The annual inter-collegiate Cuppers competition will be held this year on Saturday 17th May 2008 at Tingewick Hall, JR Hospital.

Doors open: 12pm
Competition starts: 1pm
Everything should be over by 7pm.

Entry is £4 per person (so a full team of 4 couples is £32), payable to OUDC either on the day or pidge cheques to Sarah Fordham at Magdalen in advance.

College captains please complete the entry form and return it to Kitty as soon as possible, and by TUESDAY 13th May at the latest.

A list of college captains will be posted here – if you are captain for your college, please email Frank: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Cuppers Information

There is no restriction on steps but only non-competitive dress is allowed.

Teams for cuppers should contain four couples, one each to dance Waltz, Quickstep, Cha Cha Cha and Jive, though incomplete teams may be entered.

Incomplete teams may amalgamate with incomplete teams from another college – however only a college’s lowest ranked team may amalgamate (e.g. a college with six couples can enter a full A-team and an amalgamated B-team, but not an amalgamated A-team when there are couples from that college dancing on a lower team).

Team captains do not have to specify in advance which couples comprise the A-team, B-team etc. The highest scoring couple in each dance will be assigned to the college’s A-team, and so on, when overall results are calculated. However, the amalgamation rule means that the two partners come from different colleges, the couple will automatically be assigned to the amalgamated (i.e. lowest) team.

Only members of the college (or colleges in the case of an amalgamated team) may score points – this includes members of college staff. Members of the college may dance with a non-scoring partner who is not a member of the college; in this case the couple will be awarded half the points they would have achieved were both partners college members.

The “Experienced” Rule

No two “experienced” dancers may dance together in Cuppers. A dancer is normally classed as “experienced” if he/she has done any of the following:

• Competed on the university circuit this year
• Ever danced in the team match at one of the main university competitions (Warwick, Nottingham, Sheffield, SUDA, IVDA, Varsity)
• Passed qualifications in ballroom and/or latin dancing above gold medal level
• Competed in more than one open circuit competition, except at Beginner level
• Competed in five or more previous Cuppers competitions

There may be some cases in which these rules seem to class someone as experienced unfairly (e.g. if you danced in the team match at Sheffield while on the beginners team several years ago, or left the beginners team during Michaelmas). In this case, captains may apply to the President and Secretary in writing for an exemption.