A contemporary dance section where the dancer uses release, floor work and fluid weight changes to interpret music or an idea with their whole body.
Contemporary is the section for dancers who move from the centre of the body outwards, using breath, momentum, suspension and fall rather than the fixed positions of a classical syllabus. Steps borrow from ballet, jazz and modern technique, but the line is softer and the floor is part of the dance: rolls, slides, spirals and recoveries are as important as turns and leaps. The result should look like a single idea being explored, not a chain of tricks.
A round is one performance on the stage floor. The dancer is announced, the music begins and the adjudicator watches how the piece is built: a clear opening image, a development that grows in energy or intensity, and an ending that feels chosen. Strong entries show dynamic range (sudden and sustained, heavy and light), control of transitions between standing and floor, and an honest connection with the music or theme, so the piece reads as expression rather than a list of steps.
On the Shine Bright Dance Challenge template, which this page is written from, Contemporary is a solo section. Each age from 7 to 15, then 16-17 and 18 and over, is offered at four levels: Specially Restricted, Restricted, Open and Advance, so the template carries 44 groups for this one style. The syllabus gives solos up to three minutes, boys and girls compete together, no language is needed, and every entry is marked out of 100 under the label Marks. The syllabus prints no criteria or mark bands for the section, so none are installed and the adjudicator's own sheet decides; placings are medals for 1st to 3rd with certificates for highly commended.
Organisers run contemporary because it suits dancers from many training backgrounds and gives older students a stage for personal, story-driven work. For a coordinator using eTalenter it 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. Contemporary is separate from the template's Lyrical/Contemporary section, so check which one the dancer is entered in.
Where Contemporary is run
In eTalenter's data Contemporary appears on twenty-one Australian dance templates, from studio-run dance challenges to long-running eisteddfod dance programmes; where printed, solos run up to three minutes and are marked out of 100, and several of the same templates also run the style as a troupe or group section. Contemporary sections are also a regular part of dance festivals and championships in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and other countries with a studio dance tradition.
- Australia
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Canada
Key facts
- Individual (solo) entry on the Shine Bright Dance Challenge template; boys and girls compete together.
- Ages 7 to 15, then 16-17 and 18 and over, each at four levels (Specially Restricted, Restricted, Open, Advance): 44 groups in all.
- Time limit in the template: 3 minutes for solos; other templates range from 2 to 5 minutes depending on whether the section is solo or troupe.
- Marks out of 100 under the label Marks; no criteria are printed, so the adjudicator's sheet decides.
- Placings as printed: medal for 1st, medals for 2nd and 3rd, certificates for highly commended.
- Idea starters, not rules: a piece built around a single image such as water or weather, a floor-to-standing journey set to an instrumental track, or a short story of letting go told through contrast of heavy and light.
On eTalenter, Contemporary is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 21 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 is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 2–5 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Contemporary
What a Contemporary panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Technique and control: secure alignment, clean turns and extensions, and safe, controlled floor work and recoveries.
- Fluidity and transitions: movement that flows between standing and floor without stops or visible preparation.
- Dynamics and musicality: variety of speed and weight, with phrasing that follows the music rather than just keeping time.
- Expression and intent: a clear idea or emotion that the dancer sustains from first to last moment, not a blank performance face.
- Choreography: a shaped piece with a beginning, development and ending that suits the age and level, rather than a string of steps.
- Presentation: spatial awareness of the stage, a polished finish inside the three-minute limit, and costume and hair that suit the style and let the movement be seen.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Contemporary under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Contemporary
How entrants and their teachers usually get Contemporary right on the day:
- Choose one clear idea or feeling for the piece and let every phrase serve it; judges notice when movement has a reason.
- Build floor work gradually and rehearse it on the same kind of surface as the stage so rolls and slides stay safe and silent.
- Practise transitions on their own (down to the floor, back up, into a turn) until they look effortless, since these are where marks leak.
- Use music with space in it and count the phrasing, so stillness and suspension feel intentional.
- Work on breath and weight: record the routine and check whether the dancer looks released and grounded or tense and rushed.
- Rehearse the entrance, first pose and last pose as carefully as the middle, and check the music cut fits inside the time limit.
- Choose the level honestly from the printed definitions of Specially Restricted, Restricted, Open and Advance; entering the wrong level can lose the dancer their placing.
- Ask a teacher to watch with the sound off, to see whether the story still reads from movement alone.
Frequently asked questions
Is Contemporary 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 the difference between contemporary and lyrical?
Lyrical is rooted in ballet and follows the emotion of a song's words with sweeping, continuous line. Contemporary draws on modern technique and uses release, floor work and weight, often with instrumental or abstract music. On the Shine Bright Dance Challenge template they are separate solo styles, and a Lyrical/Contemporary section also exists for the youngest babies sections.
How long is a contemporary solo?
The Shine Bright Dance Challenge syllabus gives solos up to three minutes. Other organisers set their own limits, so check the syllabus for the event you are entering.
How is contemporary judged?
It is marked out of 100 by the adjudicator. The syllabus prints no criteria or mark bands for the section, so the adjudicator's own sheet applies; panels in contemporary generally weigh technique, fluidity, musicality, expression and choreography.
Which level should a dancer enter?
The syllabus defines four levels: Specially Restricted for a dancer who has never won the style, Restricted for one who has won Specially Restricted but not Restricted, Open for one who has won both or dances more than 13 hours a week, and Advance for one who placed first in a section with more than two other dancers in the past 12 months or is a part-time dance student.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full group dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.
Try Contemporary in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Contemporary, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
