BRAZILIAN ZOUK COMPETITION

 

April 29th, 2012 @ Ukrainian Hall Cultural Centre (83 Christie Street, Toronto,On) at 8pm.

The objective of this competition is for the competitors, to showcase their interpretation of Brazilian Zouk dance through their dance representation and musicality, without emphasizing tricks, flips and acrobatics.

Questions and registration please contact: stagemanagementbrazilianbeat@gmail.com

 

CATEGORIES

Professional:

Professional – You are in the professional category if you or your partner:

  • have performed for payment
  • have taught a class or assisted an instructor and been paid.
  • have been a member of a dance company that paid you to perform

Amateur:
Amateur – You are in the amateur category if you and your partner:

  • have not performed for money
  • have not ever taught and been paid
  • have not been a member of a dance company that paid you to perform

Professionals entering in the Amateur Division will be disqualified.

 

PRIZES:
Cash and other great prizes for first place! Check it out!

Professional Category:

1st Place:

  • Trophies
  • $500 cash
  • Two Shiatsu/Aromatherapy Session offered by Lotus Wellness Centre
  • Two Aromatherapy Gift Basket offered by Lotus Wellness Centre (massage oil roll on, spray mist, organic chocolate bar, candle holder, eye-pad, head massager, foot massager, and more)
  • 30% off Gift Card for 11/2h introduction session offered by Lotus Wellness Centre
  • Two $50 Gift Certificate offered by Lotus Wellness Centre
  • Two Night-passes for the Montreal Bachata/Zouk Fest
  • Performance at Montreal Bachata/Zouk Fest
  • Performance at the annual Brazilfest 2012




2nd and 3rd Places:


    

  • Trophies
    • 



Amateur Category:


1st Place:


    

  • Trophies
    • 

  • $500 cash
    • 

  • Two $50 Gift Certificates offered by Lotus Wellness Centre
    • 

  • Two full-passes for the Montreal Bachata/Zouk Fest
    • 

  • Performance at Brazilfest 2012
    • 



2nd and 3rd Places:


    

  • Trophies
    • 



 


ENTRANCE FEE


The entrance fee for the competition is $40 per team.


 


THE PROCEDURE


1. Read the rules and judging criteria


2. Each team must fill out and send in the competition registration form – no walk-ins will be allowed


Download Form and send it to stagemanagementbrazilianbeat@gmail.com


3. Submit payment

















Registration
















 


You may also make your registration payment in cash  at our Thursday Zouk Socials or give us a call for other payment options.


4. PREPARE and PRACTICE


5. Prepare a CD with your competition song – make a back up.  Only one song is allowed on the CD.  Label your CD clearly


6. Do your best and have fun!




 


 


COMPETITION STRUCTURE


PRELIMINARY ROUNDS (will be held if necessary) – *Every contestant must enrol in the competition in ADVANCE – no walk ins will be accepted.


Preliminary rounds will be held on the same day with the same check in.  Preliminaries will be help and competitors that are not eliminated will move onto the finals.


Check-in will be at 5:30pm sharp with the competition organizer; please be there on time to receive your contestant number. Any contestant who has not checked in at this time will not be allowed to compete on that date. There will be a tech rehearsal 6pm-8pm, contestants must be present for the entire tech rehearsal. Doors open at 8pm for general public entry. The competition will begin at approximately 9pm. There is no placement structure in the preliminary round. Only qualifying competitors advancing to the finals will be announced.


Preliminary warm up rounds for all divisions are 1.5 – 2.0 minutes and competitors will dance to the DJ’s pre selected music. There is no routine or choreography required for the warm up round. Each contestant will then perform their choreographed routine one by one.  Routines must be a max of 3 minutes.


Approximately 5 or 6 contestants will advance to the finals based on the number of entries received.


FINALS


· ROUTINE OR CHOREOGRAPHY REQUIRED


- All contestants must check in by 5:30pm sharp and submit music

- Final contestant will present their choreographed routine using their choice of music. Routine must be no longer than 3:00 minutes long.

- Song chosen for the finals must be 100% Zouk*


- The choreography must be 100% Zouk*

- Only CD’s will be accepted and must be clearly labelled with participants’ names and category. There must be ONE SINGLE TRACK on the CD! It is the competitor’s responsibility to ensure the track on the CD works and functions with the sound system.

- Costumes will contribute to the overall presentation score, and are highly suggested. Absolutely no street-wear IS allowed for the Final Competition.


There will be a panel of  3-6 international judges. All of whom have several years of experience teaching, performing and/or competing in Brazilian dance.


*Zouk Music – It is this underlying rhythm that gives zouk dancers a great deal of freedom and flexibility, being able to meld their style of dance to the music of the moment. Where as many dances are limited to a particular style of music, zouk would seem to be the exception. The “chick-chick-doom” rhythm is not uncommon and can be found in many musical styles, such as R&B, Reggaeton, HipHop, Club/Pop, and the songs of many popular artists from the Madonna, to the Giypsy Kings to U2. All of which, allows the zouk dancer a much wider range of music to dance to, and with the opportunity a greater freedom to experiment and play with the rhythms.


*Zouk Dance – There are multiple ways to dance to zouk music:


1.Zouk Love (Traditional way)

a.French Caribbean way (Antilles/Haiti).

b.French-speaking Africa way.


2.Zouk-Lambada style. A fusion of French Caribbean Zouk and Brazilian styles danced to Zouk rhythmic music.

a.Brazilian zouk. An evolved Brazilian version of Zouk dancing utilizing French Caribbean, Portuguese Cape Verdean and other Zouk-like rhythmic music.

b.Lambazouk or Lambada. Lambada dance style (or a variation of it) danced to Zouk music.


3.Angolan Kizomba, and Cape Verdean cola-zouk dance style. The music was developed directly from zouk.


What we do not want to see is:

Salsa music or dance

Samba music or dance

Forro music or dance

Bachata music or dance

Contemporary music or dance

and so on …


ATTENTION: This competition will focus on Brazilian Zouk. Your routines must be at least 75% Brazilian Zouk as measured by the length of the music for your routine. For example, if your routine is 2 minutes long, the Brazilian Zouk choreography must be at least 1 minute and 30 seconds of your routine. The remaining 25% of your routine, or, in the example above, the remaining 30 seconds may be another form of zouk, but not another form of dance.


 


JUDGING CRITERIA 

Choreographed routines will be judged by the following criteria:


A. TIMING 20 % Was the correct rhythm maintained throughout the routine? Were syncopations deliberate and within the acceptable deviations of timing for the dance?


B. TECHNIQUE 20 % Reflected through balance, placement and lines. Contestants must reflect adequate Motion and “Isolations” as designated by the dance style. Movement should appear to be effortless. These are all reflections of good dance technique.


C. DIFFICULTY 10 % What was the level of skill used in the turns used in the routine? Were there single footed and multiple turns incorporated? How intricate were the movements? Were there any movements in the choreography requiring exceptional balance, flexibility or strength? Were all movements attempted successfully executed?


D. CONNECTION WITH THE AUDIENCE 10% How well did the contestant work with the energy of the audience? Did they project to the audience and capture their attention? The judges may take into consideration the audience’s reaction if they so feel that it is genuine.


E. CHOREOGRAPHY 10% How well put together was the performance? Did the routine flow easily from one movement to the next? How musical was it? Did the routine reflect the music chosen?


F. ORIGINALITY 10% Was there something clever or new that was part of the routine?


G. APPEARANCE 10% Costumes are important, including make-up, accessories, shoes, etc. No Jeans allowed as costumes. Points will be deducted. Suggestions: tasteful, professional costumes. Ladies: If wearing skirts or dresses please wear proper dance leggings / tights / fishnets. Gentlemen: appropriate costumes.


H. SHOWMANSHIP/PROFESSIONALISM/SPORTSMANSHIP 10% How professional and polished did the contestant and choreography appear to be? How did the competitors interact with other competitors during the warmups?


ADDITIONAL RULES & TIPS FOR COMPETITORS

There will be a maximum of four tricks / acrobatics allowed.


SOLO TRICKS: Solo tricks can be performed by independent dancers in choreographies. Tricks and trick combinations are expected to remain within the confines of zouk timing and/or musicality of the routine.


TRICK COMBINATIONS – MULTIPLE POSITIONS:

Trick Combinations are allowed but no more than 4 Total Positions may be achieved in any combination. However, there cannot be any stops during the combinations. Positions must consistently flow from one to the next, with no stops. If there is a stop, each position will be counted as a separate trick, and will count toward the 4 trick limit. No trick or trick combination can last more than two 8-counts (4 measures).


TURNS AND CONTINUOUS TURNS:

All turns and preparations for turns must maintain basic timing.


STOPS /FREEZES:

Dancers cannot maintain an extended Stop or Freeze position for more than one 8-count (2 measures). Extended Stops or Freezes cannot happen more than two times in the routine


CONTENT AND CHOREOGRAPHY:

Routines must ideally reflect the following


– Turns (which will be judged on level of difficulty and/or originality)

– Footwork, Floorwork (proper usage of the stage space)

– Tricks or Trick Combinations appropriate for this division.

– Routines should show Originality, or something unique to showcase the contestant


Points Deductions:

Deviation from min and max routine time (5 points )

Additional tricks (5 points per incident)

Music (non-zouk) (5 points for every 30 seconds of music)


Deviation from Zouk dancing (5 points for every 10 seconds of music).


* All decisions are final and are to be determined by the Scrutinizer and the Head Judge.