IAGLCWDC Dance Competition

Updated May 19, 2013.

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About the Country-Western Dance Competition

Part of the IAGLCWDC Convention each year is a dance competition.  This allows individual dancers, couples, and dance teams to strut their stuff in front of judges and an audience, showing off their skills… and maybe winning a trophy or other prize.

The 2013 IAGLCWDC dance competition will occur Saturday afternoon, May 25, in the Courtyard Ballroom, running roughly 1:00–5:00 pm (which will include a few open dancing breaks).  Audience admission to the competition is included in your weekend package or Saturday day pass, and there will also be competition-only admission available.

For those who may not want to attend the competition, there will also be three tracks of workshops running in the Madison Ballroom (2nd floor) and a Ride The Ducks tour will also be offered on Saturday afternoon.

The IAGLCWDC intentionally keeps the competition rules fairly basic and easy to understand.  For a full set of the IAGLCWDC dance competition rules and a list of the songs used for each dance style, visit http://www.iaglcwdc.org/dance/dance.html.

The competition will move along fairly quickly, but divisions and dances (and breaks) will be interleaved to allow competitors time for costume changes and the like.   The competition order is typically Pro-Am Couples, Line (Championship and Just Dance), Open Couples (Championship and Just Dance), and finally Teams, although this is subject to change.

Championship Competition

The annual IAGLCWDC competition includes two segments: Championship and Just Dance.

The Championship competition features four divisions — Pro-Am Couples, Open Couples, Line, and Teams — with each division having different levels, or in the case or Teams, different types of routines that can be competed in.  Competitors in the Championship competition (especially at higher levels) will often have fancy costuming, tightly choreographed routines with showy moves, and will have engaged in extensive practice and even private coaching sessions to be at their very best. 

Both Pro-Am Couples (where a student and teacher dance together, with only the student half of the couple being judged) and Open Couples (where both members of the couples are judged together) compete in one or more of the following dances: Two-Step, Waltz, West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Cha Cha, Night Club, and Polka.  Each division, ranging from Newcomer through Advanced, is judged more strictly and more dances from the list are required for an “overall” competition win.

Line dance competitors compete in up to three line dances in Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced divisions.  (Here, the division name represents both the dancer’s skill level and the difficulty of the line dances being done.)

Dance Teams compete in a variety of divisions related to the type of routine being performed, such as single song vs. song medley, purely line dance or couples or a mix, and open cabaret featuring props and often music outside of country genres.

Just Dance Competition Dances

The Just Dance competition features both Couples and Line divisions.  The Just Dance competition is aimed primarily at getting people out on the dance floor and competing — even the registration price is less.  Dancers are not allowed to compete in Just Dance with their regular competition partner, and there should be no special costuming, no pre-set choreography, and no expectation of practicing before the competition other than through social dancing.  In fact, your Just Dance competition partner may be someone you have just met during the convention weekend!

This year, Just Dance couples competitors will be able to dance the full range of dances done in both social and competition settings at the hoedown: Two-Step, Waltz (both slower competition speed and faster, social speed), West Coast Swing, Eact Coast Swing (both slower triple-rhythm and faster double/single-rhythym), Night Club, Cha Cha, Polka, Shadow, and social-speed Triple Two (aka Shuffle). 

Just Dance line competitors may dance any or all of four fun, lively line dances: All Shook Up, D.H.S.S., Hold Your Horses, and MMMBop.

Our Judges

The following will be the judges for this year’s competition.  They will also each be teaching one or more workshops during the weekend. We are sure you will find them enjoyable to dance with, learn from, and be evaluated by.

  • John Lindo (New York)
  • Michael Barr (California)
  • Michele Burton (California)
  • Ari Levitt (Washington)
  • Michel Guimond (Vancouver)

 Register to Compete

Championship Competition — Line Dance

Championship Competition — Pro/Am Couples

Championship Competition — Open Couples

Championship Competition — Teams

Just Dance — Couples and Line Dance

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Got Questions?  E-mail hoedown@raincountrydance.org