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Rules for “TANGO de PISTA” and “STAGE TANGO” categories (National-OFFICIAL)

Entry to both categories is open to amateurs and professionals*.

REGISTRATION

1. To be eligible to register, dance partners must be 18 years of age at the start date of the competition and must demonstrate – with legal documents * – a minimum of 1 (one) year of residence within the area of influence of the corresponding Preliminary (the USA).

* You must bring a proof of citizenship or residency in the United States for the past year (for example US passport, green card, residential lease, student ID or work visa)

2. No one will be allowed to register two or more times in the same category, but a person can register in
different ones, with the same or a different partner. If both members of the couple are natives or
residents of different cities, they will have to choose the city of residence or birth of either one, as
couples are allowed to represent only one city.

3. The following individuals will not be allowed to compete: staff of the BA FESTIVALS; organizers of
Official Preliminaries and jury members of Tango Buenos Aires Festival and Dance World Cup and its
preliminaries; sponsors and/or staff of companies that sponsor the PRELIMINARY, or another person
with a permanent or temporary relationship with the Office of Festivals.

4. Participants that have seriously breached the competition rules and have been disqualified or
eliminated of previous editions of any Preliminary Competition, Buenos Aires Tango Championship or
Dance World Cup will will not be allowed to compete. The elimination must have been instrumented in
an official document with the due endorsement of BA FESTIVALS.

5. A registration cannot be shared and is not transferable.

6. If a contestant withdraws from the competition after the registration fees have been paid, no refund of the registration fees will be granted.

7. A registration and subsequent check‐in implies knowledge and acceptance of these Rules and the Evaluation Criteria by each one of the participants.

CHECK‐IN
1. In order to check in, all contestants previously registered must attend on the date and time specified
by THE ORGANIZATION of the Preliminary, with their national ID card or passport (original copy).
(e.g. green card or US passport to certify the place of birth or residence. In the in the case of participants with a different nationality and no green card, they should attend with a valid work visa which allows them to stay/reside in the USA and /or a valid rent/working contract issued more than a year before the date of the competition).
At this opportunity, they will receive the order number and be informed of the approximate dates and times
on which they will perform in the different stages of the corresponding category.
Those who do not check in will not be able to participate in the championship. A delay will only be
considered in duly proven cases of force majeure, except in the event of circumstances of public
knowledge.

2. At the time of check‐in, contestants will have to complete a form with their personal information, and
with any other additional information required by THE ORGANIZATION. On this form, they shall inform
if they have had a work, professional or personal relationship with any member of the jury from the
competition, in the last 6 months (180 days) prior to the championship, such as: having a personal and
affectionate relationship with one or more members of the jury; having taken private classes with one or
more members of the jury; presenting a choreography in Stage Tango that has been created, reviewed
or prepared with one or more members of the jury; having one or both dancers of the couple hired one
or more members of the jury – or been hired by one of them- to participate in the same event, performing
exhibitions or giving classes within it. This statement made by the contestants will be evaluated by the
supervisor and checked with the members of the jury in order to define if any of them will need to refrain
from scoring any participant.

3. All the information provided at the time of check‐in will be considered a sworn statement. Any
contradiction in the information, subsequent to the signature, may be penalized by THE
ORGANIZATION with the subtraction of points, disqualification from the competition, or any other
resolution that this body may establish.

4. The national ID card or passport and the registration form must be shown at every stage of the
competition.

5. All championship contestants commit themselves to participate in various ceremonies and events
planned by THE ORGANIZATION of the Preliminary—such as press conferences, interviews for radio
stations and over‐the‐air or cable television channels, etc.—if they are summoned for such purpose.

COMPETITION
1. The competition, in both categories, can be developed in 3 (three) stages, according to the schedule
established by THE ORGANIZATION: a) Qualifying Round, b) Semifinal, c) Final.
a) Qualifying Round: All registered couples will participate. They will dance one time or twice (on
the same or on a different day) according to the schedule. First Qualifying round on Thursday April 9 and Second Qualifying round on Friday April 10, 2020.
b) Semifinal: Couples that have been selected in the Qualifying Round will participate on Saturday April 11, 2020.
c) Final: Couples that have been selected in the Semifinal will participate on Sunday April 12, 2020.

In the Tango de Pista category, couples will compete in group performances, dancing to three recorded songs, selected by selected by THE ORGANIZATION

In the Stage Tango category, each couple will compete individually, dancing to one song of their choice. The music piece shall not exceed four (4) minutes and must be handed in to THE ORGANIZATION in
digital format (mp3 file, storaged on a Flash Memory Drive) during the check-in instance. In that same
instance, participants must state the name and surname of the author or authors of the choreography
they will present (as it will be requested in the form to be completed). Couples may present different
choreographies in the different stages of the contest.

2. At the time of the competition, at least ten couples must attend the qualifying rounds for the competition to be considered official (regardless of the number of couples previously registered). Otherwise, the championship will cease to be official and the winning couple will not be classified to compete in the semifinal instances of TANGO BUENOS AIRES FESTIVAL AND DANCE WORLD CUP 2020 (see PRIZES).

3. The Organization will be entitled to eliminate from the competition those participants that:
a) Do not comply with the rules.
b) Commit any moral offense or improper act that tarnishes the image of the Championship or
may cause displeasure in the public.

4. In order to ensure the impartiality and professional integrity of the jury members, contestants will not be able to participate in seminars, workshops and/or classes taught by any member of the jury, as long as they are in the competition. (This means that in the case a competing couple is eliminated, they are allowed to register to classes and take privates lessons as they will no longer be competing).

4. THE ORGANIZATION will be entitled to eliminate from the competition those participants that:
a) Do not comply with the rules;
b) Carry out, in the context of or on the occasion of the Competition, inside and outside its facilities, any action of physical and/or verbal aggression against any person, whether participant, member of the jury or the staff, or general public.
In the presence of any of these assumptions, THE ORGANIZATION and BA FESTIVALS will implement
the disqualification or elimination of competition, for either or both competitors, through documentation
proving the reasons for the measure.

5. In order to ensure the impartiality and professional integrity of the jury members, contestants will not
be able to participate in seminars, workshops and/or classes taught by any member of the jury, as long
as they are in the competition

JURY
1. In both categories, the jury will be composed of a minimum of 4 (four) members, who— understanding
and accepting the rules of the competition, and committing to their compliance—will determine the
score of the participating couples. The juries will be appointed in accordance with BA FESTIVALS and
THE ORGANIZATION of the Preliminary.

2. All the decisions of the jury will not be subject to appeal. By enrolling, participants accept this condition.
In case of distrust or disagreement, participants may submit a written statement (in Spanish or English)
to THE ORGANIZATION and NOT directly to the panel of evaluating judges. Any jury member who
may have had a work relationship or been the teacher of any of the participants of the Preliminary for
a period of at least 6 months close to the beginning of the competition, may refrain from scoring such
participant. For this purpose, both the voluntary statements of the Jury and the information provided by
participants when enrolling will be taken into account. In these cases, to get the couple’s final score,
the judges’ scores will be added, and this amount will be divided by the number of jury members who
actually voted.
The final score for each performance will result from the accumulation of points, given by each member
of the jury on a scale of 1 to 10 (with decimals), in accordance with the criteria described in the EVALUATION CRITERIA per category (mandatory document, please read below).

3. The jury will choose a winning couple in each category. Also, the jury (with the agreement of THE
ORGANIZATION) may grant awards and special mentions to the second and third place, and will be
entitled to award other mentions if deemed appropriate.

4. In exceptional cases (power interruption, incidents on stage, etc.), the jury and the supervisor may
determine that contestants should dance to additional songs to arrive at a fair verdict. Participants may
not refuse to perform.

5. In case of a tie, the couples with the same final score will have to break the draw, either by dancing
two additional songs in the Tango de Pista category, or by performing a new choreography in the stage
tango category, until a winning couple emerges from the votes of the jury.

SUPERVISOR
Appointed by BA FESTIVALS, the Supervisor will bear the responsibility of ensuring the compliance of
the present Rules and properly solve any inconvenience not considered in these Rules and establish
or inform about the clarifying or interpretative rules that he considers necessary.

FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHING
THE ORGANIZATION of the Preliminary reserves the right to record all the stages of THE
COMPETITION, by any means known or to be known—including but not limited to filming, recording,
photographing, digitalization, etc.—by itself or third parties, in order to promote and advertise the event.
The recorded material obtained will be exclusive property of THE ORGANIZATION of the Preliminary,
who will have to turn a copy of it, as established by the Collaboration Agreement, to BA FESTIVALS.
By entering the Championship, participants explicitly and irrevocably authorize the use of the recorded
material, without this suggesting—or implying—any compensation for any reason whatsoever by THE
ORGANIZATION of the Preliminary and/or BA FESTIVALS, in favor of any person or organization that
claims entitlement to any right that may be invoked. This clause also includes, without limitations, all
photographic material published and/or made available for promotion, advertisement, etc.

A couple’s registration and subsequent check‐in implies knowledge and acceptance of these Rules by
each one of the participants.

*Clarification about dance level: Participation in both “Tango de Pista” and Stage Tango Categories competitions are open to everyone. Professional dancers and amateur dances of intermediate level and above compete in the same category according to the rules established by Tango Buenos Aires Dance World Cup. Adherence to these rules qualifies our competition to be recognized as valid by the main Buenos Aires event.

The distinction between a “professional” and “amateur” dance has less to do with the level of skill and more with a professional status of the dancers. “Professional” means that dancers make a living from teaching and dancing/performing tango, and “amateur” means that they do not, but it does not always imply that the level of the professional couple dance is superior to the level of the amateur couple.

There are dancers for whom tango is their main source of income. They are likely to be good instructors, but their level of dance and performance can vary: the professional couple can be excellent at dance or not so great. On the other hand, there are good amateur couples who do not teach tango and get no income from performances, but have achieved an exceptional level of dance. There is also the case of stage dancers who only dance choreographed pieces, but are helpless when it comes to social dancing: they cannot dance in milongas. Finally, there are very skilled social dancers (people who only dance in milongas), but who neither teach nor perform tango. They might be excellent salon dancers. To accommodate different ways in which dancers excel at tango, the two divisions for the competition were established: “Tango de Pista” (salon tango; social category for both amateurs and professional) and Stage Tango (performance category for amateur advanced level and professional level dancers).

Rules for the STAGE GROUP Competition/Showcase Category

Stage Tango Group Competition or Showcase Category

If less than 3 registered groups, this category will become a Stage Tango Group Showcase with evaluation by the Official Jury. The groups will perform one tango song on Friday April 10, 2020.
With 3 to 6 registered groups, the Stage Tango Group Competition Category will happen and will consist of one round on Friday April 10, 2020. Each group will dance one tango song.
If 7 or more groups registered, the Stage Tango Group Competition Category will consist of two stages:
The Qualifying Round: All registered groups must participate. Groups will dance a unique qualifying round on Friday April 10. The groups selected in the qualifying round will dance again on Saturday April 11 and the winning group will be announced after the competition finished.
Groups must be trained by a tango teacher/instructor/choreographer who will create the routine and will prepare his/her group for this competition/showcase. Groups must represent the city where the tango school/studio is located.
It is the responsibility of the teacher/choreographer to pick up the Medals and team Trophies.
Member’s age in the group should be homogeneous (meaning 80 % of member’s age range should be within 15 years maximum difference between the youngest and the oldest).
The teacher/choreographer or responsible person for the group must confirm the group registration at the time of accreditation. The presentation of an identity document is necessary. All data provided at the time of the accreditation will be considered as a sworn statement.
The Choreographer is required to make the members of the group know about the rules and evaluation criteria of the tournament.

Rules for the VALS category

Rules for the Vals Category (amateurs and professional dancers)

Dancers of any nationality are eligible to participate in this category.
All participants must confirm their registration at the time of accreditation. In order to check in, contestants must attend on the date and time specified by the ATUSA Organization with a valid identity document. Accreditation can be done by one of the members of the couple bringing both documents.
Couples will receive the order number and be informed of the approximate dates and times on which they will perform. Those who do not check in will not be able to participate in the championship.
The organization will provide a complete panel of official judges of at least 4 members.
The Organization will be entitled to eliminate from the competition those participants that:
a) Do not comply with the rules.
b) Commit any moral offense or improper act that tarnishes the image of the Championship or
may cause displeasure in the public.

The Vals category of the competition in 2020 will consist of two stages:

A. The Qualifying Round: All registered couples must participate. Couples will dance one qualifying round on Sunday April 12, 2020.

B. The Semifinals and Finals:

If there are 11 or less registered couples, there will be no elimination and the Champions, 2nd and 3rd places will be announced directly at the Prizes Ceremony on Sunday evening.
If there are 12 to 22 registered couples, the couples selected at the qualifying round will pass directly to the Finals (which means there will only be an elimination round) the same day. The Champions, 2nd and 3rd places will be announced at the Prizes Ceremony on Sunday evening.

Rules for the SALON TANGO SENIOR Category

Specific Rules for the Salon Tango Senior Category

Couples will compete in groups, dancing three tango songs previously selected by the Committee.

This category will consist of two stages divided in two days as long as there are at least 12 registered couples.* (For the case of less than 12 registered couples, the competition will consist of one stage happening on Thursday July 7, 2022):

– The Qualifying Round: All registered couples must participate. Couples will dance one qualifying round on Thursday July 7, 2022.
*If there are 11 or less registered couples, there will be no elimination, and the Champions, 2nd and 3rd places will be announced on Friday evening.

– The Finals: If there are 12 to 20 couples registered, the couples selected at the qualifying round will dance a final round on Friday and the Champions, 2nd and 3rd places will be announced that same evening.

The Salon Tango Senior is an unofficial category open to amateur dancers who, by the date of the competition, are 60 years old or older. However, a Salon Tango Senior competitor (who is 60 or older) may compete with a partner who is younger than 60 years old if the age difference between the competitor and their partner is not more than 8 years at the date of the competition. (If both members of the couple are over 60 years old, the age difference will not be an impediment).
Dancers of any nationality are eligible to participate in this category.
Professional tango dancers cannot compete in this category. No exceptions.
All participants must confirm their registration at the time of accreditation. In order to check in, contestants must attend on the date and time specified by the ATUSA Organization with a valid identity document. Accreditation can be done by one of the members of the couple bringing both documents.
Couples will receive the order number and be informed of the approximate dates and times on which they will perform.
Those who do not check in will not be able to participate in the championship.
The organization will provide a complete panel of official judges of at least 4 members.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
1. The embrace cannot be broken; partners must constantly hold each other by means of the embrace. It is understood that, in certain figures, this may be flexible; but not throughout the entire piece of music. All movements shall be performed within the space allowed by the couple’s embrace.
2. Participants may perform any figure commonly used, including “barridas (sweeps), “sacadas al piso” (“sacadas” close to the floor), “lápices”, “boleos”, “enrosques” (twists) etc.
3. Ganchos (hooks), saltos (jumps) and any other possibility typical of stage tango are completely excluded.
4. None of the members of the couple may lift his/her legs beyond the line of the knees. Foot embellishments on the floor are allowed.
5. Couples must constantly move counterclockwise and avoid remaining in the same place for too long.
6. The Judges will give special relevance to the couple’s musicality, elegance, music interpretation and walking style.
7. Elegant social dance tango wear for woman and traditional suits for men are advised.

Rules for the MILONGA Category

All participants must confirm their registration at the time of accreditation. The presentation of an identity document is mandatory to obtain accreditation. It will not be necessary that the two members of the couple submit for accreditation; it can be done by one of the members bringing both documents. Accreditation by third parties shall not be made.
The Milonga category of the competition will consist of three stages divided in two days:
A. The Qualifying Round: All registered couples must participate. Couples will dance one qualifying round on Saturday April 11, 2020.
B. The Semifinals and Finals:
- If there are 11 or less registered couples at the competition, there will be no elimination on Saturday and the Champions, 2nd and 3rd places will be announced on Sunday April 12 at the Prizes Ceremony.
- If there are 12 to 22 registered couples at the competition, the couples selected at the qualifying round on Saturday will pass directly to the Finals on Sunday (there will be no semifinal round).
- If there are 23 or more couples registered at the competition, the couples selected at the qualifying round on Saturday will pass to the Semifinals on Sunday. The Final round will also be on Sunday April 12.

Rules for “SO you think you can TANGO?” Category

The “So you think you can tango?” category is open to social (amateur) dancers only.
Competitors who compete in the Official Categories as well as professional tango dancers cannot compete in this category.
Dancers of any nationality are eligible to participate in this category. There are no residence restrictions.
There will be one unique round with no elimination (no semi-final or final rounds) on Saturday July 9, 2022.
Men and women must register individually. Registration is on a first come, first served basis with a limit of 20 men as leaders and 20 women as followers. If at the end of the registration process there are uneven numbers of leaders and followers, the extra participants registered in any of the two roles will not be able to take part in the competition and therefore their fees will be refunded.
If there are more than 10 leaders and 10 followers registered, the total amount of dancers participating will be divided in two groups of equal numbers of leaders and followers for an optimum evaluation process.
Dancing couples will be the result of a random matching of leaders and followers that will take place straight at the dance floor. They will compete in groups and dance a round of three to four songs previously selected by the Committee.
Dancers will change partners through a draw system for each of the three songs.

DANCE RULES

Dancers cannot break the embrace. It is understood that, in certain figures, the embrace can be flexible (open and close according to the figure); but not throughout the entire piece of music.
Couples may perform any commonly used figures of “social” tango, including “barridas” (sweeps), “sacadas al piso” (drawn to the floor),“enrosques” (twists), “ganchos” (hooks), boleos, etc, as well as embellishments always within their own space, without standing in the way of couples dancing around them.
“Saltos” (jumps), “trepadas” (climbs) and any other possibilities typically used in stage tango where both feet lose contact with the floor are completely excluded.
Dancers may not lift his/her legs beyond the line of the knees. Embellishments are allowed within this limit.
It is not allowed to overtake.
Costumes will not be considered as a specific evaluation point in this category.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

All dancers will be evaluated individually by the Jury Panel who will determine a unique winner for each role.
Posture, elegance, technique, connection to the partner and walking style will be the main points of evaluation for all dancers.
For the leader’s role, the Judges will give special relevance to musicality, improvisation and navigation (take into account that leaders should avoid more than two musical phrases on the same spot, making it difficult for the round to circulate; they should constantly move counterclockwise without going backwards although it is allowed to perform one or two back steps if the movement requires it).
For the follower’s role, the Judges will give special relevance to the skill of following (anticipation or back leading will be penalized), and the footwork technique.

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Please read the General Rules and the Championship Rules for each category which follows below:

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