Take your Ballroom Dance Competition Training to the next level

You remember when your teacher pointed out that dancer on the dance floor who was awesome? That dancer that goes to competitions, practices, looks amazing and recently won the Pro-Am, blah, blah, blah, and you thought, “No, I don’t think I’ll ever be good enough to do that.” Then your teacher mentioned the other dancers “–who compete a few times a year, but are SO alive when they dance? They come to lessons every day, they attend every ‘Dance Party,’ they go to every event, and they even practice on their own.” Still, you said, “nope, I’m not that ambitious.” So you decided you wanted to be a Social Dancer. After all, a Social dancer is better than where you started perhaps, but not as fancy as a competitive dancer. Now, all of the sudden, your teacher is talking about competitions! What happened? “I swore I said I didn’t want to compete.” And that’s true, you did.

You also entrusted your teacher with your dance education, and said your goal is to become the best dancer possible. One way to achieve your goal is to dive into a dance competition. The reason is simple, it’s not about winning, but once you have made the commitment to compete with a deadline to perform, the entire experience of learning and practice changes.

Dance Parties will suddenly help you build your stamina. You’ll begin to think about your posture and your poise, and about reaching your arms farther. You might also watch a better dancer move his feet in a smoother way. You’ll begin to plan your lessons with your teacher, and study your chart after your lesson. You’ll learn that you had better get that babysitter committed to every Tuesday and Thursday night for the next month, and you’ll have a back-up plan ready, because your practice time is limited and needs to be scheduled. You’ll start to take more group classes, because they’re less expensive. You’ll become goal oriented, whether during practice parties, in a class, or with an instructor, or yes, even when you practice on your own. And to top it all off, you’ll be in the best shape of your life, and you’ll be having the best of times as you transform into your highest dance self.

In essence, you will push yourself to achieve more. And wasn’t that your goal all along? All that you invest in your dancing isn’t going into your teacher’s pocket, or your studio owner’s or competition organizer’s. It is going into your dance education, your self-improvement, your confidence, and your happiness. It’s also going into your poise, posture, time spent with your spouse, your personal relationships. It is going into your fantasy of wearing rhinestones and being swept off your feet, your weight-loss goals, your health, and your relaxation. When you have successfully completed a competition, you will have improved your dancing more than if you took ten lessons in one day.

We seriously doubt that you decided to pursue ballroom dancing because you needed another activity to fill a dull and boring life. Most of us barely have time to watch the Dancing with the Stars episode that we recorded. Competitive dancing is a bonus—an extracurricular activity that will help us enjoy our dancing. It gives us the opportunity to try hard, to practice, to study, and become the kind of dancer we dreamed of being when we started out. If we happen to pick up a blue ribbon in the process, it’s an exciting added bonus for a job well done!