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Text (385) 393-1383 | simplyyouthballroom@gmail.com
Synergy DanceSport
Rules & Regulations
Competition Rules & Safety Protocols
At Synergy DanceSport Festival our goal is to provide ballroom dancers the opportunity to come together for a friendly competition. Please make yourself familiar with the following requirements to participate! We and our staff look forward to your participation.
Synergy DanceSport Festival will be held on January 11, 2025 at Ogden High School in Ogden, Utah.
All dancers, parents and spectators must have a general admission OR table seat ticket to enter the building during the competition.
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All dancers are required to sign our media release electronically at registration. When a registration form has been turned in, the waiver and media release will automatically be turned in as well.
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Registration for events is on a first come, first serve basis. Once a couple registers they will receive a confirmation email. A couple is registered when all information is filled out, waivers have been signed electronically and registration is paid in full. There are no exceptions to this rule.
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Please make sure your dancers are registered appropriately. If the chairman of judges becomes aware before/during the competition that a couple/individual dancer does not fit these qualifications, they have the right to pull their registration and or not allow the couple/individual on the competition floor.
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Dressing rooms will be provided. We highly suggest dancers arrive prepared to compete with hair, makeup and tanning complete. We will NOT allow tanning to take place in the dressing rooms and or bathrooms.
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At this time there is a small fee of $40 to rent a space for vendors who charge for hair and makeup services. Due to space restrictions we will only have limited spots. If you have not reached out to the organizer before the competition to rent a space you may be asked to stop doing makeup and hair on the premises. (This does not apply to a mom (or team coaches) helping her daughter with hair, this applies to those who do hair and makeup throughout the day and charge for services.)
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Outside Food and drink are allowed. We will also have concessions available for purchase throughout the day.
Competition Rules: Open, Syllabus, and Solo Ladies Amateur Competitors
Pee Wee (PreK-Elementary), Pre-Teen (Elementary), Junior (Junior High), & Youth (High School)
INFRINGEMENTS OF THE RULES WILL BE GIVEN A WARNING AND ASKED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. IF THE INFRINGEMENT IS NOT RESOLVED BY THE NEXT ROUND, ORGANIZERS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY A COMPETITOR. FOR AN EVENT THAT IS A FINAL ONLY, THE DANCER MAY BE DISQUALIFIED WITHOUT A WARNING.
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Competitors may register for their age group, and DANCE UP one age level, including Solo Ladies Events.
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Competitors may register for Open events as long as they DO NOT compete in a syllabus or Solo Ladies event of the same style.
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Competitors may register for multiple open events for each category. However, they will need to compete in sequential levels. For example, a competitor may dance a Novice and Pre-Championship event, but may NOT compete in a Novice and 5 Dance Championship event.
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Competitors may compete in up to 3 Open events in the same style.
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Competitors may not compete in both Novice and Championship events in the same style, except Pre-Teen.
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Competitors may dance two sequential levels in syllabus events that offer levels. Competitors may NOT sign up for Bronze and Gold, skipping Silver.
Newcomer Bronze - ONLY Bronze figures/steps allowed and both partners have danced 1 year or less!
Silver - Bronze & Silver figures/steps allowed
Gold - Bronze, Silver, & Gold figures/steps allowed
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Any category with less than 3 entries may be canceled or combined with a similar event.
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Competitors dancing in a Newcomer event may not dance in any open event in any style, and vice versa.
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A competitor is eligible to dance in the “Newcomer” event (Elementary, Junior High, High School) until they have placed in a final of any event at an NDCA recognized or sanctioned event or the Synergy DanceSport Festival, provided a semi-final was danced.
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A competitor is eligible to dance in the “Syllabus”, “Novice” or “Pre-Championship” classifications until they accumulate three proficiency points at the Synergy DanceSport Festival, an NDCA sanctioned/recognized competition (page 41 of NDCA Aug 2024 rule book), and UBEA Competitions (Local Utah High School Competitions).
Proficiency points in one age division do not count or apply in any way towards ineligibility in another age division.
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A competitor receives one point when they either:
Place first in their current classification when a quarter-final was danced.
Dance (Place) in a final of a higher proficiency event where a quarter-final was danced.
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In the “Syllabus” categories proficiency points should be accumulated independently for each dance.
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The eligibility to compete in a classification is applied to the individual competitor and not the couple as an entity.
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An amateur couple is only eligible to compete in a classification if both members of the couple are eligible.
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An amateur competitor's eligibility is based on his/her accomplishments regardless of the number or length of partnerships they have had.
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It is the responsibility of all amateur competitors to ensure that they are eligible for the category in which they desire to dance.
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Youth competitors turning 19 years of age during the school year may still dance in the Youth or High School age categories until they have graduated from High School.
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Elementary school competitors may not dance in the High School category even if partnered by a Junior High or High School competitor. Junior High competitors may dance up one designation to the High School category, but only as defined in entry restrictions on UtahBallroom.com, under UBEA tab.
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Heel guards/covers are mandatory on ALL women's shoes! (Pre-Teen block heels not included.)
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Solo Ladies:
Eligibility Requirement: No lady will be allowed to compete in a Solo Lady event if she is registered with a partner in an event of the same style at the competition (for example, a lady dancing with a partner in any Syllabus American Rhythm event should NOT enter into any Solo Lady American Rhythm event). All other eligibility requirements as defined in the UBEA Rules & Regulations will apply (i.e. age/grade, etc.).
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These events are restricted to the ISTD (AIDA) Bronze, Silver, and Gold Syllabus only. Students who dance material outside the ISTD (AIDA) syllabus will be penalized in accordance with the UBEA Rules & Regulations.
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NOTE: Dancers are required to follow the charted foot patterns (including any variations allowed) in the ISTD (AIDA) Syllabus; however, in the Latin style, dancers may perform their own interpretations of arm styling.
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Heel guards/covers are mandatory on ALL women's shoes! (Pre-Teen block heels not included.)
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Senior Couples 55+:
Senior competitors may register for the Senior age group if one partner has reached his or her 55th birthday or greater and the other partner has reached his or her 50th birthday or greater.
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Senior age competitors may dance down into the adult age category.
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Competition Rules: Student/Teacher Dancers
Student dancers may dance down to younger age categories. The teacher's age is not considered.
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All Single & Championship events will be mixed student (Leader/Follower) events.
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Single Dance Events are closed Bronze through Gold Syllabus, and must follow NDCA figures and rules.
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All Students dancing in Student/Teacher events must follow the Open Costume Rules.​
Steps & Figures Rules: Syllabus Events
All international style syllabus dancers are restricted to the ISTD Bronze, Silver, & Gold syllabus.
For our syllabus events, all figures must be danced as defined in the ISTD technique book. Partial figures may not be utilized unless so specified in the "precedes and follows" sections.
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Newcomer and American style syllabus events are restricted to Bronze, Silver, and Gold Syllabus from these member organizations' syllabi: NDCA, DVIDA, BYU, or UBEA.
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Couples must dance within the framework of the accepted syllabi, including precedes and follows, and without embellishment.
Please reach out to Krista Derington at SimplyYouthBallroom@gmail.com with any questions you may have. We are excited to offer the opportunity for dancers to come together to compete and celebrate dance!
Team Event Rules
Medley Event Rules
Medley event rules can be found starting on page 45 of the NDCA rulebook.
Show Dance Rules: Show Dance Categories
Show Dance Categories - Partnered Teams
A. Smooth/Ballroom (Teams with 10 couples or less): Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, & Quickstep
B. Latin/Rhythm/Swing (Teams with 10 couples): Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Bolero, Mambo, East Coast/Triple Swing, Lindy, West Coast Swing, Jive.
C. Large Group: Any Style of dance with more than 10 couples (or 20 people).
D. Theater Arts / Cabaret
E. Novelty - Anything goes! If the routine is not one of the styles listed above, it will be considered for the Novelty category. This includes but is not limited to: Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Single Gender groups, Disco/Hustle, Square Dance, Folk Dance, Charleston, & Polka.
Show Dance Categories - All Ladies Teams (4-16 girl teams)
A. All Ladies Latin/Rhythm: Cha-Cha, Samba, Jive/Swing, Paso Doble, Rumba, Bolero, & Mambo
B. All Ladies Ballroom/Smooth: Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, & Quickstep
C. All Ladies Latin Medley: Using 2-5 Latin Styles (Cha-Cha, Samba, Jive/Swing, Paso Doble, Rumba, Bolero, & Mambo)
D. Novelty - Anything goes! If the routine is not one of the styles listed above, it will be considered for the Novelty category. This includes but is not limited to: Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Single Gender groups, Disco/Hustle, Square Dance, Folk Dance, Charleston, & Polka. **NOTE: The All Ladies Novelty may be mixed with the couples Novelty group and this depends on registration.
Show Dance Rules: Partnered Teams
includes Smooth, Rhythm, Ballroom, Latin, Swing, Large Group, and Novelty Show Dance Events.
A. Teams of three to ten couples may compete in each formation/showdance style. As per NDCA Formation Team rule XII.D- A couple is one boy and one girl. Girls may NOT dress up as boys or vice versa. (Any infringement of these rules is immediate disqualification since there is typically only one round).
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B. The Large Group category is defined by a routine with more than 10 couples (or 20 people), and is considered one category (It is not divided into styles or genres).
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C. Choreography Rules - At least 50% of each routine must consist of a recognizable competitive NDCA style steps, (Except Theater Arts/Cabaret & Novelty. The Novelty category is considered the “Anything goes” category, and includes but is not limited to: Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Single Gender groups, Disco/Hustle, Square Dance, Folk Dance, Charleston, & Polka.)
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D. Routines may only have 3 lifts of any kind. On the fourth lift, the routine will be considered in the Theater Arts/Cabaret category. Tricks, drops, and stunts that are within 2 beats of music are NOT considered lifts. A lift is any movement when a dancer assists another and both feet leave the floor for more than 2 beats.
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E. Props that do not require additional set up time are allowed.
F. Routines must not exceed 3:00 minutes.
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G. All routines must be ONE style or song only. This can consist of one song that has multiple style characteristics in it (maximum 3 dances) OR it can be a mix of songs in the same style. For example, a song that is mostly Foxtrot but has a section of the same song that could be Swing. Or 2 songs mixed together that are both Cha Cha.
i. EXCEPTION to this rule: Large group numbers are allowed to have up to three songs/styles.
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H. Teams cannot compete against themselves and may only compete once in each category.​
Show Dance Rules: All Ladies Teams
includes Smooth, Rhythm, Ballroom, Latin, Swing, Large Group, and Novelty Show Dance Events.
A. All Ladies teams may consist of 4-16 girls and can register for three of the four events offered. Please keep in mind if they register for Novelty there is a chance they will compete against other groups with partnered couples (depending on registration).
B. Choreography Rules for Latin/Rhythm & Ballroom/Smooth Showdance: All Ladies teams choreography must have 50% Traditional Latin/Ballroom recognizable steps and 50% can be other styles of dance such as hip hop/jazz/African/Bollywood, etc. This rule is measured by bars.
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C. Choreography Rules for Latin Medley:
1. All Ladies teams choreography can have up to 5 styles in their Latin Medley.
2. All Ladies teams choreography will be between 2-4 minutes in length.
D. Rules D-H (listed above and under “for teams with couples”) apply to All Ladies Teams.
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E. The competition organizers may mix age groups, such as Pre-Teen and Junior OR Junior and Youth to give teams the opportunity to compete against another team. They will NOT ever have a Pre-Teen group compete against a Youth group. All Ladies teams have the option to dance up an age group, but not dance down.​