DWAS Competitions

[DavidB]

Originally posted by Yogi_Bear
By the way, just what does it take to do well at one of these {DWAS} competitions? Would any judges care to comment? Winning
Luck! Every DWAS comp I've seen has been won by a couple of good intermediate/advanced dancers who were lucky enough to be drawn together. There are usually about 25% of the men who are good enough to win - same for the ladies. But they only have a chance if they draw a partner in the same 25%. So out of 40 men + 40 women who start, you would be looking at 2 or 3 couples who can win.

In the larger competitions like Blackpool you have the additional problem of being seen. So with 150 men + 150 women, you now have 10 couples who can win, but half of them may not even be seen in the first round.

With these odds, no-one should enter a DWAS competition with any expectation of doing well. You enter them for fun.

Judging
I can only say what I look for - other judges might have completely different views.

- I look for people who are trying to dance together - not where the man is forcing every single complicated move he can, or the lady is completely ignoring him and doing her own thing.

- I'm not as worried about presentation as I would be in a Freestyle comp (where you know your partner in advance). I expect to judge a social dance.

- I'll judge drops and seducers very critically. If it looks in the slightest bit dangerous, then you won't get any marks from me. I wouldn't mark a couple down if they didn't do any drops etc.

- If aerials are banned (as they usually are in the UK) and someone starts doing them, I'd disqualify them. If I could, I'd ask them to leave the floor there and then.

- I'd like to see a variety of moves - different shapes, different leads, different timings, extended moves etc.

- Musical interpretation is a bonus in the early rounds, but I'd look for more in the finals. I'd particularly like to see a different 'look' as the music changed.

- I don't expect everyone to smile all the time. But I don't want to see people look like they are not enjoying the dance. That includes putting the same amount of effort into the songs you like as well as the ones you don't like.

- I don't care if things go wrong occasionally - as long as you recover well, or even make something of it.

- But most of all I'm interested in lead & follow. I'd look for a man who is leading a dance, not attempting a martial art (or an amputation!). I'd look for a lady who can follow a move, react to her partner, and still be able to add any embellishments to her dancing.

David

[Rachel]

Originally posted by Yogi_Bear
By the way, just what does it take to do well at one of these {DWAS} competitions?

Greg (aka Sheepman)!

Originally posted by DavidB
That includes putting the same amount of effort into the songs you like as well as the ones you don't like.

Now that is difficult!!! How on earth do you dance well to a song you don't like?
Rachel

[Bill]

Originally posted by Rachel
[b]
Now that is difficult!!! How on earth do you dance well to a song you don't like?
Rachel


No idea............but would love to know as I find it difficult to dance in comps as it is but when a song comes on I don't recognise or don't like I can feel my stomach heave and my face drop. Trying to smile then becomes very difficult :sick:

Good list from DavidB ( as usual) but I also wonder how far recognition comes into it. Some competitiors are pretty well know on the scene and to the judges and I have a very strong suspicion that some folk get the nod because of who they are rather than how well they dance ( think this came up on another thread some time ago).

I've seen some great dancing from couples in DWAS who didn't get through and some pretty poor couples progress so not sure what other judges look for.

[Chris]

Originally posted by Rachel

Originally posted by DavidB
That includes putting the same amount of effort into the songs you like as well as the ones you don't like.[/i]
Now that is difficult!!! How on earth do you dance well to a song you don't like?
Rachel

I find dancing (well) to a song I really like almost harder than dancing to one I'm not keen on (see DB's original wording).

With my fave records I tend to get too enthusiastic, feel that my enthusiasm=dancing, and pay insufficient attention to precise movement, lead and follow etc!

With records I'm not keen on, I approach them differently. I have to be quite strict with myself. Instead of listening to the song in it's totality, I listen to the series of notes, the instruments, the voice as an instrument, the rhythms, I divorce myself from the 'feelgood' (or in my case the 'feelbad' factor and its causes). Imagine you were in an orchestra playing a piece you hated - you would concentrate on playing it well, not on the enjoyment it gave you.

When most of us enjoy a pop song it's often not an intellectual thing (unless we're musicians). We "go with the flow". But I try to remember how drunk people look on a night out, 'dancing' to chart topping popular song. If we treat the music instead as a tool for us to use while dancing the actual song becomes less important.

This might not be so relaxing or what we want to do all night, but it's a technique that can work when we're determined.

It means coming from inside, making that the starting point, rather what's outside. When what's inside is strong enough it can embrace the music and the lead and follow (and hence your partner). This is harder for a woman, but quite possible - imagine how almost any woman can change a man's attitude a little bit by her bearing and manner (in day to day life).

The enjoyment of matching movement to notes and beats and variations in the music may transfer itself to your partner - if they genuinely 'like' that track they will sometimes feel an empathy (though creating empathy using these techniques is another story).

[Yogi_Bear]

My thanks for David B for taking up the invitation to respond to my question - and doing so very constructively - and all others who have posted replies. I'm in complete agreement.

I may be cynical, but in my view the way to run these is not to give couples a warm-up track (which is actually devised to give judges an opportunity to spot the no-hopers and save themselves some time later on) followed by a competition track in which you could be tapped on the shoulder or whatever after a few seconds (great value for £5 or so). The best way is to give everyone a full two tracks, at different tempos and styles, then post up the numbers of the couples who have qualified.

And yes, please look favourably on the couple who are connecting, dancing as a couple, looking at each other reacting to what the music tells them, and so on, rather than having the man trying to execute some preset flashy move combination designed to twist his partner inside out and executed with no regard to the music (or anything else).....







:( :(

[bigdjiver]

Originally posted by Yogi_Bear
I may be cynical, but in my view the way to run these is not to give couples a warm-up track (which is actually devised to give judges an opportunity to spot the no-hopers and save themselves some time later on) followed by a competition track in which you could be tapped on the shoulder or whatever after a few seconds (great value for £5 or so).

Been there. (Le Jive) I used the warm up to teach my partner some of my special moves, which I wanted preservd on video. The video shows the judge scuttling around the dance floor as fast as her little legs would carry her to wipe us out.

I got a dance with her (unrecognised) a few months later. Good moves you've got there she said.

Ho Hum.