A dance section where the routine itself, not only its performance, is the subject: the entrant or team presents a piece of choreography, entered as a solo, duo/trio, parent and child, troupe or school group and marked out of 100 by the adjudicator.
Student Choreography is a dance section in which the choreography is put in front of the adjudicator as much as the dancing. Most dance sections name a style, such as jazz or lyrical, and ask how well it is performed. This one is named for the creative work: the movement, the way it is structured and how it fits the chosen music. The syllabus this page is written from does not print a definition beyond listing it as the seventeenth genre, so entrants should read the organiser's own wording on who may choreograph and which style is expected before entering.
A round is a single performance. The entrant or team is announced, the music starts and the adjudicator watches the routine from the opening position to the final pose. A piece like this reads best when it has a clear idea, a beginning, a build and an ending, and when the movement choices suit the dancers performing it rather than showing off steps they cannot yet control.
On the Rise Up Dance Creative template, Student Choreography is entered in solo sections split into Specially Restricted, Restricted and Open levels across age divisions from 6 and under to 17 plus, and in duo/trio (by age division), parent and child, troupe (by age division) and school-group sections: Preschool, Primary (Grade 2 and under, Grade 6 and under), Highschool (Grade 9 and under, Grade 12 and under) and a Small Schools section. Solos and duo/trio entries run to three minutes; troupes and school groups to four. Boys and girls compete together, no language is required and every entry is marked out of 100 under the label Marks. The template prints no marking criteria for this item, so none are installed and the adjudicator's own sheet applies.
Organisers include a section like this to give young dancers and their teachers a place to be rewarded for original ideas, which technique-only sections do not recognise. For a coordinator using eTalenter it is entered like any other item: register each dancer or team in the right level and age division, record the adjudicator's mark out of 100, and placings follow within each division.
Where Student Choreography is run
In eTalenter's data Student Choreography appears on ten dance templates, all of them Australian dance challenges, eisteddfods and festivals; the Rise Up Dance Creative programme is one of them. It is a less common section than the standard styles, so organisers elsewhere may use different names for a creative-composition class.
- Australia
Key facts
- Solo (Specially Restricted, Restricted and Open levels), duo/trio, parent and child, troupe and school-group entries on the Rise Up Dance Creative template.
- Solos, duo/trio and troupes use age divisions from 6 and under to 17 plus; school groups are split by school grade, with a Small Schools section.
- Boys and girls compete together; no language requirement.
- Time limit in the template: 3 minutes for solos, duo/trio and parent and child; 4 minutes for troupes and school groups.
- Marks out of 100 under the label Marks; the template prints no criteria, so the adjudicator's sheet decides.
- Idea starters, not rules: a routine built around one repeated motif that changes each time it returns, a duo that answers each other's phrases, a piece that tells a short story in three clear sections, or a troupe that builds a formation and then breaks it on a change in the music.
On eTalenter, Student Choreography is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 10 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Student Choreography 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 Student Choreography
What a Student Choreography panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Choreographic idea and structure: a clear concept, a beginning, build and ending, with movement that develops instead of repeating.
- Originality: movement and pattern choices that feel the dancers' own rather than copied steps from a familiar routine.
- Musicality: phrases, accents and changes in the music answered by the movement, finishing with the music.
- Use of space and formation: the whole floor, changes of level and direction, and tidy, purposeful groupings in team entries.
- Technique and execution: the choreography performed cleanly by the dancers at their own level.
- Performance and presentation: commitment and expression, with costume and music suited to the age division.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Student Choreography under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Student Choreography
How entrants and their teachers usually get Student Choreography right on the day:
- Start from a single idea the entrant can state in one sentence, then build every phrase to serve it.
- Choose the music first and map the build, the quiet moment and the ending before making any steps.
- Keep the movement within what the dancers can perform cleanly; a simple idea done well beats a crowded routine.
- Film a rehearsal from the front and cut anything that repeats without changing.
- For duos, trios and groups, plan the floor patterns on paper first, then practise transitions between them until they are quiet and on the count.
- Check the music cut against the time limit for the entry type and age division, and rehearse the full routine at performance speed.
- Read the organiser's syllabus wording for this section, including who may choreograph, before entering.
- Finish with a held final position so the adjudicator sees a deliberate ending.
Frequently asked questions
Is Student Choreography 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 Student Choreography in a dance competition?
It is a dance section where the choreography itself is judged: the idea, the structure and how it fits the music, as well as the performance of it.
How long is a Student Choreography routine?
On the Rise Up Dance Creative template solos, duo/trio and parent and child entries run to three minutes, and troupe and school-group entries to four.
Is Student Choreography judged individually or as a team?
Solos are judged individually. Duo/trio, parent and child, troupe and school-group entries are judged as one performance and ranked within their own division.
Are the judging criteria printed for this item?
No. The template prints no criteria for it, so the adjudicator's own sheet is used and eTalenter records a single mark out of 100.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full group dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.
Try Student Choreography in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Student Choreography, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
