A group routine in which a troupe sings and dances together as a team class, marked out of 100 on the two Australian dance templates that carry it.
Song and dance troupe is the group form of the song-and-dance routine: a team of performers who sing and dance in the same number, much as a stage-musical ensemble does. The challenge is double. The singing has to be heard and kept in tune while the group is moving, and the movement has to stay together and clean while the voices are working. A troupe that is strong at only one half tends to lose marks on the other.
In eTalenter data Song and Dance Troupe appears on two Australian dance templates: a multi-genre dance competition series and a song-and-dance challenge. Both treat it as a team item open to both genders, with a five-minute limit and a mark out of 100. The series runs its troupes by average age, from 6 and under up to 18 and under plus an open-age section, and requires at least four dancers in a troupe. The challenge runs troupes at 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 and under plus a 15 and over band and an any-age section, with age taken at 1 January of the competition year.
Only the multi-genre series prints a mark sheet for it: Technique 40, Stage Presence 25, Execution of Performance 20, Choreography 10 and Overall Appearance 5. The song-and-dance challenge installs the same item as a team entry marked out of 100 without a printed sheet, so this page does not claim one for it. Neither template says whether the singing must be live or may be recorded, so that is for the organiser to state.
For organisers it is usually a showcase class that audiences enjoy, so allow time for microphone checks or backing-track changeovers. 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 performers must sing, whether vocals may be pre-recorded, what counts as a song and how a dancer may appear in more than one troupe, belong in the entry rules.
Where Song and Dance Troupe is run
In eTalenter data Song and Dance Troupe appears on two Australian templates: a multi-genre dance competition series and a song-and-dance challenge. Group singing-and-dancing classes are also common at school showcases and music-theatre festivals elsewhere, but this page describes only what those templates carry.
- Australia
Key facts
- Team item: a troupe performing one sung-and-danced routine together; the multi-genre series sets a minimum of four dancers, and the software enforces no performer count.
- Time limit is five minutes on both templates that carry it.
- 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: average age from 6 and under to 18 and under plus open age on one template, and 6 and under to 14 and under, 15 and over and any age on the other.
- Gender is open: troupes may be mixed.
- Idea, not a rule: put the most demanding dancing in the instrumental or chorus-free passages, and keep the sung lines where the group is stationary or moving simply.
On eTalenter, Song and Dance Troupe is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 2 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Song and Dance Troupe is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 5 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Song and Dance Troupe
What a Song and Dance Troupe panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Technique (40): secure dance technique from every performer, and clean, supported singing that is not strained or flat because of the movement.
- Stage presence (25): faces and energy that sell the song as well as the steps, with confident eye focus and a clear sense of character or story.
- Execution (20): voices and bodies together on the beat, a steady pulse, words that stay audible, and formations that change without drifting.
- Choreography (10): movement that suits the lyrics and mood, with variety of levels and formations, rather than steps laid over the music.
- Overall appearance (5): costumes that match, move freely and fit the song, with tidy hair and safe footwear.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Song and Dance Troupe under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Song and Dance Troupe
How entrants and their teachers usually get Song and Dance Troupe right on the day:
- Choose a song the whole troupe can sing comfortably in a key that works while moving, and have the singers practise it standing still before any steps are added.
- Build the dance in layers: sing and walk the formations first, then add arms, then full steps, so breath control develops with the movement.
- Decide who sings which lines and where the group sings together, so every performer knows their job and no section is silent or muddy.
- Rehearse the sound set-up with the real microphones or backing track on the stage if you can, and agree a cue for starting and a signal for any restart.
- Time the routine with the full music and keep a margin under five minutes, then check the vocal and recorded-track rules against the organiser's own.
- Film from the judges' seat and listen as well as watch: check the words carry, the formations read and no performer is hidden for long.
- Rehearse the entrance, the opening phrase and the final pose separately, because panels remember a confident start and a finish held cleanly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Song and Dance 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 song and dance troupe routine?
Five minutes on both templates that carry it. Check the organiser's own rules for the event you are entering.
Do the performers have to sing live?
The templates do not say. Whether singing must be live, may be pre-recorded or may be a mix is for the organiser to state in the entry rules, so ask before you choose your music.
How is a song and dance 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 the same as a song and dance solo?
No. A solo has one performer; a troupe is a team of several performing one routine together, and the troupe receives one score. The multi-genre series sets a minimum of four dancers for a troupe.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full group dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.
Try Song and Dance Troupe in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Song and Dance Troupe, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
