hi,

i'm a 12 year old girl and i find it extremely hard to find a partner. does anybody else have the same problem? is any boy looking too?

i have the same problem and i'm 13 is anybody out there

wow thats really young to be dancing but I guess it's never too early to learn. I am 20 and just started cause my friend asked me. Not much guys there learning except the ones with girlfriends where I am. And for my friends, they make little jokes so I guess for guys your age it would just be hard to find a boy with enough courage to learn. Good luck anyways! BTW, I find it fun learning... just need to get better faster =D.

I know! It's totally impossible to find a partner! I'm fourteen and have been looking for a guy to dance with forever! The only guys that I can find are 3 or 4 years older than me and at a much lower dancing level than me. Its really tough but for now dancing with my teacher is easier. Just keep looking and youll find one! Best of luck to all of u!

I hate to say this but if you want to be taken seriously as a competitor you should really consider taking up with one of these less-advanced guys. If you can find someone who is 16 or 17 you can dance with him in the Youth division (which goes up to age 18), even though at age 14 and 15 you are still a Junior. If you can only find a guy who is 18 or 19, I'd say don't bother because your 18-year-old would age into the Adult division too quickly, and at age 14/15 you are too young to be allowed to dance in the Adult division.

It's a sad truth that a lot of people look down on Pro/Am dancers, and some people refuse to even try out with girls who have been doing Pro/Am for too long. I think this attitude is wrong, but I'm telling you what I have learned from my past seven years of dancing in both Pro/Am and Amateur partnerships.

Thanks for the advice! My teacher and I were talking about that and were thinking that if I found a guy that worked well with me~ even if he's a lower level~ that I would still dance with him. But so far we haven't been able to find one that isn't like a wierdo or anything. lol. I never knew that people looked at pro/am like that though. Why would they do that? I mean, not all of us are fortunate enough to have good partners, so I don't see why dancing with your teacher would be that big of a deal.

Tangoteen, the sad truth is that there are a number of snobby people in dancesport. I don't know why -- none of them who I have debated with on this topic have ever given me a satisfactory answer -- it usually goes back to outdated perceptions that Pro/Am is for rich old ladies who just want to be towed around by a young good looking teacher. Silly, but that's the best the anti-Pro/Am crowd has ever come up with. Not everyone looks at Pro/Am this way, but enough do that it's worth it to at least realize that the perception is out there. Don't let these people get you down!!

Good luck with finding a guy! And keep working on your dancing with your teacher. As you learn more and also age up into Youth you'll have a wider range of people you can dance with. The year you turn 16 you will be considered a Youth, so you will be able to dance in both Youth and Adult events, thus expanding your pool of potential partners.

One other somewhat valid reason for looking down on a Pro/Am couple, especially when it's a pro gentleman, and a female student might be that the female student has the benefit of a professional for the lead. She might be able to get away with a little more since she's got a pro to lead her around the floor. I'm not saying women who dance pro/am aren't good, it's just I think that the dynamic is easier than a male student and a female instructor, or two amateurs. I've seen plenty of women who have only done pro/am, and looked amazing at it, but take away the pro, and they look a little lost.