DanceSport Talk

Many dancers competing at the championship level, not to mention those who are still working their way there, really have no idea how important nutrition is to their success as an athlete. This article will help to shed light on some of the issues.

As body fat levels decline, a greater percentage of the body "mass" or weight is made up of muscle. This generally increases metabolism, or the body's efficiency at converting food to energy. The formula gets complicated as you get older because of other issues, but muscle always increases BMR (Base Metabolic Rate). Athletes, therefore, need additional calories from all sources.

But there's a common misunderstanding that because athletes burn so many calories, they can eat anything they like. This simply isn't true. In fact, the more highly tuned you are as an athlete, the more sensitive your body becomes to the things that don't help your performance. Foods that impede the efficiency of the body's muscle burning "engine" become a burden. Now, the impact of fried chicken (yes, Peter this means you) or too much chocolate (my weakness) have greater negative effects. Once in a while, this won't hurt. A few consecutive days of eating the wrong things will leave you sluggish and lacking energy, with slower recovery after a hard practice session.

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BC DanceSport professionals Joel & Clara Marasigan recently interviewed Simone Segatori & Annette Sudol, who are currently ranked 4th in the world in IDSF Standard. The interview shed some light on the differences between European and Canadian attitudes on practice and preparation in DanceSport. Read the whole thing (both parts). It's an eye-opening look at the criteria of top champions.

We've known for some time that Europeans train with a greater intensity than do most North American DanceSport competitors, particularly when compared to those on the west coast. This is something discussed often when dancers get together. But it's doubtful that many competitors understand just how significant the difference is. Simone described in the interview that their training involves complex athletic testing that we in Canada normally associate only with the most elite athletes. "They do some tests, take some blood, measure the amount of oxygen we are using… They are checking everything," he said. Annette explained further that "We want to be ahead of other competitors, to have done everything for our dancing… everything from the dress to physical conditioning." And you might be surprised that they pay for this themselves!

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I recall, as a stage actor in my younger days, observing how the audience could have a big influence on the effectiveness of a play. When you had a responsive audience, especially for comedies, everyone in the troupe would be infused with extra energy and confidence. It would bring out the best in each person on stage, leading to a more vibrant performance. This, in turn, led to a better experience for the audience as the effect would come full circle.

This past weekend we enjoyed the SnowBall Classic DanceSport competition in Vancouver, Canada. As in previous years, the audience was amazing. Repeatedly, competitors would comment on how supportive the audience was. One visiting professional (not an adjudicator at the event), mentioned how she was surprised by the way the audience didn't favor only local couples or people they knew, but supported those whom they felt were the best on the floor, even if competing against favorites. This is unheard of in most parts of the world!

Others remarked how they noticed that many audience members didn't seem to know anything about ballroom dancing, commenting on dancers they liked based on qualities like costume, or smile, or other things, and loudly supporting them on those issues. Since it is very rare for audiences at dance competitions to be non-dancers, this stood out as being remarkable.

All of this makes for a vibrant audience, and it helps set SnowBall apart from other competitions. There's nothing like having a healthy roar from the crowd when dancing all out. It gives competitors more energy and makes them feel as if they are part of something special. Our Vancouver audience has a reputation for doing this exceptionally well. Even Dance Beat World magazine commented on the amazing impact of the SnowBall audience!

Three years ago, I was talking to an amateur competitor from Germany competing in SnowBall for his first time. He was so enthusiastic about being here, his energy was infectious! When I asked him about it, he said it had been a dream of his for years to dance at SnowBall Classic. I asked him why and he responded that SnowBall has a reputation throughout Europe as being one of the world's great competitions, driven in large part by the quality of the audience.

I have heard from international competitors that in most parts of the world, audiences are surprisingly quiet. In England they clap politely. In Germany and Russia, they might be vocal, but only for those couples from their "club," never showing support for those who might prove competition for their favorites. There is a kind of partisan nature in most DanceSport audiences, sometimes to the extent that the audience will even try to feed negative energy to couples they don't support. This doesn't happen in Vancouver.

In 2008, another German athlete commented in the hallway between rounds that she could not believe the audience support for someone from outside the country, especially as a competitive couple the audience had never seen before. Well, this couple danced head and shoulders above the other Senior 1 Standard competitors. The audience loved them, enthusiastically shouting out their number through all their events. They won the event, and during an after-competition dinner they told us how the effect of the audience support was a great encouragement during the competition and made their time in Vancouver extra special. The effect was so powerful, they came back the following year, this time bringing some dance friends along as well.

During the 2003 SnowBall Classic, which was televised, Franco Formica mentioned in an interview that the audience support was incredible, creating extra energy and giving SnowBall a special feeling.

An exit survey in 2005 gave some insight to this unique quality of the SnowBall Classic. It turns out that most of the audience who come to SnowBall don't even dance. They see the event as an exciting, glamorous night on the town. They can dress up like they would for the VSO, but instead of quietly sitting and watching a performance, they can be part of an energetic, noisy, enthusiastic audience, as they watch a highly athletic competition between international champions at the highest level of the sport. It doesn't get any better than this!

The SnowBall committee, working under the authority of DanceSport BC, has worked hard over some two decades to build this very special, world-renowned audience. For the past few years, the event has either sold out completely or come very close, another amazing achievement and a testament to the ground work that was done over the years. This audience is so passionate about being part of SnowBall that they make a point of returning year after year!

I'm not sure exactly what elements of SnowBall marketing led to this aspect of the audience design, but this audience truly is the envy of the DanceSport world. It's even more amazing when you consider that the committee is made up entirely of volunteers who have dedicated themselves to putting on a great competition. Maybe that alone is the magic behind the Vancouver audience. In any case, congratulations to everyone who has, over the years, helped shape it.

Over the past year, the political scene between IDSF and WDC has been pretty quiet. I was hoping that maybe some signs of conciliation were on the horizon. That turns out to have been a false hope. Politics in DanceSport reared up again at the UK Open last week, resulting in a situation that may continue to play itself out through most of the year.

A couple of months ago, the Italian Federation member of the IDSF, known as FIDS, decided they would publicly declare the UK Open off limits to FIDS members on the grounds that it was not officially sanctioned by an IDSF member body. Then the Russian IDSF member, known as DSFR, followed suit, making a similar announcement. What makes this especially interesting is that the IDSF, while not officially sanctioning the event, did not list it as an unregistered competition. It was always informally agreed that because of the special situation in England, events like the UK Open and Blackpool would not be targeted by the IDSF, to avoid problems like this.

The Italian federation said that members might be allowed to participate, if they sent in a formal request in advance, which would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It wasn't clear what the criteria would be for being allowed to go. FIDS told its members in December that it would reimburse them for any expenses they had already incurred in booking flights or other travel-related issues.

A number of top amateurs from Italy and Russia were absent from the UK Open this past week, but nobody really knows how much effect the boycott actually had. Dance Beat World magazine asked the question, but didn't provide any answers just yet. Two Italians and a Russian couple were in the Amateur Ballroom final, but it isn't known publicly whether these Italian couples or the nearly 20 others who took part in the UK Open amateur events had applied for special approval. A large number of top Russian amateurs were absent from the UK Open.

Former World Professional Standard Champion Richard Gleave has now responded to this mess with a call for social activism. He has created a Facebook group called Freedom to Dance in an effort to help bring awareness of these political issues and try to find some grounds for conciliation. About 2,000 people joined the group in its first couple of days. I'm not sure how much impact a Facebook group will have, regardless of its popularity. After all, what will the group members do? Comment the embattled parties into submission? But it's good to see people making some kind of effort to bring attention to the issues. In any case, the list of group administrators reads like a "Who's Who" of the world's top dancers:

• Andrew Sinkinson
  
• Hide Tanaka
  
• Marcus Hilton
  
• Carmen Vincelj
  
• Nadia Eftedal
  
• Amanda Dokman
  
• Oliver Wessel-Therhorn
  
• Massimo Giorgianni
  
• Luca Baricchi
  
• Augusto Schiavo

It's a shame that in a sport which is all about the energy of togetherness, we have these kind of divisive issues. I suppose we're back to some interesting times in DanceSport politics.

At a recent competition I once again observed an issue that is all too common at DanceSport comps. While the music was overall quite good throughout the event, a number of songs had poor phrasing or lacked the character of the dance they were for.

Let me make this clear: I'm not criticizing the event DJ in any way. He did a great job. My comments only reflect the need for all DanceSport DJs to understand the incredible responsibility they have when they take on that role. As someone who has attended many competitions (18 last year alone), I've noticed that many DJs see it as a fun job (which it is) and not as an awesome responsibility to help build the sport -- for the athletes, audience and organizers. At an after-event dinner, these issues were discussed and I realized I'm not the only dancer who feels this way.

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The whole sports world continues to talk about the Stephane Auger and Alex Burrows saga. But if there's a point to be made (or learned) it's that nobody wins in this kind of dispute.

For those who don't know the story, it goes like this: On December 8, 2009, Vancouver Canucks player Alex Burrows was crosschecked by Nashville Predators' Jerred Smithson. He wasn't injured, but lay on the ice for a long time giving the impression that he had been. As a result, referee Stephane Auger gave Smithson a 5-minute game misconduct penalty instead of the usual 2-minute crosschecking penalty. The NHL later rescinded that penalty, which made Auger look bad.

Then on January 13, during a game between the Canucks and Minnesota Wild, Auger spoke to Burrows before the game began. We don't know exactly what was said, but it became the source of a major dispute that made headlines around the sports world and may be talked about for some time to come. Late in the game, Auger assessed a penalty on Burrows when he was doing nothing more severe than picking up his stick off the ice, which led to the entire thing.

After the game, Burrows insisted that Auger told him he would "get him back" for embarrassing him in front of the NHL. Many people hearing that accusation connected it with the phantom penalty which cost the Canucks the game, and drew the conclusion that Burrows must be right. Auger says he did nothing of the sort, but did talk to him about the earlier incident. Now what?

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So, all that chocolate. Relaxing in front of the fireplace (real or digital). Now, how to work off the holiday binging? If you're like most people, you've at least started thinking about your exercise and eating program for the new year.

But what about your brain? What are you doing to make your mind more fit? Did you know that dancing is one of the best ways to get smarter?

In his book Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot, Richard Restak explains that the brain is susceptible to "disuse atrophy," a kind of breakdown of neural pathways symptomatic of Alzheimer's patients. As we do passive activities like watching TV, our brains become atrophied. Other kinds of activities enhance the brain "muscle," making it stronger.

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It's that time of year again, when everyone is focused on what they'll do differently in the year ahead. I'm not big on making New Year's resolutions for myself, but I do think they're a great way to keep us focused on the important things in life.

On the other hand, I am big on setting goals. Many people confuse goals and resolutions, thinking they're similar. They are very different. Here are some details to help understand the differences:


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A UK study in 1998 proved how powerful the mind is in terms of controlling the body's actions. Participants were told under hypnosis that a pen was too heavy to lift. Equipment was attached to their muscles to measure muscular electrical activity. Although they were obviously capable of lifting the pen, when they tried doing so, their triceps and biceps acted in contradiction, making it physically impossible to lift the pen even though they were genuinely trying.

A 1972 issue of the Journal of Psychology describes another study where 24 participants had their arms strength-tested and then took part in an arm-wrestling competition. Before each match, researchers deceived both sides into believing that the weaker competitor was actually stronger. The result? In 10 of the 12 contests, the weaker person won.

Sports psychologists and motivational speakers like Anthony Robbins have, for decades, pointed out the power that the mind has over the body's actions. If the mind is convinced of something negative, such as someone being better than you, the body will cooperate to make that belief come true. The opposite is also true. Studies of gold-medal Olympic champions found that in every case, the winners had imagined themselves to be at the top of the podium. Most had gone so far as to actually create mental pictures of what it would feel like to stand there as their flag was raised and their national anthem played.

It's widely believed that self confidence happens as a result of winning, but research proves that this isn't actually the case. Many of those who win top competitions have never won that event before. They simply believed they could. In some dramatic cases, athletes who repeatedly made spectacular failed efforts broke through because they were so convinced that their bad luck had run out and the next attempt would be the winning one. Lance Armstrong, when he won his first Tour de France after almost dying from testicular cancer, was not favored to win. After all, this was the world's most difficult race, and only the most elite athletes could even consider winning it. But he was determined he would, prepared himself to win, and believed that the result of his cancer treatment (such as reduced weight) would actually assist him in reaching his goal.

These principles don't mean you'll automatically win just by believing it, especially in DanceSport where there are many factors besides just being the first one past a finish line. But it does mean that those who should win as a result of quality alone might not. If their confidence isn't high enough, their minds will actually work against them, causing muscles and other aspects of performance to suffer. This happens because the muscles respond to the brain's messages in an effort to prove that the mind is being truthful. The result keeps success out of reach.

Confidence should never be confused with the physiological changes that the body experiences during competition. There is a natural release of hormones such as epinephrine into the bloodstream any time you're about to engage in competitive activity. You'll experience increased heart rate as well, and all these factors can feel like nervous energy or tension. If you incorrectly interpret this as a negative response such as worry or anxiety, your confidence will suffer. But properly understood, you can actually use this to become more focused, as signs that your body is doing what it's supposed to and preparing you to perform well.

Here are three steps you can take to develop your confidence as a dancer:

1. Dream big. It's good to have goals that are well ahead of your current placing. Don't sell yourself short. As the old saying goes, "If you reach for the stars you might not get one, but you won't end up with a handful of mud."
   


2. Break the big goal into a number of smaller goals that are easy to achieve. You need to be able to feel that the smaller goal is within reach, so you can experience the success it brings. Well-known adjudicator Anya Klimova-Preston, in her seminar "The Checklist of Champions," provides a long list of useful measurement criteria you can use to gauge your progress. A similar list is found in the book "Dance to Your Maximum." You might use a list like this, deciding to achieve measurable improvement in just one or two areas for each upcoming competition. Or you might decide to increase your number of callbacks by 10% in the next comp. There are many ways you can set small, measurable goals that act as stepping stones towards the big one.
   


3. Set weekly and daily goals which allow you to focus on each training session. You can set a goal of practicing at least five days a week, or so many hours each week. Or you can decide to achieve slightly better quality of some action in one small part of a routine. Research into Olympic champions found that they all shared a common trait of using small daily training goals. Since you spend far more time training than you do actually competing, these training goals are vitally important.

Working together, these weekly and daily goals, combined with the bite-sized competition goals and the focus of a big goal will help you achieve confidence. No matter what level you're at, there will be something positive you can point to in order to recognize progress.

The vast amount of research on the topic of peak performers shows that there is a single underlying theme which all winners have in common. Practice. No matter what the specialty, practice is at the heart of every person successful in their field. But how much practice is enough?

Neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin believes that the magic number is 10,000.

In his book, "This is Your Brain on Music," Levitin says, "The emerging picture of [research] is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert -- in anything."

He goes on to point out that "in study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players... and what have you, this number comes up again and again." He reports that no one has yet found a single case where true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.

This doesn't mean everyone who practices for 10,000 hours will become world-class. But those who have what it takes must practice that long before they reach that level of success, say Levitin and others who studied similar research, such as Malcolm Gladwell.

So how much practice is that, in the real-world life of a DanceSport athlete?

Three hours a day, five days a week adds up to 780 hours a year. At this rate, it would take you over 12 years to get there. Those who slack off and practice just two hours each day need a whopping 20 years to reach the same level. Many of the best dancers practice three to four hours each day, six days a week. At this rate, expect to hit the magic 10,000 hours in about nine years. And yes, it's okay to take breaks from time to time. The human body needs them to function properly.

But remember that every time you miss a practice session, some of your competitors may be getting a little closer to that 10,000 hour goal than you are.