Prestige awards

[elisedance]

http://www.prestigeawards.org/ (referred by etp)

A 'people's choice' awards for ballroom dance.  Neat idea to allow participants and viewers alike to vote for their favorite dancers.  There are the obvious catagories of best male and best female pro or amateur, best couple, favorite judge etc. 

Whats a bit odd is that there is no breakdown for style - it seems that latin/rhythm/smooth/standard are all pooled together.
A nice thing (as noticed by etp) is that pro/am makes it onto the list but its a bit disappointing that this is only for showdance.  Still, its a step in the right direction.

Perhaps the organizers will add to the list if it takes off.  One concern is that as a 'people's awards' the outcome may reflect mostly television appearances and not anything really to do with dancesport. 

I suggest a ranking of 3 stars /5 for now - to be reviewed when we see how it works out and develops.... (for example if anyone notices)

[QPO]

I will take a look...and them comment 

[Prestige Awards]

Prestige Awards were not created to only support the competitive dancesport community, but to eventually support all form of dance and those that support dance (designers, vendors, etc).  All other past awards in the ballroom competition circuit have been selected based on a committee nomination and usually only honors professional dancers.  These past awards have never considered amateurs,  pro/am dancers, vendors or designers.    We specifically chose to not have competition only based category awards because many dancers do not just dance one style but multiple styles and multiple divisions.   We called it a people’s choice because the nominee choices were being made across the country by people in the dance community and not by a single governing committee.  It had nothing to do with television.
 
The first round of voting started at USDC September 2008.  There was a list of 19 different categories that were outlined after doing a survey at dance studios, competitions, performances to find out what people would like to see regarding awards.  The idea was to start of with obvious key categories and then add new ones down the road.  We received many emails with suggestions for new categories that we plan to add next year and the year after.

The survey where voters could write in the people or company they wanted to nominate had the following definitions outlined for each category.  What you describe as the definition for the Pro/Am award is a misinterpretation.  The correct definition is listed under number 8.  The people who voted had these guidelines to help them make decisions on who they wanted to vote on.  Voting was open for 4 1/2 months.  Announcements to vote were made at various competitions, studios, emails, postings etc.   The information was collated by an independent 3rd party setup through Access dance for voting.  People could only vote once based on emails and computer IP address.   Once the voting closed we received the results and the nominees were selected based on the number of nominations each nominee received.   The nominee with the most nominations became nominees of that particular category.     A second round of voting that allowed voters to select the nominee of their choice within that category.  Voters could select only one name per category.  This voting took place from the end of January through June 1st, 2009, again by an independent 3 party vendor via access dance.

It took a great deal of work, planning and research to create this project and complete it in one year.  Like any new under taking we hope to improve it year to year.   I hope the definitions will add some clarity to what people based their selections on.

Category Definitions

1.   Favorite Masters of Ceremonies
   Who is the voice of Ballroom?  This incorporates competitions, shows and events.

2.   Best/Favorite Female Coach / Best Male Coach
   Who is the best all around coach in all Dance categories?

3.   Best/Favorite Choreographer
   No additional clarification needed.

4.   Best/Favorite Professional Male Dancer / Professional Female Dancer
   Who is your favorite dancer out of all Dance categories?

5.   Best/Favorite Professional Couple
   Who is your favorite performance couple? 
   Who captivates your attention from choreography to emotion?

6.   Best/Favorite Amateur  Male Dancer / Amateur Female Dancer
   Who is your favorite dancer out of all Dance categories?

7.   Best/Favorite Amateur Couple
   Who is your favorite performance couple? 
   Who captivates your attention from choreography to emotion?

8.   Best/Favorite Pro/Am Performance in any division
   Who is your favorite Pro/Am Performance couple?
   Who captivates your attention when they compete from choreography to emotion?

9.   Best/Favorite Studio
   Nominate your favorite studio based on the studio environment and caliber of
                teachers.      Is this studio like a second home? 
   Do you feel comfortable from the minute you walk in the door, till when you
                leave? 

10.   Best/Favorite Competition
   What is your favorite competition to attend?
   Consider your experience at the competition from the moment you arrive to the    moment you
                leave at the end.
        Who provides the best hospitality?
        Who caters to the competitor as well as the spectator?
        Does the competition focus evenly on all entry types or not?
               Such as Professional, Pro/Am and Armature categories.
11.    Best Dress Designer
   What dress or dresses are most memorable to you and who created that look?

12.    Best Men’s Wear Designer
    Who designs that GQ look on and off the floor?

13.   Best Accessory Designer / Vendor  (e.g. Shoes, Jewelry, Practice Wear)
   Who brings the “BLING” to ballroom dancing on and off the floor?

[elisedance]

PA: thank you very much for joining the forum and for your description and clarification of the awards.  I'm sure some of our members will vote next year - by all means drop in and give us a reminder and we can initiate a discussion about our favorites.  Although its over this year maybe someone would like a shot at the list above.

When will this years awardees be announced?

ee

[Prestige Awards]

The Award Winners have been posted on the Prestige Awards Website  www.prestigeawards.org

If you have suggestions for additional categories for next awards nomination ballot please send your suggestions along.  You can also send a email directly from the website listed on the welcome page.

[elisedance]

thanks again PA

How about it everyone: what additional catagories would you suggest?

[Ginger]

Why... Loooooky theeeeere... Is that... DAAAAVID HAAAAAMILTON's name I see? THAT's a familiar name...

I know several of us knew all along that he knows what he's doing. Apparently so do tons of judges who continually mark his students in the top places repeatedly.
 
Congratulations Nashville for mopping the floor!

<this sarcastic moment of smug I See What You Did There brought to you by one smug heifer who is a die-hard Hamilton Fan>

[elisedance]

thank you Ginger.  Lets hope you did not just kick the hornets nest.

Besides, people's awards are great to monitor public opinion but they often do not correlate with standards in a field... for example, I doubt the greatest shakespearian actors ever won a people's award....

[emeralddancer]

I do not even know who David Hamilton is. (though recently have been told) but still never seen his dancing. sigh .... and I have been in ballroom for 2 yrs. I am sure he is good.

However it seems my idea of good is not like everyone elses. hahaaa .... (alot of top latin dancers I seem to be in the minority of liking)

However I seem to know all the russians.  nuts.

But as to the awards. Looks like to me (I am rather not on the optimistic side here - sorry) that the same names will keep reappearing over and over in the same categories like hair and makeup ... as they are pretty much the same people at nearly every comp. Or MCs at nearly every BIG comp. So the same people will win year after year or rotate out year after year as the "changing of the guard" is not like other genera of art (ie: tv, movies)

I hope I am wrong. 

[elisedance]

I think thats a great poiont EM - about the few choices in some catagories.  Perhaps it would work better if the award was for 'the most beautiful gown' and then the web site showed the finalist gowns for a month during voting - then the small but highly talented producers would stand a chance.