Cal Bal Championships

It's true, Steve and Heidi took second place in both the pure Bal and Bal-Swing competitions at the Balboa Rendezvous just a week ago. But heavens, I think they were short-changed. Granted, Heidi took a dive during Bal-Swing, but that could have happened to anyone and has no bearing on their skill. They were absolutely flawless in pure Bal and should have received first place. With Heidi's machine gun feet and Steve's clear, exiciting lead, they are in a super-class by themselves.

I've seen them dance before, but nothing like this. They were amazingly fast and accurate, barely touching the floor as they PIVOTED with triple steps around the other couples. It looked like the two of them were in some footage from an old movie -- you know, super sped up -- and everyone around them was doing slow-mo Bal. They never tired and even when faced with the fall, the obvious preference of the crowd for others on the floor, and the knowledge that judging always includes at least a little bias...even knowing all that they didn't cease to exemplify what the dance used to be and has become.

Hats off to Steve and Heidi!!!

as to not get my reply mangled by one opinion from another, I am going to post in sections.

First section will pertain to the pure bal competition.

You think that Steve and Heidi should have gotten first in this competition....well....I can't say either way. LOL

I wasnt watching Steve/Heidi or Nick/Denise as I have already seen them, and know what they can/can't do. Instead I was watching Marty and Jen and Randy and Kara. I have never seen Marty Lau dance and wanted to see what all the hubub was about. To me, he reminds me a lot of Jason from San Jose. Randy and Kara were awesome. I remember watching them when I lived in San Francisco, and thinking that they were good.......well, now they are better. MMMM, pleasure to the eyes.

So as far as this competition went, i thought there should have been a prelim and finals, and more music to see what people can do. I felt that there were too many people on the floor, and I could not see what everyone was doing because of that.

I also thought Darryl represented. YOU GO BOY GOOD JOB! You are rockin now baby!


YIHAW


coming soon.....post number two

Post Number 2

the actual competition, not pertaining to what you said above


The Bal-Swing competition:


First off, I thought the competition was great. Way more couples than last year, and a much higher calibur. The problem that I had with it was a few things. One the champions from last year were not in attendence this year. The reason I heard was cost of the event. Last year it was $10 to go to the dance, and free to enter. This year, free to enter, but a drive to newport and $45 for the dance. This is an issue that is being discussed all over and was a hot topic at the event. most people thinking that the event was too much. If you were a noob dancer or someone taking the classes, yes it was a great price, but for those who werent taking the classes, it a bit much for some.

The other thing that I didn't as much about the competition was the briefness of the competition. There were more couples entered this year than previous, but it was harder to show your stuff because of the short amount of time you had to do it in, and the crowded floor you had to work with.

I have no comment on the judging as I know non of them personally, aside from Corinna and Sylvia. From what I know, the old timers CAN be a bit biased and not too popular with the competitors. But I am clueless to it all.

As far as me, I am not a disgruntled dancer who thought he was robbed. I tanked a few moves, and didnt have the flash that other dancers had, so there is no hard feelings here. I did well for me, and happy at the improvement i made personally.


next post.....maybe some heat ;)

yeah.

don't you disappoint us, big daddy. your first two posts seems rather rational and balanced.

(and a second woot-whut! to darrell & tari. i loves ya, you know i do.)

-m

oop.

not to take away from s&h. in my somewhat limited scope, heidi's got the fastest feet around.

now to post directly to what you posted:


Not to take away from anyone's performance in the competition, I am posting not to get flamed, but rather to inform and clarify what certain outcomes exist.

First off, how can you say that tanking an air step is not related to a persons skill level? Could it have happened to anyone, yes, would it happen more often to someone with less skills, of course. So skill is certainly in play when it comes to tanking an air step. Air steps take practice. You have to learn technique and execute it properly otherwise you will tank it. Not tanking an airstep is also related to the ability of the dancer to shrug off the intense pressure of competition. Could there have been floor slippage involved, sure, could there have been a rock in her shoe, sure. All of those are acceptable factors in grading the air step when it is tanked. HOWEVER, please by no means say that skill has nothing to do with the ability to execute the air step. (sorry it that was a bit mangled and a ramble)

Second: I am not sure if you are commenting on their finish in pure bal, bal-swing or both. The way you worded it is a bit confusing, so I will go with you thought they should have won both.

As I have posted about the pure bal, I will now post about Bal-Swing:

First, they made it to the finals and should have been there. They danced well, and were better than the couples who didnt make the finals. Now, when they danced their showcase, meaning, no one was around, she fell. Not stumbled but fell. Everyone saw it. All the judges all the audience all the competitors. If she would have fallen in the all skate round, some of the judges might not have seen it. (that has happened in lots of competitions where someone falls and takes first because the judges didnt see it) During the showcase round, the other couples were good, some better than others, but I saw nothing spectacular.

Then the final song, White Heat, 330bpm (i think) Nick and Denise blew everyone away. In my mind, and the people sitting around me (both that I knew and didnt know) they were outstanding. But to compare your fav to my fav, lets look at the dance. Yes, steve has fast feet, so does nick. Yes, steve has a smooth lead, so does nick. At that level of competition, the basics so tight that you have to look beyond that (assuming someone didnt trip over themselves, like me :) The quality of moves, the uniqueness of moves, and the level of moves that Nick was throwing were outstanding. Not only did he execute moves that everyone knows well, but he also had moves that set him apart from everyone else.

The move where he slid across the floor. EVERYONE saw that. How can you not? If everyone is dancing close (it is a bal contest) and all of a sudden someone comes flying across the floor on his heels, how are you not going to see that?

There was excellent use of the floor and the air by Nick and Denise. They had the classic moves, and the variety of moves that it takes to win a competition. Yeah, I thought the Maxie Slide to Hals Roll that Steve did was coll and unique (if i remembered it right) but that was just one move.

And in the final round you are right, some people were not keeping up to the tempo, it was frickin fast. HOWEVER, in watching the crowd I noticed Steve and Heidi not keeping up. There was one moment where I saw then standing close, not closed position but close, and tappin out the beat. Maybe I am misjudging what I saw, I can admit that, but think about it. If I was judging, I might have seen that and mistaken it for them giving up due to the tempo. I'm sure they didnt give up, Steve isnt that type, but that impression could have been taken by a judge and then scored accordingly.

Was there bias in the audience? Probly. and you most likely heard me screaming loudly during the competition. However, if you bring it, if you show your shit, if you are A#1 then no matter what house you are in, you can win. I didnt think that Steve and Heidi brought it enough to beat Nick and Denise. Nick was far too strong at this competition.

that is all for now


oh, and by the way...hello everyone ;)

dood. again with the rational response.

ya gotta admit, nick & denise ripped the walls down during white heat. and because the contest was so brief, even if (ymmv) n&d had a mediocre performance during the prelim & showcase, the white heat routine clinched it for them.

either way, i just know i'll never be that good. *sigh*

What?!?! You come out of your posting dormancy and you post something benign? WHO ARE YOU??!! :huh:

One of the problems I had with the contest was the way they handled the final round. I think it's unfair to play the same song over and over in a spotlight dance. The first couple that comes out clearly has a disadvantage over the others. They should have 5 different songs with similar tempos and intensity. I heard in previous years they did it "battle style". THAT I would have loved to see.

As far as judges go, there will always be controversy revolving around their decisions. From what *I*, noticed in the contest, they clearly paid more attention to the big names. At certain points, they were actually all on one side of the floor ignoring the other dancers. How can you possibly give fair judgement to all the contestants?

the problem with having different songs is that people will compain that their song isnt as good as the others. which, in a few competitions i have been at, was true.

I was at swing by the sea one year, and for the showcase round they got a 1 1/2 minute song. of which, 30-45 seconds to start was a drum solo? how does that work?


in terms of the battle, yeah! way better to battle. that way everyone gets the same song, just different parts. and it seems to be a bit more competative because people try to outdo one another, etc.....

well, in terms of the judges, maybe they had already made their decision on 3rd 4th 5th etc.... and were trying to figure out who was better between the two ?????

Oh yeah, a third HOLLA!! to Darrel and Tari. (w00t)
I'm glad to see that PhD in Balboa is working for you. :P

i was going to say the same thing, bdk.

even as they were announcing all the contestants, i was pretty sure the 1 & 2 spots were already taken.

and since i'm already happily bouncing along this wagon, i'm second-third-fourth-ing the bal battle idea. that would really be a great way to not only keep the energy up for the dancers and the crowd, but to force competitors to be clean and on-the-spot creative in responding to one another.

gogo, i think you should talk to darryl about gettin some lessons


bwaahahahah

the other thing I forgot to mention in terms of the song thingy gogo is ....


it was freakin Jumpin At The Woodside. Everyone in that competition knows that song, and the breaks and the highs and the lows. if they dont know if, welll, they live under a rock or something


LoL

now that's getting closer to the bdk we know...

Puhlease... I've read more biting comments on Yehoodi. I think LA has made Bdk soft. (IMG:http://www.acuraworld.com/forums/images/smilies/fruit.gif)

I'm not sure I've ever seen "battle" style. What is that like? Do all the competitors take X bars of the same song one after another (they did that for the Charleston comp), or do just two competitors alternate X bars, or do just two competitors share the floor at the same time??? All of these have potential to be cool... just not clear on what exactly people are proposing.

Cheers,
Jeff

This post has been edited by PitchTheWoo on Apr 12, 2004 04:38 PM

:-"

battles can be done any number of ways.

alternating phrases between two couples is one

having 2 couples face-off at the same time, dancing next to each other

or

giveing all couples 2 phrases and going down the line one after another, this is the most common battle right now, and for the audience, the most fun

That's cool... I guess that's as competitive as it can get. Might be a bit tooo b-boyish though.

Like the way they do at Camp Ho/ NJC. That's a cool format too, but not so much a battle since you can't really see what your opponent is doing since your so focused on your own dance.

I agree, that's probably the most exciting to watch. Everyone is feeding of each other trying to out do everyone else-- basically a bad ass jam circle. And it's great that if you botch your first turn out, you get a second chance to redeem yourself. The only other contest like this that I've seen in person was the SF Challenge. Although that was a team event.

b-boy

yeah, that is where they got the idea from

Actually, I'd say this is akin to the ways jams originally began at the Savoy: Cat's Corner...?

Frankie would know. :-"

That said, having this done in Bal sounds very cool.

were talking about competition not jam circles dave