Basics of Competitive Ballroom Dance. Dance Studio in Boston Area

The true greatness and excitement of any sport really shines through when the athletes are evenly matched. This stands true for sports of all types, especially dancesport. Dancesport, also known as competitive ballroom dancing, has a highly unique classification system in place to ensure that dancers of all types are able to compete with those on the same dancing level. Obviously it would be plenty unfair for a dance pair with years of experiences to be in the same competitive group with partners with only a few months experience. Just like with all athletes, the more experience that a dancer has, the better his/her skills become, and the higher he/she moves in the levels of competition. The higher level of expertise and complex dance skills, the more competitive a dancer becomes.

When looking at dance programs, there are two main types of classifications used. These classifications are in place to ensure that each competition is fair. Dancers want to be able to compete with other dancers who are on the same level. This is why there is a high importance to having a classification systems to make sure that dancesport competitions are nothing short of a dancing battle.

In the Boston area and others around the world, some ballroom dance competitions are set for closed dance programs. This means to the choreography that the dancers used is confined to set syllabus. Dancers who compete in this type of competition are often assigned to specific dance classes such as bronze, silver, and gold. Each class has set standards that increase as the level goes up. For example a bronze level dancer would be expected to be able to showcase basic moves of some of the most basic ballroom dance such as the Rumba or Foxtrot. Dancers in the gold level would need to be able to perform some of the most difficult ballroom dance moves possible.

Dancers are able to move to higher levels once they reach a certain amount of points from their competitions. Once a dancer has attained enough points or is given the go-ahead to move to a higher level, he/she is not able to move back down to a lower level.

On the other hand there are competitions with open dance programs that allow the dancers to have full range of their choreography. This type of competition is generally saved for those who are more advanced in their dance skills. These types of competitions allow dancers to be part of levels, which include novice, pre-championship, and championship. Open program competitions assume that the dancers involved are well versed in some of the most foundational steps and moves since they are in charge of creating their own choreography routines.

In the end dancers often compete in both types of programs which means that dancers will have many different types of dance classifications. A lot of dancers carry dual classification such as silver and novice or gold and pre-championship. Dancesport in the surrounding Boston area is always competitive and allows for plenty of growth for dancers of all ages, experiences, and skill-types.