Student Own Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A solo dance section in which the dancer performs a routine they have choreographed themselves, in any style, marked out of 100 by the adjudicator within their age and level.

Student Own is the section where the dancer is also the choreographer. Instead of performing a routine set by a teacher, the entrant devises the steps, the shapes, the pathways and the use of the music, then performs the result. Dance competitions that offer it treat it as a separate item from jazz, lyrical or contemporary because the thing being judged includes the quality of the choreography itself, not only how well it is danced.

A round is one solo performance. The dancer is announced, the music starts, and the adjudicator watches the routine from the opening position to the final pose. A strong entry has a clear idea from the first count: an opening that tells the audience what the piece is about, material that develops instead of repeating, a change of pace or level at the musical lift, and an ending that lands with the music. Because the dancer made it, the routine should fit the dancer: movement they can perform cleanly, at their own age and level, rather than steps borrowed from something beyond them.

On the Shine Bright Dance Challenge template, which this page is written from, Student Own is one of fifteen solo styles. Each single age from 7 to 15, then 16-17 and 18 and over, has four levels – Specially Restricted, Restricted, Open and Advance – so the item sits in 44 age-and-level groups. Boys and girls compete together, no language is required, every solo runs to three minutes and every entry is marked out of 100 under the label Marks. The syllabus extract printed on the template does not describe the section’s own rules or any marking criteria, so none are installed and the adjudicator’s own sheet applies. Where the entry rules matter, such as whether the music or the routine must be declared as the dancer’s own work, the organiser’s published syllabus is the authority.

Organisers run it because it rewards a different skill from the style sections: creativity, planning and ownership of a piece. For a coordinator using eTalenter it is entered like any other item: register each dancer in the right age and level, record the adjudicator’s mark out of 100, and placings follow within each group.

Where Student Own is run

In eTalenter’s data the section titled Student Own appears on one dance template, the Shine Bright Dance Challenge solos day on the Central Coast of New South Wales. Two other Australian dance festival templates carry the same idea under the longer name Student Own Choreography Solo, as a solo section alongside their style sections. Own-choreography sections are an established part of Australian dance eisteddfod and festival programmes; this page does not claim wider reach than that.

• Australia

Key facts

• Solo only, with boys and girls competing together and no language requirement.
• On the Shine Bright Dance Challenge template it is one of 15 solo styles, with single ages 7 to 15, then 16-17 and 18 and over.
• Four levels per age: Specially Restricted, Restricted, Open and Advance, giving 44 groups in all for this item.
• Time limit in the template: 3 minutes. Marks out of 100 under the label Marks.
• The template prints no judging criteria for the item, so none are installed; the adjudicator’s own sheet decides.
• Idea starters, not rules: a piece built around one object or action, a routine told in three short scenes, a dance that answers a rhythm from a single piece of music, or a solo that begins in stillness and builds to one big travelling phrase.

On eTalenter, Student Own 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, Student Own 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 Student Own

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

• Originality and choreographic idea: a clear concept developed through the routine, not a collection of steps copied from videos or class material.
• Structure and variety: a defined opening and ending, changes of pace, level and direction, and no phrase repeated without a reason.
• Technique and execution: clean movement of the dancer’s own choosing, with difficulty matched to what the entrant can actually perform well.
• Musicality: steps and accents that respond to the phrasing of the music, finishing with the final note.
• Performance and presentation: commitment and expression, with costume and music chosen to suit the piece and the dancer’s age.

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

How to prepare for Student Own

How entrants and their teachers usually get Student Own right on the day:

• Start with an idea in one sentence, such as a mood, a story or a movement quality, and test every step against it.
• Choose the music first, mark out its phrases and lifts, and place the strongest material where the track builds.
• Choreograph only what you can dance cleanly at performance speed; a simpler phrase done well beats an ambitious one that wobbles.
• Ask a teacher or friend to watch and say what the piece is about; if they cannot tell, sharpen the opening and the ending.
• Plan the use of the whole floor, with travelling phrases, turns on different lines and a change of level, so the routine does not stay in one spot.
• Run the routine in full and against the clock, cutting the music to fit the three-minute limit.
• Check the syllabus for how the section must be entered, then be ready to say, if asked, which parts you made yourself.

Frequently asked questions

Is Student Own 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 Student Own in a dance competition?

It is a solo section in which the dancer performs a routine they choreographed themselves, so the adjudicator weighs the creativity of the choreography as well as the performance.

How long is a Student Own routine?

On the Shine Bright Dance Challenge template solos in this section run to three minutes, and the entry is marked out of 100.

Is Student Own judged individually or as a team?

It is a solo section, judged individually and ranked within the dancer’s own age and level group.

Can I choose any dance style for Student Own?

The template lists the section as its own style item and does not restrict the genre. Check the organiser’s syllabus for any rule on style, music or teacher input before you enter.

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