I was wondering if someone could shed some light onto what judges look for especially in the lower sylabus levels. Should one attempt things such as picture lines and developing light and shade in refrence to musicality and movement as a Bronze level dancer or are these techniques to advanced, and it would be better to dance more conservatively? I know this is a very broad question but any advice would be helpful. Specifically in regards to Latin any thoughts on using overturns, and delayed weight transfer to create that contrast of slowness and speed.

Hi cp
I can give you my experiences and what i've been told on this subject. In recent times i've come up through the lower levels in International Ballroom.
At the lower levels (beginner, novice, to some extent intermediate)judges look for good basic technique - immaculate footwork, good leg work, posture, poise, balance, timing, good linkage with your partner. Essentially, you need to demonstrate you have the fundamentals right.
Good timing is essential. I have a friend who has a problem with timing and rhythm. He and his partner look great on the floor excpet he keeps losing his timing, and he's penalised heavily.
Picture lines and musicality: - picture lines aren't expected at the lower levels. Make sure the syllabus includes them. In europe, the restricted syllabus for beginner and novice precludes any 'fancy' steps. Even a double back lock or a travelling check in a slow waltz is banned! Clearly musicality is going to help you and make your dancing more attractive.
I once won an intermediate event dancing beginner steps (for waltz and quickstep) very well, against others doing oversways and checks. It taught me something.
Of course, in your social dancing, you can just enjoy yourself, and if you can dance more advanced material well, you can look forward to great things higher up the ladder.

A well-known judge in the US once told me that on the lower levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Novice) he looks for three things:

1. Is the couple dancing on time?
2. Are they standing up straight (good posture)?
3. Do the look good? (Meaning, are they dressed neatly and appropriately, do they look like they are enjoying themselves, do they look like they are dancing rather than just stepping through the motions?)

As far as picture lines go, there aren't any in the ISTD syllabus, which is the syllabus used for International Standard and Latin. I don't know what the American Rhythm syllabus has in it, and I don't recall that the DVIDA American Smooth syllabus has more than perhaps an oversway in it. Don't worry about picture lines now: instead think about posture, timing, footwork, and lead-and-follow.

Yes, that's about what I've heard, too, back when I was competing. It's almost like they're looking for who's the least bad. ;)

There are picture lines in the ISTD syllabus, but you can't hold them and thus really work them. But they're there. Waltz has a Contra Check, so does tango, and tango also has an Oversway with a Drop Oversway as a variation of it. The Left Whisk in waltz is basically a picture line, too. I had a workshop once that talked about picture lines in syllabus. The Contra Check and Left Whisk were named specifically, along with moves to PP and hover moves. These last two groups may not be your typical picture lines, but the general idea is to provide a good pose for a photo and that can be done on the turn to PP in moves like Whisk, Open Impetus, Turning Lock to R, Open Impetus, and Outside Change to PP (is that syllabus though? I can't remember), and in the hover part of moves like the Reverse Corte and Hover Corte. So like I said, picture lines exist in syllabus, the main problem is that they're quick. You have to get into them and then right back out of them. You can't hold the position for an extra bar or two and develop the line slowly. But if you do the moves well, you can still get a nice line for a moment. BTW, I don't really know what latin calls picture lines; I'm more familiar with them in standard.

But Laura's right that picture lines aren't something to really worry about at syllabus levels. The judges are probably mainly looking for the basics that she noted -- dancing on time with good posture and generally looking good while doing it. At higher syllabus levels they'll probably be looking for a bit more, better basic technique like footwork, rise/fall, and such. You want to be careful about using overturns and altering the basic technique in syllabus competitions. You could get disqualified for not dancing syllabus if you're not careful. In restricted comps like that, it's better to be conservative, I think, and stick to what you know is totally legal. If all your basic technique is really good, about all I might suggest adding at low levels is phrasing -- try to make your figures match the (usually) 8 bar phrasing of the music. This is sort of a level above simply being on time and being able to phrase well at low levels may stand out to the judges. Good luck! :)