FEATURE Sports Complex Foot Work: When Is Dancing a Sport? Jim Provenzano | January 31, 2005 Columbus Stompers at the 2004 IAGLCWDC country-western dance competition in Columbus, Ohio - Photo by Jim Provenzano If a dance event is competitive, does that make it a sport? The newest dance competition in the GLBT sports community will be country-western dancing as part of Montreal's OutGames I's cultural festival. Ballroom dancing has been a highly popular event for the past two Gay Games, and will be included at Gay Games VII in Chicago and OutGames I in Montreal, both to be held in late summer 2006. Acknowledged as highly competitive, ballroom dancing's presence in a same-sex version at the past two Gay Games further established the event as stylish and fun to watch. The Games so far remain the only sporting competition – gay or straight – to include same-sex ballroom dancing. With OutGames having scheduled a country-western dance competition, that style of dancing might soon be considered a sport, too. Each Games host is allowed to diversify its events with a goal toward inclusion, and this has made some wonder what the criterion for a "sport" really is. Gay Games V even included chess and bridge tournaments as sports. Gay Games VI also included bridge and added aerobics competitions. Like ballroom dancing, which expanded opportunities for the more artistic members of the GLBT community, country-western dance competitions bring like-minded people together for festive social events and entertaining competitions. Country-western dance clubs, an extension of the decades-long tradition of line dancing at bars and nightclubs, formalized such pursuits over a decade ago. Among these clubs are 26 from Ohio, Virginia, South Florida, Texas, Europe, and Canada, all members of the International Association of Gay/Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs (IAGLCWDC). Participants at the association's 11th annual dance competition – held this past July and hosted by Ohio's Columbus Stompers – are part of a growing country-western GLBT community. "There are thousands and thousands of us," says Charlie Monroe, chairman of the Norfolk, Va., Othersiders Country Western Dance Club, which took first place at the Columbus event. "It's not just about competition." In various group-partner dances, both male and female dancers are judged on everything from choreography to precision and presentation. Many of the judges at gay competitions also work at straight competitions run by the United Country Western Dance Club Association (UCWDCA). "They're very experienced with techniques in all of the dances," says Carol Martinez of the Houston-based Lone Star Lariats, a club that brought more than a dozen members to the Columbus competition. Martinez has danced competitively and taught two-stepping for decades, and joined the Lariats when it started two years ago. The next semiannual convention of country-western dancers will be the Spring Break Hoedown, hosted by Southern Country South Florida, March 24-27, 2005, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But will country-western dancing ever be considered a sport? Most people think of sports as games played between opposing teams, with a ball or a fight for territory involved. Vickie Dunn of the Lone Star Lariats has been teaching dance for 21 years, and says that while the atmosphere of a country-western dance competition is festive, the judging of group dancing can get serious. "When you have a team, you have to have however many people hitting the same line, the same steps, going out and coming back at the same time," she says. "Your footwork has to be better. Everything has to be better when you compete, or you don't place." Chris Barnes, a nine-year member of Othersiders Country Western Dance Club, has also been the club's choreographer for four years. "We worked really hard," Barnes says of the Othersiders' victory at the 2004 event. "You're always driven by the people you compete against. With Columbus Stompers, we've had a little rivalry with these guys for years. This is the first time we've won (IAGLCWDC competitions) two times in a row. Every other year, we always flip with them; they win, then we win." Along with weekly practices and line dancing at a Norfolk country-western gay nightclub, the Outsiders double their practice schedule months before a big annual competition. Twenty-two core members competed in Columbus, with a dozen more attending practices, regional rodeos, and dance events in Virginia. Barnes says that while winning at this year's IAGLCWDC wasn't easy, he had sympathy for his competitors' duties. "I think being the host team is a disadvantage, just because you're so dang tired!" Keith Carson, a member of the Columbus Stompers for 11 years, grew up in Washington, D.C., and lived in Key West before moving to Ohio. A former ballroom dancer whose parents competed in competitions, and whose uncle performs in a country-western band, Carson competed with women partners in the ballroom circuit, but says he now prefers the gay community's version of country-western dancing. "I've always loved dancing, but this is just more fun," says Carson. Along with the competitive aspects, he enjoys the difference from the formalities and restrictions of ballroom dancing. "I can be myself," says Carson of his country-western dancing. "Before, I had a female partner, and it just wasn't my thing. I never really felt the groove with that. I placed first many times. But with country-western dancing, I follow and lead, and it doesn't matter to me which one I do. I just enjoy it." Jim Provenzano is the author of the novels PINS and Monkey Suits. Read more sports articles at www.sportscomplex.org Related stories Ski Fever: Snow Birds Flock to Gay Ski Events [17/01/2005] Cologne, Johannesburg and Paris to bid for Gay Games VIII in 2010 [25/01/2005] For more info on Gay Sport in South Africa contact Gay Sport SA