GoPro is the Way to Go!
Daniel Calloway, FISTD
Published in Topline, USISTD Publication &
I recently guest judged a practice session with a GoPro mobile 
video camera strapped to my head to record my comments on each couple as I observed them. The result was spectacular. Normally, a judge gets to express his or her opinions as numbers on a page relative to whatever else is on the floor. To be able to express verbal opinions is so much more rewarding for the judge and beneficial to the couples.
The occasion I was guest judging was the weekly CompPrep session organized by Angelo and Kayla Cristobal at the spectacular new Infinity Ballroom in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Cristobals are generously giving back to the Charlotte dance community by skillfully teaching and partnering other dancers and by organizing innovative events like their weekly practice session. On this occasion there were twelve or so couples of various levels and styles. Mock comp run-throughs were run starting with short, forty-second dances and increasing to full, competition length songs. The five-dance heats were alternated between standard/smooth and Latin/rhythm. If a couple did not compete in one of the five dances, they just retired from the floor for that dance and rejoined for the next dance.
My GoPro device was provided for me with the headgear required to secure it to my forehead. I looked like a miner. My recorded comments began while the couples were in the mock on-deck area, even before they took the floor, and touched on every aspect of dance presentation, including such areas of concern as technique, charisma, projection, floorcraft, partnering and musicality. Providing the commentary was as much a performance for me as it was for the dancers. I felt obligated to think and talk fast in order to give the most varied feedback possible to all the couples.
Between rounds I was given the opportunity to lecture briefly to the group on any points which required more explanation than the rapid fire video commentary could include. These mini-lectures provided the context for the video. The final video was subsequently emailed to all of the participants to review at their leisure.
One of the most striking aspects of the ninety-minute session was the upbeat atmosphere of the participants. They were doing what they love in an ideal environment. Without the p
ressure of actually competing against each other, the exercise provided most of the advantages of a competition without some of the negatives. The mutual support they gave to each other was particularly striking, especially considering the group included both pro/am and amateur couples performing some normally incompatible dance styles.
I believe that the biggest weakness in most couple’s dance education is lack of information. There just never seems to be enough lesson time to transfer to them all of the vital information they should have. Supervised practice sessions are a great partial solution to this problem and the video commentary exponentially improves the value of the sessions. Angelo and Kayla have a series of guest judges scheduled to visit in the next few months. It is a brilliant concept masterfully executed.
