Competitions have been a part of the modern blues dance scene since it first started. The competitions this weekend are driven by a desire to draw a distinction between "social" and "performance" blues dancing.
Social Competition
Think a Mix & Match where prelims are held on the social dance floor. This competition seeks to find the best social blues dancers.
If you want to compete, when you first show up for the weekend you'll be given a stack of index cards with your competitor number and spots for your scores. You have until the end of the first band set on Saturday to get rid of as many as you can by giving them to (and then dancing with) marked judges.
Finals will be a series of all skates where the judges dance with each of the finalists.
Ranked Criteria:
For reference, here is last year's Partnered Social Final:
If you want to compete, when you first show up for the weekend you'll be given a stack of index cards with your competitor number and spots for your scores. You have until the end of the first band set on Saturday to get rid of as many as you can by giving them to (and then dancing with) marked judges.
Finals will be a series of all skates where the judges dance with each of the finalists.
Ranked Criteria:
- Blues Aesthetic & Musicality
- Partnership & Connection
- Performance & Showmanship
For reference, here is last year's Partnered Social Final:
Throwdown Competitions
Think dance-off where the music is fast and high energy. We'll have two Throwdown Competitions this year: one solo and one with a partner. These competitions seek to find the most badass blues dancers.
Prelims for both the Throwdown comps will be a series of all skates.
Finals will be structured as a single-elimination bracket of phrase battles. In each battle, competitors will trade phrases back and forth, interacting and responding to each others' ideas. At the end of each battle, we'll ask our judges to pick the winner who will advance to the next round with a 1-2-3-POINT simple majority.
Ranked Criteria:
For reference, here's a similar partnered phrase battle run at Lindy Focus XII. Keep in mind that our music will be fast and high energy.
Prelims for both the Throwdown comps will be a series of all skates.
Finals will be structured as a single-elimination bracket of phrase battles. In each battle, competitors will trade phrases back and forth, interacting and responding to each others' ideas. At the end of each battle, we'll ask our judges to pick the winner who will advance to the next round with a 1-2-3-POINT simple majority.
Ranked Criteria:
- Blues Aesthetic & Musicality
- Performance & Showmanship
- Partnership & Connection
For reference, here's a similar partnered phrase battle run at Lindy Focus XII. Keep in mind that our music will be fast and high energy.
criteria Descriptions
Blues Aesthetic & Musicality – All the songs played during the competitions will be blues music and we want to see your dancing match each and every one. As such, this category is the prerequisite for the others. Let the music move through your body and drive everything you do, every choice you make.
Partnership & Connection – We want to know how well you work, move, and feel with a partner. We'll be looking for how well you move as a unit and how well you work together.
Performance & Showmanship – We want to see blues dancing that is high energy, engaging, and above all entertaining. You're putting on a show, and we encourage you to play to your fellow competitors, the crowd, and the judges.
Partnership & Connection – We want to know how well you work, move, and feel with a partner. We'll be looking for how well you move as a unit and how well you work together.
Performance & Showmanship – We want to see blues dancing that is high energy, engaging, and above all entertaining. You're putting on a show, and we encourage you to play to your fellow competitors, the crowd, and the judges.
