picking a pro-am pro... what matters?

[samina]

My ignorance but during pro-am, do you get judged as a couple or student only?

as a student during single dances... as a couple during scholarships & championships.

apparently, this used to be debatable, with different judges seeing it differently. but new rulings in NDCA have unified the approach to the above. before that, i used to think that it was that during syllabus events, it was the student, and during open events it was the couple. but i guess we all now know what it is...

[dlgodud]

My ignorance but during pro-am, do you get judged as a couple or student only?

as a student during single dances... as a couple during scholarships & championships.

apparently, this used to be debatable, with different judges seeing it differently. but new rulings in NDCA have unified the approach to the above. before that, i used to think that it was that during syllabus events, it was the student, and during open events it was the couple. but i guess we all now know what it is...

It makes kind of sense to me. I heard from my teacher said that recently it would get judged as a couple, so we need a lot of work to do. 

[pinkstuff]

Thanks 

Makes sense now.

[pinkstuff]

So, back to the question -

]some-one who can bring out the best in your dancing
makes you work hard & pushes you to achieve,
can diagnose your failings & help you work on them,
is a great teacher & you have a good relationship together

[etp777]

and can't believe you'd question if this was really me, ED, everyone should recogznise this one as EXACTLY somethign I would say. 

[dlgodud]

I think one of the key points is that your pro should be one that is able to really believe in you.  It shows on the dance floor.  There are pros that go out there and show off their students, no matter how good or bad they are, and there are others that look as if they're apologizing for their student's performance.  I saw one particular case last year where the pro had probably the best student out there, but because he was so high on himself he looked like he was saying, "sorry, this is all she can do", and that ruined the look and energy of the partnership.  No surprises, they lost pretty badly.  

So far, all my pros whom I have been worked with, I think, they believe in me seriously. I am the one who shows that "sorry, this is all I can do", and ruin everything I guess. lol

[elisedance]

The thing is you drool during the lesson too. 

And it doesn't help the dancing! (or for me anyway  )

My ignorance but during pro-am, do you get judged as a couple or student only?

Both.

syllabus level single dances its student against student - a bit like medalist exams in Australia I suppose.

However, in multidance events (such as one heat with waltz tango and foxtrot - and these can be bronze silver gold or open) you are judged as a couple.  This makes it interesting because if you happen to live in a city with ex high-profile superstars (say blackpool finalist or national champion) AND you can afford it, you do have an edge over the competitor competing from peoria or wherever...  Sometimes it seems as if they ONLY judge the pro   IMO pro/am has a bit of development to do...

[dlgodud]

So I don't feel like I want to write in the complaint box about my journey of finding a teacher and I will write in here.

Well, I had a very interesting night yesterday. I had a lesson with my previous teacher who will be gone for 3 weeks. Heh! I had so much fun with the weather..... but not with the teacher. lol. Yeah, I understand how he felt when I said I wanted to stop lessons with him, but just curious why he wanted to teach me again when I asked him. For him, it was all business I believed and confirmed last night. So I don't think I will go back to him.

I will try with my first teacher when he comes back to see if I want to take lessons from him or not.

[elisedance]

Perhaps its time to dip into the unknown again? 

What are your main objectives in doing pro/am?  Learning, developing a partner relationship, competing, finding an AM partner?  There are lots of possibilities.  Perhaps if you identified which was most important to you it would help filtering out the possibilities?

[dlgodud]

That is good advice actually, and I am loosing the sight what I want to do.  I am not that interested in developing a partner relationship and that's probably I don't look for an AM partner seriously. Learning could be a goal, but I am not sure it could be the first priority. I guess my main goal is going out there and compete. That was my first choice.

[elisedance]

That is good advice actually, and I am loosing the sight what I want to do.  I am not that interested in developing a partner relationship and that's probably I don't look for an AM partner seriously. Learning could be a goal, but I am not sure it could be the first priority. I guess my main goal is going out there and compete. That was my first choice.

Then look to see who gets great results in your dance styles.  I don't mean who is a great pro but who wins with their ams, its an overlapping and yet different skill set

[dlgodud]

So my first teacher came back from vacation and I took his classes on Monday and yesterday. It seemed we both enjoyed dancing, not very awkward. I guess it is because we get to know a little bit more about each other and feel comfortable?? Anyway it was not bad at all. Will take a few lessons and see how it goes. 

[QPO]

So my first teacher came back from vacation and I took his classes on Monday and yesterday. It seemed we both enjoyed dancing, not very awkward. I guess it is because we get to know a little bit more about each other and feel comfortable?? Anyway it was not bad at all. Will take a few lessons and see how it goes. 

that is a positive step

[elisedance]

So my first teacher came back from vacation and I took his classes on Monday and yesterday. It seemed we both enjoyed dancing, not very awkward. I guess it is because we get to know a little bit more about each other and feel comfortable?? Anyway it was not bad at all. Will take a few lessons and see how it goes. 

Sounds good.  Does he have the 'cred' you need for competition?  Try to evaluate his limits now - I find what pro-am dancers never seem to do is to realize that each coach has a teaching limit and you have to be prepared to move on when you get anywhere close to it - all teachers can only teach up to some fraction of what they know.  Once you get close to their knowledge limit the level of training starts to drop off. 

[dlgodud]

So my first teacher came back from vacation and I took his classes on Monday and yesterday. It seemed we both enjoyed dancing, not very awkward. I guess it is because we get to know a little bit more about each other and feel comfortable?? Anyway it was not bad at all. Will take a few lessons and see how it goes.  

Try to evaluate his limits now - I find what pro-am dancers never seem to do is to realize that each coach has a teaching limit and you have to be prepared to move on when you get anywhere close to it - all teachers can only teach up to some fraction of what they know.  Once you get close to their knowledge limit the level of training starts to drop off.  

No problem of it with him. He already knows that I would leave him if I found it difficult to continue taking lessons from him. I already done that once.
It's good thing to know how much he changed and looked that he was glad to teach me again. He knows that I am very demanding and tries to push myself and him too.