor up with their newcomer couples the night before the comp in order to determine workable heat sizes.

Well, this is the San Francisco Open. In my experience the Organizer knows what he's doing.

Good god, I wonder if/how we'll ever be able to fill up that floor with our Standard routines...guess there will be quite a bit of ad-libbed lead and follow! Well, no problem there....

 

[Alskling]

Doesn't the chairman of judges have some say in this? I've had it happen quite often where they'll lump a large SF into one heat but split it right away after the first dance when it's evident that bloodshed will result if they don't. I guess I don't know who makes the ultimate decision on this, but I had assumed the chairman. Or chairperson, sorry.

 

[NielsenE]

Doesn't the chairman of judges have some say in this? I've had it happen quite often where they'll lump a large SF into one heat but split it right away after the first dance when it's evident that bloodshed will result if they don't. I guess I don't know who makes the ultimate decision on this, but I had assumed the chairman. Or chairperson, sorry.

Often the CoJ will over-rule the organizer, if the organizer/MC planend the schedule. Also some very outspoken judges are know for yelling to the CoJ to spilt the floor --- or for a comparison dance if the round was split...

 

[Laura]

Yeah, I was just in a Novice-level Standard comp where they split the semi-final for the quickstep. I have a feeling the Chairman made that decision after looking at the waltz

 

[Alskling]

Yeah, I was just in a Novice-level Standard comp where they split the semi-final for the quickstep. I have a feeling the Chairman made that decision after looking at the waltz

I just did a Senior I Champ event where they announced in advance that they would split the quickstep (there were 14 in the SF), then watched us beat ourselves to a pulp in Waltz, and split the remaining dances. Thank God.