Lit Liu has many pictures of the Provo High Dancesport Championships this last weekend on his website: www.lumbri.com

Several people have asked about information regarding the Gem State Classic, held in Idaho Falls, Idaho on February 27-28, 2009. Janie Fisher has provided the following information about the Gem State Classic. This document contains information about registration (which is all online), rules, schedule, and other competition-specific information. Contact Shawn or Janie Fisher for more information (contact information in the document).

Gem State Classic Information | PDF

Angela Williams has provided the following updated schedule for the Provo High Dancesport Festival this weekend (1/30-31/09). Note that team events begin Friday at 5:00 pm and Saturday events begin at 8:00 am.
(updated 1/29/09 at 12:45 am MST)

• Provo High 2009 Dancesport Festival Schedule | PDF

Angela Williams has provided the following tentative schedule for the 2009 Provo High Dancesport Festival. Please note the start times are 1 hour earlier than previous communications. As noted on the schedule, be read to dance 30 minutes before your scheduled start time.

Provo High Dancesport Festival Tenative Schedule (PDF)
(updated 1/29/09 at 11:45 am MST)

The Provo High Dancesport Festival competition fees and information has been updated. View the updated information here:

• Provo High Dancesport Festival fees and information

The entry forms for nationals at BYU are available on their website now:

BYU Nationals

The Utah Dancesport Series Leaderboard has been posted. You can view the current leaders at the right side side of all pages, and the full Leaderboard of the top 10 couples in each style here:

UDS Leaderboard

The 2009 UVU Winter Dancesport Festival will be Feb 19-21, 2009. Here is the entry form:

• Entry Form and Rules | PDF

For more information, see the Winter Dancesport webpage.

The schedule is posted on the UVU website here:

http://www.uvu.edu/dance/groups/ballroom/pdfs/2009%20Festival%20Schedule.pdf

The Dancesport Championships sponsored by Center Stage, will be at Thanksgiving Point will be Feb 7, 2009. Here are the entry forms and rules:

• Couple registration form | PDF
• Team registration form | PDF
• Rules & procedures | PDF

Contact Center Stage for more information.

This year the NDCA and BYU will be enforcing new rules regarding the age categories for amateur dancers. Beginning with the Provo High School Dancesport Festival on January 30-31, 2009, all UBA competitions will be following these rules and regulataions as well. If a couple is forced to move age classifications because of this change, they will be able to keep all Utah Dancesport Series points they have earned during the 08-09 series thus far for each style competed.

Open
For open (non-syllabus) categories, eligibility for a partnership will now be determined by the age the older dancer in the partnership will turn during the calendar year. (not their age on the day of the competition, as was previously the case) In other words, the age of the older dancer on Dec 31 of the current year. Also, dancers turning 12 must now compete as Juniors. Age categories are as follows:

• Preteen – 11 years old and younger
• Junior – 12 – 15 years old
• Youth – 15 – 18 years old. Dancers turning 19 during the current calendar year may continue to compete in the Youth age category until they graduate from high school, after which point they are no longer eligible for the Youth category.

For more information about NDCA rules and regulations, refer to the NDCA Master Rulebook.

Syllabus/Newcomer
BYU has developed a customized category system for syllabus and newcomer events to coincide with school grade levels. These age categories are determined by the current grade in school of the competitor according to the following designations:

• Elementary - K – 6th grade
• Junior high – 7th – 9th grade
• High school - 10th – 12th grade

For more information about BYU syllabus events and rules, refer to the BYU Nationals Website.