Insanity:  doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.–
Albert Einstein

Are you insane?
Many couples at one point or another suffer with this dance disorder.

Let me explain…
We all practice hard and try our best and don’t want to fail on purpose,
but the mental approach to competing is the problem. Many couples come back from competitions with bad results, but instead of looking at the dancing to see what they can change for the better, they practice the SAME THING more because of these reasons:

• it’s political
• we danced great, the judges don’t know what they are looking for

The Blame Game

Then they go back on the floor expecting a different result and this process is repeated time and time again. The next step normally is to blame the choreography, their partner, or their coaches. With choreography, they spent TIME and MONEY to think of new routines, which distracts them with a false sense of improvement. They then take it to comp floor feeling improved and to their surprise, they get the same result.

??????

Why and how is this happening? Simple…if you have bad technique (for example, bad posture, leg and foot work, and musicality… and so on), it doesn’t matter if you change your routines! The underlying problems are still visable to the judges. In the end you have wasted around 3 months on distracting yourself from the simple fundamental changes that needed to happen.

The Voice of Experience

I was told early on in my career that only SMART dancers who make good choices will reach the top, and TALENT can only take you so far. I never understood it until I made the very same mistakes of what I’m writing here today. So, as you can see, if you don’t change your mind on your dancing, then why would the judges change theirs?

— Jason Daly is a World and U.S. American Rhythm Finalist,  World & European Representative in Latin for Great Britain, and national NDCA adjudicator.  Jason is also one of our American Rhythm expert coaches on dancesportplace.com.  Become a member to access his video library. 

Guest Post Author

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Melissa Cyr

Melissa is a former National Canadian Professional Latin Finalist and U.S. Rising Star Latin Couple of the Year, and has been teaching ballroom for over 20 years.


With her husband Erik, they are the founders of DanceSport Place and have a passion to help dancesport competitors reach their dancing goals.

Latest posts by Melissa Cyr (see all)

• Write your Dance: Improve your dancing through journaling - November 12, 2019
• The Difference Between Oversway and Throwaway: Ballroom Video Preview - June 8, 2018
• Principles of Movement: Ballroom Basics Video - September 21, 2016

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