Competitions are the icing on the cake for many ballroom dancers. The wonderful thing is that a newcomer can compete as well as the highest level professional. Competitions are divided into age categories and levels of dance giving everyone an equal opportunity to perform well. Preparing for a competition will greatly enhance a dancer's skills. There are many different types of competitions and your teacher can recommend what is best for you. Not all students choose to compete and that is OK. But for those who do, the experience is a lot of fun and usually addictive.
The video is from the Millennium Dancesport Championships and was filmed by Dance Vids. This clip shows student/teacher competitive rhythm dancing.
"Dancing is a very wonderful training for girls, it's the first way you learn to guess what a man is going to do before he does it." Christopher Morley