Keith
7th-March-2003, 02:24 AM
We are not able to respond to all the E-mail comments on a personal basis, as we have 100's from all over the country from our own e-mails to other Forums, etc. So hear is a block response to some of your comments, starting with Davidâs concerning videoing on the day.
FROM DAVID B.
I understand this - especially for the choreographed routines (Showcase and the Teams) However I can also understand the organiser's need to restrict videos - it could make the difference between a profit and a loss, and possibly whether the competition is held again.
Would it be possible to set up a video projector in the side room where the vendors are, and show an overall view of each routine (after the competitions have finished). Then the competitors get a chance of a near-instantaneous review, spectators can see something they may have missed, and the organisers get to protect their investment. It also gets more people into the vendors' room, and could be good advertising for video sales...Hi Dave,
You have prompted the first response from a completely shattered C2D Team!!
The videoing thing has come up before & you have basically hit the nail on the head.
Chance 2 Dance was set up as a company 3 years ago, with no financial backing from any organization. We took huge risks with our own capital, which was also very limited. This will be the first year, we anticipate, breaking into some sort of net profit.
Anyway the reason I tell you all this, is as David states the video sales are an integral part of the profit & loss. If we lost money in this area, we would have to make it up in other areas.
Our aim however is to give True Value For Your Money. This means that once we are covering our costs we can pump more money into the competition, this can be in many ways, from providing greater comfort factors on the day, to Cabaret on the Friday and obviously keeping the costs down during the weekend, on tickets, video's etc.
As a team we love the dance world and have had 6 fantastic years out of it, we have some new & fantastic friends, from each corner of the UK and this is our way of putting something back into an area we have had so much from!
One other side to this is that we have to get a minimum number of orders to make it financially viable for the video company to turn up, this is in excess of 100.
JUDGING:
We try to_pick the judges from different parts of the country, sorry non Scottish yet, but will bear it in mind for next year, and from different areas of Jive, i.e Nigel & Nina, Jive Blues & Cabaret, Simon & Marilene Jive, and Cabaret, with vast experience in hosting teaching days & weekenders, James & Bridgett Lindy, West & East Coast Swing, along with Swing & Sue from Ceroc.
One thing, which is true of any competitive event, is it is up to you, the individual, to be seen by the judges. You ask any individual who has tried to be selected for any team, this is no different in a dance event. Choose your moment as well as you can, and make sure you are seen! The judges are only human & can only look in one direction at a time, or at least this is true of the Judges we use! The majority of the responsibility lies with the judges, but you must take your destiny into your own hands!
THE WARM UP TRACK:
This was used for the judges to make notes so it was easier to differentiate dancers. This is a trick most Judges use. I.e, Couple in Blue No 10, Couple in Black, Red hair, No11, etc. They are then not wasting time trying to look for numbers whilst marking contestants during the actual track that counts.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
Just a little on how the points are awarded; Once the Judges have handed their score sheets in (See below) all 3 or 4 areas of the judging criteria per dancer are entered into the computer, against that dancers number by Angelina, with another coordinator, checking the data is correct (A double checker in other words) Non of the Judges have access to this and are not allowed to discuss other judges reasons at this point, in actual fact they will not even have seen what the other Judges have scored.
This data is then sifted, in descending order; the highest scores then go through. Only if there is joint placing in the final, will the judgeâs discus these dancers to agree an overall winner, or placing.
This eliminates going purely against dancers in your group, judges swaying other judges and any biasness, as this should be averaged out. We do obviously hope & believe that our judges are above this anyway!
JUDGING CRITERIA
Below are the criteria, which our judges use for marking purposes. This was on our website for a couple of months prior to the competition, allowing dancers an insight into what they would be judged on.
Criteria: Points: Brief Description:
Costume/Presentation 1 / 3_ Dress co-ordination & overall presentation
Musicality/Interpretation 1 / 5______ _____ Showmanship, poise, using the character of the music
Technique 1 / 5 Floor craft, good usage of floor space, patterns.
Variety complexity 1 / 5 Variation, difficulty & execution of moves
MUSIC FOR EACH CATEGORY/HEAT
The overall response was good, but we have had comments as to why certain music was used for certain categories. I'm sure if it was switch round we would have had similar comments, the other way round.
However the thought pattern behind our combinations is:
Advanced dancers should be tested more than intermediates etc, they in the main are teachers, semi professionals & accomplished dancers in their own right.
We try to keep a theme & length of track the same in each category, creating an equal platform, the theme is then changed in the next round, as you progress through, by the time you have managed to get to the finals you have demonstrated you can dance to all types of music.
We try to have music from the Swing/Blues era, 70âs/80âs, Dance/Club/Hip Hop, Latin & Modern Chart, i.e Kyle etc.
All music is therefore created & timed in advance. This is another reason why people sending late applications cannot be catered for. It isnât as easy as slipping a couple more dancers in, due to floor space & timetables.
This year we did accommodate & created one extra group, next year this will not happen. Please be early with your application forms. We try to please, but it isn't always possible.
Your Comments:
I Think Insult was added to injury when the three lads were put into the final, entertainment value very good, quality of dancing disgraceful.ANS: Having seen this category & checked the judges scores, I have to agree with the Judges, they scored high in Costume (See above) and high in Musical Interpretation, with some excellently timed moves (I think the video will also confirm this) However in the final they did not use the music as well & therefore lost points.
I'd love a real break at about 6.30/7.30 ishANS: We will be looking into this for next year. I think we all needed a break!
It would be good if Dance Categories were split into Teachers & Non TeachersANS: Intermediate is not open to Teachers/Professionals, Senior Section is not open to Teachers. All other categories are open to Teachers.
To start breaking each category down again would cause more confusion, although we will be looking at the Advanced Category. Early stages yet though!
Comment from Brady @ www.cerocscotland.com
Hello All!
I must say that this past weekend in Blackpool was the best dance event I've been to (even better than London)! Many of the reasons for this were already mentioned by David.Thank you Brady.
The Chance 2 Dance Team would like to thank each and everyone who graced the Winter Gardens Dance floor Fri/Sat, and congratulations to all the winners.
Well done & we look forward to seeing you all around the country in the near future.
www.chancetwodance.co.uk
Kindest regards
The Team
FROM DAVID B.
I understand this - especially for the choreographed routines (Showcase and the Teams) However I can also understand the organiser's need to restrict videos - it could make the difference between a profit and a loss, and possibly whether the competition is held again.
Would it be possible to set up a video projector in the side room where the vendors are, and show an overall view of each routine (after the competitions have finished). Then the competitors get a chance of a near-instantaneous review, spectators can see something they may have missed, and the organisers get to protect their investment. It also gets more people into the vendors' room, and could be good advertising for video sales...Hi Dave,
You have prompted the first response from a completely shattered C2D Team!!
The videoing thing has come up before & you have basically hit the nail on the head.
Chance 2 Dance was set up as a company 3 years ago, with no financial backing from any organization. We took huge risks with our own capital, which was also very limited. This will be the first year, we anticipate, breaking into some sort of net profit.
Anyway the reason I tell you all this, is as David states the video sales are an integral part of the profit & loss. If we lost money in this area, we would have to make it up in other areas.
Our aim however is to give True Value For Your Money. This means that once we are covering our costs we can pump more money into the competition, this can be in many ways, from providing greater comfort factors on the day, to Cabaret on the Friday and obviously keeping the costs down during the weekend, on tickets, video's etc.
As a team we love the dance world and have had 6 fantastic years out of it, we have some new & fantastic friends, from each corner of the UK and this is our way of putting something back into an area we have had so much from!
One other side to this is that we have to get a minimum number of orders to make it financially viable for the video company to turn up, this is in excess of 100.
JUDGING:
We try to_pick the judges from different parts of the country, sorry non Scottish yet, but will bear it in mind for next year, and from different areas of Jive, i.e Nigel & Nina, Jive Blues & Cabaret, Simon & Marilene Jive, and Cabaret, with vast experience in hosting teaching days & weekenders, James & Bridgett Lindy, West & East Coast Swing, along with Swing & Sue from Ceroc.
One thing, which is true of any competitive event, is it is up to you, the individual, to be seen by the judges. You ask any individual who has tried to be selected for any team, this is no different in a dance event. Choose your moment as well as you can, and make sure you are seen! The judges are only human & can only look in one direction at a time, or at least this is true of the Judges we use! The majority of the responsibility lies with the judges, but you must take your destiny into your own hands!
THE WARM UP TRACK:
This was used for the judges to make notes so it was easier to differentiate dancers. This is a trick most Judges use. I.e, Couple in Blue No 10, Couple in Black, Red hair, No11, etc. They are then not wasting time trying to look for numbers whilst marking contestants during the actual track that counts.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
Just a little on how the points are awarded; Once the Judges have handed their score sheets in (See below) all 3 or 4 areas of the judging criteria per dancer are entered into the computer, against that dancers number by Angelina, with another coordinator, checking the data is correct (A double checker in other words) Non of the Judges have access to this and are not allowed to discuss other judges reasons at this point, in actual fact they will not even have seen what the other Judges have scored.
This data is then sifted, in descending order; the highest scores then go through. Only if there is joint placing in the final, will the judgeâs discus these dancers to agree an overall winner, or placing.
This eliminates going purely against dancers in your group, judges swaying other judges and any biasness, as this should be averaged out. We do obviously hope & believe that our judges are above this anyway!
JUDGING CRITERIA
Below are the criteria, which our judges use for marking purposes. This was on our website for a couple of months prior to the competition, allowing dancers an insight into what they would be judged on.
Criteria: Points: Brief Description:
Costume/Presentation 1 / 3_ Dress co-ordination & overall presentation
Musicality/Interpretation 1 / 5______ _____ Showmanship, poise, using the character of the music
Technique 1 / 5 Floor craft, good usage of floor space, patterns.
Variety complexity 1 / 5 Variation, difficulty & execution of moves
MUSIC FOR EACH CATEGORY/HEAT
The overall response was good, but we have had comments as to why certain music was used for certain categories. I'm sure if it was switch round we would have had similar comments, the other way round.
However the thought pattern behind our combinations is:
Advanced dancers should be tested more than intermediates etc, they in the main are teachers, semi professionals & accomplished dancers in their own right.
We try to keep a theme & length of track the same in each category, creating an equal platform, the theme is then changed in the next round, as you progress through, by the time you have managed to get to the finals you have demonstrated you can dance to all types of music.
We try to have music from the Swing/Blues era, 70âs/80âs, Dance/Club/Hip Hop, Latin & Modern Chart, i.e Kyle etc.
All music is therefore created & timed in advance. This is another reason why people sending late applications cannot be catered for. It isnât as easy as slipping a couple more dancers in, due to floor space & timetables.
This year we did accommodate & created one extra group, next year this will not happen. Please be early with your application forms. We try to please, but it isn't always possible.
Your Comments:
I Think Insult was added to injury when the three lads were put into the final, entertainment value very good, quality of dancing disgraceful.ANS: Having seen this category & checked the judges scores, I have to agree with the Judges, they scored high in Costume (See above) and high in Musical Interpretation, with some excellently timed moves (I think the video will also confirm this) However in the final they did not use the music as well & therefore lost points.
I'd love a real break at about 6.30/7.30 ishANS: We will be looking into this for next year. I think we all needed a break!
It would be good if Dance Categories were split into Teachers & Non TeachersANS: Intermediate is not open to Teachers/Professionals, Senior Section is not open to Teachers. All other categories are open to Teachers.
To start breaking each category down again would cause more confusion, although we will be looking at the Advanced Category. Early stages yet though!
Comment from Brady @ www.cerocscotland.com
Hello All!
I must say that this past weekend in Blackpool was the best dance event I've been to (even better than London)! Many of the reasons for this were already mentioned by David.Thank you Brady.
The Chance 2 Dance Team would like to thank each and everyone who graced the Winter Gardens Dance floor Fri/Sat, and congratulations to all the winners.
Well done & we look forward to seeing you all around the country in the near future.
www.chancetwodance.co.uk
Kindest regards
The Team