Competition Rules

All Competitors are responsible for reading and understanding the rules prior to the INTERNATIONAL LINDY HOP CHAMPIONSHIPS EUROPE (ILHC Europe). Competitors are responsible for adhering to these rules whether or not they have been read. Competitors must agree to all of the terms within these Official Rules.

ILHC Europe 2023 is held on November 1-5, 2023 in Sofia (Bulgaria).

Lindy Hop Bulgaria and Remy Kouakou Kouame organize ILHC Europe. ILHC Europe is an ILHC event that will be held in Europe (Sofia, Bulgaria). ILHC is a separate program under HSDS operated by International Lindy Hop Championships LLC.
Final decisions on all matters pertaining to these competitions rest solely with the Organizers.

SCHEDULE
The Organizers will determine the date and time for each competition and the location for the Competitors’ Meeting, and will announce this information prior to the event. The Organizers reserves the right to cancel a division and to rearrange the schedule if necessary. Any schedule or location changes will be noted on ILHC website, if they occur prior to the event. If the changes occur during the event, they will be announced or posted on the FB page and the exact location will be announced at the Competitors’ Meeting.

AWARDS
The Organizers will determine and award all prizes. The announcement of all prizes will be posted on the web page before the start of the registration process. You can find the list of awards here.

SCORE POSTING
The results of the competitions will be posted for review after the Awards Ceremony.

COUPLE
A couple consists of one leader and one follower.

MULTIPLE ENTRIES
You may compete in only 1 level of each competition, with the exception of teams, you may compete in only 2 Solo Jazz Teams and/or 2 Lindy Hop Teams. In partner and team divisions only 1 person needs to register for the division. Please be considerate of your fellow dancers and DO NOT register under two names. ALL TBD partners will need to be established and named by the deadline.

AGE REQUIREMENTS
The Competitor must meet the age requirement specified in these rules on or before Friday, November 1, 2023. Competitors must be at least 18 years old to compete in the Solo Jazz adult divisions or Classic divisions, Competitors must be at least 14 years old to compete in the Luck of the Draw divisions, Strictly divisions, Solo Jazz Team, or Lindy Hop Team. Minors under the legal age of majority in their primary residence must get their parent or legal guardian’s permission to participate in ILHC contests. Juniors division competitors must be 17 or under (or 18 if still in High School).

COSTUMES
It is the position of the ILHC that colorful, decorative, dramatic attire enhances the entertainment value of the performances. Tasteful dance clothing is accepted and strongly encouraged.

REQUIREMENTS
1. Hold a Competitor Party pass or a Full pass to ILHC Europe 2023
2. Pay the required entry fees per competition
3. Agree to the Terms & Conditions and Code of Conduct
4. Hold a validated registration within the official entry deadline
5. All Competitors are responsible for reading and understanding the rules prior to the ILHC. Competitors are responsible for adhering to these rules whether or not they have been read.
6. BEHAVIOR – All Competitors must demonstrate courteous and professional behavior at all times at the ILHC, both on and off the competition floor. Failure to adhere to these standards could cause disciplinary action by the Organizers, or penalties from the Judges.
7. COMPETITORS’ MEETING – Competitors’ meetings are scheduled on the day of your competition unless otherwise noted. Although not mandatory, important information regarding the competition will be discussed at that time. It is the competitors responsibility for knowing that information.
8. DANCE ORDER – Dance order will be randomly assigned by our competition team. In choreography divisions, you may trade dance orders at the competitors meetings.
9. DEADLINES – Failure to comply with deadlines and failure to show up 15 minutes prior to your competition for check in, may result in disqualification from competing in the event without a refund of entry fee. These decisions will be made solely at the discretion of the Organizers.
10. JUDGING CRITERIA – The Relative Placement System will be used to judge all the competitions at ILHC Europe. Some finals will be judged in battles with immediate eliminations. Judges decisions are final.

MUSIC
For divisions in which the competitor selects their music (e.g. Classics and Teams):
– You CAN edit the music to fit the time parameters. For example, that could be removing some of the middle of the song, speeding up or slowing down the song, or fading the music at the end.
– A one-track high quality digital audio file for each competition MUST be submitted by e-mail (or at the competitors meeting on a hard drive) to ilhceurope@lindyhop.bg with full information about the author, name of the song, name of competitor(s) and division.

Your performances and/or videos will be available for viewing by the general public either during the event or later posted to our YouTube channel. If you do not want your video to be made public, do not enter these contests.

All videos provided by the competitors become the property of ILHC. Participation in the contest constitutes competitor’s understanding of and full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules. ILHC reserves the right to disqualify any competitor that ILHC determines to be in violation of any term contained in these Official Rules. 

Each Competitor (and in the case of a Minor, such Minor’s parent/legal guardian on his/her behalf) represents and warrants as follows: (i) the Video is the Competitor’s own original work or the Competitor otherwise has the rights to submit the Video for purposes of the ILHC 2022 contests; (ii) Each Competitor hereby agrees to indemnify and hold ILHC and each of their respective members, managers, officers, directors, representatives, licensees, successors, assigns, agents, subsidiaries, parents, and affiliates harmless from and against any and all third party claims, actions or proceedings of any kind and from any and all damages, liabilities, costs and expenses relating to or arising out of any breach or alleged breach of any of the warranties, representations or agreements of Competitor hereunder, or from Competitor’s participating in the ILHC 2022 contest(s) or ILHC’s use of the Video(s) or any part thereof in any manner or any of the rights granted herein.

ILHC reserves the right to edit the video to comply with the Official Rules and allow ILHC to exercise its rights in the Video as described in these Official Rules or request that a Competitor edit or completely remove any content that may intentionally or unintentionally violate the Official Rules. ILHC will determine in its sole discretion which Videos have satisfied the eligibility requirements.

At any time prior to the Competition, the Organizers reserves the right to determine whether or not a division will consist of a Preliminary, Semi-Final and a Final, and whether or not rounds are danced in heats or as spotlight. This decision will be communicated as soon as possible, on the website or through announcements at the event. The competition format for each division you can find in the competitions description.