We believe strongly in fostering healthy competition that empowers all participants and ensures fair treatment. To help us achieve this goal, we encourage everyone attending BADC to read the following policies thoroughly. Feel free to contact us at badc.columbia@gmail.com if you have any questions!
As an event organized by and for members of the collegiate ballroom community, BADC prides itself on creating a space that is welcoming and inclusive, and that prioritizes the well-being of all participants. By taking part in this event, you are also sharing in our commitment to these values, and to treating others in this space with respect and care.
This commitment extends to all aspects of our competition: for example, ensuring that your experiences with TBA partners feel comfortable and consensual, or that competitors who need local housing are matched with hosts who can accommodate their needs.
If any concerns around safety or conduct arise for you or your team, please reach out to us at badc.columbia@gmail.com.
Our team reserves the right to disqualify and/or remove from the competition premises anyone who exhibits unruly conduct or violation of our policies.
TBA (to-be-assigned) partnerships are allowed at all levels.
If you are looking for a TBA in advance of the competition, you can join this new Discord server (hosted in collaboration with the DC Dancesport Inferno and MIT Open planning committees) to chat with potential partners!
To give as many people as possible the opportunity to dance, we will be hosting events designed specifically for unpartnered TBAs. These will run in all 4 styles at the Newcomer, Bronze, and Silver levels. They will begin after Bronze and Silver semifinals have concluded to maximize the pool of potential partners for our TBA competitors.
The rules for these events are as follows:
TBA events are intended for dancers who have not found partners by the start of the competition. TBA competitors therefore may not dance in both regular events and TBA events. If you are a TBA competitor and have already found a partner for our non-TBA events, please adjust your entry in DSCO accordingly.
A TBA’s partner should not be more than a level above the TBA (i.e. a Silver dancer cannot dance with a newcomer TBA, but will be permitted to dance with a Bronze TBA.)
A TBA event will only proceed if there are more than 5 entries for that event. This will be announced half an hour before the round is supposed to begin.
Registration for TBA events will close 10 minutes before the round is scheduled to begin. If you know you want to participate in a certain TBA event, we encourage you to visit the TBA desk and leave your name with us as soon as possible, preferably at the start of the day.
Double registration is only permitted in consecutive levels starting in Silver. You may register for events in both Silver and Gold, Gold and Novice, Novice and Pre-Championship, or Pre-Championship and Championship in the same style.
There is only one exception to this policy: newcomers may also register for the a Bronze dance that is not included in newcomer (ex. foxtrot in Standard, samba in Latin, Viennese waltz in Smooth, and mambo in Rhythm).
Those who are double-registered in any events with sponsored scholarships and make both finals will only be eligible for the higher-level scholarship.
BADC uses the YCN points system to determine eligibility for events. A competitor is considered ineligible for an event if any of the following are true:
1. They have timed out of the newcomer level, meaning they have been actively competing for more than 1 year (or 2 semesters).
2. They have timed out of the Bronze level, meaning they have been actively competing for more than 2 years (or 4 semesters).
3. They have accumulated 7 or more YCN points in a majority of dances in an event at a particular level. (ex. If Sam has 7 points in Gold chacha, samba, and rumba, they cannot compete in Gold Latin. If Sam has 7 points in Gold samba and rumba, but fewer than 7 in the other dances, they can compete in Gold Latin.)
Syllabus
All valid and recognized syllabi are permitted, e.g. ISTD, WDSF, and USA Dance.
An example syllabus from USA Dance can be found here.
Open
Not restricted to syllabus, but no lifts permitted
Couples who commit an infraction will get a warning in the preliminary rounds. If they commit the same infraction in the final, they will be disqualified.
Costumes are prohibited in newcomer and Bronze, and permitted at all other levels.
A costume is defined as:
Any clothing item embellished with rhinestones, sequins, or feathers
A tail suit or suit jacket
A top with a slitted front or similar styling
In the case of any disputes, final determination on whether a clothing item qualifies as a costume will be made by competition officials.
No exceptions will be made to the policies stated on this page.
For registration-related invigilations in particular, organizers will proactively notify and remove competitors who have registered for an event they are pointed out of. If a couple ignores this notification and competes in an event they are pointed out of, they will be disqualified retroactively and their results voided.
If you see any entries that should be ineligible, please contact us at badc.registrars@gmail.com, and include a list of relevant published results in your email. We will respond after our registrars have investigated your claims. Any invigilation emails sent after the late registration deadline will be discarded.