A dance class for two or three dancers performing together in a style of their own choosing, marked out of 100 by the adjudicator and carried on four Australian dance templates.
Duo/Trio Any Style is a short dance for two or three performers who share the stage as one act, with the choice of dance style left to the entrants. A jazz pair, a hip hop trio, a lyrical duet and a contemporary trio can all enter the same class and be placed against each other, so the adjudicator has to compare technique and performance quality rather than judge a single genre.
In eTalenter data the class appears on four Australian dance templates. A Central Coast dance challenge runs it across eight age sections, from 5 and under, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 and under, then 15 to 17 and 18 plus. A New South Wales and Queensland competition runs it by age bands from 6 and under to 15 and under, plus an Open section. A song-and-dance challenge carries one duo/trio class, and an outback dance festival splits its duo and group work into a junior band for 7 to 11 and a senior band for 12 to 18. Each template scores the act out of 100.
An entry is a single routine performed by the pair or trio, usually to recorded music supplied by the entrants. Because only two or three dancers are on the floor, every spacing error, late turn and uneven line is visible. The strongest acts choose steps all the dancers can do cleanly, then use the small cast to create patterns a solo cannot: mirroring, canon, lifts of attention and changes of level.
For organisers it is a team item with boys and girls able to enter together and no language requirement. Register the act under the age section that applies to it under the event’s own rule (the templates differ on how the age of a mixed-age act is set), record each adjudicator’s marks and let the ranking produce the result. None of the four templates prints a per-criterion mark sheet for this class, so the page below describes what a panel typically weighs rather than asserting a scheme.
Where Duo/Trio Any Style is run
In eTalenter data Duo/Trio Any Style appears on four Australian dance templates: a Central Coast dance challenge, a New South Wales and Queensland dance competition, a song-and-dance challenge in New South Wales and an outback dance festival in Queensland. Duo and trio classes are a regular feature of dance competitions and eisteddfods elsewhere, but this page describes only what those four templates record.
- Australia
Key facts
- Team entry of two or three dancers; boys and girls may enter together; no language requirement.
- The style is the entrants’ choice, so jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop and others compete in one class.
- Marked out of 100 on all four templates; no per-criterion marks are printed for this class.
- Time limit: three minutes on the song-and-dance and the New South Wales and Queensland templates; the Central Coast and outback festival templates print none.
- Age sections run from 5 and under to 18 plus on the widest template; another has five age bands from 6 and under to 15 and under, plus Open.
- Practice idea, not a rule: pick a style all the dancers are equally confident in, so the act looks matched rather than ambitious.
On eTalenter, Duo/Trio Any Style is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 4 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Duo/Trio Any Style is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 3 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Duo/Trio Any Style
What a Duo/Trio Any Style panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Technique: the quality of each dancer’s own lines, balance, turns and footwork, since a panel can compare two or three dancers side by side at every moment.
- Unison and timing: where the steps are meant to match, they must match, and everyone must be on the music; one early or late dancer is noticed immediately.
- Performance quality: shared focus and energy, with all dancers committing to the same mood so that no one fades into the background.
- Use of the stage and choreography: clear relationships between the dancers (mirroring, canon, levels) so the act is more than solos performed side by side.
- Style fit: whatever style is chosen, the steps, costume and music should clearly belong to it, because the panel compares acts across styles.
- Presentation: matching or complementary costumes, tidy hair and grooming, and nothing that distracts from the dance.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Duo/Trio Any Style under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Duo/Trio Any Style
How entrants and their teachers usually get Duo/Trio Any Style right on the day:
- Pair dancers of similar ability and height where possible; a large gap in level makes an act look uneven whatever the choreography.
- Choose the style by what the weakest dancer does best, not the strongest, so the whole act reads as clean.
- Rehearse in a line, then in a triangle or two-by-one, and mark the positions on the floor so the formation survives stage nerves.
- Count in with the music rather than watching each other; if every dancer knows the counts, unison does not depend on glances.
- Time the piece with the entrance and exit and check the limit in the event’s own rules, leaving a margin under it.
- Agree in advance what happens if one dancer slips, so the others carry on rather than stopping.
- Film a run-through from the judges’ position and watch for dancers who drift out of line or lift their energy at different moments.
- Check the age section in advance: some events set it by the oldest dancer, others by an average, so a mixed-age trio may move up.
Frequently asked questions
Is Duo/Trio Any Style 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.
What does “Any Style” mean?
The entrants choose the dance style. Jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop and other styles compete together in one class rather than in separate style classes.
How many dancers can be in a duo or trio?
Two for a duo and three for a trio. A larger act belongs in a troupe class, which the same templates run separately.
How is it marked?
Each of the four templates scores the act out of 100. None prints a per-criterion mark sheet for this class, so ask the organiser how the 100 is divided.
Is it judged individually or as a team?
It is a team item: the act is scored as one performance, although the panel will notice each dancer’s technique within it.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full group dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.
Try Duo/Trio Any Style in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Duo/Trio Any Style, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
