This booklet may not be reproduced or translated in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of The Dance Talent Camp. Co.Ltd Board of Directors.
Introduction
The philosophy and spirit of the Dance QuarterEntertainment Game and Laws
Dance is an activity performed by humans several times in a lifetime. The Dance activities have evolved over time. The Dance Quarter Game is built to promote creative performances that will portray the spectrum of the dance evolution.
The Dance Quarter Game Laws is a transformation of the dance activity into a Dance Entertainment Game to revolutionize the dance competitions that portray the spectrum of the dance evolution limitless.
The Dance Quarter Game must have laws to keep the game fair as a crucial foundation of the beauty of the game is its fairness – this is a vital feature of the spirit of the game.
The integrity of the Laws, and the Judges and officials, who apply them, must always be protected and respected. All those in authority, especially coaches and team leaders, have a clear responsibility to the game to respect the game officials and their decisions.
Managing Changes to the Laws
The Laws of the Dance Quarter Entertainment Game were drawn up in 2020
The Dance Talent Camp Company Ltd was founded by Kizza Dennis Aqeel as a body with sole responsibility for developing and preserving the Laws of the Dance Quarter Game.
For a Law to be changed, The Dance Talent Camp Company Directors must be convinced that the change will benefit the Dance game. This means that the potential change will be tested. For every purposed change, the focus must be on: fairness, integrity, respect, safety, the enjoyment of the participants and how technology can benefit the dance game. The Laws must also encourage participation from everyone, regardless of background or ability.
Although accidents occur, the Laws should make the dance game as safe as possible. This requires the coaches and team captains to be creative in respect of safety of the dancers and the environment where the performances are held.
The Dance Game must be attractive and enjoyable for the dancers, match officials, coaches, as well as spectators, fans, administrators etc. The Laws must help make the dance game attractive and enjoyable so people, regardless of age, race, religion, culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability etc, want to take part and enjoy their involvement with dancing.
Dance Quarter Game Laws are relatively simple, but as many situations are subjective, and judges and officials are human thus make mistakes, some judgments will inevitably cause debate and discussions. For some people, this discussion will be part of the Dance Quarter Game’s enjoyment and attraction but, whether decisions are right or wrong, the ‘spirit’ of the dance quarter game requires that judges’ decisions are always respected.
The Laws cannot deal with every possible situation, so where there is no direct provision in the Laws, judges and officials are expected to make a decision within the ‘spirit’ of the Dance Quarter Game.
The Dance Talent Camp Ltd will continue to engage with the dance family so changes to the Laws benefit the dance game at all levels and in every corner of the country, and so the integrity of the dance quarter game, the Laws and the judges are respected, valued and protected.
Notes on the Laws of the Dance Quarter Game
Official Languages
The Dance Talent Camp Company Ltd publishes the Laws of the Game in English.
Applying the Laws
The same Laws apply in every match in the country, town and village. The Laws must not be modified or changed, except with the permission of The Dance Talent Camp Company Ltd. Those who are educating match officials and other participants should emphasize that:
- Judges and officials should apply the Laws within the ‘spirit’ of the game to help produce fair and safe matches
- Everyone must respect the match officials and their decisions, remembering and respecting that judges are human and will make mistakes
Law 01. The Stage of Performance
1. Stage Surface
The stage surface should be clean, smooth, and not slippery or in any format that can risk danger to dancers.
2. Stage Markings
The stage to be performed on must be rectangular and marked with continuous lines which must not be dangerous. These lines belong to the areas of which they are boundaries.
The back stage line is referred to as ‘back line’.
The side lines referred to as ‘side line’.
The front line referred to as ‘frontline’.
All boundary lines must be of the same width, which must not be more than 2cm.
3. Dimensions of the stage
The back line shall be 6 meters long at right angles
with side lines which will be 4.5 meters long.
The front line will also be at right angles with the side lines.
The front line will also be at least 1 meter away from the judges table.
4. Stage Lights
The stage Lights can only be deemed or brighten.
The team coach will guide the technical team where a performance requires the above light effects.
Law 02. The Dancers
1. Number of Dancers
A dance quarter game is played by 2 teams. For each dance team, the stage performance is of 5 dancers strictly.
A team shall not perform with less than or more than 5 dancers on stage.
2. Number of Substitutions
A team shall have a chance to shuffle a maximum of 15 dancers for a full Dance Quarter Game performance. The number of substitutes, for a single quarter performance shall be up to a maximum of 5 dancers, for any match, played in an official competition.
Return substitutions
The use of return substitutions is permitted. A dancer can be replaced on stage and returned as often as the creative art being performed enrolls.
3. Substitution Procedure
The names of the dancers (a maximum of 15) must be given to the officials before the start of the Dance Quarter Game. Any dancer not named by this time may not take part in the match.
To replace a player with a substitute, the following must be observed:
- The dancer on stage tactically leaves the stage and within less than 3 seconds the dancer replacing him should get on stage.
- The dancers coming on stage should do it only through the sidelines.
- The player being substituted and the substitute should not be on stage for more than 3 Seconds at the same time. This will lead to 3 performance point loss.
4. Team Leader
The Team Leader has no special status or privileges but has a degree of responsibility for the behavior of the team.
5. The Sound Truck
The sound truck should be:
- An original composition or a mix of sound trucks from local artists strictly. For an international sound truck to be accepted, it has to have featured a local artist.
- The sound truck or mega should be a minimum of 4 minutes and a maximum of 5 minutes long.
Law 03. The Dancers Equipment
1. Safety
A player must not use equipment (props) or wear anything that is dangerous.
A platform will be set up where team coaches send images of the props they intend to use for clearance.
There will be further disclosure of props to be used in performances to officials at arrival to the venue.
2. Costumes
The Costumes of a dancer comprise the following separate items:
- A shirt, vest, or jacket.
- Shorts or trousers
- Footwear, where necessary
3. Other Equipment
Non-dangerous equipment, for example, headgear, face masks, and knee and arm protectors made of soft,
lightweight padded material is permitted.
4. Slogans, statements, images and advertising
Equipment must not have any political, religious, or personal slogans, statements, or images. Dancers must not reveal undergarments that show political, religious, or personal slogans, statements or images, or advertising other than the manufacturer`s logo. For any offense, the dancer and/or the team will be sanctioned by the competition organizer.
The following are permitted
- The dancer’s number, name, team crest/logo, initiative slogans/emblems promoting the game of dancing, respect and integrity as well as any advertising permitted by competition rules.
Law 04. The Judges
1. The authority of the judges
Each dance quarter sport game is controlled by 3 judges who have full authority to observe and enforce Laws of the game by awarding or deducting performance points where it’s due.
2. Decision of the judges
Decisions will be made to the best of the judges` ability according to the Laws of the Dance Game and the ‘spirit of the game’ and will be based on the opinion of the judges who have the discretion to take appropriate action within the framework of the Laws of the Dance Quarter Game.
The decisions of the judges regarding facts connected with the dance Quarter game, including Awarding and Deduction of performance points, are final.
The decisions of the judges, and all other match officials, must always be respected.
3. Powers and Duties
The Judges:
- Enforces the Laws of the Dance Quarter Game by deducting performance points when defaulted.
- Controls the dance quarter game incooperation with other officials.
- They command the starting of every performance when ready by ringing the bell on the desk.
4. Judges Equipment
Compulsory EquipmentJudges must have the following equipment:
- Ring Bell on the Table
- Points awarding sheets
- Comments sheets
- Pens
Law 05. The Other Dance Quarter Game Officials
The other Dance Game officials are the stage manager, the Liners and the Deejay. They will assist the Judges in controlling the match in accordance with the Laws of the Dance Quarter Game but the final decisions will always be taken by the judges.
1. Game Liners
The game liners shall be 2, seated on opposite sides, at the corners where the back line and the front line touch the sidelines.
The game liners shall have flags to raise when:
- A dancer steps on the stage demarcations during performance and not intending to exit for substitution.
- When the stage has more or less than five dancers for more than three seconds.
- When a substitute exits performance through the front line or back line.
2. The stage manager
The stage manager shall organize the teams to make sure they are prepared in time for the performances when called upon.
They will also ensure the props or any other dangerous material is not granted to be used on stage.
3. The Deejay
On hearing of the First Bell Ring from the judges, the Deejay shall:
- Alert the judges with a broken glass effect if ‘Sound Truck’ time period falls out the accepted range (4 – 5minutes).
- Otherwise play a clapping effect.
The Deejay shall also start playing music at the hearing of the Second Bell Ring by judges.
Law 06. The Duration of the Dance Quarter Game
1. Periods of play
The Dance Quarter Game will comprise of Four Quarters. Each team will have a single performance in a quarter not to last less than Four minutes and not more than Five minutes. A quarter therefore is estimated to last 12 minutes inclusive of additional
time to judges to award performance points.
2. Quarter – Breaks time intervals
The team that performs will have a 5 minutes break after the first quarter break, a 10 minutes break after the second quarter break, and a 5 minutes break after the third quarter break.
3. Abandoned Match
In case for a fixed Dance game only one team turns up, the team will perform all four quarters so as to earn performance points and take all the three points of the game.
Law 07. The start and restart of the Game Play
There will be officiated starts for quarter performances by teams and restarts will only happen as a result of power
interruptions.
1. The start of the game at the first quarter Procedure
- The team that wins the toss of the coin decides whether to perform first or otherwise.
- The team that performs first will do the same in all the other quarters.
- The team performance will start at the ringing of the second bell.
2. Team quarter performances Procedure
- The first team to perform in a quarter will take on stage when the Judges ring the First Bell.
- The second team shall take on stage as soon as the first team’s performance ends.
- After the second quarter break, a bell shall ring to call a team back on stage.
3. The Restart of game play
A restart in game play can happen when there is an interruption in sound truck due to a disturbance in power
supply or else otherwise.
The team that has been on stage shall be given chance to restart performance.
Law 08. Determining the outcome of a Dance Quarter Game match
1. Performance Points Scoring
The performance points shall be awarded by a panel of three judges depending on the performance displayed by a team.
The performances will earn points in only 4 categories namely:
- Technical Level of Performance (TLP)
- Quality and Harmony of Performance (QHP)
- Choreographic and Innovative Performance (CIP)
- Expression and Entertaining Performance (EEP)
A team can earn a maximum of 10 points from a category.
Thus each Judge can offer to a team a maximum of 40 performance points from a quarter.
A team can earn a maximum of 120 performance points from a quarter which will be converted to percentage.
The maximum score of a team in all the four quarters is 400 performance points (that is 100% in every quarter).
2. Losing of performance points
The performing team will lose performance points by:
- Having a Sound Truck of less than 4 minutes or of more than 5 minutes
- – The Penalty is deduction of 10 performance points from the quarter total.
- A dancer stepping on the stage boundaries during performance when not being substituted.
- – The penalty is deduction of 3 performance points from the quarter total.
- A dancer being substituted exiting through the front or back line.
- – The penalty is reduction of 3 performance points.
- A substitution taking more than 3 seconds for a player to get on or off the stage of performance.
- – The penalty is reduction of 3 performance points.
3. The Winning team
A team to win has to beat the opponent by a Point Difference (PD) of 15 performance points. If the Point Difference is less than 15, the game is a draw.
4. Finding Winning team after a Draw
When competition rules require a winner after a drawn dance game, the only procedure to determine the winning team are:
- Each team presents 3 solo dancers to perform to a truck of choice for 30 seconds.
- The solo dancers will perform in alteration of team represented.
- A dancer shall be awarded points on a general scale of 10.
- To beat a fellow solo dancer, you have to beat the opponent by 2 performance points of the 10.
- If after the two performances we still have no winner, then the teams will keep choosing another solo dancer to represent till we find a winner.
Law 09. Determining the outcomes of a season long competition
The dancing team shall be ranked in a table of results depending on the performance.
1. Game Points
For the game points:
- A winning team earns 3 game points
- A draw earns 1 game point for each team
- A loss earns no game point
2. The table structure
Team | Games Played | Win | Draw | Loss | Performance Points | Game Points |
Team A | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 200 | 9 |
Team B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 240 | 6 |
Team C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 150 | 1 |
Team D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 120 | 1 |
From the table above, the key points to note are:
- Game Points carry more weight than performance points. That’s why Team A tops the table despite having less Performance Points than Team B
- Incase teams have equal Game points for example Team C and Team D, then we consider the team with the highest performance points in ranking