Jack and Jill prelims and the two rules of online dating

I think I only heard this joke once, but I remembered it right away. 


What are the two rules of online dating? 
1. Be attractive. 
2. Don't be unattractive

At some point, I was talking with a few friends about what, if anything, the 'secret sauce' or 'weird trick' was to succeeding on the wcs competition floor. Specifically, in jack & jill prelims. 

My answer was based on the online dating joke. 

What are the two rules of success in J&J prelims? 
1. Be noticed. 
2. Look like you mean it. 




That's it. I honestly think that these two rules are what separate dancers of equal skill and in fact often propel 'worse' (ie less knowledgeable, less generous, less technical--whatever that means) dancers to later rounds above dancers who might 'deserve it more' based on their overall abilities: knowledge of the dance, partnering, phrasing and musicality, and so on. 


Next time you watch a J&J prelim, let your eyes wander across the floor without fixating on people who you know, or technical elements you're especially aware of at the time. The dancers you'll see first are, of course, the ones who stand out in some way. Maybe this is something purely personal, like height or skin color (if you're one of two non-white follows in the division, you will be noticed, same if you're head and shoulders above everyone else). It could be makeup, or hair color. It could be an outfit--if you are a leader wearing white latin heels, that stands out. Same if you're wearing a buttoned up dress shirt tucked into your pants. And so on. 


Now, being noticed doesn't matter if you're being noticed in a bad way. If you are obviously leading off time when no one else is, that's a bad way to be noticed. If you drop your follow and they fall onto a judge and the judge slips and breaks their shiny new scoring tablet, that's a bad way to be noticed. 


The best thing you can do is to have intent while you are dancing. If you look like you mean it, you will automatically be memorable and you will also look like you know what you're doing... even if what you're doing isn't the exact thing a judge might be looking for. 


Here's the thing, and it's a common complaint about the wsdc competition system. Judging is inherently subjective. One judge might prefer some different way of doing things from how you were taught. They might be biased against your personal style, or the way you dress. For better or worse, what matters more than trying to cater to a judge's preferences is simply having intent. 


This generally just means that you will be moving with more authority and more control over your body. Possibly taking up more room with your movements. If you showed me a dancer who is visibly more skilled and better at partnering next to someone sloppier but being more big and dramatic and so forth; the second person is going to be way more noticeable. 


One instructor once told me that no matter what, every judge would see me in prelims. And as long as I focused on doing 'the right things' technically, I would be rewarded. To me, this is a nice concept but not necessarily a situation that plays out every time. 


In the end, this is a visual performing art in terms of competition. If you are moving gingerly and hesitantly no matter how good whatever minor aspect of your aesthetic presentation or technique is not going to help fix that. The best way to think of 'having intent' is not having doubt. If you look like you are second guessing everything you do, shrinking within yourself, and not being bold and confident and open if you are noticed this will be an enormous overall bias against you. Think of it like this. Don't you notice and remember people standing in power poses more? 


Personally, I have no grand concept of how wcs competitions should be changed, updated, made more fair, and so on. For the longest time I was bothered by that above instructor's attitude. If I am the one doing things 'right' why am I not being rewarded? Being a 'better' (I believe there are some objective answers here but not everyone does) dancer will not lead you to success unless you stand out and look like you mean it when you're seen. That's the secret sauce! Genuinely appearing comfortable and confident is extremely important when it comes to standing out in a crowd. Whether you're sitting down in a lounge, walking through a crowded street, or dancing in a jack and jill prelim. 


https://youtube.com/@ArisDeMarcoWCS 

https://www.instagram.com/arisdemarco.floortime/

arisdemarco@gmail.com 

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