JUDGING GUIDELINES

A panel of trained and qualified judges will adjudicate at each competition. Three judges will adjudicate each routine. All decisions by the judges will be final.

Point Totals
100 points possible per judge + skill ranking points from the technical judge.
The technical judge critiques the difficulty level within each routine and ranks the performer(s) skills accordingly. There is a 2 point deduction per judge for each skill performed in the wrong division. Each routine will receive written judging critiques as well as a professional DVD including audio comments from the technical judge.

Adjudication packets may be obtained after the awards ceremony. Studio directors/teachers may pick up their adjudication packets after their studio dressing room has been approved as cleaned, and they have returned their director and teacher lanyards.

The following judging guidelines are provided for reference ONLY. The selected skills areas are NOT a list of skills that must be included in the competition routine. Directors should utilize these skill descriptions ONLY as a means to determine their performers' skill level - and NOT to create a specific set of choreography moves for the routine.

1. Ballet
   • Amateur: single turns
   • Amateur-Intermediate: 2 consecutive turns
   • Intermediate: 3 consecutive turns
   • Advanced: directional & multiple fouettes
2. Pointe
   • All Pointe routines must be registered as an Intermediate or Advanced skill level. Pointe routines may NOT register as an Amateur or Amateur Intermediate.
   • Intermediate: 2 consecutive turns, 1st step-up
   • Advanced: 3 consecutive turns, 2nd step-up
3. Jazz, Lyrical, Comtemporary/Modern, Hip Hop and Novelty
   • Amateur: single turns, angle of leaps no higher than 45°
   • Amateur-Intermediate: 2 consecutive turns, angle of leaps no higher than 90°
   • Intermediate: 3 consecutive turns, angle of leaps no higher than 180°
   • Advanced: directional & multiple fouettes, multiple leap combination angles at 180°
4. Tap
   • Amateur: hop, heel and toe drops, single shuffles, stomps, ball change, chug
   • Amateur-Intermediate: single time step, flaps, scuffs, falling off the log, Maxie Fords, cramprolls, drawbacks
   • Intermediate: double time step, take ways, flash steps, cramproll traveling and turning, single wings
   • Advanced: triple time step, double wings, double, triple and quad paradiddles, advanced syncopations and rhythm variations, shading and contrast, a cappella taps
5. Ballroom
   • Amateur: basic figures & lead-follow skills
   • Amateur-Intermediate: single combinations of figures & more developed lead-follow skills
   • Intermediate: triple combinations of figures & amalgamations
   • Advanced: wide array of figures & amalgamation combinations emphasizing continuity
6. Cheer
   • Amateur: no stunts or tumbling
   • Amateur-Intermediate: no stunts and basic tumbling skills (e.g. cartwheel & round-off)
   • Intermediate: elevator and any tumbling pass as long as there is hand contact with the floor
   • Advanced: extensions and no hands tumbling (e.g. back-tuck)
7. Clog
   • Amateur: basic triple
   • Amateur-Intermediate: double bucks
   • Intermediate: double doubles
   • Advanced: fast and intricate rhythms with multiple sounds per beat
8. Production
   • Productions are NOT registered by skill level or age category - ONLY by production size.