Competition Rules

International Lindy Hop Championships

All Competitors are responsible for reading and understanding the rules prior to the INTERNATIONAL LINDY HOP CHAMPIONSHIPS (ILHC). Competitors are responsible for adhering to these rules whether or not they have been read. Competitors must agree to all of the terms within these Competition Rules.

ILHC World Finals 2024 is held on May 24-27, 2024.

ORGANIZER

ILHC is the Organizer of this event. Final decisions on all matters pertaining to these competitions rest solely with the Organizer.

ELIGIBILITY TO COMPETE

Competitors

Couple – A couple consists of one leader and one follower.

Multiple Entries – When submitting multiple entries for competitions, please note that each competition has specific rules and guidelines regarding entries across different divisions and roles. Here’s a breakdown:

  • Solo Jazz Comps: Participants are allowed only one entry into one division.
  • Strictly Comps: Competitors can enter one division per role (e.g., Open as a leader and Adv as a follower).
  • Draw Comps: Like Strictly Comps, participants can enter one division per role.
  • Classic Comps: Participants can enter one division. Participants may submit an additional entry on waitlist if they enter a different division, dance a different role with a different partner.
  • Teams: Competitors can participate in up to 2 Solo Jazz Teams and/or 2 Lindy Hop Teams.

In partner and team divisions only 1 person needs to register for the division. Please be considerate of your fellow dancers and DO NOT register under two names. ALL TBD partners will need to be established and named by the deadline.

Virtual contests are treated separately and you may join both a virtual competition and in-person competition.

Age requirements – The Competitor must meet the age requirement specified in these rules on or before Friday, May 24, 2024. Competitors must be at least 18 years old to compete in the Solo Jazz adult divisions, Classic divisions, NORMAlizer, or Video Showcase. Competitors must be at least 14 years old to compete in the Luck of the Draw divisions, Strictly divisions, Pro-Am Strictly divisions, Solo Jazz Team, or Lindy Hop Team. Juniors Solo Jazz and Juniors Team Showcase competitors must be 17 or under (or 18 if still in High School). 

Minors under the legal age of majority in their primary residence must get their parent or legal guardian’s permission to participate in ILHC contests. 

Costumes – It is the position of the ILHC that colorful, decorative, dramatic attire enhances the entertainment value of the performances. Tasteful dance clothing is accepted and strongly encouraged. 

Music

For divisions in which the competitor selects their music (e.g. Classics, Teams, and Video Showcase):

  • You CAN edit the music to fit the time parameters. For example, that could be removing some of the middle of the song, speeding up or slowing down the song, or fading the music at the end.
  • The music MUST be submitted a) with your video upload for video competitions or b) onsite for in-person event competitions, and should be a one-track high-quality digital audio file.

For video divisions where our DJ selects the music (e.g. Video Solo Jazz and Lindy Hop Draw), you can NOT edit the music. You must dance from the beginning of the song through X number of phrases, as detailed in each contest-round.

Code of Conduct and Covid Policy

You must follow our Code of Conduct to participate at either the in-person ILHC or virtual ILHC.

You must follow our Covid-19 Policy to attend the in-person ILHC.

IN-PERSON EVENT COMPETITIONS

In-Person Event contests include Lindy Hop Draw divisions, Strictly Lindy Hop divisions, Solo Jazz divisions, Pro-Am Strictly, All-Star Classic, Invitational Classic, and Lindy Hop Team.

Eligible competitors will participate in-person at ILHC. All Competitors are responsible for reading and understanding the rules prior to the ILHC. Competitors are responsible for adhering to these rules whether or not they have been read.

Behavior

All Competitors must demonstrate courteous and professional behavior at all times at the ILHC, both on and off the competition floor. Failure to adhere to these standards could cause disciplinary action by the Organizer, or penalties from the Judges.

Competitors Meetings

Competitors meetings are scheduled on the day of your competition unless otherwise noted. Although not mandatory, important information regarding the competition will be discussed at that time. It is the competitors responsibility for knowing that information.

Dance Order

Dance order will be randomly assigned by our competition team. In choreography divisions, you may trade dance orders at the competitors meetings.

Deadlines

Failure to comply with deadlines and failure to show up 15 minutes prior to your competition for check in, may result in disqualification from competing in the event without a refund of entry fee. These decisions will be made solely at the discretion of the Organizer.

VIDEO COMPETITIONS

Video contests include Solo Jazz, Classic Routine, Solo Jazz Team, Video Showcase, Youth Solo Jazz, and Youth Showcase.

Eligible competitors will participate by submitting videos according to the rules and guidelines within these Competition Rules. Please read the rules carefully to ensure your video is produced properly and you are able to participate. By participating in ILHC 2024 contests, each competitor agrees that they comply with these Competition Rules.

These rules are designed to make participation in the video competitions at ILHC 2024 as equitable as possible for all contestants.

Competition Registration Deadline is April 1, 2024 and April 15, 2024 depending on the contest—please see the competition page for exact date!

Best Practices for Video Production

*Some of these “dos” and “don’ts” do not apply to the Video Showcase and Youth Showcase divisions, which allow editing*

DO:

  • Shoot your video using a high quality camera or smart phone
  • Use appropriate lighting so everyone is visible without being overexposed or “blown out”
  • Clean your camera lens before filming
  • Shoot your video as 1080P at 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97 or 30 frames per second
  • Position your camera appropriately far away from the dancers so that nobody is cut off and they are large enough in the frame
  • Make sure both the music and your movement/footsteps can be heard on the recording
  • Transfer your video from your phone to a computer and upload from computer
  • Upload raw, unedited video files
  • Upload the audio file you danced to (in choreography divisions when you choose the music)

DO NOT:

  • Do NOT edit your videos in any way. This includes, but not limited to, cropping the beginning and end of the video, digitally reframing (zooming in), syncing the audio, or compressing to a smaller file size. Focus on the dancing and we will crop, frame, and sync the audio for you.
  • Do NOT “Backlight” your performance (more light behind you than in front of you)
  • Do NOT overly compress your video before uploading

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Video will be converted to 1080P in 29.97 frames per second. Because of this, sending you videos in 4k or at 60 frames per second does NOT enhance the end quality of the video, but DOES increase transfer and conversion times.

We will accept videos even if they do not meet every single one of these best practices. Please contact us if you have any questions or need any assistance.

Video Criteria

To be eligible to participate in the video contests, videos must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  1. Videos MUST be created for the purpose of competing at ILHC 2024.
  2. Videos CANNOT be uploaded to YouTube, Facebook, social media, or shared until after the ILHC 2024 event and the official competition videos have been posted to YouTube—approximately mid-July 2024.
  3. Competitors must be the only people in the video. Please also ensure there are no other spontaneous participants (and that children and animals do not walk into the video).
  4. To present yourself as clearly as possible, do your best to remove any clutter, mirrors, or other distracting elements from the area.
  5. If possible, use landscape mode, but either landscape or portrait orientation are acceptable.
  6. Competitors must be the rightful owner of the video being submitted and the email address associated with the entry.
  7. Competitor performances and videos CANNOT verbally reference or include prominent third party logos, products, taglines, insignia, trademarks, signage or slogans other than International Lindy Hop Championships or ILHC. 

Video Showcase and Youth Showcase

  1. There are no restrictions for camera use or editing in the Video Showcase or Youth Showcase. The video you submit for these competitions will not be edited by ILHC staff and will be shown as was provided by you.
  2. We strongly encourage creative editing, ideas, etc of your videos. We also suggest dubbing in your music so the audience can hear both the music and your dancing, as is appropriate for your video. You have full creative control of these videos.
  3. Please consider: Is the video edited well? Does it make appropriate use of pacing and music? Does it drag on, or will it hold an audience’s attention?

Video Solo Jazz, Video Classic, Video Solo Jazz Team, and Youth Solo Jazz

  1. For all other video contests, do NOT edit your videos in any way. Videos must be taken in ONE shot. We will trim any extra footage before or after your dancing. We will also include your name and countries in a standard format.
  2. Audio must be able to be clearly heard within your video. This includes the music played through speakers and the sound of your dancing (footwork, etc). We will dub in the music to make sure both the music and your dancing can be clearly heard.
  3. All dancers must be on screen for the entire performance. Dancers can NOT dance off and back on camera. Allowances will be made for intros and outros. For example, dancers can dance onto camera during the intro of the performance.
  4. Videos must be recorded from the front, from one location. Do NOT use a moving camera. Your camera may be operated by someone to pan left or right or to zoom in and out—keep the dancers fully in the camera.
  5. Competitors must not use props of any type.

Video File and Submission

Videos must be uploaded to dropbox using our upload system, rp-scoring.com. Organizers will send a video request to each contestant after the competition signup deadline. 

Video file names must contain the contest division you are competing within and your names in the format: [competition name] [round] – [competitor names]. For example:

  • Sam Jones and Taylor Smith are competing in the Advanced Classic. They would submit their video with the file name:
    • Classic Routine – Sam Jones and Taylor Smith.MP4
  • Parker Newton is competing in the Open Solo Jazz. They would submit two videos with the files names:
    • Solo Jazz Prelim – Parker Newton.MOV
    • Solo Jazz Finals – Parker Newton.MOV

All entries must be uploaded by the Submission Deadlines (see the competitions page for details). Incomplete, unreadable, or unintelligible entries will be disqualified. Upon request, competitors must provide all information requested. 

ILHC is not responsible for the collection, submission, or processing of entries to the contests.

Video Certification

Upon submission, competitors will be asked to certify that they have reviewed their video and that it meets the above listed Criteria and that they have reviewed and followed the Competition Rules, specifically the Participate In Video Competitions and Code of Conduct sections.

CONTEST JUDGING

The Relative Placement System will be used to judge the majority of competitions at the ILHC. Some finals will be judged in battles with immediate eliminations. Judges decisions are final.

Video Competitions

For video competitions, your submitted video will be initially reviewed by the ILHC team for correct content and then viewed and judged by the ILHC Judges. Competitors will be judged based on the dancing within the videos submitted. While the videos will be made public and we ask that they be as presentable as possible, your video quality and background will not impact the judges scores.

After the video submission deadlines, the videos will be processed for the judges’ review. For each contest, the Judges will be provided all of the videos at once for their review. They will be given a window of time to complete their scoring, after which the scores will be tabulated.

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A platform for in-person and virtual competitors to view their event competitions, verify personal data and bibs, as well as view their status for semis or finals.