By Tuesday April 15th - Performance Application forms submitted (link above)

Saturday May 31st - First Early Bird ends for performer passes and competition entry fees. Save money by purchasing your Performer/Competitor pass early.

Thursday July 31st - Second Early Bird ends for performer passes and competition entry fees.

Thursday July 31st at 5pm - Hotel Early Bird Pricing ends. Book your room early via link on venue page or by phone and mention the congress (code posted on venue page) for discounted congress rates. 

Sunday August 31st - Submit video of a rehearsal or performance of each confirmed show (see info and upload link below)

September 15th - Upload music for all showcase divisions and all performances (info and links below)

September 15th - All Performers and competitors must purchase their performer pass online by September 15th. All performers must register by midnight on September 15th to ensure that their team's performance spot is reserved, their performer name has been verified by Congress registration staff and that they have been entered into our registration database. If a team has several dancers that have not purchased by September 15 we may revoke the team’s performance spot.

After September 15th, any performer who has not already registered can still purchase online, however the price will increase by $5 per day. 

October 1st - Performer Registration will be closed. Any performer that has not purchased by October 1st will have to pay for a full attendee pass, no exceptions. 

All performers, competitors and instructors MUST purchase a Performer/Competitor Pass online in advance. From anywhere on the Congress site, click on "Tickets".

Our staff will be verifying all of the performer names that are submitted. Only team members that are actually performing at the Canada Salsa & Bachata Congress are eligible for the discounted Performer/Competitor Pass. 

There are no refunds on performer passes. If you can no longer perform but are still attending the congress, you can transfer the amount of your performer pass to the purchase of an attendee pass (at the current published rates). If you would like to transfer your performer pass to a team member who has not yet purchased their performer pass, you may do so before September 15th. After September 15th there will be a $45 administration change fee. 

All performers will receive a wristband at the event. The wristband must be worn at all times including when you are on stage. If you remove or lose your wristband, you will need to purchase a new one at full price. NO EXCEPTIONS.  

To pick up your performer pass, bring a piece of Photo ID Registration Office at the hotel. You MUST have a piece of photo ID to pick up your performer pass. Each person must pick up their own performer pass – you cannot pick up passes for your teammates. 

The registration office closes at 1am on Thursday and at 2am on Friday night. If you do not arrive before registration closes, you will need to pay the late night entrance fee if you want to attend that night’s party as our security people do not have access to the registration database.

No outside alcohol is allowed in any of the ballrooms (ie. alcohol not purchased at the Royal York bar).  The congress security will be checking and confiscating any alcohol that is not from the bar.  There are very strict liquor laws in Canada and the hotel could lose its liquor license. Please respect the laws.

NO formal tech rehearsal.

The show order will be done by our Congress stage directors in advance. The order of the performances will be posted by 4pm each day in the Green Room (Confederation 5/6) by the stage manager. 

We will have dedicated times for dancers to test the stage floor. This is OPTIONAL. The stage itself is approximately 28’ x 20’ (width x depth). NO music, NO full run-throughs. This is to test the stage floor and spacing only. 2 minutes maximum practice time per team/couple on stage including getting on and off stage.

Preliminary Open Stage Times (check back in August for final times)

Friday 5:30pm-7:00pm

Saturday 9:00am -10:00am

Sunday 8:00am-10:00am

2025: Shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night will now start at 8:30pm each evening.

IMPORTANT: Performers in the first half of the night show must be present in the stage holding area at 7:45pm in full costume, ready to go. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Performers in the second half of the night show must be present in the stage holding area at 8:30pm in full costume, ready to go. NO EXCEPTIONS.

The stage holding area (or Green Room) is Confederation 5/6 on the mezzanine level.

If your group is unavailable at the stage call, you will not be allowed to perform. Shows will start each evening at 8:30pm sharp and run approximately until 10:30pm.

For the Sunday Afternoon Emerging Artists show, all performers must be present in the Concert Hall (there is no holding room) at 2pm in full costume. 

Stage dimensions: The stage for Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon and Sunday night performances is approximately 28’ x 20’ (width x depth).The dance floor for competitions on Thursday is approximately 40’ x 38’ (width x depth).The dance floor for competitions on Friday daytime is approximately 40’ x 45’ (width x depth)

Deadline: By August 31st, ALL CONFIRMED PERFORMERS (national and international teams, couples and soloists) will need to submit a video of a rehearsal or performance of each routine they will be showcasing. 
Note - this can be a video taken with your phone. Does not need to be perfect. We want to see size of team, genre of dance, song choice, etc.

Submission instructions:

1) Submit your videos here:

Friday Night Performances

Saturday Night Performances

Sunday Afternoon Performances

Sunday Night Performances

2) Ensure the file name includes the dance company, team name, genre. For example: StepsDanceCompany_AmateurTeam_Bachata

For a couple, both dancers’ names and genre. For example: Tito_Tamara_Salsa

For a soloist, first and last name and genre. For example: Hunter_Houde_Salsa

3) Please submit your videos on time. No later than August 31st.

Music for performances and competition showcase divisions need to be submitted in advance: Please submit your music for each performance in advance by uploading directly division link. Here’s how:

Deadline to submit music: Monday September 15th

Make sure that you include the EXACT team name in the message box that we have listed on our Performance Schedule on the Schedule Page (ie Steps Dance Company_Amateur Team) especially if your school/company has multiple teams performing at the event. If it is a couple performing, please include first and last name of each dancer.

File Naming: Detailed naming of your upload file is very important to the efficient organization of the DJ for performances and competitions. Please name each file as follows: {GroupName}_{TeamName}_{Genre}_{Show/Competition}

EXAMPLES FOR PERFORMANCE:

StepsDanceCompany_AmateurTeam_Bachata_Show.mp3

Tito_Tamara_Salsa_Show.mp3

EXAMPLES FOR COMPETITION SHOWCASE:

StepsDanceCompany_OpenTeam_Salsa_Comp.mp3

Maria_Carlos_Amateur_Salsa_Comp.mp3

Music Format: MP3 with preferred bitrate of 320 (minimum bitrate of 220) or WAV format or Mac AIFF file. Make sure you are submitting good quality files, ie not music downloaded from YouTube.

Any performance music not submitted in advance will only be accepted at tech rehearsal during the congress weekend in USB format (one track only), clearly labeled with name of the performance team/couple. 

Any competition showcase music not submitted in advance will only be accepted at competition check in on Wednesday October 8th and Thursday October 9th. USB format (one track only), clearly labeled with name of the competition team or couple and the division. If you are performing / competing in numerous divisions, you will need multiple USBs.