Why Do University Teams Spend Big $$$ on World Class Couples to Perform a Show?

[White Chacha]

...One of the risks of these shows is that new dancers will think that it's the world's best dancing, when in fact it's only one couple's doing their best.

Well, when I was a rookie, I thought the silver dancers were the world's best dancers.

Someone mentioned DWTS. That, including the pro performances for the most part, is designed as pure entertainment and not so much about the dancing.

So really, there's lots of dancing to go watch, and you can choose what suits you at any given time. That's the beauty of a marketplace.

Go out and watch some dancing!

 

[Warren J. Dew]

Well, when I was a rookie, I thought the silver dancers were the world's best dancers.

Pedagogically this may be better than watching a world champion show that early. Beginners will overtake silver level dancers within a few years if they stick with it, at which point they'll lose the misperception that anyone is perfect.

After watching a world champion couple, they may be trying to emulate the champions' flaws as well as their good technique for many years.

And the flaws are usually easier to emulate.

 

[DL]

Pedagogically this may be better than watching a world champion show that early. Beginners will overtake silver level dancers within a few years if they stick with it, at which point they'll lose the misperception that anyone is perfect.

Not so long ago I was at a comp with some good champ-level entries. I was having fun watching them. However, when I overheard someone next to me say, "I want to dance like that," I barely resisted the urge to quip, "None of them do..."

But anyway I think there's a lot of value in having chances to observe as big a spectrum of skill levels as possible, from "just stepped onto a dance floor," to "has won multiple world championships." For that matter, dancing with people from across that spectrum seems pretty valuable, too.

 

[White Chacha]

Pedagogically this may be better than watching a world champion show that early. Beginners will overtake silver level dancers within a few years if they stick with it, at which point they'll lose the misperception that anyone is perfect.

After watching a world champion couple, they may be trying to emulate the champions' flaws as well as their good technique for many years.

And the flaws are usually easier to emulate.

Maybe I'm just a good boy and try to do what my teachers are trying to teach me, rather than imitate what I see in a video ;-)

I got good competitive advice from a former amateur latin coach on my team. He suggested that one think about what it takes to beat the people dancing just above your level, and always reach for that.

 

[wooh]

And the flaws are usually easier to emulate.

If they're going to do something silly like emulate others, isn't it better that they emulate the flaws of the truly great rather than the flaws of the mediocre?

 

[Warren J. Dew]

If they're going to do something silly like emulate others, isn't it better that they emulate the flaws of the truly great rather than the flaws of the mediocre?

The flaws that world champions still have are likely the ones most difficult to eradicate. Why pick them up if you're a beginner who hasn't learned them yet?

 

[DL]

The flaws that world champions still have are likely the ones most difficult to eradicate. Why pick them up if you're a beginner who hasn't learned them yet?

If what you say is true, what are the odds that those flaws won't be picked up regardless?

Alternatively, sometimes teachers take the approach of telling their students to avoid certain bad habits that were the teachers' nemeses in the teachers' early years. Of course, that just means that the good things the teachers *did* focus on, will receive less emphasis with the students, in favor of the teachers' revised focus.

The more carefully I think about this issue, the more I believe that it's foolish to approach any learning process with an effort to "avoid the bad thing."

 

[wooh]

The flaws that world champions still have are likely the ones most difficult to eradicate. Why pick them up if you're a beginner who hasn't learned them yet?

You know, if the beginners just lay quietly in bed 24 hours a day, they'll avoid lots of bad habits!

 

[New in NY]

Pedagogically this may be better than watching a world champion show that early. Beginners will overtake silver level dancers within a few years if they stick with it, at which point they'll lose the misperception that anyone is perfect.

After watching a world champion couple, they may be trying to emulate the champions' flaws as well as their good technique for many years.

And the flaws are usually easier to emulate.

Not to be rude, but as a beginner I find your statement a bit condescending.

My husband and I are social dancers who plan to attend (as spectators) our first comp this month. Just last night, we had a discussion on this topic of whether we should plan to get tickets to watch the bronze and silver dancers and enjoy seeing a level of dancing that we might possibly hope to attain one day, or to attend on novice/champ night and enjoy watching dancers who can perform at a level well beyond anything we will ever experience. I think either will be a pleasurable experience.

I'm a DWTS fan, but even before I started taking lessons I could tell the difference between the dancing on DWTS and the comps I would sometimes watch on PBS.

 

[Quixotic]

All I can say is that I'm grateful to be able to pay a small fee to compete in a collegiate comp and then later in the evening enjoy an inspiring world-class showcase live. I think we should give individual dancers more credit, whether or not they are beginners emulating professionals correctly or incorrectly. They'll figure it out sooner or later, but the important part is they left the performance with a strong sense of wanting to become good dancers themselves (thus they will seek out their own way as students of dance).

Addressing an earlier remark about hiring local competitors, the universities near where I am here in Norcal do this to some extent. I've seen Vaidas and Jurga perform at Stanford a few years back, Maria Shibalova and Genya Mazo (at one point 2nd in the US amateur division behind Eugene and Maria) performed at Berkeley, and I hear that a local couple will be performing at Berkeley competition this year. These are some of the performances I can remember off of the top of my head, and just in latin.

 

[Chris Stratton]

If what you say is true, what are the odds that those flaws won't be picked up regardless?

I suspect the reference is to arching the lower back to project the belly, something that is not likely to develop unless under the influence of those who are willing to resort to that.

 

[Warren J. Dew]

I suspect the reference is to arching the lower back to project the belly, something that is not likely to develop unless under the influence of those who are willing to resort to that.

That's one. There's also lack of heel leads, lack of shoulder parallelism, pushing through with the inside hip when going outside partner, etc. Not all on the same couple, of course, but all from world champions.

 

[Chris Stratton]

That's one. There's also lack of heel leads, lack of shoulder parallelism, pushing through with the inside hip when going outside partner, etc. Not all on the same couple, of course, but all from world champions.

Now you've got me interested - in what types of situations where heel leads missing? Lowering beyond the lowering step onto the rising one?

 

[syncopationator]

Not to be rude, but as a beginner I find your statement a bit condescending...I'm a DWTS fan, but even before I started taking lessons I could tell the difference between the dancing on DWTS and the comps I would sometimes watch on PBS.

I don't think WJD meant it to me condescending. When I attended my first dance lesson I thought my teachers were amazing, yet they were maybe mid-bronze level dancers.

Its easy to tell that DWTS is not the same quality as ABC - for one, you already know that half the partnership is a beginner.

 

[Warren J. Dew]

Now you've got me interested - in what types of situations where heel leads missing? Lowering beyond the lowering step onto the rising one?

Primarily in forward steps in tango on the part of the lady, if I recall correctly. Not all of the heel leads were missing, though it seemed like all of the toe releases were.