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Role of Luck in Ballroom Dancing Competitions

Ballroom dance, especially at the competition level, is its own unique subculture. But you already know that if you’ve ever watched “Strictly Ballroom.”

Competitions. Moves, rhythm, timing - everyone knows you’re judged on those. Placement and travel on the floor, clothing, stage presence - various theories exist on how important they are. But just plain luck also plays a pretty big role.

I wish somebody had told me that before I went to UCSD’s ballroom comp last year.

I didn’t place at all. It was only my second competition ever, and I had done fairly well (I felt) at my previous one. I thought I was a much better dancer than I probably was.

But still… I should have gotten some callbacks, right? [callbacks are when you progress from a semi-final to a quarter final heat, etc.] But I didn’t.

Okay, maybe I got one or two callbacks, but all in all it was pretty crushing. What was wrong? Was it the judges? Was it me? Was it my ugly shirt? I couldn’t figure it out.

There’s a whole lot of luck involved in placing in a comp. Skill tends to skew that luck into your favor, but it’s still luck.

Think about it: 25 couples on the floor. Three minutes to decide which 12 should progress to the next round. At best, that’s 7.2 seconds per couple if each judge looks at everyone the same amount of time. If every couple starts dancing the very first second. If every judge actually gets to see you through 6 others couples trying to dance right in front of them. If they can compare 25 couples on a matrix they keep in their head.

7.2 seconds, selected at random from 180. Each judge might see a different 7.2 seconds. Were you dancing well at that moment in time? Were you just recovering from a mistake? Did your smile lapse? Did you take a wrong step?

7.2 seconds to convince a judge to pass you on to the next round - where you’ll have just 14.4 seconds to look your best.

See why luck is such a big factor?

Skill is important because if you can dance a solid 3 minutes without a mistake, you’ve got a 100% chance that judges will not see a mistake. Now, what they see has to be - in their minds - equal or better than the other couples whom they also want to pass into the next round. And it that: in their minds.

I wish someone had told me this sooner. I had a pretty down weekend because of it.

After doing not so well last year I decided to eschew the whole “competition” element and get back to why I started dancing in the first place: because I love it and have a lot of fun.

Now I plan to fully enjoy my 3 minutes of dancing in front of a large crowd, and no judge is going to take that away from me. If I do well and judges like it - great! If not… great!

The funny part is that as soon as I began to relax and enjoy my dancing more I also began to get more callbacks. This past weekend, going back to the UCSD competition, my partner and I placed in almost every event we competed in. I had a lot of fun dancing. I also got to read my book in the San Diego sunshine and go to dinner with some old friends. I loved every minute of it.

I am not my job. I am not what I own. I am not what I eat. I am not my faith. I am not how well I dance.

I will enjoy all of those things: job, possessions, food, God, dance. I hope to lead a life so that others can more fully enjoy those things as well.

In the mean time, there is so much that is outside of my control that I refuse to obsess over what hapeens in any given 7.2 seconds. I will relax. Breathe. And enjoy where the music takes me.