grass roots comp update

[ttd]

We had this year's event and I went to watch and support my friends who danced in it. So here's a little update on what it looks like in the middle of midwest. First, the event is run as part of our state olympics and as such, it is limited to participants living in the state. This eliminates some couples who live on the wrong sides of our two biggest cities (which straddle state borders). Hence the number of competitors is smaller than it could have been. To the point that the organizers didn't bother with age divisions this year. Although it didn't matter as most of participants were close in age. I think altogether there were somewhere around 15 couples.

[elisedance]

Can you give us some more details ttd?  How was the competition run (dances, heats, eligibility etc)?  And without the age division was there enough to make it fun?

[ttd]

There were single dances for each of the 4 styles: bronze 1, bronze 2, silver 1, silver 2, and closed and open multi-dances. I supposed there would have been gold 1 and gold 2 single dances if there were couples who could do them. They did all rhythm events, then all smooth ones, then latin, then standard. The most popular events were for smooth - its biggest heat had 7 couples in it. Latin had one couple. If the heats were run normally (i.e. less than 8 couples is a straight final), the whole comp would be over in a couple of hours at most. To make it last longer, they did semi-finals when there were more than 2 couples and gave placing medals for 1st and 2nd. Eligibility - any adult (over 18) amateur couple living in our state. Obviously most people knew each other and it would be fun to dance there just for the sake of dancing, but as far as competing goes, it's underattended at this point.

As far as local pool of participants, we mostly had married couples dancing some bronze and silver. Most of these were in their 50s and 60s. That's why I said age categories didn't matter anyway, since most would be in the same category. Plus, splitting such a small pool any further seems counter-productive.

[elisedance]

Love to see comps where the organizers are flexible and its the outcome, not the formal structure thats most important.  Going to the expense and trouble of entering, training and attending a competition when you are uncontested has always seemed rather stupid - I wish more comps would pool entrants.  However, the reason they don't is what you suggest - that they may end up with too few events to fill the time.  Thats the first time I've seen your particular solution - have semis even when there are less than 6 couples!  And why not!

The other might be to create more catagories - one way would be to combine dances in different ways - rhumba/foxtrot for example!  It would be a lot of fun....

[ttd]

Having semi-finals to get 2 couples dance off for 1st and 2nd was a mixed thing, imv. First, I thought it was a bit mean, if there were only 3 couples, to single one out and have a dance-off. Second, and this is also a seasonal/venue issue, the AC in the church gym used for the competition was weak and we're in the middle of a heat wave here. Even though I wasn't dancing, I felt as if I was slowly melting in there. My friend changed dresses half-way because she couldn't stand being in a long-sleeved dress any longer. Gents were taking off their jackets and vests and putting numbers right on the shirts. And people entered in multiple levels, if they were doing well, could be dancing for a very long time (like 8 standard sets in a row) as the room was rapidly heating up. So having fewer semi-finals might be a good thing.

[elisedance]

Ah, I see.  The AC issue relates to all comps really.  But I see what you mean about the 3-2 semis.  Perhaps if they did that for all the heats - 4-3-2-1 it wouldn't be so bad...  Actually, you would end up with a far less random result (assuming the dancers could do that much of course!

[phoenix13]

I don't know if you're still around, ttd, but I would be interested to know if this comp is still being supported.  Or did it peter out after that first event?

[ttd]

I don't know if you're still around, ttd, but I would be interested to know if this comp is still being supported.  Or did it peter out after that first event?

I pop in every once in a while. As far as I can tell, the event died. It's not listed on the state olympics site for this year, and it's not listed among the results for 2012. So I guess 2011 was its last year.

There's another local all-amateur event in the works AFAIK, scheduled for September 2013. This one won't have the state residency restriction.

[phoenix13]

Thanks for the info.   Bummer that it didn't survive.

Any details or a website for the new event?

[elisedance]

Hi there ttd

I see you've met our new posting star! 

[ttd]

Thanks for the info.   Bummer that it didn't survive.

Any details or a website for the new event?

I heard it's endorsed by USA dance, so it might be on their calendar. I haven't looked much into it since I don't have an am partner.

[QPO]

I believe that all governing bodies need to make grass roots events a priority to reestablish growth in the sport...

[phoenix13]

Thanks for the info.   Bummer that it didn't survive.

Any details or a website for the new event?

I heard it's endorsed by USA dance, so it might be on their calendar. I haven't looked much into it since I don't have an am partner.

Thanks.   I'll take a look at the USA Dance calendar.

[phoenix13]

I checked the USA Dance calendar and didn't see anything that fit the description. Grassroots is not easy. 


http://usadance.org/dancesport/competition-calendar/

[ttd]

I checked the USA Dance calendar and didn't see anything that fit the description. Grassroots is not easy. 


http://usadance.org/dancesport/competition-calendar/

No it's there. It's the first one in September.