Wanna let your hair fly? Sans hair spray and glue. Wanna dance and not care if you are tan? (The judges dont either). Wanna dance in the same costume all night? Wanna come away from a comp with enough money in your pocket to do the next three comps in comparsion? Wanna have as much fun and meet some very down to earth yet very competitive people? Wanna do the same stuff you are learning in the ballroom studio?..........Try Country

Since this is your first comp you shouldn't get too obsessed about it, and you should avoid spending too much money. After all, this is just a small comp that you are trying to see if you even like competitions.

Clothing: What have you been wearing for lessons? You proabably already have a decent skirt for whatever style you are dancing, just pair them with a nice top -- one that moves with you and stays up. It's best if it's some kind of leotard or bodysuit because that way it won't come untucked and also your under regions will be covered if your skirt spins up. The goal is to go for neat and clean and simple for your first comp -- you shouldn't feel like you have to spend a lot of money.

Makeup: Make up your face as if you were going out for a fancy night on the town. Think glamorous. Go for eyeliner, several coats of mascara, and a strongly colored lipstick. You might feel odd looking at yourself in the mirror if you aren't used to wearing a lot of makeup, but try this: put on your makeup and stand as far away from a mirror as you can -- 10 feet would be ideal. You should be able to see your eyes and lips clearly. If not, add more eyeshadow, or lipliner, or whatever you need.

Nails: If you don't currently have long nails and don't want to try glue-on fakes, just make sure your nails are clean, neatly shaped, and polished. A strong color, perhaps one that coordinates with your lip color, is the best bet.

Hair: Get it up and get it out of the way. You will need more bobby pins, hair pins, and hairspray that you'd ever imagine. Don't be afraid of using too much. If you have long hair, the easiest style is a low bun slightly above the nape of the neck. Make sure all stray hairs are slicked back and glued down. I also like using a hair net, you can buy them at drug stores like Rite Aid and Walgreen's. Goody makes them, and they are very fine and come in different colors to match different hair colors. They really help to keep the bun secure. If you're just doing Latin and rhythm, you can also get by with a simple ponytail -- so long as it's not so long and thick that it whips around and thwaps you or your partner.

Shoes: Do you only dance in lace-up practice shoes, or do you have a pair of court shoes or sandals? If you only have practice shoes, it would be nicer if you had court shoes or sandals, but if you've only got two weeks until the comp you might not be able to buy a pair -- and besides, we're trying to save you money here. If you can buy shoes, get a pair in tan satin. The style these days is to wear shoes in tan satin because it lengthens the leg line. The nice thing about tan shoes is that you can also wear them with any dance costume that you might have later.

Tanning: If you feel like doing it, then do it. If you don't, then don't worry about it. I use self-tanning products that I can buy at the drug store, but I don't bother with them for Standard or Smooth unless I'm showing a lot of bare skin. If your top is long sleeved then I wouldn't bother at all for this first comp.

Practice: If you can afford the time and money for extra lessons then do it, otherwise don't worry about it. You can practice on your own, even if that means just sitting quietly at home and visualizing yourself dancing through all your different dances. Personally, I don't think "cramming" makes much difference -- what you dance in competition will be what has gotten into your muscle memory over the past few months, not what you're going to learn in the next week.

Remember, you're going to be dancing in a small competition against other newcomers like yourself. The object here isn't to worry about going out and winning everything this first time, it's about learning what it's like to compete and deciding for yourself if this is something you want to keep doing or not.

As for price...Pro/Am competition can be very expensive. Some studios charge a lot more for competitions than others. Some competitions cost a lot more than others. There are ways of keeping the costs managable but you have to be an informed consumer and be smart about what you are buying. I danced Pro/Am with an independent teacher not associated with any studio for about 7 years. He would bill me the competition's rate for entry fees and tickets (no mark-up) and a per-dance fee for his time. It was very simple and clear and I could control my expenses by deciding which comps I would go to, and how many events I wanted to enter.

Other studios don't operate like this. Some charge a small mark-up because they organize all the students' entries and tickets so that everyone can be together as a sort of social outing. Sometimes they add a small surcharge split between all students to cover the income lost while the teachers are at the comp and therefore not teaching. These practices are customary and fair and often don't add too much to the cost of competition.

A few studios out there, however, charge massive amounts of money. I talked to a woman once who was thinking of coming to a large well-known competition as a spectator. This competition has a web site, and when she looked up the ticket and and hotel room information on the web site she was horrified to find out how much her studio was marking things up. She figured she could pay for everything, including her hotel, plane ticket and an allotment for meals, and pay far less than the studio was charging for just the hotel and entry tickets. I'm not saying that everyone is out to rip you off, but I do want to warn people that getting involved in Pro/Am is definitely a case where the buyer needs to be informed and be aware.

You are not kidding about the fees studios charge for Pro/Am competitions!!! I just received the bill for my first Arthur Murray competition - over $1000!

I like Arthur Murray, but cannot wait until my contract with them is up so I will be able to dance as a more informed "consumer."

Without the context of knowing what the competition was like (i.e., just your studio, just your region, a Superama, or???) and how many entries you danced, it's difficult to know if $1000 was a rip-off or not as compared to what you can pay on the "outside."

It is our region, not a superama. I have 18 entries based on my instructor's recommendation (9 newcomer, 9 bronze 1). It is an all-day event and includes dinner (which I would gladly skip, but all participants are required to pay for it).

I don't feel ripped-off per say. I understand the franchise fees, quality standards, and socializing bit. It just seems like based on my income, it would be a better match for me to go outside Arthur Murray.

The instructors there are fantastic, but I know I cannot personally afford these fees after this year. There are a lot of great studios in my area, so I now have a better idea of what to look for when I shop around.

In creating my dance budget for 2006 (haha!) how much can one expect spend (not including travel) on a competition for say 8-10 entries pro-am or amateur?

Based on my experience at a franchised studio, and also working directly with an independent teacher, you are being charged a VERY fair price. You might even find yourself paying more on the "outside" for 18 entries at a comp. It all depends on the comp's entry fees, the ticket prices, and your instructor's per-dance fee.

In your situation, the best way to save money doing Pro/Am is to dance fewer entries. I used to only do 5 per comp plus the scholarship event for my style.

At an amateur event you wouldn't usually dance as many entries unless you and your partner did all four styles. Generally people enter their current level and one level higher, for a total of two to six events. Prices for this can range from about $25 per person to about $150 per person when dancing in the regular amateur (NOT student/student, which is priced and run as part of the rest of Pro/Am), it all depends on the competition. The number of events available to you also depends on the competition.

Thank you, Laura! You always have great input.

I feel much better from reading your message. Even though my bank statement will probably be in the red, at least I know I will be getting a good value for this particular competition.

How do you decide which dances to enter? Do you rotate or just stick to a few dances to really focus on?

A very long time ago I realized that my one true love was Standard, so that's what I have focussed on ever since. I'd enter the 5 Standard dances for my level, or sometimes I'd do two levels and so enter 10. And I'd always enter the multi-dance Scholarship or Championship for my level.

If you don't want to give up a style, then you can try doing one style at one comp, and the other at the next.

Laura, How often would you recommend competing? Is twice a year sufficient, or would it be better to compete quarterly?

You should compete as often as your pocketbook and personal taste requires. Some people go to pretty much every comp, doing about 18-20 per year. Some only go once or twice a year.

Personally, I liked competing six times per year, with the comps spread two months apart. That is what worked best for me.

But really, everyone is different and if you're doing Pro/Am then you're doing it for your own personal enjoyment, challenge, and satisfaction. Just keep that in mind and stay true to yourself. If you don't feel like going to a comp, don't. If you do feel like going, then make it a point to go. Most of all, don't go into debt for this. It's a hobby, right? Even though it's a serious hobby that you are passionate about, you should still keep a sense of perspective because the costs add up quickly!

Now, some people will tell you that you should do as many comps as possible and as many entries as possible because it will get you "seen" and "known" and will help your placings. I don't know how true that is -- I never played that game once I figured out what that would mean to my bank account.