I've been thinking a bit about the costume and tommy options for Westerhope, and reading the official competition rules for this year, which can be found here.  The following is my interpretation of the rules, but I'd welcome feedback and other insights.

The rules say that the marks available will be split into two sections, each worth half the marks: Notation and Performance.  "There will be 4 judges, 2x of whom will be assessing the performance in the same manner as the Main Competition, and 2x of whom will be assessing the performance having previously considered submitted notations and researched the specific traditional dance. Each dance is marked by all 4 judges."

I think that we need to be neat, tidy, uniform, etc (as per the presentation marks in the main competition), but we do not need to recreate the costumes that the Westerhope team would originally have worn.  I would therefore suggest the same outfits as last year, with shirts and ties as a nod to the tradition, but keeping very much in the team's style with the skirts and colours.

I think that we probably should introduce a tommy to the dance, despite there not having traditionally been one.  As I read it, the notation section explicitly says that the tommy doesn't need to match the historical notation, and the performance section indicates that there will be marks available for character (which it would be a shame not to get).  If we decide to do this, there is obviously a further conversation about what the tommy should do / look like / interaction with the set.

I'd really appreciate other people's input, especially on whether or not you read this documentation the same way I do!  Looking forward to hearing all those opinions.

Rachel :)