Hello everybody!

I'm a total new beginner in Latin Int. and my goal is to be competiting later this year..and well,ofcourse I would love to win few competitions :)

I wonder,how long does it take to get from beeing a total new beginner to beeing able to win a competition?
I am hard-working and love dancing above all other things..So I'm going to give my all for practicing etc.

Thank's for any advice!:)
Michelle

How long it takes to get good enough to win a few competitions all depends on:

1) How much natural talent and ability you have.

2) How good a teacher your coach is.

3) How much practice time you put in.

4) What level you and your coach choose to have to start competing at.

5) What the other dancers around you at your level are like.

Basically, it's impossible to say without seeing you dance and knowing who your potential competitors will be.

Are you doing Pro/Am? A collegiate competition? A regular amateur competition?

The nicest thing about ballroom is that there are often a variety of levels to choose from so that you end up dancing against something resembling your dancing peer group. For example, some competitions have "newcomer" divisions for people who have taken fewer than 30 lessons. So, if you were to aim for one of these, you'd have to enter before you reach the 30 lesson limit.

The best thing to do is just to work on your dancing, pick a competition, and enter it and see how things turn out. After one competition you'll have a much better idea of where you stand and how to set and reach your competitive goals.

Good luck, it's all very fun an exciting!

Laura

I wish that when I took up Latin American Dancing that I had been told how important it was to get the heel on the floor on the beat, which means the toe must arrive before the beat. Example
spot turns, and to turn with the whole of the foot in contact with the floor, as it should be on all turns and spirals. And to practice solo Rumba walks for at the very least ten minutes before a class or lesson using the above technique. One day the first teacher that I went to will see me coming towards him and had better go for his guns, or head for the hills.

I guess that I have a lot of natural talent for dancing. And latin beats just takes me to the heaven..I can't stand still whenever I hear a Latin song..I have always had the rythm in my blood..so I don't think that it will be that difficult for me to learn these steps.
I am really a "newcomer" when it comes to dancing. I have been wanting to dance ever since I was very young,but I never got the time then...I had a horse instead who needed all my time.

Thank you all for your answers..I will tell you all about how it goes in competitions. :)

I agree it varies. As pretty much of a beginner, here's my experience. I entered my first competition when I'd been taking lessons about 7 months. I didn't place well at all, but I'm glad I did it, because it broke the ice and got the first-time panic over with (also it was a local comp, so it didn't cost as much). Last December, I did my third comp and placed second in my age group in all my dances (the same person placed first in them all). So I think I have a shot at winning when I compete in June (just short of 2 years after I started).

If you want to be a good Latin dancer then you do as all those at the top do. You must do solo Rumber walks preferbly to music. You must do as many miles as a marathon runner does miles on the road training. This is serious. If you have five minutes to spare anytime do your Rumba walks. You will benifit in the long run. Believe me this is what the top dancers do. I am not a top dancer but in our studio we all cover a considerable distance in a week.

My husband and I have been competiting for a good ten years now...about 4 comps a year.

Sometimes, we do quite well, and other times we do not score the best. There is a mix at each competition, level of other dancers, a mistake right when the judge was looking at us...ect...

Our goal is always at each competition to do our personal best, and to improve upon our performance from the last comp. We do not concentrate so much on our placement. If we did that we would of probably thrown in the towel long ago. True, nothing beats the feeling of taking first place, but if it does not happen, you need the mind set that it is ok, and just to continue on. The feeling is equally as great to walk off the floor and know you danced to your maximum ability, even if it does not bring a favorable score.