Introduction to Dancesport

Posted: January 6, 2022

By: Horace Luong

Dancesport is the competitive side of ballroom dancing.  Over the next couple of months we will be sharing articles with you from our seasoned judges and competition organizers of Dancesport in our community.  So if you’d like to learn more about how couples are judged or how a dancesport competition is organized, stay tuned!

For those unfamiliar with Dancesport, this is an event where couples come together and are partitioned off to compete against each other of the same level.  Dancesport competitions can be for smaller, local communities, but the organizers can also apply for state or continental championship titles so that winners of these competitions can don a prestigious champion title.   Depending on the dancers’ calibre, they may dance one dance or up to five dances for the judges to evaluate their dancing against their competition.  There are usually several judges posted around the dance floor perimeter who have mere seconds to evaluate each couple.  Those results are sent (electronically or physically) to the scrutineer who tallies up the scores. Due to capacity limits on the dance floor, when the number of competitors warrants, rounds may be held to slowly whittle away competitors until six couples remain in the final round.

As a recently reborn Dancesport competitor, I love the NASSPDA competitions as compared to my experience in the mainstream competitions.  Just like mainstream competitions, competitors will spend months training for the competitions.  Some folks dance with their romantic partner however there are others, like myself, have had the privilege of our community members answering my call for an ad hoc dance partner for a competition.  My partners have been guys in other Canadian provinces and even in America. So where there’s a will, there’s a way! For me, whilst the ‘hardware’ and title may be nice, I participate in our Dancesport events to support the community and it’s for my personal growth. Some competitors have the luxury of having a local coach whereas others, like myself, will need to travel a few hours by plane to a location where there is a dance partner and coach available.  One of the elements I like about NASSPDA competitions is the camaraderie with other competitors as well as the freedom in choreography and costuming.  Gone are those mainstream days where a couple can enter a bronze-level competition and only dance upto and including the bronze syllabus dance figures.  At the NASSPDA Dancesport competitions I’ve attended, it’s not unusual to see competitors dancing syllabus figures against those dancing open figures in championship events.  I’ll leave it to our expert judges to comment on what takes precedence – flashy open syllabus figures or technically solid syllabus figures.

As with any Dancesport competition, NASSPDA competitions are not quiet as the audience is typically very supportive, calling out their favorite couples’ numbers to show support and perhaps to catch the judges’ attention.

NASSPDA Dancesport events have had categories such as American smooth, Rhythm, International standard, International Latin, and Argentine Tango. The NASSPDA North American same-sex championships and the NASSPDA USA same-sex championships alternate from coast to coast to give these compeittions the most exposure.

Why participate in Dancesport?  Whilst there are several motivations, I would believe the most common being an intrinsic enjoyment of the processes of preparing for and participation in the competition.  Some folks may also enjoy working hard to get recognition of their dance skills.  At times I attend Dancesport competitions not to dance myself but I’m there to capture the moments with a camera. I love the challenge of timing couples’ figures and practicing being in the moment.