>>I just thought of another possible solution: allow the judges to
>>disqualify a couple if they're clearly and outrageously dancing
>>down. That way, anyone who wasn't quite sure where they belonged
>>would have an incentive to dance up. ...
>Although that would be a nice thing to do, but it's inpractical IMHO.
>The level of dancing between two couples who have "danced" for the
>same amount of time can vary dramatically. It'd be really hard for a
>Judge to know whether someone is actually "cheating"
Sorry for not making myself clear. I don't mean letting the judges
decide who is breaking the 18 months rule. Rather, I mean letting
them decide who is clearly so far above the rest that they don't
belong, and putting a big black mark by their number.
So, if Mikhail Barishnikov had only been ballroom dancing 18 months,
the judges could disqualify him from the beginners' initial heat
anyway, simply because he was obviously lightyears ahead of everyone
else, what with knowing how to spot his turns and so on (8-).
Henry