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The United States has built an excellent system whereby students are allowed to compete with their teacher. This division is called Pro-am and Ian competes regularly with his students around the United States.
His students have successfully competed in competitions ranging from the Emerald Ball in Los Angeles to the famous Ohio Star. On average he competes approximately ten times a year.
Pro-am Dancing is challenging since your lesson time is also your practice time. Like all sports, it requires dedication, hard work, time, mental as well as physical effort. But the rewards can be very worthwhile and satisfying. You must be willing to take to a minimum of two/three lessons per week per style and be motivated to practice by yourself between lessons in order to enhance your learning. Patience is a virtue since the technique can be very complex.
Many of Ian's pro-am students have regular standing lessons - this means that you commit to take a private lesson at a specific time slot on a specific day each week, ie every Wednseday at 7:00pm.
Ian competes in the Pro-am division from pre-bronze through open gold levels primarily in International Standard, International Latin American and American Style Smooth. For a list of the pro-am competitions in the US, please visit the event calendar at the NDCA website, www.ndca.org. If you reside within the metro DC area, you can spectate at several local events in May, June, July, August and December.
At the 2006 World Pro/Am Championships, one of Ian's Junior Standard students made the final and placed a very creditable 5th. In the Senior World Pro/Am Championships, one of Ian' s students made the semi-final.
"It's always a pleasure dancing with Ian. He's an outstanding teacher and encourages his students to achieve their personal best in pro-am competition. I particularly appreciate his patience, courtesy and professionalism".
JB McLean, VA
"I am continuously impressed with his teaching style and technique. He explains new steps clearly and patiently and makes learning to dance easy and fun. His encouragement always makes me feel good about my dancing. He is accommodating, fun, and informative - a lesson with him is always time well spent".
KH Falls Church, VA
If you are interested in learning more, please contact Ian on 703-922-0727 or e-mail him at iankgillett@hotmail.com.
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