COMPETITIONS

MEDALLIST COMPETITIONS

The ISTD (and other societies such as the IDTA and UKA) operate a series of area medallist competitions in Ballroom/Latin, Ballroom/Latin/Old Time and Disco/Freestyle/Rock'n'Roll.  These are held at various intervals throughout the year at a variety of venues across the North of  England, as well as the opportunity to attend several events further afield.

Pupils are only able to compete in the area medallist events if they are current medallists of the relevant exam board.  Therefore if you wish to attend a Ballroom/Latin event in the 12 months prior to the competition you must have taken at least 1 Ballroom exam and 1 Latin exam.  To attend an Old Time competition you must have taken at least 1 Old Time exam and optionally 1 Modern and/or Latin Sequence exam.  To attend the Disco/Freestyle/Rock'n'Roll events you must have taken at least 1 Disco (solo) exam and 1 Rock'n'Roll exam.  These rules apply each year, so you cannot just take 1 exam and think that you will still be eligible in 3 years time. 

The idea of the Area Medallist events is that they are for medallists, not open competitors therefore it is strongly emphasised that it is the dancing that is being marked and not the costume, and there are numerous rules applicable to each type of competition, which vary according to the grade of exam and the age of the pupil (please ask Debbie for more comprehensive details).  These rules apply to both dress and footwear.   Depending on student interest, it may also be possible to start attending Area Medallist competitions for other societies, for example, IDTA.

CLOTHES/FOOTWEAR

In order to ensure that nobody from Ballroom Blitz runs the risk of either being disqualified or not marked through in to another round because they are incorrectly dressed, there is a strict dress code in operation.  This means that in terms of footwear girls under the age of 12 dancing in Ballroom/Latin/Old Time events may only wear low heeled shoes such as the Regulation Silver Strip  Sandals. Boys (any age) and Girls/Ladies over the age of 12 are advised to speak to the School Principal for individual advice because the type of shoe that is most appropriate for you will vary according to your age, grade and physical build.  In terms of clothes, girls/ladies may have one made (at your own expense), which fits the school's policy (again please speak to the School Principal before you have any dresses made).  All juveniles (girls under 12) must wear white ankle socks for Ballroom, Latin and Old Time.

For Disco you can choose from a selection of leotards, crop top sets (various styles of top), crop top and shorts or catsuits - but what you are allowed to wear for the set dance is not always the same as for the solo (depending on your grade), so again please check with the School Principal before you buy anything.  For Rock'n'Roll the choice of attire is up to you.  For Disco up to and including Bronze black or white jazz shoes only may be worn.  For RnR glitter jazz shoes may be worn.  For Disco competitions girls are also advised to wear Danskin shimmer tights.

FREQUENCY OF COMPETITIONS

The North East Area Medallist Competitions are held in Ballroom/Latin, which may also include Old Time, at the following times: September/October; February/ March and July. 

The DFR competitions are currently held once a year in May.

The Ballroom/Latin Grand Finals are held over a weekend towards the end of November at Blackpool, and the DFR Grand Finals are held usually on the 3rd Sunday of October at Guildford.

STRUCTURE OF COMPETITIONS

The competitions are divided into age groups, for example: Under 6; Under 8; Under 10 (DFR only); Under 12; Under 14 (DFR only); Under 16; and various Adult age groups.  The competitions within each age group are then separated into medal grades, for example: SDT/Pre-Bronze; Bronze; Silver/Gold; Gold Star/Awards - these may vary according to the age group.  Therefore you will usually only be dancing against people of a similar age and ability level to yourself. 

Each competition will have several rounds (depending on the number of entries in each event) and each round may have a series of heats.  For example if there were 50 children entered in one competition the first round would probably have 4 heats  (ie 12 or 13 children dancing at a time), then say 40 children would be recalled to the next round and so on until reaching a Semi-Final of 12 and ultimately a Final of 6.  All children who reach the final would then receive a trophy or plaque and will be placed in order from 1 (the winner) to 6.  Therefore the larger the number of competitors in each individual competition the more likely you are to have to dance (if you are lucky enough to get through from one round to the next) several times. 

In Ballroom/Latin/Old Time events for the solo competitions pupils may dance with a Teacher or pupil from Ballroom Blitz, this will depend on exactly how many pupils there are from Ballroom Blitz in each competition and each heat.  This varies depending on the society running the competitions. The School does not know this information in advance so partners have to be allocated quickly on the day when the heats are called, therefore not everybody will get to dance with the person of their choice. Therefore all pupils should get accustomed to dancing with other pupils - their normal competition partner is actually the best partner that they can have. 

PRACTICE FOR COMPETITIONS

Your exam class will not normally provide you with sufficient practice for dancing at Area Medallist competitions, therefore if you would like to attend competitions, you are advised to have private lessons, either on a regular basis or intensively for a few weeks prior to the competition. You are advised to consult with your teacher first, to see whether there would be a partner available for you, so that you can consider sharing lessons with your competition partner.

If you wonder why pupils from other schools do so well, many of them have to have (they don't choose, it is a condition of them attending) at least 1 private lesson/week for solo work and 1 private lesson/week for couples work.

COUPLES

The partner that you are allocated will be your partner for the competition season and will only change if the School Principal or your teacher think there is a justifiable reason for change, eg new pupils joining the class, a growth spurt by one pupil etc.  By practising on a regular basis with a partner, your dancing should improve as well as your confidence.  It will also mean that you have the opportunity to dance in the Pairs/RnR sections at DFR competitions and in the couples sections at Ballroom/Latin events.

TICKETS FOR COMPETITIONS

Tickets usually have to be ordered several weeks in advance and paid for 1 week in advance.  Tickets are available for pupils (competing or non-competing) and spectators.  All people attending a competition have to pay the same ticket entry price regardless of whether they are dancing or not.  This is currently in the region of £9-£10 per ticket (apart from Blackpool Grand Finals, which is a weekend event and the ticket price includes admission to the other attractions at BlackpoolTower).

TRANSPORT TO AND FROM COMPETITIONS

Own transport is required for all competitions.

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