The Wellington Town Hall was the classy location for the Wellington Out Games Dancesport Competition last Sunday. It always seems a shame to me that so many of our local competitions are held in what are, frankly, pretty tired old halls which don’t really fit with the spectacle that is Ballroom Dancing – men in tail suits somehow NEED to be in somewhere like the Wellington Town Hall.
I turned up expecting a fairly small competition – in fact as it was a 4pm start and was supposed to be all over 9pm – I figured it was definitely a small comp. One look at the number of couples and events suggested that, in the great tradition of local competitions, the organisers had completely under-estimated the time required to run the event!
In the end the evening ran well into the early morning.. and it was a thoroughly enjoyable competition. Its the first time that I’ve been to a large same-sex comp and some things struck me.
Running Grading Events First
I totally understand why this was done – but it was pretty confusing for spectators – particularly as some competitions were in costume and some weren’t. It may have worked better earlier in the day, only in street dress and then with a distinct 30 minute break afterwards so dancers could change – and then maybe have the competition advertised as started AFTER the initial grading.
Tamati Coffey was a Fantastic Compere
For someone who claimed never to have been to a Dancesport competition before – he did really, really well – and his intro to that very odd event – the “straight” quickstep – with males and females dancing together was hilarious.
Same Sex Dancing is HOT!
The competitors ranged from beginners through to Australian champions, from teens to – well, lets just say, more mature dancers. There were some excellent performances and some really promising beginners. Its nice to see couples who have only been competitng for a year or two really starting to show some style and confidence on the floor.
Someone asked me though – why are the men better dancers than the women – in general (and the whole of A Grade Latin was male) – I had no answer to that one – but certainly some of the female couples I recognise from a few years ago have improved – but the guys just seem to have a lot more confidence and technique?
As Usual the Town Hall Has Terrible Catering
This is not the organiser’s fault – the catering is a done deal if you hire the venue – but its beyond me how a venue that is owned by a government organisation can be such a massive FAIL in terms of providing food with the the over-priced booze they are very happy to sell. You know host responsibility and all that …
The New Vogue Made Me Jealous
New Vogue seems particularly well-suited for same-sex dancers as the two parts are very equal. And as demonstrated by couples such as Alex and Donald – you can even make a Parma Waltz look good if you can change the leader a few times! Pity such innovation will get you a very quick “D” (for disqualified) in a regular dance competition!
The Costuming Was Superb and Interesting
Dressing up for dance competitions even in “traditional” male/female events – when you throw the sex roles out of window it get even more so! And the solutions to the problem were many and varied – there were men dancing in tailsuits, women dancing in tail suits, there were women in matching trouser suits, some with floats and skirts – some not. There were couples who colour matched their outfits, there were those that went for contrasting colours, those that had matching outfits. All I can say its good to see the guys having as many costuming headaches as the girls – very equal opportunity!
Judging Panel
The judging panel represented both Wellington and Australian judges, straight and gay, male and female, even Federation and Federal – as always in a competition you can argue the results – but the organisers had made a good effort to have a good range of judges.
The Atmosphere Was Amazing
As a straight women with my my (male) partner I am always amazed by how welcomed I am at same sex dance events and this was no different. During the general dances I was comfortable dancing the follow role (its the only one I know 
). I always have a twinge of embarrassment when I realise many of the same sex couples wouldn’t feel the same in many of the places I dance. And frankly it was a delight not to be surrounded by other people’s hyped up kids (or having to sit through many events of them competing!).
Great comp – well done to the organisers – and its in my diary for next year!
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Thank you to the Writer regarding the friendliness, costuming and overall running of the comp. It is wonderful to know that you felt comfortable and welcomed in such a dynamic atmosphere.
The Writer however, failed to notice that the A Grade Latin did not consist solely of men couples. A closer examination of the A Grade will clearly show that a confident and technically correct women couple were very much evident in the group.
Indeed, should the Writer consider undertaking some research, it will be revealed that women couples do also have the confidence and technique in Latin to win at A Grade Level. This in fact occurred at the 1st Asia Pacific Outgames held in Melbourne in 2009. Further research into this area (regarding same sex dancing locally, regionally and internationally), will clearly support the technical ability of women couples when competing against men couples in Latin.
In addition, as clearly evident from the results across all styles and all grades, it is evident that on the day, all women couples held their ground along side the men couples.
The comment however, regarding ‘why the men are better dancers than the women’, perhaps seems a little contemptuous. One must understand that dancing, like art and music, are visual concepts, and that ‘better dancers’, is in the eye of the beholder.
Yes, for some, to see two men dancing together is beautiful. While for others who are fortunate enough to experience the visual beauty, elegance and such ‘womanly’ manner and strength in the way women couples perform is absolutely empowering!
(Should the writer ever have the opportunity to travel to Europe, it would be well worthwhile to take in some of the European Same Sex Competitions, where the strength and womanly performance of women couples is in deed exciting and empowering. Women dance like women and men dance like men).
Finally, perhaps the Writer may not be aware that not in all same sex dancing comps do the women always compete against the men. Some comps allow for women only to compete against women; and for men only to compete against men. To date, to my knowledge the situation of Transgender people in dancing comps has not yet arisen nor unfortunately yet been provided for.
As is evident, comps such as the recent Outgames in Wellington, allow for men to compete against women.
This concept has been a point of contention for some for some time. While of course, it is up to the organizers to make the rules, and if one does not want to play along with the rules, then one does not have to participate.
Others, however, consider the situation to be unacceptable and that it is not fair. This concept is based upon the physical advantages that men, generally speaking, have, over women. Generally speaking men are physically taller, more powerful and stronger than women.
Imagine, for a moment, should other sports consider rulings where women compete against men? Imagine if Weight Lifting, or Swimming, Running or Cycling proposed rules that allowed women to compete against men?
Of course, in these instances all of the A Grade Levels would just about always consist of men!
Thanks for the comment Joan.
The comment wasn’t regarding the men being better dancers wasn’t contemptuous – it was a genuine question – and its something I’ve seen in Wgtn for a number of years – I really don’t know what the answer is – that’s why I asked the question. Though I think part of it it is is that the guys are just more comfortable doing the over the top style which is ballroom dance.
Anyone dancing beautifully together is lovely -don’t really mind which sex they are – and no “better dancers” is not a casual term -in ballroom dancing there are some very distinct rules about what wins and what doesn’t – so that wasn’t a casual comment. In terms of choreography, timing, presentation and performance, at this comp – the all male couples were streets ahead of the women.
I think it would be sad day when male and female couples competed in separate events. In straight comps in Australia we can only dance against our own age group if we don’t dance against the younger adult age group – in NZ we can. And the Australians are surprised as how well the NZ “seniors” do in Australia – because we are forever competing against teenagers – with all the advantages that they have in terms of speed, flexibility, fitness and looks.
Plenty of competitive women train and compete locally against men – why wouldn’t you if you beat every women in your local area – but the argument is pretty moot – as dancing is about specific technique and style – which you can do whether you are male or female – in fact most women should have much better hip movement than a man – its a physique thing – and that’s a big advantage in Latin.
As a witness to the spectacular, I have to agree whole-heartedly with Joan. There were 6 Couples who made the Latin A Grade final – 2 of which were female, both of whom were Australian, and one of whom was also the winners of the Latin Competition in the Australian Same-sex Dancesport Competition held just prior to the NZ event. If I may be so bold, I believe that that particular couple are the ones referred to by Joan as being confident and technically correct – and indeed they were!
I would again agree that watching a female couple is empowering, and very emotive – unlike some of the very “flouncy” dancing by gay male couples. Their “flounce” is very showy, but not tecnically correct in many cases.
In terms of the comment by Admin that the Judging panel was varied – I would have to disagree – there was only 1 female judge in amongst a panel of at least 6 males, and most of whom had a clear preferential or sexual bias towards the male couples in finals.
I witnessed a conversation by a male Judge that female couples would never be judged fairly against male couples because of the natural gender bias with gay males, and male dancers. It was male couples who took out the top 3 positions in the Latin A Grade final, and was based on gender bias, not ability.
It was evident from the powerful prowess, domination of the floor and sheer performance factor that allowed the female couple from Australia to win the open rumba and samba, but yet not be placed in the top 3 of the Latin A Grade. In terms of physique, one of the female couple had a body any man or woman would be jealous of, and beared her abdominals and muscles in a very sexy rumba, was technically very proficient,and was greeted by wolf whilstles and “grrrrrrrrrrrowls” from the crowd, yet couples such as those pictured in this article were far less technically proficent, had little “wow” factor, and looked like a sausage squeezed into a very tight ill fitting outfit. To prove the point of the inequlity in the judging, view the photo in this article – where are the lines? Note the presence of pigeon toes, poor posture, alignment , facial expressions and very little evident technique…
The winners of the Latin A Grade were high end Dance Sport competitors from NSW Australia, and were brilliant – of that there is no doubt. Their dancing was a highlight to any person watching.
I think the one thing that any organiser can learn from, is that where numbers permit, women should not have to compete against men. Sometimes numbers can be low, and organsiers have no choise to pit the sexes against in each, but in Wellington, there were more than enough couples in the Standard and Latin main events to dance the sexes apart.
I accept the point admin makes in relation to women “should” have better hip movement in Latin – but the only “moot point” is that gay women dancers will not be judged fairly and equally by gay male judges, when there is a majority of males writhing on the floor in the rumba or similar – Males dancing rumba is more of the “hot casual dirty sex” look, which guys find attractive, whereas women dancing the rumba tend to have more emotion and technical connection, which is not recognised by male judges, as they view only the “phwoar” factor.
Overall, Wellington was ok – ran overtime by a number of hours – but it was nice to see so many couples take to the floor and show that Ballroom and Latin Dancing is wonderful and beautiful – no matter what “world” it’s danced in…
Hi admin – what’s your real name?
Just found your review of the OutGames Dancesport competition – what a classy act that was (the competition, that is)! I didn’t like your comment “from teens to – well, lets just say, more mature dancers.” Tut, tut, admin – that’s a little bit ageist, don’t you think?
I participated in the Standard (A Grade), New Vogue (B Grade), Open Quickstep and the Vice Versa categories, and I had an absolute blast, thanks to my dance partner, my teacher, the music, the lovely Tamati, the organisers and all of my friends, who turned up to watch. I met up with peeps I hadn’t seen for 20 years – it was fantastic!
I enjoyed the grading rounds – gave me a chance to relax and get into the music. Probably the one and only dance competition where I haven’t been beset by nerves when I’ve taken the floor.
I danced in the Amsterdam Gay Games (1998), and that was very scary! My partner and I went over there not knowing how talented the European dancers – they were sublime. (We danced in grading rounds there and stayed where we had enetered – in F Grade! – I’ve improved a little since then hehe!!) I saw the same European dancers again at the Gay Games in Sydney in 2002 – absolute magic. I was hoping they would be here at the OutGames, but knew it was a little unrealistic…
I found your comment about the guys being better dancers than the women interesting – I said the very same thing to a couple of my friends and colleagues on the night (Maybe you were one of them!!!). I’ve always thought the men are more flamboyant and ‘out’ there than us girls – but they have been from birth, haven’t they. But I do disagree with your comment “the all male couples were streets ahead of the women.” If that was the case, then the A Grade in the Standard would have comprised of only male couples, and it wasn’t – there were a few of us gals there. And my partner and I gained a placing in the Open Quickstep ahead of some male couples – Sweet
Dancesport Wellington is making an effort to include same-sex events in their competitions now, which is a WONDERFUL thing. They still have some way to go, though, before they (and the national and international body) let us become registered and compete in the E, D etc Grade events. But at least it’s a start.
That’s me! Ciao for now.