On these ballroom dancing competition shows on the tube, people scream, yell, and (try to) sound like the crowd at a Mettalica concert. I don’t remember hearing all that noise at the ballroom when I was a kid. Polite applause, maybe a cheer at the judging, but not like this.
Am I mis-remembering? Or has ballroom dancing gone pop?
Peace,
mangeorge
are you referring to “so you think you can dance” or “dancing with the stars”? That’s how all audiences sound these days, and it annoys me no end.
If you are referring to a standard, conventional ballroom competition, I didn’t know they were televising them. I’d love to watch - when and where did you see it?
On PBS. KQED in San Francisci @ 5:00 PDT.
It’s the pros, alright. Not more “reality tv” stuff. They actually do quite a lot of coverage.
Catholic school, I think, ruined me on ballroom dance. 
I’ve watched Strickly Ballroom and Shall We Dance over and over just for the competition scenes. I went to public school, so ballroom dance was not part of the required course load (I can’t spell cirriculum ;))
I got very used to the sight of the spot where a girls adams apple would be, if girls had been so endowed. Good thing us boys didn’t have bald spots yet!
I did not learn to dance. I did learn to blush.
It’s become a sport. It’s sure as hell not about music or recreation anymore.
I think audiences are copying what they heard in Strictly Ballroom and Mad Hot Tango…
My wife entered some ballroom dancing competition and I assisted in the audience (I took the classes but wasn’t as good as her.) The audience was not screaming and yelling at the events I attended. There was loud applause at the end of each act during the “demonstration” parts of the events (professionals doing a practiced routine solo, without the grading) but not during the competitive part.
I like to watch the PBS specials when they do Jive or Paso Doble – the livelier dances. The incredible grace and timing of the dancers’ move is great fun to watch. Makes the “So You Think You Can Dance” people look slow and clumsy by comparison.
I went to dance camp at BYU (don’t ask…) 10 or 12 years ago. At one point 2 of the teachers did a dance (samba, I think) that was just so amazingly good, as soon as the dance ended, EVERY one of us (dance students) were on our feet yelling and cheering. The teachers who were performing actually looked a little frightened. But WE knew what we had just seen, and that was greatness. True, greatness in a fairly mundane activity, but greatness nonetheless.
J.
BYU???
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
I hope you guys know that now I’m going to have Paul McCartney in my head all night.
But it wasn’t always such a pretty sight
'Cos we used to fight like cats and dogs 'til we made it up in the ballroom
Ballroom dancing made a man of me
One, two, three, four, I just plain adore your
Ballroom dancing, seen it on TV
I got quite a lot from ballroom dancing
Big B.D.
May we watch? How about a little youtube. 
Well, blow me down, there is a clip of it from Give My Regards To Broad Street!
Enjoy.
Yep, BYU. For some reason, those Mormons are big on ballroom dancing. 
J.
BYU generally has the best collegiate ballroom dance team in the country, from what I’ve seen.
I danced ballroom in college, and the competitions are definitely not subdued polite affairs. People cheer and scream and yell for their favorite couples. When we did shows, our director would always introduce us and let the audience know that they were welcome to scream and applaud. It wasn’t like a piano recital.
I’ve been dancing competitively for 17 years. During that time, competitions have always been loud, raucous affairs, with lots of yelling the numbers of couples on the floor. Sometimes it’s difficult to even hear the music.
And yes, BYU has a huge ballroom program, including the only ballroom dance scholarships that I know of. MIT, where I trained, also has an excellent program.