FINDING A COMPETITION PARTNER

Social dancers who want to make the jump to amateur competition first need a partner. If your social partner is not equally interested in competition, finding the right partner can be a challenge. Both parties should really want to compete, for one thing; amateur competition entries are generally cheap, but travel can be expensive, and training is time-consuming.

If you think a certain person would be a good competition partner for you, be honest about your intentions; it's not something that "just happens." Be informed, too; know the level where you want to begin, which dances are required, whether it's syllabus or open, and a schedule of nearby competitions you might enter. The recommended approach is to suggest a shared private lesson.

Before that, you should take a private lesson by yourself and have your teacher be brutally honest with you. It can be preferable to have this assessment done by someone other than your usual teacher, who may not want to hurt your feelings. Your true proficiency, your flaws, and your strengths should all be evaluated objectively. If you have never watched yourself dance on video, now is the time, so you can see whether your posture, frame, and footwork are as good as you think they are.

It's only natural that you will want a partner who you find physically attractive, but mental compatibility is much, MUCH more important. Remember, you are going to be spending many hours in very close contact with this person. You are going to be struggling and working and drilling to get things right. Be sure you pick a partner you can enjoy working with, not just looking at - and one who enjoys working with you.

An essential consideration in a competition partner is age - you must both be eligible to compete in the same age category. If you are shy of giving your exact age, it's perfectly fine to say "I'm eligible for Adult (19-35) or Senior (35 +) or Senior II (50 +)." (Note: Adults may not compete in Senior events, but Seniors may enter Adult events.) Another is height - for standard or smooth, each partner should be able to see over the other's shoulder when wearing dance shoes. Otherwise the couple will be dancing blind part of the time, which can be disastrous on a crowded floor.

Yet another consideration is fitness. If both partners are slightly heavy, but are still able to maintain a closed position, keep up with the music, hold their balance, and control their weight independently, that's fine. However, if one partner is significantly heavier, the other will likely feel out of position and out of control most of the time. It takes a lot of skill to compensate for a major weight difference.

Weight, of course, isn't everything. You need agility, balance, endurance, flexibility, and enough full-body strength to maintain your frame against the forces of moving through space, as well as powering yourself along. If you really want to compete, a fitness program is non-negotiable.

Beyond that, you must consider style of training. If you have taken mostly American social classes, and your potential partner has taken mostly International style (or vice versa), you will need to factor that in to your training schedule.

Once you have agreed to a partnership, take advantage of every opportunity to polish your routines. Studio parties are a great place to demonstrate syllabus routines, inspiring beginner students with steps they recognize and sequences that they can do with "just a few more" lessons. Chapter dances offer a larger dance floor for showier routines. Outreach audiences will love anything you do. And if you videotape your performances, you will be able to deconstruct your routines (either on your own or with your instructor) to see what needs work and what you're doing well.

There is always the possibility of relationship strain when your competition partner is someone other than your life partner. Of necessity, you will spend many hours in close physical contact with someone of the opposite sex. Both parties' attitude and behavior should at all times be professional and respectful of the boundaries. Do make a point of scheduling sufficient quality time with your life partner to compensate them for the hours they are losing you to competition practice.

On the flip side, non-competing life partners of competition dancers need to be very clear on the commitment required by competition. If you know you can't tolerate your mate spending that much time with someone else, be honest about it. Don't pretend it's okay, then blow a gasket and demand they quit after they've put in three months of practice. If you agree that your mate will be competing with someone else as a partner, accept what that really means.

Try to bear in mind that at the competition level, dancing is no more or less romantic than golf or tennis; it's hard, sweaty, sometimes nerve-wracking, sometimes painful, oft-stressful work. The competing dancers have the burden of behaving appropriately, but the non-dancing partners must maintain trust, tolerance, and (sometimes) silence.

Whatever your goals in dancing, remember that enjoying yourself comes first. If you don't really love dancing, no level of proficiency will make you a good partner. If anything happens to impair your love of dancing, sit down and talk it out with a friend, a classmate, your partner, or your teacher - don't let temporary problems damage such a great part of your life.