Do you think you have what it takes to compete in GFM’s Dance Competition? First time dancing or well-seasoned pro, all are welcome to enjoy this high energy event! Don’t feel like dancing? Have a seat by the stage and enjoy all the talent on display!

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On a sidenote, keep in mind that signups will not be taken at the con, so be sure to submit your form beforehand.

 

Signing Up

Sign-ups MUST be completed by 11:59 PM on October 9, 2026 through the linked google form. Each competitor may submit ONE solo performance AND/OR ONE group performance.

 

Group entries (performances done by two or more dancers) only need to be submitted by ONE member of the group. If there are 3 or more group entries in finals, the groups will be judged as a separate category from the solos.

 

Preliminaries will be held both online AND in-person. When you sign up, you will indicate on the form whether you are doing a video preliminary OR an in-person preliminary. If you are submitting a video preliminary, this will be done so on the sign-up form.

Music

Music must be radio-friendly or censored in the same manner. Music may NOT contain excessive swearing, slurs, or sexual undertones. All music will be screened prior to preliminaries and if changes are needed, competitors will be notified as soon as possible and asked to send an alternate track.

 

Song length should not exceed 2 minutes (120 seconds) for solo entries. If your track is longer than this, it will be faded out at the 2-minute mark. 

 

Group entries will get an additional 30 seconds of maximum length for their tracks per member above 1 (i.e. 2:30 for two members, 3:00 for 3 members, etc.) with a maximum of 4 minutes for groups of 5 or more. 

 

Music will be submitted on the same form used to sign up. All music should be in a high quality .MP3 format with the file named as follows:

 

PERFORMERNAME_GFM26.mp3

 

Example: Prince_GFM26.mp3

Costume Requirements

To compete, your fursuit must consist of at LEAST a fursuit head, handpaws, and tail (unless your species typically has no tail). You may wear a partial fursuit, a full fursuit or anything in between, but minimum requirements must be met. Required parts are defined as follows:

Fursuit Head: A costume head piece that fully covers the dancer’s head/face. This DOES include ‘use your own eyes’ fursuits or other similar designs. This does NOT include half-face masks such as therian masks.

Handpaws: Costume gloves that fully cover the dancer’s hands. This does NOT include baseball gloves, winter gloves, or other gloves that have not been modified for a fursuit. 

 

Clothing and accessories must not contain any profanity or inappropriate content, at discretion of event coordinators and convention staff. 

 

Clothing/Costuming should be that no skin is intentionally exposed during the event. This is a FURSUIT dance competition and as such requires coverage at all times while on stage, unless in the event of a medical issue or emergency. 

 

Props MUST be approved by event coordinators prior to the con, and permission for prop usage may be revoked after the preliminaries if the prop is deemed unsafe for the dancer, judges, or audience by coordinators or convention staff. Anything that would be difficult to clean up before the next performer, such as glitter or confetti, will not be allowed.

Preliminaries

ALL DANCERS WISHING TO COMPETE IN FINALS MUST ATTEND THE IN-PERSON PRELIMINARIES. THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS THOSE WHO SUBMIT VIDEO AUDITIONS VIA THE SIGN-UP FORM. If you are not in attendance of preliminaries, it will be considered a drop and you will NOT be eligible to compete in the final event.

 

If you choose to submit a video audition, make sure your routine is fully visible, recorded landscape (horizontally), and has no video editing added to the recording. The ONLY editing allowed is overlaying your music onto the video, cutting out the starting and/or ending of your recording, or adding text descriptions to parts you are unable to complete in your recording space. 

 

Video auditions should be submitted in mp4 format with the file name as follows:

 

PERFORMERNAME_Audition.mp4

 

Example: Prince_Audition.mp4

Preliminaries is a CLOSED event. Only competitors, parents/guardians, and handlers will be allowed into the room during this time. Recording of others is NOT allowed unless explicit consent is given (i.e. a handler taking a video of only the dancer they are assisting for the dancer to review later).
 

Your preliminary audition MUST be done in fursuit. It is encouraged to do your audition in the same fursuit/outfit you are planning on dancing in for finals to make sure you are comfortable dancing in that attire. 

 

The stage in our main ballroom is a thrust style floor stage (audience on 3 sides, no rise to the stage). Make sure your choreography accounts for this style of stage. This will be the stage used in both preliminaries and finals.

 

During preliminaries, a team of judges will score all dancers on the rubric found in the scoring section of the rules (same rubric for preliminaries and finals) and select the top competitors to proceed to the final event. Judges are scoring based on technicality, originality/creativity, and execution. Choreography performed in preliminaries MUST be original choreography created by the dancer performing it. 

 

After all dancers have done their audition, judges will be able to provide feedback on the performances to any dancers who are interested. They will also watch and score the video auditions at this time. After preliminaries, judges will compile scores and determine the finalists which will be announced on Gateway Furmeet social media and in the GFM dancer telegram chat. 

Finals

If you are selected for finals, you will need to meet in the Main Ballroom 30 minutes before the start time of the event. Role call will be done at this time, and final role call will be done 15 minutes before the event starts. If you are running late, contact @crown_cryptid or @ScarletJanefox on telegram OR email dance@gatewayfurmeet.org as soon as possible. 

 

Competitor order (run of show) will be announced at finals and will be available backstage for dancers to reference. When it is your turn to perform, a backstage handler will help you prepare to go on stage to perform. 

 

While you perform, a panel of judges will be scoring your performance on the same rubric used in prelims. At the end of your performance, one judge will give verbal feedback while you remain onstage, then you will be sent backstage again until the end of the event.

 

Winners will be announced by the judges at the end of the event. This will include prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place as well as a group category 1st place should there be enough groups for a separate category. 

 

 

The rubric that judges will follow for both preliminaries and finals is as follows:
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