I have noticed many of the ballroom dancing women I have seen on the telly have incredible fingernails. Is this a plus for female competitors? Thank you,

Paul

kaynine10@hotmail.com

What an assumptions men make about women, like all long nails on woman are fake. I am proud to sport ten lovely long natural nails. I am not only typing right now with absolutely no problem, but also happen to run a farm, take care of animals, and buckle my own dance shoes, without any problems. As for being ugly, I find that most men are fascinated by them, both on and off the dance floor, in public and especally in private. It really wouldn't be such a bad idea if more men paid more attention to their manicures and callouses, espeically if they are going to be holding ladies hands all night! I never found it hard to mange good grooming, style and learning dance steps. It's often the people that say looks don't matter that really think they matter the most.

Long fingernails are definitly out.
girls, better watch your steps than your make up. improves dancing much more.

Not necessarily... Some ladies really do it with class. Heather Smith, Toni Redpath, Katarzyna Kozak, and Olga Foropanova are all examples of women who always seem(ed) to look stunning on and off the floor, whether two or twenty feet away.

In ballroom, almost everyone generally has a chance to see the performers both up close and far away. For this reason, ballroom dancing makeup has to be the perfect blend of stage and street makeup... It needs to look good at any distance.

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson

The Girls in our Latin - Formation are all mostly helpless with this great looking thigs attached *smile* - and then there is the pain with getting them off again because the glue is THAT sticky...
there is a joke among our formation: When you see a long nail and you wanna know if it's a fake - pull! If it goes off it was true *GG*

PS: Dancer's Make-Up (Nails incl.) DOES look ugly in the close-up - but that's not what matters - it DOES look great frome 2 Meters and more - that count's

Ah, ya gotta love the one-liners from anonymous "contributors"

Competitive grooming is not subtle, to say the least. It's similar to performing on stage -- you have to do things in such a way that they show up from a distance and under various lighting conditions. What looks good on the floor is not likely to be very nice up close! Thankfully for nose, nobody is going to hog-tie you on the street and force you to be a competitive dancer, so you don't have to bother if it's not your thing

Sri, I honestly don't know how some ladies manage to get things done with long nails! I'm hopeless -- takes me five minutes to buckle my dance shoes with those nails. I've started slapping mine on just before I dance, after makeup, hair, etc. Putting on fake lashes with fake nails was not much fun. So now I minimize the time I wear them by doing nails last, and then I cut them way down immediately after dancing.

Vanessa

I agree with Jonathan about the perfect blend. I have seen dancers on the floor with nails and make-up that are almost scary looking even at that distance. It's almost hard to concentrate on their dancing for looking at how they have groomed themselves. I'm so glad to know, and I hope more women will go with this trend, that the look of grace and beauty should accompany the grace and beauty of ballroom dancing.

Yep, it's common for competitors to wear long nails, especially in Latin. The nails extend the lines that the dancers create (by a couple of inches), which is indeed a plus. Filling space -- not just floor space, but the space around a dancer in all directions -- is necessary for a couple to get noticed on the floor.

I consider the nails a necessary evil I hate putting nails on because I can't accomplish even the simplest of tasks (like buckling my dance shoes or putting on earrings) once I have those obnoxiously long things attached! I keep my nails quite short in real life, so I don't have much dexterity with long nails. However, I really do feel like my arms are much longer and can fill more space when I'm wearing the nails.

Of course, the nails also add to the overall "glamour" of grooming for competition -- just one of many grooming elements (others include costuming, makeup, tanning, hair, and jewelry) that goes into creating a competitive image.

Vanessa

I had the pleasure to watch " Julianne " and Marc Ballas ( Corky and Shirley's son )in 1999's Nevada Star Ball where they competed and showcased International style 10 dances.

While Julianne was only 13 and not having her own long nails ( of course ), she carried a makeup case with red fake nails which were to be attached right before their competition/showcase. Those nails did make an extended dimension to their beautiful dance lines. Even without the nails, I am pretty sure their dancing still would be quite impresive.

Most impressively was Julianne left United States for England in December of 1998, at such time she had not learned International Standard yet, and in just short 8 months she and Marc took British Junior 10 dances championship. My son had the honor to team up with her for a short partnership of 6 wks . Both of us are very happy to see her wonderful success, of course.

Regards,

Keh Gough

Woah Nose!!! Ugly!?? You better watch out and not reveal your identity to anyone, lest somebody's long 'ugly' (sic) fake nails scratch out your "deleted derogatory adjective" eyes...

Although I have wondered, how do they tie their shoelaces, or do some of those other things, with those nails!! Beats me, my nails are cut to the quick always...

I am waiting to see where this thread takes course. Enjoy dancing.

Sri.