I was reading a DanceBeat article on-line, and they were talking about this competition. Its now scheduled to take place September 11th, 2005....right after USDSC. I stumbled upon the sight.
The article mentioned that the NDCA received inquiries from Europe, Asia and Australia about the comp. Sounds exciting, sounds legitimate, and it sounds like something serious pro-am competitors can aspire to.
What do you guys think?
Will it add some long-sought-for legitimacy?
What will it do to the level of competition?
What effect will the proximity to USDSC have, if any??
Is anyone here excited about it, or plan on making it part of their competition calendar?
What do you guys think? I think it sounds like a great idea for the serious Pro/Am competitors.
Will it add some long-sought-for legitimacy? I'm sorry to say but probably not. There will always be gossip about how much someone paid to get their pro to dance with them, and how political and unfair it is, and how much the pro is compensating for the amateur, and all the other kind of anti-pro/am sentiment that always goes around. Still, in spite of all that, I think it's a good thing that will keep the top people motivated. It's always great to have higher goals to strive for.
What will it do to the level of competition? It depends on how seriously people take it. I would say, though, that by keeping the top people motivated and giving everyone something to aspire to, that it will keep some serious dancers in dancing longer, and so they will all develop to a higher level over time.
What effect will the proximity to USDSC have, if any?? I think it will encourage overseas participation.
Is anyone here excited about it, or plan on making it part of their competition calendar? I'm excited for it for the people who will get the most out of it -- the top dancers who have been in Pro/Am for the long haul and who would like something new and bigger to strive for. As for me, I was never in that league anyway so it doesn't mean much to me. Still, if I happen to be at the USDSC I'll definitely want to watch it.
You're right, Laura, of course, regarding anti pro-am sentiment. Those who believe its nothing will probably continue to think that.
Its my hope that it will up the level of competition and give the top people something to strive for.
I remember, when I first started competing, there was a young lady that competed with John King at the King's Ball. She was spectacular. Blew everyone away...she was competing Open Gold and Scholarship, and I was in Bronze. I saw her performance as something to shoot for. I never saw her again.
Its been 2 years since I've competed and I still wonder what happened to her (there could be many reasons for not seeing her, of course...but from what I've seen since then, she would still compete at the highest levels).
The next logical step would have been for her to look for an amateur partner. Where has she gone?
Any way...hopefully, as you pointed out Laura, a worldwide competition will keep someone like her dancing.
The girl that your talking about is Lenka Zouharova. She was very good I know she won the Ohio Star ball 3 years ago and then I've never seen her after that not ven with another amateur partner. I've noticed this pattern of many of the really good pro.am dancers not dancing anymore, even Eddie Ares girl valerie rohklin, the winner at the usdsc no longer dances.
Thank you, Prosiak....Lenka Zouharova is EXACTLY who I'm talking about. I've also recognized the trend you mention in your post, and its a shame. What's going on, I wonder? Either they run out of funds or interest. Or they have trouble, for one reason or another in finding an amatuer partner. Even though I can't imagine this being the situation with Lenka, maybe her pro-am roots took her out of the running as far as some amatuer men were concerned.
Who knows...maybe a world title will bring 'em out of the woodwork.
Not being snippy, but how can there be a World Pro-Am title when it is done almost exclusively in the US? Pro-am is not looked upon with seriousness anywhere else.
That's changing, or at least some people are trying to change it. There's already a contingent of dancers from Hong Kong, and I've danced against Pro/Am couples from Australia too. A few years ago Augusto was quoted as saying that he'd opened up seven Arthur Murray studios in Italy and that more were coming -- and that Pro/Am was coming to Europe, too.
And heck, people can call an event whatever they want. Look at the World Series in baseball, for instance...there's what, only one Canadian team now? The Blue Jays, right? 'Cause the Expos are moving to Washington DC....
I know that Eddie's girl quit dancing becuase she was attending school, but if you were truly passionate about dancing then you could always find ways to do both. ABout the comment that pro/am isn't looked upon seriously here: May-ling Hutchins now dances professionally with Gleb Makarov and Giselle Peacock used to dance pro-am as well. If you've got talnt and are dedicatd then you can achieve something. Look at Carmen the World champion she didn't start dancing till she was 17 and look where she is now
quote:Originally posted by Joe: Maybe she got married and had six kids.
Actually, I understand Lenka did get married and is now raising at least one baby. I understand that is the reason she quit the pro-am field. That, and other similar life-style changes, might explain why the younger dancers don't last long. Besides, once you've creamed the competition, what's the point of remaining in the field? Older dancers tend to stick around longer, partly I think because they are less likely to encounter serious life-style changes (their lives are more stable, including financially), and partly because the struggle to reach the top is so hard, one is forgiven for trying to enjoy it as long as one can. Besides, I very, very much believe that dancing helps keep you young, physically and emotionally. I think that's a big factor in keeping older women dancing for as long as they can.
I am very excited about the World pro-am championships, even though they are one more step in the seeming deluge of new pro-am titles. What the heck, we deserve to have some fun
I think this event was scheduled to take place in a separate competition run by the NDCA in Jan. 2005 (i.e. it would be the ONLY event in that comp), but for logistical reasons the arrangement was changed and it became attached to the final day of the USDSC. It is not an event of the American Ballroom Company, though. It's an NDCA event, hosted by the ABC. Kinda like they host the IDSF (amateur) events.
