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| In every uncontested heat I've ever seen, the dancer got a 1st. I think you'd have to dance like Master P on Dancing With the Stars to get anything less.
At some comps, you have the option of entering "against standard," in which case you are given a numerical score (usually out of 100) based on how you compare to what the judge considers "standard" for your level. I think that's a good option to get more information, especially if you think you will be in a lot of uncontested heats at a comp. |
| By the way, congratulations on your first comp! If you had a good time and were (at least reasonably) happy with your dancing, you've had a successful comp, especially for the first one. |
| As an amatuar couple, who now and then competes in NDCA, we often dance uncontested.
You cant look at your placment because like all have said most of the times you will place first..... What we do however, is kind of compete against ourself. Our goal is to perform better than we did at a previous comp. We absolutely know if we accomplished this, regardless of our placement. |
| Thank you, Ellen. I'm not sure if it was successful. I definitely enjoyed it and I want more but there were few things which spoiled me some fun - First, I got cold just before the comp and definitely was not in my best shape (so i did not have a really good time ). And second, i did much more mistakes then I usually do (because of nerves, of course). I understand that this is usual and my teacher says he expected much worse but it does not lighten me up much (so i'm not happy with my dancing ) |
| Don't be so hard on yourself!! Even dancers with a fair amount of experience make mistakes. Did you know when your event was to be danced? get some warning i mean, so that you could warm up. Some comps don't do this and keeping 'loose' is a problem. I'm sure you'll get lots of hints on how to relax |
| Hi Rita! It would cheer you up if you saw the video of my first comp. Talk about a train wreck!
What you've experienced is completely normal for a first comp. Don't forget, you're competing against dancers at your level and they're all making mistakes too! I found it helpful to go through my routine in lessons over and over, with a "no stopping" rule, no matter what mistakes I make. You can learn not to react visibly to a mistake and how to recover and get back to your routine quickly. Since mistakes are just part of the game, that's a more reasonable goal than expecting not to make any mistakes.
Good luck at your next comp!
The nerves will get less with experience, too. |
| >over and over, with a "no stopping" >rule, no matter what mistakes I make. >You can learn not to react visibly to > a mistake and how to recover and get > back to your routine quickly
I cannot count how many times I went "over and over" during the lessons and on my own. It's paid off, i think - nothing major happened on the comp, like forgetting the move or falling out of rhythm. Mostly it was delays here and there, missed leads or just clumsy movements which i would do much better in my usual environment.
>Don't forget, you're competing >against dancers at your level and > they're all making mistakes too!
This was another mistake - our rumba and chacha routines were a bit too complicated (i like the challenge) for the Bronze, so we had to go for Silver I which is yet an overkill for me technique-wise. |
| I do collegic competitions (cuz im in college) and a friend of mine and his partner were danceing uncontested in a smaller competition. they of course came in frist for everythign except one event, they decided to give them 2nd to be stupid. i thoguht that was really mean. even though they were the only ones danceing, its jsut not right to do that. good luck with your danceing! |
| I am a firm believer that dancing uncontested can easily become a "train wreck." While it is true that many uncontested events are marked as a first, I have seen (and have marked) many uncontested events as a 2nd and in some cases a 3rd. If I am judging I will NEVER automatically give a 1st in an uncontest event unless I truly believe the couple deserve it. If they are off time (or at least off time when I am looking) that is an automatic 2nd; if there is an obvious lack of technical skill required for the level entered then that is an automatic 2nd, if there is a combination of the two (and it happens in both pro/am & am/am competition) then I give a 3rd.
In an contested heat sometimes the 1st place entrant is the one who offends the least or put more bluntly the best of the worst. I have been in the position to have to rank three or more couples who lacked timing and technical skills for the level entered, quite a dilemma and found it very difficult to find a 1st place winner. If all couples had been "uncontested" they would have been easily all marked 3rd. But in a contested event someone has to be 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so on.
Don't always assume an automatic 1st in uncontested events, at least not from a qualified judging panel. |
| Agree with D
When we first started to do the V Waltz, we just could not keep the dance on time.
Once when competing uncontested we did earn a 2nd place in this dance, knew it was due to the timing. I can remember at that thime that we thought we were scored fair! |
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