The word competition doesn’t usually conjure up images of dancing. Most people tend to think of sports when they think of competition, like football, tennis, golf, etc. Sports competition has long been great fun with many fans, however competition ballroom dancing is also very entertaining to watch. Just look at how popular the show Dancing With the Stars is.
Ballroom dancing has been associated with an older, wealthy crowd until recently. During the late 1980′s it was popular and then that popularity died down around 1995. Then around 1999, it regained popularity and has been popular ever since. As you can see by Dancing With the Stars, there is increased media coverage of ballroom dancing and this is encouraging more and more people to learn it and even to compete in ballroom dancing.
An organization called Access Dance is host to many popular ballroom dance compeitions nationwide. Winners can win a range of prizes from cash to vacations. There are different categories (youth, amateur and professional) that allows people of all ages and skill levels to compete in ballroom dancing.
There’s also an annual ballroom dance competition held by the Maryland Institute of Technology (MIT). This dance competition is open to anyone who wants to compete as well as to members of the MIT ballroom dance team. This competition has far more categories, being divided by dance style and then by beginning and intermediate. There’s a small entry fee with the price ranging from $10-$40, depending on the category and your skill level.
As mentioned previously, the best known ballroom dancing competition is ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. This competition is so interesting because celebrities are the contestants. The most recent champion of ballroom dancing, Hines Ward, is a Pittsburgh Steelers receiver with no previous experience with ballroom dance competition. An actress, Jennifer Grey, was winner in the previous season. Emmitt Smith, a former NFL player for the Dallas Cowboys was winner in Season 3. Celebrities with no previous ballroom dancing experience are paired up with professional dance partners who teach ballroom dancing. It starts with ten couples and each week a couple is eliminated by viewers. The show took off after the first season and is now their own version of the show is seen in over twenty countries.
There’s lots of information on the Internet on ballroom dancing competitions if you are interested in finding out more about it. There are competitions for just about every skill level.
