COMPETITION RULES

CHOREOGRAPHERS & PARTICIPANTS:

Age Divisions:
Minor Age         06 to 10
Junior Age        11 to 15
Senior Age       16 to 29
Adult Age         30 to 30+

+ Participant’s age is determined as of their age on the 1st January of the competition year. E.g.

If the child is born between January 2 of 2005 thru January 1 2006, The child is 0 years old on January 1, 2006 (Because the first birthday is after 1/1/2006, so for the purpose of FOGANA age the year of 2006 the child will be 0 year old.)

+ 25% of the participants can be younger or + 1 year from the appropriate age.
+ Any combination of boys and girls are allowed in all divisions, unless specified.
+ Minimum number of participants is 8; maximum number is 16 in all divisions.
+ Same participant can not take part in more than one team at NA competition.

Participation:
In a given year, any individual involved as a participant, manager, choreographer or director in a competitive team, must not be involved in the management of the competition, judging or trophy distribution at regional or North American level.

Time Limit:
Maximum of six (6) minutes per entry will be strictly enforced with a penalty point of 10 points for every 10 seconds over 6 minutes for all the dance categories. No introductory message incorporated by the entrants in the CD will be accepted.

Costumes:
+ While wishing to promote and encourage creativity and realizing that esthetic senses is highly     individual, the designer should take care that the apparel depicts and resembles the one word in the     region from which the dance comes from e.g. Bhil or Aadivasi dance should depict those from Gujarat     and not Andhra. Dang costume should not be from Madhya Pradesh or Assam etc.

+ Costume change on or off stage during the performance is not allowed.

+ Many tribal costumes are worn high on the legs; i.e. up to the knees; However Ghaghara and Chaniya    length for other communities should be worn six inches below the knee as a norm.

+ A regional winning entry must wear the same costumes without change to compete in North America    competition.

+ For some unforeseen circumstances, rules and regulation Chair can give a waiver.


Song Selection:
+ Selected song must be Gujarati, lyrics and the rhythm should match with the choreography.
+ Mixed (Two different songs) or Remixed songs of any combinations are not allowed.
+ The song must be no more than 6 minutes.
+ Super imposed dandia in Raas music is not allowed.
+ Song must be recorded on CD-R only; there should not be any other music or songs on the CD. The    CD must be sent with the entry forms in duplicate.
+ The same choreographer at any regional or NA competition cannot repeat the first prize-winning song    at NA competition (Only the beginning of the song will be matched).
+ Solo dancing in folk dance is not permitted.


Lighting:

+ Lighting on the stage will be preset to the optimal lighting for viewing and will not be changed in the    middle of the program.
+ Special request for lighting can be arranged, if requested by the team and pre approved by the host    in advance of the competition.

STAGE & CURTAIN:
+ One representative of the performing team is allowed to assist the stage management during their performance.
+ Up to 3 minutes of stage preparation is allowed before the competition.

ENTRY & MEMBERSHIP:
+ Sponsoring organization or a participating team must be a current or a life member of FOGANA to     participate in competition.
+ Accurately and completely filled membership form, Entry form and Travel form with appropriate fees    must be received by assigned tabulation team, by the due date for regional competitions, for a team    to be allowed to compete in the regional competition and Entry and Travel form for NA competition.
+ Proof of age of the participants must be attached with the entry form.
+ Organization or choreographer can enter up to 4 items in regional or NA competition.
+ If qualified for NA competition, team manager must acknowledge the intention to     participate and fill    out the travel form and a copy of entry form with entry fee and send     it to hosting organization by    due dates.
+ Competing teams will be allowed to have one representative to supervise sound, tabulation, curtain &    lights during the performance.

Membership Types:
* Associate member
* Constituent member

Membership Fee: $ 30 Associate, $ 50 Constituent (FOGANA) $ 251 Life $ 501 Patron

To keep the membership data accurate, please complete the membership form every year and update the information. E.g. President, delegates and other contact information even if you are a “Life” member.


Fees:

Entry Fee:
Regional competition $25, NA competition $50 per entry. Thus, for a valid application the following must be sent to the address given by the host by the deadline date:

Membership Fee:
Associate member fee $ 30 per year or Constituent member fee $ 50 per year should be paid. (Only non profit organizations with 501(c) (3) are qualified to be constituent member.)

$ 251 will qualify for life membership.

A. Membership Form for each organization with membership fee payable to FOGANA. Please include organization name in the memo. To keep the membership information up to date, make sure that the names of the president and delegates are current on the membership form.

B. Entry Form for each item and entry fee, payable to host. Clearly written names of the participants, sex, date of birth with the song description. All contact information e.g. E-mail, Cell and Home phones of Manager and Chor.

C. Travel Form: To make it easy for host to provide YOU a transportation facility, please make sure that the travel form is filled out accurately and completely.

D. Proof of Age: Please include a copy of a birth certificate, driver’s license or passport of each participant.

E. Two (2) CDs non returnable, with the item song, marked with team name, age group and category. Cassette tapes are not accepted; all songs must be in Gujarati with 6 minutes maximum length. Only one song should be on the CD. (Host is NOT responsible for poor recording; do not stick a label on the CD, Use marker to write on it).

EMCEES:
+ Up to 6 emcees can be used to introduce the item using the description provided on entry form by    choreographer.

+ Emcees will only mention the description, sequence number of the competition item and the divisional    category to introduce the item. The team identity related information such as choreographers,    Manager’s, Participant’s name or any other must not be mentioned.

+ While promoting the youth, mature and qualified emcees must be selected in the program. Gujarati    and English speaking emcees combination is a good combination to introduce the item to the mixed    audience.

EVALUATION:
Qualified and distinguished panel of judges will judge each item presented in the competition. Each judge will use following 9 evaluations to judge the item out for a total of 500 points.

ENTRY/ OPENING:
The entry will be considered approximately up to the first two (2) minutes of the item whether the team entered from the wings or began the item on stage.

Lyrics / Appropriateness:
The lyrics of the song must be in the Gujarati language and be of good recording. The song should NOT be of a disco-dandia/multi-song non-stop/re-mix/fusion type. The content should be appropriate to the item being presented on stage, therefore the lyrics of the song and the rhythm used, should match the item being performed.

Steps / Choreography / Rhythms:
Choreography will be considered the way the steps of the dance are arranged and woven together with the music. While creativity is encouraged, authenticity and tradition should be kept at the core of the choreography keeping the style of movement appropriate to the item being presented.

ACTION / EXPRESSION:
Action is the expression and grace with which the dancers interpret and execute their choreography. It is also the rapport and connection they make with the audience.

Coordination / Synchronization:
Coordination is the synchronization and accuracy that the dancers achieve with each other as a group, as well as with the music. It is also the finesse with which the evolutions/transitions of the formations are executed on stage.

COSTUME / JEWELRY:
Costume is the attire as a whole and should follow some decorum. For dances that are the domain of a particular community, the costume should reflect their traditions in clothing. that should be appropriate in maintaining the tradition look, reflect the item being presented and follow some decorum & etiquette.

Innovation / Originality:
Innovation is considered anything new relative to the past presentations and as usually seen by the panel of judges. However in the process of being innovative, the essence of the Gujarati tradition from which the item has come should not be lost or forfeited.

EXIT:
The exit is considered the last few minutes of the item whether they exit the stage or ends on the stage.

Overall Impression:
Overall impression is considered the effectiveness with which the various above facets of dance merge in the presentation of the item as a whole.

PRIZES:
First, Second and Third prize winner in each division and each category will be awarded to the team, as tabulated by tabulation team from the score forms used by the panel of judges during the competition.

In the event of tied score, the total of Steps, Coordination, Innovation and Action will be used to break the tie.

There will be the Best Costume prize awarded in each Division.

In the event of the tied score of Best Costume, the total of Innovation and Overall Impression will be used to break the tie.

There will the Best Choreography prize awarded in each Division.

In the event of the tied score of Best Choreography, the total of Action, Coordination and Innovation will be used to break the tie.

There will be a New Choreographer’s award, for those choreographers who are participating for the first time in FOGANA competition.

The first prize winner of each division in each category is invited to participate in North American competition. Choreographer or the manager of the winning team MUST confirm their intention to participate in NA competition to the host of the NA competition and the Chairman of their region within 7 days from the completion of the regional competition.

Non-confirmation of intention to participate in NA competition in time, will entitle the Chairman of the region to invite the second place prize winner in the same division and category to participate in NA competition in place of the 1st place winner.

The new choreographer’s team, having the highest total score within the group of new choreographers, is also invited to participate in NA competition. Choreographer or the manager of the team MUST confirm their intention to participate in NA competition to the host of the NA competition and the Chairman of your region within 7 days from the completion of the regional competition.

Winning team is required to send the following forms to host of the NA competition within a week from the regional competition.

Travel form (With a entry fee of $50 check per entry)

Membership form and Entry form. (If you did not participate in regional competition with appropriate membership fee.)

When the number of judges is more than 5 in regional and NA competitions, the highest and the lowest total of the judge, from the panel of judges, will be removed by the tabulation, in calculating the result.

Any single item in any category will require minimum of 75% of the total points to be qualified to go to NA competition.

SAFETY CODE:

FOGANA OR THE HOST ORGANIZATION AND THE OWNER OF THE PRMISES WHERE THE COMPETITION IS HELD AND OR ANY OTHER FACILITY USED BY THE TEAMS OR HOST DURING WHOLE COMPETITION EVENT, WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PHYSICAL INJURY INCURRED BY ANY INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATING IN THE COMPETITION.

All stage users MUST comply with fire and safety regulations of the facility.
No Glass bangles or jewelry in dressing rooms and stage.
No colors, objects, paper confetti, grains or particles allowed, which can injure bare feet.

GRIEVANCES & PENALITIES:
Winning or loosing of the award is the part of the competition. But as long as you have put your best efforts in competition, you are always the winner.

All the grievances and resolution must be in writing on the grievance form.

Judges decision is considered as final, however if all the members of the grievance committee finds the abnormality or erratic score in a judge’s decision, the judge can explain the matter to the grievance committee or the judge’s score can be removed by disqualifying the score of this judge.

In any event of applying the penalty to a team, if the final result is changed, then the new result will be the final result even after the result have been announced.

Judges will be asked to watch for the following competition rules violation and give appropriate penalties during judging the item. So choreographers should NOT file for any grievance based on following reasons.

+ Song is REMIXED, or Music has superimposed Dandia.

+ Non-circular formation, other than transition in Garba.

+ Used ACROBATIC, GYMNASTIC or CHEER LEADING routine.

+ If PROPS used, Used more than 2 or used < than 60% of time.

Host is allowed to file and apply following penalties:

If more than 25% of the participants are outside the –2 or + 1 year from the age bracket, or the participant is outside the allowed age range, the host tabulation team can assess the penalty as follows.

+ For each violation of the age requirement the penalty will be 25 points. E.g. If the team have three participants outside the allowed range the penalty points will be 75.

+ Proof of age is missing with the entry form; the entry form will be rejected.

+ Failed to provide the proof of age for verification, penalty will be 25 points for each violation.

+ Stage or backstage was left messy and needed extra cleaning 25 points penalty.

+ Stage preparation, before performing the item, took more than 3 minutes.25 points penalty

Tabulation can file and apply the penalties if,

+ Item performed for more than 6 minutes on the stage, the penalty will be 10 points for every 10 seconds over 6 minutes.

Choreographer is allowed to file the following grievance,

Rule: Once the choreographer has won the first winning prize at FOGANA NA competition, the same song can not be reuse by the same choreographer (Only the beginning of the song will be compared).

+ Song re-use by a choreographer of North American 1st place winning song. Grievance can be filed with details of when and where the song was the winner, penalty will be disqualified item.

+ Change in costume from regional to NA competition can be filed by choreographer. If any grievances are filed towards any group for change of costumes from regional to national the group filing grievances has to produce proper and valid proofs within two weeks from the competition date. Burden of proof resides with the group filing grievances.

Any infraction will result in penalty points of 50 points.

Executive committee can file and apply the following penalties if,

+ Any team participants found booing to other team 25 points penalty.

+ Misbehaving or creating hostile scene may bar the team and/or choreographer from participating for one year will be the penalty.

In the event of any kind of penalties applied to the team, it must be notified and explained to the offending choreographer or a manager of the team.

JUDGES:

Goal:
To provide fair, accurate and non-discriminatory judgment on the dance competition, the qualified and dedicated judges will be selected.

Judges will be allowed to have a blank piece of paper for notes keeping.

Modified judge’s score card will be in place to reflect the even number in all categories for easier and better tabulation.

Qualification:
+ Must be knowledgeable where Gujarati Folk Dance is concerned.
+ It is desirable to have the judge took part in competition as a participant or a choreographer prior to    judging regional competition.
+ Must attend Judge’s briefing.
+ 25% of a regional panel may be 1st time judges with fewer credentials. (Preferred, to have     participated or choreographed in FOGANA competition)
+ Must be from other regions for the regional competition.
+ Must have filled out the Judge’s Biodata form.
+ Must have judged at least 2 regional competition or have extensive knowledge of Gujarati folk    dances, to judge the NA competition.
+ Disqualification to participate as a judge in competition is possible, if found discriminatory actions are    found in judging.
+ If asked to do so, must be prepared to explain their marks to the Grievance committee at the end of competition.
+ Judge must NOT have conflict of interest with competition. i.e.

 i. Have immediate relative participating in this year competition.

ii. Is choreographing for FOGANA in current year.

iii. Have contact with any FOGANA related person in the town of the competition.

iv. Have judged in another region that year.

Number of judges required for competition:
+ Regional chairman’s decision for less than 15 items.
+ There should be 3 judges for up to 15 items.
+ There should be 3 – 5 Judges for up to 24 items.
+ There should be 7 judges for more than 24 items.

Training:
+ Judge’s knowledge of Gujarati Folk Dances is essential to start.
+ Judge’s briefing before the competition is another source to sharpen the skill and stay current with the    changes in FOGANA standards.
+ Qualified choreographers can also attend the briefings with judging chairman’s permission (If they are    not participating in current year competition).
+ Additional judges can also attend the briefings with judging chairman’s permission.
+ Performance analysis of judging is available from tabulation upon request.

Analysis:
+ Judging analysis will be done by comparing the individual judge score with the average score of all judges in competition, for every item judged, by the tabulation.

Compensation:
+ Host may reserve the airline tickets for the judges to arrive to the competition city on the day before the competition.
+ All the judges invited to the competition will be fully reimbursed the travel expense by the host organization.
+ Lodging, transportation and other reasonable needs pertaining to the competition will be taken care of by the host.
+ Judges must cooperate with host requirements in accommodation and other related activities.

TABULATION & INFORMATION STORAGE:
+ Only FOGANA approved tabulation program will be used during the competition for a valid result.
+ Provide access to a tabulation program to regional and NA competition.
+ Train local members to use the program in every active region.
+ Supervise the tabulation process at regional and NA competitions.
+ Maintain the database of competition result, Memberships and also Judges biodata as appropriate.
+ Prepare reports for use of Regional chairman and Executive
committee.
+ Create the competition sequence of the items as follows. Garba, Folk Dance and Raas in all Divisions by age.
+ Will allow up to two observers, Assigned by choreographers, selected by Executive vice president at tabulation chairman’s discretion to observe the process in regional competition.

SCORE PROCEDURE:
+ Enter the items and judge related required data in the program.
+ All competition items will be given a sequence number per rule.
+ Pre print the score forms (Only tabulation printed forms will be used).
+ Print the time check form, judge signing form and work paper.
+ Let judges sign in the seating arrangement to confirm the correct letter code assigned to the judge.
+Let judges sign in the seating arrangement to confirm the correct
  letter code assigned to the judge.
+ Deliver the score forms to judges before competition start one item at a time.
+ Collect the scored forms from the judges and replace it with next competition item number forms.
+ Enter the data in the program accurately. Confirm the data entry accuracy.
+ Before starting to enter the next item score, the total points of the entered item must match in all data    entry stations.
+ At end consult the host and grievance committee, if there were any penalties need to be applied for any item.
+ Print the result and stuff the envelopes to announce the winners.
+ Help Emcee to announce the result and the award process.
+ Take back up of the entered data.
+ Analyze the data.
+ Keep the scored forms and grievance forms for further verification.

High / Low:
During tabulation process the score of all judges are entered into program, but during result calculation the highest and the lowest score of the judges will not be used. This is used only when there are more than 6 Judges in the competition. This method is preferred and used in Olympic score calculation. This allows any kind on bias or favoritism from the judges be removed to achieve fair judging.

HOSTING THE COMPETITION:
The regional competitions are the base of a pyramid with the North American competition as the apex. So all the regional competitions must be held during the month of May through July of the year, giving enough time to conduct NA competition in September or sooner in the same year.

Selecting the Host:
Regional host are selected from the received request, and the preference of the host selection can be as follows.
+ Gujarati SAMAJ of the town.
+ Other non-profit organization.
+ Regional committee’s choice.
+ For profit organization.
+ Private organization.

Host is required to follow all the FOGANA rules and regulations.
Host must be a FOGANA member.

Host Fees:
For hosting the Regional Competition the Chairperson of the Region will need to collect 2 Checks from the Host of the Regional Competition (Non refundable).

1. In the amount of $500 payable to Regional Fogana Council
2. In the amount of $1000 payable to FOGANA - and must be sent to the FOGANA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL TREASURER.

To host the NA competition, the host will pay $2000 to NA Executive committee as a fee in advance (Fees are non refundable).

If the host uses FOGANA non profit status to obtain the donation, then the check should be made out to FOGANA and must be processed by NA treasurer. The treasurer will retain 3% of the donation and return the remaining fund to the host within a week.

The host must report the complete accounting of the competition to NA treasurer within 30 days from the competition.

Host Duties:

Hosting an event of this magnitude takes effort and commitment of lots of volunteers.

Host must communicate and cooperate with FOGANA Regional council and Executive committee.

Date and place of the competition must be announced at least 6 month in advance.

The competition should be professionally recorded by the host and host can sale the DVD copy of the recorded competition. Host must provide one set of DVD to each participating Regional council and NA executive committee for the collection in FOGANA library.

Host of the NA competition will pay $100 per team to competing teams as a concession towards their expense for participating in NA competition and may arrange special tours or activities to visit host city at their discretion on the day before competition.

Following is the suggested format and useful guidelines to cover most of the important areas of the program, individual management of the project can be different than suggested.

FOGANA Host committee must be formed to conduct the event under the sponsoring organization, the committee can be sub divided into sub committees. Since all committees have to work in harmony, the
communication between the committees is very important; they are by no means independent from each other.

Following is just a suggested organization:

+ Host committee
Communication
Delegation
Teamwork
Public relation
Crisis control

+ Hospitality committee :
Accommodation committee
To provide hotel stay for the teams, judges and FOGANA executives.

+ Transportation committee:
To manage the transportation requirements to and from airport to hotel and also to and from the hotel to hall for teams, judges and FOGANA executives.

+ Facility committee:
Security committee. To handle the security of the audience and the teams.
Use wireless communication.

Medical committee
To handle the medical emergences on stage and backstage. Ushering committee
To provide entry and seating arrangement in the hall

Grievance committee.
To handle the complaints from Choreographers, Managers, Judges and the Audience.

+ Finance committee (Budget):

Ticket sales committee
   To design, print and sale tickets.
Fund raising committee
To bring funds by finding sponsors.
Advertisement committee
To bring advertisements for brochure.
Brochure committee
To design, prepare, print and distribute the brochure.

+ Food committee:
To manage all food and soft drinks requirements for teams, Judges and FOGANA executives.

+ Program committee:
Emcee
Prepare and introduce the items of the program, and audience control.
Stage and backstage control.
To control the item flow from dressing room to stage.
Music control
To coordinate the music of the item
Lighting control
To control the lighting arrangement on the stage and in the hall including spot light at the podium.
Curtain control
To manage the curtain open / close, use the choreographer’s input.
Video and Photography:
Record and publish the DVD of the program and the still pictures of the teams.
Wireless communication.
Provide and use the wireless communication during competition.

Note: For more detail see appendix II.

+ Judging committee:
Work with national judging chairman and take care of judges.
Provide the supplies, light and water during competition.

+ Tabulation committee:
Work with national tabulation chairman and provide tabulation support with personal computers and volunteers to enter the score data and tabulate the result.

+ Award committee:
Design, select, prepare and distribute the awards.

+ Other duties:
+Arrange the regional or NA dance competition at a performing hall in your city with seating capacity of more than 1700 (Approximate).

+ Must keep accurate accounting information:

+ Pay travel expenses to judges in full.

+ Host must provide following to the Participants, Choreographers and the managers of the participating teams, Judges and other complimentary pass holders (Arriving from out of town, more than 150 miles from the host city).

- Transportation to and from the airport to the place of stay and the hall.
- 1 Night stay at reasonably good hotel with some entertaining package
- Light lunch and dinner on the day before competition, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on the day of competition and Breakfast on the next day of competition. (As necessary) .
- Free entry to performing hall.

+ Host must provide a facility for regional and executive committee to hold meetings e.g. General body meeting, Choreographer’s meeting and Judge’s and tabulation briefing.

+ Select a Gujarati speaking Emcees, if possible:

+ Emcees should announce all the competitive items with the number of the item and division with the category; the description of the item provided by the choreographer can be used to introduce the item to the audience. Team name, choreographers, managers and participants name or any other details pertaining to the identity of the team is prohibited from announcement.

+ Assign a tabulation committee of about 6 to 8 volunteers, familiar with PC, to work with Tabulation Chairman.

+ Provide Personal computers, printers, papers, time stopwatch and other needed stuff to tabulation.

+ Use the officially printed forms by Tabulation to record the judge’s score.

+ Conduct the competition in the sequence assigned by the tabulation only.

+ Following people are eligible to receive complementary tickets, hotel stay transportation and meals, if they have notified the host, their intention to attend the competition, at least two weeks before the competition.

-2 Tickets to each of the following.

* President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, All sub committee
* chairman, Immediate 2 past presidents.
* All active regional Trustee, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary,
* Treasurer.
* Judges (2 tickets if accompanied by spouse else 1 ticket).
-1 Ticket to each choreographer per team.
-1 Ticket to each Manager of the team. (2 tickets for minor group)
-1 Ticket to each participant of the competition.

Regional host will extend the above complementary service to following.

-2 Tickets to each regional delegate.
-2 Tickets to President of the current constituent member organization,


Note: Complimentary service is non transferable.
Host can issue more complementary tickets at their discretion.

Executive committee has following active sub committees.
1-Rules and Regulation
2-Judges
3-Tabulation

Since NA Executive committee have active sub committees and the expertise and access to historic data are maintained at NA level; host will assign appropriate committee chairs from their side and must allow to work with NA executive committee’s sub committee’s chair. For general guidance and other help host can always consult regional council chairman or Executive committee Exec. Vice President.

NA Executive committee’s duties:
Executive committee:
Judging committee:
Select and coordinate the judge selection for the competition

Tabulation and Information storage committee:
+ Select and approve the tabulation program.
+ Coordinate tabulation with host tabulation team.
+ Maintain the database of information (Competition results,
+ Membership data, Judges data, Songs data.)
+ Maintain the Tabulation program.

Regional council’s duties:
Trustee:
Communicate with Executive council and provide guidance to regional council, when needed.

Chairman:
Host the regional competition and promote the FOGANA goal
Follow the constitution and Rules and Regulations of FOGANA.
Support the Executive council and their agenda
Help the host in organizing the regional competition.

Vice Chairman:
Support the chairman’s goal in promoting the FOGANA.

Secretary:
Must keep the minutes of all meetings.
Communicate with membership and council.

Treasurer:
Maintain accounting information for the region. Must open a bank account in the name of FOGANA using NA tax ID.

Submit the accounting information to NA Treasurer on time.

Delegates:

Representative of each city should actively participate in FOGANA organization by representing their city.

MISCELLENIOUS:

Web Site:
FOGANA.ORG is the web site for the organization and will be kept updated; you are requested to refer to web site and follow the instruction.

Regions:
Currently there are nine regions.

1. NORTHERN
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota.

2. MIDWEST
Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin.

3. LAKE ONTARIO
Ontario, Windsor, Quebec

4. NORTH ATLANTIC
Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island. New York, New Jersey.

5. MID ATLANTIC
Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, District of Columbia, Virginia

6. SOUTHEAST
Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, North & South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Bermuda, Puerto Rico. Bristol Virginia

7. SOUTHERN
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas.

8. WESTERN
Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Utah.

9. PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Yukon, British Columbia, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho.

Note: If the regional competition is not held, the team can participate in neighboring region of their choice.

Rotation of Regions for nominating the President:

Following is the current regional rotation for nominating the president of the FOGANA.

Mid-Atlantic
North Atlantic
Southern
Mid-West
Southeast

If the region has not participated in competition for last four consecutive years then that region will lose the turn to nominate the president of the FOGANA and will be considered as inactive region.

If the new region becomes active and has establish their regional council and start participating in FOGANA competition, then the region will be added at the end of rotation list.

President must be a resident of the region for their full term:

North American competition host cities:

Note: This is a working document and may change every year to accommodate changes approved by the Choreographers and the executive committee. So the copy of this document available at FOGANA.ORG is the current version.

Appendix I Submitted by Shefalee V. Patel.

Stage Coordinating Committee:

After the Program Chairperson and or Tabulation have received all the entries, a sequence for the program should be made by tabulation. This will be published in the centerfold of the program guide. Their item number will refer to the teams from the program guide. When assigning numbers do not count prayer dances etc. The tabulation and judges will use these numbers as well.

Before program:
Visit program hall and backstage areas. Decide which green rooms will be used, will teams have to share dressing areas? If so, assign room/areas for each group. Usually the senior groups are told to come the backstage areas later so that the earlier groups can finish. Also assignments can be made by city or area. Please mark with signs.

Design a flow for the teams; i.e. how to enter the backstage area, dressing area to main stage area, where the line-ups will be, stage to immediate left of stage. This flow should be explained to the choreographers/managers just prior to the program. Please mark these areas with clear signs.

Stage coordinator and runner responsibilities:

Main stage coordinator - will be present at the side of stage at all times
The team manager/choreographer must remain present during the performance to inform the main stage coordinator of opening/closing of curtains and starting of the music.
Communicate with the Emcee of any changes in order of item performance.
Communicate with the judging coordinator and tabulation committee of any changes in order or of skipped items.
Lighting person - Maintain consistent lighting throughout program, unless requested by choreographer/manager in advance. I.e. light to be dimmed for a “diva” dance
Music Control - The CD’s should be numbered and marked with the team name.
Curtain Pull - The manager and/or the choreographer should be nearby to inform them or the stage coordinator when to open/close the curtains.
2-3 runners to line-up items and inform teams to be ready, also 1 person to exit the team off the stage. Preferably energized and aggressive volunteers. Need to be able to stand and run for 3 hours.

Stage coordinators will need a broom to sweep the stage in between items if the previous team leaves behind any debris (i.e. hair pins, jewelry, dandia pieces, clothing glitter etc.) After the team is done with their performance they must clear away the stage and return to their seats

General Flow Welcome
Prayer/Welcome dance
Keynote/guest speaker (optional)
Complementary (optional)
Minor
Junior (somewhere halfway: an intermission)
Senior
Adult
Complementary (optional)
Judges introduction
Vote of Thanks, Sponsor Acknowledgment
Results and awards

To maintain program flow
5 items should be lined-up for the program to begin; a choreographer/manager must be present with team
1-On stage to perform
2-Immediate left of stage
3-In the hallway leading to backstage area
4-In the hallway
5-In the hallway
6-Prompted and ready in the green room

Points to consider:
Each item is a maximum of 6 minutes. Also there will be 1-3 minutes in between each item to allow for announcement of item and to give the judges a breather.

For a 20 item program: you are looking at from 160-200 minutes = 2h 40m to 3h 20m

Only 2-3 minutes between items. Curtains close, move one group out in right direction, incoming group from left direction, Emcee announce the item number and song, curtains, music GO

Uniqueness to FOGANA programs:

1.This is a competition and we need to ensure fairness to all the teams.
2.Teams are from in town and out-of-town and therefore this does not allow for a stage rehearsal.

To ensure fairness to all the participants, only the item number, description and category is announced to the audience. This limits the amount of info that the Emcee can announce.

Participating Team Package (Send to Choreographer) A mailing for prior to the competition: Include a letter of invitation, application forms, with team names, participants
Time, location maps, contact people
Where to send tape and application forms and include deadlines
Accommodations information
How to purchase tickets and accommodations for family and friends

Emcee:
The Emcee can only announce the item number and song. Therefore they should have some extra material in case of a delay. Must be able to keep audience occupied and entertained during the extra time taken by the team.

Award Presentation:

+ The participants are requested to remain in their seats and to keep aisles clear.
+ Trophy donors are usually the ones to present the trophies
+ Announcement of the results: The sound coordinator should be given the results prior to the    announcements. This will allow them to play the song as the winners go on stage to receive their    trophy. This adds a nice touch to the program and adds some excitement for the kids and audience.    (They can use the back-up tape for this purpose, also please play the song from the middle, if    possible.)
+ The participants are all given their own individual trophies. These can be boxed and handed to the     team manager/choreographer for distribution prior to the competition.