Your character sheet as a WCS dancer
"I don't know why Billy made finals when I didn't! I'm just so much better at [xyz miniscule aspect of technique] than he is!"
With sloppy feet, bad posture, lack of phrasing, a stiff upper body, etc. how could someone make finals in a jack & jill?
Everyone has a confirmation bias toward technical elements that they're either working hard on, care a lot about and value in themselves, or both. And this tends to show up when we're judging quality of dance and general dance ability in other people.
The typical response to these complaints is something like "well, were your worst moments better than their best ones" or something similarly unhelpful.
I think that a great lesson to take away from 'who makes it' is to think about why they did rather than trying to think of reasons why they shouldn't or why they don't deserve to.
More about growth mindset:
One helpful way to think about any individual's dance is to imagine a stats card. I compare WCS to mixed martial arts fairly often: the ruleset is a melting pot for individuals with different stylistic backgrounds and athletic/dance education, and each competitor has their own unique strengths and weaknesses.
If you've seen a stats card for a fighter then you'll get the analogy. If not, any character sheet on an RPG game will give you the same idea ;)
WCS coaches often try to get right to a student's 'x-factor' or 'brand' but really, it's the combination of abilities that makes someone who they are as a competition dancer. I think that most allstar workshops these days involve the instructors asking everyone to characterize or describe their dance--or just what they're going for--in three words, or in one word, or in some form of elevator pitch.
I think that this is a great exercise for finding out who you are, or who you want to be! But it might not be as useful if you're watching others, or trying to look at your own skill set a bit more objectively.
So, break down your dance into a character sheet. Here are some things to check off or just check out, relative to other individuals in the division. Again, if you find yourself trying to discredit someone -- emphasize the positives! Find out which stats they've maxed out and see if you can learn something from them.
Timing -
This might be staying on the beat, in lower divisions; the higher up you go we're looking at critical timing, controlling movements to finish more on the back of the beat, having a clear rhythm, etc. If you're competing in advanced and not visibly pulsing your upbeats, no matter what you do the basic actions of your dance will probably look a bit flat, relative to someone doing this well.
Character of the dance -
Is it instantly recognizable as WCS? Is this due to variants of basic patterns that everyone knows, or is it more a general silhouette of movement/triples/a slot.
Purpose/intent/confidence -
Does the dancer look like they know what they're doing, are they taking up space effectively? Someone can look refined with a smaller profile, bigger and more dramatic movements can look sloppy. Everyone has a sweet spot, finding your current effective balance and using it well is a huge advantage.
Feetwork (we have two) -
This could be better controlled movement with basic triples, replacing triples effectively with something interesting, or using simple variations more effectively from a musical standpoint.
Body movement -
Does it look coordinated. Is there a lot going on, but it appears isolated, or the movement is happening at the expense of rhythm elsewhere? Even if body action seems 'abrupt', if it makes rhythmic sense and is visually interesting from far away, this can be a visual plus.
Partner interaction -
Even if you know that a dancer heavily prioritizes their own choices, or doesn't necessarily react quickly to listen and adapt; this might not be obvious if they look attentive from a purely visual standpoint. On the flip side, someone could be well connected and doing a great job listening... but doesn't appear to be paying attention to their partner. Finally, it's possible to 'listen' to a fault, from a competition standpoint (both as a follower and a leader) if you're overly focused on making your partner's decisions work for them.
Creativity -
This is often considered a plus, however, the creative choices have to make sense. Something a little more subtle that catches the eye but still is relatively simple and can easily be worked into the general flow of the dance might be a very useful stat on our character sheet. On the other hand, too much of a focus on trying to be different and unique with musical choices can quickly become a liability when interacting with a partner who's preoccupied, or not on the same page... even if these more ambitious ideas can be clearly communicated under more ideal circumstances.
You'll notice that a lot of these stats involve caveats as to how each element plays with the others. This is why focusing on critiquing a single aspect of anyone's dance by itself often paints an incomplete picture of what's going on.
Hopefully this gives you a fresh perspective to watch and understand competition dancing!
*****
Love your dance and be good to each other :)
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