Hi

All independant judges at every competition.

Steph x

all of the southern comps we attend are all inderpendant judges! its a fantastic idea and is fair to all the kids!

YES i agree with the GYMNASTICS,,,
get rid of them.. at the end of the day it is supposed to be
a dance comp not a gymnastics comp,,
and to me really all the kids who do gymnastic moves in their spot.. ok look amazing BUT.. all look the same and also looks very messy,, (sometimes). get the dancers in the finals without
acrobatics and look at the difference.. My daughter isn't flexible. but is a very good dancer. and she always says to me i want to give up because i want to do DANCE not GYM....
Won't do the kids backs any good when they get older lol,,

If you watch so you think you can dance or got to dance or any of the tv shows all the performers have gymnastics elements in with dance elements. It's also strength not flexibility that's involved in most gymnastics moves. If you want a career in dance or a future you need to manage to perform flexibility technique and stregnth so banning it from freestyle would be a major step back for the style. There's just no way you can make it as a dancer without some degree of flexibility.
If I could change any rule it would be that all marks were visual or displayed as they do in other styles and that judges were not allowed to judge alongside they're friends or people they have taught with so it is fair to all the dancers on the floor.

^^^ I agree re marking/adjudicators, however if you watched GTD last year all of the freestyle kids were critisised for their routines being too gymnastic. My daughter is very strong and flexible, and I like to see some of the gym moves, but... some entire spots are a string of gymnastics moves which shows no dancing ability at all.
Surely there can be a compromise where the gym moves are limited but not banned, I know this has been discussed. I also agree with the comment made that said if adjudicators didn't mark these routines then there would be a change without the ADFP having to bring in a rule about it.

xx

The judges all stand at the front or on the stage and let the kids dance around the dance floor. Most of the kids I see that actually win only dance a few moves in front of the judge then move onto the next judge and the poor kids that are actually dancing all the way around do not even get noticed. There are some fantastic kids out there that never get recalled because they are not directly in the judges faces. Only allow a maximum of six kids on the dance floor at once and reduce the dance time. Slow should definately be slow, I have seen kids go around four or five times when others only manage once.

i know people are going to jump down my neck here but oo well lol lots of people keep going on about gym moves but these dancers have to dance to get into the final?,yes i agree to many gym moves can be to much but so can to many jumps and leg rounds but i would not want a rule about it
mixure is the best spot for me ,teachers put moves in there spots what there best at (whats wrong with that)and to say mark people down for having to many is mad maybe they should mark people down for not pointing there feet thats more to the point i have seen so many dancers in finals and not pointing there feet its crazy thats the 1st thing in dance nice pointed feet and leg lines but sometimes its if there the faster dancer on the floor forget about technique so for me its not bring in a rule for to many gym moves or to many jumps it should be bring in a rule about (technique )
lorna xx

Courtney I must agree with you here, what a good idea a rule for Technique, you are so right, pointed toes and nice lines are a must for any dancer, and its no good people asking for gymnastics to be taken out it won`t happen and besides Flexibility in dance is very good, but I agree a spot with all gymnastic moves in it is a bit pointless, Dance with a bit of flexibility is always better to watch xxxxx

i agree costume prices are hard to keep up with and it should be about the dancer not how much parents can afford to spend on the outfit

I would put a limit on the number of dancers allowed on the floor in one round and independant judges! x

i cannot understand at all why there is no u6 intermediate in slow?? my daughter lost her 3 lifes and is till only 5 and has to dance u
really annoys me that she works so hard and there is no where for her to dance fairly!!!!! anyone agree?? or explain even x

I would ban the use of excessive weights & ensure that teachers who enforced the use of them in class were heavily fined.
Obviously if parents want to use them on their kids at home that is their choice however, people should be aware of the risks of using them

My rules in light of yesterdays comp would be:

Please keep the rounds to correct timings and not leave the children dancing too long. Fainting and about a dozen kids being sick, mine included!

Was a little annoyed too that slow always gets pushed aside for solo. It took until gone 6.00pm for solo to finish, then it was shove all the kids on in one round for slow.
We as well as the judges do not want to be there until midnight but if we have paid our ticket money and sat there all day then at least do it fairly.

Think we would have still been there now if we had pairs on. lol

Ruth xx

I totally agree with the amount of kids on the dancefloor restriction. My daughter has just moved into u14 but is very small in comparison to most of the girls in her section and at the last comp we went to she wasnt seen as there was too many kids on the floor and they were all caught up in one area.
Dont get me wrong im very critical of my daughter and she hasnt been dancing for very long but a good few people were shocked she didnt even get a recall and they all thought it was because she wasnt seen.

nat

I think every dancer should just wear a simple leotard or unitard to dance, like in beginners as its all about who has the best and most expensive costume they are all stunning but as a mum of 3 I find it really difficult to pay for all the costumes and feel it should all be about the dancing not what they are wearing

My daughters not long started comps so we're both new to this but very interesting post.

Lissa x

Independent judging - we have only been to one comp that was not biased to a judges own school/friends school which is a total disgrace. The one comp that was independent was in England (but we only go out of Scotland once or twice a year as it costs too much)

There should DEFINITELY be an u6 intermediate section in slow at ALL comps!
Only a handful of the comps we go to run it. Any of our u6 dancers who have lost all 3 lives move up to inters and if there is no u6 section, then they dance in under 8's - which doesn't seem fair putting 4 and 5 year olds up against 7 year olds.

you cannot loose lives in under 6 no matter how many lives you have lost you remain an under 6 novice as this is the highest section. At some bigger comps they run an under 6 open to make it more fair, the more experienced dancers would dance in this section xx

I would defo be much happier if the judges where all independent it would make it more fair as they would not know any dancers personally.

Beginners costume rules simplified!! It is still way to misleading and one basic colour to be used.

ADFP rules to be enforced properly at every comp.

Rock n Roll status cards!

Dancers banned for pushing/shoving and bad behaviour.

id like to bring in rule that people follow the rules!!

maybelline still being used and weights at comps.

really - what was the point?!!

it has to be all of us or none surely

Rach xx

was just thinking the same Rach - what's the point of having any rules if promoters are not going to enforce them!
wendy

After speaking with a member of the AIDA i have been assured that u6 do loose lives, it is up to the parent to put their child in u8 section, like myself. you can however keep them in the novice u6 until they are old enough for u8?? which is stupid?? he also informed me that it is down to the promoter of the day to run u6 inter?? i was not informed of any of this until my lil girl danced u8 at the age of 5 and complained about it!!

there are too many rules which are not followed and others that are also not known about???

when my 5 yr old loses her last novice slow life she WILL be moving up into inters! - be it u6 or u8. It is not fair on the other u6 dancers to prevent them from winning and/or losing slow lives.
Our school runs an u6 inter slow section at our comps. There is also an u6 inter slow section at diva/divo.