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Tits and teeth!
Don't forget to have a dress rehearsal; and practise in the outfit (and shoes) that will be worn for the performance.
Check your music with the DJ beforehand — ideally with a sound check. Agree any specific lighting requirements.
Walk through the routine in the venue.
Try to find some space to warm up.
Presentation is the art of presenting a dance to an audience; not just your costume. For example, some moves such as the Drop Kick are more effective danced side on, rather than facing the audience. Similarly, moves that leave partners in an inelegant position relative to the audience, e.g. displaying their or your backside prominently towards the judges for long periods of time are best avoided.
Costumes can help in making a good first impression (with judges) although provided they don't interfere with your dancing (or “clash” outrageously with your partner's outfit) then costumes aren't necessarily so important in freestyle competitions. However, the judges' task of relating couples and marks to their competition numbers (which may not always be in plain sight) will be made more confusing if the dance floor is full of similarly dressed dancers, e.g. marks might get confused, or lost, if all couples on the floor are wearing a (slimming) black ensemble.
Items to consider include:
style: comedy, romantic, etc.
music.
props.
Hats and other headgear need to be be secure, so that they don't accidentally dislodge while dancing.
starting — how do you get onto the floor? Do you move in to position (in silence) and wait for the music to start, or wait for the music to start and then move in to position (in time with the music). Do both partners start together?
ending — how does the routine finish: fade-away, or a definite stop?
How long is the piece of music, you are intending to use. Think about the musical structure: where breaks occur, where the instrumental solos are, when any lyrics start and stop, and what the lyrics are saying etc. Analysing the music is most important for music without a fixed structure, e.g. jazz music, or if you want to hit a particular musical accent, or lyric.
For example, Tango in Harlem is 3 minutes 27 seconds in length — quick check from a compact disc player.
It can take a long time to count a (complicated) piece, so it's probably easiest to do this before hiring a practise space and starting to dance, so that you can maximise your practise time.
If the music has a regular structure then 8-beat moves (or multiples of 8-beats) can be switched around easily.
Unless you've managed to invent a cloning device, team costumes need to work with a large variety of body shapes and sizes — so a single cut won't necessarily suit all members. Hence, one solution is to allow members to pick an outfit that suits their size, personality, etc. form an overall theme, such as a strong limited colour scheme or style e.g. “urban chic”, tieing the look together with similar accessories.
Competitors, judges, camera crew and the audience need to be able to hear the music — which is obvious! Unless your routine depends on a particular stereo effect, it may be advisable to use a mono mix of your track, since otherwise listeners may not hear parts of the track depending on where they, and the speakers, are in the room, which may not match your practise venue.
The perceived mood of your performance will be reflected by your body language — in particular, the direction that you are looking. If your head is up and your gaze is slightly upwards, then your mood may be interpreted as confident, uplifted, etc. If your head is down, or your gaze is slightly downwards, then your mood may be perceived as down hearted, etc.
The mood of a performance will also be affected by its music; music in a major key is usually interpreted as happy, while music in a minor key is usually considered as moody or melancholic.
Make sure that the judges can see your competition number. Normally the competition number is safety pinned to the leader's back — or sometimes to the bottom of a trouser leg, if acrobatic moves are to be danced. It may be useful to bring extra safety pins to secure the competition number firmly, as competitions may only supply a limited number.
Make sure that the judges can see all of you and your partner (especially your feet) without having to strain. If the judges are seated on stage behind a desk, then there will be a “dead area” that the judges cannot see down into without leaning forwards (don't forget that the judges will also be getting tired as the competition draws on) and are much less likely to mark complicated dips, or intricate footwork in that area. If you dance on the edge of the floor, then the judges may not see you, and any competition video may not capture your performance — if you dance on the edge then the camera will only catch you when it pans to that side — if you dance in the middle, then the camera will catch you as it pans both left and right (through the middle). Some competitions may mark out the judges' (or possibly the cameras') visible area with tape on the dance floor.
Competition judges are human too!
Example judging criteria, in order:
Rhythm and Timing.
Style.
Facial expressions / sense of fun.
Musical Interpretation.
Linking of individual moves (i.e. how well moves fit together and flow of your dancing).
Use of space.
Footwork and use of spare arms, hands and head movement.
Drama between couple and theatrics!
Costumes.
Ceroc &Modern Jive Dance Company. — 2004 competition notes.
Since dancing is an art, rather than a sport, there are no objective measures and any judgement will necessarily be subjective and will be based on who and where the judge(s) are watching74. Different judges (including the audience) will be watching different dancers and making different subjective judgements:
Judges may weigh issues such as style, timing, performance (audience connection), choreography (use of space) differently, unless the competition mandates specific weightings.
A judge may have seen a brief mistake (off-time, collision, etc.) when the rest of the judging panel was assessing other competitors.
A judge's dance background may impact their perception of a performance: some judges may wish to see a good lead and follow, others may be more interested in presentation or style, some may be more tolerant towards choreographed sections in freestyle competitions.
As a competitor, it's effectively impossible to judge those dancing in the same heat, and your friends and acquaintances will probably be complimentary — so it is impossible to get a reliable “second opinion”. Whatever the result, the final arbiter of your dancing will be yourself:
I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Ah, the noise of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd.
As a spectator, it can be easy to criticise a performance — but bright lights, noise, a large crowd of peers, and a dose of adrenaline can affect even seasoned troupers.
74Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! No two witnesses will ever view the same event the same way (clearly shown by many police studies) so it is unlikely judges will ever award the exact same marks for subjective elements.