Program
This is the preliminary program of the weekend. Make sure to pay attention to changes in the coming weeks and during the weekend for live updates of the planning. We reserve the right to adjust the program if needed, for example in the event of extremely uneven registration numbers for both competitions or an unexpected meteorite impact.
Note that there is no Monday program shown as the event ends directly after the party on Sunday (well, Monday morning 3:00). Except for your activities in your hotel room at night of course. You can make breakfast arrangements with your hotel roomie or other dinos yourself. The dancing hall will be closed though, except for those helping us to clean up (yes, please??).
Timetable
Workshops
Rather than having two full competition days, our goal is to have a more relaxed schedule with interesting things for everyone. We will have a mix of workshops, social activities, and competitions. The (preliminary) workshop schedule is published above on the website.
Partners will rotate continuously throughout the workshops, much like some of you might be used to from Social latin or West Coast Swing events. We are not asking you to subscribe for specific workshops. You can just show up and join in.
The amazing teachers of our workshops are other ETDS veterans with an impressive track record in their discipline.
Saturday morning
Ballroom - Rick Groot
Bachata - Sebastian Sand
West Coast Swing - Cliff & Birte Pereira
Sunday morning:
Urban Kiz - Josette Kramer
American Smooth - Klaudyna Borowicz & Rogier Dasselaar Lifts and Dips - Remy Kabel & Ilona Schooneveld
Tournament
Rather than having two full competition days, we will host only competitions in the afternoon.
There will be four competitions in total:
Saturday afternoon:
Fixed partner ballroom
Lottery partner ballroom
Sunday afternoon:
Fixed partner latin
Lottery partner latin
You can select one competition per discipline and register for it using the subscription form. For example, you could choose to dance fixed-partner Latin and lottery-partner ballroom, or vice versa. Alternatively, you can opt for the lottery format for both disciplines, or the fixed-partner format for both.
If you want an afternoon off, you can also decide not to join a competition at all (but we'd find you boring). The only restriction is that you cannot participate in two competitions for the same discipline (e.g., both lottery and fixed partner for Latin).
Lottery competition (Pterodactyls)
This competition will be a bit like the CloseD/Open class at some ETDSes, but also still very different. There will be all 5 dances from the start of the tournament. Each round, you will be assigned a different partner for each dance by lottery. There will be three first rounds, ensuring everyone gets plenty of dance time and plenty of partners. The selection for the subsequent semi-final (consisting of ±24 couples) will therefore be based on performance across these multiple rounds. After this rather big semi-final, we will continue with a regular ±6 couples finale.
Fixed-partner competition (T-rexes)
This competition will be very much comparable to that of a regular ETDS, but still a bit different. There will be two first rounds including all couples dancing 3 dances (Slow Waltz, Tango, Quickstep, or Chacha, Rumba, Jive). Based on those two rounds, you will either be placed directly into the semi-final or do a redance. Subsequently we will dance a semi-final (±12 couples) and a final (±6 couples) with all 5 dances.
As you may have deduced from the name of this competition, you will dance the whole competition with the same partner. You do not have to sign up with this partner because will have the opportunity to find (and sign up with) your blind date partner on Friday and Saturday evening. You can also make arrangements beforehand, if you prefer. Either way, you will subscribe yourselves as a couple the evening before the corresponding competition.
You're a mature Dino, so we will not interfere with your choice of partner. However, we assume you understand that this is a competition where we don't want anyone to have an unfair advantage.
Not allowed
Dancing with a regular or previous competition partner
Dancing with someone you have trained with extensively is not allowed if you dance at a competitive level.
When in doubt, consider this:
- If you are already doubting, don't you already know enough? 😉
- Do you and your partner have an unfair advantage over the other participants?
We trust you to play fair and adhere to this rule. If you're unsure whether this would apply to your level, you can use previous ETDS rules for obligatory blind dating as a guideline.
Food and Drinks
Every dino needs to eat, especially when dancing! Below, you'll find the meals we are supplying. All meals are vegetarian as a standard, unless you have requested meat at registration. If you have dietery requirements, please let us know in the registration form and we will try to cater to your needs!
A tiny drink just won’t cut it for a mighty T-Rex. So, you can get your soda and sekt at our very own Dino-bar, in 1-1,5 liter bottles. We will also sell beer in microraptor-size bottles. Cheers!
We won't serve:
- Breakfast on Monday
- Dinner on Sunday
We will serve:
- Snack
- Breakfast on Saturday and Sunday
- Lunch on Saturday and Sunday
- Dinner on Saturday
Snack specifications
We don’t have a specific snack time because a dino might get hungry at any moment. What’s why we have a snack table where you can grab something throughout the weekend. For the entire weekend, we've prepared the items below per person. If you have diet requirements or preferences, feel free to trade with other dinos!
Weekend snack per person:
- 1x banana
- 1x apple
- 1x muesli bar
- 1x instant noodles (bring your own cup!)
- 1x cucumber
- handful of tomatoes
Brunch specifications
Breakfast, lunch, and brunch will be served on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 to 15:00. Please remember to bring your own plate, cup, and cutlery. Most of the bread toppings are lactose-free and vegan. Gluten-free bread will also be available for those who require it.
At brunch, there will be
- Bread
- Toppings for bread (jam, chocolate spread, hummus, butter, chocolate sprinkles)
- Muesli
- Yoghurt
- Milk
- Apple
- Banana
- Orange juice
- Apple Juice
Dinner specifications
Our caterer offers sustainable, locally sourced ingredients and a focus on minimizing food waste. The dietery requirements you have indicated at registration are all taken into account. If you have any questions, please get in touch!
Cold dishes
Cabbage salad with fennel seed and cumin
Nacho crunch
Thai salad with spring onion and sesame
Hot dishes
Chili sin carne with smoked paprika and roasted corn
Potato tagine with harissa, red onion, and legumes
Steamed white rice
Parties
Of course, there will be THREE roaringly good parties... On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings from around 7/8 PM until the prehistoric hours (4 AM), you can enjoy:
Friday: A welcome party for all the Dinos in attendance.
Saturday: A theme party dubbed "Dancing Dinos", where we’ll wiggle our tails and stomp the night away!
Sunday: The "I’m-so-tired-but-still-partying" party, where we’ll keep dancing despite our exhaustion!