So You Think You Can Dance, Costa Rica
Aspire to be a National Champion by Tom Schultz
That started to change in 2009 when the first international dance competition was held here. It was initiated by Nick Kosovich, remembered by many viewers of Dancing With the Stars in its early seasons, and David Martinez, a Costa Rican dance professional in California who remains the head judge for the Costa Rican version of Dancing with the Stars. Sadly, however, this first foray into international dance competitions in Costa Rica lost traction and ended in 2012.
C DANCE SPOTLIGHT
osta Rica’s rich history of dance is hardly surprising, with a tradition deeply rooted in folkloric dance. The country also has wellestablished university programs for ballet and contemporary dance, and even its own unique dance: criollo, or Tico swing. Criollo is classified as a swing dance for having characteristics in common with jive, Lindy hop and jitterbug. Its genesis was in dance halls on banana plantations, where there were disproportionately fewer women workers. Therefore, criollo can be danced with three, four or five people. However vibrant Costa Rica’s dance heritage may be, there has been a longstanding lack of organizational presence for dancers to train and compete at an international level. The author and his wife, Shelley, are the current Costa Rican National Champions in the Senior Standard Ballroom category
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Dancesport support Then three years ago, a new organization was formed, La Federación de Baile Deportivo (FECOBADE). The federation was born out of the need for Costa Rican dancers to have support from a dancesport organization so they can compete nationally or internationally with the endorsement of a recognized entity. An important inclusion in the FECOBADE charter ensures national and traditional folkloric dance is also represented in its competitions. FECOBADE’s formation has given rise to Costa Rica’s two sponsored competitive dance events each year. It revived the international competition in 2016 as the Costa Rican Open Dance Fest, usually held in October. More importantly, it created the Costa Rica National Dance Competition (La Competencia Nacional de Baile Costa Rica), usually held in June. This event has been declared culturally important by Costa Rica’s Ministry of Culture.
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