What a mess the IDSF's anti-doping policy has created. In its ongoing effort to appeal to the Olympics committee as a sport, the IDSF decided a few years ago to abide by the Olympic Games anti-doping policy. The dance community thought that was a bit extreme but generally people didn't raise a big hoopla over it. Now it seems that this policy has turned around to bite the IDSF squarely on its own backside.
»
read more
The latest trend in competition music is to keep the music flowing during those times that are normally music-free. For example, while the M/C introduces each of the couples to the audience. This adds a delicious sense of continuity to the event.
Naturally, it also takes considerably more planning on the part of the DJ. When couples are introduced between dances, the music for the dance that was just played continues to play quietly in the background. If you have a song with very dramatic stops and starts this can present a problem.
Another nice use of this technique is when the couples are dancing their solos. The music keeps playing, just coming down in volume while the next couple is introduced, then back up to full volume. This takes even more planning because the song must always start at the same spot for this to be fair to all the couples. Thanks to modern technology, this approach is possible. It would have been very hard to do before the advent of digital music management.
You learn something at every competition, and I don't mean just about your dancing. You learn what works in terms of how a competition can be run and what doesn't work so well. This weekend I learned how the music that is played needs to fit the acoustical characteristics of the venue.
»
read more
