RULES AND REGULATIONS - ENTRY INFORMATION
PERFORMANCE CLASSIFICATIONS
AGE DIVISIONS TIME LIMITS GROUP SIZES
TITLE ENTRIES
CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS
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Apprentice (novice): For dancers who have 2 years or less of performance experience, and/or students who have 1 year or less of competition experience. Dancers who qualify for this classification must compromise 2/3 of the trio, group, or production routines.
Corps (competitive): For dancers who have more than 2 years of performance experience, and/or more than 1 year of competition experience.
Elite (advanced competitive): This is the highest level of competition. It is designed for top-level dancers with significant competition experience.
Principal (pro-am): For teachers and/or professional dancers to perform with or without students. (Eligible for adjudicated awards only).
Diva Division: This non-competitive division is designed for dancers with physical, cognitive, or intellectual disabilities to share their love of dance. Dancers in this division may dance to be adjudicated or for performance only. Directors may elect to opt-in or out of live feedback from the judges. Please indicate preferences in the note section of the online registration, or contact Diva so we can be sure to make the experience for the dancers as wonderful as possible. Note: this division does not include high scores or overall high scores. Dancers in this division are eligible for Special Awards, Judges’ Awards, the CdLS Spirit Award, and the Key to Success Award.
Divisions are based on the dancer’s age as of the date of the first Regional competition they attend. Age divisions for duo/trios, groups, and classes will be determined by averaging the ages of the participants in each dance. For averages ending in decimal points, the decimal will be dropped.
Mini 6 & under
Petite 7-9
Junior 10-12
Teen 13-15
Senior 16-18
Adult 19 & over
Solo: 1 dancer
Duo/Trio: 2-3 dancers
Small Group: 4-9 dancers
Large Group: 10-25 dancers
Production: 15+ dancers
All solos, duos/trios, and small/ large groups are not to exceed 3 minutes.
Productions are not to exceed 6 minutes.
Extended routines are not to exceed 5 minutes. (Limited to groups. Extended time is an additional $2/dancer.)
Extended production routines are not to exceed 8 minutes.
All solos entered in the Apprentice, Corps, and Elite categories are automatically entered for a Title within their own division and age category at Regional competitions. The top 10 solos, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st runner-up will be announced and the highest-scoring solo will be named the Title winner. A soloist may place only once in the Top 10. In the event a soloist places with more than 1 routine, only the top-scoring routine will be announced. At the National competition, the Solo and Title categories are separate and must be registered accordingly. Adult Title Contestants are ineligible for "Top Overall Title Winner" at Nationals.
If a competitive soloist is the only one competing in their age category, they must earn a score of 270 or higher to be deemed a “Title Winner”. A score below 270 will earn the soloist “Highest Scoring Competitive Solo”. A soloist earning a “High Score” as opposed to a “Title” is not eligible for the Overall High Score in their age division.
Ballet: Choreography consisting of classical ballet technique, steps, and movement while wearing ballet slippers.
Pointe: Choreography consisting of classical ballet technique, steps and movement while wearing pointe shoes.
Jazz: Choreography consisting of traditional jazz technique, steps, and movement.
Tap: Choreography consisting of traditional tap technique, steps, and rhythms while wearing tap shoes.
Acro: Choreography consisting of gymnastic and acrobatic tricks and passes combined with dance technique.
Lyrical: Choreography consisting of a fusion of traditional ballet and jazz technique that utilizes the lyrics and feeling of the music.
Modern: Choreography consisting of traditional modern technique, steps, and movements.
Contemporary: Choreography consisting of a fusion of several categories.
Song & Dance: Routine containing live singing and any style of dance. No lip syncing and no pre-recorded lead vocals.
Musical Theater: Choreography consisting of dance and characterization in the style of a Broadway or movie musical. Lip syncing is allowed.
Hip Hop: Routine must consist primarily of hip-hop technique. May include street dance, free-style, funk, pop-n-lock & breakdancing.
Open: Anything that does not apply to the above listed categories.
Student Choreography: A routine choreographed solely by the student.
Ethnic/Folk: A routine using ethnic styles of dance.