A single dancer performing a national character routine, the stage form of a country's folk dance as taught in classical ballet training, judged on technique, stage presence, execution, choreography and overall appearance, and placed in a skill-level band by score.
National character dance is the theatrical version of folk dance. Steps, rhythms, arm shapes and costume ideas from a country or region, such as a Polish mazurka, a Hungarian czardas, a Russian peasant dance or a Spanish dance, are adapted for the stage and performed with the posture and control of classical training. A national character solo is one dancer performing one such routine, so the character, the footwork and the flavour of the culture must all come from a single performer.
On the Time to Shine Dance Competitions template, which this page is written from, National Character Solo is one of about twenty solo styles. Entrants enter a division set by years of dance training and by age rather than a single open section. There are three experience levels: less than two years, two to five years, and five years or more. Each runs through its own set of ages, from 4 and under for the newest dancers, and the two higher levels carry on through the late teens to Adult and Mature Age. A separate Masters division is open to dance teachers. Age is counted as at 1 January of the competition year.
A round is one performance on stage. The dancer is announced, the music starts and the adjudicator watches the whole routine while writing a critique. The score is out of 100 on five lines: Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10 and Overall Appearance 5. The total decides a skill-level band rather than a first, second or third place: Platinum Plus from 97, Platinum 93-96, Double Diamond 87-92, Diamond 80-86, Emerald 70-79 and Ruby 60-69. Several dancers in one division can therefore earn the same band.
Routines for dancers with under two years of experience run to two minutes; every other division runs to three. Boys and girls compete together and no language requirement is printed. For a coordinator using eTalenter the item is handled like any other solo: register the dancer in the right experience level and age division, record the adjudicator's mark out of 100, and the band follows from the score. The template does not say which nations or dance forms are allowed, or whether character shoes, skirts or props may be used, so none of that is stated here; coordinators should publish their own rules on these points.
Where National Character Solo is run
In eTalenter data National Character Solo appears on five dance templates, all of them Australian dance eisteddfods, festivals or competitions, including Time to Shine Dance Competitions, where it carries 40 age and experience divisions. National character is a standard part of classical ballet syllabuses and exam training in Russia, the United Kingdom and Australia, and appears as a section in dance festivals and eisteddfods in those countries and in Ireland and North America.
- Australia
- United Kingdom
- Russia
- Ireland
- United States
Key facts
- Individual entry; boys and girls compete together; no language requirement.
- Divisions on this template: three experience levels (under 2 years, 2 to 5 years, 5 years or more) crossed with single-year ages, plus Adult, Mature Age and a Masters division for teachers.
- Time limit: 2 minutes for dancers with under 2 years of experience, 3 minutes for everyone else.
- Scored out of 100: Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10, Overall Appearance 5.
- Result is a skill-level band by score (Ruby 60-69 up to Platinum Plus 97 and above) with a written critique.
- Idea starters, not rules: a village celebration told in one short dance, a courtship dance with a clear change of mood, a harvest or market scene, a routine built on one signature rhythm that returns at the end.
On eTalenter, National Character Solo is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 5 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, National Character Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 2–3 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in National Character Solo
What a National Character Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Technique (40): correct classical placement under the folk steps, clean footwork, turned-out or character-appropriate positions held accurately, and steps suited to the dancer's level.
- Stage Presence (25): a clear character from the first beat, with face, eyes and attitude that sell the culture and the story without exaggeration.
- Execution of Performance (20): steps, turns and arm shapes delivered cleanly and on the music, with no pauses to recover and a confident final pose.
- Choreography (10): authentic-feeling steps arranged with variety of rhythm, direction and pattern across the stage, building to a satisfying end.
- Overall Appearance (5): a costume and hair style that suit the chosen nation or region and let the legs and arms be seen, worn neatly and safely.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for National Character Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for National Character Solo
How entrants and their teachers usually get National Character Solo right on the day:
- Choose the experience level by total years of dance training, not by age, because it decides who the dancer is marked alongside.
- Pick one nation or region and one mood, and learn its characteristic arm positions, rhythm and posture before building steps.
- Listen to the music until its accents are known by heart; national character is driven by rhythm, and steps landing off the accent are obvious.
- Keep the steps within what the dancer can repeat perfectly; a simple, well-placed routine earns more under Technique than a showy one with errors.
- Cut the music to the division limit, remembering the two-minute cap for the under-2-years level, and finish a few seconds inside it.
- Practise the character separately from the steps: facial expression, how the head turns, how a skirt or hands are used, then join them together.
- Run the full routine at performance effort at least three times in a row, in the shoes and costume that will be used on the day.
- After a lower band, read the written critique with the teacher and fix one technique point and one character point before the next event.
Frequently asked questions
Is National Character Solo 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 national character dance?
It is the stage form of folk dance used in classical ballet training and performance, where national steps and rhythms are performed with classical posture and control.
How long can a national character solo be?
On the Time to Shine template, two minutes for dancers with under two years of experience and three minutes for everyone else. Other organisers set their own limit.
Is national character the same as folk dance?
Not exactly. Folk dance is danced in a community; national character takes the same flavour and presents it as a theatrical, technically trained piece, which is why the template marks it on technique first.
Is it judged against other dancers or against a standard?
The template reports a skill-level band from the total score and a written critique, so the result is the band the marks fall into rather than a printed first, second or third place.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full group dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.
Try National Character Solo in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs National Character Solo, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
