First dance competition

Your First Dance Competition

How ballroom dance competitions work?

First Dance Competition: There are hundreds of ballroom dance competitions in the United States alone, and they all have two things in common: organizer and participants. An organizer can be a person or a group of people that put together an event and invite people to participate in, thus participants. The duty of the organizer is to provide such a great experience to the participants so that they want to come back next year, especially for new participant’s first dance competition. Here are a few things that make a great event: welcome staff, venue, decoration, location, entertainment, meals, seminar, adjudicators…etc

Staff: the organizer of any ballroom dance competition is usually very visible. The staff’s duty is to welcome everyone and making sure they are having a great time while addressing any problem that may arise. They are familiar with every aspect of the event such as meal times (breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktail…) They also should know the location of special events such as bathrooms, room change, practice dance floor (not every competition has that)

Venue: This is a very important aspect of a dance competition because organizers cannot choose a very cheap hotel not a super expensive one either. Something in between is best for both organizers and participants. Most ballroom dance competitions are being held at 4 and 5 stars hotel. The organizers negotiate a better rate by buying a block of rooms in advanced. That’s why it’s better to go through the organizers when making hotel reservation for your dance events because they usually have a much better rate than the hotel itself.

Decoration: Most organizers do a great job decorating the ballroom according to their theme. Some organizers can be a bit extravagant to the eyes of a new participant with their decoration but nevertheless, it’s a big part of the ballroom dancing world.

Location: Location, location location is the name of the game. It’s another important part of a dance competition. Lots of organizers rotate their events every year until they find the right hotel and city to call home. That’s how important location is.

Entertainment: One of the organizer duties is to provide entertainment for the participants. Most competitions hire professionals for show dance during the evening after the competition. Organizers sometimes will extend the party through what’s called a VIP Party, which is reserved for certain package holders.

Meals: If you are a package holder, you will have meals included in your package. Depending on your package, it might be just lunch, or dinner or both. Sometimes, all meals are included (breakfast lunch dinner). The dinner is usually at least a 3-course dinner with drinks (wine, coffee, water…etc)

Seminar: Some events will include a seminar in their package. Normally a judge or a former champion will conduct the seminar. This is a great opportunity to learn from someone else not available in your area.

Adjudicators: Organizers have to pick judges that will help run the event successfully. The adjudicators are all professionals and some may hold national and world titles.

Your First Dance Competition

How much do ballroom dance competitions cost?

Here are some costs associated with ballroom dance competitions:

Dance Organizer Fees

Dance entries: organizers charge a fee per dance. The fee varies from $35 to $65 per dance depending on the competition. Do your math: if you dance 10 times that’s at least $350 in dance entries

Dance Package: That’s another fee organizers charge. It includes hotels, meals, tickets (entrance to the ballroom. You can choose not to be on any package especially if you’re local, but then you will need tickets to get in. The organizer also charges an extra fee per dance entries ($5 to $10) for not being on a package. To get a full experience of any dance competition, it’s best to get a package, even when being local.

Dance Instructor Fees

Your Instructor: You must be prepared to pay your instructor for partnering with you because he/she won’t be able to teach others while being a dance competition with you. The cost varies depending on the instructors. Some instructors charge per dance, some per day, some per event. Please note that some events last one day, while other are multiple days.

Dance Studio Fees

Some dance studios do charge a fee for dancing with their instructor because while away, the instructor cannot teach for the dance studio.

Your First Dance Competition

Other Costs Related to Dance Competitions

Travel costs: unless it’s a local event, you will need to pay for your traveling as well as your teacher. Note that if the teacher is competing with multiple students, the travel cost is split amongst all students.

Hair and makeup: Your day to day hair and makeup is not enough. You will need professional hair and makeup done by ballroom dance hair and makeup artists. Remember this is a performance day, not a regular one.

Tanning: Most dancers get tanned one or two days before the event so that they look their best. Along with hair and makeup, this will complete the dancer’s look.

Nails: Manicure and pedicure are expected as well to complete the perfect look along with all of the above.

Dance costumes: Dance costumes are one of the most important part of ballroom dance competitions. You should have at least one dance costume for each dance style.

Dance Shoes: Just like dance costumes, you will need a good pair of dance shoes as well.

Please note that your first dance competition is usually the most expensive one because you won’t need dance shoes, and costumes again for the next event. You should also consider a small, one-day dance competition because they tend to be beginner friendly.

You should consider a single day dance event as your first dance event as they are very beginner friendly.