A while back I referred to the lessons and rehearsal Mr. P and I have undertaken as we get back into amateur DanceSport competition. On February 6, we competed in the USA Dance Southwest Regionals. Turns out there have been substantial rule changes since we last competed, and partially as a result of that, we did not place as well as we'd have liked. We should have done more homework! However, we now know everything we need to know and are looking forward to our next three outings. We will be participating in the High Desert Dance Classic, Orange Blossom Ball, and USA Dance National Championships - all conveniently listed below, with other competitions through 2nd quarter!
March ??: Dance by the Shores, UC San Diego. http://recadmin.ucsd.edu/sports/teams/dancesport. (not confirmed)
March 5-6: Vegas Showdown. www.vegasshowdown.com.
March 12-14: High Desert Dance Classic! Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, CA. www.highdesertdanceclassic.com.
March 26-28: San Francisco Open. www.sfopen.com.
April ??: Cal Poly Mustang Ball, San Luis Obispo. www.cpdancesport.org. (not confirmed)
April ??: Desert Challenge, UN Las Vegas. http://usadance.unlv.edu. (not confirmed)
April ??: Dance of the Roses, Cal Tech, Pasadena. http://ballroom.caltech.edu/comp. (not confirmed)
April 9-11: USA Dance National Championships, Downtown L.A. Marriott, Los Angeles. www.usadance.org
April 24: Cardinal Classic, Stanford. http://cardinalclassic.sbdt.org.
April 28-May 2: Emerald Ball. LAX Hilton, Los Angeles. www.emeraldball.com.
You'll note that several of these events are listed as unconfirmed. It appears that the economy has hurt some of the SoCal colleges who've put on events in the past. I'm hopeful that collegiate dancers will join us at High Desert. It's an unusually fun event, with lots of workshops and social dancing, as well as competition.
We went to Orange Blossom Ball last year where Mr. P competed with an acquaintance of ours. It was an exceptionally well-run event and we are looking forward to participating this year. And finally, USA Dance Nationals: we went years ago when it was held in San Jose, and then a few years later we traveled to Minneapolis to compete in Nationals again. But we're thrilled that it will be here in Los Angeles - it was an opportunity not to be missed.
A bit of Clarification
I am now a certified ballroom instructor, so how is it that I can still compete as an amateur? Well, USA Dance is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee. As such, they've been working for years to bring rules for amateur dancesport into line with the rules for other USOC organizations. One of those changes was relaxing the ban on amateurs earning money by teaching/coaching.
A ballroom instructor can still compete as an amateur competitor as long as 1) s/he is not employed by a dance studio as an instructor (i.e. is a freelancer); and 2) s/he is not registered to compete as a professional with NDCA. Since I teach only a few hours a month, out of my home, and am not pursuing a professional competitive career, I am still eligible to compete as an amateur. Yee-ha!
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