Fursuit Dance Competition

Dance Competition application closed

What's New

We've updated our Dance Competition divisions to better match dancers of different skill levels.

Dance Competition Divisions

The Furlandia Dance Competition will have two categories:

  • Novice: For contestants who have not yet placed (first, second, third, or honorable mention) in any dance competition.

  • Veteran: For contestants who have placed (first, second, third, or honorable mention) in a dance competition before.

Each category will have a limited number of contestants. If positions are still available at the start of Furlandia, contestants may sign up for the remaining positions at the Information Booth.

Rules

Sign Up

Dance competition sign-ups are now closed.

Online sign-ups for the dance competition close on April 30, 2019 at 23:59:59 PM PDT. Submit your music using the sign-up form (see below for music guidelines). If you are not able to submit your music using the sign-up form, please send your music to dancecomp@furlandia.org. You will receive an email confirming that you have signed up for the competition and that your music is accepted. We may also contact you for a different audio file if your submitted music is not acceptable.

After online sign-ups close, if positions are still available, you may sign up at the Information Booth or at the preliminaries. If you are signing up on-site, please bring your music on a USB drive or SD card labeled with your name. CDs, phones, media players, and links to streaming or file-sharing websites WILL NOT be accepted. Your music must conform to the music guidelines below.

Costume Guidelines

This is a fursuit dance competition. All contestants must wear a partial or full fursuit.

A partial fursuit consists at minimum of a head, hands, and a tail (unless the character does not have a tail). All other parts of the body must be covered with clothing or fursuit parts. Feet are encouraged but are not required if you do not have them or cannot wear them for safety reasons.

A full fursuit consists of a head, body, hands, feet, and a tail (unless the character does not have a tail). You may accessorize your full suit with additional costume or with costume shoes in place of feet.

All contestants' costume must still adhere to the convention dress code.

No props of any kind, other than the items that comprise your fursuit (if applicable), are permitted in your dance routine.

Music Guidelines

  • Submit your music as early as possible. This helps us test to make sure that we can play your music. If we cannot use your music, we may contact you for a different file.
  • Music must be in one of the following formats:
    • AAC
    • AIFF
    • CAF
    • M4A
    • MP3 / MP4
    • WAV
  • Music must be at most 3 minutes (180 seconds) long. You do not have to use all of the available time; but if you submit music that is longer than the available time, we will edit it to adhere to this timeframe. Where appropriate, please edit your music to have a fade in and a fade out.
  • Music selections must be appropriate for general audiences (PG-13). A good rule of thumb is that your music should be suitable for broadcast radio. Music containing profanity or adult material will not be accepted.

Attendance

You MUST be a registered attendee to participate in the Dance Competition events. Badges will be checked at check-in during the preliminaries.

Contestants should attend the Fursuit Dance Orientation in the Main Theatre on Friday, May 24 from 5:00pm – 6:00pm to go over the rules, requirements, and what to expect.

We will hold the competition in two parts: preliminaries and finals.

Preliminaries

Friday, May 24
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Main Theatre (Mt. Hood)

The preliminaries will be held with a separate panel of judges distinct from the judges who will score the finals. The dance space will be closed to public viewing and other competitors to allow you to keep your routine secret.

The preliminary judges will select a limited set of performers to compete in the finals.

Finals

Saturday, May 25
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Main Theatre (Mt. Hood)

Performers selected to compete in the finals MUST report to the Main Theatre between 45—60 minutes before the event for check-in and sound check. This gives you an opportunity to warm up or practice, and to help us troubleshoot any technical issues with your music.

Contestants will dance in a randomly determined order. The lineup will be posted at the Main Theatre entrance and online before the start of the competition.

Performers should stay in the backstage lounge before their turn. Theatre crew will give each performer a five-minute warning.

Judging Criteria

The preliminaries will be judged by a separate panel of judges that will not score the finals.

The finals will be scored by a panel of 3–5 judges. Dances will be judged based on the following criteria:

  • Originality: How well does your performance stand out from among the others? Is your routine of your own creation or substantively transformative from your sources of inspiration? Do you use your character's strengths to remain memorable to the audience and the judges?
  • Choreography: How well was your performance thought out and planned? Do you make good use of original or challenging moves?
  • Execution: How well is your choreography executed? Does your performance match the energy and rhythm of your music selection?
  • Audience Engagement: How engaged was the audience with your performance?
  • Musicality: How well does your performance reflect the music choice?

Each performance will be scored numerically in each category by each judge. The winners for first, second, and third place will be determined by the highest total scores. Ties will be broken in Floor Wars format, using a song of our DJ's choice in two rounds of 45 seconds for each contestant, and judged using audience response.

General Terms

Contestants are expected to perform original or substantively transformative dance routines. Performers may use others' routines for inspiration, but we generally expect performers to dance a routine that is their own work. We reserve the right to disqualify contestants at any time and for any reason, including but not limited to plagiarism, rude or inappropriate conduct, etc.

Please note that the rules are subject to change. Any rule changes will be announced at the orientation.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at dancecomp@furlandia.org.