I recall,as a stage actor in my younger days, observing how the audience could have a big influence on the effectiveness of a play. When you had a responsive audience, especially for comedies, everyone in the troupe would be infused with extra energy and confidence. It would bring out the best in each person on stage, leading to a more vibrant performance. This, in turn, led to a better experience for the audience as the effect would come full circle.
Edited November 28, 2025. I originally wrote this post back in 2010, after Wendy and I competed at a major event in Vancouver, the SnowBall Classic, finishing third in our championship Latin age category. I was reminded of this post following the completion of season 34 of Dancing With the Stars. This season was remarkable in a number of ways. One of the most significant was seeing how so many of the celebrities commented that they became aware of their role as being more than just dancers, but being dance performers. Of course, this has been true for every season of Dancing With the Stars, but this is the first time dance performance was talked about consistently by almost all the participants. It brought new focus to that aspect of partner dancing.
Dance competition has been around for hundreds of years. People used to compete in Viennese Waltz back in the early 1800s, although in those days it was only the elite involved in dancing.
Vernon and Irene Castle traveled around the world, performing to captivated audiences who hailed the couple as world class celebrities. They were loved because of their dance performance.
The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers motion pictures, so popular during the 1930s when people were still recovering from the Great Depression, inspired people with the dance performance qualities of these superstars.
During the war years, gentlemen would dye old uniforms black to create makeshift tailsuits and ladies would sew used parachutes into dresses to make their ballgowns. These couples were so passionate about performing as dancers that they would gather in burned out buildings and hold dance competitions. The goal was, of course, to put on a show. It wasn’t just an academic exercise in technical precision. No, these events were there to celebrate that people were living their best lives, even in the midst of turmoil! Partner dancing is about dance performance!
I don’t think all that much as changed in that respect. Perhaps that’s why Dancing With the Stars reached a record in number of votes, doubling the total to more than half a billion votes over the course of the season. People are engaged and involved, and they are passionate about the show because of the performances.
Here’s what I wrote back in 2010:
This past weekend we enjoyed the 2010 edition of the SnowBall Classic DanceSport competition in Vancouver, Canada. As in previous years, the audience was amazing. Repeatedly, competitors would comment on how supportive the audience was. One visiting professional (not an adjudicator at the event), mentioned how she was surprised by the way the audience didn’t favor only local couples or people they knew, but supported those whom they felt were the best on the floor, even if competing against their own favorites. This is unheard of in most parts of the world!
Others remarked how they noticed that many audience members didn’t seem to know anything about ballroom dancing, commenting on dancers they liked based on qualities like costume, or smile, or other things, and loudly supporting them on those issues. Since it is very rare for audiences at dance competitions to be non-dancers, this stood out as being remarkable.
All of this makes for a vibrant audience, and it helps set large events like SnowBall apart from smaller competitions. There’s nothing like having a healthy roar from the crowd when dancing all out. It gives competitors more energy and makes them feel as if they are part of something special. Our Vancouver audience has a reputation for doing this exceptionally well. Even Dance Beat World magazine once commented on the amazing impact of the SnowBall audience!
Three years ago, I was talking to an amateur competitor from Germany competing in SnowBall for his first time. He was so enthusiastic about being here, his energy was infectious! When I asked him about it, he said it had been a dream of his for years to dance at SnowBall Classic. I asked him why. He responded that SnowBall has a reputation across all of Europe as being one of the world’s great competitions, driven in large part by the quality of the audience.
I have heard from international competitors that in many parts of the world, audiences are surprisingly quiet. In England they clap politely. In Germany and Russia, they might be vocal, but only for those couples from their “club,” never showing support for those who might prove competition for their favorites. There is a kind of partisan nature in most DanceSport audiences. This doesn’t really happen in Vancouver.
In 2008, another German athlete commented in the hallway between rounds that she could not believe the audience support for someone from outside the country, especially as a competitive couple the audience had never seen before. Well, this couple danced head and shoulders above the other competitors in their age category. The audience loved them, enthusiastically shouting out their number through all their events. They won the event, and during an after-competition dinner they told us how the effect of the audience support was a great encouragement during the competition and made their time in Vancouver extra special. The effect was so powerful, they came back the following year, this time bringing some dance friends along as well. The audience was responding because the competitors put on a worthy dance performance.
During the 2003 SnowBall Classic, which was televised, Franco Formica mentioned in an interview that the audience support was incredible, creating extra energy and giving SnowBall a special feeling.
An exit survey in 2005 gave some insight to this unique quality of the audience, in particular those coming to SnowBall Classic. It turns out that most of the audience don’t even dance. They see the event as an exciting, glamorous night on the town. They can dress up like they would for the VSO, but instead of quietly sitting and watching a performance, they can be part of an energetic, noisy, enthusiastic audience, as they watch a highly athletic competition between international champions at the highest level of the sport. They are not there to watch a practice session. They are there for the dance performance. It doesn’t get any better than this!
The SnowBall audience truly is exceptional, and in many ways represents best of the DanceSport world. It’s even more amazing when you consider that the committee organizing the event is made up entirely of volunteers who have dedicated themselves to putting on a great competition. Maybe that alone is the magic behind the Vancouver audience. In any case, congratulations to everyone who has, over the years, helped shape it.
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