Dance with a Stranger, commonly called DWAS (dee-woz), is about dancing with someone you may not have danced with before. DWAS in some ways reflects how our classes work: strangers turn up to a dance class and rotate round the class and dance with people they haven't danced with before.
DWAS is a great opportunity to meet dancers from other dance studios as you do not need to enter with a partner.
Dancers enter DWAS as individuals and enter at their own personal competition Level - you cannot dance up. A competitor may be competing in different levels for Freestyle and DWAS if their Freestyle partner is in a higher Level.
Enter as a Lead and as a Follow
You can enter one level as a lead and a different level as a follow provided you have joined the MJPI for both roles.
Each entry counts as a separate event.
How DWAS Works
Leads and follows are judged separately. However, the judges will still be looking for how well you dance with each partner i.e. synergy and partnership.
Follows move around partners on the dance floor at intervals of around 40 seconds announced by the MC until they have danced with all the partners in that heat.
Judges will be free to roam around the floor. In the past there has always be the same number of judges as competitors with follows judges remaining in one position.
🏘 Split Levels
DWAS is split into four levels,
- Level 1
- Level 2
- Level 3
- Level 4
- Dancers enter at the level of their respective role
- If your lead and follow levels are the same you'll need to choose which role to enter in
📋 Judging Criteria
Please refer to the general section on judging criteria.
🎵 Music
Here is the BPM (Beats Per Minute) range of songs that will be played at each level:
| Category |
BPM Range |
| Level 1 |
100 - 130 |
| Level 2 |
90 - 140 |
| Level 3 |
70 - 150 |
| Level 4 |
60 - 160 |
