We are introducing a new and unique approach to reshape the choreography competition to provide a fair and unbiased experience. The goal is to provide an equal opportunity for all participants. We think you're gonna enjoy this different approach!
Introducing, The Incognito Choreography Competition
The Concept: Create an anonymous choreography competition where dances are judged without anyone knowing who the choreographer is. At no point in the competition will the choreographer dance their own choreography. The purpose is to remove factors such as:
Bias (real or perceived) based on the performance of the choreographer’s styling while demonstrating the dance. We all know that a good dancer can make any choreography look great while an average dancer’s choreography (which could be amazing) may be overlooked since the dancer didn’t embellish their styling much. In the WE Line Dance “Incognito Choreography Competition”, each dance is danced by the same dancer within a given category.
Bias (real or perceived) based on the relationship with the judges. It is possible that if the judges happen to be friends with someone- they may be judged differently- in some cases they could be penalized in an effort to prevent favoritism. Or perhaps you just so happen to annoy the judges, either way, we are all human. And while they make every effort to provide a fair score, a bias CAN take place. In the WE Line Dance “Incognito Choreography Competition”, the choreographer’s name is unknown throughout the competition.
Bias (real or perceived) based on the music selection. We all know there are some songs that have some pretty good beats or musicality moments out there – it is possible that the love of 1 country song over another may impact one’s opinion of the outcome. In the WE Line Dance “Incognito Choreography Competition”, a finalist is chosen while competing against peers who choreographed to the exact same music. Note: once a finalist is chosen, they will compete against other finalists in the same category (Beg, Imp, Int).
Bias (real or perceived) against styles of music. Each person has their favorite genre of music, whether it is country, pop, hip hop, latin, waltz, etc. If the judges don’t like a type of genre, it may impact their score if they don’t enjoy the song. In the WE Line Dance “Incognito Choreography Competition”, the finalist is chosen by the judges while competing to the same song. On Friday night, the dances will be voted on by the entire audience, providing a bigger audience pool with different tastes in music.
As an added bonus, the finalists will be chosen in advance of the workshop, so both the judges and the choreographers can be free to dance or relax throughout both days!! We understand there is no perfect scenario, but we are trying our best with this unique twist (pun intended) on the existing competitions. We respect and admire the judges from previous competitions. In fact, we will use judges to draw upon their dance background and skills, to rank the choreography per song, which will determine the finalist. We believe they do their best at remaining impartial.
General Rules:
This competition is designed to be anonymous to keep the choreographer’s name anonymous throughout the competition. The judges will pre-select a finalist who’s choreography will then be demo’d on Friday night to compete against the other finalists in the same category. Each time a dance is danced throughout the competition, it will be danced by the same dancer (within a given category). For example, all the initial demos will be filmed while having the same, independent dancer dancing all the dances, to the same song. Here's how It works:
A choreographer can only enter ONE entry for the whole competition.
There are 3 categories: Beginner, Improver, and Intermediate.
Each category will have 3 pre-selected songs to choose from in the following types: Country, Pop, and Non-Country for a total of 9 songs for the entire competition.
Song selections will be released on the website on Jan 5, 2025.
Each song will have a limit of 5 entries per song, for a total of 15 entries per category.
As the songs are limited to 5 entries, the choreographer can choose their song on a first come basis. Once the Choreography Contestant form and entry fee has been received, the choreographer will be assigned a song based on their song preferences.
The choreographer will create a step sheet and demo video for their dance. This information cannot be submitted to the public in any form until after the winner has been announced on Saturday evening. If the dance is performed, taught, posted on social media, etc, the dance will be disqualified and money will not be refunded.
The step sheet and demo video needs to be submitted to Choreography@WELineDance.com by March 10, 2025 by midnight, PST. No exceptions will be made.
WE Line Dance will remove the name from the stepsheet and ensure that the selected dance representatives have learned the correct steps based on the video provided. We will not share the video with the dance representatives. The selected dancer will learn all the dances for a given song and create a demo video of each choreography. The selected dancer will treat each dance they dance with respect, as if it is their own dance in a competition. WE Line Dance will create a video package to be sent to the judges . They will not know who the choreographer is when they watch the videos and look at the stepsheets.
The judges will choose 1 finalist per song. At this point in time, the choreography is being ranked against other choreography to the same song (up to 5 entries).
The choreography will be judged on 4 categories: Content, Flow/Music Fit, Stepsheet Accuracy, and Stimulating/Entertainment. Each category will be scored 1-10 by the judges. The scores will be added up to determine the ranking per judge.
The rankings will be assigned points. 1st place = 5 points, 2nd place = 4 points, 3rd place = 3 points, etc. After tallying up the points, a finalist will be determined based on their score. In the event there is a tie, the tie will be broken by a back-up judge and well respected dance instructor of the event, who will also have no identifying choreographer information.
There will be 3 beginner finalists (country, non country and pop), 3 improver finalists (country, non country, and pop) and 3 intermediate finalists (country, non country and pop).
The finalists will be determined before the WE Line dance event takes place. The top two finishers per song will be notified on Friday by email or text that their dance may be a finalist. It is imperative that this information is not shared with friends, or anyone else at the event who will be voting on the winners. If it is known that a choreographer has spoken to anyone, that choreographer may be disqualified.
The finalist's dances will be demonstrated on Friday (by 2 people- other than the choreographer) for everyone to watch and vote. The reasoning behind 2 dancers is that it will reflect 2 different styles.
These dances will be demoed after the Friday demos.
On Friday, Everyone is a judge! Each person will be able to cast 1 vote per category to choose an overall winner for Beginner, an overall winner for Improver and an overall winner for Intermediate.
This voting process will be ANONYMOUS. It is so important that the choreographer be silent and not have indicated, in any manner, that their dance is a finalist dance.
The winning dances will be distributed to the judges on Saturday morning in step sheet form only. The judges will learn 1 of the winning dances, It will still be anonymous at this point.
On Saturday night, after the show, the winning choreographer of each category will be announced. The winner will dance their choreography alongside 1 of the judges. This is the first time the judges will learn who is the choreographer!!!
Of course, there will be some guidelines to follow when creating your dance, to prevent heel jacks and more difficult steps from ending up being in a beginner dance. WE Line Dance Choreography Guidelines will be released soon to assist you with this.
GOOD LUCK IN THE COMPETITION! We can't wait to see what you create!