DANCE CATEGORIES

ENTRY LEVEL

NOVICE: Dancers who are in their first year of competitive dance.

 - Novice Solo/Duet/Trio - 100 per cent of the dancers must be in their first year of competing in a solo/duet/trio.

 - Novice Group - 75 per cent of the dancers in a group must be in their first year of competitive dance

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PRE-COMPETITIVE: Dancers who train less than six hours per week and HAVE competed before

 - Pre-Competitive Solo/Duet/Trio - 100 per cent of the duet/trio must be pre-competitive

 - Pre-Competitive Group - 75 per cent of the dancers in a group must be pre-competitive 

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COMPETITIVE

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COMPETITIVE: Dancers who train six or more hours per week.

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HIGHSCHOOL: Highschool Dance Team

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AGE DIVISIONS

Age division is determined as of December 31st of the competition season. 

To determine the average age for duets/trios and groups, simply add all of the performers' ages (as of December 31st, 2022) together, divide by the number of performers in the routine and drop the decimal point.

• Petite (4-6)

• Junior (7-10)

• Intermediate (11-14)

• Senior (15-18)

• Advanced (19-21)

• Adult - 22 years old and older

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CATEGORIES

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Every entry must follow the correct number of dancers and maximum time limits allowed for each category:

• Solo:1 dancer (3 minutes max)

• Duet: 2 dancers  (3 minutes max)

• Trio: 3 dancers  (3 minutes max)

• Small Group: 4-9 dancers  (4 minutes max)

• Large Group: 10-15 dancers  (4.5 minutes max)

• Extended Line: 16 or more dancers  (6 minutes max)

• Production: 20+ dancers  (12 minutes max

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DANCE STYLES

DEMI-POINTE - a style of dance that is highly technical, formalized and contains ballet technique.  No acrobatics permitted.

DEMI-CHARACTER - a ballet style of dance that includes mime, acting and is set to music.  No acrobatics permitted.

POINTE - a ballet style of dance done in pointe shoes.  No acrobatics permitted.

PAS DE DEUX/ TRIO - a ballet style of dance that consists primarily of adagio movements, typically performed by a male dancer in soft shoe and ballerina(s) on pointe. No acrobatics permitted.

CONTEMPORARY BALLET - a dance style containing ballet technique, with style, movement and music not limited to a classical scope. No acrobatics permitted.

CONTEMPORARY POINTE - a dance style on pointe that primarily contains pointe technique, however the style, music and movement are not limited to a classical scope. No acrobatics permitted.

JAZZ - a dance style that exhibits strength and combines jazz style and technique.  

LYRICAL – a dance style that combines ballet and jazz techniques and style used in motion to interpret and express emotion. 

TAP - a dance style performed in tap shoes composed of tap technique, styles (hoofing or classical) and tap rhythms.

MODERN – movement utilizing modern tehniques such as Graham, Horton, Humphrey etc... that is inspired by human gestures and nature.  This style must incorporate some or all of the following qualities of movements: off-kilter alignment, gravity, breath, contraction, release, fall, recovery, suspension, opposition, vibration and percussion.  

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CONTEMPORARY - a dance style that is inspired by human expressions, movements and emotions. Contemporary dance tends to combine the strength and controlled leg and arm work of ballet with modern dance's focus on the torso.  It also incorporates floor work and improvisation chracteristics. 

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HIP HOP – a dance style that contains street/hip hop, technique and style, often done to hip hop music. 

MUSICAL THEATRE - a dance style combining music, dance and lip synching.

SONG & DANCE – a dance style combining music, dance and live vocal. * Please note we do not supply headset microphones unless notified one week prior to an event.

ACRO – a dance combined with acrobatic tricks that displays balance, flexibility and tumbling (a dance routine in this style must have a minimum of 5 acro tricks to be considered for this category).

Acrobatics definition: Acrobatics or "tricks" are when a dancer completes a 360 degree rotation with both feet above their head. Illusions, partnering lifts, front and back rolls in which a dancers feet end up over their head are not considered acrobatics or "tricks". 

OPEN – a dance style that incorporates a variety of dance styles.  It is also the category for any dance form that is not listed above.  

ADULT – teachers, parents, college/university students, professional dancers competing to receive a placement in a category (not eligible for overall awards).  Please note that all dancers in the adult category compete against one another regardless of the dance style.

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