Special Celebration Report
10 Years Anniversary of Brazilian Zouk Jack and Jills
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A Decade of Loveto grow Brazilian Zouk
In May 2024, we celebrated 10 years of Jack and Jill competitions with the founders of the Brazilian Zouk Dance Council in Toronto, Canada.
At Danceplace, we would like to celebrate this milestone by sharing the story behind our journey, key statistics demonstrating the growth, and the impact of our initiative on the Brazilian Zouk community and dance.
How Did It Start?
Pod Cast Video: The Origins of BZDCLearn about how this journey started, its goals, and our achievements. Watch Jessica Lamdon's interview with the founders of BZDC Kadu and Larissa, the founder of Danceplace Digital Darius Zi, and his partner Laura Riva.
Jack and Jills Demystified
Panel: The Must-KnowsLearn how Jack and Jill scoring works and what judges are looking for. Watch Laura Riva's moderation with the founders of BZDC Kadu and Larissa, and the founder of Danceplace Digital Darius Zi.
10-Year Statistics:The Numbers Speak
The information presented in this section is based on the data managed by the Danceplace platform from 2014 until October 1st 2024 for official BZDC Jack and Jill competitions scored or hosted by Danceplace.
Stat 1
Top 10 Countries Hosting Jack and Jills
Zouk Jack and Jill competitions started in three countries in 2014: Australia, Canada, Malaysia. The first official BZDC Jack and Jill competition took place in Brisbane, Australia two months after a pilot competition in Toronto, Canada.
In 2015, events in the USA, Russia, New Zealand, and Ukraine joined the circuit. This growth continued at a faster pace in USA and Russia who, until now, have each held 65 BZDC sanctioned competitions.
After five years, in 2019 events in mainland Europe started embracing Jack and Jills.
During the pandemic, the growth curve took a hit. From March 2020 until December 2021, only Russia and Australia held Jack and Jill competitions.
Stat 2
Growth of Jack and Jill Competitions in Brazil
In the homeland of Brazilian Zouk, the adoption rate was slower than other places. In 2016, Rio Zouk Congress was the first event in Brazil to host a BZDC Jack and Jill. After six years, in 2020, IZC became the second event to run the competitions.
After the pandemic, Brazil experienced a Jack and Jill explosion at their local events. The demand and popularity of Jack and Jill competitions had a 7-times growth over two years.
Stat 3
Top 5 Largest Jack and Jill Competitions
The phenomenal growth and popularity of Brazilian Zouk Jack and Jill competitions since pandemic reopenings has seen high participation in major events.
Canada Zouk Congress 2023 holds the world record for largest number of competitors and largest number of divisions at a BZDC event with 280 total competitors in five divisions:
- Newcomer 29 (14 L, 15 F)
- Novice 164 (72 L, 92 F)
- Intermediate 57 (23 L, 34 F)
- Advanced 15 (10 L, 5 F)
- All-Star/Champion 15 (8 L, 7 F)
Stat 4
Top 5 Largest Novice Jack and Jill Divisions
As dancers join the competition circuit, they mostly start with the Novice division. More dancers compete in Novice than any other division.
We have observed that major events outside of Brazil have been holding the largest Novice divisions in the world.
Canada Zouk Congress, Casa do Zouk, Elevation Zouk Festival and Warsaw Zouk Festival are the record holders.
Judging such large divisions comes with its own challenges. At Danceplace, we leveraged our experience and worked closely with the judges to develop a digital scoring software that simplifies this task, especially for the head judges. We have been able to increase the workflow efficiency by 60% and cut the competition duration by 35%.
Step 5
Total Jack and Jill Head Judge Activity
According to the 10-year history of competitions scored on the Danceplace platform, we have identified that 20 dance professionals head judged all BZDC Jack and Jill competitions.
Larissa Thayane, Alex de Carvalho, Alisson Sandi, Val Clemente, and Renata Pecanha rank as the top five professionals who have head judged most of the competitions.
In 2024, BZDC established a new criteria for selecting head judges and introduced a certification program.
Step 6
Jack and Jill Community Population
After a decade of exciting competitions, over 19,000 people have competed in 22 countries in 523 competition divisions and were judged by 258 judges.
Thanks to the hard work of the competition judges, DJs, organizers, and staff, the Brazilian Zouk community has 3590 dancers with points.
At Danceplace, we are proud to have played the role of technology partner, facilitator, and enabler.
To further enable the growth of these competitions globally, Danceplace has certified 21 competition coordinators in 8 different countries in 2024.
“Thank you for your leadership at BZDC and the trust that you put in Danceplace for the past 10 years. Our journey continues. Looking forward to inspiring the next generation with you.”
– Darius Zi
Founder Danceplace Digital
May 2024
Looking Forwardto the next decade
At Danceplace, we strive to lead the digital innovation of the dance event management and education industry. The success of our partnership with BZDC has inspired us to further develop our programs and services to grow Zouk globally.
The impact of this success has reached beyond the Zouk community. It has inspired many other dance communities to establish or grow their own Jack and Jill competitions and points registries.
Several dance communities including Bachata, Lambada, Swing, Lindy Hop, Country, and Kizomba have already partnered with Danceplace to leverage our experience and software platform to accelerate their community’s growth and to automate their competition workflow management.