We do run Samba variations upon occasion, although not quite as frequently as the most popular dances such as Cha Cha and Swing. This is based purely on demand. Although ballroom dancers of the scholastic and competitive variety (especially Int'l style dancers) consider Samba to be one of the main dances, social dancers tend to think of it as a minor dance. In fact, many social dancers do not dance Samba at all. In an attempt to try to satisfy the majority of our audience, we stick to the dances which appeal to the greatest number of people on the whole. In general, this means taking an average between the demands of social and ballroom dancers. Based on this average, dances like Samba, Mambo and Bolero have less demand than Cha Cha, Rumba, and Swing. For this reason, we give slightly less time to a dance like Samba than we do to a dance like Cha Cha.

Of course, this theory only applies to circumstances where resources are limited for one reason or another. For example, the variation of the week is (at present) limited to one dance per week. In theory, this will not apply to our basic 'Learn the Dances' section, which we hope will eventually contain every basic pattern in every dance, major or minor. Without the limitation on exposure for each dance, we plan to represent them all equally. In the meantime, however, while the section is in development, priorities must also be set as to which dances will be developed first. And in this regard, we will base our decisions on the criteria explained above.

Regarding Paso Doble: At present, this has even less demand than Samba. In fact, so low is the demand for Paso variations that during the one week when we did run one, we received more complaints for its presence than we have ever receieved for its absence. Does that mean that a Paso variation will never again be seen on our website? Not necessarily, but you probably won't see Paso in the immediate future. To run Paso again, we would probably have to either divide the variation of the week into two sections (one for social dancers, one for ballroom dancers), or increase the frequency with which we rotate variations, such as 'Variation of the Day'. Either prospect is within the realm of possibility, but not until we have a large enough stockpile of variations to make it worthwhile.

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com

[This message was edited by Administrator on 07-08-02 at 06:27 PM.]