A guide for organisers

Which app to use to organise a dance competition or event: 12 questions to help you choose

By CodeLover S.r.l. · October 1, 2026

Choosing software for a dance competition is not choosing an online form: the same tool has to collect registrations and payments, let the judges vote and deliver results that stand up to a complaint. These twelve questions help you compare solutions with concrete criteria, whichever one you choose. At the end, in a section marked as such, you will find how DanceMatik answers them.

What kind of event

1.What event are you organising?

A competition or contest with registrations by category, rounds and judges needs a different tool from a party or a social dance night. For a social night with an entry ticket a list and a cash box will do: dance competition software is worth it when there are registrations, competitions, judges and results, and there it saves hours.

Registrations and payments

2.Can competitions be described the way your rules describe them?

Discipline, age category, level, line-up (solo, couple, group) and price should be fields of the competition, not notes in a form. Ask too whether you can say that one competition requires entering others, and whether prices can change with the number of entries.

3.Does the system check age and category?

If you check ages afterwards, you get them wrong on the morning of the competition. The check belongs to the moment people fill in the form, with the out-of-range tolerance your rules set, and an entry that breaks the rules should not get through.

4.How do people pay, and where does the money go?

Card, PayPal, bank transfer: which methods, who pays the fees, who receives the money and when. An entry should arrive already paid, without you matching a bank statement against a spreadsheet.

5.Can schools enter their dancers without starting over every time?

Dance schools, associations and clubs enter dozens of dancers at every competition. What matters is that the dancer list stays in their account, that it can be loaded from Excel and that the competition music arrives with the entry, not on a USB stick.

Judging

6.Skating System or scores?

DanceSport uses the Skating System: in the final the majority of judges wins, not the sum, and multi-dance events add rules 9, 10 and 11. Contemporary and ballet often use scores on criteria. Ask whether the software applies the rules in full and whether the report shows how every placing was reached.

7.Do judges vote with a link or with an account?

A shared link is easy to hand out, but anyone who has it can vote and the report cannot say who voted what. With a personal account every sheet has a name. Ask too what happens if the network drops, who closes voting and what stays on record.

8.What happens with ties?

Some ties cannot be settled by the marks, at the cut of a round or in the final. The software should stop and let the chairperson decide, and the decision should go into the report: a draw made silently by a program does not stand up to a complaint.

Competition day

9.Is the timetable built from the registrations?

The day’s programme depends on how many entries each competition has and how long the music lasts. If you rebuild it by hand from an exported list, every change costs an hour: ask whether it is built from the registrations and spread across several stages.

10.What does the hall see?

The projector or LED wall should show who is on the floor, who has to get ready and the sponsors, updated by the control room as the competition runs, not by someone changing slides. Ask too whether the screen shows scores to the audience and who can open it.

After the competition

11.What goes into the official report?

The report is the document that answers complaints: it should carry each judge’s marks, the rules applied, ties and the chairperson’s decisions. Ask too whether results come out in a format you can publish and whether they export to Excel.

12.Can the results count towards a championship?

If the competition is a leg of a circuit, placings should become points without copying them, and the same couple should stay the same couple from one leg to the next. Ask how legs held elsewhere are handled.

The criteria in one table

The same questions in short, to bring to a demo or send to a supplier.

Criterion	The question to ask	The answer to look for
Competitions	Described as in your rules?	Discipline, category, level, line-up and price as fields of the competition
Registrations	Who checks age and category?	The system, while people fill in the form
Payments	How do people pay, who receives the money?	Several methods, clear fees, entries that arrive already paid
Schools	Is the dancer list reused?	Dancers kept in the school’s account, Excel import
Judging	Link or account?	Personal account: every vote has a name
Calculation	Full Skating System?	Majority rules and rules 9-11, explained in the report
Ties	Who decides when the marks are not enough?	The chairperson, with the decision on record
The day	Timetable from the registrations?	Durations from the music, several stages
The hall	What does the screen show, and to whom?	Floor, calls, sponsors; updated by the control room
Afterwards	Reports and championships?	PDF with every judge’s marks, circuit points without copying
Tools	Anything to install?	Web pages in the browser, for staff and judges
Cost	How is the tool paid for?	The cost over the whole event, payment fees included

How DanceMatik answers

This section is about our product: it is DanceMatik’s answer to the twelve questions, one by one, with what the software does today.

1
What event are you organising?
It is built for competitions, contests, workshops and festivals with registrations, and for recitals with tickets. A social dance night without competitions is not its case.
2
Can competitions be described the way your rules describe them?
Each competition has discipline, age category, levels, types and line-ups, tiered prices by number of entries and links between competitions. Details on the dance competition software page.
3
Does the system check age and category?
The server checks age and category while people fill in the form, with the out-of-range tolerance you decide.
4
How do people pay, and where does the money go?
Card, PayPal, bank transfer and credit, chosen per event; you can absorb the fee or pass it on to the entrant. If you connect Stripe or PayPal, the money comes straight to you.
5
Can schools enter their dancers without starting over every time?
Schools find their dancers again from one competition to the next, can load them from Excel, and the MP3 track arrives with the entry. See online registration.
6
Skating System or scores?
Skating System with the majority rules and, in multi-dance events, rules 9, 10 and 11; or the 3D system, scoring on criteria. Try the calculation in the Skating System calculator.
7
Do judges vote with a link or with an account?
Every judge votes with their own account, invited by email, from a web page on their phone: you always know who voted. Without a network the vote does not go through and the judge sees it; the chairperson closes voting, and a closure with missing sheets stays on record. Details on the judging page.
8
What happens with ties?
When a cut or a tie cannot be settled from the marks, the system stops and the chairperson decides: no hidden draws, and the decision goes into the report.
9
Is the timetable built from the registrations?
The timetable is built by dragging the competitions that have entries, with durations estimated from the music, and spread across the stages.
10
What does the hall see?
The big screen shows who is on the floor, calls, sponsors and the control room’s announcements. It opens with a staff account: there is no public live leaderboard.
11
What goes into the official report?
The PDF report carries the marks by judge letter, notes on cuts and ties and a space for the chairperson’s signature; results also export to Excel and can be published on the event page.
12
Can the results count towards a championship?
A competition can be a leg of a championship: its results become points in the overall ranking. Championships are activated by DanceMatik on request.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best software for a dance competition?

The best software for a dance competition is the one that covers the whole journey, from registration to the official report, with the rules of your regulations. To compare solutions use the twelve questions in this guide: they say what to ask and what answer to look for.

Do DanceSport and contemporary dance need different software?

Not necessarily: you need software that supports both the Skating System, used in DanceSport, and scores on criteria, better suited to contemporary and ballet. Check that both are applied in full and documented in the report.

Is it better for judges to vote with a link or with an account?

With a personal account, because every vote has a name and the report says who voted what. A shared link is easier to hand out, but anyone who has it can vote.

Do I need an app to install to run a dance competition?

Not necessarily: software that runs in the browser saves judges and staff from installing an app. Ask, though, whether voting needs the network and what happens if it drops.

Put DanceMatik to the test at your next competition

Create the event, add the competitions and try judging and the control room on the first competitions before you decide.

Create your competition