Jazz Acro Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A solo or duo jazz dance in which acrobatic elements such as cartwheels, walkovers and aerials are allowed inside the routine, as run in a children’s and teens’ solos-and-duos dance competition in Victoria, Australia.

Jazz Acro is a jazz dance section that openly allows acrobatics. A dancer performs a short routine to music in a jazz style – sharp, rhythmic, energetic, often with strong isolations, kicks, leaps and turns – and is free to build tumbling skills into it. The section exists so that dancers who train in both jazz and acrobatics have somewhere to show them together instead of having to strip the tricks out of a routine.

In the edition behind this page the item is one of twelve dance styles in a solos-and-duos competition. It is offered in a section for dancers aged 6 and under, then in five age groups (8 and under, 10 and under, 12 and under, 14 and under and 15 and above), each split into a Novice and an Open level, and in an all-ages duo section for two dancers. Age is counted on 1 January. Novice is for dancers who have not won first or second place in any competition in the last three years; Open is for dancers who have placed first or second in the style recently, and anyone who took part in a national final in the last two years must enter Open.

A solo routine may run for up to three minutes and a duo for up to four, and the music is uploaded to a music platform a few days before the event. Props, mats or equipment must be set up within a two-minute window after the previous performance, and the time limit is strict: running over can bring a penalty. All music, choreography and costume must suit family viewing.

Organisers run a separate acro section because acrobatics change what a judge is looking at. A routine with a back walkover or a front aerial is judged against other routines that also take the risk, while a purely technical jazz routine is judged in its own section (Jazz No Acro). That keeps the comparison fair and lets teachers choose the right section for each pupil’s strengths.

Where Jazz Acro is run

In eTalenter’s data the exact title Jazz Acro is carried by one template: a solos-and-duos dance competition run in Victoria, Australia, which lists it beside Jazz No Acro, Classical, Neo Classical, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Song and Dance, Tap, Demi Character, Own Choreography and Any Style. Acrobatic jazz and acro dance sections appear in dance festivals and eisteddfods in Australia and elsewhere under several names; this page describes the item only as that edition runs it and does not claim wider use of the exact title.

• Australia

Key facts

• Solo or duo: individual dancers compete in the age sections; the all-ages duo section is for two dancers. Boys and girls compete together.
• Acrobatic elements are allowed in this section. The sister section, Jazz No Acro, bans tricks such as cartwheels, walkovers and headstands, so a dancer enters one or the other for a given routine.
• Sections: 6 and under (all styles together); 8, 10, 12, 14 and under and 15 and above, each with Novice and Open levels; and an all-ages duo section.
• Time limits as printed: up to 3 minutes for a solo and up to 4 minutes for a duo, with a penalty if exceeded.
• Safety rule: dancers aged 11 and over must wear knee pads and two shoes for jazz routines that include floor work, fly rolls or knee drops, or lose points.
• The syllabus prints no marking scale, criteria or points, so the template carries a score out of 100 that the adjudicator fills in; the adjudicator’s decision is final and a prize may be withheld.

On eTalenter, Jazz Acro 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, Jazz Acro is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 3–4 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Jazz Acro

What a Jazz Acro panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Jazz technique first: the routine is a jazz dance with acrobatics added, not a tumbling pass with music behind it. Adjudicators look for clean kicks, leaps, turns and isolations between the tricks, with turned-out legs, pointed feet and control of the placement of each move.
• Quality and safety of the acrobatic skills: a walkover or aerial should be straight, controlled and landed cleanly. A trick that is attempted and falls costs more than a simpler one done well, and dancers are expected to protect themselves with knee pads where the rules say so.
• Integration with the choreography: tricks that grow out of the movement and the music read better than a trick dropped in the corner. A good routine uses the acro at the moment the music builds, then returns to dance without a pause.
• Musicality and rhythm: jazz is built on accents, so hits, stops and syncopation should land on the music. Dancers who rush a trick and miss the beat lose the sharpness the style depends on.
• Performance and showmanship: energy, eye contact and a face that matches the music. A routine that looks confident and enjoyable beats one that looks like a safety exercise.
• Stage use, costume and finish: clear starts and ends, good use of the floor area, a costume that allows movement, and a routine that ends inside the time limit and in a held final pose.

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

How to prepare for Jazz Acro

How entrants and their teachers usually get Jazz Acro right on the day:

• Enter the right section: if a dancer cannot yet land a skill reliably, use Jazz No Acro and keep the acro for later. A clean routine in the right section beats a risky one in the wrong section.
• Build the routine backwards from the music: count the phrases, choose the two or three places where a trick fits, and design the jazz movement that leads into and out of each one. Do not let the trick set the choreography.
• Set a six-week plan. Weeks one and two: choose the music and lay down the jazz steps. Weeks three and four: add the acrobatic skills and practise the links. Week five: run the whole routine at full pace several times. Week six: rehearse in costume, on a hard floor, with the exact music file and timing.
• Time the routine against the limit with a stopwatch, including the entrance. Three minutes is shorter than it feels for a solo, so cut movement rather than speed up the music.
• Plan the safety kit early: knee pads for any floor work or knee drops, two shoes for the jazz sections where required, and a mat or props ready for the two-minute set-up window. Pack a spare music file on a phone and a copy of the upload receipt.
• Practise recovering: if a trick fails, the dancer keeps going and rejoins the choreography at the next count. Rehearse that moment on purpose so it does not look like a collapse.
• After a result, ask for the critique and film the next rehearsal. Watching the routine back shows whether the tricks are in time and whether the landing is clean.
• Ideas, not rules (ways to keep practice interesting): record a short clip of the jazz section alone and the acro alone and watch them together; swap one trick for an easier skill to test the transition; ask a teacher from another style to give an outside view of the stage picture.

Frequently asked questions

Is Jazz Acro judged individually or as a team?

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

What is the difference between Jazz Acro and Jazz No Acro?

In the edition covered here, Jazz Acro allows acrobatic elements in the routine, while Jazz No Acro does not allow tricks such as cartwheels, walkovers and headstands. Leaps, split jumps and leg mounts are still fine in the no-acro section. A dancer enters whichever section matches the routine.

Do I need knee pads for Jazz Acro?

The rules say that dancers aged 11 and over must wear knee pads (and two shoes) for jazz routines with floor work, fly rolls or knee drops, and a points deduction can follow if they do not. A routine with no such moves is not affected, but acro routines often include floor skills, so plan for pads.

How long can a Jazz Acro routine be?

Up to three minutes for a solo and up to four minutes for a duo in this edition. The time limit is strict, and running over can bring a penalty from the adjudicator.

What is the difference between the Novice and Open levels?

Novice is for dancers who have not won first or second place in any competition in the last three years. Open is for dancers who have competed and placed first or second in the style, and anyone who took part in a national final in the last two years must enter Open. A Novice dancer who is alone in a section may ask to join the Open section.

Is there a published marking scheme for Jazz Acro?

No. The edition prints no marking scale, criteria or points, only that the adjudicator’s decision is final and that a prize may be withheld if the standard is not met. The template carries a score out of 100 and the advice on this page is general guidance on what jazz and acro judges usually weigh.

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