Anthrocon 2021 Online Fursuit Dance Competition Rules

Anthrocon 2021’s in-person event has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns on public safety. However, we will be hosting an online fursuit dance competition where you can submit your recorded video, up to 2 minutes long, of you dancing. The finalists who will be featured on an Anthrocon livestream (to be announced) will be selected by a group of judges, and will undergo further judging to decide a Top Three placement.

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Signing Up, Rules, and Format

Submissions for the online dance competition will be held throughout the month of May and June, using a Google Form. The deadline to submit your entry and video is on June 20th, 2021 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Sign-up restrictions are as follows:

Soloists and groups will sign up with the same form. However, all dancers are only allowed to participate in one act – you can’t sign up for both a solo and team performance.
What you submit is what will be judged for both the preliminary selection process, and the finalists.
The competition is all-ages but has been designated as a PG-13 event, due to the nature of dancing events. Please keep in mind that content may be rated as such, from music selection to theming.

The event organizer(s) reserve the right to make executive decisions for any performances in the event where necessary.

Anthrocon 202 1 Online Dance Competition Submission Form

Sign-up & Submissions

All submissions must be made using the form link found above. You will be uploading your submission video at the same time as your information. Competitors are responsible for including their music with their video submission. When submitting, please label your video file with your fursuit name for clear identification, such as:

ZekeHyena_DanceComp.mp4

Please submit your video in as high quality as possible, in MP4, MOV, AVI, FLV, or WMV formats. We also encourage all competitors to submit videos that are filmed horizontally, or “landscape”, instead of a vertical fashion if you are filming with your phone.

Time limits and restrictions:

All performances are limited to 2 minutes. Any video or performance that exceeds 2 minutes will be manually faded out (a few seconds over 2 is fine if you are transitioning out of frame/music)
All songs must be censored to a radio edit “clean” rating. Failure to do so will result in disqualification from the competition.

We will NOT be accepting video submissions through other file sharing services or social media unless notified in advance – please email us in advance if you need accommodation.

Rules

This is a FURSUIT dance competition – other forms of costume will not be eligible.
- Minimum fursuit requirements are: Head, Hands, Tail, Feet. Your fursuit should stay on you at all times during performance, unless in case of medical emergency.
- Any “substitute” fursuit parts, such as Happy Feet (plush-shaped sneakers) or alternative footwear, must be notified to the competition organizer(s) and approved
Only ORIGINAL dance routines and choreography may be used – we will not tolerate plagiarism. An intentional or blatant copy of a pre-existing choreography, with proof, will result in an instant revocations of any awards given, and a one-year ban period.
Props: Only small clothing or “accessory” props (e.g. a cane) are allowed to be used.
Malicious, lewd, or profane content or behaviour in any part of a performer’s dance is not allowed under any circumstances.

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Competition Format

Competition Style: Competitors must dance in the costume they have signed up with, to the song of their choice. There is no preference between choreography or freestyle – you have full creative freedom to submit a rehearsed or a freestyle dance. Make it look good, and make it work with the music. Your dance should be limited to a maximum of 2 minutes.

Judging: Judges will approve a certain number the competitors for the final livestream showcase. Factors in decision-making can include, but are not limited to:

Unique moves and variety
Quality of dance and execution
Degree of difficulty
Showmanship / crowd appeal

Finalists Showcase Livestream

Submissions that pass through to the finals will be included in a livestream performance complete with live judging and reactions. After each finalist video, one judge will provide their commentary about the performance. Once all the finalists video submissions are shown, the judges will tally up the scores given to each finalist and announce the Top Three winners on the spot.

Judging: Judges will be asked to rank all acts using the following categories, with a maximum score of 10 for each:

Execution: How clean and polished do your moves look?
Originality: How unique is your dance, does it look fresh and non-repetitive?
Musicality: How well does your dance match the music selection?
Dynamics: How dynamic and/or exciting is your dance?
Showmanship: How does your dance appeal to the audience/judges?

In the event of a tiebreaker, individual judges’ marks will be considered to break the tie, where the finalist with the highest individual judge score will supercede the other.

Prizes: Historically, prizes have come in the form of plaques and/or medals distributed to the three highest-ranking competitors. For this online dance competition, we will be arranging alternative prizes and announcing them on the livestream showcase. As a side note, the event organizers would like to encourage that Anthrocon’s Dance Competition is first and foremost an event to enjoy and have fun at – we promote an environment and event that is focused on the community and performing for it, rather than competing for status or reward.

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Disclaimer Notice

By signing up for the Anthrocon 2021 Online Fursuit Dance Competition, you agree to adhere to all rules and regulations set forth in this document, and any others explicitly stated by the event organizer(s) during all stages of the event. The event organizers may also change or remove certain rules or stipulations depending on their collective assessment of situations, should they merit review. They also have the right to revoke a competitor’s registration and eligibility to the competition based on reasonable grounds.

All competitors also acknowledge and understand that their image, or likeness of image, may be used in media representations whether by individuals or media corporations that have been given explicit permission by Anthrocon Inc. during the Finals event on Sunday. These representations will not be used for monetary profit, and simply for the promotion of Anthrocon and its affiliated events. Questions or concerns may be directed to the address below.

In addition to adhering to the rules of the Anthrocon 2021 Online Fursuit Dance Competition, all registered participants also agree to adhere by all rules set forth by the Anthrocon Attendee Code of Conduct, which can be found on Anthrocon’s website (www.anthrocon.org). All participants must be in good standing with Anthrocon Inc. and be registered with the convention in order to participate. Furthermore, all participants of the dance competition shall not hold Anthrocon liable for any damages/injuries to participants incurred at the convention and its events, including the Dance Competition. Any complaints or concerns regarding this event, or with the venue hosted in, can be made to dancecomp@anthrocon.org.