It takes more than just good dancing to be a champion in Ballroom Latin Dance. A dancer must stick to a total of 10 winning principles in order to be successful.
The former professional Ballroom Latin competitors Tatsuro Otake and Takako Suzuki of Japan put forward 10 winning principles for any dancer destined to be a champion based on quotes from their coach Peter Maxwell some twenty years ago.
The 10 Winning Principles To Be A Champion
- Basics: A successful Ballroom dancer must be able to do any basic actions like Rumba Walks or Samba Bounce securely. He or she must have good balance and posture.
- Body control: This is a very easily misunderstood concept. It is not about how fast the body can move or at what speed. It is the ability to control the body and dance a certain figure at ease. In other words, it is the ability to get all joints connected and prepare for the next dance move. The more flexible a dancer's joints, the better his or her dancing can become. A dancer can also show his or her ability to control the body and joints through stretching in arm styling or lifting of the legs.
- Technique: The technique in this context is not so much about how difficult or complicated the dance steps are. It is more of the connection between the two partners. Without connection, no matter how fast a dancer can move individually, partner dancing is just not possible. With connection, there is communication between the two partners and the performance makes more sense.
- Musicality: It is not enough just to count the beats. A dancer must be able to listen to the depth of the music. For example, in Samba, a dancer must be able to note the heavy beat of the percussion and express the rhythm through the body movements. This is what the top ranking Ballroom dancers in the world do.
- Individuality: A winning dancer is able to make himself stand out from the crowd. This is the case when audiences can quickly recognize the couple from a distance. A key to this quality is self-confidence.
- Stamina: Being physically fit for long hours of daily practice is prerequisite to any winning dancer. Usually the five Latin dances are danced over and over again during these practice sessions. This is the only way to get ready for dancing in rounds of competitions where there are no chances to rest.
- Mental Preparedness: As a dancer’s level is getting higher, he or she must be mentally prepared to work even harder to get to the next level. The ambition must not stop unless he decides not to dance.
- Looks or Image: A winning look starts from self-confidence of a dancer. Together with an appropriate dress style and hairstyle, an individual image is created. Many current top professionals have their own image. The current world ranking Ballroom Latin Champion Joanna Leunis is known to wear the same style competition costume most of the time.
- Charisma: The natural charm of a winning dancer comes from the combination of various qualities. He or she must be technically good with unique individual dance style and floor presence.
- Hard Work: The life of a winning dancer may be dull since it is occupied with practice most of the time. He or she must prepare to sacrifice a lot of personal life for the sake of dancing. The fact is, only hard work can bring about good results.
Champion Qualities As Learning Objectives
It will take years to train for all those champion qualities. But it is good to know what is expected from a winning dancer so as to plan the learning objectives accordingly.
References:
- "The Winning Philosophy", an article based on the interview to former Professional Latin competitors of Japan Tatsuro Otake and Takako Suzuki, Dance View Magazine (Japanese Language) December 2008 issue, pp. 10-11.
The copyright of the article Ballroom Latin Dance Made Successful in Ballroom/Latin Dance is owned by Winnie Ooi. Permission to republish Ballroom Latin Dance Made Successful in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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