Dancing without border: Inside the International Dance League
Unrecognised talent, rise to fame and the next big sport. The takeover of dance. The IDL (international dance league) brings everyone together, making viral trends and climbing to the top. But what exactly is it? How does it work? But most of all where to watch? Read and dive deeper about all things dance and how the IDL has helped dance to become the main attraction.
What is the International Dance League?
This year a brand new competition sparked the globe. The International Dance League. A competition series consisting of 6 teams trying to rise to fame and prove they’re the best. The league is a way of making dancers get recognition and have dance shown as a sport. The pro dancers involved compete in intense head-to-head battles to come out on top and be the best dance team in the world. The teams who compete are Brotherhood from Canada, GRV from USA, 1Million from Korea, Royal Family from New Zealand, Jam Republic from South-east Asia and Quickstyle from Norway. These 6 teams travel around the globe and compete in 6 series. Like all competitions, IDL has a select scoring system, certain rules, and most importantly it has a fan base and a place to compete. They all have a set uniform, a jersey like those you see in ball sports, which has to be worn when competing.
How does the IDL work?
The IDL competition has a difference to every other competition. It consists of series instead of round robins, semi finals and finals. These 6 series are a chance for teams to collect points, gain fans and find new skills to incorporate into other dances. The 6 series are held in New York City USA, Vancouver Canada, Sydney Australia, Seoul Korea and Los Angeles Usa x2. The point system works differently. Having more points doesn’t mean you win the championship. Having less points doesn’t mean you lose. Instead, the point system is used as a way to determine who gets the most money. When teams entered the competition, they were told there was 1 million dollars up for grabs. This meant that the point system went towards the money, not the championship. Each team would finish the season but if they finished 1st, they get the most, if they finished 6th, they would get the least. I know you're asking why the IDL did it this way, let me explain. The reasoning of having the points go towards the money was to make sure there was an even chance of winning the championship. It meant all teams, no matter their past scores, still had the chance to win and get the championship. It also meant that if a team had a good season and won every round, they wouldn't win earlier and make other teams think negatively. Let's dive deeper into the individual series and how those work. The individual series have the same layout for each one. The layout consists of 2 battles, a head-to-head and finale.
The head to head battle is where 2 teams compete against each other (eg Brotherhood v Grv, Quickstyle v 1million and Royal family v Jam republic). They compete with a brand new set/dance, brand new song and brand new scores. Each team goes into a series with 2 prepared sets which were not performed at previous series, this means what they performed before the Sydney series, cannot be performed for the rest of the year. To determine who out of the 2 teams starts, they do a coin toss. Each team has to perform with a minimum of 20 dancers performing (start with 20, end with 20), any less than that results in a deduction. Then, they compete.
They compete to get the most votes out of 7. These 7 votes come from the 6 judges on the judging panel and then whoever gets the most fan votes. This is the same for every head-to-head battle, if you win, you're into the final 3. Once the final 3 have been determined, whoever had the most votes performs 3rd, whoever had the least votes performs 1st. The scoring for the final is different compared to head-to-head battles. Instead of it being 7 votes, it's how much your overall score was out of 100. They score you out of 10 for these categories: Stamina, Projection/ Communication, spacing, technical execution + authenticity, cleanliness, stylistic athleticism, creativity, musicality, staging and complexity of choreography. In all the series, if you win the fan vote, you get an extra point, this doesn't apply for the championship round. They also include deductions, like all sports, if something goes wrong a point gets deducted. You can get deductions for the following (information taken from IDL website and handbook):
Repeated Use of Choreography (-1 point per infraction)
Use of more than 2 8-counts of choreography from any previous IDL set, whether the choreography is originally from the offending team or any other IDL team.
Excessively dangerous or life threatening stunts (-3 points per infraction)
Stunts deemed excessively dangerous or life threatening to performers
Inappropriate Content (-1 point per infraction)
Use of any music in violation of the Prohibited Language policy
Missing Lineup Dancers (-3 points per dancer missing)
One or more dancers from the 20-dancer lineup did not appear on stage during the set. Injuries are exempt from this deduction.
Usage of Props (-2 points per infraction)
Use of any prohibited props, accessories, or non-costuming articles
Items Left on Stage (-1 point per infraction)
Any items remaining on stage after a performance. One deduction assessed per category of item. Including but not limited to: costume pieces, illegal props, accessories, etc.
Damage to production elements (Immediate disqualification)
Any damage to production elements including but not limited to: stage floor, lighting equipment, sound equipment, curtains, or other venue property. Faulty/unsafe production will not result in a penalty on a performing team.
Using Unlicensed Music (Immediate Disqualification)
This includes performing to any song that has not been fully cleared at least two (2) weeks prior to the Series.
Late/incorrect music submission (-1 point per day late)
Any mix submitted less than one (1) week prior to the Series. This includes mixes submitted via the wrong ClicknClear event link, email, WhatsApp, or any method that is not via the correct ClicknClear event.
If deductions are handed to the team, they get announced at the start of scoring. All teams get their scoresheets back to help improve their next series set and help to know where they need to focus. All teams have two captains/co-captains (shown at the top of the article); they are often the lead choreographers, co-founder or the member who has been there longest. Now you're up to date with how it works, I know you're wondering how to watch it.
How has IDL helped the dance community?
You can stream the IDL on ESPN, Disney+, Youtube. The IDL has helped the dance community immensely whether it's through TikTok, Fortnite or the competition. The IDL has gone viral, mainly for the intense dance moves. If you have tiktok you might've seen the viral judas dance, which was created by 1 million, you might've seen the viral 'i want you back dance', which was created by Brotherhood or the 'toxic' dance created by Brotherhood. On Fortnite, Brotherhood had a dance move that became an emote, and if you know IDL from the competition, you know what I'm talking about. The IDL recognition has given those dancers who were told that it wasn’t a sport, proof that it is, and that it's just as popular as any other sport. Dance deserves just as much fame as every other sport because they have intense physical activity. If you think otherwise, that's your sign to go watch the IDL.
Article written by Faith Ashington ©️ Faith Ashington
