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Competition rules

The rules of every competition

These rules apply at every qualifier, cup and Final of the Bachata Social World Cup. An event can add its own rules, such as a dress code or a schedule, on its event page. When an event rule and these rules disagree, these rules apply.

Rules

On the floor and around it

1. On the floor

  1. 1.1Lifts are not allowed: no movement may take both feet of a dancer off the ground with the partner’s support.
  2. 1.2Dips and drops are allowed as long as one partner keeps contact with the floor.
  3. 1.3Your partner’s safety and the couples around you come first. Dancing that puts a partner or another couple at risk, or causes a fall or a collision, is unsafe dancing.
  4. 1.4Dress to dance socially: stylish and comfortable. Shoes stay on, nothing comes off during the dance and no props.

2. Your partner

  1. 2.1Partners are drawn at random. You dance with the partner you are given, for the whole song, and you do not swap or refuse a partner.
  2. 2.2Showing displeasure with your partner, mocking them or treating them with disrespect, on the floor or off it, is a breach of this rule.
  3. 2.3Contact stays within social dancing. Touching a partner without their consent, harassment, discrimination or intimidation means disqualification and a review under the Code of Conduct.

3. Marshalling and bibs

  1. 3.1Wear your bib on your left thigh, where the judges can see it, and keep it visible through every round. Show it whenever a marshal or a judge asks for it.
  2. 3.2Be in the marshalling area when your heat is called and follow the marshals’ instructions. A dancer who is not there when the heat is called may be scratched from the round.
  3. 3.3Once lined up, stay lined up and go to the floor with your heat.

4. Judges and results

  1. 4.1Heats, partners and songs are random. Songs are never shared in advance.
  2. 4.2Judges do not score their dance partner, romantic partner, ex or close family, and declare that they stay impartial towards friends, students and teammates.
  3. 4.3Judges’ scores are final. Video review looks at breaches of these rules, never at a judge’s score.
  4. 4.4Results are published on this platform after the competition, usually once the event has finished, with every judge’s ranking and any sanction next to the dancer.
  5. 4.5If you believe a score was entered against the wrong bib, tell the competition desk before the next round starts.

Sanctions

Three sanctions

A breach of these rules is sanctioned in the competition itself. The event’s competition coordinator decides, with the usual sanction below as the guide, and can go up or down with the circumstances.

Warning

No change to the result. It is shown next to the dancer. A second warning in the same competition is reviewed for a heavier sanction.

Last place in the round

The dancer is placed last of their role in that round. In a round with a cut they do not advance and the next dancer advances instead; in the final they finish last.

Disqualification

The dancer leaves the competition: no placement, no prize and no qualification. The next dancers move up.

The usual sanction

1.1Lift
Last place in the round. A repeated or dangerous lift: disqualification.
1.3Unsafe dancing
Warning. A fall, an injury or a repeat: last place or disqualification.
2.1Refusing the partner drawn
Last place in the round.
2.2Disrespect to the partner
Warning. A repeat or a serious case: last place in the round.
2.3Harassment
Disqualification, and the case goes to the World Cup Committee.
3.1Bib not visible
Warning.
3.2Marshalling
Warning. Absent when the heat is called: scratched from the round.

Behaviour beyond the competition, before or after it, and any sanction beyond the event, such as a suspension, follow the Code of Conduct.

Video review

Report what you saw

Almost every heat is filmed by someone in the audience. Anyone at the event can report a breach of these rules with the video, judges can report from their scoring screen, and the coordinator decides before the next round is drawn.

Who reports

  • Anyone at the event with an account can report, from the event page, while the round is running. A report from the public needs a video.
  • Judges report from their scoring screen. A judge does not need a video: one judge’s report can lead to a warning, and two judges reporting the same dancer in the same round count as confirmed.
  • Report what you saw: the round, the heat, the dancer’s bib, the rule and, when you have it, the video. A short clip of the moment is enough.

Who decides

  • The event’s competition coordinator receives every report at once, watches the video and decides. The coordinator sanctions only when the breach is clear on the video or confirmed by two judges. When it is not clear, the result stands.
  • A disqualification in a final is decided together with the head judge.
  • Reports on a round close when the next round is drawn, and reports on the final when the results are published. Every report is decided before that: the next round cannot be drawn, and the results cannot be published, while a report is still open. A sanction therefore always counts for who goes through.
  • The sanction is shown in the results next to the dancer, with the rule and one line about what happened.

Privacy

  • The name of the person who reported is never shown to the public or to the dancer reported.
  • Videos are kept privately by the Bachata Social World Cup. They are seen by the event team, the World Cup Committee and the dancer reported, and are not published.
  • Reporting in bad faith, or to harm a dancer, is a breach of the Code of Conduct.

To report, open the event’s page on the day of the competition and tap Report an incident.

Appeals

After the competition

  • A dancer who was reported sees every report about them in their account: the rule, the round, the video and the decision.
  • A sanctioned dancer can appeal in writing to info@bachatasocialworldcup.com within 14 days of the competition. Members of the World Cup Committee who were not at the event review it, and their decision is final.
  • An appeal can correct the results, but a round is never danced again. The sanction stays in force while the appeal is reviewed.
  • Sanctions beyond the event itself, such as a suspension, are decided under the Code of Conduct.
info@bachatasocialworldcup.com

Last updated 10 November 2026.