How to get started:

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Timing - “Stepping to the beat” 

We should be able to tell if the song is fast or slow by watching your steps. Don’t rush through moves just to cram a bunch together, let the partnership - and the audience - breath when watching you. 

Technique - “Quality of your dance foundation and basics”

Providing clean footwork, control (including balance), and frame (including during turns and spins) demonstrates good technique. Maintaining timing and level appropriate moves is also part of technique. 

Content - “The moves that make up the dance”

The order, transition, and individual moves and combinations used throughout a dance. Content should showcase a connection to the music, provide variety and when possible demonstrate a knowledge of multiple combinations of individual moves. Content should be dance/partner level and space appropriate as well as respectful/tasteful. 

Teamwork - “How well you work with your dance partner”

How well competitors watch for each other's safety, and demonstrate the ability to not outshine one another while actively engaging with one another. Country Swing is a lead/follow (or act/react) dance, demonstrating the ability to dance together, rather than just simultaneously. 

Showmanship -  “How well you sell your dance to the judges and crowd”

Generating engagement by utilizing phrasing (traditionally in country music there are 8 count phrases - this means starting movement on a 1 and ending movement on an 8 - or making your 1 stand out), drawing in the judges and crowd, and adding individual style and flair. Providing good showmanship is an important part of any competition, but is never a substitute for good dancing.