I've been following Ballroom dancing for a couple of years now, (on tv & internet), and have even managed to stay abreast of the names of top competitors and competitions. Unfortunately, I have not ventured out (yet) to start lessons but remain facinated and love to watch the events. My question primarily deals with which competition is considered the premier event (Latin & Standard)? I have been told once that if you won at Blackpool, then you were the best. Where do the other events rank from top to bottom, if there is such thing? Last, what is the difference between "American Style Cha Cha, Rumba etc. and International Style?" Thanks in advance.

The 'must-do' comps these days seem to be:

Open British (aka 'Blackpool')
UK Championships (in Bournemouth)
International Championships (in London)
Open French
Open German
Open US

The top dancers seem to attend these events all the time, and they have a good attendance of foreign non-competitors.

Well, there are World Latin and Standard championships held every year (in varying locations), and the winners of those get to officially hold world titles for a year. However, I'd agree with the notion that Blackpool is considered by many to be the most prestigious event. The "problem" with Worlds is that each country can only send two (I think?) representatives to the event -- no such restriction at Blackpool, so all of the world's best couples are free to compete.

A few other competitions with international prestige that I can think of would be the German Open (500+ couples in the amateur events!), the UK Open in Bournemouth, and the Open to the World events at the United States DanceSport Championships. I've just pulled a few names off the top of my head -- there are others, of course. There are also many events that have great prestige for a particular area, as the Ohio Star Ball does for North America.

You ask about the difference between International and American Styles -- that's a much-discussed topic! You might check out the achives of the newsgroup rec.arts.dance (using deja.com) to see some of the discussion on that topic. To simplify, American and International are separate styles, with somewhat different technical approaches (I'm going to leave it at that regarding technique for this post). The dances used in competition are also different:

International Latin -- cha cha, samba, rumba, paso doble and jive

American Rhythm -- cha cha, rumba, swing, bolero and mambo

International Standard -- waltz, tango, foxtrot, viennese waltz and quickstep

American Smooth -- waltz, tango, foxtrot and viennese waltz

An easy way to differentiate Smooth from Standard is that you'll see open figures in Smooth (the couples can break apart and dance with no or modified connection). Couples remain in closed position in Standard.

Another difference between International and American styles is significant for those who compete: International Style are held around the world, and American Style events are essentially an American thing (some in Canada, and maybe a few elsewhere, but there's no American Style at Blackpool for instance). The names fit, don't they! A couple might choose International Style if they want to compete worldwide.

It's great that you're such a fan of dancing, Mark, but I definitely encourage you to experience it firsthand! If you're fascinated now, you'll probably fall completely in love with it once you get out on the dance floor

Vanessa

Hello Mark,

the winner of Blackpool must not be the best, but the winner is a top dancer! )

You can take a look at http://www.rullens.com/idsf/default.htm

There you can get the world ranking list.
My trainers are only at place 82, but belive my I enjoy every time tey dance.

But the world ranking tells you not the true, cause you can get only points if you dance at a ranking list competition. If you dance all ranking list competition your able to get more points than others theire only dance at local ranking list competition.

Sincerly

Andreas