UK Equality Open
Saturday 12th November 2022 – The Triangle, Burgess Hill
The UK Equality Open aims to bring competitive same sex and equality dancing to new areas around the UK.
We work with a new location each year, building social dance scenes leading up to the competition, encouraging new competitive couples in the starter categories and opening up same sex and ‘open couple’ categories to a wider
variety of participant groups.
Our next #UKEO will be held at The Triangle – Burgess Hill (just outside Brighton) on 12th November 2022, with a view to encourage and attract dancers particularly from the south, whilst also adding more opportunities to compete here in the UK for our existing couples as well as attract dancers from the European equality dance circuit.
Therel’l be some general dancing as part of our programme, please do join us when the opportunity arises – we want everyone to enjoy a day of dancing!
Categories
Please note: Open Categories can be couples of any making irrelevant of gender
or ability and can also be danced by couples already competing in Men’s or Women’s Categories. However, we are hoping this might give competitive couples the opportunity to dance with someone they might not usually dance with!
Morning Session
Single Dance Category
Waltz.
For Beginners only, having not competed in any competition before (excluding UK Fun Comp).
Ballroom Starters
Non Graded – Waltz & Quickstep.
This is also for couples who have not competed before, there is no classification round.
Men’s, Women’s & Open Couples Ballroom
Graded A-D Class with
classification rounds.
Showdance Couples
Performance time between 2 mins 15 secs and 5 mins 30 secs including entry and exit.
Music must be provided to the DJ at registration.
Afternoon Session
Single Dance Category
Cha Cha Cha.
For beginners only, having not competed in any competition before (excluding UK Fun Comp).
Latin American Starters
Non Graded – Cha Cha Cha & Jive.
This is also for couples who have not competed before, there is no classification round.
Men’s, Women’s & Open Couples Latin American
Graded A-D Class with
classification rounds.
Showdance Teams
Minimum of 8 dancers per group, this can be formation or showdance, danced in one category. Performance time between 4mins and 7mins including entry and exit. Music must be provided to the DJ at registration.
Wheelchair Dancesport Freestyle BEGINNERS
For both Same Sex and Open, Duo/Combi Couples all in one category – performance time between 2 mins 15 secs and 5 mins 30 secs.
Wheelchair Dancesport Freestyle ADVANCED
For both Same Sex and Open, Duo/Combi Couples all in one category – performance time between 2min 15 secs and 5mins 30 secs).
Fun Competition
Salsa & Argentine Tango
The competition will be run under UKEDC / ESSDA competition rules where applicable, however as we have some additional categories not all rules will apply. Please contact us if you would like further information. Senior category results will be the combined results from the graded rounds and will be combined results from A-D categories. We hope to have senior participation in 2022 and if there are enough couples going forward we will look to have separate categories in future comps.
Venue
The 3rd Equality Open will take place at The Triangle, Burgess Hill, RH15 8WA
By train: Mainline trains (Southern & Thameslink) serve Burgess Hill from London (50 mins), Gatwick (20 mins) and Brighton (15 mins).
By plane: The nearest airport is Gatwick, where you can catch a mainline train direct from the Airport to Burgess Hill in less than 20 minutes!
By car: The Triangle is less than a mile away as you exit the A23 (Hickstead Services) either London or Brighton Bound. There is free parking on site with over 450 spaces.
By taxi: Should you want to arrive by taxi from Burgess Hill train station it’s just 1.5 mile journey. Call Station Taxis on 01444 410 410
By Bus: You can easily arrive by bus from Burgess Hill train station it’s just a 15 minute bus ride – Bus no. 100
Want to walk – are you mad?? Well, just in case it’s 1.6 miles and will take around 35 mins.
Registration
Please complete the registration form below to enter your competitor details and
chosen categories. Registration closes 31st October 2022.
Competitor Fee (ESSDA/UKEDC Individual Member): £20.00
Competitor Fee (Non ESSDA/UKEDC Inividual Member): £25.00
Spectator Ticket: £15.00
For competitors only
(please complete as well as clicking to purchase a ticket on Eventbrite):
General Schedule
We will pubish a detailed schedule closer to the event, however timings are still provisional and you should arrive at the correct registration time on the day to ensure you are fully aware of the confirmed schedule for the day.
Start list
We will regularly update the start list through the year, however all start lists are provisional and not confirmed until after the closing date for entries at the end of October.
Officials
Chair
Malcolm Hill
Master of Ceremonies
Pete Meager
Scrutineer
Martin Bird
Adjudicator (UK)
Sam Needham-Vize
Adjudicator (UK)
Louise Sampson
Adjudicator (FR)
Corentin Normand
Adjudicator (UK)
Jake Hooker
Adjudicator (NO)
Kai Lillebø
DJ
Michael Kongso
Results
We will publish the results as soon as we can after each competition. You can find the results of the most recent competition by clicking the link below.
Accommodation
Unfortunately due to the nature of the competition moving around the country each year we do not have a hosted housing scheme. However there are lots B&Bs, Hotels (including a Premier Inn in Burgess Hill itself and a Travelodge just as you come off the A23 at Hickstead Services). There are also opportunities with websites like AirBnB and MrBnB. We do not have agreements with any of these providers, so please check their T&Cs in full as we cannot be held responsible for any part of your accommodation booking.
Volunteers
We really need volunteers to help make the event successful. If you are interested in volunteering for our team then please drop us an email info@equalitydance.co.uk.