12-733: The Gdynia Open was a pro–am minor- ranking snooker tournament, which was part of the Players Tour Championship . The tournament in the 2012/2013 was split in two parts, with the first part taking place at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield , England and the second part at the Gdynia Sports Arena in Gdynia , Poland. In the 2013/2014 season the event was moved to the second half of
24-412: A collaboration between professionals and amateurs in a scientific discipline such as astronomy . In reference to individuals, the term also has another meaning: it implies someone that is intermediate, indeterminate or fluctuating between amateur and professional status, an idea more related to the similar socio-economic term " amateur professionalism ". A common synonym for this version of pro–am
36-625: A professional partner. In this case, the teacher is usually also the dance partner. All of the most relevant international dance sport associations, including the World Dance Council , World DanceSport Federation , and International Dance Sport Association, offer pro–am competitions as parts of their international events. The world's oldest dance competition, the Blackpool Dance Festival , featured its first pro–am event in 2014. Chains of franchised pro–am studios, like
48-782: A proving ground for amateurs aspiring to official pro qualification. Minor League Baseball , and its conceptual equivalents in other sports such as the AHL in North American ice hockey and Conference National play in English football , can also been seen as a form of well-organized pro–am play in the semi-professional sense. There are also a few pro-am tennis events, such as the annual Necker Cup organized by Richard Branson , where tennis pros are invited to compete against amateur enthusiasts. In dance sport , pro–am provides an opportunity for an amateur to take part in competitions with
60-556: A semi-professional or minor league level, short of the top competitive ranks in the sport. Pro–am competition is especially common in golf , and in track and field . Cue sports is another field in which pro–am play is common; an example in the open, mixed-play sense is the International Pool Tour in eight-ball . And in snooker , the International Open Series was a no-pros tour and
72-414: Is semi-professional ( semi-pro ). Thus has the term pro–am long had various meanings and significances, depending upon the sport in question. Those who play at a highly competitive and strongly skilled level, but are not paid, are often called pro–ams. The term is also applied to competitors who do get paid in some events (e.g., tournaments with a cash prize) but who do not make a full-time living at
84-626: Is often held in Blackpool (five times between 1989 and 2012), but is not connected with the Dance Festival. The world's largest amateurs' dance festival is the annual Euro dance festival in Rust , Germany, where shows of professional dancers are combined with workshops for a wide range of dancers from beginners to professionals. It was depicted in the 1996 award-winning Japanese film, Shall We ダンス? , directed by Masayuki Suo and again, in
96-805: The Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens , Blackpool , England, since 1920. It is also the largest ballroom competition: in 2013, 2953 couples from 60 countries took part in the festival. As of the early 21st century the festival is held in May. It covers ballroom and Latin American dancing , American smooth and incorporates the British Open Championships in categories of adult amateur and professional couples and formation teams . In 2005, two new categories were introduced:
108-588: The Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire studios, are found nationwide in the United States. Pro–am dance sport has also started to break ground in Europe, with studios such as Agens Pro–am (Germany), and ProAm-Tanzen (Austria). Blackpool Dance Festival The 8-day Blackpool Dance Festival is the world's first and most famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance, held in
120-809: The British Rising Star Amateur Ballroom and Latin Competitions. Two invitation events, the Professional Team Match and the Exhibition Competition, create much interest. The Junior Dance Festival, Blackpool Sequence Dance Festival which incorporates the British Sequence Championships , and British National Dance Festival are also held annually in Blackpool. The annual World Professional Dancesport Championship
132-557: The activity. In sports with a highly regulated system of professional qualifications and limitations, it may be applied to competitors whose careers move between professional and amateur status with their performance in any given season or string of seasons. As an adjective, the term may also refer to an open contest or series of contests (e.g., "pro–am tournament", "pro–am tour") in which professionals and amateurs compete without distinction; those limited to "professional–amateur" players and barring full-time pros; or those of
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#1732797470609144-499: The season, and the whole event took part in Gdynia. Mark Selby was the last champion, while Neil Robertson is the most successful player in the tournament's history having won the championship two times. Pro%E2%80%93am Pro–am (or pro/am , pro am , ProAm ; a contraction of professional–amateur ) refers to a sporting event where both professional career athletes and amateurs compete. It could also refer to
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