Is it a competition or a convention?

Q "I am a ballet student and I frequently see advertisements for dance conventions. I was wondering what exactly is a convention? Is it some kind of competition or just a bunch of master classes? And are they only for jazz dancers, or can ballet dancers enter one as well? Please fill me in."--Ruby K.

A You're right to be confused by the names. The conventions and competitions you I see advertised seem to be just the same but with different labels. A closer look and a little history may help you and your friends sort this out.

To start, look at the two words in a dictionary. To convene means to come together or assemble; political parties, memberships of organizations or associations convene and have conventions. Competere, a Latin root word, also meant to come together, but in our modern American English it now means to strive for a position, profit, or prize. A competition is a contest between rivals, for example, competitive sports teams.

In the dance competitions you see advertised, solo dancers or groups compete against others in various categories for trophies, medals, titles, or prizes such as cash or scholarships. That's pretty clear. Organizations have conferences and conventions of their members for example, professional associations of dance teachers. That's pretty clear. And if that's oil they did it would stay clear. But the practice has not followed the dictionary.

Historically, "dancing masters" traveled to teach the children, extended families, or cultural groups of their patrons. Some mastery of dancing, music, and appropriate etiquette or "the social graces" was considered a part of being civilized and necessary for social advancement. Eventually, those with special talents might become teachers of performers. A little over a hundred years ago, lone dancing masters or families of artists formed associations with others as a means of networking to preserve and improve the quality of dance education; these associations began to offer classes for their members at their annual gatherings or conventions. Often they brought in well-known master teachers who specialized in some aspect of technique. They began to bring their own student teachers and demonstrators to learn from the masters then they expanded their convention schedules to include classes to further enrich the training of their dance students. Teachers' reputations were established on how well their students demonstrated technical skills in class. Today dance teachers' associations hold conventions that you may see advertised: Dance Educators of America, Dance Masters of America, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, and the Royal Academy of Dancing are just a few.

Associations' annual conventions probably expanded into sponsoring competitions for two reasons: money and money. Memorial scholarships and training funds were sometimes set up, giving the associations the responsibility to administer and distribute the awards; that prompted a need for a method of selection of the applicants. That method become, at least in part, an adjudicated comparison of the talents of the dancers. The Adeline Genee bursary is awarded to solo ballet competitors by the Royal Academy of Dancing, for example,

Success does have a cost. As the number of regional, national, and international organizations grew, the need for each to raise funds to hire master teachers and pay their travel expenses, rent facilities, maintain a permanent contact address and telephone number, maintain membership requirements and records, do syllabi printing, and membership mailings increased. Associations needed something unique to attract members to their organization, and a visible reason for students to attend their conventions and pay their admission fees. Those unique somethings become specific titles, medals, awards, and the prestige of winning them. Using the model of successful national competitions, such as the Miss America pageant, simple annual conventions have grown into convention/competitions with, progressive layers of "winners" at local, regional, and national levels in many dance styles.

Meanwhile, plain entrepreneurial competitions began to enlarge the scope of their activities beyond just offering opportunities for competitors to perform and be seen.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, couples participated in competitive dance marathons or dance-offs because the prize money might feed their families for a short while.

Cultural anthropologists tell us that the strongest, most able, and most beautiful have always been selected to represent the rest of us with an offering to the gods, as tribute to conquerors, as symbols of a cultural value, gender, or generation. The Olympic Games are the most highly visible example of national representation by competitively selected athletes, but the history of selecting the best dance artists in many national dance styles stretches back just as for.

Presenters of competitions encouraged audiences to come and see, for a small fee, the performances of the competitors, sometimes solos and sometimes corps. They traveled around the country to enable more young people to enter the competitions.

Because the quality of dance instruction and performances was great in some areas and poor in others, some competitions began to offer classes for students before the competitions. The nonprofit Prix de Lausanne, for example, has weeklong schools prior to or during the preliminary rounds. Tremaine Dance Conventions holds classes during the day before their adjudicated scholarship competitions in the evenings. Early entrepreneurs in this kind of class/competition venture--and they still are going strong--were Hoctor Dance Caravan and Dance Olympus. Both now tour and offer classes and competitions in multiple dance forms, competitors or their dance teachers are given notes from the judges on how their performances might be improved. Many others hove followed suit in this popular and lucrative business.

Others, who began as traveling dancing schools offering classes, have added competitions to "stay competitive." And, as they intended, the overall quality of dancing in the United States has improved and increased In numbers of participants.

So, while the things you see advertised as conventions or competitions started out very differently, they now are very similar in what they offer to dance students. Some competitions, like the every-fourth-year USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, are just for solo and pas de deux competitors in classical and contemporary ballet. The winners ore awarded cash prizes, medals, and the springboard to professional contracts that can result from being seen by artistic directors of companies from around the world. The every-third-year International Ballet and Modern Competition in Nagoya, Japan, includes both ballet and modern dance competitions and similarly awards cash prizes, a showcase, and popularity. Both offer classes and coaching to the competitors during the two-weeks of preliminary rounds leading to finals and awards.

The opportunity to showcase your talent at an international competition is not to be underestimated. At the 1998 Dance Magazine Awards, Julio Bocca, who had won a gold medal in the Fifth International Moscow Ballet Competition, acknowledged that it was a videotape of his medal-winning performance shown to Mikhail Baryshnikov that had launched his successful career at American Ballet Theatre.

The World Tap Dance Championships in Germany each year award trophies and titles to solo performers and groups who represent their countries. Similarly, national styles such as Irish step dancing award titles, trophies, and medals to individuals and groups who also represent their countries. You can be sure that Riverdance and Lord of the Dance looked to Irish national champions in costing their shows, for example, the remarkable Irish dancing champion Colin Dunne, who first replaced original principal dancer Michael Flatley.

Some competitions have categories and awards for many different dance styles: acrobatic dance, ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, musical theater, top, and several others. They offer cash prizes, trophies, medals, ribbons, and titles for finalists, individuals, and groups who perform. Major competition organizations tour regionally or nationally every year. This offers dancers an excellent opportunity to see other performers and to establish friendships and performance standards for themselves. However, some others are not so concerned with the welfare and growth of young dancers.

Because each company has different rules, different methods for selecting judges, different costs and admission fees, and different etiquette unique to each style of dance, the skill levels and attitudes toward performing and winning may vary widely. You must determine what is right for you. Is dance an art or a sport? Is it a healthy, supportive nudge toward better dancing or a bitter obsession to defeat others? Is the moment of winning more meaningful than the process of learning and dancing? Will you be better for having participated?

If you are encouraged to enter a competition, call or write for their rules and regulations first; then plan to observe their events. Consider carefully what you might gain from competition and what it will cost.