Last weekend Lina and I joined the UConn Ballroom Team for the 17th Annual Harvard Invitational ballroom competition. While we did pretty poorly overall, I honestly think that we did better than I had expected.
We didn’t bother with any pictures or video for this competition, but you can definitely expect some for the MIT Open next month! Read on for a full recap including the usual results breakdown.
Competition Overview
All in all, the competition was terrifically well run. The vast number of judges employed over the two day competition was truly awesome, and the speed and efficiency with which line-ups, rounds, and callbacks were run was nothing short of amazing. I have yet to see any other competition that was run more smoothly. No competition is without its small organizational hiccups, but I have a huge degree of respect for the Harvard ballroom team and associated persons.
One thing that really caught my eye was how the paperwork — or lack thereof — was handled for adjudication. It turns out that they used a new software system, HustleComp, for the whole results and callback process, which was extremely smooth and slick. They had a free (open but private) wireless network set up which allowed online and instantaneous access to callback and results information. In addition, wireless hand-held devices (iPod Touch devices, namely) were used by all of the check-in staff as well as the judges in order to record callback information instantaneously and without the hassle of running scrutineer sheets back and forth. That’s right, no pen and pad, no mixed up or lost sheets, no fumbling to try to find out which number was circled, and no extra time wasted. Finally, they had several projectors set up around the room to facilitate dissemination of callback information. As a result, they seldom called out any actual couple numbers when doing callbacks, rather expecting each couple to stay on top of that information themselves. And what’s best about the whole setup is that it just worked for the most part. Hooray technology.
Results
Again, I think we outperformed my expectations for the competition despite the fact that we pretty much got creamed. I was especially happy to hear from one of my coaches that there is visible improvement in our dancing. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, though, as visible in the following full results breakdown.
| Style | Dance | Final Cut | Marks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Cut | 2nd Cut | 3rd Cut | 4th Cut | ||||
| American Rhythm | Cha-Cha | Quarter-Finals | 3/7 | 2/7 | |||
| Rumba | 5/7 | 2/7 | |||||
| Swing | 1st Cut | 2/7 | |||||
| International Latin | Cha-Cha | 1st Cut | 2/7 | ||||
| Rumba | 3/7 | ||||||
| Samba | 1st Cut | 3/7 | |||||
| Jive | 3/7 | ||||||
| Paso Doble | 1st Cut | 1/7 | |||||
| International Standard | Waltz | 3rd Cut | 5/5 | 4/5 | 0/5 | ||
| Quickstep | 4/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | ||||
| Viennese Waltz | Quarter-Finals | 5/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 0/5 | ||
| Foxtrot | 2nd Cut | 3/5 | 2/5 | ||||
| Tango | 3/5 | 2/5 | |||||
| American Smooth | Waltz | Semi-Finals | 3/5 | 4/5 | 2/5 | ||
| Tango | 3/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | ||||
| Foxtrot | Semi-Finals | 4/5 | 3/5 | 4/7 | 2/7 | ||
Of note here, we did pretty well in smooth. I feel as though at this point I should take a smooth lesson or two (which neither Lina nor I have ever had before) in order to get a few things to work on within that style.
Looking Forward
Lina’s going to be studying flat-out until her step one boards, which she is scheduled to take two days before the competition at MIT this year. That leaves me practicing mostly on my own for the next month or so, which is actually quite nice as I have a number of things to work on by myself, especially in Standard and Latin. I’m looking forward to being able to correct a number of my own issues that have nothing to do with my partnership.
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