Any Style / Open Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A dance class with no set genre, where a solo dancer, a duo or trio, or a troupe performs a routine in any style it chooses, scored out of 100 on technique, performance, choreography and presentation.

Any Style / Open is the dance class that does not ask for a particular style. Where Ballet, Tap, Lyrical or Hip Hop each name a technique that the routine must show, this class lets the entrant choose: a fusion piece, a cultural or folk-inspired dance, a style that has no class of its own at that event, or a routine that mixes several. The entry form names the class, the performers bring the music and the choreography, and the panel marks what it sees.

A round runs like any other dance class. The entry is announced, the music starts, and the solo dancer, the duo or trio, or the troupe delivers one routine in front of the adjudicators. Because there is no style to measure it against, the panel judges the routine on its own terms: how cleanly it is danced, how fully it is performed, how well it is built, and how well the music, costume and staging support it.

On the template that carries this class it is offered in all three sections of the programme: solos, duos and trios, and troupes. Entries are grouped by age, from 4 years and under for solos and duos/trios up to an open age group, with the troupe section starting at 6 and under. Ages are counted at 1 January of the current year, and a duo, trio or troupe takes the age of its eldest member, so a team has to check every dancer before it enters.

Organisers keep an any-style class for two practical reasons. It gives a home to a dancer or team whose routine fits none of the named styles, and the same event rules also use an open category as the place for an extra routine once a dancer has reached the limit of entries in a section. For a coordinator the useful decisions are how to describe the class on the entry form, how to stop it becoming a duplicate of a named style, and whether to combine small age groups when entries are few.

Where Any Style / Open is run

In eTalenter data this exact class appears on one template, an Australian dance competition run as a series of events, which offers it for solos, duos and trios, and troupes across the age groups printed in its terms. Open or any-style classes are a common part of dance competitions and eisteddfods in several countries, usually sitting beside the named-style classes, but the sections, ages, scoring and awards described on this page are the ones printed for that one Australian event.

• Australia

Key facts

• Entered as a solo, a duo or trio, or a troupe, boys and girls together. No language applies.
• The routine can be in any style. The terms print the class name as Any Style / Open and do not limit it to a list of genres.
• Age groups as printed: 4 and under (solos and duos/trios only), then 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 and under, and an open age group. Age is counted at 1 January of the current year and a team takes the age of its eldest member.
• Marked out of 100: technique 50, performance and execution 30, choreography 15, music and presentation 5. Two adjudicators score separately and their marks are averaged.
• Awards printed for the section: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Highly Commended, at the adjudicators’ discretion. No points are printed for the placings, and no time limit is printed for this class.
• The event’s terms say a dancer may dance no more than twice in any one section, and that a third routine goes in an open category.
• Idea starters, not rules: build the routine around one clear idea such as a place, a season or a memory; choose a style the dancer is genuinely strong in rather than a mix they have only just learnt; keep one strong moment of surprise in the middle; finish on a clear final pose.

On eTalenter, Any Style / Open is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Any Style / Open is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100.

What judges look at in Any Style / Open

What a Any Style / Open panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Technique (50 marks, half the total): the largest block, and the one an any-style entrant most often under-rehearses. With no named style to lean on, the panel looks at the basics it can see in any dance, such as control, balance, line, timing and clean footwork, so a showy routine with loose basics loses most of its marks here.
• Performance and execution (30 marks): commitment, expression and energy from the first count to the last. A routine that is danced with conviction usually beats a harder one that is delivered cautiously, and a visible drop in energy after the hardest section costs marks.
• Choreography (15 marks): whether the routine has an idea, a shape and a reason for each section. In an open class the choreography has to carry the identity that a named style would otherwise supply, so a string of unconnected tricks scores below a plainer routine that clearly belongs together.
• Music and presentation (5 marks): the fit between the music and the movement, the costume and the entrance and finish. It is the smallest block, but a clean start and a clear final pose lift the impression of every other block.
• Reading of the class: because the routine is not tied to a style, the panel will compare a fusion piece with a cultural dance on the same four-part scale. State the style honestly on the entry form if asked, then dance it as well as it can be danced.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Any Style / Open under Scoring Setup, or start from the full dance competition judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Any Style / Open

How entrants and their teachers usually get Any Style / Open right on the day:

• Decide what the routine is before choreographing it. Write one sentence saying the style and the idea; if you cannot, the panel will not see a style or an idea either.
• Pick a style the dancer already controls. Half the marks are for technique, so a simple routine in a familiar style scores better than an ambitious one in a style learnt a month ago.
• Build the routine from a clear start, middle and end. Rehearse the opening eight counts and the final pose until they are exact, because they are what the panel remembers.
• Film a full run-through and watch it with the sound off. If the idea is unclear without the music, the movement is not carrying enough of it yet.
• For duos, trios and troupes, rehearse spacing, entrances and exits separately from the steps, and check the age of every dancer before entering, because the eldest member sets the age group.
• Confirm with the organiser how long the routine may run and what counts as a prop, since this class prints no time limit. Cut the music to a clean start and end.
• Keep the open class for the routine that really has no home. If the routine is clearly a Jazz or Contemporary piece, it will usually be compared more fairly in that class.
• After the result, read the marks block by block. A low technique mark means more drilling on basics, and a low choreography mark means the routine needs a stronger shape, not more steps.

Frequently asked questions

Is Any Style / Open judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What does Any Style / Open mean in a dance competition?

It is a class where the dancer or team chooses the style. There is no required genre, so the routine can be a fusion, a cultural dance or any style that has no class of its own at the event.

Is the Open in the title the same as the Open age group?

No. The class name Any Style / Open is about style. The Open age group is a separate age band at the top of the age list, for dancers older than the 16 and under group. A dancer can enter the Any Style / Open class in any of the age groups the event offers.

Is this the same as the any-style solo, troupe or duo/trio classes listed on other competitions?

It is the same idea, an open-genre routine, but each competition defines its own sections and scoring. This page describes the one class with this exact title, which is offered in solo, duo/trio and troupe sections under one set of terms.

How is Any Style / Open scored?

Out of 100: technique 50, performance and execution 30, choreography 15 and music and presentation 5. Two adjudicators score separately and their marks are averaged.

Can I use it for an extra routine?

The event’s terms limit a dancer to two routines in any one section and say a third routine goes in an open category. Ask the organiser how your event applies that rule before you enter.

How long can the routine be?

The terms do not print a time limit for this class, so ask the organiser before you cut your music.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full dance competition judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.