Make Your Mark: The Dance Off Continues
Two weeks after the Disney Channel launched the Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off, the competition is going strong, with more than 5,400 (!) audition videos submitted online by talented young dancers from all over the United States.
Screenshot from the Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off website, image copyright Disney
When Disney first announced the Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off several weeks prior to the launch of the official website, there was very little information online regarding specific rules and regulations. At first it was unclear how the six finalists would be chosen as it was announced that dancers could submit their videos online OR audition in person at five audition cities throughout July. A lively discussion started up on this blog about the contest, and hopefully everyone got their questions answered. Thanks to all of the commenters!
It is now clear that dancers who audition in person at one of the mall events will be given a retrieval code to download a video of their audition which they can then submit online, guaranteeing that all six finalists are chosen through their online audition videos, regardless of if the videos are self-submitted or recorded at an in-person event.
Since the official competition began on July 1st, Disney’s rules, regulations, and audition procedures have fleshed out the DOs and DON’Ts of the online video audition. If you haven’t submitted your audition video yet, do so now at http://makeyourmark.disney.go.com/. Good luck!
Audition Schedule: (Pacific Time) July 1, 2011 (12:01 AM) — August 3, 2011 (4:59 PM): Audition Period
August 12, 2011: Two (2) Semi-Finalists Announced
August 19, 2011: Two (2) Semi-Finalists Announced
August 25, 2011: Producer Review Complete
August 26, 2011: Two (2) Semi-Finalists Announced
All of the rules below can be found on the Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off website. For more details, visit the Audition Procedures page.
The six semi-finalists will go to Los Angeles to compete in an epic television event on Disney Channel. Kids watching from home will vote for the grand prize winner who gets to appear as a spotlight dancer on an episode of Shake It Up!
Eligibility: To be eligible to participate in this Audition, each Dancer appearing in your Video must:
1. Not be younger than eight (8) years old, nor older than sixteen (16) years old;
2. Be a legal resident of, and physically residing in, the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia (“Territory”);
3. Not be an employee of the Organizer; its parent, affiliate, subsidiary company or its advertising or promotion agency involved in this Audition, nor a member of the household or immediate family of such employee;
4. Not have any existing agreements, verbal or written, relating to his or her performance, including union or guild, dancing, acting, music recording, talent representation, or name, voice or likeness rights, or any other agreement that could prohibit him or her from fully participating in the Audition, the TV Dance-Off Contest or appearance on Shake it Up.
Online competitions are often vulnerable to cheating or poor sportsmanship, but Disney has made efforts to ensure that Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off stays fair and friendly. When commenting on videos, viewers can choose from a list of pre-written, mostly positive comments including “Total winner!”, “Oh, 2 cute!”, “Wish I had your moves”, and “You totally rock!” Limiting what viewers can say keeps comments from becoming mean spirited or inappropriate, ala: YouTube. Viewers can “Like” videos, but they are unable to dislike or downvote videos, which keeps the competition from being skewed unfairly by participants who leave poor marks on every video except their own.
Screenshot from the Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off website, image copyright Disney
Once they have been uploaded and approved by Disney, the audition videos can be searched by Most Recent / Most Liked of All Time / Most Viewed / Featured / and All Honored. Some submitters have expressed that their videos have been delayed by as much as 12 days (!) before going live on the site, so be patient! If you are worried about your video’s delay, feel free to record another video with a different choreographed routine and submit that one too, but once Disney has confirmed that your video has uploaded, DO NOT upload the same video again – duplicated video submissions will be disqualified. Dancers can submit up to 20 (!) different routines, so long as the choreography is unique to each video.
Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off: Video Submission Rules
(as announced on makeyourmark.disney.go.com)
Protect your privacy: Say only your first name and home state.
Be original: Apart from the songs you can download from the site, your video has to be 100% original.
Use the songs provided: Apart from the provided song clips, no singing or other music is allowed.
Be age appropriate: All dancers must be between the ages of 8 and 16.
Have a parent’s permission: Each dancer must have permission from a parent before participating.
DON’T Show any brands or logos: That means no brands on your clothes, sneakers, in the background, or anywhere.
DON’T Break the stage: Keep the number of dancers, including yourself, to 5 max.
DON’T Be rude or reckless: Improper behavior won’t fly. Avoid bad language, rude gestures, and for everyone’s safety, don’t try any risky moves.
DON’T Go too long… 45 SECONDS max!
Screenshot from the Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off website, image copyright Disney
Unfortunately, at any time, the contest organizer reserves the right to discretion to disqualify and remove any Video, Dancer, or Semi-finalist for any reason, especially if the Organizer believes that the Video potentially or actually infringes upon the copyrights, or other rights of any third party, or otherwise does not comply with the TOU or these Procedures. If you don’t want to be disqualified, be sure to follow ALL of the rules!
For dancers interested in the mall events, the California city auditions have passed, but Chicago, Atlanta, and Detroit are coming up soon! Eligible dancers who would like to audition in-person and have their auditions filmed and ready to upload online should pre-register for these audition dates now!
City Auditions: July 7, 2011: Los Angeles, CA
The Americana at Brand
Fountain Lawn 10am-6pm
889 Americana Way
Glendale, CA 91210July 9, 2011: San Francisco, CA
Stoneridge Shopping Center
Grand Court 10am-6pm
One Stoneridge Mall Road
Pleasanton, CA 94588July 16, 2011: Chicago, IL
Woodfield Mall
Grand Court 10am-6pm
5 Woodfield Mall
Schaumburg, IL 60173July 23, 2011: Atlanta, GA
Mall of Georgia
Nordstrom Court 10am-6pm
3333 Buford Drive
Buford, GA 30519July 30, 2011: Detroit, MI
Twelve Oaks Mall
Center Court 10am-6pm
27500 Novi Road
Novi, MI 48377
The competition ends August 3rd. GOOD LUCK!
is there going to be one for 2014 since shake it up is produced anymore? Because I really hope the have another one. It would be so fun to keep doing it. And Justin Bieber
should be a celebrity that inspires us and talks to us .
is there one for 2014
How do you sumit a video I don’t know how and I wount to :[
Hey I’m rianna hill and I wanted to be on make your mark last year but I didn’t and me and my cousin really wants to be on it
Can it be any type of dance?Can there be only one person?well thanks I wanna send in an audition with my Freind Chloe.
Will there be a make your mark2013
Hey can you please up date it and host a audition in Virginia or North Carolina. Thanks, if you do.
Will there be another make your mark dance of 2013? Because we really wanna do it!!
i love all my fans im a singer
i love it
i will be on a tv show with the stars of rocky and cece
Thanks , I’ve just been searching for information approximately this subject for a while and yours is the greatest I’ve came upon till now. But, what concerning the bottom line? Are you sure about the source?|What i don’t realize is in reality how you are not really a lot more neatly-liked than you might be right now. You’re very intelligent.
when is the next dance off?
how do i send in my audition?