U-Can Bachata Competition 2009
October 3-5
Kempinski Hotel
Schedule:
Rehearsal for the evening competition will be at 4:30pm Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in Kempinski Ballroom. Must attend the rehearsal to enter the competition. Prepare 2 CD’s with only your competition music on each.
Saturday Evening – Will be the preliminary round for couples.  The competition will start following the performance party & China Salsa Championships. It will start approximately at 11:15pm. All competitors need to be ready to compete by 10:45pm. The competition will take place in Party Room #2.
Sunday Evening – Will be the Final Round for couples. The competition will start at 8:30pm. Also competitors must be dressed and ready by 8pm in the dressing room.
Monday Evening – Will be the Bachata Teams competition. The competition will start at 8:30pm. All competitors must be dressed and ready by 8pm in the dressing room.
All couples and teams must register before September 20th, 2009. Please e-mail  HYPERLINK mambojack3@gmail.com with the following information:
Name of each person competing. For teams also the name of your team.
Where you currently live
RULES
The Objective of this Bachata Competition is to judge the couple or team that can best interpret the character of Bachata music, regardless of the tricks or moves they perform. Simply, it’s not the tricks that are important but ensuring that they are an integral part of your routine reflecting what Bachata represents.
Preliminary Round
Preliminary warm up rounds for the competition will be 2 minutes and Contestants will dance to the DJ’s pre-selected music. Each couple will then perform a 2 minute routine that they have choreographed to their own music. The routine cannot go over 3 minutes including their Entrance and Exit (STRICLY ENFORCED NO EXCEPTIONS). If the performance passes the 3-minute limit, points will be docked. The judges will have the final decision. There will be a timekeeper for each routine. All dancers are required to bring their own music on a CD Format
Music
The music MUST be at least 90% Bachata. The contestants are allowed to mix no more than 3 different songs in one routine. The 20% of the routine that can be music other than Bachata can be any music of the contestant’s choice. Reminder: a maximum of 3 songs per routine can be mixed into each routine. Please prepare 2 CDs with your music for each routine. The CDs should be ready to be played as they are with no further editing. There should only be music for one routine on each CD. The DJ will not slow down or speed up your CD.
Judging
  Professionals

Timing
As indicated in the guidelines, the Judges will be looking closely at the timing of the contestants. Contestants will be judged from the moment they are on the dance floor, be it the warm up period or the choreographed routine.. Be aware that while you may look great, and perform some spectacular moves that the crowd loves you still need to stay on time.
Appearance (Includes Costumes)
No jeans allowed as costumes. Points will be deducted. We strongly suggest tasteful, colorful professional costumes. We also suggest that ladies wearing skirts or dresses also wear fishnets or nylons.
Partnering
You will be judged on how well you and your partner, or team executes your routine. Judges will be evaluating how balanced you are as a couple or team in the showmanship of your choreography. Leading and following is what this category is all about
Choreography
You will be judged on how we’ll your Choreography follows, and interprets the music. The judges will also look for creativity, and how synchronized each couple or team is.
Stage Presence
This category will look at you expression, and enthusiasm to the audience, judges, and partner.
Overall Presentation
You will be judged on your overall presentation. The judges will review all of the categories as a whole. The Judges will also be marking your confidence on stage.