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PSO Central - Chicago, IL is on May 28-29. Purchase tickets here!
Each year, we go through our rules and update for items that no longer make sense, have ceased to be issues, or needed to be added based on our prior year experience at events.
The general overview of this year’s changes is that we went back to remove deductions that we felt like were not important to safety or event operations, or otherwise extraneous.
Here are all of the rule updates made for 2022 and on. These are effective immediately.
Levels
Sandbagging
Level 1
Level 2 & 3
Yes, allowed:
No, not allowed:
We added some specifically allowed moves for Levels 2 and 3 that were deducted for in the past based on the 3 points rule, but are more basic moves and transitions.
We added some specifically disallowed moves for Levels 2 and 3 that were not deducted for based on the 3 points rule, but are more advanced than appropriate for these levels.
Registration & Fees
COVID
We understand that COVID has created some interesting circumstances. To be fair to you but also be able to plan events effectively, the following guidelines apply. We will review and update our policies regularly as our world continues to evolve.
Our COVID policies that we have been operating under on a case-by-case basis are now being published so it’s clear to everyone how requests are handled.
Props
Human Props
Human props are allowed. Human props may touch you, but not the pole. If your human prop is setting other props for you onstage, they may not touch the poles. Judging will be based on your skills and abilities only, and not the skills and abilities of the human prop.
We updated this rule to clarify that if a human prop is setting props up for a competitor, they are not allowed to touch the pole either. There was ambiguity here in the past.
Props that bear some body weight but not all are allowed. Ex. You can wrap a skirt around the pole and lean on it. You cannot use pole silks or fab pole devices.
The original intention of this rule was to exclude devices like FabPole or PoleSilks, which are not able to be safely installed within the 30 second time rule, and change the apparatus too much for a pole competition. We also do not want competitors installing devices that would put lateral forces on the poles because that is not the stress that X-Poles have been tested and rated for. However, in this example there is no safety issue and it should be allowed: someone wraps their skirt around the pole and leans on it.
Deductions
General & Safety
Unintional brushing of the truss is no longer a deduction.
This is not an actual safety concern so the deduction is removed.
Costume
For women: 1 or more breasts unintentionally become uncovered during a piece. If a full top is required for the event and there is an accidental nipple exposure, no deduction will be taken if she is wearing pasties underneath.
We hate giving deductions for this type of accidental moment, but also need to comply with local laws. This was a good compromise. Please wear pasties! We are going to try to have them for sale at the Tickets & Check In desk if you forget to bring them.
Inclusivity
We believe in inclusivity and that all people are welcome to have their moment with PSO. One can, however, lose their ability to be included in our organization by behaving poorly. If one behaves in a manner that shows a habit of disrespect, harassment, violence, or anything else that PSO believes creates an unsafe or unsupportive environment, we reserve the right to take actions up to banning them from the event. Please treat each other well.
Our value of inclusion as it was previously defined (inclusive of all people, all of the time, for all time) needed to be modified based on poor behavior demonstrated by some community members both in person and online in the last year. We welcome all people, and inclusivity is a privilege that you enjoy with our organization from the start. However, an individual’s behavior over time can force us to exclude that person from an event based on their large negative effect on others.
We believe that anyone, at any level, and any age should have a chance to be on stage. We are an inclusive event, meaning no submission videos, no prerequisites, and no required moves. Just sign up, and we'll see you at the show!
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