Judging at Harvard Beginners Competition
Yesterday I did something totally new and served as a judge at the Harvard Beginners Competition. It was totally fun and a great learning experience. In an attempt to keep the cost of the competition down, and provide a 'low key' atmosphere for competitors the Harvard Beginners competition invites alumni and other advanced dancers to be the judges instead of the usual local professional coaches. I now understand a little bit about what one can really see when you are a judge and what makes you call back a couple in the ~3 seconds you get to look at each one of them.

To anyone who doesn't know what a ballroom competition is like here is a quick synopsis of a typical round from the judges perspective.

1. Stand there with your clipboard and watch the couples come on to the floor. Note anyone with inappropriate attire etc, also note those couples who look relaxed, confident, well groomed (they may be the best dancers out there and you don't want to miss them).

2. Hope that the MC tells you how many couples you will see in how many heats (there will be 4 heats, please recall 10 per heat). Write down which dance, level, etc of the event on your sheet.

3. The DJ plays the music. If it is an early round there is ~18 - 20 couples on the floor at once. You get 1 min and 30 seconds to assess the dancing of the couples and pick the best 10.

4. The couples start dancing. You walk all around the floor trying to catch the #'s of the couples you like, write down all the numbers, double check to make sure you have the right number on the sheet, then make sure there are no duplicates in the set.

5a. You realize you still have 10 seconds of music left. I ended up holding out my call sheet so I could look at it and the couples at almost the same time and then try to make sure I still 'liked' the dancing of the couples I chose.

5b. YIKES - Your realize they cut the music short and the fade is already started and you need to call back 3 more couples, quick! At this point I go with, 1. Who is standing up straight ? 2. who is dancing on time to the music ? and 3. If I don't find any I like with #1 and #2 then -who is doing the correct foot work? (like taking a heel lead in standard).

6. The music stops :-) Yay, next heat! Repeat steps 1-5

Here are a few photos of me judging and some of the competitiors who were dancing. Photos by Ron Hoffmann
Me with my clipboard
sky view of competitors dancing and waiting for the next heat
One of the finalist couples
I'm judging pregnant belly and all