Social versus Competitive dancing

By: Benjamin Soencksen
(Originally published in NASSPDA October 2015 Newsletter)
There always will be different points of view on issues in our community, as in every community, that can divide us or bring us together. One of these focuses around social versus competitive dancing, which can cause heated and passionate discussions.
It is generally believed that we need to foster social dancing, in order to grow interest in competitive dancing. However, many social dancers are dead set against competing, for various different reasons, which range from “believing that you got to be really good” to “competition, as a sport, takes the art out of dancing.” It is my belief that one supports the other and therefore validates both.
Though it is true that your first steps with a partner will be most likely on the social dance floor and that there is a kind of shared enjoyment with other couples on the floor, which can get lost in a competitive frame work, it is the competitive dancer that becomes the best marketing tool within the non-dancing world.
In other words, just as the competitive circuit draws “new blood” from the social dance scene, the social dance circuit gets fed “newbies” that have been inspired at a competition or show presentation. This is why I believe that both, social and competitive dancers, should support each other in whichever way they can, helping to grow our community.