competitive dance

Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as open, acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before a panel of judges, typically with professional dance experience. This differs from other dance-related competitions based on specific styles or purposes, such as pom squad and dancesport (competitive ballroom dance). The competitive dance industry largely consists of competition production companies (sometimes called dance competition companies or competition lines) that conduct regional competitions at stops along their annual, nationwide tours. Dancers who compete at these regional competitions are students typically ranging in age from five to eighteen. After competing regionally, qualifying routines and studios go on to compete nationally towards the end of their season. Dance schools (often referred to as dance studios or academies) arrange for their classes to compete in a range of disciplines as solos, duets, trios, or in a small group dance in addition to or in place of large group routines or lines or productions, used for larger groups of dancers. Competitions typically begin in January and end in July or August. Competitive dancers must be physically fit because even short dances can be physically demanding. Dancers must continuously train to maintain and improve their technique, balance skills, strength and flexibility.¶

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Competitive dance”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.¶

competitive dance is sport where dancing is judged, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition.¹¶

The source record links this tradition to 7 external registers, which can be verified through the citation.¹¶