Glad to see you have put up a discussion board. I will dive in and contribute.

I have been dancing for several years and have been teaching for about a year. As I have been checking out the various opportunities available to ballroom and specialty dancers, I have come to the following conclusions:

Dancers tend to divide themselves into two groups. Those who primarily compete and those who primarily social dance.

From what I can see, the competition dancers tend to work with primarily one partner and spend their time in practice rooms and at conventions and the competition, as well as in private lessons.

The social dancers tend to pick favorite dances and locations and nights to dance on, and go on a regular basis. They do not tend to dance with one person more than 2 dances a night and the general rule is that everyone dances with everyone.

I personally do not like the judging part of competitions. I love the idea of people coming together and performing for each other, of acquiring higher and higher skill levels, and of learning from each other. I just don't want to participate in the competition for a prize part. I am pretty much against the idea of putting one person up against another in something which I consider to be an art and form of personal expression. This puts me at a disadvantage because I really do prefer dancing with one or two people primarily. And it seems to me that besides social dancing, there are not alot of opportunities in the ballroom dance world that support dancers and give them performance opportunities unless they compete.

Now with social dancing, it is a lot of fun. But, I have also progressed to a skill level beyond most of those who attend, except of course the more experienced teachers. And I like dancing with people of all levels sometimes, but not all the time. I find that it is easier for me to progress when I work primarily with one or two partners.

I am interested to know of other people's experience with the various dance worlds and what you like and don't like about the opportunities available. I am also interested to know how choose to meet your own needs in dancing.

Hi, Karen:

I'm not sure I have any definitive answers but wanted to reply because your feelings echo some of mine. I have been dancing for about 2 1/2 years and despite being quite serious about it, have hesitated to jump into the world of competition because of the expense. (I've overcome this hesitation to the extent that I am finally entering my first competition next month). I agree that it seems our choices are either competition or social dancing, although my local ballroom club does have showcase or exhibition nights 2 or 3 times a year for folks who want to "perform" for their peers. I think this is a wonderful avenue for people who take lessons and are serious about progressing in their dancing but don't want to participate in competitions.

My main problem is slightly different than what you are descibing--I very much want an amateur partner to work with, and maybe compete with, but it seems difficult to find someone in my community with the same dance goals, in terms of amount of practice time, how often & who to get coaching or lessons from, whether to concentrate primarily on one style or diversify, etc. To increase my opportunities to find a regular partner, I actively participate in ballroom, country western and swing clubs in my community, but am not sure this is a good idea because I seem to be spreading myself too thin and am probably not making the progress I would make if I stuck to one category. Obviously it's not working because I have lots of dance friends but haven't yet met a suitable practice or competition partner.

Since you are obviously interested in progressing in your dancing, maybe you could decide to compete occasionally (once a year?)in order to get inspiration & give yourself a goal to work toward but continue your social dancing with a partner who is diligent as you and has similar goals in his dancing. And if this gentleman has a brother who dances, please pass along his name & address!

I, too, would be interested in hearing what others have to say about these issues.