MAC 2025 Rules & Regulations

ALL ATTENDEES & PARTICIPANTS

• • All persons attending this competition as spectators, competitors, officials, or guests shall be bound by USA Dance rules and by their participation become obliged to adhere to them. The organizers of this event shall have no responsibility for loss or theft of personal articles. USA Dance or the event facilities cannot be held liable for any injury sustained while in attendance at this event. Persons attending do so at their own risk. All Athletes may be subject to drug testing by the WDSF or USA Dance.

COACHES

• Please see our Coaching Pass Policy page for passes.

MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATIONS

• • COMPETITION OPEN ONLY TO USA Dance, WDSF Members & WDSF Affiliate member organizations. A current valid USA Dance  Affiliate number is required to register. Remember, all USA Dance Athlete memberships expire on December 31, 2024. You will need to renew your membership at least 2 weeks prior to the MAC. Please go to USA Dance website and click on membership to renew or to register.

  • If living in the United States, a DanceSport Athlete Membership, either as an amateur or as a professional, in USA Dance is required. If you are not living in the United States or its territories, a WDSF or an affiliate member’s countries membership is a requirement for participation in The MAC. This holds for all amateur competitors, (Am/Am, Pro/Am, and Teacher/Student) and for all professional competitors, (Pro/Am.) If you are a Social USA Dance member, you must upgrade your membership to a DanceSport member in order to compete at The MAC.

EVENTS

• • You may only dance two skill levels per style.

  • You may only dance your age group and one higher if you are Under 18 and one younger if you are over 35. For example, a 14 year old can dance in Junior II & up in age to Youth, while a 35 year old, Senior I and down in age to Adult.

LEVEL QUALIFICATIONS

• • Competitors may enter the level they are qualified to dance or higher levels but never below their proficiency level. In other words, for example, competitors may dance in Bronze and Silver, Adult age category, but not Bronze, Silver and Gold. The USA Dance Rulebook rules regarding Age Classifications shall apply. The MAC is a Regional Qualifying Event, and as such, participating Athletes are eligible to earn proficiency points in accordance the USA Dance Rulebook.

  • FOR COLLEGE COMPETITORS: If you have never danced in a USA Dance competition or if you have never gained sufficient proficiency points from dancing in a USA Dance competition, you may enter The MAC at any level, consistent with applicable provisions of the USA Dance Rulebook and the rules and regulations on this page. Please note, though, that Pre-Bronze is a newcomer category and open only to dancers (i) who began dancing no earlier than August 2024 and (ii) who have not placed first (after dancing more than a final round) at more than two previous competitions. Newcomers, we trust that you will follow the honors system when registering for Pre-Bronze, according to the foregoing conditions. For all others, we encourage you to dance at your appropriate level. This means that if you are a Silver or Gold level dancer at collegiate competitions and you have consistently placed in the top three, you should not dance Bronze at The MAC. We count on all collegiate dancers to do the right thing at The MAC.

COMPETITOR DRESS CODE

• • A USA Dance Ruels Official will be at the event to address all questions or issues that may arise with regard to dress code violations. Prior to the event, you may email dro@usadance.org with any costuming questions prior to the event.

  • All competitors are required to adhere to the dress code set forth in the USA Dance Rulebook. Violations of the dress code may lead to a mark down of placement, expulsion or disqualification.

STUDENT/TEACHER (S/T)

• • You cannot be the judged partner in a S/T couple, and also be entered as part of a regular Amateur couple with that same person.

MAC WELCOMES GENDER NEUTRAL DANCERS

The MAC invites and encourages participation by all gender neutral dancers to enter at all levels and age categories at The MAC 2025.

• Gender neutral couples will dance on the same floor as traditional couples and not in a separate “same sex” event.

• Gender neutral couples in syllabus events will maintain consistency in their lead-follow roles for the entirety of an event. If the event contains more than one dance, for example, Waltz and Quickstep, the leader will wear the number and keep the leader role from earlier rounds and into finals. If the couple is dancing in a different division, the leader can change role to follower, and must keep that role through all rounds.

• Gender neutral couples dancing in open levels may switch roles in the course of the choreography, but only one member of the partnership will wear a number on their back.

• Gender neutral couples shall abide by costume rules that apply to syllabus and open level dancers and can wear costumes that suit their gender identification and expression, consistent with the good taste rule. The competitor number shall be worn by the individual identified as the leader of the gender neutral couple.

• A gender neutral changing room will be made available for anyone who wishes to use it. Competitors who are more comfortable changing only in front of other competitors of the same gender will have separate men’s and women’s dressing rooms available.

MASTERS OF SYLLABUS COMPETITORS

• • Competitors in Masters of Syllabus events must adhere to syllabus figures, and as with all syllabus events, they will be strictly invigilated. Masters of Syllabus is open to competitors who compete at J2 or older. 

ALL SYLLABUS EVENTS WILL BE STRICTLY INVIGILATED.

• • Only approved syllabus figures will be permitted in syllabus events for International and American styles. The Invigilator shall be responsible for all decisions, determinations, rulings and judgments concerning syllabus infractions. The Invigilator’s decision shall be final.

  • The Chair of Judges shall be responsible for decisions made with reference to problems in marking, ties or adjudication decisions. The Chairperson’s decision shall be final.

  • Flagrant disregard of any rules and regulations will result in a mark down of placement or disqualification, where necessary or appropriate in accordance with the USA Dance Rulebook.

REGISTRATION & FEES

• • All categories and events are subject to registration and time availability and the organizers reserve the right to combine or cancel them where necessary.

  • College Students shall be defined as full-time Community College, 4-yr College or University students between the ages of 18 & 35. All College students paying the college student price must show a valid college ID at the time of picking up their competition package.

  • REFUND POLICY. Competitors will receive a refund of their registration fees & dance fees if the request is received in writing no later than noon on January 05, 2024. Requests received after that time and date will be considered solely at the discretion of the organizers. There will be a 10% processing charge on all refunds. There are no refunds on any Spectator Tickets. 

COMPETITOR TICKET POLICY

• • Competitor Entries include General Admission access to all sessions during the course of the weekend.

  • All competitor tickets will be issued at check-in. Lost tickets will be charged at the full spectator rate for the respective session.

QUALIFYING FOR 2025 USA DANCE NATIONALS

To be eligible for Nationals you must accrue six (6) points. One accrues these points by:

1. Being in the top 50% at Regionals in each age/level/style in which you want to compete – Qualified (if 3 or less, all qualify) = 6 points, and you have qualified for Nationals
2. Attend one Regional and compete in each age/level/style you want to dance, without reaching the top 50%, = 4 points, and one other competition, dancing those same events, to gain an additional 2 points (sanctioned Local, Collegiate Challenge, Challenge, or another Regional Championship) – Qualified regardless of placement
3. Attend any 3 competitions and compete in each age/level/style in which you want to compete to reach 6 points (sanctioned Local, Collegiate Challenge, Challenge, or Regional Championship) – Qualified regardless of placement
4. Hawaii / Alaska – Attend one sanctioned competition (sanctioned Collegiate Challenge, Challenge, Regional Championship) and dance in each age/level/style in which you want to compete – Qualified regardless of placement
5. Senior V couples who want to compete only in Senior V events, do not have to qualify for Nationals. If a Senior V couple wants to compete in any other age category, they will have to qualify in that age level to compete at Nationals
6. No qualification needed for Showdance, Solo, Pro/Am, Teacher/Student, Mixed Proficiency, and Professional events

College Students – Additional Registration and Qualifying Rules:

• Full-time college students (35 and under) automatically qualify, without attending a qualifying event, for one collegiate level/style and will get the same level/style in adult categories, this is considered your “registration fee events”
• For a second level/style of collegiate events, which must be consecutive to your “registration fee events” level, you will have to qualify by achieving at least 6 qualifying points in each style in which you want to compete.
  • If you achieve at least six qualifying points/style, this will also entitle you to dance in both the Collegiate and Adult events. This second collegiate level is not part of your registration fee, and you will be charged the per dance collegiate fee. You would still be able to dance in the second adult level for no additional charge.
• Exception is Championship Level events where collegiate students must qualify like all other couples for the non-collegiate Championship events.
• Those couples with mixed (1 full-time college student and 1 non-college student) must qualify like all other couples for the non-collegiate events.

Regional Competitions = 6 points if you reach the top 50% in your category and = 4 points if you do not

All Challenge (Collegiate & non-Collegiate) Competitions = 2 points

Local Competitions = 1 point

The USA Dance Rulebook can be found online.

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us via email at info@macnyusadance.org.

Enter your team into the MAC 2025 GRAND SLAM TEAM MATCH which will take place depending on time permitting and interest.

For more information, send an email to info@macnyusadance.org.