Re: What is happening to English DanceSport??

9. července 2007 20:17

"Since you know so well EADA, why don't you tell us why they lost the support from Sport England"

This is an other matter!  The point is, most British are not ready to take it to an other level, and are waiting for it to happen to them......and certainly will not be pushed by an organisation (team) (EADA), very much like "countries with much smaller populations and minus our economy"  are been conducted!

Re: What is happening to English DanceSport??

10. července 2007 15:43

This is an other matter!  The point is, most British are not ready to take it to an other level, and are waiting for it to happen to them......and certainly will not be pushed by an organisation (team) (EADA), very much like "countries with much smaller populations and minus our economy"  are been conducted!

Pink Unicorn...with respect I do not know any British dancers who are not ready to take it to another level and they most certainly do not sit around and wait for it to happen to them ! They do need assistance from EADA , but most definatly do not need a push !

Re: What is happening to English DanceSport??

10. července 2007 18:04

Ok, fair enough Pink Unicorn...you have your point...russian kids train very hard...and are under a lot of pressure....that is true and no one is aguing this.

The fact is that hardly anyone can train that way in england because it is 1) unfaffordable (you want to rent practise space; it is full commercial rate and would cost you hundreds of pounds a day. 2) the cost of living is such that you cannot just dance and do nothing else or a side job. How many couples do we see coming to London from abroad who imagine they are going to have a side job and train all day ! This does not happen and they all go after few weeks apart from very few who have proper jobs and train in the evening an at week-ends. 3) there is no club so if you want coaching, you have to pay per 45mins so forget about it unless you or your parents have a LOT of cash and we are talking thousands of pounds per year for some juvenile couples !!!

Good couples on the continent are supported by their club being allowed to teach, having their travel expenses covered, sponsored for the outfits, shoes. Of courses it does not apply to everyone  but here in the UK...well no amateur couples for sure as they are not allowed to teach anyway.

Re: What is happening to English DanceSport??

10. července 2007 23:32

Some amatuers in Great Britain are now allowed to teach under the EADA Amatuer Coaching Scheme. This is however very restricted and is certainly not going to be allowing these couples to be earning the money from dance to fund their own dance careers as Amatuers in other countries are able to.

Sadly I don't think that anything will ever change in England now, dance is too deep rooted in the past and how things have always been done and their appears to be very little incentive for those who do have the power to bring about change, to actually want to do anything about it.  Open competitive dance in this country is just a tiny tiny proportion of the overall multi million pound dance industry,  We love to claim how we led the rest of the world (we did before the rest of the world learnt to dance) and how we have the best teachers (we do but they have now taught international teachers to be as good as them). 

I agree with much of what Pink Unicorn has said about the culture and philosophy of young British dancers and we have an exceptionally high "drop out rate" of very good young dancers when they enter their late teens. Another point worth bearing in mind is that in countries such as Russia it is normal to have a dance partner who lives in the same town, giving opportunities for regular training. In England due to the low number of high level competitors it is more likely to have a partner who lives hundreds of miles away, again not ideal but the only other option is to either move abroad or support a dancer from another country to come to live in England.

I believe that for many young dancers there comes a time when they realise that perhaps they are just bashing their heads against a brick wall with no hope of being able to compete with their international counterparts. At some point they question whether the amount of money they are spending is worth it and sadly decide to move on and do other things, some to teach dancing, some to lead a more normal life and concentrate on a career.

Perhaps we should think about things that could make a difference. I have a suggestion. If every top coach in the country were to take one couple under their wing and give them two free lessons a week along with encouragement, support and guidance, could this make a difference??? Would our coaches be prepared to do this??

Re: What is happening to English DanceSport??

5. srpna 2007 23:27

The "drop-out" rate among good amateur dancers in England is unacceptably high. Some European (and other) countries have government aid for their top dancesport competitors (Iceland, Denmark) and there is no doubt that the club systems in other European and slavic countries certainly adds to the talent pool with the "trickle-down" teaching philosphy.   Now that the former Eastern bloc has opened up, more and more talented dancers who are spotted early and encouraged both with good coaching and financial support by way of sponsorships and/or subsidised travelling expenses will make a huge impact.   Blackpool may still be the "ultimate" festival for competition, but for how long?  Concentrating the few top dancesport coaches (who charge exhorbitant fees) in the South London area, with no studio and no loyalty incentives is not, in this day and age, a productive way to proceed.