Seeing Dance Competitions Through the Lens of Math

In every major dance competition, there comes a moment when emotions rise. The audience cheers for their favorites, fellow dancers question the results, and someone inevitably asks: “Why is this person winning instead of that one?”

It’s a natural reaction. Dance is art. It’s visceral, expressive, and deeply human. But when art is placed into a competitive framework, there must be structure. And that structure is built on something surprisingly objective: math.

I know this because before I was an artist, I was a math tutor and later a high school teacher of math and physics for about three years. My background in engineering makes it impossible for me to look at competitions only through the lens of passion and artistry. I see the formulas, the weights, the numbers that quietly shape the outcome.

And once you look at competitions this way, everything changes. You begin to understand not only why someone wins, but also what competitions value most in their champions.

The Power of Weights in Scoring

Every competition has its set of criteria: timing, technique, musicality, difficulty, choreography, presence, and so on. But here’s the key insight: not all criteria are weighted equally.

Take Euroson Latino World Salsa Championship 2025 (Euroson) as an example. Here are the criteria and their weights for solistas, dúos, and parejas:

• Timing – 25%
• Musicality – 10%
• Technique – 15%
• Difficulty – 15%
• Connection – 10%
• Choreography & Originality – 15%
• Presence & Projection – 10%

The math is already telling us a story: Euroson wants its winners to be dancers who own the timing. Timing alone is worth a quarter of your score — more than musicality, connection, or presence. In fact, timing weighs more than musicality and presence combined.

So when we ask why one dancer places higher than another, sometimes the answer is simple: the one who nailed the timing had an advantage built into the system itself.

A Numbers Experiment: Timing at Euroson vs. The Summit

Now, let’s compare this with The Summit Championship, which uses a different distribution:

• Timing – 20%
• Musicality – 15%
• Technique – 15%
• Difficulty – 15%
• Partnering/Connection – 15%
• Choreography – 10%
• Overall Presentation – 10%

The contrast is fascinating. The Summit values a more balanced competitor, giving higher relative importance to musicality and partnering, while Euroson puts the heaviest bet on timing.

Now, let’s run a thought experiment — something I’ll actually simulate in my video:

👉 Imagine a dancer who only has one skill evaluated: timing. They score an 8 out of 10 in timing, and everything else is zero.

• At Euroson:
  • Timing is 25% of the score.
  • 8/10 in timing = 0.8 × 25 = 20 points out of 100.
• At Summit:
  • Timing is 20% of the score.
  • 8/10 in timing = 0.8 × 20 = 16 points out of 100.

Same skill level, same score in timing, but completely different outcomes because of the math. A dancer who leans on timing looks stronger at Euroson than at Summit.

This is why I call competitions a numbers game. Even if the artistry feels subjective, the framework is designed mathematically, and that framework amplifies certain strengths while minimizing others.

What This Means for Competitors

For dancers, this has a powerful implication: you must train not just for excellence, but for the math of the competition you’re entering.

• At Euroson, losing even one point in timing is brutal. One slip from a 9 to an 8 costs you 2.5 points overall, which can be the difference between the podium and fourth place.
• At Summit, the same slip only costs 2.0 points, but you could lose ground if your partnering or musicality isn’t sharp, because those weigh more.

The conclusion is simple: know the scoring weights, and let them guide your strategy. If timing is king, drill your timing. If partnering is worth 15%, don’t let connection slip.

And when results feel unfair or confusing, remember: the scores are not just about subjective opinions — they are filtered through a system of percentages that silently defines what excellence looks like on that stage.

Final Reflection

As a teacher, I once explained to my students that math is the language that reveals hidden patterns. Today, as an artist and competitor, I see competitions the same way. The beauty and passion of dance remain intact, but the scoreboard is ruled by numbers.

And those numbers are not your enemy. They are your map. If you can learn to read them, you won’t just understand why someone else won — you’ll understand what it takes for you to win.