Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A combined contemporary and lyrical routine for two or three dancers performing as one act, marked out of 100 and carried on an Australian dance competition template.

Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical is an expressive routine for two or three dancers who perform together as a single act. It blends two related styles under one heading: lyrical dance, which draws its movement from the words and emotion of a song with flowing, extended lines, and contemporary dance, which uses floor work, weight changes, off-balance shapes and release of the torso. Because the section is combined, entrants may lean towards either style or mix both, and the act is placed against others doing the same.

A round is one routine, announced, danced to recorded music and judged as it happens. With only two or three dancers on the floor, relationship is part of the performance: lifts and counterbalance, mirroring, canon, one dancer reacting to another. Panels typically watch whether the dancers breathe and phrase together, whether shared moments such as a held line or a fall look controlled, and whether the story or mood of the music is carried from first count to final pose.

In eTalenter’s data the section appears on one template, an Australian dance competition. There it is run in six Duo/Trio age bands: 6 and under, 8, 10, 12 and 15 and under, and Open, with boys and girls together. Every band is a Team entry limited to three minutes and marked out of 100 under the label Marks, with no language requirement. The template prints no marking criteria for the item, so none are installed here and the adjudicator’s own sheet decides.

Organisers keep duos and trios apart from solos and large groups so that small acts meet comparable acts. For a coordinator using eTalenter it is a team item: register the act in the age band the event’s own rule sets (a mixed-age pair may be placed by the older dancer, so check), record the mark out of 100 and let the ranking produce the placings within each band.

Where Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical is run

In eTalenter’s data Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical appears on one template, an Australian dance competition. Combined contemporary and lyrical classes for duos and trios are found in dance-school competitions and festivals elsewhere, but this page describes only what that template records.

• Australia

Key facts

• Team entry of two or three dancers; boys and girls may enter together; no language requirement.
• Six age bands: 6 and under, 8, 10, 12 and 15 and under, plus Open.
• Three-minute limit and a maximum of 100 marks, shown under the label Marks.
• The section combines two styles, so one act may favour contemporary, lyrical or a blend.
• No judging criteria are printed for the item on the template, so none are installed; the adjudicator’s own sheet decides.
• Idea starters, not rules: a trio that begins as one entwined shape and separates line by line, a duet built on a push-and-pull of weight, a song-led story of a goodbye told through mirrored phrases, or a routine that moves from floor to standing as the music lifts.

On eTalenter, Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical 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, Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 3 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical

What a Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Expression and emotion: facial and bodily commitment to the mood of the music, held from the first count, rather than movement that is only decorative.
• Line and quality of movement: extended legs and arms, flowing transitions and controlled lyrical phrasing, with contemporary release and weight shifts that look intended.
• Partnering and connection: lifts, counterbalance and contact done safely and smoothly, and visible awareness between dancers even when apart.
• Unison and contrast: matched phrases that match exactly, and deliberate canon or opposition that looks planned rather than accidental.
• Technique and control: balances, turns and floor work finished cleanly, with no wobble or stumble in transitions between levels.
• Choreography and presentation: use of space and formations, music and content suited to the age band, tidy costume and a clear opening and final pose within three minutes.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical under Scoring Setup, or start from the full group dance judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical

How entrants and their teachers usually get Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical right on the day:

• Choose music with a clear emotional shape, a beginning, a build and a resolution, and cut it to fit inside three minutes with a margin.
• Decide the story or feeling in one sentence and let every section of the choreography serve it; dancers who know the idea perform it more convincingly.
• Rehearse each dancer’s solo material separately first, then build the shared moments so neither dancer relies on the other to hide weak control.
• Practise lifts and counterbalance slowly with a teacher present, and choose contact the dancers can repeat safely on a different floor.
• Mark a count sheet for breaths, holds and entries so the phrases land together without watching each other.
• Use the small cast: plan at least two formation changes and one moment where each dancer is clearly featured.
• Rehearse on a surface like the competition floor and film a run-through from the front to check lines, spacing and unison.
• Agree what happens after a slip: stay in character, rejoin on the next phrase and never stop to look at each other.

Frequently asked questions

Is Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical 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 is Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical?

It is a routine for two or three dancers that blends contemporary and lyrical styles into one act, judged on expression, movement quality, partnering and performance and marked out of 100.

How long is a Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical routine?

The template carrying it sets a three-minute limit. Check the event’s own rules for the running time and how the music must be supplied.

Is it judged individually or as a team?

It is a team item: the act is scored as one performance, although the panel will notice each dancer’s control and expression within it.

Is it the same as Duo/Trio Jazz or Duo/Trio Any Style?

No. Duo/Trio Contemporary/Lyrical is placed against other contemporary or lyrical acts, whereas Duo/Trio Jazz is in the jazz style and Any Style lets entrants choose any genre.

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