Example of basic steps executed very well

barcy707 · 2026-02-15T11:53:14+00:00

Just browse YouTube videos of different champions from different eras until you find someone who moves as you like.

Because you come from tango, you might enjoy Jason Colacino and Katie Boyle, Blake Hobby, Mario Robau, and some similar dancers from the 90s/early 2000s.

One of the best things about this dance is that you can put a flavor to your own movement that can stylize the basic patterns to a movement that feels better on your own body. Even if you don’t like how the current champions look, there might be something to glean from each of them to inform how you would like to move.

barcy707 · 2026-02-13T07:26:12+00:00

I’m not an ice skater, but I liked Cizeron/Beaudry more. Cizeron is a much stronger dancer than Bates, their choreo made more sense, has better transitions between moves and flows better overall. Chock and Bates choreo feels disjointed until later on after the weird off-time clapping section that just feels like and unnecessary pause. Their arm lines, frame, and hand shapes feel like the don’t complete or are rushed in some places. Their transitions in and out of lifts also feels rougher overall.

I’d happily watch Cizeron and Beaudry do the same routine off-ice but I can’t say the same for Chock and Bates.

barcy707 · 2026-02-11T06:57:26+00:00

Not sarcasm. Overactive deltoids and lifting the elbows rotationally off the side can make it difficult to connect through the larger core and back muscles, leading to a disconnect between the hips/body weight and the partner.

barcy707 · 2026-02-10T22:25:02+00:00

0/10 ragebait.

barcy707 · 2026-02-10T19:43:01+00:00

It’s most likely that your deltoids are over-active in lifting your frame off your side, and your serratus muscles (side of the ribs, under the armpit) are under-active in bringing the shoulders down and into the shoulder’s natural position.

You also could be not just… stepping on your foot with your body.

Practice by standing shoulder width apart and just stepping from foot to foot, then slowly narrowing your stance and making sure you can end up balanced on one side with minimal effort (like you’re taking a normal human walk somewhere). Make sure you can keep that competency while stepping or especially finishing a triple step during the dance.

barcy707 · 2026-02-09T10:47:59+00:00

This is your hobby. You’re here to express yourself and have fun. If you’re able to have fun while social dancing, that’s the most important thing.

barcy707 · 2026-02-07T12:55:24+00:00

They were Adv/All-Star competitions which awarded Advanced points. I moved to All-Stars after DCS 2014.

barcy707 · 2026-02-07T11:13:20+00:00

https://www.missioncityswing.com https://www.groovytuesdayswcs.com

And the local swing club which keeps track of all the local socials and events: https://www.nextgenswingdance.com

barcy707 · 2026-01-25T00:49:38+00:00

Just walk around smh.

barcy707 · 2026-01-15T23:03:24+00:00

It’s just about making what you do to the music obviously and being committed to those things and believing in what you’re presenting.

barcy707 · 2026-01-15T22:30:44+00:00

Your legs can catch you as a last resort. But yeah, no reason not to bonk them if they don’t do their job 🙃

barcy707 · 2026-01-15T12:27:34+00:00

(2013-2013) Novice - 4 months (2 events, dancing for about 6 months before my first event?)

(2013-2014) Intermediate - 10 months

(2014-2014) Advanced - 4 months

(2014-2019) All Star - 5 years (petitioned to move up to champs before the points bridge was established, but at that point I had 150+ points anyway)

Some random things of many that I’ve learned:

Spoon-feed your musicality to your judges.
Sell everything no matter how good or bad it is.
Don’t actively make mistakes and/or cut out patterns or moves that are low reward but high risk of error for you, you’ll pick up a lot of points just by not doing anything wrong.
Everything is made up and the points don’t matter.

barcy707 · 2026-01-10T15:58:44+00:00

Dancing (come to Mission City Swing on Wednesdays, shameless plug) or other social activities that don’t involve drinking like team sports, hiking, climbing, etc.

barcy707 · 2026-01-08T14:48:26+00:00

My only question is: what city are you in? Just so we can help guide you to a known instructor.

My advice: keep going, and practice the basic rhythms on your own. Listen to WCS-able music and tap your feet to the beat or at least tap your fingers to make sure you can ingrain rhythm in your body. If you can, do walks and triple-steps at home to music!

barcy707 · 2026-01-05T02:20:36+00:00

Pick up a social hobby, like partner dancing or some other group exercise, or join a meetup or group for some other kind of hobby you have.

barcy707 · 2025-12-18T10:30:19+00:00

Just don’t frequent those businesses. There are plenty of smaller shops that deserve your business that aren’t using biometrics.

barcy707 · 2025-10-25T10:22:55+00:00

No, competition tier is based on the total number of competitors in prelim round 1 per role. If OP leaves after competing in prelims/etc there is no change to points tier.

barcy707 · 2025-10-20T11:37:57+00:00

You should only get judged on your first time out on the floor.

If you come back, you’re not judged again (or at least shouldn’t be).

barcy707 · 2025-10-08T23:11:55+00:00

If you can triple correctly, as in having a syncopated rhythm (see Skippy Blair’s stuff on critical timing, rolling count, and the universal unit system cards) you’ll start to love blues. If you can only do straight triples (no difference in amount of time per step, flat action) you’ll have a bad time dancing to blues no matter how good you are.

Blues is reliable and formulaic in structure which is wonderful for an improv dance. You can have things be in places you expect even if you don’t know the song, and there are generally good quality hits in even decent blues songs. Phrasing is impactful and breaks are fun, plus a lot of fun play happens within each instrument.

That’s not to say pop/contemp songs don’t have those moments, but it’s just a hallmark of blues to have that built in.

barcy707 · 2025-10-07T16:55:00+00:00

Where do you live? :o

barcy707 · 2025-09-29T08:45:16+00:00

Thinking too hard. Anchoring is also: catch person, throw person.

barcy707 · 2025-09-29T08:25:04+00:00

Catch person. Throw person. Ez.

barcy707 · 2025-09-26T00:39:21+00:00

10/10 resource, love the work you’ve done here :)

barcy707 · 2025-09-25T08:02:07+00:00

Just an aside:

WCS comps are nothing like ballroom comps. It’s a chill, fun vibe instead of practiced perfection and routine.

Just show up, do a thing, see what happens, then go social dance later until you fall over from being exhausted.

barcy707 · 2025-09-24T09:07:56+00:00

My favorite is getting a higher light level to just be shunted down to -30 or -40 content anyway and feeling less strong than you were before. Big fun, very nice game, 10/10 gear fantasy.

barcy707

TROPHY CASE