DanceFest
Relative Placement
Selections from the TABLE of CONTENTS related to this page
Competition
How to DRESS for Dancing
 Followers
 Jack 'n' Jill
 It's TOO LOUD!
How to PLAY for Dancing
RELATIVE PLACEMENT
 A scoring system that assigns equal value to the raw scores of each of several
  judges ensuring that each judge's vote has an equal influence on the outcome.
 Relative Placement is used to score competitions at major Swing dance events.
NOTE
Competitor, as used here, refers to the unit of entry. If the entry is an indi-
vidual, a couple, or a team, the Competitor is an individual, a couple, or a team.
In the final round of a Jack 'n' Jill competition, the Competitor is a couple.

JUDGES
No fewer than five, but six, seven, eight, or the preferred nine judges may adjudicate an any-but-final round of a competition in which the judges' scores determine the competitors who will be given the opportunity to advance to the next round.
————The Final round of a competition must be adjudicated by an odd number of judges: five is acceptable, seven recommended, nine preferred. Judges may be assigned duties such as adjudicating only Leaders or Followers or Timing or Technique, etc.
————Regardless of round, the scores of the Chief Judge are used only to break ties.
————When the number of competitors is too great for a single heat competition, a preliminary round is held. The Chief Judge determines how many competitors advance to the next round based on returning an agreed percentage of the competitors and/or where a natural break in the ranking occurs.
————The several judges are given specific numbers of competitors and alternates to select for the next round. The Scorer assigns an ordinal of 1 to the competitors selected to dance in the next round, an ordinal of 2 to those selected as alternates, and an ordinal of 3 to the unselected. [The judges' selections are always positive!] Using these 1s, 2s, and 3s, the Scorer ranks the Relative Placements of the competitors.
————When there is a large field in a Final round, the judges focus on ranking the top twelve competitors. The Scorer converts the judges' raw scores, used to determine rankings, into ordinals, (First, Second, Third, etc.) for Relative Placement. (If a Judge inadvertently submits duplicate placements, the Scorer informs the Chief Judge who asks the Judge to create a unique placement for each Competitor.)
————A majority is required for final placement: if no couple has a majority of votes then the next placements are added to the previous placements. If more than one Competitor has an equal majority, then the numerical value of the ordinals for each Competitor is added. The Competitor with the lower sum gets the higher placement. If the sums for more than one Competitor are identical, then the next placement is added to the previous placements further explained in the table.

RELATIVE PLACEMENT



JUDGES' PLACEMENTS

RELATIVE PLACEMENTS

COMPETITOR

Judge1

  Judge2

Judge3

Judge4

Judge5

1-First

1-Second

1-Third

1-Fourth

1-Fifth

1-Sixth

PLACEMENT

A

1

1

3

2

3

2

3

—

—

—

→

1

B

6

5

4

1

2

1

2

2

3 (7)

4

→

4

C

2

4

1

5

5

1

2

2

3 (7)

5

→

3

D

4

2

5

6

6

0

1

1

2

—

→

6

E

5

6

2

3

4

0

1

2

3 (9)

—

→

5

F

3

3

6

4

1

1

1

3

—

—

→

2
Table prepared by Andy Bouman (co-director of Boogie by the Bay and competition director for The Next Generation Swing Dance Club) and
Ed Cirio (judge and coöwner of Top of Beardsley's).

No Competitor has a majority of First Place votes. Counting First and Second place votes, only Competitor A has a majority. That Competitor is awarded First Place.

 Counting First and Second and Third place votes, only Competitor F has a majority: Second Place.

 Counting First and Second and Third and Fourth place votes, three competitors have an equal majority. When the numerical value of the ordinals is added, competitors B and C have the lower total, seven, whereas Competitor E has the higher total, nine. Competitor E is therefore awarded the lowest final placement of those three competitors, Fifth Place.

 To break the tie between competitors B and C, the scorer counts First and Second and Third and Fourth and Fifth place votes. Competitor C has five votes, achieving Third Place, Competitor B four votes thus gaining Fourth Place.

 Competitor D remains: Sixth Place.
    
The preceding part of this page exists thanks to Andy Bouman's lucidity and generosity.

Back to: Jack 'n' Jill — Competition

OTHER CRITERIA
The following judging criteria apply only to Dallas D.A.N.C.E.
but might also be used at other events.]

 Judges are free to judge the performances of the dancers using the following criteria:

Presentation and Musical Interpretation: Dancing with confi- dence and charisma, creating interest in the performance regard- less of the style. Responding to the music by taking the dance beyond a mere combination of patterns.

 Teamwork/Connection: An appropriate and confident lead com- bined with response without fault or hesitation; the attractive give- and-take of a couple dancing as a balanced partnership.

 Technique: The command of the fundamental elements of dance; the evident ease and clean execution of the performance (es- pecially of more difficult elements).

Timing/Rhythm: The appropriate matching of body motions and footwork to the meters and rhythms of the music.

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