Hi! We are Deb and Matt.
You probably know we live in Christchurch. We run Fevah Modern Jive and host the Christchurch Championships.
This year [2016] we have a great opportunity to create a new competition system for the whole of the NZ modern jive community. One that includes everybody who competes in modern jive, no matter which brand.
We love competitions. Our Christchurch dancers love competitions. And we know lots of other dancers in NZ do too.
We want to make competitions as rewarding as possible for everyone.
It is a lot of work to figure out how to do that, but we are committed to continuous improvement, so we are willing to give it a try β for YOU!
The origin of the word competition comes from Latin. It meant "to strive together". At the core it is about coming together with others who have a similar goal and striving to achieve that. It is more about working together, supporting each other in a quest, than it is about trying to be the best in a group.
From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
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directly from Late Latin competere "strive in common", in classical Latin "to come together, agree, to be qualified", later, "strive together" or "to strive (alongside another) for the attainment of something". From com- "together" + petere "to strive, seek"
We like that. And having spoken to many people about why they like doing modern jive competitions, it is just that. Coming together in a group from all around the country to do something we love while we all strive to be the best dancers we can be.
We can therefore see that there is little reward in dancing in a category with just semi-finals or straight finals and placing in a small field. It means much more when we place in a large field where we have had to dance more, together with a larger group of competitors.
In fact, it can be as much of an achievement, or more, to get through one round in a large group than to place in a small group.
We want to do this dancing stuff with more "others". It is more challenging, which in turn is more rewarding, and then it is more fun.
MORE DANCERS = MORE CHALLENGE = MORE REWARDING = MORE FUN!
Eventually we hope we will attract more and more people to all brands of modern jive around the country to have bigger competitions. But another way to achieve bigger events is to adjust the system. (And then hopefully progress to have more competitions!)