TBA System
No partner? No problem!
DCDI believes that everyone should have the opportunity to dance. As such, we pride ourselves on having a well-developed TBA System. Please read below to understand the system and avoid breaking rules.
Violators will be disqualified.
Important Terms
- Regular partnership – a partnership between two dancers, both eligible for the level that is ideally (but not always) prearranged, giving the couple time to prepare.
- TBA partnership – a partnership between dancers that is arranged by DCDI staff at the competition as a last resort – often a pairing between a lower-level dancer and a higher-level dancer. A TBA partnership by nature must be random and used only a last resort.
- Disqualified – having your entry removed due to violating a competition rule or policy.
TBA Policies
- You CANNOT pre-arrange a TBA partnership. Violators will be disqualified.
- If you and your regular partner are eligible for different levels, you MUST dance at the level of the higher-level dancer in a regular partnership. We will disqualify you for dancing down.
- For those who do not find a partner before the competition, we will first try to find you a partner at your level. We unfortunately can no longer guarantee partners at the Silver level and above.
FAQs
I don’t have a partner, what should I do?
- Find an in-level partner in the TBA Discord Server or through other means (teammates, other local teams, etc.) prior to the competition .
- Find an in-level partner at the social dance on Friday – we will have a contact sheet at the reg desk.
- At the competition (arrive early), come to the dais when called by the MC. Our team will try to match you with someone in-level.
- Then, only as a last resort (if there are no dancers at-level), a random (never before met) dancer is assigned as a TBA pairing for DCDI.
I am a TBA and found a partner. What now?
Congrats! You have now created a regular partnership. Please register your partnership in O2CM. You will no longer be considered a TBA partnership. Please note that all regular partnerships need to follow the registration rules (time-outs, place-outs, no double-registering, etc.). If registration has closed, please register you partnership at the reg desk.
How are TBA partnerships judged?
In a TBA partnership, the volunteer is not judged. Only the dancer who is regularly registered for that event is judged. This is to reduce advantages that dancing with a higher-level dancer or reduce the disadvantages that dancing with a lower-level dancer may give. Please note TBA partnerships are not Rookie/Vet and should not be pre-arranged – they are a last resort.
I am a TBA. Can my friend/teammate volunteer to lead me?
If the friend/teammate is eligible to dance at the level you are trying to register for, then yes – that would be a regular partnership.
If your friend/teammate is ineligible for the level – the simple answer is no. You are welcome to dance at the higher level that your friend/teammate is eligible for. Otherwise, out-of-level TBA volunteers should be complete strangers. Those found to be pre-arranging TBA partnerships will be disqualified.
Why do you insist on TBA partnerships being random?
To reduce rule abuse and ensure equal advantage.
While fortunately uncommon, we have had an increase in people using the TBA system to get around the registration rules (such as time-outs, place-outs, double-registering, etc.) and registering with their regular partner who just timed-out of the level. By making the matches random, we can prevent this from continuing
Additionally, in cases where a higher level dancer is placed with a lower level dancer, random partnerships help level the playing field. Out-of-level TBA pairs have the advantage of having a higher level dancer (even if the higher level dancer is not being judged). Regular partners have the advantage of having preparation time. If the out-of-level TBA pairs ALSO had the advantage of preparation time, it would be unfair to the regular partnerships.
Follower Event (Jack & Jill)
To guarantee that all Bronze and Newcomer dancers can compete, we will run a separate event just for the unmatched followers where only the follow is judged. We will call for leaders of any level to volunteer to be randomly matched with the unmatched followers. This means that a leader can be judged with their regular partner and then dance again without being judged to help with the TBA dancers.