Song and Dance/Tap Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A combined section in which the dancer also sings, performing a song while tap dancing, so that voice, rhythm and footwork have to work as one act.

Song and dance with a tap focus is a performance in which the entrant sings and dances at the same time, with tap steps carrying the movement. It borrows from the stage-musical tradition: a short number with a clear idea, where the lyrics tell the story and the shoes supply the rhythm. The challenge is that singing steadily while tapping at pace is physically demanding, so the choice of song, tempo and steps matters as much as raw technique.

A round is one number performed on the stage floor. The entrant or team is announced, the music starts, and the adjudicator watches and listens to both the dancing and the singing. Strong routines keep the breathing under control, place the demanding footwork where the voice is resting, and let the taps punctuate the words rather than drown them. Weak ones lose pitch or lyrics when the steps get busy, or tap so loudly that the song cannot be heard.

The two templates this page is written from run it as a full section. On the Rise Up Dance Creative template, solos are split into three levels (Specially Restricted, Restricted and Open) across seven age divisions, with three-minute solos, duo/trio sections by age, a parent and child section, and four-minute troupe and school-group sections (Preschool, Primary, High School and Small Schools). On the Diamond Dance Challenge template, solos run for four minutes in two-year age bands from 4&5 up to 14&15 plus an open age, duo/trio sections run for four minutes, and troupes for five. Boys and girls compete together, no language is set, and every entry is marked out of 100 under the label Marks. Neither template prints marking criteria for this item, so none are installed and the adjudicator’s own sheet applies.

Organisers run it as its own section because it tests something the plain tap sections do not: whether a dancer can perform as a complete entertainer. For a coordinator using eTalenter it is entered like any other item: register each dancer or team in the right division, record the adjudicator’s mark out of 100, and placings follow within each division.

Where Song and Dance/Tap is run

In eTalenter’s data Song and Dance/Tap appears on two Australian dance templates: one from a regional eisteddfod-style programme in New South Wales and one from a dance challenge in Victoria. A combined song and tap section is a recognised kind of entry in Australian dance programmes; this page asserts Australian use only from the data.

• Australia

Key facts

• Solo, duo/trio, parent and child, troupe and school-group entries across the two templates.
• Rise Up Dance Creative: solos split by level (Specially Restricted, Restricted, Open) and by age from 6 and under to 17 and over; Diamond Dance Challenge: solos by two-year bands from 4&5 to 14&15, plus an open age.
• Boys and girls compete together; no language requirement.
• Time limits in the templates: 3 minutes (solos, duo/trio, parent and child) and 4 minutes (troupes and school groups) on Rise Up; 4 minutes (solos, duo/trio) and 5 minutes (troupes) on Diamond.
• Marks out of 100 under the label Marks; the templates print no criteria, so the adjudicator’s sheet decides.
• Idea starters, not rules: a short musical-theatre style number with one verse and a tap break, a call-and-response song where the shoes answer the lyric, or a nursery-rhyme theme for the youngest divisions.

On eTalenter, Song and Dance/Tap is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 2 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Song and Dance/Tap is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 3–5 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Song and Dance/Tap

What a Song and Dance/Tap panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Vocal quality: steady pitch, clear words and enough volume to be heard over the taps, held while dancing.
• Tap technique: clean, even sounds, good weight transfer and control, with the footwork fitted to the breath.
• Coordination of song and steps: the two skills arrive together, with no loss of lyrics or rhythm when the footwork gets busy.
• Musicality and phrasing: taps that punctuate the lyric and follow the shape of the music rather than compete with it.
• Performance and character: expression, storytelling and confident presentation of a number that feels complete.
• Timing and unison: finishing inside the limit; for groups, voices, taps and movement together as one.

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

How to prepare for Song and Dance/Tap

How entrants and their teachers usually get Song and Dance/Tap right on the day:

• Learn the song and the steps separately first, then layer them slowly, singing at half tempo while marking the footwork.
• Choose a song in a comfortable key and a moderate tempo; a number that is too fast makes both the singing and the tapping suffer.
• Place the hardest steps where the voice rests, such as instrumental breaks or held notes, and keep simple steps under the busiest lyrics.
• Practise breathing plans: mark where each breath falls and keep to it, as running out of air is the commonest fault.
• Record rehearsals with sound and listen back for words lost under the taps; adjust tap volume or step choice to suit.
• For duos, trios and troupes, decide who sings which lines, and practise vocal and tap unison separately before combining them.
• Check that the music cut fits the time limit before the day, and rehearse the entrance and last pose so the final lyric lands with the final sound.

Frequently asked questions

Is Song and Dance/Tap 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 Song and Dance/Tap?

It is a section in which the entrant sings while tap dancing. The song and the taps are performed together as one number, and both are assessed.

How long is a Song and Dance/Tap routine?

It depends on the template. Rise Up Dance Creative uses three minutes for solos, duo/trio and parent and child entries and four for troupes and school groups; Diamond Dance Challenge uses four minutes for solos and duo/trio and five for troupes.

Is Song and Dance/Tap judged individually or as a team?

Solos are judged individually. Duo/trio, parent and child, troupe and school-group entries are judged as one performance and ranked within their own division.

Are the judging criteria printed for this item?

No. The templates print no criteria for it, so the adjudicator’s own sheet is used and eTalenter records a single mark out of 100.

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