How to Stand Out: The Judges' Perspectives

Some of the top adjudicators in the world were at Millennium Dancesport Championships & they gave us an exclusive look at the event from their perspective.
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[@charlessmith263]

I often had judged a lot of ballroom couples I watch dancing on my own TV set - from professional championships - to collegiate-level ballroom comps - all the way to Dancing With The Stars. I was a ballroom dancer myself who had danced competitively and was recalled past preliminary dance heats, so I know what I look for in a good ballroom dancer when judging.
1. Timing - Of course - no other parameter is as important as timing. Of course there is leeway doing syncopations or stops in the footwork, or hitting the breaks (like you do in cabaret dancing or theatrical arts dancing), but off-time dancing to the music to me is still serious and I will mark you down big-time. BE SURE YOU DANCE ON TIME TO THE MUSIC!
2. Expression - very important. Expression is part of the character for each dance so show it differently for a different dance you do on the dancesport floor. So, for instance, the lead needs to be in a proud stance as a matador in the paso doble and be as theatrical as possible - if the leader appears in a hunchback posture too long - that is not acceptable paso expression. Bad expression will get you marked down - for instance, you dance the jive and you grimace due to being tired instead of smiling - that is a big red mark on your judges' scores!
3. Way you take the space on the dance floor - Dancesporter leaders usually have numbers on their backs, so especially in the preliminary dance heat rounds, if you just dance in just one space without moving to another space or you do not change walls through ballroom turns during a dance heat, an adjudicator may not see your number and struggle to try to see your number - and you may not even get judged. A dancesporter who is not judged is generally going to get a "no-recall" to further heats, so be sure that the judge or judges CAN SEE YOUR NUMBER ON YOUR BACK AS YOU DANCE THE HEAT!!!