A group dance in the contemporary idiom, where a troupe performs one routine built on floor work, release and fluid weight changes together as a team class, marked out of 100 on all six Australian dance templates that carry it.
Contemporary dance is the most open of the troupe genres. It borrows the technical base of ballet and jazz but works with weight, breath, falling and recovering, floor contact and unexpected shapes, and it often explores an idea or theme rather than telling a linear story. A contemporary troupe has to make that language readable as a group: the dancers share the same quality of movement, the same timing of a fall or a rise, and the same sense of where the energy is travelling, even when the formations are asymmetrical.
In eTalenter data Contemporary Troupe appears on six Australian dance templates: a regional eisteddfod dance catalogue, a song-and-dance challenge, a tropical dance festival, a dance challenge syllabus, a national dance competition series and a multi-genre dance showcase. Every one treats it as a team item marked out of 100. Five allow five minutes; the showcase allows four. Age bands differ: team bands from 8 and under to 16 and under plus open age on the regional catalogue, 6 and under to 14 and under plus 15 and over on the song-and-dance challenge, 5 and under to 15 and under plus 16 and over on the tropical festival, 6 and under to 18 and under plus open age on the national series, and 6 and under to 15 and over on the showcase. The dance challenge syllabus splits each age band into Mini, Small and Large troupes and adds Novice sections.
Only the national series prints a mark sheet for it: Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10 and Overall Appearance 5, with a minimum of four dancers per troupe. The other five templates install the same item as a team entry marked out of 100 without a printed sheet, so this page does not claim one for them.
For organisers it suits the older and more adventurous classes of a dance school and sits naturally beside the lyrical, jazz and hip hop troupe classes. Register each troupe as a team, record every adjudicator's marks and let the ranking give the placings. Matters the software does not enforce, such as how many dancers a troupe must have, how average age is worked out and whether a dancer may appear in more than one troupe, are for the organiser to state in the entry rules.
Where Contemporary Troupe is run
In eTalenter data Contemporary Troupe appears on six Australian templates: a regional eisteddfod dance catalogue, a song-and-dance challenge, a tropical dance festival, a dance challenge syllabus, a national dance competition series and a multi-genre dance showcase. Group contemporary pieces are common at dance festivals and school showcases elsewhere, but this page describes only what those templates carry.
- Australia
Key facts
- Team item: a troupe performing one contemporary routine together; the national series sets a minimum of four dancers, and the software enforces no dancer count.
- Time limit is five minutes on five templates and four minutes on the multi-genre showcase.
- Marked out of 100; the series with a printed sheet uses Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution 20, Choreography 10, Appearance 5.
- Age bands are for the troupe; the dance challenge syllabus splits each band into Mini, Small and Large troupes and adds Novice sections.
- Gender is open: troupes may be mixed.
- Idea, not a rule: build the piece around one image or idea, such as tide, crowd or weight, and let every section grow from it.
On eTalenter, Contemporary Troupe is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 6 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Contemporary Troupe is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 4–5 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Contemporary Troupe
What a Contemporary Troupe panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Technique (40): controlled falls and recoveries, secure turns and balances, extended lines and clean floor transitions from every dancer, since the least secure dancer sets what the panel sees.
- Stage presence (25): commitment to the idea of the piece, with focus and intent that stay alive in stillness as well as in big movement.
- Execution (20): shared quality of movement and timing, so that releases, swings and pauses land together even when the formation is uneven.
- Choreography (10): a clear idea developed across the routine, varied levels, and formations and floor work that serve it rather than fill the time.
- Overall appearance (5): costumes that allow floor work and match in tone, tidy hair and nothing that slips or distracts.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Contemporary Troupe under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Contemporary Troupe
How entrants and their teachers usually get Contemporary Troupe right on the day:
- Choose one idea or image the whole troupe can describe in a sentence and test every section against it.
- Warm up floor work thoroughly and rehearse falls and rolls on the real surface, since a stage floor feels different from a studio.
- Teach the quality of movement before the steps: have the troupe swing, release and recover together without counts until the weight feels shared.
- Use level changes and stillness on purpose; a pause that is held together shows more control than constant motion.
- Rehearse entrances, exits and the first and last eight counts separately, because these are the moments a judge remembers.
- Time the routine with the full music and keep a margin under the limit, which is five minutes on most templates but four on one.
- Film from the judges' seat and check who is hidden for long, whether the spacing holds and whether floor work is visible from the front.
Frequently asked questions
Is Contemporary Troupe judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
How long is a contemporary troupe routine?
Five minutes on five of the six templates that carry it and four minutes on the other. Check the organiser's own rules for the event you are entering.
Is contemporary troupe the same as lyrical troupe?
No. They are separate items. Lyrical keeps a classical base and follows the mood of the lyrics, while contemporary draws more on floor work, release and abstract ideas.
How is a contemporary troupe marked?
Out of 100. Where a sheet is printed it is Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10 and Overall Appearance 5.
Is it judged individually or as a team?
As a team: the troupe receives one score, although the panel will see how each dancer contributes to unison and technique.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full group dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.
Try Contemporary Troupe in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Contemporary Troupe, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
