May 2004 Actuarial Review - Nonactuarial Pursuits of Casualty Actuaries

Nonactuarial Pursuits of Casualty Actuaries
Dance Hall Cowboy
by Marty Adler
If you have ever been intimidated by watching others do something that you could not, take heart from this column's subject. He became a world champion country & western dancer, mastering an activity that had initially intimidated him.
Our Fellow had moved from Seattle to Houston in 1993. The following year he discovered country & western dancing at the Long Horn Saloon in Houston. He sat along the bar adjacent to the dance floor and watched the people on the dance floor do various dances to different music. It wasn't just a single couple doing it. It was everyone, and he was too intimidated even to step onto the dance floor. He concluded that everyone in Texas but him knew how to dance.
Shortly afterward he learned that the dance studio at which his 11-year-old daughter was taking ballet and jazz lessons also had C&W instruction. He, his daughter, and his former wife began taking C&W lessons in September 1994. By the summer of 1995 they were in their first competitive outing. The contest was held at a Houston mall by TNN Wild Horse Saloon, which provided a free trip to Nashville and an opportunity to compete on a TV show. They made it to the finals, finishing in second place. With that near success they decided to enter the next regional dance competition. Having taken his final CAS exam in November 1994, he found the free time to pursue this.
Country Western Dance is defined by the UCWDC (United Country and Western Dance Council). Standard couples dances include the following styles– 2-Step, Polka, Waltz, Cha-Cha, East Coast Swing, West Cost Swing, and Night-Club. Our Fellow describes this as ballroom to differentiate it from other CW dance styles such as line dancing (which most people probably think of as country dancing) and square dancing. To compete, one can enter as a couple or a pro-am (competing with an instructor). There are separate divisions for different age groups as well as an open division. The music played for the competition is not known prior to the dance so dancing is not choreographed to the music. Thus, mastery of the lead-follow concept and ability to interpret the dance to the music (known as hitting the breaks in the music) are keys to successful dancing.
UCWDC has over 50 competitions in North America and Europe. To compete in Nationals you must participate in at least three events throughout the year. Our Fellow has competed in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, New Orleans, Denver, Albuquerque, Seattle, Las Vegas, Louisville, and Nashville. During 2000 our Fellow entered seven regional competitions, winning all events in the Southwest but finishing third in Nashville. In 2001 he won the Male Pro-Am Intermediate world title in Edmonton.
When preparing to compete, he scheduled three to four hours of practice a week with his instructor. He also took additional hours of instruction from various ballroom and swing dance coaches from around the country. He would often go out to local dance clubs and country & western bars and social dance two or three nights a week, spending an average of 10 to 15 hours a week on this pursuit.
Competition is a "real rush" for this Fellow. "It is like being on stage and having everyone looking at you. It allows the extrovert in me to escape. It may also have been my escape from the normal introverted stereotype given to actuaries." Costuming is required—cowboy hat, cowboy boots, Wrangler jeans, rhinestoned shirts, and big belt buckles. And yes, you get points deducted from your dance if the hat gets knocked to the ground.
About a year after he started competing, he returned to the Long Horn Saloon to join a couple he met through competing. When they arrived, they quickly took seats next to the dance floor. He looked out at the dancers who had intimidated him so much on his first visit. As it turned out, all the dancers who showed up at this bar every Saturday night were other competitors and instructors in the area. From this he learned that it is important not to jump to conclusions based on observations of a small and biased sample. Not everyone knows how to dance in Texas.
Mark Phillips is a consultant in Houston, Texas. As for his daughter, she won world titles in the youth pro-am country & western ballroom in 1995, 1996, 1999, and 2001.