Upcoming Ballroom Competitions

So I just returned from a competition this weekend and looking forward I realized I need to make some tough choices!  While I usually pick my competitions well ahead of time (to clear my schedule and take advantage of early registration fees) I'm a little behind this season.  So since its easier than choosing between some of these competing comps, I figured I'd share a list of upcoming competitions (US only).  Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be an all inclusive list floating about so I'll attempt one here.  Forgive me (and let me know) if I've missed anything!

To help make this list more useful, I've added a U to indicate USADance, an N for NDCA, and a C for college competitions.  For those with no indicator, it its either awaiting NDCA approval or they aren't expressly affiliated. 

One other note, the list only goes until August because many competitions past that point aren't set yet.  For those you'll need to come back for an updated list in a few months.  :)

Feb 9-11  N Platinum Dancesport Classic Feb 11 C University of Michigan Ballroom Dance Competition Feb 11 U Quest for the Best Feb 12 C Terrier Dancesport Competition Feb 16-19 N California Open Dancesport Championships Feb 16-19 N Florida Superstars Championships Feb 17-19 N Eastern US Dancesport Championships Feb 18 C Binghamton Dance Revolution Feb 18-19 U Derby City Dancesport Championships  Feb 23-26 N Indiana Challenge Dancesport Competition Feb 24-25 U Gem State Classic  Feb 25 C Holy Cross Ballroom Competition Feb 25 C UC Berkeley Ballroom Classic Feb 25-26 U Midatlantic Championships  Feb 25-26 N New York Dance Festival Feb 25-26 Star of the North DanceSport Classic Feb 28- Mar 3 N Heritage Classic Mar 1-4 N Vegas Open Mar 3-4 Arnold Youth Dancesport Classic Mar 3-4 C Harvard Invitational Mar 7-10 N United States National Amateur Dancesport Championships Mar 8-10 N St. Louis Star Ball  Mar 10 C Northeast Collegiate DanceSport Challenge Mar 10 U Vernal Equinox Extravaganza Mar 15-18 N Music City Invitational Mar 16-17 U Steel City Dancesport Classic  Mar 17-18 C MIT Open Mar 18 Spring Fling Mar 22-25 N Texas Challenge Dancesport Mar 23-25 N San Francisco Open DanceSport Championships Mar 23-25 N Tri-State Challenge Dancesport Championships Mar 29-31 N Michigan Dance Challenge Mar 30- Apr 1 U USADance National Dancesport Championships Apr 3-8 N Southern States Dancesport Championships Apr 13-14 U USU Dancesport Challenge Apr 20-22 N Philadelphia Festival & Atlantic Coast Dancesport  Apr 21 C BAM Jam Apr 21 C Gotham City Dancesport Challenge Apr 25-29 N Wisconsin Dancesport Championships Apr 27-29 N Sunshine State Dancesport Competition Apr 28 U Quest for the Best May 2-6 N Emerald Ball May 4-6 N Washington Open Dancesport Competition May 10-12 Atlanta Open Dancesport Spectacular May 12-13 U Columbia Star Ball  May 17-20 N American Star Ball Championships May 17-20 N Crown Jewel of DanceSport May 17-20 Randy Ferguson’s Dance Houston May 24-26 Savannah Dance Classic May 24-27 People’s Choice of Dancesport Competition May 25-27 Dancing a la Carte Championships June 1-3 Sapphire Dancesport Championships June 7-10 Chicago Crystal Ball June 7-10 San Diego Dancesport Championships June 9-10 U Summer Sizzler  June 14-17 N Colorado Star Ball Championships June 14-17 N Yankee Classic & New England Dancesport Championships June 20-24 N Millennium Dancesport Championships June 21-24 N Northcoast Ballroom Championships June 29-July 1 U Gumbo Dancesport Championships  July 4-8 N Manhattan DanceSport Championships July 12-14 N Twin Cities Open Ballroom Championships July 12-15 N Desert Classic Dancesport Championships July 19-22 Virginia State Dancesport Championships July 26-28 Volunteer State Dancesport Championships July 27-29 International Grand Ball July 28 U River City Ball  July 31-Aug 5 N Florida State DanceSport Championships Aug 3-5 N Seattle Star Ball Aug 9-12 Empire State Dancesport Championships Aug 9-12 N Heart of America Championships Aug 16-19 Cincinnati Ballroom Classic Aug 16-19 N Nevada Star Ball Championships Aug 17-19 Killick Klassik DanceSport Event Aug 22-25 N Capital Dancesport Championships Aug 30-Sept 2 N Windy City Open Aug 30-Sept 2 N Embassy Ball Dancesport Championships
Wow, that's a lot of options!  Time to get practicing!

Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s Ballroom Birthday Bash

Last weekend I decided to check out this event to see if I could pick up some tips; I mean who doesn't want to charge $100 for their birthday party?!  I wasn't sure what to expect, since the program wasn't detailed on the website, but I figured why not, surprises can be a good thing.  I dragged along a friend of mine who watches DWTS religiously but otherwise has no ballroom experience.  Turns out, the event was a little more up her alley than it was mine!

The only picture I took that came out.

There definitely was not as much dancing as I expected!  The best way to describe it would be:  1 part roast, 1 part studio showcase, and one part watching a party you weren't really invited to.  My friend loved spotting all the people she had previously seen on TV and chatting it up with the lady next to her (who had traveled all the way from California to see Maks) about DWTS gossip.  For me though, the event seemed to drag a little bit (it was almost four hours long).  Below were my favorite, and least favorite, parts of the evening.

The Good

• The best dance number of the evening was definitely a Cha Cha performed by Val Chmerkovskiy & Daria Chesnokova entitled Relax Maks (can you guess the song??).  It’s always great to see them dance, especially since they aren’t competing in amateur anymore L  The number was cheeky and cute and had the added bonus of a bit of lead and follow syllabus cha cha at the end with Maks & Daria.
• There were some great, and seriously touching, video tributes to Maks from family, friends and students.  All of the kids from his first class in his first studio came back to talk about how much he meant to them.  They also performed and looked pretty good, which was impressive considering some had not danced in years!
•  There was a cool number choreographed by Matt Hauer entitled Samurai that I wish I could have gotten on video but our seats were in the back and with the dim lighting my camera couldn’t pick anything up.  Hopefully I’ll catch it again somewhere.

The Bad

• For a ballroom party there really wasn’t that much dancing.  The audience, like my friend, seemed to be mostly fans of Maks from DWTS not dancers themselves.  It was probably a good thing because there was no social dancing at all throughout the evening, not even during intermission!  It was just so hard to be in a beautiful venue with a great dance floor and not be allowed to use it! 
• Tony, Tony, Tony…what were you thinking?  Val and Tony Dovolani did a majority of the talking during the show which was fine in the beginning.  By the end however, Tony was throwing in lots of off-the-wall comments and long-winded remarks.  He also half-assed the only performance he gave, a samba where his poor partner tried to dance twice as hard to make up for him basically walking around the floor.  I think he may have enjoyed the VIP area (the only place there was really a party) a little too much.
•  Those videos quickly became a double edged sword.  They were funny, cute, and touching at first but as the event got longer and longer the lengthy videos became tiresome. 

The...What?!?

•  Val and Daria performed a second number to the tunes of Val himself.  Yup!  That’s right, Val rapped a whole song in honor of Maks performing an Argentine Tango with Daria during the breaks. 
•  Throughout the night there were a few references to the Real Housewives of New Jersey who my friend had informed me were in house (after she stalked the red carpet for celebrities, of course).  She, along with her new friend next to her, decided this must be a sign that a Housewife would be on this season of DWTS.   If not, then all their shout outs seem even more random!
• Towards the end of the show, Maks was presented with a cake:  a gold bust of his own head.  He seemed very excited for the Cake Boss creation, but for the audience it started to get strange when he went on  and on about it.  You can only admire yourself in cake form for so long before it starts to get a little weird.

It wasn’t what I expected, but all in all I had a good time and met some cool people (and avid DWTS fans).  Considering this wasn’t a milestone birthday for him, I have to wonder if NYC has an annual birthday bash in its future.  Next year I think I'll pass on the bash and hit up a real party instead.