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Dancing Queens Episode 2 — Let’s Talk Pro-Am Relationships
Episode 2 of Dancing Queens showed us the real drama of a ballroom competition, as students and their teachers put everything they have into their performances in hopes of being noticed by the judges, making the final and ultimately winning their event. It also provided some fantastic examples of the dynamics of the pro-am relationship and how they trigger tension and conflict.
A dance partnership is a unique relationship that can be difficult to understand from the outside. It is a professional relationship that requires mutual respect, but it also requires a deep level of trust that extends beyond what you would need in any other professional partnership. It is intimate and physical, but not in a sexual way (though depending on the dance style, your dancing may convey sexy or sensual emotions). A successful dance partnership requires clear expectations and honest, respectful communication. Both dancers need to have near equal dedication and commitment to the vision and goals of the partnership, as well as their own development.
The pro-am dance partnership throws a wild card into this delicate arrangement — an unequal power dynamic. One dancer is a professional. They have chosen dance as a career. In order to make a living, professional ballroom dancers teach dance to others. In ballroom dance, one professional…
