Dear Coach:  

 

We are cordially inviting you and/or your students to participate in The MASQ (Making Art while Socially Quarantined) Junior hosted by The Perfect Performance, LLC.

 

In light of the chaos created by the coronavirus, we are attempting to bring the nation's best and brightest students involved in individual events closer together while practicing social distance.  The MASQ is designed to give competitors a competitive digital experience with competitive costs and limited judge requirements. 

 

There are no qualification pre-requisites for a student to enter this tournament. This competition is open to all students elementary through 8th grade, provided your state association permits online and national competition. We are also allowing independent entries at this competition, so students may register and pay for themselves for this tournament (if your state allows that). Each student must submit a single-take (non-edited) videotaped performance in one or more of the following events:  Duo Interp, Dramatic Interp, Humorous Interp, Original Oratory, Informative, Prose, Poetry, Declamation, Storytelling and TV Commercial. Students can enter however many events they wish. The same video will be used for all rounds of competition in each event.

 

Fees are $40 per event for all entries registered by May 14. A late fee of $25 per entry will be assessed for all entries registered between May 14 & May 15. Payments are due on the final day of each entry period; late payments will incur a penalty based on the dates mentioned above. Unpaid entries after May 17 will be dropped from the competition. Entry fees are non-refundable. Payment options will be available at the bottom of your invoice page. If you have any trouble there, you can also use this link to pay via PayPal or with a debit/credit card:  https://paypal.me/themasq?locale.x=en_US

 

We are planning for three preliminary rounds, quarterfinals (if entries warrant), semifinals and finals. Performances will be judged and critiqued by a nationwide panel of experts who specialize in forensics and theatre. Electronic ballots (with videotaped performances embedded) will be used and educational critiques will be provided to the students immediately following the competition. Students are not required to be present for any part of the tournament. There will be some special events that may occur as livestreams during those days, but none that require attendance.

 

Planned awards include medals and masks, along with team recognition. A special award will be presented to the outstanding individual performer (placing highest in most events) provided by The Perfect Performance. 

 

Coaches and competitors will be emailed links to some of the exciting live features planned for this tournament: Opening Ceremonies, Guest Lectures, Announcements of Advancing Entries, and Awards. These special events will be added to the tournament schedule ASAP.

 

REGISTRATION STEPS:

1- Confirm receipt/acceptance of legally binding document. Coaches registering multiple students will be sent directions for how to do this for each individual.

2- Submit your entries in each of the various categories.

3- Provide piece information (titles, authors, publishers, etc.)

4- Click on Current Invoice in order to pay fees electronically.

5- Record and upload video (Because it will not allow you to advance without adding information, we recommend adding the words ‘PENDING’ here until you are able to provide the final video clip link.)

6- Once all steps are completed and verified for every entry, your participation will be officially approved and you will receive a confirmation email. Any missing steps will appear on the Registration Page as a ‘Not Yet Approved’ statement in red.

 

Details regarding our events, schedule, rules and video submission procedures are also available under the ‘Files for Download’ feature of our SpeechWire tournament page. 

 

T-shirts will be provided for all of our event champions (which is why we are asking for the sizes as you register). Shirts and additional tournament merchandise is available for sale here – https://teespring.com/stores/the-masq-junior

 

Questions regarding registration should be directed to Matt Heimes, Tournament Manager, at mheimes@lps.org or by texting/calling 402-310-4153.

 

Sincerely,

Demond Wilson

Owner & Founder, The Perfect Performance, LLC

(vr)