Our Contests

Contest Schedule

For the monthly dance contest schedule, please see our Coming Up page!

LOD and Jack & Jills

Our Jack and Jill contests, also known as Luck of the Draw, is the generic name for a contest where dancers sign up as individuals rather than as couples. Partners are chosen randomly (such as rolling dice, picking cards, or drawing names out of a bucket), and couples must then demonstrate good social dance skills (timing, teamwork, and technique) as they dance to music selected in advance by the DJ, rather than execute a pre-choreographed routine to music of their own choosing.

A Jack & Jill contest (men leading, women following) is the traditional format for this type of contest. The Jack & Jill contest was created by Jack Carey and has been a swing dance tradition for many years. Other (less common) formats include Jill & Jack (women leading, men following), Jack & Jack (men leading and following) and Jill & Jill (women leading and following). If a contest is called Luck of the Draw, that usually means that dancers of either gender may sign up to lead or follow.

For more information about our contests, please see the article: Competition at Next Gen Dances.