In dancesport, as in any sport, the more evenly matched the athletes, the more exciting the results. Competitive ballroom dancing features a unique classification system of levels that ensures dancers of the same ability compete against one another during events. As dancers gain experience, they move on to higher levels of competition, where they are judged according to more complex moves and a greater number of dances.

There are two types of classification systems based on the type of dance program: closed (meaning that the choreography is restricted to a standardized syllabus) and open (where choreography is open to individual expression). For closed programs, dancers are assigned a level of bronze, silver, and gold. Each dance in the standard repertoire is likewise divided into a series of bronze, silver, and gold moves depending on their level of complexity. Thus, a bronze-level dancer would be expected to execute the most basic moves of a Foxtrot or Rumba, a silver-level dancer would be expected to execute the basic and intermediate moves, and a gold-level dancer would be expected to perform all of the moves including the most difficult.

Dancers usually progress from one level to the next by accumulating points in competitions. A dancer can initially declare themselves at any level, with the caveat that once a level is declared (or attained by point advancement), a dancer cannot compete again at a lower level. Dancers can compete at a higher level than their own, however, and often do in the case of pairs, since the highest-ranked dancer determines the level for the pair.

Open programs are designed for more advanced dancers and feature Novice, Pre-Championship, and Championship levels. Because dancers choreograph their own performance in an open program, a familiarity with all of the foundational dance steps and moves (from bronze to gold) is presumed. Dancers often compete in both closed and open programs, so it's not unusual for dancers to have dual classification such as gold and pre-championship status. Remember: while it may take years of study to attain a high level of achievement, ballroom dancing delivers a high level of enjoyment and personal fulfillment to dancers of all ages and skills-and that's worth more than gold.