WHO CAN DANCE

RULES:  This championship will be run in accordance with the USA Dance DanceSport Rulebook, 2010-2011 that will take effect on January 1, 2010.  You can download the rulebook, which contains several significant revisions, at the USA Dance National Website, along with the revised Dress Code Regulations.  
Please read the newest version of the rulebook carefully and comply with the rules when registering (e.g., determining for which proficiency level and age level events you are eligible), preparing for the comp (e.g., conforming with the updated dress code), competing (e.g., allowed or disallowed steps), and afterwards (e.g., interpreting your scores; tracking any proficiency points you earn).
ELIGIBILITY:  To be eligible to compete at the USA Dance 2010 National DanceSport Championship, competitors must meet the following requirements:

1. MEMBERSHIP:  Each competitor must be a current DanceSport Athlete member in good standing of USA Dance.  Please be sure your membership is good through April 2010 before registering; renew, if needed, online at www.usadance.org.

2. NATIONAL QUALIFYING EVENTS:  Each athlete must have competed in any one of the following USA Dance National Qualifying Events held between April 2009 and March 2010.

THESE NATIONAL QUALIFYING EVENTS QUALIFY FOR NATIONALS 2010

1.   Northeast Championships: Summer Sizzler; West Orange, NJ: June 13-14, 2009
2.   Southcentral DanceSport Championships, Gumbo of Ballroom; Baton Rouge, LA: June 26 & 27, 2009
3.   Northcentral: Derby City DS Championships - Louisville, KY: August 14-15, 2009
4.   Northwest DanceSport Championships; Seattle, WA: Oct. 24-25, 2009
5.   Southeast: High Point DanceSport Championships - High Point, NC: Oct 24-25, 2009
6.   Northeast: Manhattan Amateur Classic; New York, NY: Jan. 15-17, 2010
7.   Southwest Championships - Orange County, CA: February 5-6, 2010
8.   Northcentral Chicago DS Championships - NQE-  Chicago, IL: Feb 20-22, 2010
9.   Southeast Dance Championships - NQE  - Washington DC:  Feb. 27-28, 2010

To meet this requirement, an athlete merely needs to have competed in any event at any one of the above NQEs.  No specific placement is necessary, nor are you required to have competed in the event(s) for which you register for at Nationals.  Both members of the partnership must have competed, either with each other or with another partner. 

3. YEAR OF BIRTH/AGE CATEGORY:

Age Group	Year of the Competition	Year of the Competition
	2009	2010 (Nationals)
	Year of birth	Year of birth
Pre-Teen I	2000 or later	2001 or later
Pre-Teen II	1998 or 1999	1999 or 2000
Junior I	1996 or 1997	1997 or 1998
Junior II	1994 or 1995	1995 or 1996
Youth	1991 or 1992 or 1993	1992 or 1993 or 1994
Adult	1990 or before	1991 or before
Senior I	1974 or before	1975 or before
Senior II	1964 or before	1965 or before
Senior III	1954 or before	1955 or before

4. RESIDENCY:  In general a couple is eligible to enter the USA Dance National Championship if:

Both athletes are USA citizens
OR
One athlete is a U.S. citizen and the other athlete has appropriate legal documents allowing him/her to travel out of and back into the USA
OR
Both Athletes have been legally residing in the United States for a period of not less than twelve (12) months immediately preceding the date of the USA Dance, National DanceSport Championships
AND
Neither athlete shall have represented another country or competed in another country's national championship within the last eight (8) months, OR a letter of release is received from the original IDSF member body allowing him/her to dance for the USA.

CHAMPIONSHIP-LEVEL EVENT PROOF OF RESIDENCY FOR IDSF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS

At least one member of each couple who enters one or more Junior II, Youth, Adult, Senior I and/or Senior II, Championship-level Latin, Standard, and/or 10-Dance event(s) AND all other Adult Championship-level events must submit a photocopy of a document which will demonstrate proof of citizenship, preferably prior to, but no later than, registration check-in. 

Above-designated athletes who do not provide the appropriate documentation will not be allowed to represent the United States at IDSF Championships & World Cup events.

Documents we WILL accept to meet this requirement include any one of the following:
United States birth certificate
United States passport

Documents we WILL NOT accept to meet this requirement: 
Driver’s license
Social Security card
Military identification
Utility bill
A non-U.S. birth certificate.

Championship competitors, please provide this documentation to the Registrar BEFORE THE COMPETITION (in our hands no later than March 7, 2010) by either scanning and emailing; faxing; or mailing/overnighting copies of the required documents to the following address:
Ava Kaye Brennan
325 Lexington St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415) 641-9265
Fax: (567) 661-9265
Email: registrar@usadancenationals.org