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

A top-tier solo class that gathers a series’ strongest lyrical and contemporary dancers into three age championships, each a single three-minute routine that cannot be a repeat.

The Lyrical/Contemporary Championship is the headline class for two closely related styles of solo dance. Lyrical is danced to the emotion of the music, usually a song with words, and blends ballet line with jazz and modern movement: sustained balances, long extensions, turns that melt into floor work and a performer who plainly feels the story. Contemporary is freer and more grounded, using weight, release, spirals and off-balance shapes to express an idea rather than a plot. A championship joins the two so that a dancer can choose whichever suits their strengths, and the panel compares routines from either side on the same scale.

In the Victorian (Australia) dance series behind this page, the class sits above the ordinary solo sections. It is one of four championships the pack prints, alongside Jazz, Tap and Vocal, and each runs in three age divisions: 9 and under, 13 and under and 14 and over. Ages are taken as at 1 January of the competition year. The pack sets two conditions that make it a true championship rather than an extra solo: the dancer must already have competed in the solo section for that style, and the routine cannot be a repeat of one danced before.

A round is a single solo of up to three minutes. The dancer walks on alone, performs one routine to their own music and leaves; there is no second round and no set piece. Because everyone has already danced in the solo section, the panel is looking at a second, fresh piece from each of them, and the difference between a good solo and a championship routine tends to show in the choice of music, the finish of each phrase and how fully the dancer commits from the first beat to the last.

Organisers run it because it gives their strongest dancers a reason to prepare something new and gives the programme a clear peak for the age division. For a studio it is also a way of showing range: a dancer who performed a tidy lyrical solo in the earlier section can return with a contemporary piece that shows a different side of their training.

Where Lyrical/Contemporary Championship is run

In eTalenter’s data this item belongs to a single template, a Victorian (Australia) studio dance series that offers it in three championship age divisions. Lyrical and contemporary are taught in dance schools in many countries and appear as solo classes at eisteddfods and dance competitions elsewhere, and other templates carry related titles with different combinations of styles. The exact pairing under this name, the three age bands, the entry condition and the three-minute limit are this series’ own rules, so this page does not claim them for any other event.

• Australia

Key facts

• Individual entry, boys and girls together, in three championship divisions: 9 and under (ages 3 to 9 in eTalenter’s bands), 13 and under (10 to 13) and 14 and over. Ages are taken as at 1 January of the competition year.
• Entry condition printed in the pack: the dancer must have competed in the solo section for that style, and a championship routine cannot be repeated.
• Time limit: 3 minutes. The pack’s 4-minute limit applies only to the Song and Dance/Tap championship, not to this one.
• Placings printed: trophies for 1st to 3rd and medals for highly commended.
• The pack prints no marks, criteria or mark bands, so eTalenter’s template records the placings at 0 points and uses a score out of 100 only as a default for the panel.
• One of four championships in the series (Jazz, Lyrical/Contemporary, Tap and Vocal). The series also has a separate any-style top title above them, with its own entry rules.
• Idea starters, not rules: a lyrical piece built on one lyric line with the whole routine answering it; a contemporary solo that begins on the floor and never fully stands until the last phrase; a piece that shows a lyrical first half and a contemporary second half; a routine built around a single prop-free image such as rain or a closing door.

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

What judges look at in Lyrical/Contemporary Championship

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

• Technique and control: lines, extensions, balances and turns held with ease. A championship panel expects secure footwork and clean landings, so a wobble on a pirouette or a rushed finish to a leap costs more here than in an ordinary section.
• Emotional commitment: a lyrical routine is judged on whether the dancer plainly lives the music, with the face, the eyes and the breath working with the steps. A technically tidy routine that stays blank loses ground to one that is slightly rougher but alive.
• Use of weight and movement quality: for contemporary work, panels watch how the dancer uses floor work, release, spirals and changes of speed. Movement that reads as steps strung together scores below movement that grows from one idea.
• Musicality and choice of music: phrasing that follows the music, pauses used on purpose and a piece chosen to suit the dancer’s age and experience. The routine must also be new, since the pack bars repeating a championship routine.
• Choreography and construction: a clear beginning, development and ending inside the three minutes, with variety in level, direction and tempo. A routine that is all one speed or all one direction tires the eye.
• Presentation and stagecraft: a confident walk-on, a held opening shape and a finish that stays in character until the lights change. (The pack prints no criteria; these are the points organisers commonly weigh, not printed rules.)

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

How to prepare for Lyrical/Contemporary Championship

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

• Check your entry first. The pack requires that the dancer has competed in the solo section for that style, so confirm the dancer is entered there and that the championship routine is a different piece from any earlier one.
• Choose the style that shows the dancer at their best, not the one that seems more serious. A strong lyrical dancer is better served by a polished lyrical routine than by a forced contemporary one.
• Pick music with room to breathe. A song with a clear build, a quiet middle and a clear last line gives the dancer places to rest, to surprise and to finish, and edit it to sit inside three minutes with a margin.
• Build the routine from a single idea and test it with the dancer: what is the piece about, and where does that show in the arms, the eyes and the floor patterns? If the answer is vague the performance usually is too.
• Rehearse the weak sections more than the favourites. Panels remember the one unsteady turn, so isolate it, slow it down and repeat it until it is dull.
• Run the whole routine in performance conditions: shoes or bare feet as planned, on the floor type that will be used, with the music played from the device that will be handed in. Time it every time.
• Prepare for the three age bands differently. Under 9 needs simple ideas done cleanly; 13 and under can carry more story; 14 and over is expected to show control, risk and finish.
• After the results, ask for any comments and pick one thing to fix for next time, usually the opening, the middle section or the last eight counts.

Frequently asked questions

Is Lyrical/Contemporary Championship 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.

Is the Lyrical/Contemporary Championship the same as the lyrical or contemporary solo?

No. The solo sections are the ordinary classes; the championship is a separate top-tier class above them. The pack requires that the dancer has competed in the solo section for that style, and the championship routine cannot be a repeat.

Can I dance the same routine I used in the solo section?

No. The pack says a championship routine cannot be repeated, so the dancer needs a new piece. Check the series’ rules or the organiser before entering if you are unsure what counts as the same routine.

How long can the routine be?

Up to three minutes. The four-minute limit in the same pack applies only to the Song and Dance/Tap championship.

Which age divisions are there?

Three: 9 and under, 13 and under and 14 and over, with ages taken as at 1 January of the competition year. In eTalenter’s template they are installed as non-overlapping bands (3 to 9, 10 to 13 and 14 upwards).

What do the winners receive?

Trophies for first to third and medals for highly commended. The pack prints no marks, so eTalenter records the placings only.

Is it the same as Jazz Championship or Modern Championship?

No. Jazz Championship is its own class in the same series for jazz solos, and other events use titles such as Modern Championship or Contemporary Championship with their own rules. This page covers only the lyrical-and-contemporary championship of the series described here.

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