49 . A JUDGE'S FORMULA

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Welcome to Episode 49 of the Salsa Kings LIVE podcast

A Judge’s Formula is (Materal + Technique) X Feeling or (M+T)xF. 

Material is the subject matter of the dance. It is what you are doing. Technique is how well you are doing it and executing the material. Feeling is the intangible multiplier. Your feeling and intention multiply what you are doing in technique and material. This is the incredibly important, ineffable factor of the dance.

The best score possible is a 200 with tens across the board. Nines across the board is 162, so the difference is scores is dramatic. To achieve the highest score is going to take more work as you get better. Each jump in skill is going to be smaller for much larger work. This is where you need to know yourself and learn where you should be focusing on. Your technique, material, and feeling are all going to need to be focused on at different levels. 

Often, Feeling is the one that needs the biggest focus, though it varies from person to person. Some may have a lot of feeling and rank high in that, but very little training would lead to very low technique. Andres use himself as an example with his material being a 7, his technique at 5, and his feeling at 8. Out of a possible 200, he is only at a 96. Even after a decade and a half of dancing, he isn’t even halfway to ‘perfection’. 

This isn’t something to be ashamed of, it’s a natural part of the journey. Many get frustrated at the fact that they are not getting to the highest level of dance more quickly. The Judge’s Formula will end up being humbling for many who may want to become masters of dance immediately.

 Most people, however, aren’t even aware of the different variables. You can be a 1 on a certain level just because of a lack of education or priority. The Formula gives you a loose criteria that you can follow to understand where to focus. With the judge’s formula, a dancer can properly ascertain what they need to work on, as well as how far they have to go, how much room for improvement they actually have. It may be humbling to have one’s dance put in these terms, but it will also give the perspective of what needs to be worked on.

“It’s those three together where you’re ultimately able to make a humbling and realistic score -numbers, mathematical score- and immediately be able to see what you can work on to increase that score. Making taking your technique from a one to a two could be very easy.”