How much ballroom training do you need until you can compete in competitions ?

J

John de Witt

New member
There are three forms of competition: amateur, professional, and pro-am. For your purposes, you can think of amateur, in which case you'll need to find a partner; and pro-am (popular with the chain studios), in which your instructor is your partner. In either case, they're open to all comers, with divisions according to your experience level and age. It's quite possible to compete after only a half dozen lessons, against other beginners. Most people don't feel comfortable competing at that early a stage, but it's completely up to your comfort level.
This next part may be more information than you want, so feel free to ignore it: there are officially competed dances and club dances. In American ballroom, the nine official dances are the smooth dances (foxtrot, waltz, Viennese waltz, and tango) and the rhythm dances (mambo, cha cha, rumba, eastern swing, and bolero). In International ballroom, the ten official dances are the Standard dances (foxtrot, quickstep, slow waltz, Viennese waltz, and tango), and the Latin dances (cha cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, and jive). To make things more confusing, especially in American competitions, other dances that aren't official are often also competed, including the ones you listed, plus overlap (such as paso doble and samba in American style), plus others, such as western swing, that you haven't listed.
 
Ok so on the regular im a hip hop dancer I do a bit of jazz and what not here and there but I have always dreamed about taking up some ballroom classes such as merengue , cha cha , rumba ,salsa etc. but Id love to be in competitions I was just curious how long you have to be dancing before they will place you in them ?

And what if you don't have a partner will they pair you up ?
 
There are three forms of competition: amateur, professional, and pro-am. For your purposes, you can think of amateur, in which case you'll need to find a partner; and pro-am (popular with the chain studios), in which your instructor is your partner. In either case, they're open to all comers, with divisions according to your experience level and age. It's quite possible to compete after only a half dozen lessons, against other beginners. Most people don't feel comfortable competing at that early a stage, but it's completely up to your comfort level.
This next part may be more information than you want, so feel free to ignore it: there are officially competed dances and club dances. In American ballroom, the nine official dances are the smooth dances (foxtrot, waltz, Viennese waltz, and tango) and the rhythm dances (mambo, cha cha, rumba, eastern swing, and bolero). In International ballroom, the ten official dances are the Standard dances (foxtrot, quickstep, slow waltz, Viennese waltz, and tango), and the Latin dances (cha cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, and jive). To make things more confusing, especially in American competitions, other dances that aren't official are often also competed, including the ones you listed, plus overlap (such as paso doble and samba in American style), plus others, such as western swing, that you haven't listed.
 
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