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Essentials for Ballroom Dance Competitions |
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Thursday, 23 August 2007 |
by Aria Nosratinia
Although dance competitions can be exciting and fun, overlooked details can ruin your day. The following is based on my experiences, and those of other college dance competitors, written for a group of novices.
Enjoy Yourself: You're there to have fun! Don't get too wrapped up in how many dances you placed or how many medals, ribbons, or trophies you won. You might not take any home but, with the right outlook, you'll award yourself with memories to share with your great-grandchildren.
Arrival: Give yourself ample time to register, get your competition number, find a dressing room, stretch, warm up, calm down, and find your partner(s) before your first dance. In the program, mark the dances in which you're participating.
Goodies: Take your clothes, shoes, consumables, and other stuff in a bag that, when full, will fit under a chair in the ballroom.
I recommend:
Two pairs of shoes and two dance outfits (to change when soaked with sweat);
Safety pins to attach number or make quick fixes to clothing;
Thread and needle for not-so-quick fixes;
Towel;
Pain reliever/muscle relaxant;
Writing utensils;
Grooming tools such as comb, makeup, hair spray, razor, etc.
Food/water: Competitions are usually day-long affairs. You'll need to eat and drink. Water, other beverages, and food might be hard to find in or near the ballroom. Take foods high in carbohydrates such as breakfast bars, power bars, bagels, peanut butter sandwiches, and bananas. They provide instant energy and don't take up much space. If food and drink are conveniently available, please patronize the vendors to ensure that your competition is profitable enough to return to the venue.
 Warmup: If you are participating with multiple partners, try to warm up with each of them dancing each of your dances. Cover all of the floor to get a feel for its quality, speed, consistency, and to find its flaws. If it's too fast, brush your shoes' soles gently a few times. If too slow (not often the case), go to the corners of the room where there is usually a small residue of dust on the floor; rub the soles of your shoes in that dust a few times. You should have talcum powder to apply a tiny quantity to the soles of your shoes.
Multiple partners: Write your partners' names on your program. Arrange to meet them near the floor to avoid delay when your dance is announced. If your partner dances the dance before yours, meet as your partner leaves the floor.
Entrance and Exit: Very Important!
At a well-organized competition, the sequences of dances are known in advance. Before a dance starts, be ready to get on the floor with your partner. The emcee will announce: “. . . the next dance is . . ; Beginner level; first heat”. The Leader will offer an arm to the Follower to go to the floor as a couple. Don't forget to smile.
Where on the floor should you go? For Latin, it doesn't matter much. Personally, I feel better if I'm in the periphery of the floor, as opposed to the center, because I feel I'm better seen by the judges. In standard/smooth, however, positioning is more important. The “premium spots” are the two corners that are at the beginnings of the floor's long sides. Thus you have the length of the room to complete your initial pattern. Second best spots are the two other corners.
Once in position, separate from your partner. The Leader should stand with back to the judges so they can see the number. After judges have noted the couples, the emcee will say something like: “. . . This is the first/second/semifinal heat, judges bring back n couples”, or “. . . this is the final heat, judges place all couples”. This is your cue. The emcee will then say “Music please” and the music will play.
At this point, the Follower goes to the Leader and gets into closed dance position. In Latin dances, one might want to do an intro, but I'm assuming that you are beginners and don't want to bother with such stuff.
When you are together and in dance position, take your time to make sure you are on the correct count before starting to dance. It is important not to rush. Judges might forgive many things, but they will never forgive the wrong tempo or being on the wrong count. But you don't want to wait too long either, especially in smooth/standard dances: the couple behind you is waiting for you to get out of the way.
At the end of the dance, the Leader spins the Follower out and they bow to the audience. They then come together and leave the floor arm in arm. Or, especially in Latin, the Follower Leads the way off the floor and the Leader Follows. Don't forget to smile!
Attitude: Remember, you are being judged from the instant you walk on to the dance floor. Attitude is key! Even if you haven't a clue as to what you are doing, pretend you are the greatest dancer the world's ever seen: walk erect, smile at the audience and judges, and look up as you take your stance. Do the same as you walk off, even though you might have screwed up. The judges will get to know you as the day goes on; do your best early on, and it will help you later. In my experience, if the judges like you early on, you could get a break later if you make a little mistake. Making a good first impression is important. You can acknowledge a judge with a smile as you dance past. But don't go overboard on this.
For Women: Courtesy of Kim-Anh Nguyen of the University of Pennsylvania.
Clothes: Costumes are usually not allowed in college competitions. Wear a longer full skirt or dress for Smooth. It's best not to wear black because the man will take away from your line if he's wearing black. If you trip on your long skirt going backward in one of the smooth dances, don't panic. Make a little hop, get it out of your way, and keep on dancing. It helps to step backward with good technique, keeping your weight forward, so that you know you've stepped on your dress without tripping and falling. For Latin/Rhythm, wear either a short, flippy dress/skirt, or a long, slender dress with a high side slit. The slit MUST be high enough for you to move your left leg freely. You might alter the dress to get the slit high enough. Bright colors are preferable since you will be more visible, but you may also wear black. Your arms should be bare or the sleeves should be short so that your wrists and hands show as you do your arm movements and extensions. If your dress has thin straps, you might tape or tie them together with rubber bands so they will not fall off of your shoulder as you dance. Always take several dresses in case you have a tear in one. Always take safety pins, needle and thread, and scissors in case of emergencies.
Hose/underwear: Wear flesh-colored stockings, dance tights if possible. The tights should be sandal foot and “sheer to waist” because showing the stocking panty when you swirl looks bad! For Latin, you might also wear flesh-colored fish-net tights. Especially for Latin, you should wear dance trunks or briefs. Panties or girdles made of Lycra will hide your underwear.
Shoes: If you don't have dance shoes, wear heeled sandals for Latin and pumps for Smooth. For pumps, you should wind cellophane tape around your foot (in the shoe) at the instep to keep them on while you are dancing. Take several different pairs to see which fits best at the competition.
Hair/makeup: Essential! Hair must be in a bun atop your head (to enhance your lines), or be very short. The saying for hair is: “Not one loose strand!” Take tons of bobby pins and hair spray to keep your hair in place. Hair flailing about and hitting your partner's face looks very unprofessional. Wear lots of makeup especially on your eyes and lips. It's OK if you think it gaudy and overblown. This is a competition! The point is to look good to the judges and the audience, not your partner. The judges are far away and overdoing makeup compensates for that distance. Most women polish their nails and some use fake eyelashes (you don't have to). Take your makeup and mirror to the ballroom to freshen up. Take a towel to pat perspiration during the competition.
For Men:
Clothes: Costumes are usually not allowed in college competitions. For Standard/Smooth, wear dark dress pants, white shirt, and a regular neck or bow tie. You could try a vest to see how it looks. I usually avoid wearing a jacket during the dance because regular jackets have padded shoulders and the armpit is usually cut too low. When in closed dance position, the shoulders of such a jacket hunch up. This gives a really bad look, especially since one of the points of good dance posture is to keep the shoulders down. For Latin, wear dark dress pants and a white or colored shirt. Latin shirts are good; you cannot go wrong with black. You can go for frills, but be careful — it could look good, or it could look really silly. If you decide on color, try to match it to your partner's dress.
Shoes: Wear leather shoes with leather, suede, or synthetic soles. Avoid shoes with rubber or spongy soles. The shoes should give you good arch support. Specialty dance shoes are your best choice.
Accessories: Belt buckles, brooches, rings, bracelets, watches, and loose necklaces are potentially trouble-some and could even be hazardous. This becomes an issue mainly in the Latin dances. This is espe- cially important for Swing/Jive. Try to avoid them all.
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Fred Astaire, 1899-1987: His Acting, Singing and Dancing Changed the American Motion Picture Musical |
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Saturday, 30 June 2007 |
| Fred Astaire, 1899-1987: His Acting, Singing and Dancing Changed the American Motion Picture Musical | Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made nine movies together that people still enjoy today. Transcript of radio broadcast:
30 June 2007
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(MUSIC)ANNOUNCER: VOICE ONE:  | | Fred Astaire | The year is nineteen thirty-two. The United States is suffering the greatest economic depression in its history. Jobs are hard to find. One young man is attempting to get a job dancing in the movies. Earlier, he and his sister had made a short film showing how they danced and sang. A motion picture company official watches the film. He writes this about the young man: "Can't act. Can't sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." Even with this poor report, the young man still gets a job in the movies. And -- in time -- his acting, singing and dancing changed the American motion picture musical. His name was Fred Astaire. (MUSIC: "I Want to Be a Dancing Man") VOICE TWO: Fred Astaire was born in the Middle Western city of Omaha, Nebraska, in eighteen ninety-nine. He was the second child of an Austrian beer maker, Frederick Austerlitz, and his wife, Ann Gelius Austerlitz. Fred and his sister, Adele, learned to dance when they were very young. Their mother took them to New York to study dance. They performed in their first professional show when Fred was ten years old and Adele was twelve. Later, as teenagers, the two danced in many shows throughout the United States. Their first big success was on Broadway in nineteen seventeen. One critic wrote that Fred danced as if he had no bones. VOICE ONE: The Astaires -- as they were known -- quickly became Broadway stars. During the nineteen twenties, they sang and danced in eleven different shows. They also performed in England. In nineteen thirty-two, Adele Astaire married a British man, and stopped performing. Critics had always considered her a better dancer than her brother. But Fred did not give up. He would go on alone, in the movies. Many years later in the film, "The Bandwagon," he played a man in a similar situation. (MUSIC: "By Myself, Alone") VOICE TWO: One of Fred's first films was called "Flying Down To Rio." It was in this movie that he first danced with a young woman named Ginger Rogers. Fred and Ginger were not the stars of the picture. But when they danced this dance, The Carioca, everyone knew that something important was happening in the world of movie dancing. (MUSIC: "The Carioca") VOICE ONE: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made nine movies together. Their dancing  | | Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers | was considered -- and still is considered -- the best ballroom dancing in the world. Dance critic Arlene Croce wrote: "Astaire and Rogers became the most popular team the movies have ever known. Their dancing was a vehicle of serious emotion between a man and a woman. It never happened in the movies again." Many great American songwriters wanted to write songs for Fred and Ginger. Among them were Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin. They liked the way Fred sang a song. He did it simply, with respect for the words. One of these songs was Cole Porter's "Night and Day." Fred sang it to Ginger in the movie "The Gay Divorcee." (MUSIC: "Night and Day") VOICE TWO: Fred Astaire made forty other films. In addition to Ginger Rogers, he danced with many other talented women. Rita Hayworth. Eleanor Powell. Judy Garland. Cyd Charisse. Leslie Caron. Fred also danced alone in some very unusual places. He danced up walls and on the ceiling in the film "Royal Wedding." He danced on rooftops in "The Belle of New York." He danced on roller skates in "Shall We Dance?" And he danced with firecrackers exploding at his feet in "Holiday Inn." VOICE ONE: Fred Astaire made all this look easy. But it was not. Critics have said his technical skill was the greatest in the histor  | | Fred Astaire working on a dance | y of the movie musical. He said: "Dancing is a sweat job. You cannot just sit down and do it. You have to get up on your feet. It takes time to get a dance right, to create something memorable. I always try to get to know my dance so well that I do not have to think, 'what comes next?' Everything should fall into line. And then I know I have got control of the floor." VOICE TWO: Before each movie was filmed, Fred Astaire and his partner worked for as many as six weeks to plan each step and movement. He also planned how the cameras would photograph them, so that as much dancing as possible could be filmed at one time. Earlier, movie directors had photographed dancers showing one part of their body at a time as they danced. Fred would not permit this. He wanted moviegoers to see his whole body at all times. And he would not permit any camera tricks to make his dancing appear smoother or faster than it was. In nineteen forty-nine, Fred Astaire won a special award for his film work from America's Motion Picture Academy. He also won awards from the television industry for a number of his television programs. VOICE ONE: Fred stopped dancing in nineteen seventy. He was more than seventy years old at the time. He said a dancer could not continue dancing forever. He said he did not want to disappoint anyone, even himself. He danced again in public only once after that. It was with another great male dancer, Gene Kelly, in the movie "That's Entertainment, Part Two". Fred did not always appear as a dancing man. He had a dramatic part in the movie "On The Beach" in nineteen fifty-nine. And he starred in a non-dancing television series called "It Takes a Thief". VOICE TWO: Fred Astaire and his first wife, Phyllis, raised three children. Phyllis died in nineteen fifty-four. Twenty-five years later, Fred married race horse rider Robyn Smith. Fred Astaire died on June twenty-second, nineteen eighty-seven. He was eighty-eight years old. He was called the greatest dancer in the world. His dancing was called perfect. And moviegoers everywhere will remember him as a great performer whose work will live forever in his films. (MUSIC: "I Want to Be a Dancing Man") ANNOUNCER: You have been listening to People In America -- a program in Special English on the Voice of America. This program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe were the narrators. I'm Shirley Griffith. |
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How to DJ a Ballroom Dance |
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Sunday, 14 January 2007 |
| Written by Dave Cho | | Saturday, 23 September 2006 | | I think there are three caveats that govern DJing: - Not all dances are created equal
- Not all music is created equal
- Be aware of the unwritten social conventions
Not All Dances Are Created Equal Sure, there are 19 "mainstream'' competitive dances -- but that doesn't mean that you should play as many paso dobles as you do waltzes. In general, I'd say there are three classes of dances. First Class: Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Cha Cha, Rumba, Samba, Swing, Jive
Second Class: Viennese Waltz, Mambo, Salsa, Hustle, West Coast Swing
Third Class: Paso Doble, Bolero, Argentine Tango, Merengue
In general, you want to play more of the "first class'' dances more than the "second class'' or "third class''. (Some would argue that quickstep and samba are first-and-a-half class, so given a choice to play an extra samba or an extra cha cha, you should probably opt for the cha.) How much more, I'll address later. Not All Music is Created Equal Unless you've just started dancing, you should know by now that there is a lot of bad music out there. Pick up almost any ballroom dance CD and spin to a random track: chances are, it'll make you wince. The lesson here is: never use music you haven't listened to. When you listen to music, you should be doing a few things. The first is quality: is the singer or band like Frank Sinatra or Metallica? Next: is the tempo right? Sure, Scott and Fran's Paso Doble from the Strictly Ballroom soundtrack sounds like a Paso Doble... but it's in 3/4 time, not 4/4 time. Not to mention that it's way too fast. You can find a listing of dance tempos on Mark's Music FAQ page. Then of course is character: there's a lot of 4/4 music out there, but that doesn't mean that Alanis Morissette's music makes for good ballroom dance music. Mixing the Music Great; so you've listened to a lot of music, picked out which songs are nice, etc., so now what? Let's take the canonical 60 minutes of dance music. Let's assume each track is 2.5 minutes long; that makes for 24 songs. Step one: alternate Latin and Standard songs. So now we need 12 Latin and 12 Standard tracks. So, we might use something like the following: - Waltz
- Cha Cha
- Tango
- Rumba
- Foxtrot
- Samba
- Quickstep
- Jive
Quick, what's wrong with the above? Well, let's see... we alternated Standard and Latin songs, so that's good. They're all first-class songs, so that's good. But look at what's next to each other: tango, rumba, foxtrot. Quick, get some coffee! And what's worse: samba, quickstep, jive? Who's going to be alive after that? So the lesson is: alternate fast and slow dances, too. Can you always do that? Probably not -- but try. OK, so before we fix that, we think to ourselves: we want 24 songs. There are 8 first-class dances and 4 second-class dances and 4 third-class dances. But we probably want more than a 2:1 ratio of first-class to second/third-class dances. So something like 16 first-class dances, 5 second/third-class dances... that leaves us with a shortfall of 3 songs. But most of the second/third-class dances are Latin, so we'll add 3 more Standard first-class dances. So then we get something like this: 1. Swing 2. Waltz 3. Paso Doble 4. Tango 5. Cha Cha | 6. Foxtrot 7. Rumba 8. Viennese Waltz 9. Samba 10. Quickstep | 11. Hustle 12. Waltz 13. Jive 14. Foxtrot 15. Mambo/Salsa | 16. Tango 17. Cha Cha 18. Quickstep 19. Bolero 20. Waltz | 21. Samba 22. Foxtrot 23. Rumba 24. Tango |
OK, you get the idea. Is there a rule that you have to play one each of the second/third-class dances? No. If you play a paso, and no one gets on the floor, whereas the floor was half-full with the last West Coast Swing, by all means, skip the scheduled paso and play another West Coast Swing. Unwritten Social Conventions Requests If you can, take requests. Obviously, if you have a tape of music, this might be hard. But if you're DJing via CDs, then it shouldn't be too hard. Be reasonable, though -- if you played a quickstep in the last ten minutes, don't play another right away. Don't Stop Never stop a song halfway through. If the floor clears when you start the paso, fine. Everyone will take a breather. Take this as your cue to play that request for a quickstep aftewards -- everyone will be rested, right? People need to breathe, to get water, to run to the bathroom, and if everyone decides to do that during the same song, no big deal. Not to mention that stopping a song early is incredibly jarring. And leads to lack of confidence in the DJ, and all other unpleasant things. No Four-Minute Viennese Waltzes, Please Most songs can be played 2.5-3.5 minutes. Viennese waltzes, however, should not be played longer than 1.5 minutes. Samba and quickstep are better in the 2.5 minute range. So pick music that won't go on and on and on. Mood Crafting Even in rock clubs, good DJs will mood craft: they start the evening off at a somewhat upbeat note. Generally, over the next 45 minutes, the music will get faster, peak, get slower, and then return to its original starting level. Which dances you pick, and what songs you use for them, can contribute to this effect. Final Waltz Probably the biggest convention is that of Final Waltz: the last song of the night is a waltz. This irks latin-only dancers to no end, of course, but they get to wear cool outfits, so no one minds ignoring them. I think it's nice to play a Final Rumba before the Final Waltz myself, but I'm not exactly a major force of ballroom fashion. Note: people remember the most recent thing much more that distant events. So if you screwed up in earlier in the evening, this is nothing compared to not giving a room full of ballroom dancers closure by playing a final waltz. Especially if it's a traditional final waltz, like Bon Soir, a lot will be forgiven if you do that right. Credits |
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Dance Moves Fuel Outrage |
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Tuesday, 24 October 2006 |
Dances throughout the centuries have sparked cries of immorality.
• The waltz dates to the 17th century. After its introduction, the Times of London wrote: “It is quite sufficient to cast one’s eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressure on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females.” • The tango originated in the brothels of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the late 19th century. The Vatican tried to suppress “this animal dance of irresponsible languor and high-breathing passion” as it spread to Europe and the United States in the early 1900s. In 1914, the vicar of Rome wrote, “Whoever persists in dancing the tango commits a sin!” • The turkey trot, the grizzly bear and the bunny hug are among so-called animal dances of the ragtime era in the early 1900s. Municipalities across the nation passed morals codes banning these types of dances, and women who performed them were fined and even jailed.  • The Charleston, some believe, was introduced to the public in the “Ziegfeld Follies” in 1923. A speak-easy dance of the flappers, the moves include rapidly opening and closing one’s knees with “peekaboo indifference.” Critics said the dance was partly responsible for the “moral downfall” of the United States.
• The twist became an international phenomenon after Chubby Checker’s 1960 appearance on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand.” The dance, described by Checker as stamping out a cigarette with both feet while drying your backside with a towel, was denounced as vulgar by critics and banned at church dances. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 24 October 2006 )
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Cha-Cha History |
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Sunday, 08 October 2006 |
In the late 1940s, Havana, Cuba, was one of the most popular resorts for North Americans, especially those residing along the east coast. The most famous American dance bands as well as the many outstanding latin bands native to Cuba played at the city's casinos. Some of these orchestras tried combining the American JAZZ beat with the Cuban RUMBA rhythm; The result was a new rhythm called the MAMBO.
A dance was developed to the new mambo rhythm, danced to the off beat rather than the traditional downbeat. For this reason, the dance was popular mainly with dancers thoroughly familiar with complex Afro-Cuban music. However, among the many figures of the mambo was one called the "chatch", which involved three quick changes of weight preceded by two slow steps. By the early 1950s, this figure had developed into a new dance comprised of many simple variations on the basic footwork. The dance acquired the name CHA-CHA ; its characteristic three-step change of weight carried the identifying verbal definition, "cha-cha-cha".
The cha-cha inherited much of its styling from its parent dances, the rumba and the mambo. Like most latin dances, it is done with the feet remaining close to the floor. The dancers' hips are relaxed to allow free movement in the pelvic section. The upper body shifts over the supporting foot, as steps are taken.
Cha Cha
When the English dance teacher Pierre Lavelle visited Cuba in 1952, he realised that sometimes the Rumba was danced with extra beats. When he returned to Britain, he started teaching these steps as a separate dance (Lavelle, 1975, 2). The name could have been derived from the Spanish 'Chacha' meaning 'nursemaid', or 'chachar' meaning 'to chew coca leaves' (Smith, 1971, 161), or from 'char' meaning "tea' (Taylor, 1958, 150), or most likely from the fast and cheerful'Cuban dance: the Guaracha (Ellfeldt, 1974,59). This dance has been popular in Europe from before the turn of the century. For example it is listed on the program of the Finishing Assembly in 1898 of Dancie Neill at Coupar Angus in Scotland (Hood, 1980, 102).
It has also been suggested that the name Cha Cha is derived onomatipeically from the sound of the feet in the chasse which is included in many of the steps (Sadie, 1980, 5/86).
In 1954, the dance was described as a "Mambo with a guiro rhythm" (Burchfield, 1976, I/473). A guiro is a musical instrument consisting of a dried gourd rubbed by a serrated stick (Burchfield, 1976, I/1318).
The Mambo originated in Haiti, and was introduced to the West in 1948 by Prado (Burchfield, 1976, II/809). The word "Mambo" is the name of a Voodoo priestess in the religion brought by the Negroes from Africa (Ellfeldt, 1974, 86). Thus the Cha Cha had its origins in the religious ritual dances of West Africa. There are three forms of Mambo: single, double, and triple. The triple has five (!) steps to a bar, and this is the version that evolved into the Cha Cha (Rust, 1969, 105) (Sadie, 1980, 100).
The "Cha Cha" is danced currently at about 120 beats per minute. The steps are taken on the beats, with a strong hip movement as the knee straightens on the half beats in between. The weight is kept well forward, with forward steps taken toe-flat, and with minimal torso movement. The chasse on 4&1 is used to emphasise the step on beat 1, which may be held a moment longer than the other steps to match the emphasis of the beat in the music.
Modern Ballroom Cha Cha
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