Newcomer’s Corner

Caveat

I hope this little guide gives you at least a vague but helpful idea of how West Coast Swing competitions work! That said, every event can have its own quirks — so if you’re ever unsure about something, don’t hesitate to ask the chief judge or any other judge at an event. They’re usually happy to help.

Also, please note: this article is not a replacement for the official WSDC rules. It’s just a friendly intro to get you started and explain the basics in plain language. For all the official details (and the fine print), always refer to the real deal: the WSDC rulebook.

About the Comps

If you’ve ever seen one of those flashy TikToks or Instagram Reels where a couple is dancing like pros (or are actual pros), there’s a huge cheering crowd, and a row of people behind them, you might’ve thought: “How do I get there?” (Just kidding… kinda.)

But in all seriousness — most West Coast Swing events offer competitions where you can earn WSDC (World Swing Dance Council) points. You can check out their official site here. There’s absolutely no pressure to compete. It’s totally optional. But if you’re even a little curious, here are a few reasons why it might be worth giving it a go:

  • It puts your dancing skills to the test under pressure!
  • It pushes you to grow as a competitive dancer.
  • You get a chance to shine and show off your hard work.
  • You can earn WSDC points and work your way up to the next division (more on that later).
  • Some people even say it’s fun!

Most events offer two main types of competition:

Jack & Jill (J&J) Strictly
You don’t need a partner to enter. You do need a partner to enter.
You’re randomly paired with different partners. You dance with your dancing partner only.
You’re judged as an individual in the non-final rounds, and as a couple in the final round. You are always judged as a couple.
You dance to random music. You dance to random music.
You can earn WSDC points by placing in the final round (in most divisions). You cannot earn WSDC points by placing in the final round.

Depending on how big the competition is, it will be split into rounds, for example prelim, semi and final.

Each round can also be broken into heats. So if there are, say, 20 couples in the prelim, they might be split into two heats — 10 couples in each. No matter which heat you’re in, the judges will have a set number of dancers they’re allowed to pass through to the next round.

In competitions, you can choose to either lead or follow (or both, if you’re entering a Switch comp — though those are pretty rare, so we’ll stick to the more common formats here).

Division

Events can have multiple division-level competitions, some of the most popular ones are:

Jack & Jill

  • Newcomer
  • Novice
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced
  • All-Star
  • Champion
  • Junior
  • Sophisticated
  • Masters

Strictly

  • Newcomer/Novice
  • Novice
  • Novice/Intermediate
  • Intermediate/Advanced
  • All-Star/Champion
  • Open
  • Junior
  • …

Divisions highlighted in gray don’t award WSDC points in the final. Here are a few key things to note:

  • Which division you compete in depends on how many division-specific WSDC points you’ve earned.
  • You earn WSDC points by placing in the final.
  • How many WSDC points you get depends on the number of unique role-specific contestants entering the competition, i.e. competition’s tier (see Chart 4: Points Awarded per Tier).
  • You start in Newcomer or Novice and work your way up as you collect more points. The exact number of points required to advance — and when advancement becomes mandatory — is defined in the official WSDC rules. You can check out the details in Chart 3: WSDC Skill Level Jack and Jill Advancement Chart.
  • Strictly divisions often combine levels — for example, many events offer an Open Strictly division that’s open to dancers of any WSDC level.
  • Junior, Sophisticated and Masters divisions don’t depend on points at all — they’re based on age:
    • You can enter Junior if you’re under 18.
    • You can enter Sophisticated if you’re 35 or older.
    • You can enter Masters if you’re 50 or older.

So whether you’re climbing the WSDC ladder or joining based on age, there’s a division that fits your journey! If you are eligible, you can even join multiple competitions in a single event!

What Happens in Each Round?

Jack & Jill

Random partner, random song.

When you think about WCS competitions, you should think about J&J. As mentioned before, you don’t need a partner to enter and in each non-final round, different dance, you are coupled with a different individual. There are also role-specific judges (so that some judges mark only leaders, and the others only followers). This changes in the final round, where all judges mark you as a couple (and you no longer rotate partners).

What judges look for can vary a bit from judge to judge, but generally, they’re paying attention (or should be paying attention) to things like:

  • Timing
  • Technique
  • Connection
  • Musicality
  • Teamwork
  • Presentation

The higher the division, the more is expected in each of these areas — so the bar rises as you level up! And here’s what they’re not looking for:

  • Choreographed routines — competitions like Jack & Jill and Strictly are improvised.
  • Flashy styling or complex patterns that are off-time or built on shaky basics.

So the golden rule? Keep it clean, connected, and musical — and build from there.

Strictly

Most of the same principles from Jack & Jill apply here, but instead of rotating partners every dance, you stick with the same partner throughout the competition. There are no role-specific judges and you are marked as a couple. You also don’t win any WSDC points by placing in the final round.

Marks & Placement in Final

In each non-final round, in most cases, each role-specific judge will mark you either

  • Yes
  • Alt1
  • Alt2
  • Alt3
  • No.

Once judges have submitted their marks, they’re translated into points (see the Home page for more on how that works). Whether or not you advance to the next round depends on how well you did compared to the other dancers in your role during that round.

If there’s a tie, the decision falls to the chief judge, whose mark becomes the tiebreaker. (Otherwise, their marks stay hidden.)

If you make it to the final round, you might experience one of three formats:

  • All-skate – Everyone dances at once (common in lower divisions).
  • Spotlight – Each couple performs one at a time (more typical in higher divisions).
  • Push-out – Two or three couples perform on the floor at the same time.

In the final, each judge ranks you against all other couples. The exact method for calculating placements is a bit technical (and beyond the scope of this article), but if you’re curious, you can read all about it in the official WSDC rules.

Depending on the event’s tier, making it to the final can earn you WSDC points — and those points help you progress to higher divisions and unlock advanced workshops at future events. That said, don’t worry if you don’t have the points yet. Most events offer auditions, which give you a chance to dance your way into a higher-division workshop if you’re ready to level up.

WSDC ID Number

If you make it to a final and earn at least one WSDC point, you’ll be assigned a shiny new WSDC ID number. With it, you can look up all your point-earning competitions in the official WSDC database here.

If you’ve competed but didn’t make the final or made it but didn’t earn any points — your entry won’t show up on that list.

Also, a quick heads-up: you don’t need any points to enter a Newcomer competition. But the moment you earn your first point, it’s time to move up to Novice. All of this is outlined in the official rules, which you can find in Chart 3: WSDC Skill Level Jack and Jill Advancement Chart.

What Now?

Now that you’ve got a basic understanding of how WCS competitions work, you’ll probably see why tracking only your WSDC points isn’t always the best idea. Remember — you can only earn points if you make it to the final, and even then, it’s not guaranteed.

To explore a better way of tracking your progress, head back to the Home page and discover how you can tackle this challenge more effectively.