SYLLABUS & CONDITIONS OF ENTRY 

The National Dance Challenge (NDC) Committee has the right to alter any of these conditions, without notice, if necessary.

GENERAL 

  • NDC is open to amateur competitors only

  • Links to the NDC Entry app will be posted to the National Dance Challenge social media pages and the website in February.  

  • All entries must be paid via credit card at the time of entering.  Receipts/invoices will be emailed to you after payment has been made should you need to provide one for reimbursement. To remain fair to everyone, if there is demand for space in the competition, all entries that are unpaid after two days will be bumped to the bottom of the waitlist.

  • Teams must have a minimum of 4 competitors.  

  • If any false information is provided to the National Dance Challenge, the troupe involved will be immediately disqualified from the competition.

  • The NDC Committee reserves the right to ask to see a birth certificate or other proof of age, if necessary, of any troupe member.

  • By submitting your entry you agree to the terms and conditions shown in this syllabus. 

  • The competition schedule will be available on the 1st May on the NDC app.  Please note -

    • The School Event will be Friday from approximately 5.00pm.

    • The Finals Gala will be held on Sunday early evening.

  • Tap plates must be checked for protruding screws as these will cause damage to the floor.

  • A maximum of two teachers/caregivers to be backstage with each troupe.  This excludes pre-schoolers who may have 4 and Dance Without Limits who can let us know their requirements.  

  • A dance teacher or support team is permitted to be on stage with pre-schoolers and Dance Without Limits teams for guidance and encouragement. 

ADJUDICATORS

  • Any troupe performance taught or choreographed by an adjudicator is not eligible to enter.

  • Please do not speak or confer with the adjudicator/s at any time during the competition.

  • The adjudicator/s’ decision is final.

  • In the case of a tie for special awards, the adjudicator/s will be called on to decide First Place and/or Runner Up

AGE GROUPS / REQUIREMENTS

  • All teams are required to provide the names and dates of birth /school year for each dancer in each team entered.  

  • Classes may be combined or separated based on entry numbers and at the discretion of the NDC Committee.

School Troupe Age Categories

Students must be enrolled at the school they are performing for.  

  • Primary School Age - Includes years 1-6 

  • Intermediate School Age - Includes years 7-8

  • Secondary School Age - Includes years 9-13

*Students may work up a year group but cannot join with younger year levels i.e. a year 9 student cannot join an Intermediate School troupe.

Dance Without Limits Troupe Event

  • Any age 

Open Troupe Age Categories 

The age group you enter below is determined by the average age (years and months) of all troupe members from the 1st June in the year of the competition.  If the average age is 12 years and 9 months, the troupe will be in the Pre-teen age category (11 & 12 year olds).

  • Pre-school  - Under 5 

  • Junior  - 10 & under 

  • Pre-teen - 11 & 12 years

  • Teen - 13 & 14 years

  • Senior - 15 & over 

 Open Senior Solo Awards

Unfortunately, due to a shorter timeframe, we are unable to accommodate the Senior Soloist Classes this year.

GENRES 

School Troupe Event

NOTE: Genres may be combined or separated depending on numbers, at the discretion of the NDC committee.  You may enter as many times as you like in the same genre or multiple genres.

  • Primary - All genres accepted (you may enter more than one)

  • Intermediate - All genres accepted (you many enter more than one)

  • Secondary - Jazz, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Contemporary, Variety (Variety includes any other genre you choose - you may enter more than one).

Dance Without Limits - Open genre

Open Event categories - Jazz, Lyrical, Ballet, Tap, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, Acro, Variety

Pre-school - Open genre (any)

Adult (Dance Mum/Dad etc.) Fun Dance Troupe - Open genre (anything goes!) - open to Dance Mums/Dads, caregivers, teachers and anyone over the age of 21 (who is not currently on the professional dancing circuit).

Novice classes - Open genre (any)

  • A rhythmic, energetic dance style typically made up of strong dance movements set to modern music.

  • An expressive dance style that is centred around fluid movements and incorporates modern, jazz, lyrical and ballet.

  • A combination of ballet and jazz. Lyrical performances are inspired by the lyrics in the music, which delivers strong emotion.

  • Classical dance with a strong emphasis on technique and precision. This can include neo-classical.

  • Performed with tap shoes and made up primarily of tap steps. The music should not contain any pre-recorded tapping sounds.

  • Street style dance most often performed to Hip Hop music.

  • Seamlessly blends dance and acrobatics. Acro has unique choreography and an athletic character.

  • A theatrical performance interpreting a song from a Broadway musical.

  • For those dances that don’t meet the criteria of any of the other genres allowed for in your age bracket, including (but not limited to) Broadway songs (not Musical theatre), singing troupes, Ballroom and Latin.

  • This can be any dance genre other than Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary or Lyrical. Other examples are Tap, Ballet, Musical Theatre, Ballroom, K-Pop, Song and Dance.

STUDENT CHOREOGRAPHY AWARD - SCHOOL EVENT

This award is open to any troupes in the school event solely choreographed and rehearsed by a student or group of students.  You will be required to name your Head student choreographer.

To be eligible this must be included on your entry form.

A trophy will be awarded at the completion of the school event to the adjudicator/s’ choice over all the school sections.

DANCE WITHOUT LIMITS

This class is specifically designed to give everyone a chance on stage, particularly those who are differently abled and without this class, would not participate in our competition.

  • Participants can be of any age with physical or developmental disabilities.  

  • The group can be made up of children from a school, from out of school activities or another group.  

  • Any genre can be performed

  • Teachers and/or support people may be on stage during the performance either prompting, supporting or as a dance partner

  • This class is for dancers with a disability who would not enter in another section of our competition

  • This class will be adjudicated, however will not be graded into placings but rather a number of awards will be given out and all performers will receive a NDC ribbon.

NOVICE ELIGIBILITY - OPEN EVENT

  • 75% of the team must never have previously competed in a dance competition of this nature at the time of entries opening (including any soloists in the team but excluding school dance competitions)

  • All genres will be combined in one class.

  • A novice entry may also enter the genre specific to their dance for their age group and repeat their performance

  • Novice teams are not eligible for the Finals Gala. 

NYPA - PACANZ NOMINATION 

  • NDC offers nominations to the National Young Performer Awards in Palmerston North in October each year.  Both open and school teams can enter.

  • To be eligible this must be indicated on your entry form along with payment of the additional NYPA entry fee.

  • Any nominations received prior to our competition are unable to receive a refund for their entry.

  • If you enter you must be able to take up the nomination and travel to Palmerston North to represent National Dance Challenge in October.

  • The nominee/s will be announced at the Finals Gala.

IMPORTANT - Please refer to the strict NYPA rules and regulations here. Note, rules can often change from year to year so please check them each year.

FINALS GALA

The Overall Winning School troupe and the highest scoring performance from each studio in the Open Event OR the troupe of their choice will be invited to perform at the Finals Gala on the Sunday.  All teams will be competing for the NDC Champion title.  

The top 5 performances will be announced before the NDC Champion and Runner Up are announced.

Studio owners and the winning School team are to confirm their routine as early as possible or by 4pm Sunday afternoon to the NDC front desk in the foyer.

SCORING SYSTEM

MARKS:

All performances will be judged against the following three criteria for a total of 100 points;

  • Technique: 50

  • Performance: 30

  • Wow Factor: 20

AWARD LEVELS:

The total marks for each performance will determine the award level as set out below;

  • Double Platinum Gold - 95-100 points

  • Platinum Gold - 90-94 points

  • High Gold - 85-89 points

  • Gold - 80-84 points

  • High Silver - 75-79 points

  • Silver - 70-74 points

  • High Bronze - 65-69 points

  • Bronze - 60-64 points

  • Honourable Mention - 59 points & under

RESULTS:

Placings and award levels will be announced at the end of each session and be available on the NDC app.

AWARDS 

  • The winner of each class will receive a trophy.

  • Every dancer will receive a ribbon (to be collected from the front desk)

  • Every team will receive a certificate and adjudicator’s report.

  • A number of special awards will be given out in every session.

Other Awards 

School Event

  • NDC Primary School Dance Team Of The Year - Highest marks overall Primary

  • NDC Intermediate School Dance Team Of The Year - Highest marks overall Intermediate

  • NDC Secondary School Dance Team Of The Year - Highest marks overall Secondary

  • NDC Student Choreography Award - Adjudicators’ choice of all eligible entries

  • NDC Overall School Champion (Waitemata Endoscopy Cup) - Highest marks overall - school troupes

Open Event

  • NDC Junior Dance Team Of The Year (& Runner up) - Highest marks overall 10 & under 

  • NDC Pre-Teen Dance Team Of The Year (& Runner up) - Highest marks overall 11 & 12 year olds

  • NDC Teen Dance Team Of The Year (& Runner up) - Highest marks overall 13 & 14 year olds

  • NDC Senior Dance Team Of The Year (& Runner up) -Highest marks overall 15 & over

  • NDC Open Choreography Award - Adjudicator/s’ choice

  • NDC Spirit Award (sportsmanship, helpful, clean etc) - Committee’s choice

  • NYPA Nomination/s - Adjudicator/s’ choice of all eligible entries

  • NDC Finals Gala Supreme Winner (North Family Cup & cash prize) - Highest marks in Finals Gala

  • NDC Finals Gala - Runner Up (cash prize) - 2nd highest marks in Finals Gala

ENTRY FEES

Troupes

  • All troupes  - $35 per entry

  • NYPA entry  - $35 per entry

  • Student Choreography Award - No charge

  • School/Studio Administration Fee $30 per School or Studio 

ENTRIES & SCHEDULE 

Entries will be taken via the NDC entry app in February.  Please see the website or social media for dates and more details.

Changes to entries

  • Any changes to entries including Titles, dancers etc. must be made by the 20th April.  

  • The schedule will not be altered due to late corrections after this date. 

The NDC app including the schedule will be available from the 1st of May. Links will be provided on our website and on social media. 

NOTE: We will not start a session more than 30 minutes prior to that session’s official starting time, however classes within that session will then keep running even if they are more than 30 minutes early.

TICKETS & MERCHANDISE

  • Tickets and merchandise will be available to purchase through the NDC APP once the schedule is out.  The link to the app will be available on our website and NDC social media pages on the 1st May.

  • If space permits, door sales will be available, however it is advisable to pre-purchase your tickets.  

  • Dancers do not require tickets for the sessions they are competing in.

Ticket costs are as follows -

  • School session/s - $10

  • Troupe sessions - $6

  • Finals Gala - $15 adults or $10 (for seniors 65+ and children 12 & under)

  • Limited merchandise may be available during the competition.

MUSIC & TIME LIMITS

  • Music is to be uploaded to the NDC app once available from the 1st May and before the 10th June.

  • Music must be in MP3 format. You can check your music on the app when you upload it.

  • We have a suggested time limit of 3 minutes per troupe.  Dances may be shorter.  Maximum is 4.5 minutes.

  • Music and performances must be suitable for all ages

  • There must be no pre-recorded tapping sounds on music track in tap routines

PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY

National Dance Challenge official photographers or videographers only please, unless you have written permission from the committee.

Photos taken by National Dance Challenge or official photographers and videographers during the event may be used for promotional purposes for NDC.

CONDUCT &  PERSONAL BELONGINGS

  • Dressing rooms - Respect of others’ dignity and privacy is required at all times in changing rooms.

  • Food & drink - There is no eating or drinking in the dressing rooms or auditorium. Water is acceptable.

  • Rubbish - Respect all areas and remove any rubbish from the dressing rooms and seating areas.

  • Personal Belongings - Only bring the necessary requirements and keep your belongings with you.  Personal property is the responsibility of its owner and NDC takes no responsibility for lost or stolen goods. 

HEALTH & SAFETY

Dancers take full responsibility for the health and safety of themselves.  NDC will not be held accountable for any injuries that occur on the NDC Competition premises.  While care will be taken to provide a safe environment, dancers participate at their own risk.

CANCELLATION

If we cannot go ahead on the booked dates due to Covid-19 or for other reasons beyond our control, we will look to postpone to a later date.  If we have to cancel, we will refund entry fees, less the administration fees.

HARASSMENT AND BULLYING

We encourage a competition environment that is free of bullying and harassment.  Please make sure you have read and adhere to the NDC Policy on Anti-Harassment and Anti-Bullying, as per the NDC website. 

NDC GRANT APPLICATIONS

After the completion of our event we will be taking applications for grant funding, (so keep an eye out for this in our social media pages).  In order to be able to submit an application, the dancer, troupe, School or Studio must have competed at our event in the same year and the grant must be used to further the art of dance in New Zealand.  Applications will be chosen by the committee and all decisions made are final.

QUESTIONS?

Visit our FAQ’s or Contact us here