A while back I read a book called "Glamour Addiction" (which I reviewed on Amazon so if you care to you can see what I had to say about it there). Recently I have read three other books about ballroom dancing, which I'm going to discuss in a future post. As I've mentioned, Mr. P and I will compete on February 6. All of these books address an issue presently in the forefront of my mind, which is ... what to wear.
Competitive ballroom dancing involves a complicated mix of technique, choreography, inventiveness, showmanship, sportsmanship, familiarity, and presentation (i.e. costume). Judges of professional competitions, pro-am competitions, and amateur competitions look for all these elements, in greater or lesser ratios depending on the event. Professional competitors, obviously, are held to the highest standard in all categories; and pro-am competitors are expected to show, by how they dress, that they take their dancing seriously.
Amateur competitors have more leeway. The judges generally have no difficulty placing couples using objective criteria like choreography and technique, so the finer details of costume rarely have an effect. In addition, USA Dance (the governing body for amateur dancesport in the U.S.) has quite strict rules about what's allowed. The older you get, and the more proficient, the more freedom you have; the Senior age divisions have minimal costume restrictions, and competitors dancing in a Championship can wear professional-caliber costumes. Conversely, younger competitors - especially in Syllabus divisions - may be required to wear simple garments.
Mr. P and I will be dancing in syllabus (Silver) and open (Novice) events. "Syllabus" means that we are restricted in our choreography to those figures found in an accepted teaching guide at Silver or Bronze level; we can't use figures from the more-advanced Gold syllabus. "Open" events have no choreographic restrictions beyond forbidding lifts, but we are not doing two different choreographies; we'll use the same routines in both events.
We are now actually in the Senior II age division. This means I can wear whatever I want as long as my goodies are covered. We'll be dancing in Smooth (waltz-tango-foxtrot) at the Southwest Regionals, and I'll be wearing a professionally-made ballgown (my first!) that is a hand-me-down from a friend. Mr. P has the choice of a full tuxedo, or dance pants with jacket or vest.
Since we are *only* dancing in Smooth, I will have no costume changes and can arrange a hairstyle appropriate for the ballroom. It'll certainly be an updo, I'll be refreshing my color this weekend, and there may be rhinestone pins involved. We'll have to check the schedule a couple of days before to see what time our first heat will be. With any luck, it won't be too hideously early. Because I also have to do my makeup, and this will not be the five-minute drive-by that I do on a workday.
The night before, I'll lacquer my nails - something I only bother to do for special occasions - lay out my costume bag, and prepare a day bag with my emergency kit. This will include a needle, scissors, and thread in case of damage to my dress; baby wipes; eye drops; snacks and a water bottle; a small towel; my camera; and anything else I can anticipate a need for. Depending on the heat schedule, we may be at the Long Beach Convention Center from early morning to midnight. Most likely, our heats will be over by midafternoon, and we can decide then if we want to stay through the evening to watch the championship events.
Sometimes the backstage clips from "Dancing with the Stars" give the viewer a taste of what goes into putting on a ballroom performance. Amateur competitors don't, as a rule, have a costume designer or a makeup artist; our coaches don't come with us to the event; we're on our own when it comes to keeping track of our gear, getting changed, getting on-deck at the right time, practicing for the event, even - like Mr. P and me - doing our own choreography. And we won't know, until the music starts, exactly what we'll be dancing to.
How in the world does this qualify as glamorous? Well, it's hard to explain. But for me, the opportunity to do the hair, to wear the false eyelashes, to put on the swirling gown is definitely part of ballroom's appeal. We don't get much glamor in our everyday lives. These days, you can get into the opera wearing blue jeans! Swooping around the floor in my partner's arms, under (if we're lucky) a chandelier or two, to some of the best music ever written ... yeah, that's glamorous. The work that we put in to make it happen? Believe me, that's not what I remember.
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