Anonymous. I think when Jonathan wrote. The longer you hang around the competetive world, the more you'll realize the extent of politics, but you'll'learn to play them to your advantage. And he goes on to say That if you want to step up a notch , it doesn't hurt to take lessons with other coaches. That's not selling out...thats being smart.
Anonymous. If you were judging and two were dancing out of time Would you mark them over one couple who was perfectly in time. Yes or No.

"Jonathan wrote. The longer you hang around the competetive world, the more you'll realize the extent of politics, but you'll'learn to play them to your advantage. And he goes on to say That if you want to step up a notch , it doesn't hurt to take lessons with other coaches. That's not selling out...thats being smart."

Could you show me where Jonathan made such statements? I'm not disputing your recall; I would just like to read his exact words.

The implications of such remarks are very troubling.

jj

https://www.ballroomdancers.com/Message_Board/view_messages.asp?Topic=8034

If you read the original, it's much less alarming than polished makes it out to be:

Jonathan wrote:

"The longer you hang around the competitive world, the more you'll realize the extent of the politics, but you'll also learn how to play them to your advantage. That doesn't mean that you have to be a total sell-out, but there are certain simple things you can do to minimize the negative effects on you. For example, be nice to everyone, make a lot of friends, and don't speak poorly of anyone EVER (even your greatest rival, even though you KNOW he's nowhere near as good a dancer as you).

If you want to step it up a notch, it doesn't hurt to take lessons with other coaches. That's not selling out... that's being smart. And often, you'll find that the lessons are really good, too. Selling out is taking lessons purely for political purposes (especially when you know you're not going to get anything out of it). But if a lesson has educational value, take it. You will improve your dancing, and any political gains are purely coincidental."

True, "alarming" would not be the correct term to describe this situation.

"Sad" would be.

jj

"Anonymous. If you were judging and two were dancing out of time Would you mark them over one couple who was perfectly in time. Yes or No."

Timing is only one of many factors, so I would mark the couple whose overall dancing is best. That might be the one who is on time if they are good in other respects, or it might be one who is clearly better them in all respects except for being off time. There is no single factor that outweighs all others.

My marks would then be combined under that skating system with those of a number of other judges, each having their own perspective and priorities. The winner will be the couple who convinces a majority of us that they are the best on the floor.

anymouse, you may have already clarified this point. If so, excuse me.

I have two questions. First, do you judge? If so, have you judged your own students in heats wherein they competed against dancers who were not your students?

Just curious.



jj

Anonymous. If you are out of time you should not be looked at twice. Will somebody else confirm that in the US it doesn't matter if you are dancing out of time in a competition.
Terence might be interested in this one. Len Scrivener was the sole judge in a low grade Waltz competition He refused to give anybody a place. He scraped the lot.
Terence would you mark anybody who was dancing out of time over somebody who was dancing in time.

Thats not a black and white Q... I will give you 2 e.g. .. these are factual..

I was judging a Prof mambo comp in the late 70s.. a 6 couple final.. next to me, was a world reknowned coach in Latin... he turned to me and said ( which made laugh ) " Terence, if you see anyone on time, lets mark them 1st. ! "

Second.. this was stated by A. Moore..... a student asked him this Q.. " Mr Moore if I were off time ( it was Cha ) would you mark me ? ".. his response.. " Yes, as long as you stayed on the same beat " .

To mark any competitor over another, one has to take multi things into consideration.It would depend on how often and in what circumstance .

"Off time " was always considered one of the cardinal sins in dance.

Now , obviously if it were W, I would not even consider marking.. I might give a little more latitude if it were QS, Mambo/Salsa .

And, all of this is contingent on the level of the comp. ( Novice.. pre champ etc ).
Judging large rounds is never an easy task, and "catching " someone off time might be an isolated instance .This goes towards explaining why sometimes you see very different marks ( or no marks ) in larger events.. the disparity is usually minimal in Finals .

Terence2 When Alex said Yes , as long as you stayed on the same beat..Is it possible he was thinking Quickstep and Foxtrot where some dancers not knowing any better even walk in with a prep step on 1 2. in the Quickstep as well as the Foxtrot. From there they are in time but out of rhythm which also means they will be out of phrase.
My parents had lessons with Alex. He was fanatical about footwork, timing and dancing together as a pair.Maybe he thought the Cha a bit of a joke. Latin wasn't really his cup of tea.

The Q was specifically about Cha.. it was published in his news letter .


The way latin was danced then WAS a joke !!... and, altho. strict, he was still poss. the most approachable of the many high profile teachers of the time (40s/50s ).

On my visit to the UK with my then wife ( 1983 ), we lived around the corner from his studio for a while.

Went by his studio to say hello with one of my friends, got to chatting with Eliz. Romain about latin, she then asked me if we were going to the UK at Hamm.. Palais , I said maybe... she replied, why not come and sit with me in the balcony? .. ( we did ) they were both very genorous with their time .