Acro Dance Competition: What It Is, Where It's Run and How It's Judged

A dance section in which the performer combines dance with acrobatic skills such as rolls, bridges, walkovers and balances, in a routine of up to three minutes marked out of 100.

Acro Dance blends choreographed dance with acrobatic movement. Instead of treating tumbling as a separate display, the dancer links skills such as cartwheels, rolls, bridges, walkovers, handstands and controlled balances into a routine with music, transitions and a clear performing intention. The best entries look like dance that happens to contain acrobatics, not a set of gymnastic passes with a few steps between them.

A round is a single performance on the stage floor. The dancer, or the duo or trio, is announced, the music starts and the adjudicator watches how the skills are placed in the piece: how cleanly each one is entered and exited, whether the dancing between skills keeps the same quality, and whether the routine builds rather than front-loading its hardest trick. Safety and control matter as much as difficulty, because a skill that is attempted but not controlled usually costs more than a simpler one done cleanly.

On the template this page is written from, Acro Dance is one of the 'Any Style' sections of an Australian multi-style dance challenge, alongside National Character, Variety and Student Choreography. It is offered as a solo for a Petite group (5 and under), then for 7 and under, 9 and under, 11 and under, 13 and under, 15 and under and 16 and over. Solo groups from 7 upwards are split into Pre-Open and Open sections, and the genre is also run as a duo or trio in seven age groups, 20 groups in all. Boys and girls compete together, no language is needed, entries run up to three minutes and each is marked out of 100 under the label Marks.

The syllabus prints no criteria or mark bands for this genre specifically, so none are installed and the adjudicator's own sheet decides; overall results use the template's printed bands from Pearl up to Diamond (92 and over), with First, Second, Third and Highly Commended as placings. For a coordinator using eTalenter the section is entered like any other item: register the dancer in the right age and level group, record the adjudicator's mark out of 100, and the placing follows within that group. Confirm the dancer's skill level is realistic for the age group before the day, since the printed rules for this event leave the choice of skills to the performer.

Where Acro Dance is run

In eTalenter's data Acro Dance appears on one Australian multi-style dance challenge, where it is run in 20 age and level groups. Acro or acrobatic dance sections also appear at dance eisteddfods and studio competitions in countries with a studio dance tradition, though the title, the skills allowed and the way acrobatics is judged vary from event to event, so this page does not claim a wider reach than the data and general practice support.

• Australia
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Canada

Key facts

• Solo entry for the Petite group and for 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 and under and 16 and over; also offered as a duo or trio in seven age groups, which the template treats as a team entry.
• Boys and girls compete together; no language is required.
• Solo groups from age 7 upwards are split into Pre-Open and Open sections: 13 solo groups and 7 duo/trio groups, 20 in all.
• Time limit in the template: 3 minutes. Marks out of 100 under the label Marks.
• Listed among the Any Style sections, so the performer chooses the style of dance and the acrobatic skills; no genre-specific criteria are printed and the adjudicator's sheet decides.
• Idea starters, not rules: a routine built on a single object such as a ribbon or a chair, a story of a toy coming to life with the skills as its 'tricks', or a duo where one partner's balance becomes the other's starting point.

On eTalenter, Acro Dance is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 3 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Acro Dance is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 3 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Acro Dance

What a Acro Dance panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Technique and safety: skills that are clean, controlled and landed with alignment, rather than rushed or attempted beyond the performer's level.
• Integration of dance and acrobatics: transitions that flow in and out of each skill, and dance between skills that keeps the same quality as the skills themselves.
• Difficulty suited to the performer: a well-executed appropriate skill scores better than a hard one that wobbles or collapses.
• Musicality and timing: skills placed on the phrasing of the music, with the hardest moments matched to its accents.
• Choreography and presentation: a shaped routine with a beginning, build and ending, good use of space and a performer who looks confident rather than anxious.
• For duos and trios, partnering and unison: matched timing, safe supported lifts or balances and a visible relationship between the dancers.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Acro Dance under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Acro Dance

How entrants and their teachers usually get Acro Dance right on the day:

• Choose skills that the dancer can land cleanly every time in rehearsal, then add one challenge skill only when it is reliable.
• Plan the routine as dance first: write the music's phrases on paper and decide where each skill sits, so none is a pause in the performance.
• Practise the transitions into and out of every skill separately; most lost marks are on the step before or after the trick, not on the trick itself.
• Rehearse on a surface like the stage floor and in the costume to be worn, since grip, stretch and sleeve length change how a skill feels.
• Cut the music to three minutes with a clear opening pose and a final position the dancer can hold still, and rehearse with the exact edit.
• Warm up properly on the day and have a calm recovery plan if a skill goes wrong: keep moving, rejoin the choreography and finish in time.
• For duos and trios, agree who signals each balance or lift, rehearse with the music rather than counting aloud, and check the entry level honestly: Pre-Open is for a dancer who has not placed first in a restricted or open section of that genre.

Frequently asked questions

Is Acro Dance judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What is Acro Dance?

Acro Dance combines choreographed dance with acrobatic skills such as rolls, bridges, walkovers and balances. It is judged as a dance routine, so the skills must be linked into the choreography and music rather than performed as separate tumbling passes.

How long is an Acro Dance entry?

The syllabus on this template gives three minutes for solos and for duo and trio dances. Other events set their own limits, so check the syllabus of the event you are entering.

Are the acrobatic skills prescribed?

Not in the syllabus this template is built from. It lists Acro Dance among the Any Style sections, so the performer chooses the dance style and skills, and the adjudicator marks what is shown. Check the event's own rules for any restrictions.

What is the difference between Pre-Open and Open?

On this template, Pre-Open is for a dancer who has not placed first in a restricted or open section of that genre at any eisteddfod, and Open is for one who has. The split is printed for solos from age 7 upwards, but not for Petites or for duos and trios.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full group dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.

Try Acro Dance in eTalenter

See every ready-made template that runs Acro Dance, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.

See where Acro Dance is used