DanceSport Talk

If there's one theme that stood out in the DanceSport world during 2007, it was probably the number of couples turning professional. After long runs as amateurs, many top couples made the jump into the professional realm. They included:

• Anton Lebedev and Anna Borscht, Canada
  
• Florian Gschaider & Manuela Stoeckl, Austria
  
• Karol Brull and Viktoria Bolender, Slovenia
  
• Warren and Kristy Boyce, England
  
• Maurizio Vescovo and Melinda Törökgyörgy, Hungary (well, despite announcing such a move after Blackpool, it has yet to be put into action)
  
• Eugene Katsevman and Maria Manusova, USA
  
• Sascha Karabey and Natasha Karabey, Germany
  
• Peter Stokkebroe and Kristina Stokkebroe-Juel, Denmark

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The Apple iPod has long been a terrific tool for dancers. I've owned six different models over the years, and each new generation brings exciting features that make it even more useful. The iPod Touch is the most powerful new gadget I've seen in years. With a crisp display that looks much larger than its actual size, and an unparalleled user interface, this new iPod is truly a dancer's best friend.

My iPod Touch is loaded with dance videos, thanks to a free software package called "Handbrake" (available for Mac and Windows) to easily convert DVDs, and another (Mac-only) program called "Visual Hub" to convert any video file to iPod compatibility. Of course, there are plenty of Windows programs that will let you convert video formats for the iPod, you'll just have to find them through cnet or versiontracker. Wendy and I videotape all our lessons, quickly digitize and import them into the iPod and then review them while we practice. I also load DVDs we've purchased of competitions and showcase performances, so that we can review how those dance moves are really supposed to look.

The Touch also includes YouTube, so you can quickly look up videos of your favorite dancers as long as you're within range of a wireless network (many dance studios have WiFi). You can open the spectacular web browser to check competition schedules or news, though I find that some functionality, like signing up for competitions, is not ideal because of browser limitations and keyboarding awkwardness. The ability to zoom in or out with two fingers is awesome.

There's a calendar and a contact list which can sync to your computer. And of course, there's the music, which is better than ever on this iPod due to cool album view options. You can even purchase music right through the iPod, a feature that once let me quickly find and download a song I needed as I was preparing a show dance. A great gift choice for any dancer high enough on your gift list to warrant spending that kind of money. $299 for the 8GB model, or $349 for the 16GB model. As a loose guide, good quality video content typically takes up about 500MB for each hour. My 16GB model is loaded with about 2500 songs, over 500 photos, one or two full-length movies for travel downtime and a fair number of dance videos. It all fits, and it's all good.

Dancing24.com is offering a unique way to promote its video training content: an Advent Calendar featuring one free video each day of December. The first one features Holger Nitsche discussing the difference between the rhythm and the sounds of different instruments you hear in Samba music. It's quite good. The video quality is excellent.

As a German-based site, most of the instructors are German, and include well-known names such as Franco Formica and Colin James. You won't be able to download or save the videos to your desktop, so pay close attention to the content. If all the Advent Calendar choices are as good as this first one, I know where I'll spend a few minutes each day throughout this month. Dancing24.com is free to register. If you don't speak German, remember to click the "English" menu button at the top of the home page when you first arrive.