What I Learned At My Last Comp

Pro and I are going to meet at Starbucks instead of the studio on Wed to have coffee and do video. I told him I really need some feedback on how this one went, and all I got was "I need to see the video to give constructive feedback." :rolleyes: That's all he said on the weekend too, when it became clear hours after we were all done that he wasn't going to say anything and I finally asked what he thought.

Dude, read between the lines. All I really want to hear at the moment is something like "You did a good job and I'm proud of you." Specific technical stuff can come later.
 
FF I know what you mean about just wanting to hear your teacher is proud of you. Saturday after we drove home from our first comp together, my partner and I drove straight to the studio to show our teacher our ribbons. First he said "Im so proud of you both." Then he asked "How did you place?" In that order.

What I learned: 1. New partner dances better in comp than practice, with fewer mistakes (that I'm aware of; have not yet seen video.) 2. Make-up takes longer to put on for-real at a comp than practicing at home. 3. Assume you made recall because by the time you run over to the screen to check they've already started the next song. Just stay on the floor. 4. Verify with the registrar ahead of time that they did receive your check so you do not hold up the check-in line. 5. Wear hair as high in practice rounds as at comp so partner does not nearly lop off your bun in the spin-out. Or learn proper Standard spin-out without under-arm turn. 6. Going to a comp with a big team is fun. We had 4 to 5 other couples alongside us in the line-up in quarter finals from our team. Not sure it was a good thing for us all to be in the same heat but I think they recall overall, not recall within heats. But it did make it difficult for video with only 2 cameras an 5 couples. 7. Bring extra everything because the one item I forget my teammates will have extra and vice versa. 8. Figure out how to make that pocket corner thing stick up and not fall down. 9. A big bobby pin can substitute as a tie clip; buy partner a tie clip for his birthday. 10. Warm-up time is more precious than fix-bad-make-up-job time. 11. Do not allow close-up photos.

But most of all, my partner learned comps are fun. It was my 2nd comp, his first, and we did not know if he would like it. He liked it. :)
 
raindance said:
If there are really semis in A, I would think it may be well worth it for you, based on what you share here. But obviously do some double-checking to see if semis in your age group actually happened last year. (Would be nice to be able to securely predict that there will be a big heat again in your age and level, but I don't know how to ensure that. You or your pro may be able to get more info on past years depending on who you know, I suppose.)
Click to expand...

Michigan is a small-midsize comp that does ages differently- so A is actually up to 45, B is 46-60ish, and then there's sometimes a senior. It makes for bigger heats.

Michigan, , volunteer and Galaxy all
Do that
 
rels77 said:
Michigan is a small-midsize comp that does ages differently- so A is actually up to 45, B is 46-60ish, and then there's sometimes a senior. It makes for bigger heats.

Michigan, , volunteer and Galaxy all
Do that
Click to expand...

Good to know, thank you! I hadn't heard of any comps that did that. Nice to know of somewhere to try when looking/hoping for bigger heats.
 
FF the only way to find out of you are good enough is to go!!!! Its okay so long as you move up year after year.. You can't dance in a vacuum....literally and figuratively
 
rels77 said:
Michigan is a small-midsize comp that does ages differently- so A is actually up to 45, B is 46-60ish, and then there's sometimes a senior. It makes for bigger heats.

Michigan, , volunteer and Galaxy all
Do that
Click to expand...

Huh. I just checked the forms, and it's:
Open Int’l Standard (W,T,VW,F,Q) A (18+) B (36+) C (51+)
or World Pro-Am Int’l Standard (W,T,V,F,Q) [ ] A (18+) [ ] B (36+) [ ] C (51+)

So that's normal. But their "global" scholarships - 9 dance, either traditional or standard/smooth have different age groups. And there is no open gold multi... but there are 2 different scholarships, and only 5-singles requirement (I think).

No decisions will be made until after I talk to pro on Wed for the Classique post-mortem.
 
I know... but they all require airplanes.

If I decide to test the waters in the US this year, it will be a comp that I can drive to within a day - so something like Detroit, Philly or New York.
 
FancyFeet said:
I know... but they all require airplanes.

If I decide to test the waters in the US this year, it will be a comp that I can drive to within a day - so something like Detroit, Philly or New York.
Click to expand...

Flights to major destinations like Orlando are actually less expensive than you think, even from Canada.

If you don't stay at the Swan at USDC, you can actually spend less than going to a competition in NYC... which start at 200 dollars a night... during the week. Couple that with parking at an additional 20 to 40 dollars a day, a 250 dollar flight to/from Orlando isn't really that terrible.
 
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