Vote4Dance System Model

Vote4Dance is built around a few key entities and how they relate to each other. Understanding these relationships will help you navigate the platform.

The Core Entities

Federations

A Federation is the TOP-LEVEL governing body. Examples:

  • A national or regional dance association
  • A league that sets rules and standards for multiple events
  • An organization that issues licenses and certifies dancers/schools

What federations do:

  • Set policies for licenses (who needs them, how to get them)
  • Create and manage dancer/school rankings
  • Approve schools/clubs to participate
  • Track dancer and school/club compliance

Important: You may not have a federation if you’re organizing independent, non-competitive events.

Events

An Event is a specific dance competition or showcase. Examples:

  • “Annual Spring Dance Championship”
  • “Local School Dance Showcase”
  • “Regional Invitational”

What happens at an event:

  • Dancers register to compete
  • Competitions are organized into divisions, classes, and rounds
  • Judges score performances
  • Results are published

Important: One federation can have many events. One event runs independently but may have federation rules applied to it.

Schools/Clubs

A School/Club is an organization that represents a group of dancers. Examples:

  • A school’s dance team
  • A independent dance studio
  • A dance club at a university

What schools/clubs do:

  • Register themselves with a federation (if required)
  • Register their dancers for events
  • Manage team rosters and licenses
  • Apply for licenses on behalf of their members

Important: A school/club is an organization entity, not a person. Multiple people from the same school can use the platform to manage its account.

Dancers

Individual people who compete or participate.

What dancers do:

  • Get licensed (if the federation requires it)
  • Register for specific events
  • Compete and receive rankings
  • Transfer between age groups, classes, or teams

How They Connect 

Federation
├── Policy (licenses required, ranking formulas, approvals needed)
├── License Items (what dancers/schools need to buy)
├── Rankings (division-wide standings)
└── Schools/Clubs
    ├── Member Dancers
    │   ├── Licenses
    │   └── Event Registrations
    └── Team Rosters

Events (run by organizers)
├── Linked to a Federation
├── Divisions/Classes/Rounds
├── Registered Teams from Schools/Clubs
├── Registered Individual Dancers
└── Judging Results

The Most Important Relationship

For an event to run:

  1. Federation sets up policies (if applicable)
  2. Organizer creates the event structure
  3. Schools/Clubs and dancers register for that event
  4. Organizer runs rounds, collects judge scores
  5. Results are published, affecting federation rankings (if applicable)

Different Contexts, Different Rules

If you’re part of a federation:

  • Dancers and schools need federation licenses before they can compete
  • Rankings might be tracked across multiple events
  • The federation approves who can participate

If you’re running an independent event:

  • You may or may not connect to a federation
  • You set your own registration requirements
  • Rankings are specific to your event

Next Steps

Now that you understand the structure, go to Finding Your Role to identify which role(s) you have in Vote4Dance.