Download a PDF here – LYG24_Dance_Info_Rules

DCE 1 The competition will be run in lines with the School Games outline provided by EMDUK

DCE 1.1 Should any rules listed below contradict those outlined by EMDUK, these rules will supersede those.

DCE 1.2 It will be at the sole discretion of the Competition Organisers as to the application of these rules, and any subsequent decision made as a result will be final.

DCE 1.3 The Tournament Organisers reserve the right to alter or amend the running order if necessary and may make decisions on any matters arising during the competition, including any matter not covered by the competition regulations. The Competition Director will be final on all disputed matters.

DCE 1.4 The Competition Organisers reserve the right to suspend/cancel the event where required by unsafe condition.

DCE 2 Age Category:

DCE 2.1 The following age groups and respective minimum/maximum date of births will apply to the London Youth Games Dance Competition;

DCE 2.1. Participants are not permitted to enter this competition if they are ineligible.

DCE 2.1.1 Should a school wish to enter a participant into a category of which they are ineligible, an application should be made to LYG in advance of submitting their video.

DCE 2.1.2 Should a school wish to enter a mixed KS3 & KS4 team, then they must be entered in the KS4 competition.

DCE 2.1.3.1 Participants are not allowed to participate in more than one competition.

DCE 2.2 It is the responsibility of competitors/parents/teachers/SGOs to ensure all participants details are entered correctly at the time of submission, and that they are eligible to compete.

DCE 2.2.1 In the instance a participant is found to be ineligible, they may be disqualified from the competition entirely.

DCE 3 Eligibility

DCE 3.1 Competition Tier: Higher

DCE 3.2 Competition Intent: Highly competitive environment where winning is the measure of success and level challenge is high, in order to further the development of young athletes. Local qualifying events are encouraged, with the winning school progressing to the county final.

DCE 3.3 Player Eligibility: Aimed at children and young people who enjoy competition and may regularly access training and coaching outside of the school environment. Participants are used to competing in sport inside and outside of school have a higher skill ability and understand tactics and strategies in competitive game play situations.

DCE 4 Squad Size Schools are permitted to enter a maximum of 30 competitors, per competition.

DCE 4.1 Schools are permitted to bring all 30 participants entered to the event on the day.

DCE 5 Kit & Equipment

DCE 5.1 Performance area space will marked out and be approx. 10m x 7m.

DCE 5.2 Props and costumes are permitted but not mandatory.

DCE 6 Competition Format

DCE 6.1 Boroughs can submit only 1 routine per competition (KS3, KS4, SEND).

DCE 6.2 Running order of performances will be selected at random.

DCE 7 Sports Specific Rules

DCE 7.1 Dance routines may be in any dance style or genre. There is no limitation to the number of styles that are used within each routine.

DCE 7.2 Routines must be between 90 seconds and 3 minutes in duration. Any entry outside this time will be at risk of points deduction.

DCE 7.3 Entries must not be copied from any other source including musicals, music videos, television, or social media.

DCE 7.4 All music must be commercially available. Music lyrics must not contain any explicit of offensive language.

DCE 7.4.1 In the instance a team includes music deemed inappropriate, it will be at the discretion of the competition organisers to decide whether they receive a points penalty or are disqualified from the competition entirely.

DCE 7.6 Deduction of marks will occur at the discretion of the judges in the event of unsafe, or inappropriate dance content.

DCE 7.6.1 Disabled participants who require support to take part in the competition may include their support staff to assist them to perform the dance routine and will not result in any penalty points.  

DCE 8 Scoring

DCE 8.1 The judging panel will consist of three independent judges who have the responsibility of scoring and determining the placing of teams.

DCE 8.2 Each dance routine will be judged on the following 4 categories and points, which will provide a score out of 100:

1. Concept (15 points) and Musicality (5 points)
2. Choreography (15 points) and Creativity (15 points)
3. Performance (20 points)
4. Overall impact (30 points)

DCE 8.2.1 Each judge will be assigned three of the four categories to score for each entry as follows:

• Judge 1 – Categories 1,2,4
• Judge 2 – Categories 2,3,4
• Judge 3 – Categories 1,3,4

DCE 8.2.2 Each judge will score their categories respectively, and then an average taken for each category score across the three judges. These averages will then provide the score out of 100.

DCE 8.2.2.1 Please note that the overall score is not an average of overall scores provided by the judges, but a cumulative score of the averages for each of the four categories, as no one judge provides scores for all four categories for any dance.

DCE 8.3 Judges are asked to mark each school’s performance against pre-determined criteria set in the Judges Support Pack.

DCE 8.3.1 Judges will be provided with paperwork/an online system to record scores and written comments.

DCE 8.3.2 Each team’s scores will be finalised by judges directly after their performance.

DCE 8.4 In the event of a tie, results are decided by the highest average score for ‘Overall Impact’.

DCE 8.5 If the competition is cancelled or suspended, the scores given by the judges from the qualifier video submissions will be used to calculate the overall result.

DCE 9 Medals & Trophies Medals and a salver (winners only) will be awarded as follows to 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd placed teams for each competition.