The McGregor Judging Method For Modern Jive & Swing Dance Competitions
Please click on the tabs above for details of the method. The section below discusses this method and it's use.
Introduction
Introduction
1.1 How this Method Came About – Plus Thanks for Assistance
This Method has been written with Modern Jive Competitions specifically in mind although it could apply equally to other swing dance competitions. As well as a number of new elements it has pulled together items from many other judging and scoring systems from around the world. These judging systems studied are used in Ballroom, Ice Dance, Swing Competitions and some other Modern Jive Competitions. In addition to reading many other sets of rules, Mr McGregor has had many, often heated discussions with Modern Jive competitors who have come up with suggestions, some of which have been incorporated here. The author would like to thank those dancers for their suggestions and would like to offer special thanks to the World Swing Dance Council for their explanation of the Relative Placement Scoring System, to John Eastman of the Leroc Federation and to Nina Daines, dance teacher, competition judge and Champion dancer for input into the final version of this Method.
This method is named after two Granny McGregors – Nina Daines and Andy McGregor both had a Granny McGregor who were both great judges of people.
This method is named after two Granny McGregors – Nina Daines and Andy McGregor both had a Granny McGregor who were both great judges of people.
1.2 Discussion About and Objectives of the Method.
It may seem obvious but it does no harm to say it, the objective of the Judging will be to select the best performing competitors on the day for each category - in the opinion of the majority of the judging panel.
This is a simple statement of an objective, which should be easy to achieve. However, spectators will all have different opinions of who is best as they have different ideas about what makes a good dancer. And judges will be no different. There are some basic factors like being on the beat that everyone can agree on but there are other factors like how the moves are done and showmanship where judges might have differing opinions.
Number and selection of judges. There needs to be a reasonable number of Judges to ensure a good mix of opinion. The selection of judges is therefore an important consideration. Judges will be experienced modern jivers selected who have different styles of execution of modern jive and possibly come from different dance backgrounds, i.e. Hip-Hop, Ballroom, Ballet or even a Modern Jive alone background.
It may seem obvious but it does no harm to say it, the objective of the Judging will be to select the best performing competitors on the day for each category - in the opinion of the majority of the judging panel.
This is a simple statement of an objective, which should be easy to achieve. However, spectators will all have different opinions of who is best as they have different ideas about what makes a good dancer. And judges will be no different. There are some basic factors like being on the beat that everyone can agree on but there are other factors like how the moves are done and showmanship where judges might have differing opinions.
Number and selection of judges. There needs to be a reasonable number of Judges to ensure a good mix of opinion. The selection of judges is therefore an important consideration. Judges will be experienced modern jivers selected who have different styles of execution of modern jive and possibly come from different dance backgrounds, i.e. Hip-Hop, Ballroom, Ballet or even a Modern Jive alone background.
It is important that one strong willed judge doesn't influence the others. With this in mind, judges will each make their decisions on their own. They will not discuss their decisions with the other judges until all scores have been collected.
For all rounds up to the semi-final stage progress to the next round will be based on a 'call-back' system. Judges will decide individually whom they think should be promoted to the next round. Those competitors receiving the most 'calls-backs' will move on to the next round.
For the finals and for all rounds of the Showcase category judges will score competitors for 6 aspects of their dancing from being properly on the beat to showmanship. These raw scores will be added to find a Relative Placement for each judge. These Relative Placements will be used to ascertain the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., places for the competitors using a formula, which is covered in this document.
N.B. The use of scoring in finals will provide competitors with useful feedback on their performance. Using those raw scores for final placement risks one judge having more influence over the outcome - this potential bias is removed by the use of relative placement.
For the finals and for all rounds of the Showcase category judges will score competitors for 6 aspects of their dancing from being properly on the beat to showmanship. These raw scores will be added to find a Relative Placement for each judge. These Relative Placements will be used to ascertain the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., places for the competitors using a formula, which is covered in this document.
N.B. The use of scoring in finals will provide competitors with useful feedback on their performance. Using those raw scores for final placement risks one judge having more influence over the outcome - this potential bias is removed by the use of relative placement.
Copyright Notice
The Judging Method (this document) is Copyright Andy McGregor © 2004, © 2004, © 2005, © 2012 & © 2013. The author, Andy McGregor, gives permission to use this method in whole or in part for a single competition in exchange for an advance fee of £100. Where this method is used without advance payment the fee in arrears is £500. Please contact Andy McGregor for details of payment methods.
