Bachata Competition 2010
Go Dance Mambo is proud to present the first Toronto Bachata Competition
for fall 2010.
5 Preliminaries (Thursday and Sunday Socials @ Dovercourt House) October 17/21/24/28/31 (and possibly one qualifying round for out-of-towners at the Canada Salsa Congress October 8-10-please inquire)
1 Semi-Final November 21 at the Sunday Salsa Social
1 Final Sunday, February 20 at the Toronto Bachata Festival
2 Divisons: Pro and Amateur
Pro will receive $2000 for 1st place! Amateurs will receive $500 for 1st place!
Competitors must register by completing the form at $20 each in order to enter the competition. Email info@godancemambo.com for a registration form. Please ensure you read the rules below.
*Preliminiaries must be improvised
*Semis and Finals can be choreographed
*The name of the game is RHYTHM, MUSCIALITY, SENSUALITY AND UNISON and not acrobatics. We want a bachata competition, not a salsa/ballroom competition.
*Out-of-towners are welcome and must go through prelims, semis and finals. We've spread it out to make it easier to come to Toronto several times. Ask about qualifying at the October 8-10 Canada Salsa Congress.
* More prize information will be posted shortly!
FOR COMPETITORS ONLY
Payment either online or in person must be made BEFORE entering competition, up to 1 hour prior to qualifying round.
COMPETITION RULES 2010
To register, email info@godancemambo.com for a registration form.
1. Entry fee is $20 per couple for TBC. This can be paid up to 1 hour before competition starts, online or in person at the Dovercourt House Tues-Thurs-Sun. See Registration Rules and Regulations (what happens if my partner drops out?) for details.
2. The TBC is to span from October 17 to February 20.
3. At the discretion of the Head Judge, a [mandatory] competitor’s meeting will be held approximately 15 minutes prior to the 10:30p.m.or 8:00pm competitions.
4. For semis and finals, Competitors must dance 95% Bachata and can have a a maximum of 2 bachata songs edited during the choreographed routine. There is no mixing with salsa, reggaeton or other dance. This is a bachata competition, not a performance. The 5% means you are crumping, hip hopping, salsaing, chachaing or dancing reggaeton styling to bachata music.
5. Competitors will be judged with a focus on Unison of Rhythm and Body Isolations, Musicality, Phrasing, Coordination, Chemistry, Sensuality, Originality and a small percentage for Costume. It will not matter if you start on 1, 3, 5 or 7, as long as you keep your phrasing 1-8. Switching your lead break beat is allowed once in your improvisation. Ex: Start on 1 and in the middle after a dip you start on 3 and continue til the end of the song.
6. Competitors must improvise during qualifying rounds. Choreographed routines are not allowed until the semi-finals and finals. If choreography is suspected during (judges will know!) the qualifying rounds, the couple will be disqualified but may enter another qualifying date.
7. Competitors will dance a warm up round and then dance couple by couple. The length of the competition will depend on the amount of couples who enter but will not exceed 45 minutes.
8. Separation in performance is permitted on spins, turns and recognized breakaways. Shines will not be allowed. Partnerwork is the name of the game.
9. Attention! Only 3 Lifts, drops, aerials, jumps in total, allowed per routine. (This is not a salsa competition.) Lifts means that feet are 1 ft off the ground or more. Drops mean one or both partners has their body on the ground, like in a split. Horizontal lying on the floor is a drop. Aerials mean one partner is above the other partner. Jumps mean the man jumps over the lady. Skips are not jumps. Dips are permitted and are unlimited and encouraged.
10. In the dance performance, prohibited movements may result in a lowered placement with an equivalent reduction of points.
11. Conduct exhibiting poor sportsmanship may result in a lowered placement, equivalent reduction of points, and a warning from the Judging Committee. After a warning, any further such conduct will result in being banned from participation for a period to be determined by the Judging Committee.
12. Criteria for Music -Music will be chosen by the DJ with the following conditions. The Chief Judge or the Judging Committee may help in the selection of the music, or give guidelines regarding tempo and style selections. The contest music must be deemed acceptable by the Chief Judge and Judging Committee as being appropriate for Dominican or Moderna Bachata and the level of the competition. The DJ will supply the Chief Judge with a list of the Contest songs he/she either intends to play or plays for the contest. The list will include song title, artist and beats per minute, and may be given to the Chief Judge at any point prior to the contest(s) or by the end of the dance at which the contest is held.
13. Attention! Length of song: 2 minutes maximum. Any time over will result in a reduction of 1 point per 15 seconds.
14. Judges will be selected by the Chief Judge or by agreement of the Judging Committee.
15. Judges will be selected prior to the contest.
16. Judges will report to the Chief Judge 15 minutes prior to the contest start time.
17. Judges may not be competitors.
18. Definition of Pro Division and Am Division: There can be many degrees of amateur dancers. A dancer who has never competed will usually begin in the Amateur Division. However, a dancer may be placed into the Advanced Division at the discretion of the Chief Judge. An Amateur competitor is defined as a student of dance who could also be volunteering at their school, but not teaching or receiving payment for teaching. If a bachata student dancer is a teacher in another kind of dance and getting paid for it, this is up to Head Judge to decide which division to enter.
19. What if couple is Mixed Pro/Am? If Lady is Pro and Man is Amateur, they can only enter the Amateur division. If Man is Pro, and Lady is Am they can compete in Pro division.
20. Any dancer who teaches any style of partner dancing in group or private dance lessons, whether compensated or not, must check in with the Chief Judge, and alert him/her to the fact that they are teaching. The Chief Judge will then place him/her in the appropriate contest level.
21. Any unusual circumstances will be handled at the discretion of the Chief Judge.
22. Signing Up to Enter Competition: If unable to make the deadline, a contestant may sign-up by alerting either the Contest Coordinator or Head Judge prior to the deadline (see #4 below). If using e-mail to pre-enter, email must be sent no later than 11 a.m. on the day of the contest. Contestants using this sign-up option should not rely on being entered until they have received a reply to their request. Contestants must be present in time to attend the mandatory competitor’s meeting, if held, or request to be excused by the Chief Judge.
23. If partner does not arrive before competition starts for semi-finals or finals, the couple will be disqualified.
24. The attached schedule of contests is subject to change although highly unlikely since Go Dance Mambo runs the competition on their weekly social nights. Please refer to www.TorontoBachataFestival (which is on the www.GoDanceMambo.com website) or newsletter for current competition dates and times, or contact one of the following:
Semi-Finals November 21 @805 Dovercourt, Dovercourt House (Local judges) Selected couples may come to rehearse 3-4pm at no charge, at the Dovercourt House, 1st floor. You are required to submit your cd to the DJ. We recommend bringing a back up. No ipods. Clearly mark your name and the length of the song on the actual CD. Should the song not work on our system or you forget your song, you'll have to improvise to a DJ selection or choose to disqualify. Finals Sunday February 20 @1573 Bloor West Lithuanian House (International judges) Selected couples may come to rehearse after the workshops 6-7pm TBC. Please check back in January. It will depend on the tech rehearsal schedule for the Sunday performances. As of September 2010, we officially have Troy & Jorjet (Texas) and Tanja & Jorge (Florida) judging the TBC 2011. *These rules are based on the International Bachata Competition Rules 2010
