Why the names of the syllabus steps on the american style syllabus DVDs (from ballroomdancers.com) were chosen completely different from USISTD names?
Believe it or not, the Ballroomdancers.com syllabus pre-dates many of the current American style syllabi, including the USISTD and DVIDA. This entire website was originally conceived for the sole purpose of promoting its American style syllabus to the public. When the domain name was first registered, the website consisted simply of a step list with technical descriptions of the patterns in our American syllabus. There were no video clips, nor was there a Variation of the Week, Dancetalk Message Board, Learning Center, Shopping Mall, Classified Ads, or Dance Directory.
Although the function of the website has evolved considerably since the early days, and my attention has been distracted quite a bit by other projects, I am still firmly committed to the promotion of our own syllabus, which I consider superior to all of the other American style syllabi in almost every respect.
I long ago came to the realization that it will probably never be an officially sanctioned syllabus. Nonetheless, as long as there doesn't exist an American style syllabus on the market without serious fatal flaws, I will continue to develop and promote our own.
It may not be immediately apparent to you what makes it better at this point. In fact, that probably won't be the case until the majority of the bronze syllabus has been published to the website. However, I believe that when people see the end result, there will be no question.
Is there a dictionary of some sort?
Yes, but it's a very rudimentary version of a more advanced, searchable dictionary that has been in the works for quite some time. The engine that will drive the upcoming dictionary will also run the message board and the learning center, so that our entire website will be searchable. As well, I plan to add a list of aliases to each pattern in the syllabus, which, when paired with the searchable dictionary, should give our users an easy way to find the patterns they're looking for and understand the similarities and differences in terminology between the various schools.
Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com
