Hey everyone! As a young dancer (15) living in Florida who dances at a high level it is difficult to find a partner locally. So instead I found a partner who lives in Moldova (Eastern Europe). It's pretty amazing that we found each other since in aspects of our height, age, goals, drive, aspirations, and skill level, we are a perfect match. We even found a student exchange program he can come here through. One problem is that the program is expensive, and his family has trouble affording it. My family can't help him either. I am working now and may be able to help a bit, but I don't think it will be enough. Also, when he does arrive, how would you suggest that we approach sponsors? Dance and non-dance affiliated? We don't have enough money to enter major competitions before finding a sponsor to help us out. Where I live most people have never seen ballroom dance and have the typical stereotype of old people shuffling their feet, but I know if they saw us dance we could gain support. The hardest part is to get him here. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Would be a lot cheaper for you to go to Moldova for a while... and educational.

This may be a silly question, but have you met him?

I don't have the money to even fly to Moldova and my trainer has met him. Like I said, any suggestions?

There was a thread somewhere else on this board about bringing a partner over from Europe. Let me see if I can find it and post the link to it here.

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Well, I couldn't figure out how to link to it, so I just "bumped" it to the top of the discussion thread. Look for the "sponsoring a partner from Europe" thread.

It turns out my friend will come here through the student exchange program! He finally convinced his parents! I'm so happy! Also, I wish the best of luck to everyone else looking for a partner, because I know how hard it is. ;) Still wondering, does anyone have advice on finding sponsors? Also, what are the best competitions in Florida that are big enough so that your results in them matter, are well organized, have great music, but don't have ridiculous entry fees? I have a few of my favorites, but I'm just looking for everyone's opinion and input! Thanks!

to find sponsorship for an unproven couple, you'd have to look outside the dance industry to find someone you can sell the idea to on the basis of its novelty - within the dance industry you have far to much competition from already proven couples for the extremely limited dollars available.

also you will probably need to travel far beyond florida for competitions

We each have good results with our old partners- but our old partners were paying for everything! We just need to get some good results together before looking for sponsors without running out of money! We'll both have part time jobs, but the costs for competing are so much. What are your favorite competitions in Florida?