Can anyone elighten me...this scholarship money that pro-am competitors win: this goes to the pros??? and how is it to be spent? at their discretion or is it to be applied to lessons for the winning amateur?

Excuse me, but didn't the NDCA declare, about two years ago, that scholarship money goes to the student, with her/his name on the check, to be used in any way he or she wants to further dancing (lessons of course, but also costuming). Any competition organizer can answer this, as they know whose name they put on the check, the pro or the student.

Yes, and it's well known that in many cases the arrangement is that the check gets endorsed and signed right over to the pro.

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Excuse me, but didn't the NDCA declare, about two years ago, that scholarship money goes to the student, with her/his name on the check, to be used in any way he or she wants to further dancing (lessons of course, but also costuming).

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Oh, really? At the beginnig of this year when I still had a partner we won some scholarship money as amateur couple at a NDCA event. While I was there for the check, I was asked who my teacher was and the check was written to our coach's name, which I had no problem at all - I did intend to take lessons no a regular basis. Of course I would still prefer the check to be written to my name because our coach travels a lot. Sometimes we don't see him for a few weeks and we would take from some other pros from the studio and by the time he comes back in town I might misplace the check or forgot to bring to him, etc. Putting my name on the check gives me the flexibility.

I'm not sure if there's an actual ruling on which way is supposed to be done, but I've had it done both ways.

ThreeStep
(shrug)

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It is being called the Hong Kong Syndrome nowadays

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'Syndrome'? It seems to me that they're doing the same thing every other pro-ammer is doing: hiring the best coach and partner you can afford. Whether or not they get higher placing because of thire partners' status instead of their own dancing is again, an old question in all of pro-am.

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...in many cases the arrangement is that the check gets endorsed and signed right over to the pro

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I just registered my first NDCA comp and noticed there were requirements for pro-am to enter scholarship events. In other words, you have to spend so much at the comp to be able to compete for scholarship. If that money is turned right back to the pro, what's in it for the students?

The students who play the game at that level are in it to win, just for the prestige of winning. It's not about winning the scholarship money, it's about winning the event itself.

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Originally posted by gingerbread:
Excuse me, but didn't the NDCA declare, about two years ago, that scholarship money goes to the student, with her/his name on the check, to be used in any way he or she wants to further dancing (lessons of course, but also costuming).

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Yes, they did. This happened because of a complaint by a Boston pro-am dancer who decided to change teachers, and wanted to use her scholarship money w/her new teacher. The former teacher refused to give her the scholarship money, & she complained to the NDCA & won. (Rumor has it, however, that the former teacher still wouldn't fork over the cash.) However, many comps still write the teacher's name on the check -- sometimes now alongside the student's name.

Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order. -- Samuel Beckett

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Originally posted by gingerbread:
It is the same Roberto Villa, and the lady is from Hong Kong. It is being called the Hong Kong Syndrome nowadays: the Hong Kong ProAms who have the funds to "convince" people who would never consider doing Pro Am to come out and do it: Roberto Villa, Andrew Sinkinson, Denis Tremblay, Paul Green, etc. Then there is Paul Killick who did ProAm at Embassy but chose not to repeat the experience at USDSC. There are lots of hard-working American ProAms with regular jobs and not much money who feel the hiring of those kind of world-class pros is out of control, but how could one stop it and how could one not understand a professional wanting to make that kind of money.I don't see how it will ever stop.

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Let's put things in perspective. Giampiero Giannico ranks higher than Roberto Villa. So let's not say that things are out of control in the HK syndrome. We've got a current Blackpool finalist in the Pro/Am game in the US.

GG is definitely a world class pro. So is Suvorov, who's retired, but used to be the same rank as Roberto Villa - Blackpool semi finalist. Craig Draper is not even close to the ranking of GG or Suvorov.

Top pros certainly help with the ranking. But the Am part would have to hold his/her own weight as well, as there're more & more top pros in the Pro/Am game.

We won some scholarship money this weekend, and the check was blank.