Please visit www.socaltangochampionship.com for more information
Info & Rules

Judges:

Daniel Nacucchio and Cristina Sosa have enormous experience in judging throughout their career. Panning from 2009-2016, they have judged numerous competitions from countries including VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, CHILE, HONG KONG, URUGUAY, PHILIPPINES, ITALY and JAPAN. For the complete list of competitions, please click here.

Danilo Maddalena's judging experience started when he received his diploma as Professional and International Judge, licensed by the World Dance Council (WDC) in 2011. Later he became the creator of the Italian Metropolitano in 2015 in which he has been one of the judges since its beginning.

Fernando Gracia and Sol Cerquides are no strangers in the world Stage Tango scene. They are repeated judges for the Mundial de Tango Buenos Aires and also for competitions in countries including CHINA, RUSSIA, KOREA and ITALY. Click here for full list.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

• Minimum of 12 registered couples are needed for salon, stage, milonga, vals, senior categories to take place.
• The competitors will be dancing in groups of 6 couples. Each group will be dancing 3 songs per round.
• No contestant may participate more than once in the same category, regardless of whether they do so with a different partner.
• All 5 categories except Group Stage of the competition consists of three stages:

QUALIFYING ROUND : All registered couples must participate. The qualifying round will be held on Friday, February 17th (three songs per round per category).

SEMIFINALS : Couples who have been selected in the Qualifying round will dance one round in the Semifinals on Saturday February 18th (three songs per round per category).

FINALS: Couples selected in the Semifinal round will dance one round in the Finals on Sunday February 19th (three songs per round per category).

WHO CAN COMPETE:

1. SALON TANGO – open to both amateur and professional dancers.
2. STAGE TANGO - open to both amateur and professional dancers.
3. SENIOR TANGO – open to amateur dancers of 55 and older.

Contestants must be at least 55 years old by the date of the competition to qualify to compete. In the case where one member of the couple is younger than 55, she/he can still compete with her/his partner provided that the age difference is no bigger than 15 years in respect to the minimum age to compete, meaning a 55 year old person could still compete with a 40 years old person.

4. MILONGA – open to both amateur and professional dancers.
5. VALS – open to both amateur and professional dancers.

• Contestants must be at least 18 years old by the date of the competition.
• Contestants may participate in different categories with the same or a different partner. However, no contestant may participate more than once in the same category, regardless of whether they do so with a different partner.
• Dancers of any nationality are eligible to apply for the competition.
• All participants must show their identity document (birth certificate, passport, ID) to certify the place of birth or residence in the city they chose to represent is mandatory to obtain accreditation.

6. STAGE TANGO GROUP - consists of two stages: Qualifying & Finals. All registered groups will dance on Friday, February 17th. Groups selected in the qualifying round will pass directly to the Finals on Sunday, February 19th.

• The groups must be trained by a tango teacher/instructor/choreographer who will create the routine and will prepare the group for this competition/showcase. Groups must represent the city where the tango school/studio is located.
• A minimum number of 6 registered groups will be necessary to validate this category as a competition. If the numbers are lower, the competition will become a group showcase with evaluation by the Judges.
• The group that will take the first place, a trophy will be awarded for:
  • Best Choreography
  • Best Technical Execution
  • Synchronicity
  • Musical Interpretation

All contestants and schools will receive participation certificates.

• It is the responsibility of the group teacher/choreographer to pick up the Diplomas, Medals and team Trophies.

RULES:

• Position of Tango Dance : Once a couple forms a dance frame, the partners shall not separate as long as the music is playing. This means that they cannot break the embrace, which is considered as the Tango dance position.
• For the position to be considered correct, 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.
• The Judges will give special relevance to the couple’s musicality and connection, technique, embrace and posture, as well as the style, creativity and interpretation.
• Within these guidelines, participants may perform any figure commonly used, including barridas (sweeps), sacadas (close to the floor), enrosques (twists), etc.
• Ganchos (hooks), saltos (jumps), trepadas (climbs) and any other typically stage tango possibilities where both feet lose contact with the floor are completely excluded.
• Couples, as in a real dance hall, must constantly move counterclockwise and avoid remaining in the same place for too long to avoid the floor circulation.
• None of the members of the couple may lift his/her legs beyond the line of the knees. Some foot embellishments are allowed within this limit.
• Elegant social dance wear for women and traditional suits for men are advised although costumes will not be considered as a specific evaluation point in this category.
• The Judges will give special relevance to the couple’s musicality and connection, technique, embrace and posture, as well as the style, creativity and interpretation.
• Contestants must always behave correctly and respect the judges, championship directors/coordinators, choreographers and other participants.
• All the competition rounds will be open to spectators.