​Rules & Regulations
REGISTRATION PROCESS:
1. Please ensure you have completed your entry and waiver forms and a participant accounting order form for each person attending and emailed them to brasildancefestival@gmail.com by our due date of Monday, March 10th.
2. Shortly after we receive your information, we will send you an invoice/confirmation. Please check this closely for spelling, correct entries, and correct charges, and let us know immediately if we need to make any changes. Please be advised that we may not have the time to make changes or take additional entries at the competition.
3. Please remit payment as soon as possible after you receive your invoice. Payment methods are below
A cashier's Check or Money order will be accepted at the event, but you may not pay with a personal or studio check at the competition. Checks should be made payable to BDF.
Submit your information on the Studio Accounting form to pay via credit card. A 4% administrative fee applies.
You can also pay in advance by Venmo to @Saori-Kamiya-1or by Zelle to 617-938-7871
4. Upon arrival at the hotel, one representative from the studio should come to the registration desk and pick up the packages for their studio. OUTSTANDING BALANCES MUST BE PAID BEFORE PACKAGES CAN BE RELEASED. At the registration desk, we will accept by cash, cashier's check, money order, or credit card (a 4% fee applies). Each participant will be given a heat list showing what heat is and when he/she is dancing. Please be advised that the time listed is approximate and subject to change. Each competitor should be present in the ballroom at least 30 minutes before his/her scheduled dance time. When you receive your heat sheet, please correct your dances, levels, and ages. We need to be made aware of any mistakes as soon as possible.
CANCELLATIONS:
4. Dancers who submit cancellations due to injury or illness in writing up to two weeks before the competition shall receive a full refund no later than 30 days after the event. Dancers submitting cancellations in writing up to one week before the competition shall receive full credit toward next year’s BDF. Entries canceled on or after within one week of the competition are non-refundable and may not be substituted for other entries. All general admission and reserved tickets are non-refundable.
5. BDF, their affiliate corporations, the organizers, Marcio and Saori DeSouza, their employees, personal representatives, affiliates, associates, assigns, and heirs, will accept no responsibility for loss or theft of articles left in changing rooms, performance areas, or seating areas. They will also not be held liable for injuries including but not limited to COVID-19 sustained by persons attending this event. Everyone attending does so at their own risk.
6. All persons attending this event, whether as spectators, competitors, officials, or guests of the organizers, the Organizers reserve the right to refuse admittance into the ballroom and/or enter a competitive event to those who do not comply.
PHOTO & VIDEO:
7. Entrants consent to using and releasing their names and likenesses for photographs, video streaming, television filming, and recording of the event for television broadcast or promotion of the event in any manner and by any means, now or in the future.
REGISTRATION GUIDANCE
PRO/AM, STUDENT/STUDENT & MIXED AMATEUR EVENTS:
8. The Organizers reserve the right to combine or cancel any Amateur, or Pro/Am event with three couples or less. In the event of a cancellation, competitors will be duly notified in advance of such cancellation. The Organizers also reserve the right to halve the prize money awarded for Amateur, or Pro/Am events with three couples or less.
9. LEVEL OF DANCE Single Dances: Each student may dance any combination of three levels and two ages in consecutive order in both Open and Closed Categories.
10. Registration into Pro/Am Scholarships requires a minimum of one round of Single Dances equivalent to the number of dances in each Scholarship entered.
For example, registration into two 5-Dance Scholarships requires a minimum of ten Single Dances. Registration into Pro/Am Multi-Dances requires a minimum of one round of Single Dances regardless of how many Multi-Dances are entered. For example, one round of Single Dances must enter one, two, three, etc. Multi-Dances.
11. Pro/Am and Mixed Amateur Single Dances are divided into Leaders’ and Followers’ events. All Pro/Am & Mixed Amateur Multi-Dances, Scholarships, and World Dancesport Series events are combined leader and follower events except for the additional Gentlemen’s Only Championships.
12. Student/Student competitors are Pro/Am competitors who dance as a couple during the Pro/Am Single Dance sessions.
13. Mixed Amateur events are also known as Teacher/Student events in which the Teacher is a registered Amateur competitor. Only the student will be judged during these events.
14. Pro/Am dancers registered in Proficiency events shall receive a composite judges’ score. They will not be judged against other couples.
15. No couple is exempt from competing in any event round. Any couple that fails to appear for the first round of an event will be disqualified.
Formations: maximum time limited to three minutes for a single dance and four minutes for a
medley. Timing of routine shall begin and end with the accompaniment. Teams must consist of at least four couples. Music must be in MP3 or WAV format. Please email at BrasilDanceFestival@gmail.com
16. Pro/Am Solo Exhibition cannot exceed three minutes. Music will fade out after three
minutes. Music must be in MP3 or WAV format. Please email to BrasilDanceFestival@gmail.com
Two teachers dancing with one student are entered as a Solo exhibition.
Two amateurs dancing together can have two entries in the Solo Exhibition plus two in Pro/Am.
17. Solo Exhibitions are limited to 3 minutes in length. Dancers must submit their music in advance via email, download, or USB flash drive. Please email to BrasilDanceFestival@gmail.com
AMATEUR DIVISIONS
Youth Amateur Age Divisions:
Teddy Bear: Competitors who are seven years old and younger. May dance up one age classification to the “Pre-Teen 1” category.
Pre-Teen 1: Competitors who are nine years old and younger. May dance up one age classification to the “Pre-Teen 2” category.
Pre-Teen 2: Competitors who are 10 or 11 years old. May dance up one age classification to the “Junior 1” category.
Junior 1: Competitors who are 12 or 13 years old. May dance up one age classification to the “Junior 2” category.
Junior 2: Competitors who are 14 or 15 years old. May dance up one age classification to the “Youth” category.
Youth: Competitors who are 16, 17, or 18 years old. Youth competitors may concurrently dance up one age classification
to the Adult category, or in the case of a Championship level Ballroom, Latin, or Smooth event, the Under 21 category.
Under 21: On the day of the competition, at least one of the partners has reached their 16th birthday, and neither member of the
partnership has reached their 21st birthday. The only Under 21 events offered are Championship Level Ballroom, Latin, and Smooth.
*Dress and/or costuming rules for Pre-Teen, Junior, Youth & Adult competitors must be followed as outlined in the NDCA rulebook. https://www.ndca.org/pages/pre_teen_costumes/Default.asp
Amateur Adult Age Divisions:
Adult A: Competitors who are 19 years and older.
Senior I - One partner must have reached his or her 35th birthday or greater, and the other partner must have reached his or her
30th birthday or greater.
Senior II - One partner must have reached his or her 45th birthday or greater, and the other partner must have reached his or her
40th birthday or greater.
Senior III: One partner must have reached his or her 55th birthday or greater, and the other partner must have reached his or her
50th birthday or greater.
Senior IV: One partner must have reached his or her 65th birthday or greater, and the other partner must have reached his or her
60th birthday or greater.