Competitions

Competitions have always had a special place in my heart... right next to winning a million dollars at the expense of a non-profit, or saving a baby's life at the cost of a puppy's.  All of which is to say, I've had terrifically mixed feelings about them. 

Part of my relationship with competitions stems from my perspective on them: unlike many of the dancers at my level, I've never been an AND. What's an AND, besides an overcapitalized conjunction?  Well, there's MichaelANDJaya, there's StevenANDVirginie, there's MaxANDAnnie.  Or maybe the problem is I'm part of too many AND's.  MikeANDReuel/Dave/Jeff/Cid/Michael/Sosh/Jon.  Now don't get me wrong- I still furrow my brows mightily when a dancer says to me, "I can't really improve... if only I had a partner!"  You can become an excellent social dancer and instructor without being an AND- look at Sylvia Sykes.  There remains, however, a specialization that requires an AND: choreography.  This includes aerials, strictly comps, showcases, and anything that isn't totally led and followed.  And while Jack and Jills are totally open to us AND-less folks (OR's, perhaps?), the majority of competition strongly favors partnerships.  So my perspective on competitons is a bit snowy, shall we say.

My other issue with competitions is their result.  Competitions are top-notch for inspiring the greatest number of dancers: the ULHS 2006 fast comp has 1.6million Youtube views- that's more than some of Bo Burnham's videos.  There's nothing like screaming along with 400 of your friends while 10 brilliant athletes swing out at 250bpm.  Competitions challenge us, make us push ourselves further, create friendly rivalries that drive our dance towards better. 

The danger, I think, is only when we take competitions out of perspective.  When we view the best competitors as the best dancers, decide that competition-winning and teaching are the same skill set.  There are few out there, I think, who would believe that the winners of the "best social dancer" categories are by nature the best to put into a competitive setting.  In some cases, they are.  But social feel good doesn't always translate into looking like a badass.  Both sets of skills should are, in my mind, equally valuable to the dance culture as a whole, and need to be recognized as different skill sets.  Teaching, then, is yet a third skill set.  In order to be a decent dance teacher, of course, you have to be knowledgable about the dance, but being a better dance in no way makes a better teacher, without the accompanying ability to communicate. 

So I'll be pondering just what the value and proper place of competitions are... right after I go watch some ULHS videos.  Be right back...