Rules & Regulations

GENERAL RULES

• Elite Dance Productions reserves the right to add an additional day to any event if necessary.
• Elite Dance Productions reserves the right to cancel any event.
• All dancers must pay a registration fee if they are competing.
• Please send one cheque, made payable to ELITE DANCE PRODUCTIONS, for all fees. You may also pay by PayPal or credit card. No post-dated cheques. Payment will only be applied once it clears. There will be a $35 fee charged to any cheques that do not clear.
• The deadline for competition changes is 2 weeks prior to the event. No changes will be accepted afterwards.
• Entry fees are NON-REFUNDABLE. NO EXCEPTIONS.
• All awards in cheque form not cashed within 6 months from the date of the Elite Showdown will not be honoured.
• All competition fees are per person, per entry.
• Each dancer/teacher must sign and submit the appropriate waiver to be eligible to participate in an Elite Dance Productions event.
• Each dancer may enter a total of 4 solos and a combined total of 4 duos/trios.
• Professional dancers and dancers 19+ are welcome for the workshops and can participate in the Professional/Advanced division. Elite considers a professional to be anyone who is currently in/has completed a post-secondary professional training program, or certification and/or anyone who earns more than $2,500 per year from teaching/performing dance.
• Registered teachers cannot perform in the competition unless the routine is entered in the Professional/Advanced division.
• Each dancer may only enter one routine in the STUDENT CHOREOGRAPHY COMPETITION as the sole choreographer; however, said dancer may enter other numbers as a choreographer if they are a collaboration with one or more student choreographer(s). The said dancer may also be a dancer in any number of other student choreographer's pieces.
• All numbers must appear according to their scheduled sequence unless an Elite Staff Member grants permission otherwise. Numbers failing to perform within 10 routines of their scheduled time will be disqualified.
• Judges may stop a number in progress and request that it be repeated. If the music equipment fails, the studio may choose to continue or re-do the number.
• Routines containing more than three gymnastic passes MUST be entered in either the Acro, Open, or Combo categories.
• Competing dancers should be ready 1 hour prior to their scheduled competition time. The competition may run up to a maximum of 1 hour early, and each dancer will be expected to perform at the earlier time.
• Routines that have received an award of gold or higher or any special/showdown award may not be competed in future seasons, regardless of how much time has passed. Therefore, if a routine was competed in 2018 and won a gold medal, the same routine may not compete again in 2019.
• All competition/workshop attendees authorize the use of their images in photos and videos for any and all Elite Dance Productions' purposes.

COMPETITION FEES

Please contact us for pricing info at: [email protected].

Entries are NON-REFUNDABLE. After each respective deadline*, prices will go up. All dancers must also pay a registration fee in order to compete.

*Deadlines are found on the city page.
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Please send one cheque, made payable to ELITE DANCE PRODUCTIONS, for all fees. You may also pay by PayPal or credit card. No post-dated cheques. Payment will only be applied once it clears. There will be a $35 fee charged to any cheques that do not clear.

LEVELS

*NEW* Novice Division - any dancer(s) who has not competed prior to this competitive season.

Intermediate Division - any dancer(s) with less than or equal to 3 years of dance training.

Elite Division - any dancer(s) with more than 3 years of dance training.

Professional/Teacher - anyone who is currently in/has completed a post-secondary professional training program, or certification and/or anyone who earns more than $2,500 per year from teaching/performing dance.

Judges reserve the right to change the level of a number if they feel it is incorrectly placed. There will only be one level for dancers in the Petite category.

PROPS

No dangerous props may be used during the competition. Other props are allowed, but must be taken on and off-stage within two minutes total. It is the studio's responsibility to ensure that its props are taken on and off-stage, as well as make sure the stage is completely clean and clear after the routine is finished. For safety reasons, dancers cannot stand above 6 feet on a prop. Please inform us of any prop usage via our online registration on the specific routine's entry form.

STAGE

The competition stage will be covered in a Marley dance floor surface.

ADMISSION & ELITE SHOWDOWN TICKETS

Admission to the regular competition is free. Tickets to the Elite Showdown can be purchased for $10. Teachers may watch the Elite Showdown for free. Dancers performing in the showdown will be allowed to view the showcase free of charge. However, spectators who have purchased tickets will have priority seating.

VIDEO & PHOTOGRAPHY

Videotaping and photography during the competition and workshop are strictly prohibited, and those found breaking this rule will be asked to leave the building. Still, photos may be taken in between workshop classes. Professional Videos will be given to studios/dancers for free after the event.

THEATRE ETIQUETTE

Food and beverages are not allowed in the theatre unless otherwise stated.

All cell phones must be placed on silent.

Audience members are to only enter/leave the theatre between routines. All audience members should be seated before the next number begins.

Talking during routines is prohibited. This is extremely disrespectful to the dancers on stage, and those found breaking this rule will be asked to leave the building.

​Dancers & studios, please keep your dressing rooms tidy!

ELITE SHOWDOWN

The best solo/duo/trio and group numbers in each of the Mini/Junior and Teen/Senior divisions chosen by high scores and judge's choice will be invited to re-perform. If a studio that has entered a minimum of 15 numbers is not represented by any of the above, the top group number from that studio will be entered. The judges also reserve the right to request 1 Wildcard routine each (these may or may not be used). The judges will deliberate to choose the winners.

*Prizes awarded at the Showcase Awards Ceremony will be as follows:

*Prizes may vary depending on the number of entries.

OTHER ELITE SHOWDOWN AWARDS

Best Choreography - $100 Voucher
Best Costume - $100 Voucher
Best Technique - $100 Voucher
Top Mark Overall - $250 Voucher
Studio Spirit Award - $250 Voucher

*The judges will deliberate to choose the winners.

**Routines do not need to be entered in the Elite Showdown to win the awards listed above.

***After Dark entries are not eligible to win any Elite Showdown awards.

Highest Mark Awards

• Novice
• Intermediate
• Jazz
• Tap
• Ballet
• Lyrical
• Contemporary
• Modern
• Improv
• Musical Theatre
• Hip Hop/Street Jazz
• Combo/Open
• Acro/Specialty

SHOWDOWN TICKETS

Tickets to the Elite Showdown can be purchased for $10.

AGE CATEGORIES

The age category for all routines is determined by using the average age of the performers as of January 1, 2022. When averaging ages, drop the decimal point.

Any routine with an average age of 19+ must compete in the Professional/Advanced division.

STYLES

Acro - a combination of dance and acrobatic/gymnastic tricks. Primarily acro technique.

Ballet - primarily ballet technique. Maybe en pointe or soft-shoe.

Combo - a combination of 2 or more styles.

Contemporary - a routine incorporating jazz or ballet techniques fused with modern movement.

Hip Hop - primarily hip hop technique.

Improv - dancers entered in this category will not be aware of the song being played ahead of time. The song will be no longer than 2.5  minutes. The song list will be sent to participating studios 1 week prior to the event.

Jazz - primarily jazz technique.

Lyrical - a combination of jazz and ballet techniques that uses story-telling elements to interpret the lyrics and emotion of a song.

Modern - primarily modern technique.

Musical Theatre - any routine interpreting music from a Broadway or Movie Musical.

Open - any style of dance not listed.

Specialty - consists of ethnic styles such as step, highland, clogging, Bollywood, African, etc.

Street Jazz - a combination of jazz and hip-hop techniques.

Tap - primarily tap technique. Routines including clogging, double-tap tap shoes, and/or tap sounds in the music will not be allowed.

Student Choreography - any number choreographed by a student who is also a dancer in the number (all student choreography numbers will compete separately).

After Dark - any number with an average age of 19+ or containing professional dancer(s), teacher(s), etc. (all of these numbers will compete separately from regular competitive routines). These numbers are not eligible for Elite Showdown awards.

Judges reserve the right to change the style of a number if they feel it is incorrectly placed.

CATEGORIES & TIME LIMITS

MUSIC

All music must be uploaded to DanceBUG 2 weeks prior to the start date of the event.

Please also bring a backup of some kind to the event in case a technical issue arises.

JUDGE'S CRITERIA & AWARDS

All entries will be adjudicated by 2-3 judges. Each entry will receive its respective award. An unbreakable tie can exist if the scores are equal. In this case, there will be 2 winners.

Scores and video critiques will be available online via DanceBUG after the event. Scores and video critiques will be sent out ASAP.

*Special awards will be given out during each awards ceremony at the discretion of the faculty.

In addition to the adjudicated awards, there will also be overall awards given to the highest-scoring Solo, Duo/Trio, Small/Large Group, and Lines/Production in each of the Mini, Junior, Teen, and Senior age categories.

​*Prizes may vary depending on the number of entries.

Overalls are awarded to each Elite-level age group containing at least 10 entries. Only 1st will be awarded if there are fewer than 10 entries in a category. If there are fewer than 3 entries in a category, no overall will be awarded. If there are enough entries in each category, the top 10 will be announced. Intermediates and Petites will receive only an Elite record for overalls.