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Home  Vintage Guitar Articles Music All About Ballroom Dance Competitions
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All About Ballroom Dance Competitions |
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Written by MelanieLaPatin
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Tuesday, 05 January 2010 |
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Dancesport Competitions Competitive ballroom dancers invest just as much time as they do money in honing their artistic craft. Dancers can spend endless hours practicing before ever stepping foot onto the dance floors of some of the most prestigious competitions throughout the world. Competitions are organized in such a way that each couple is given the chance to showcase all of their hard work at the appropriate competitive level.
by MelanieLaPatin
Dancesport Competitions Competitive ballroom dancers invest just as much time as they do money in honing their artistic craft. Dancers can spend endless hours practicing before ever stepping foot onto the dance floors of some of the most prestigious competitions throughout the world. Competitions are organized in such a way that each couple is given the chance to showcase all of their hard work at the appropriate competitive level.
Competitions in the United States divide couples into various categories based on age and level of experience. They also organize couples in individual events into rounds depending on the total number of entries. These categorizations allow all couples the opportunity to be judged more fairly and to be placed accordingly within their field.
Categorization based on age systematizes couples based on their year of birth. It not only allows them to compete amongst other couples of the same age group, but also of the same maturity level. Because dancing is growing in interest and popularity amongst dancers of all ages, numerous age groups have been formed throughout the years. The categories are as follows: Juvenile I (ages 6-9), Juvenile II (ages 9-11), Junior I (ages 12-13), Junior II (13-14), Junior III (ages 14-15), Youth (ages 16-18), Adult (ages 19-35), Senior I (ages 36+), Senior II (ages 46+) and Senior III (ages 56+). Although couples are not permitted to compete in age categories lower than their own, they are able to compete in one age category higher to challenge themselves amongst older competitors.
Couples are further classified based on their current level of dancing. In order to develop necessary technical skills, dancers must learn various fundamental principals before learning more advanced figures. Dancesport therefore follows a syllabus that not only provides a guideline for the improvement of dancers, but is used as a way in which to determine proficiency levels at competitions. The syllabus is composed of four main levels.
The first level is Pre-Bronze, followed by Bronze, Silver and Gold. Pre-Bronze is made up of the basic figures of every dance, whereas higher levels introduce more advanced figures. Following the Gold level are open categories, which consist of Pre-Championship, Championship and Professional. The dances within these three groups are composed of non-syllabus routines, allowing dancers to express themselves through a variety of open figures.
Within a competition, there may be up to hundreds of couples competing within one single division. Because the dancers need a certain amount of time to showcase themselves to the judges, they need to go through a series of rounds. Each round divides couples into a few heats, again depending on the number of entries, so that they have enough time to be observed by the judges. The selection process also benefits the dancers as only a few couples dance at once, thus giving them just enough space on the floor to perform their choreography. The judges then recall couples they would like to see once again; those with the most recalls proceed to the next round in the competition and thus make it one step closer to the final. Following the Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds is the Final which only has room for six couples. Here the judges place the couples from first through sixth place based on their opinion of their performance. A scrutineer then calculates all of the adjudicators marks and the couples are awarded with their placement.
It can be an anxious process for couples as they dance each round and wait to see whether they were interesting enough to catch the judges eye; with each of the five dances lasting approximately two minutes, couples give their all so as to be recognized. At some prestigious International competitions, in which hundreds of couples take to the floor, making a few rounds alone can be a great achievement in itself. Of course, those eventually reaching the finals are then the role models, and demonstrate a level that other aspiring dancers try to match themselves.
Therefore, with all of the effort and dedication that dancers invest in their art, the organization of dancesport competitions is a very important factor. The classification of couples based on age and level of experience, as well as the organization within a particular division, allows couples to be judged more fairly and to be placed accordingly within their field.
About the Author:
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