USA Dance - DanceSport New Policy & Program Changes

[Renata Shvarts]

S2K we are not going to have 2 National Champions because different categories will be danced. All senior Nationals does not have juvenile, junior and youth and adult events. And vise versa.

As to your concern about traveling to 2 Nationals because you dance Senior 1 and then dance down to adult is as I said the only down fall of this idea. But lets be fair S4 competitors had to do it for years and miss S3 events or travel to 2 Nationals events. A least splitting Nationals allows for actual growth everywhere else.

 

[Bailamosdance]

Thank you Renata, for your tireless efforts to think out solutions for the many issues facing am/am dancers today. As we see, there is always blowback and criticism, hopefully some day there will be attempts to come up with positives when an idea is presented.

The German Open is a good example of a country encouraging their dancers and providing them with a first class event. The fact that there are hundreds of couples and many heats for Senior dancers means they are a good model to look at. For a small country to have such a big turnout tells us too that USA Dance has to become good at publicizing and promoting. The upcoming election will allow you to hear what candidates propose and what they have done and will do; you can join in the discussion with the candidates going on now on Facebook here in our World Senior Dancesport Competitor's group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/seniorcompetitors/

Also, on a related topic, s2k, the very fact that in the USA you have hardly anyone dancing in your category at the US Nationals is reason enough to eliminate 'qualification'. The concept of figuring out ways to NOT have people compete at an event is somehow anti ethical in approach for an organization that wants to give its members venues to dance.

 

[Mr 4 styles]

Split nationals has been a discussion obviously in the dark but a discussion none the less for years heck 6 at least that I have been involved with usa dance. I'm SOOOO glad Renata is going to push the agenda. Eliminating qualifying will increase entries but may lower the overall quality of dancing which to me at this time is much less important than generating attendance. I suggest back to the " do one nqe and you are in method" I want to support the nqes somehow alternatively rotate national through the nqes sites

 

[Dancing Irishman]

Split nationals has been a discussion obviously in the dark but a discussion none the less for years heck 6 at least that I have been involved with usa dance. I'm SOOOO glad Renata is going to push the agenda. Eliminating qualifying will increase entries but may lower the overall quality of dancing which to me at this time is much less important than generating attendance. I suggest back to the " do one nqe and you are in method" I want to support the nqes somehow alternatively rotate national through the nqes sites

NDCA Nationals doesn't require qualifying. Their adult fields for everything except Rhythm are dramatically stronger than the same events at USAD nationals. And that's despite requiring competitors to comply with BYU's special dress restrictions. Admittedly there are other factors making the competition more desirable than USAD's (eg NDCA has the more illustrious judges, no offense Renata). But as the best natural experiment we have available, I think it's safe to say that qualifiers do not necessarily improve the quality of the competitive field at national championships and might actually harm the quality of that field.

 

[Mr 4 styles]

Ndca nationals as an adult and usa dance nationals as a senior are the attended events . I love the framing effect there DI oh as well as the availability bias. Byu dancers dance at byu no surprise there . Your conclusion is on thin ice and is only potentially valid for adults , a fraction of the overall pool whose needs must be considered by an organization that should care for all ages ( usa dance)

 

[Mr 4 styles]

I am in favor of reducing qualifying to one and done situation. It is not in USA dances interest to get more people to dance at nationals by crushing all of the nqes into dust. The idea is to have more and diverse opportunities to dance all under this one umbrella. Oh and being able to dance under any umbrella you want so long as you can afford it. Usa dance ndca,wdsf,wdc,wtf?? Who cares we should be able to dance them all !!

 

[Mr 4 styles]

Byu nationals is essentially a collegiate comp with other adults in attendance . Hence the numbers.

 

[Bailamosdance]

Ndca nationals are very a prestigious event, with world-class judging, wonderful venue, large audience, very low cost, and the organizers are generous with their time.

Qualifying has nothing to do with quality either way. Winning a local comp does not mean you are the better dancer, or make your participation in the nationals more important. Remember the nqe system was created partially so that the smaller comps would have compulsory attendance.

As a dancer, a larger field is more fun. Sure there are better and worse dancers at it, one of the reasons the USA does so poorly in the world stage is that our events have maybe a final. European comps have hundreds of entries. For us as a couple, it's a whole different mindset compete in against many couples, and we refuse to simply fly somewhere where the competition is light to simply qualify... It's unsportsmanlike and we don't feel comfortable wedding in that way, but candidly if you want to dance in Baltimore that's all you have to do.

 

[Bailamosdance]

Byu nationals is essentially a collegiate comp with other adults in attendance . Hence the numbers.

Ever been there? The fun aspect, the inexpensive aspect, and the chance to stand in front of some of your dance heroes, is very important. The only reason more people don't go there in your event is because they don't go there, nobody's asking them to qualify cull the herd or prevent them. The effort to have bigger heats is a priority for me, whether it's my heat or somebody else's. The deafening silence of the USA dance nationals when we competed for the national championships was very telling and made us feel extremely uncomfortablE. Dancing in front of thousands of fans of ballroom, and yes they are college students going to a university that has a ballroom division and ballroom diplomas is extremely inspiring.

 

[dlliba10]

Byu nationals is essentially a collegiate comp with other adults in attendance . Hence the numbers.

I have to disagree with this as an attendee this past year. Yes, a ton of the competitors are BYU folks, but all sorts of amateur dancers from fledgling novice to world finalists make the trek from, e.g., the east coast for a reason -- amazing venue, incredible energy, lots of our dance heroes as judges. Far cry from a collegiate comp.

 

[Mr 4 styles]

I take coaching with my dances heroes. If only there was senior smooth and more that two or three in senior Latin. But this is off topic.

 

[Bailamosdance]

I have to disagree with this as an attendee this past year. Yes, a ton of the competitors are BYU folks, but all sorts of amateur dancers from fledgling novice to world finalists make the trek from, e.g., the east coast for a reason -- amazing venue, incredible energy, lots of our dance heroes as judges. Far cry from a collegiate comp.

All that...plus it's not Baltimore. Beautiful Provo is a foodie paradise and very inexpensive - we stayed at the highest end hotel and it was $99 per night.

 

[Akita]

All that...plus it's not Baltimore. Beautiful Provo is a foodie paradise and very inexpensive - we stayed at the highest end hotel and it was $99 per night.

Don't forget the skyrocketing crime in Baltimore ... versus the relative peace and safety of Provo.

 

[Loki]

What would be wrong with having an East Coast champ and a West Coast champ? If it gets set up that way, then it is what it is. People will adapt. I doubt many people would skip a coaching or whatever because Billy Joe and Bobbi Sue are *merely* the ECCs.

Or if we must have a single US champ, let them dance a "Super Bowl".

Sometimes, I do think DS is quite needlessly complex. Exhibit A: read the rule books.

 

[JudeMorrigan]

Well, Nationals determines which couples USA Dance helps to attend Worlds, so that really does give an incentive for a single National Championships - at least for championship.

And I do have to say - as much as I'm inclined to give the evil eye when people bring up the idea of splitting Nationals along the closed/open line, I'd actually be pretty ok with a championship-only Nationals. Particularly if USA Dance could manage to make it an event and maybe even to sell advertising for it. Have I groused recently about how competitive eating is shown on ESPN but no one's figured out a way to sell interest in championship-level ballroom events?

I do think you'd still want to have a non-championship Nationals as there's interest for it in the community. Speaking from personal experience, even the bronze events matter to quite a few people. Silly as that may sound. And sure, you'd still get some of the second-class citizen effect that I worry about with the other proposed splits, but treating the people going for *actual* National championships differently than everyone else doesn't bother me as much. Others' mileage may vary.

(And yes, I realize that splitting the championship level dancers off doesn't necessarily solve the scheduling issue that's given rise to much of this conversation.)