Mant,

Thanks for representing! I never took the rejections as specifially being an Asian thing. However, the only people who were so obvious in their disdain for beginners happened to be Asian. As they say in the commercials, "your experience may vary." Now that my skills have improved I, too, save a few dances for partners with comparable skills. I strive never to be rude to beginners, though. It's just common courtesy to at least finish the song with them (unless they're brutalizing you!). As I mentioned to Samara in a separate discussion, I've had to deal with the odd looks from the Pro Tan Russian girls who can't seem to believe that I do Viennese Waltz. I've been lucky though, to get encouragement from persons of all races. The advanced level classes tend to have more Asians and they seem tickled pink after they get over the shock of seeing me in an International Standard class (the first year I only did Latin and the Hustle). So much for generalizations about what somebody's "thing" is!

Stanley and Jennifer McCalla...A sweet and very talented married couple. They are now retired from Pro competition, but their racial mix didn't seem to hinder them, as they were amateur and pro finalists and champions for many years. They continue to teach in NYC, and adjudicate. Please don't let race deter you from from this beutiful form of art/sport.

To LenD:
I'm not hindered at all by being in racially mixed partnerships. I've never felt race was an issue in the judging. My teachers and I have generally done quite well. I was just curious about why there are so few Black people in ballroom dancing. After having done this for almost five years I would say that the cost might be a deterrant to many. But I really think it's a matter of lack of exposure to competitive or social ballroom dancing. I didn't even know "normal" people could do this until a few years ago.

Yvonne- the collegiate clubs/teams seem to be increasing in the number of African Americans and Asians. Unfortunately, due to the costs of Pro/Am comps, not many of the collegiates paticipate in the syllabus events, but, in time, enter the Pre Champ and Champ events. The Pro/Am comps' amateurs usually dance Pro/Am events with their instructors, along with Am/Am events, whereas the Collegiate Amateurs mainly dance the collegiate circuit. In most cases, they don't have a personal instructor, but a group coach. It would be nice if more Pro/Am comps gave discounts to amateur/collegiate competitors, or if the collegiate teams could raise funds to send members to Pro/Am comps to increase the number of amateur competitors. Good Luck with your dancing goals.

LenD--Do I have to be attending a college to be involved with their club or team?

To Everyone: I got an e-mail from an instructor in Barbados. She saw our discussion about Blacks in Ballroom and she's interested in getting some black dancers and/or coaches to come down to Barbados to coach and do a showcase for their Ballroom Association. If anyone's is interested she'd appreciate talking to you as e-pals. I wish I had a partner, I'd love to try something like that! I'm also interested in networking with black dancers, with a view to finding a partner and possibly organizing a showcase next year.

Yvonne- good question. I think so,or a recent graduate of that school, but to get a more accurate answer, contact Kay Teague at KayTeague@aol.com and/or Mikey Krizner at Mikey@usabda.org. They, as YCN (Youth/College Network) members, can answer your question better than I can.

Most people who dance in the U.S. get started in dance through the social dance scene. They are at least initially motivated, conciously or not, by the desire to find romance. The long history of racial bigotry in this country(and others)makes it uncomfortable for blacks to enter such a scene. Many of us may not see anything improper about a racially mixed couple but I'm afraid that bigotry is far from dead in the U.S. and only a few blacks are willing to subject themselves to the indignities of trying to enter a dating scene dominated by other ethnic groups even if their interest in only in the dance itself.

The most American of all dances, swing, was invented and popularized by blacks and it is indeed a crying shame that so few of them do this dance any longer. The ranks of skilled ballroom dancers would be no doubt enriched by the participation of blacks but it will probably be a while coming.

To illustrate my point, there was a young black man who danced at a local dance venue. He was very good and spent a lot of time working on his dancing skills. He was always energetic and cheerful and I enjoyed watching him dance.
One night, he entered a jack-and-jill contest at this venue, as he had done before, and all the men were first lined up on the floor and women's names were called to pair with them. This young man was last in line and when the lady's name was called to be his partner no one came forward.
Coincidence perhap? Maybe the lady had gone home? I doubt it. There was an uncomfortable silence and the young man was obviously embarassed about the situation. Fortunately one of the other regulars quickly volunteered to be his partner and they won the contest. I haven't seen this young man recently and it is heartbreaking to think that this incident may have killed his desire for dance. But this is the sort of thing that blacks venturing into the white and asian dominated ballroom scene will eventually encounter. The swing and country/western dance communities are no different in this regard so it is little wonder that one sees so few blacks in the dance world.

George Deliz

I don't see many blacks in ballroom, especially young men in Latin comps. I don't really feel bothered by it, though. It would be nice to see more young African-Americans getting into it, though. Would love to network with anyone interested in a silver level competitor in the Philly/Jersey area. My e-mail is Karladahl@aol.com

[This message has been edited by Dahl (edited 11-02-2000).]

In response to Toni's wondering whether a inter-racial partnership is "acceptable" in the amateur level, you should know that the
1993 National Amateur Int'l Latin Champions were Rick Robinson, who is black (and incidentally is the gentleman portraying the 6th place finalist in "Dance with Me"), and Melissa Jewkes, who is white. I got to see them dance together in Utah when they were partners back in those days, and they made a beautiful partnership. Rick is currently half of another wonderful and beautiful partnership with his current partner, who happens to also be white. Any good partnership, regardless of race, can be successful at any level of competition.

David you make many good point but I totally take offence to some of your blanketing stereotypes..

quote:

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Originally posted by David:
Asian dancers tend to be too technical in their dancing, so they have no training or natural ability when it comes to social dancing. Western music is not their thing, with the exception of the undanceable type.

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Excuse you... but what the f--- (edited by me for content)

So I am an asian male who loves ballroom dancing and I will admit I love the technical parts of dancing because I am a scientist and it is a language that I understand.

I won't say that I am the best social dancer in the world but my partners and I always have fun on the dance floor. Being a good social dancer takes many skills.

1) Being Sociable
2) Good Floorcraft
3) Practice
4) Creativity
5) Good Technique..... (how can you dance well with no technique)

I can say with little or bad technique you can get used to one partner but to social dance you need technique... so you are basically not draging and shoving your partner on the floor...

I never heard of someone say that they are good dancers but they are too technical... They may say they need more creativity or more feeling but never less of a good thing.

And who has this "natural" ability or gets training to social dance... Hmm as I remember when I went to dances at highschool.. most people were afraid to dance and it was a struggle to just change weight with each other.... It was fun but "natural" ability???

If you doubt the social abilty of this Asian dancer then please come to the SF bay area and watch me...

Richie Hom