A team dance item in which a small group of primary pupils performs a traditional-style children’s folk dance to a set recorded track, in the Welsh schools’ eisteddfod behind this page, and is placed on unity, timing, footwork and confidence.
Folk Dancing is a short team dance for young children. A small group of pupils from one school performs together, in step, to a piece of music that everyone in the class has learned. It is not a display of solo technique: the point is that four to eight children move as one group, keep the same pattern and finish together. For many pupils it is the first time they dance in front of an audience that is not their own class.
In the schools’ eisteddfod this page is built from, the item is run for primary-age pupils in two team classes: a Foundation Phase team (Reception to Year 2, roughly ages 4–6) and a Years 3–6 team (roughly ages 7–10). Boys and girls dance together and no spoken language is needed, which is why the template marks it as open to any language. The rules ask for a team of 4 to 8 pupils, so a school normally picks a manageable set from one class rather than sending everyone.
The dance is not free choice. The programme names a set track for each class, taken from a recorded collection of children’s dances that the organisers supplied to schools, with one track for the Foundation Phase and a different one for Years 3–6. The steps and formation are therefore learned from the recording and the school’s own teaching, not from a published marks sheet. Teams are called in programme order, take their places, dance to the track and leave.
Organisers run a folk dancing class because it lets very young pupils take part without any spoken or sung language, it costs almost nothing to enter, and it rewards good teaching and rehearsal as much as natural talent. It also sits naturally beside the recitation and singing classes in a festival of local culture, giving pupils who are less confident with words a place on the same stage.
Where Folk Dancing is run
In eTalenter’s data this exact title, Folk Dancing, is carried by one template: a community council’s schools’ eisteddfod in Wales, which holds a Folk Dancing class for a Foundation Phase team and a Years 3–6 team. Folk and traditional dance classes exist in school and cultural festivals in many countries under names such as Folk Dance or Group Folk Dance, and a separate Folk Dance page on this site covers that wider item, but this page describes Folk Dancing as that edition runs it and does not claim wider use of the exact title.
- Wales (United Kingdom)
Key facts
- Team entry: a group of 4 to 8 pupils from one school dances together. The edition also runs recitation, singing and music items as separate classes.
- Two team classes in this edition: Foundation Phase team (Reception to Year 2, ages about 4–6) and Years 3–6 team (ages about 7–10). Boys and girls take part together.
- Music: the organisers name a set track for each class from a recorded collection of children’s dances, so teams dance to the same recording rather than choosing their own.
- Language: none needed; the template lists the item as open to any language.
- Places earn points for the school: first 10, second 8, third 6 and merit 2. The first three teams also win a voucher for their school, and every participant receives a medal and a certificate.
- The edition prints no judging criteria with marks and no time limit for the dance, so none are assumed here; the template carries a score out of 100 that the judge fills in as a single mark.
On eTalenter, Folk Dancing is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Folk Dancing is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100.
What judges look at in Folk Dancing
What a Folk Dancing panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Unity and togetherness: the first thing a judge sees is whether the whole team starts, turns and finishes at the same moment. One child a beat late reads as a mistake; a team that is slightly simple but exactly together reads as well taught.
- Timing and rhythm: the dance is set to a fixed recording, so every step should land on the beat the music gives. Teams that drift ahead of or behind the track lose the shape of the dance even if each pupil knows the steps.
- Footwork and accuracy of the steps: the pattern the school has taught should be clear and repeated correctly each time. Clean, small, accurate steps score better than big, wild ones that break the formation.
- Formation and use of space: pupils should keep their lines, circles or partners tidy, move from place to place without bumping and stay inside the performing area. A clear start position and end position show careful rehearsal.
- Expression and enjoyment: a folk dance is a happy item. Smiling, looking up and engaging with the audience, rather than staring at the floor or at a neighbour, is part of what a judge looks for.
- Neatness and discipline: a calm walk on, a still ready position, no waving to parents and a tidy finish. The first and last few seconds are seen by everyone and set the impression of the whole item.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Folk Dancing under Scoring Setup, or start from the full folk dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Folk Dancing
How entrants and their teachers usually get Folk Dancing right on the day:
- Start six weeks ahead. Week one: listen to the set track many times and learn how it is built. Week two: teach the basic step. Weeks three to five: add the pattern, the turns and the formation a little at a time. Week six: rehearse the walk on, the dance and the exit as one run.
- Choose the team sensibly. Four to eight pupils is the allowed size, so pick children who can count and keep time, and have a reserve ready so one absence on the day does not break the formation.
- Teach counting before steps. Let the team clap and say the beat with the track first, then add the feet. Pupils who hear where the music changes will move together without watching each other.
- Mark the floor in practice. Use chalk, tape or cones to show each starting place and the main points the team travels through, then remove them once the pupils know the spaces without help.
- Practise at full pace with the real recording. Slow rehearsals help learning, but the team needs to dance to the actual track at the actual speed several times before the day, including once in front of another class.
- Rehearse the entrance and the finish. Agree who leads in, how the group takes up its first position and what the final pose is. Many marks are lost in the seconds before the music starts.
- Plan for a bad moment. Teach the team that if someone loses a step they carry on and rejoin at the next count rather than stopping, and that eyes on the front of the group are the quickest way back into time.
- After a result, record the next rehearsal on a phone and watch for uneven turns and late starts, then pick a team for the next year early so pupils can learn from watching the older group.
- Ideas, not rules (ways to make practice enjoyable): let pupils name their own dance moves and teach them to a friend; hold a mini show for another class; let each pupil take a turn as the caller who leads the count; make a simple map of the dance with arrows so pupils can check their own path.
Frequently asked questions
Is Folk Dancing 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 many pupils are in a Folk Dancing team?
In the edition covered here, a team is 4 to 8 pupils from one school. The template carries this as a registration rule because the platform has no field for group size, so a coordinator should enforce it when checking entries.
Do we choose our own music for Folk Dancing?
In the edition covered here, no. The organisers name a set track for the Foundation Phase team and another for the Years 3–6 team, taken from a recorded collection of children’s dances. Another festival may allow free choice of music, so always check the rules of the event you enter.
Is Folk Dancing the same as the Folk Dance item on other pages?
They are close: both are a traditional-style dance performed to music. This page describes the primary-school team edition with a set track and two age classes, while the Folk Dance page describes the item in general with regional styles; the judging guide linked here covers both.
Is there a time limit or a marking scheme?
The edition prints neither a time limit nor a marks table for folk dancing. It prints the points that placings earn for the school (first 10, second 8, third 6, merit 2), so what the judge looks for is best treated as general advice on unity, timing, footwork and neatness.
Can a pupil take part in both Folk Dancing and another class?
The rules treat Folk Dancing as its own team item, so a pupil can appear in it and, where the school selects them, in a different class such as a recitation or the choir. Check the organiser’s entry form for any limit on how many items one pupil may take.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full folk dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.
Try Folk Dancing in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Folk Dancing, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
