A Competitor’s Review of 

Peoples’ Choice Dancesports Championship 

held May 24-26, 2007

All American dance competitions have their own titles and are referred to by competitive dancers as such rather than where they are actually held. The Peoples’ Choice DanceSport Championship has aptly earned its moniker because it certainly qualifies as a popular event with more entries than ever before. It IS the Peoples’ Choice and is growing larger with each rendition. Once a smaller medium competition, it’s now larger than middle-sized with over six thousand entries this year. And what a fabulous competition it was! Organized by Forrest Vance and held at the wonderful Ritz Carlton Hotel in Phoenix, it was a stellar event from beginning to end. It all began even before Heat 1 as Forrest welcomed everyone arriving Thursday before the five o’clock start of the Standard. He was everywhere making certain everything was at peak performance and that everyone was having a good time. His immaculate attention to detail did not go unnoticed. The ballroom was festooned with floral arrangements of red roses and baby’s breath on every table, across the dais and even on the registration table at the entrance to the dance floor. The dance floor itself was medium-sized but perfectly proportioned to the table arrangements of the room. The texture of the floor was really great and easy to move upon. The on-deck area provided easy access even with the split floor required for Saturday’s Rhythm events necessitating a secondary on-deck area just for Ballroom A. The drinking water station was conveniently located just off the on-deck aisle and the thoughtful huge bowl of candy on Friday was appreciated by all.

The lighting was excellent and I especially enjoyed the syncopated colored spotlights sweeping the ballroom floor. We all knew when it was time for the ever-popular general dancing because the lighting was slightly dimmed. I am particularly fond of general dancing and enjoyed the unusually frequent opportunities provided. No matter how much we’ve danced that day, I always want to general dance because my teacher is really terrific at it and it’s so relaxing and fun after doing our technical routines. Our emcees were Paul Jack and Scott Washburn and they were terrific and efficient as always. Judy Nixon ran the main on deck area with ease. The music provided and chosen by Brent Mills was great and the volume just perfect for the room. All of the vendors were conveniently located in the wide hallway at the entrance to the ballroom. There were not a lot of different vendors but those there offered quality merchandise, beautifully displayed.

The judging panel was really star-packed from all four dance styles. For the freestyle events, they sat on the elevated dais to score the winners. I had never seen this before and like it because each of the three judges on duty had the same view with the added height giving them what I thought was a better look at all of the dancers. The panels were rotated at a reasonable rate so I’m sure they appreciated not being overtaxed and all seemed to enjoy the event as well. The competition ran Thursday night (Standard) through Saturday night, with the Smooth and Latin events scheduled for Friday all day. If the event keeps growing at this rate, it might even be necessary to add another half day to the schedule and start Thursday morning. Saturday day was for Rhythm with a huge number of entries and was a nine-hour day from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. I know because I was there the whole time. The reason I mention this is to remark about the amazing positive energy in the ballroom each and every day. Even that busy Saturday the high energy never flagged from morning ’til late afternoon and served to inspire the competitors to do their best. This comp was one of the friendliest ones I’ve attended and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and each other. I personally think that the camaraderie between professionals with each other and amateurs together to be a huge part of the competitive dancing experience and was happy to find that in great supply at Peoples’ Choice. I believe that this wonderful environment is due to Forrest Vance’s management style. He obviously has made some great decisions on how things should be done but also has the most amazing support team around. Everyone with a black Arizona Dancesports polo shirt on was the best friend a competitor could have. They were absolutely fabulous at doing whatever they could to enrich our experience. The fabulous Taeko Hattori, one of Forrest’s longtime students and a major sponsor of the Peoples’ Choice Dancesports event, was just wonderful at pitching in where ever needed. She took tickets at the door and ran the secondary on-deck when the split floor was required. Thanks, Taeko!

The Ritz Carlton Hotel was a wonderful venue. The convenience of the ballroom to the hotel elevators was the shortest distance of ANY comp I’ve attended thus far….six steps at most….so easy…..That the hotel was in Phoenix proper made for a short trip from and to the airport, which is no small consideration, to my mind. The hotel itself is elegantly turned out and its pride in their quality is evident with the most helpful staff I’ve encountered. They really spoiled us with their impeccable attention and service. The package included the option to have either breakfast or lunch and even room service, if desired. The evening banquet meals were wonderfully delicious. Done in buffet style stations, package-holders were able to dine conveniently at their pleasure in the reserved Bistro area which was cozy and made for easy socializing with old and new friends. That this event functions to provide an enriching experience for the pro-amateur competitor is an obvious mission, and is successful in accomplishing that, is probably the reason the smaller professional events on Saturday evening did not overshadow the pro-am emphasis. After two and a half days of non stop competing, I was happy not to be required to stay up too late to watch the professionals compete and still enjoyed the excellent quality of the performances.

I would heartily recommend to anyone desirous of a high quality competition experience not to miss this event. It delivered on its promise of greatness and its name….it is the Peoples’ Choice!

Reviewed by Deborah Baronofsky, Champion Ballroom, San Diego

May 28, 2007