The Skating system is a method of compiling scores in ballroom dance

Ballroom dance

Ballroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world. Because of its performance and entertainment aspects, ballroom dance is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television....

 competitions. It was introduced by the British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 Official Board of Ballroom Dancing (now British Dance Council

British Dance Council

The British Dance Council was formed in 1929 as the Official Board of Ballroom Dancing . The name was subsequently changed in 1985 to the British Council of Ballroom Dancing and in 1996, the name was changed to British Dance Council...

) in 1937. It was first used during the Blackpool Dance Festival

Blackpool Dance Festival

The 8-day Blackpool Dance Festival is the world's first and most famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance, held in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England since 1920. It is also the largest ballroom competition: in 2003, 1539 couples from 54...

 and has gradually been adopted in ballroom competition around the world as well as by other dance competitions, e.g., by the World Salsa Federation.

The skating system consists of 11 rules, 10 of which determine the scoring of the final round.

Preliminary rounds

The first rule is for preliminary rounds (semifinals, quarter-finals, etc.). It says that for each dance of the round the judges must mark the number of dance couples specified by the Chairman of Adjudicators which they decide to advance to the next round. A score of a couple is the number of all "pass" marks over all judges and dances. The couples with the highest score advance to the next round. Usually the number of the couples to enter the next round is known in advance. However in the cases of ties the Chairman decides the number of dancers for the next round.

Final round

Rules 2-4 specify how the dancers receive marks in the final round. The marks from each judge for each dance are the places for the dancers, with the 1st place being the highest. No ties are allowed, i.e., if 6 couples are in the final, all places 1-6 must be assigned.

The remaining rules are for the calculation of the final placement of the couples. They involve a formal tie-breaking process. Rules 5-8 are for tallying the final places for each dance separately, rules 9-11 compile the final overall placement of couples in a dance category.

External links

• Simple online Skating calculator