Judging & Adjudication
My judging philosophy
A dancer is more than their technique. I'm looking for an artist who can communicate, adapt, make clear choices, and bring something only they could bring.
That comes from a career on both sides of the table: seven years performing and coaching with Cirque du Soleil's The Beatles LOVE, plus concert dance, commercial work, and higher education. I judge the way I coach. Honest, specific, and always with something you can use before your next number.
- Performance
- 7 years with Cirque du Soleil's The Beatles LOVE
- Coaching
- Artist Coach, Cirque du Soleil
- Higher education
- Assistant Professor of Practice, UA School of Dance
- At the table
- Judge, guest faculty, choreographer, recruiter
What earns the score
Five things I watch for in every category
Technique is expected. These are the things that separate a room.
Select a category to read more
Not just staying on count. Choosing which part of the music to dance.
The dancers who stand out are usually the ones hearing something everyone else in the category missed.
The qualities that make you you, trusted instead of smoothed over.
I can tell when a dancer is performing someone else's version of themselves. What makes you memorable is usually the thing you were tempted to leave out.
Range across styles, dynamics, and tone.
Just as important is the judgment to know what a piece is actually asking for, and the discipline to give it that instead of everything you have.
Knowing not only what you're doing, but why.
Intention that reads from the back of the house and holds from the first count all the way to the blackout.
The willingness to commit to a choice that might not work.
Safe is rarely what I remember on the drive home. A risk that lands slightly short still tells me more about an artist than a clean, careful run.
On the mic
What a critique from me sounds like
Every note is something a dancer can change today.
Technique matters, but technique is something we keep working on in the studio for the rest of our lives. So when I critique, I look for what you can change right now. Dynamics and intention drive almost everything I say.
- 0:14 Shift the dynamic. Same choreography, different attack. The step doesn't change. How it reads does.
- 0:41 Clarify the intention. Know why you're doing this movement, right here. If you know, I'll see it in the first eight counts.
- 1:02 Hear something else. There's more than one layer in the music. Find the one nobody else in your category is dancing to.
- 1:33 Commit to the transition. The space between the steps is where most dancers quietly stop performing, and it's where I'm looking.
- 2:07 Change your focus. Where your eyes go, the room goes. Give me somewhere to look and a reason to look there.
None of that takes another year of training. All of it takes a decision.
Styles
Where I specialize, and what I can judge
Deep training and professional credits in three styles, with the experience to adjudicate a full schedule.
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Commercial and traditional. Weight, groove, and style specificity.
I judge on how well a dancer lives inside the style rather than just executes it.
Rooted in concert dance.
I look past the shapes to intention, phrasing, and whether the movement is actually about something.
Sound first. Clarity, tone, dynamics, and time.
The ear leads the score before the body does.
My background as a performer, educator, coach, recruiter, and adjudicator lets me judge every style on the schedule.
I approach each one with respect for its specific technique, vocabulary, performance expectations, and artistic traditions.
I'm not searching for perfection. I'm looking for connection, commitment, growth, and artists who make intentional choices.