Competition newbie

[Baruch]

My wife and I are going to do our first competition at the end of next month. As neither of us has ever been to a dance competition before, let alone entered one, we're going in blind, so to speak. With that in mind, does anyone have any tips they'd be willing to pass on to two competition newbies?

In particular, any ideas on how to dress on a fairly tight budget would be appreciated.

Ta!

[Happy B]

It's your first time, just smile and enjoy it.

As for clothing, you dont need to spend a fortune. Most of all wear something you feel comfortable in, you wont dance your best if you're worried or distracted by what you have on.

You get scored for dress or apperance, so to make you look more 'together' try wearing similar colours, or have a running theme for example ive seen the man wear black trousers and white top, and the lady wear white trousers and black top in the past.

Im not an expert on this but hope it helps anyway.

Good Luck and Have Fun

B

[Minnie M]

My wife and I are going to do our first competition at the end of next month.

Is this a Modern Jive competition ?

The next MJ comp AFAIK is the Scottish one eary September

Whatever competition it is - I wish you both luck

[RogerR]

Read the comp rules, get and study some vids from previous comps anywhere.

[Lou]

Is this a Modern Jive competition ?

The next MJ comp AFAIK is the Scottish one eary September

Justine's running a charity one in Bristol on August Bank Holiday Saturday. (And I believe I'm DJing for a little while at it too, *plug*). I wonder if that's the one he means? I hope so, as I think it'll be an excellent day, judging by the amount of effort Justine's putting into the arrangments.

[Sparkles]

Relax and enjoy it.
Try to smile even if you're feeling nervous.
Definitley agree with being 'together' on the costumes (there have been several threads on costumes for comps, and I'm sure Gadget or one of the other useful men on here will post links to them for you - cos I don't know how to ).
Don't take it too seriously.

S. x

[Baruch]

Justine's running a charity one in Bristol on August Bank Holiday Saturday. (And I believe I'm DJing for a little while at it too, *plug*). I wonder if that's the one he means? I hope so, as I think it'll be an excellent day, judging by the amount of effort Justine's putting into the arrangments.

Nice plug, Lou

Yup, that's the one we're doing.

[Andy McGregor]

Ah, competitions clothes, my specialist subject

You are awarded points for appearance. You don't usually get as many marks for appearance as you do for something like musicality. Appearance might be marked out of 3 and musicality out of 5. But to miss out on those 3 points by wearing jeans and a t-shirt would be silly. If you only got 2 marks for musicality but 3 for appearance you will score the same marks as an expert dancer who thinks he's so good he doesn't need to dress up!

My advice, first and foremost, is to make it look like you've chosen your outfit for a competition and gone to some trouble with it. The judges will notice and immediately mark you up. I've seen a number of things done to achieve this objective over the years. Here's a few things.

1. Borrowed identity. Dress as Minnie and Mickey mouse; Dress as characters from a well known movie, etc.

2. Wear something that shows a lot of flesh - but only if that flesh is worth showing

3. Wear the same colour scheme.

4. Guys wears a black outfit and the girl is completely fabulously dressed. The guy is then the backdrop to the woman - think flower and stem or picture and frame.

Another thing to consider is how the outfit shows off your dancing. High waisted trousers make your legs look longer. Long sleeved tops accentuate your arm movements. Vertical lines (for example, contrasting braces) show off your spinning. Tight at the hips shows off your wiggling. Big circle skirts show off your spinning. Black and white, red and white or any other two tone shoes show off your footwork. Glitter/sequins show off everything!

I'm sure there's more that other people can think of - and I'll post more as it comes to me.

Clothes and shoes fanatic? Moi?

[under par]

My wife and I are going to do our first competition at the end of next month. As neither of us has ever been to a dance competition before, let alone entered one, we're going in blind, so to speak. With that in mind, does anyone have any tips they'd be willing to pass on to two competition newbies?

In particular, any ideas on how to dress on a fairly tight budget would be appreciated.

Ta!

Ask yourselves what your motivation is?

What are you expecting?

What do you wish to give by way of performance?

Why do you want to do this?



I hope your answers are Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun.


Remember that there is only one winner per catergory.

And only 5 or 6 finalists per category.


The winners and the finalists will be the winner and the finalists because of one thing...................OPINION.

The opinion of the judges.

What I think is a good dance someone else may thing is a great dance and another may think was really naff.

I may dance way beyond my capabilities and have an outstanding connection with my partner....in my own humble opinion.

But I may not make the next round because it might not be the same opinion of the judges.

The judges who will not see all of my dance anyway as they have to watch all the competitors during the track have a very difficult task and obviously give their opinions honestly.

Have lots and lots of FUN practising and lots and lots of FUN on the day.

If you can enter without an expectation (it is not easy!)you may well take some pressure off yourself and may .. just may put in a better performance because of it.

Good luck.

[Baruch]

Ask yourselves what your motivation is?

What are you expecting?

What do you wish to give by way of performance?

Why do you want to do this?If you can enter without an expectation (it is not easy!)you may well take some pressure off yourself and may .. just may put in a better performance because of it.

Well, for a start we have no expectations of winning, especially as it's our first competition. Our main motivation, as you suggest, is to have fun, and also to test the waters, so to speak. By that I mean, to discover whether this is something we'll enjoy enough to enter more competitions.

Hopefully there'll be a few other Cardiff dancers there, which should make us feel a bit more at home.

[Baruch]

Any ideas on how much / what sort of thing to practise, or is that more of an individual thing to the couple concerned?

[Minnie M]

Nice plug, Lou

Yup, that's the one we're doing.

good luck and definitely the best way to start competing - the competition and audience won't be so scary

Dress as Minnie and Mickey mouse

not without my permission

[Yliander]

Any ideas on how much / what sort of thing to practise, or is that more of an individual thing to the couple concerned?

it is a very individual thing - for our first comp my dance partner and I decided to train once a week on top of our social dancing. We did 3-4 hours every Saturday - a couple of those were coaching session with a coach and the others were on our own and with a video camera - it became our best friend.

Good luck - doing your best and having fun can have some amazing results - we went in with the thought that making semis would make us happy - not only did we make semis but we made finals as well and won!

so once again - go out do your best have fun

[Andy McGregor]

Any ideas on how much / what sort of thing to practise, or is that more of an individual thing to the couple concerned?

My advice with this is to not practice too much - because going out after 4 minutes dancing in the first round is horrible if you've practiced for 200 hours

My other bit of advice is to never practice at dance nights or classes. Book a small, inexpensive hall for an hour and put in some proper competition practice. Even go so far as to put out chairs for the imaginary judges.

[Cornish Pixie]

Justine's running a charity one in Bristol on August Bank Holiday Saturday. (And I believe I'm DJing for a little while at it too, *plug*). I wonder if that's the one he means? I hope so, as I think it'll be an excellent day, judging by the amount of effort Justine's putting into the arrangments.

isnt it the friday?

[Baruch]

isnt it the friday?

Actually, it is. Friday 26th August to be precise. Are you entering?

[Lou]

isnt it the friday?

Oh, blimey! Is it? Sugar! I had it down as the Saturday. I'm glad you've said!

[ElaineB]

Oh, blimey! Is it? Sugar! I had it down as the Saturday. I'm glad you've said!

Sheesh! Womble!!!


Elaine

[ElaineB]

We have had a bit of advice from the Great and the Good and here is just a bit of it!

The first thing to remember is that this competition is a fun competition and it is for charity. Dance to your strenghs and do not try to put in new moves at the last minute - you will not be comfortable with them and it will show. If you are doing drops, remember not to look at the floor! In fact, do not look at the floor at all - either look at each other and if you are able to look at the Judges/audience, then so much the better, but do not do this if you miss signals from each other.

Test drive your outfit - there is nothing worse than getting caught up in each others clothing or losing some of it (especially if you are the Lady!)

Finally, breath and smile................

Elaine

[Lou]

Sheesh! Womble!!!

Sorry dearheart! Must've been a blonde moment!