Maybe its more stark when you've done both pro-am and am - and when you go from the latter to the former.  As an am you have some respect from judges etc.  As a pro-am not much if any.  Indeed alot of the pros think of pro-am just as a funding for real dancing..  I don't think that does justice to the serious pro-amers - nor to these dance partnerships (like it or not, thats what they are on the dance floor).  And labeling the am as a student just reinforces this conception of a beginner dancing with an expert.  And yet the same beginner can be individually accomplished if she/he steps out on the floor with an AM.

It does bother me.  But thats not the purpose of the Pro-Am page - thats just a place for pro-amers to congregate and share opinions.  Not that its really happened!

I do understand... did the same thing 15 yrs ago - thats why I'm in canada!

I suppose 'brutal' can be read that way - indeed thats what the word means by itself.  But do you understand 'brutally honest' as meaning willfully hurtful?  I don't.  I see it as telling the absolute truth without compromise for feelings; certainly not telling the truth in such as way as to hurt someone.

The phoenix metaphor is very fitting for me right now.

I joined the page, as well, even though I'm not clear on the mission it's trying to accomplish. *shrug*

In terms of the  issues raised in this thread, I see validity in both points of view.

Pro-am dancers are perceived as deserving of less respect than am/ams, in a lot of cases, regardless of the level of dancing involved.  There's an assumption that am/ams are serious and that pro/ams are taking a free ride on their teachers' coat tails. That is absolutely not true in a lot of cases.  A LOT of pro-am dancers are dance athletes who take their sport seriously.  Many of them ARE better dancers than their pros. BTDT.  

I'm with ttd, though. Sticks and stones, etc.  I really don't care what labels people use. I dance the dances I like the best I can.  End of story, for me. I am conscious of the injustice, but it's not worth it to me to take on a fight that's as big as people's perceptions. That's a huge fight; I choose other battles.

Yet, I see why some others think it's worth their energy to fight.

Hmm.  Hadn't thought about it that way,but no.  I see no need to disband the existing organizations.   Although you are right.  They do suffer from some of the faults that I have listed.   They must be accomplishing some good or surely they'd have gone away by now?  Of course, I don't know enough about their operation to have an informed opinion. *shrug*

From what I have seen, I think that one of the biggest issues with forming an organization for ams is that so many people think that bad things won't happen to them.   One example is the lady mentioned above who paid $50K to enter a comp.  It probably never occurred to her to push back when that ludicrous price was quoted.  It's quite likely that she knew that there are scheister (sp?) teachers out there; she just never considered the possibility that her teacher might be one of them.

Even if there had been a watchdog organization out there, it's unlikely that she (or people like her) would have benefited from it.  She didn't ask until after the fact. *sigh*  And the fact that her teacher showed up in a brand new Lexus after the comp may have had something to do with her awakening. *grin*

Hmm.  Interesting.  I disagree, of course. lol.  But interesting.  I think it's possible to be honest and kind at the same time.  Sometimes the truth hurts, but, to me, that's not the same thing as delivering the truth in a deliberately or thoughtlessly hurtful way.

definitely.  But this topic is not about honesty per se, I mean you can be honest by not saying anything, but about 'brutal honesty' which I think we all take as 'stating what you think regardless of its outcome.  You can't be brutally honest about something the person listening to will easily agree with.  Thus, I think it acutally implies being tactless.

congrats   You've certainly stacked the life-stressors - except I'm glad not to see health included.  That (of yourself or - sometimes even more of a loved one) may be the worst of all...

So do you think that the amateur couple and professional organizations should be disbanded too?  I mean they would seem to suffer from the same faults...