Welsh Inter High Schools Street Dance Championship

The United Dance Organisation (UDO Ltd)

is proud to present the Welsh Inter-High Schools Street Dance Championships 2009 / 2010

The Welsh Inter – High Schools Street Dance Championship 2009 / 2010.

Welcome to the United Dance Organisation!

We are very proud to present the 2^ndWelsh inter – High School Street Dance Championships. After the extremely successful 2008 / 09 school championships, we are very excited about this years event. The competition promises to involve as many pupils across Wales in dance, and we hope to see more schools getting involved in this fantastic competition.

The following explains the procedures that will take place over the next few months. It also gives you the rules and regulations for the competition, please note that some rules may have changed from last year, so please read carefully!

The following explains the simple process of purchasing tickets, obtaining the dancers’ online membership and also contains all the necessary forms for your school to enter the competition.

What to do next:

Recruit your dancers
Read through the rules and regulations
Decide who will be in which team / duo / quad.
Begin your rehearsals ASAP
Complete your entry forms online, and then send your entry fee and payment form into Kate Lewis @ UDO office.
Any questions please do not hesitate to contact the UDO office.

For those of you who are new to the UDO, please let us introduce ourselves:

Brief History of the UDO:

The UDO was formed in 2005. Its main aim is to create professional street dance competitions across the UK. Currently we have over 7,500 dance members and hold ten regional heats across the UK each year. The UDO brand of street dance competitions have seen the company now move into Europe, and this year the UDO will have competitions in 5 African Nations.

Every August the UDO holds its World Street dance championships in Blackpool. This event has been supported with funding from Visit Blackpool and the North West Experience. Last year saw 15 countries compete, including the USA and South Africa. The event is held in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool for three days and now attracts over 8,000 visitors.

The UDO brands its self on providing a high standard of professionalism at their events, and this is achieved through its full time commitment and organisation. The UDO believes in giving back to its dancers through the fantastic prizes, trophies and certificates of achievement. However, more importantly providing an environment where children can communicate, socialise and also gain valuable experience in dance and build self confidence. This brand of dance is a fantastic, energetic way for children and teenagers to keep fit, whilst enjoying themselves.

The UDO has its own web site http://www.uniteddance.co.uk/ It has a team of dedicated full time staff to help with any questions or queries.

Format of the competitions:

There will be 4 regional heats to be held throughout Wales.

They will be held at the following venues:

Carmarthen	Lyric Theatre	Sunday 24^th January 2010
Cardiff	WIS, Sophia Gardens	Friday 29^thJanuary 2010
Swansea	LC2	Saturday 27^thFebruary 2010
Wrexham	NEWI, Wrexham	Sunday 28^th February 2010

Please note that the dates and venues are subject to change. Schools can choose where they would like to compete for their regional competition. This will be booked up on a first come first served basis. For example: A Caerphilly school may prefer to compete at the Cardiff venue, but if the competition is full, they could opt to compete at the Swansea competition.

Competition age Categories:

The entire competition will be run in 2 age categories. They will be as follows:

Category 1	Years 7, 8 & 9
Category 2	Years 10, 11 & 12

Each regional heat will consist of duo, quad and team categories.

Fees for entry:

There will be a small fee for each dancer that enters the competition. It will be £7.00 per dancer. there will be NO additional team entry fees. Spectator tickets can be purchased at each event for £10.00

Rules & Regulations:

Duos:

Duos must consist of 2 people in the same age category.
Dancers can only compete in ONE duo.
Duos will need to choreograph approximately 90 seconds of a routine, and can repeat the routine if they finish before the music!
Duos will not be told in advance what music they will dance to, and it will be different for every round.

Quads:

Quads MUST consist of 4 dancers from the same age category.
Dancers can only perform in ONE quad.
They will need to choreograph approximately 90 seconds of a routine, and can repeat from the beginning if they finish before the music stops,

Quad music for each age category is as follows:

Years 7, 8 & 9 - Boom Boom Pow – “Black eyed peas”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtGlHPFCH8A

Years 10, 11 & 12 - Hotel room service – “Pitbull”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5xE4PHhAs4

Teams:

Each school is permitted to enter as many teams as they wish in each division, and each team must be named. (Please do not use their school name!)

A team must consist of a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 20 dancers
The length of the routine can be no longer than 3 minutes
The music can be a mixture of more than one track
Acrobatic moves can be used if you so wish, but if found to be out of control, teams will be penalised!
NO bad language recorded in the music
A dancer cannot compete in more than one team
Props can be used, but must be safe and dancers must be in control when using them.
Costumes are optional, but please note that you will be judged purely on your dance, choreography and performance.

From each regional heat, the following will qualify for the final:

8 top teams from the years 7-9 category
8 top teams from the years 10 –12 category
8 top duos from the years 7-9 category
8 top duos from the years10-12 category
8 top quads from the years 7-9 category
8 top quads from the 10 – 12 category

These qualifying duos, quads and teams will then go on to compete at the

Welsh Championship final, which will be held at St David’s hall in Cardiff date tbc.

Spectators tickets for the regional heats will be sold online, or on the door on the day of the competition. For the final, spectator tickets will be sold from St David’s hall box office.

The Championship final:

Each team, duo and quad that qualifies in the top 8 will be placed accordingly, and receive medals. They will also be awarded points as follows:

1^st place 8 points

2^nd place 7 points

3^rd place 6 points

4^th place 5 points

5^th place 4 points

6^th place 3 points

7^th place 2 points

8^th place 1 point

Each school will then have a grand total of points. The top scoring 3 schools will be awarded trophies. The school with the most points will receive a trophy and be crowned Welsh inter – high school street dance champions, and win the use of the minibus for a year. The mini bus will be sign written with the name of the school as Welsh inter – high school street dance champions.

All competitors will receive a certificate for their participation at the final.

At the final, there will be a celebrity guest and also various professional street and break dance demonstrations. There is also the possibility of the final being televised.

National UK Final:

The top 8 teams from each age category will then qualify to represent Wales, at the UK National final. (Details TBC)

Support from the UDO:

The UDO will offer Schools assistance to find qualified teachers in their area to work with their dancers if they require.

A page on the UDO website will be dedicated to the Competition.

Online UDO Membership:

Each dancer must become a member of the UDO. This is for insurance purposes, as every dancer will then be insured to dance at the forthcoming events. Other benefits of becoming a UDO member can be found online at http://www.uniteddance.co.uk/

UDO membership is completely free of charge, and must be completed ASAP.Membership must now be applied for online. Please go to www.uniteddance.co.uk or click here

The membership will then be processed and the dancer will be sent a number to their personal e mail address. Dancers who have competed before will need to check that their name and number is on the members list on the website, and will not need to duplicate their membership.

Every dancer must be a registered member by 1^st December 2009.