Information for Dance Challengers!
Thanks for signing up to participate in our QuickSteps Dance Challenge: Cha Cha
Here’s some basic info to help you plan.
Timeline
As there are lots of heats with lots of people we can’t plan the timeline to the minute but here is a basic run down of what we are planning:
3:45pm Cha Cha Workshop – All levels welcome, Included in spectator ticket and D. Challenge participation Fee.
4:30pm Social Dance – All competitors please arrive at or before 4:30pm to check in and collect Challenge Number
4:45pm: Challenge begins
-All Cha Cha Heats
-Jack and Jill Heats
Social Dancing/Judges tally scores
-Pro Special Performance
-Cha Cha Award Ceremony
-Social Dancing (if time allows)
Event should finish between 6 and 6:30pm (we have a flexible finish as teachers have a very long day, thank you for your understanding)
What to Wear
One of the most common questions we get is ‘what do I wear?”
You will not be judged on your outfit, only on your dancing. However, to get into the spirit of the competition it’s always nice to put on a longer dress for ballroom, shorter dress for Latin, flair skirt for Rock n Roll or a shirt and pants (jacket optional). The better you feel, the better you dance 😉
Here are some examples of what participants might choose to wear on the night.
How do the judges judge?
What we are NOT looking at (pssst mistakes don’t count)
As this is a fun, friendly comp the judges will be giving you some leeway. They will not see your mistakes. They are only looking for things people are doing right. This means you could forget all of your moves, trip over your partner and fall on your bottom, get up and do a box step and the only thing the judges will mark you on is the box step.
What we ARE looking at;
Timing;
Starting on time, remaining on time
Technique;
Correct Technique used, Technique is comfortable, Technique is consistent
Styling;
Arm styling, dancing with the feel of the song (character/energy), head movements (for Level 3 and Specialist)
We will be marking each category out of 5 to get a total for each participant.
Changes to Heats with ‘Subs’
As always, we are implementing some changes after receiving very helpful feedback.
When we have members dancing with the same teachers often we need to have ‘subs’. This is where a member might dance with a teacher that is not their normal teacher. Why? This means there are others on the floor so no one has to dance alone in front of lots of people! It also keeps everyone dancing and moving and having fun as opposed to spending extra time on the sidelines.
The teachers that are ‘subs’ have been asked to just dance the basics with members that are not their own to make everyone feel more comfortable. We understand that if you are competing in some of the higher levels you may not feel comfortable dancing crazy advanced moves ‘off the cuff’ with an unfamiliar teacher so this will not be happening. They have promised to keep it super simple and fun!
Judges Comments
There are two judges that are marking dancing and one judge that is only giving comments. Your score and judges comments will be sent to you via email over the next 2 days. This way everyone leaves the Challenge with an overall score for each style as well as some encouraging words from the pros.
How to behave
It’s important to us here at QS that these events are; Fun, Friendly and Fair
How are we going to run a competition that remains fun, friendly and fair? With the help of the QS community of course! We ask you to;
- Be vocal, enthusiastic and supportive when others are dancing
- Be complementary of each other, no negative comments or remarks
- Trust that we, as a team/judging panel, are doing our absolute best to run a competition that is fair and in accordance with the outlined rules
- Accept the judges decision with grace and poise
- Have fun and enjoy the process!
- Be kind to our teachers. They all work hard, care about you and are doing their very best to help you improve and succeed- regardless of your result on the night.
- Be a good sport all round. Enter in what is fair for your level of dancing and play by the rules
We are looking forward to this friendly, fair and fun event and hope you are too. Let’s enjoy Saturday together and celebrate what we have all achieved with our Rumba and Swing over the last few months.
Big Love xx
Mish
