This competition is FREE to enter and goes straight to finals
You will dance with your partner in a big circle with all the other competitors, facing inwards.
The caller will call moves from the original Big Apple Contest repertoire and you must perform them with your partner until the caller calls another move
You will do this for two rounds – depending on number of competitors you may be tapped out after the first round
You will be judged as a couple, with consensus formed from the judges (no judging sheets)
There is only one winning couple who will be announced on the spot!
Longest Heel Slide Contest
This competition is FREE to enter and goes straight to finals
Competitors take it in turns to run up and slide across the floor on their heels
The slide length is measured from a fixed Start Line until the last moment that you were sliding on your heels
If you slide or roll over on the floor your slide is only measured until the last part you were sliding on your heels
If you pass over the Start Line during your run up you will have to take a slide again. This is a fault
If you make too many faults you may be disqualified!
Every competitor has at least two slide attempts in the first round
The crowd and the MC will decide who the longest slide competitors will be to go to the final rounds
There is only one winner who will be announced on the spot!
This year we are running the Mix & Match competitions slightly differently! Check out the full guidelines below:
Blues Mix & Match
All competitors will take part in the preliminary round.
Heats 1:
Wait for your name to be called for your heat
You will dance for approximately a minute and a half to three different songs of different style and tempo.
You will be randomly allocated a new partner for each song
You will be judged as an individual in your role (leader or follower).
We will post the results on Facebook and on the front desk as soon as we have the information ready and processed from the judges.
Final
You will dance with one partner for a spotlight of 6x8s, then with a second partner for another spotlight of 6x8s to a different song.
There will be a final all skate for you to dance with your third and final partner
Each spotlight will have one couple dancing at a time.
You will be randomly allocated a new partner for each section – 3 different partners in total
There will be no warm up song
You will be judged as an individual in your role (leader or follower)
Winners will be announced the same night as the competition at the end of the night
There is a chance that the winning lead and winning follow did not dance together in the final! But we like this format as it will give everyone a chance to shine with different partners.
Rising Star Mix & Match and All Star Mix & Match
Prelims:
All competitors will take part in the preliminary round.
Heats 1 and 2:
Wait for your name to be called for your heat
You will dance for approximately a minute and a half to three different songs of increasing tempo.
You will be randomly allocated a new partner for each song
You will be judged as an individual in your role (leader or follower).
We will post the results on Facebook and on the front desk as soon as we have the information ready and processed from the judges.
Finals:
Between 5 and 7 couples will be invited to the finals depending on number of entries and at the judges’ discretion.
You will dance with one partner for a spotlight of 16x8s, then with a second partner for another spotlight of 16x8s to a different song.
There will be a final all skate for you to dance with your third and final partner
Each spotlight will have two couples dancing at a time.
You do not need to battle the other couple or interact with them!
You will be randomly allocated a new partner for each section – 3 different partners in total
There will be no warm up song
You will be judged as an individual in your role (leader or follower)
Winners will be announced the same night as the competition at the end of the night
There is a chance that the winning lead and winning follow did not dance together in the final! But we like this format as it will give everyone a chance to shine with different partners.
Jedi Mix & Match
Prelims:
All competitors will take part in the preliminary round.
Heats 1 and 2:
Wait for your name to be called for your heat
You will dance for approximately a minute and a half to four different songs of different tempos.
The first two dances will involve followers being blindfolded
The last two dances will involve the leaders being blindfolded
You will be randomly allocated a new partner for each song
You will be judged as an individual in your role (leader or follower).
We will post the results on Facebook and on the front desk as soon as we have the information ready and processed from the judges.
Finals:
Between 5 and 7 couples will be invited to the finals depending on number of entries and at the judges’ discretion.
You will be randomly allocated a partner at the start
You will dance one spotlight of 16x8s to one song, then a second spotlight of 8x8s to a different song.
There will be a final all skate to the final song
Each spotlight will have two couples dancing at a time.
You do not need to battle the other couple or interact with them (this would be too challenging blindfolded anyway!)
There will be no warm up song
You will be judged as a couple
Winners will be announced the same night as the competition at the end of the night
Invitational Mix & Match
This competition is straight to finals
You will be randomly allocated a partner at the start.
Every couple will dance to a short song (no spotlights)
Every individual competitor will judge every other couple excluding themselves (no collaborating with your partner for opinions!)
There will be a final all skate at fast tempo for everyone to swing out! Competitors are not expected to judge this 🙂
Winners will be announced the same night as the competition at the end of the night
London Throwdown is a Bring Your Own Beverages event. You are more than welcome to bring beer, cider, wine & spirits. Whatever drinks take your fancy.
Soft Drinks & Water
There will be water coolers available for you to fill your water bottle and you are most welcome to bring whatever other drinks you like.
Drinkware
In an effort to use fewer plastic cups we will not be providing any disposable cups for water or other drinks. We will have a small number of LSF tin mugs available for £2.00 each which will be yours to keep. Otherwise we would strongly recommend bringing your own water bottles and other drinkware.
Keeping Drinks Cold
There are fridges you are able to use and we will provide buckets with ice. You are most welcome to keep your drinks cool in these.
Forgot to Bring Your Own?
There is a 24/7 shop down the road from the venue:
Please make use of the free unmanned coat rail next to the front desk if you need to leave coats, luggage or big bags but be sure to keep your valuables near you. Please avoid bringing large bags into the ballroom. While we will do our very best to keep an eye out, London Throwdown cannot take responsibility for any losses.
Footwear
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The floor at the Limehouse Town Hall is wooden with some wear and tear. We kindly ask that if you are not happy with how fast the floor is that you change your shoes and not the floor. In other words, please do not wax or talc the floor.
Photography
There will be photographers at the event, if you do not wish to have your picture taken please make yourself known to them. If you’d like to take your own photos or videos at the event please ask permission from the people featured. Feel free to tag them on social media with #londonthrowdown.
Videography
While every care is taken to have videos filmed of the competitions at the event we cannot guarantee that you will be featured in the videos of your competitions. Find a friend or spectator to film for you if you would like to save some video memories for yourself!
Costume Changes
There are toilet facilities in the building on the ground and first floor. There is not a lot of room so we recommend arriving ready dressed where possible!
Bring Your Own Beverages
London Throwdown is a Bring Your Own Beverages event… read more
General Information
Refunds and Exchanges
We’re sorry we can’t offer refunds – see our website for the terms. If you want to swap or sell on your pass to someone else please give them your name and they can attend with your ticket.
Weather
Please always check the weather before setting out. Limehouse Town Hall can get very hot on a warm evening. Perhaps consider bringing a change of clothes and maybe even an umberella.
Transport
Always check TFL for weekend transport updates. It would be terrible if you missed your comp due to engineering works.
Your wellbeing
We hope you enjoy the event – if you need any help during the weekend please come and find an organiser or a volunteer at the front reception desk, or you can contact us at festivals@swingpatrol.co.uk or phone Michaela on 07949027194 or Pippa on 07904 658 089
The wellbeing of our attendees and team is important to us and we reserve the right to remove any individuals who behave inappropriately. Please come and speak to us if you need some assistance, or call 999 if it’s an emergency. You can find our volunteers and organisers wearing orange wristbands. See our code of conduct for full information.
Videography
Costume Changes
