Without a good top line you might as well pack your bags and head for the door. The top line is is the first thing that a judge will see as they look across the floor. Lets not forget. For the man, it is all about standing up straight. Remember a male dancers spine does not finish at the base of the skull. It goes up through the head and up to the ceiling without a bend in it. Lifting the chin too high creating a kink in the back of the neck is also a fault which we see too often.

The top line is very important! Without it there is very little point attending a competition. You might think you have a good top line, but the problems become evident in dance's like the quickstep. I have seen couple's where the woman is much better than the man, because she is not thinking of the technical elements to creating a good top line. As anonymous states it is about keeping a straight back and not stretching the head and neck to high as to create a kink in the spine which then looks ugly. For me, this is why technique is one of the things I look for!

Your comment about P/Hose is quite interesting...

It may interest you to know that, most top flite prof ladies NEVER wear them.. why ? because the feet cannot " grab " the shoe as effectively.The champions of old , seemed to manage pretty well without them !( they weren't invented )


The P/hose thing , is a fairly new addition to the comp. field,( for those that do choose them, if any ) and Tights worn by ladies, particularly in latin, is far more suitable .

Also interesting what the Judges you spoke to gave as a "priority ".. having been ( and still am ) a Champ. adjudicator, there are several aspects that carry equal " weight " .. Top is one , but only a part of the bigger picture .

I hate P/hose in terms of dance. You slip and slide and you can't grip the floor or hold any accuracy in your feet. You may as well spray grease on your feet.

If you need to hide something you can go with fishnets. They aren't slippery, they hide the imperfections and you can get them in a million colors.

It's quite simple. What judges look for is which couples have had lessons with them. Unfortunately there are many that look for the couples that have contributed to their wages in some way.

Dancesport competitors need to be great politicians paying like senators vast monies for campaigns to even get a look in. Some adgjudicators are fair and I suppose as unbiased as they can be. But too many accounts of both past and present competitors prove the corruption that is sickingly prevalent in this arena. The corrupt judges maintain it and the fair judges just accept it. Why would they question an established system that pays their wages. Real life accounts, personal experience even supposed private conversations overheard between prominent judges and students regarding results of future comps not even danced yet, has convinced this dancer that competitive ballroom is at its creative end.

Bottom line. People who can afford the inflated prices of these prominent teachers/adjudicators will be marked into finals. Couples who make the finals are talented, skilled and probably work very hard. Do the best get through or even win? Hmmmmm. Money over skill. Influence over talent.

We might as well consider running for office. It's starting to smell like politics more and more. Shame, because ballroom dancing is rich both in its history and diversity.

Timing. It doesn't matter how good a couple look if they go out of time, then out they should go. Timing is the most important

Surely that is a given though! As dancing of time is a COMPLETE NO NO! First rule of dance in my opinion!

Hi,
I had this conversation many years ago with a well known coach, I asked if she found that some couples came to her hoping to buy her marks. She replied of course, but the trouble is I've 23 top couples who I see regularly, and I can only put six into a final.

I've come to realise that you can't 'please' a judge, because they all have different things they look for and different preferences (it may be the lady's shoulder lines or timing etc). All that can be done is to minimise anything which may 'offend' a judge. I believe that you don't earn credits in a competition - you earn debits, and the couple with the fewest debits wins.

You are spot on. As a judge I would say this is exactly the point. We all look for different things and provided you don't "piss us off" you will do rather well.