Rules

General Rules

Modern Jive
This is a Modern Jive competition so we expect to see Modern Jive dancing with a concertina (in and out) type of movement. The beauty of Modern Jive is that it borrows from many dance styles and so we are likely to also see an influence from other styles on the move vocabulary and footwork used, but the dance should still appear to be mostly Modern Jive.

Partner Dance
Modern Jive is a partner dance and we require partners to remain in contact for most of the dance. When connection with your partner is broken it should be regained within 8 Modern Jive counts or competitors risk being penalised.

Floorcraft
Dancers will be allocated a position(s) on the floor which corresponds to the heat sheets. Although dancers should stay in proximity of their allocated position throughout the dance, we do ask that you be mindful of other dancers around you and do not encroach on another dancer’s space. This skill is called floorcraft and poor use of it could result in being penalised.

Judging Criteria
Competitors will be judged on a number of criteria. In all events judges will be looking for Timing, Technique, Partnership, Musicality, and Moves.
For teams and showcases judges will also look for Choreography, Teamwork, and Performance.

Music & Choreography
Teams and showcases are choreographed to a known predefined piece of music.
In all other events couples / triples will dance to an undisclosed piece of music chosen by the competition organisers. In some finals couples / triples will get two songs. Dancing should be freestyle and judges will be looking for non-sequenced dancing. Obvious use of choreographed or repeated sequences of moves may result in being penalised.

Dancing up
A dancer may dance higher level if they are competing with a dancer of that higher level. Dancers are not eligible to dance below their level.

For each category dancers can only compete in one level (e.g. if a level 2 dancer competes in Freestyle Level 3 they are not eligible to compete in Freestyle Level 2 at the same competition). However a dancer may compete in one level for a category and a different level for another (e.g. dance up with a higher level dancer for Freestyle and dance at their level for DWAS).

Gender
Same sex couples, male follows, and female leads are permitted in all pre-partnered events. For individual events (e.g. Lucky Dip & DWAS), competitors may enter as either a lead or a follow.

The important thing is to make sure there is a clear lead and follow in the dance (which can’t be changed and swapped around during the event); gender doesn’t matter.

The exception to this is BOTS where the couple must be of the same sex, and switching between lead and follow during the dance is permitted.

Move Definitions

Leans

In a lean a dancer is supported along the whole body of their partner. Leans are considered the simplest and safest supported moves and are allowed in all categories. A lead should still ask for permission before performing a lean on their partner, especially in events entered as an individual (e.g. DWAS and Lucky Dip).

Supported Moves (excluding leans)

Dips
The leader of a dip supports their partner using their hands or arms and often with some part of the torso in contact to lift their partner off vertical, and the partner should also be supporting their own weight as much as possible.

Drops
The leader of a drop supports their partner using hands or arms to lower their partner close to the floor, often to horizontal.

Seducers
The leader of a seducer uses their hands and arms to initiate the move and their upper leg to support their partner when tilted into position (in some dance schools the term seducer is used interchangeably with “dip”).

Splits
Dancers in the splits parallel to the floor are assisted with the support of their partner for lowering into position and/or rising up, qualifying this as a supported move.

Aerials

We consider aerials or lifts to be moves where a dancer supports the weight of their partner with the aim to take them off the floor.  These moves can vary in several ways and are often split into different types: baby aerials and full aerials.

Baby Aerial
Is a move intended to take one partner off the floor and support the majority of their weight at or below chest height of the supporting partner.

Full Aerial
Is a move intended to take one partner off the floor and support the majority of their weight above chest height of the supporting partner.