What is Competitive Country Dancing?
When is comes to competitive country dancing, I would say there are two kinds: bar competitions and, for lack of a better term, “ballroom” country dancing. And what I do is the “ballroom” country competitions, rhinestones and all. And that’s what we’ll be focusing on in this post.
While there are many country dancing circuits, the two that I’m am most familiar with are the American Country Dance Association (ACDA) and United Country Western Dance Council (UCWDC). ACDA is a regional dance circuit, with dance competitions mainly in the southern portion of the United States. UCWDC is international, with competitions in 14 countries across 4 continents.
Contrary to popular belief, competitive country dancing isn’t square dancing. Yes, there are still cowboy hats and boots. But no trading partners while dancing in a square with a caller. It’s more like what you think of when someone says ballroom dancing. There are 8 to 9 country dances the are competed, depending on the circuit that you are competing in.
If you’re interested in what these dances look like, click on the links above to watch them in action. Follow The Average Nomad on YouTube to watch country dancing through the years!
When competing in these dances, there are different categories, levels and age divisions that you can enter. There are 4 formats that you can enter: Pro-Am, Couples, Line Dance and Teams.
Pro-Am is by far the most popular format to enter. A student will compete with their instructor and be judged on how they perform. There is also the Pro-Pro division where a professional dancer will dance with their instructor.
Couples is also a popular category, where a partnership will be judged instead of one person.
Line dance is very popular overseas! It has started to become big in the U.S. over the last few years. In this category, you learn 3 to 6 dances, depending on your age and division, that you compete with by yourself.
The team category is like how it sounds. There is a team of people that competes with a routine that they have choreographed.
You can find a full list of everything offered by each circuit, here.
If you’re interested in getting started, I recommend looking at the competition calendar and finding one in your area to go and watch. I found spectating at a competition a great way to immerse yourself in the culture and make sure this is something you want to do. After that, it’s all about finding the right instructor to start your dance journey!
