Competitive DanceSport Team

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Cal Ballroom has a highly successful DanceSport training program, which serves as the base for developing Cal Ballroom members into successful competitive dancers. For those unable to join the team, try our Social DanceSport (SDS) Program or visit our team FAQ to choose the right program for you.

The program consists of five main parts:

• DanceSport Classes

• Supervised Beginner Practices

• Office Hour Lessons

• Group Technique Classes

• Individual Private Lessons

See below for more details about each part of our DanceSport Training Program.

DanceSport Classes

Currently, UCBD offers two levels (sessions) of classes, Beginner and Intermediate DanceSport. Beginner DanceSport is open to all team members, and is targeted toward those with little to no formal dance experience. Intermediate DanceSport is geared towards dancers who have at least a year or two of competitive ballroom dancing. Dancers who want to attend the Intermediate DanceSport class must pass the Bronze Syllabus Step Test in order to prove their knowledge of the Bronze syllabus.

Both DanceSport classes require dedication: missing a class or failing to practice will almost definitely lead to falling behind. All team members without a prior experience take Beginner DanceSport in their first year and Intermediate DanceSport in one of the subsequent years.

Both DanceSport sessions are designed to prepare team members for competition at the appropriate syllabus level (Bronze in Beginner DanceSport classes, and Silver/Gold in the Intermediate DanceSport classes) by providing them with various step patterns and combinations.

We believe that good dancers are not defined by how many steps they know but by the quality of their movement, DanceSport Teachers strongly emphasize the technical aspects of competitive ballroom dancing as well.

Each session of DanceSport classes consists of thirty classes and is taught on a weekly basis during Fall and Spring semesters. Each DanceSport class lasts about 80-100 minutes, depending on space availability. All DanceSport classes are taught by the most proficient well-trained team members (DanceSport Teachers), after they finish a year-long teaching assistantship program and pass appropriate teaching exams.

Supervised Beginner Practices

Practicing on a regular basis is one of the most crucial components of any successful training program. We realize the importance of establishing good habits early on, and offer Supervised Beginner Practices for all 1st year team members with no prior dance experience. Essentially, it is a place for 1st year team members to practice together under supervision of more experienced team members.

Supervised Beginner practices are designed to help students to practice material learned in Beginner DanceSport classes. Each Practice lasts for about two hours each, depending on space availability. All Practices are attended by at least 5-7 experienced team members, who are available to answer any questions that students might have regarding particular step patterns or general dance-related or team-related issues.

All Supervised Beginner Practices are provided to team members free of charge.

Office Hour Lessons

Although DanceSport classes provide students with necessary general information on step patterns and technical aspects that they need to succeed in competitions, the group setting of a class does not allow teachers to help all couples with their individual problems. Office Hour Lessons are designed to address this issue.

The team offers Office Hour Lessons to all individual team couples on a weekly basis. Each Office Hour Lesson is a 20-40 minutes coaching session with some of the most experienced team members (Office Hours Teachers). These lessons are not a substitute for DanceSport classes – they serve to answer questions that are not covered there.

All Office Hour Lessons are provided to team members free of charge.

Group Technique Classes

In addition to learning steps and combinations in DanceSport classes, we encourage all team members to develop and master solid technical skills, which are essential for any successful competitive dancer. Taught only by the best local professional instructors, Group Technique classes concentrate on exercises, concepts, and fundamentals in both Standard and Latin styles.

The team organizes Group Technique classes at Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels. All levels are run as a semester-long session, and each class lasts about 45-90 minutes.

The Beginner Group Technique session is designed for people in their 2nd semester, the Intermediate Group Technique session is designed for people in their 3rd semester, and the Advanced Group Technique session is designed for people in their 4th semester.

Individual Private Lessons

Each Individual Private lesson is a private lesson taken either by a person or a couple, and taught by a professional ballroom instructor. There is no substitute for working one-on-one with an instructor to learn the finer points of dancing. Individual Private lessons provide necessary individualized attention that can greatly speed up the learning process.

The team works with several professional instructors for conducting Individual Private lessons with team members. Each Individual Private lesson lasts 30-60 minutes, depending on coaches’ availability.

Team members are encouraged to start taking these lessons in their 2nd semester, and continue to use it as an essential tool for improvement from their 3rd semester on the team onward. Since Individual Private lessons constitute one of the most important parts of competitive training, the Team commits a significant percentage of the budget to subsidize these lessons for team members.