A single dancer performing a tap routine in which the sound of the shoes on the floor is part of the performance, judged on technique, stage presence, execution, choreography and overall appearance, and placed in a skill-level band by score.
A tap solo is one dancer performing one routine in metal-tipped tap shoes, where the rhythm struck into the floor is as much a part of the performance as the movement itself. The dancer is both the performer and the percussionist: every step must be heard as well as seen, so clarity of sound, evenness of rhythm and control of weight are as visible to a panel as posture and presentation. With no partner or group to share the sound, any smudged beat or uneven pattern is exposed.
On the Time to Shine Dance Competitions template, which this page is written from, Tap Solo is one of about twenty solo styles. Entrants do not join a single open section; they enter a division set by years of dance training and by age. 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 a single performance on stage. The dancer is announced, the music starts and the adjudicator watches the whole routine, writing a critique as it unfolds. 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 print rules on the type of tap shoe, on a sprung or tap board, or on music, so none are stated here; coordinators should publish their own, including how the stage floor will be prepared, since tap is heard through the surface.
Where Tap Solo is run
In eTalenter data Tap Solo appears on 13 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. Tap is a long-standing section in dance festivals and studio competitions in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, where it is usually listed alongside jazz, ballet and contemporary.
- Australia
- United Kingdom
- 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 routine built on a clear rhythm that changes tempo halfway, a call-and-response between slow and fast sections, a short stretch of silence where only the shoes are heard, a theme such as rain or a train told through the sounds.
On eTalenter, Tap Solo is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 13 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Tap 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 Tap Solo
What a Tap Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Technique (40): clean, evenly weighted taps with each sound clear and on the beat, correct posture over the feet, and steps that match the dancer's level instead of being rushed beyond control.
- Stage Presence (25): focus and enjoyment through fast passages, a face that stays connected to the audience rather than watching the feet, and confident entry and finish.
- Execution of Performance (20): how cleanly the planned routine is delivered, with sounds landing exactly on the music, no stumbles or stopped patterns, and a firm final position.
- Choreography (10): variety of rhythm, speed and direction, use of the whole stage, and a shape that builds, with difficulty matched to age and experience.
- Overall Appearance (5): tidy, fitted clothing that suits the routine and lets the feet be seen, secure shoes with taps firmly fixed, and neat hair and presentation.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Tap Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Tap Solo
How entrants and their teachers usually get Tap 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.
- Practise the routine slowly without music first, listening for uneven or missing taps, then build speed only when every sound is clean.
- Keep the steps within what the dancer can repeat perfectly; a simpler pattern with clear sound earns more under Technique than a fast one that blurs.
- Rehearse on a floor as close as possible to the performance surface and check that the screws on the taps are tight before the event.
- 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.
- Plan the entrance, the first sound and the final pose as carefully as the middle, because first and last impressions shape the Stage Presence mark.
- Run the full routine at performance effort at least three times in a row to build stamina for the final section.
- After a lower band, read the written critique with the teacher and fix one technique point and one performance point before the next event.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tap 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 a tap solo?
One dancer performs a single routine in tap shoes, where the sound of the steps is part of the performance, judged as one piece on technique, stage presence, execution, choreography and appearance.
How long can a tap 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.
Does the panel judge the sound or the look?
Both. The template's biggest line is Technique, out of 40, which covers how clean and even the taps are, and the remaining marks cover performance, choreography and appearance.
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 Tap Solo in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Tap Solo, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
