Triple Threat Own Choice Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A solo musical-theatre section in which the dancer chooses a Broadway jazz, musical theatre, song-and-dance or demi-character routine of up to three minutes, marked out of 100.

Triple Threat Own Choice is the musical-theatre solo of a dance programme. The name refers to the performer who can sing, act and dance, and the section is built for dancers who bring all three to one routine. Rather than a single prescribed genre, the entrant picks a style from a short list: Broadway jazz, musical theatre, song and dance, or demi-character. The choreography, music and costume are the entrant’s own choice within that list.

A round is one solo, announced, performed to the entrant’s own music and judged as it happens. The adjudicator first works out which of the four styles the dancer has chosen and then asks whether the routine delivers it. A Broadway jazz piece is expected to be sharp, stylised and projected to the back of the room; a musical theatre piece should tell a story or portray a character; a song and dance routine blends singing with movement; a demi-character piece asks the dancer to play someone distinct from themselves, often with a specific walk, gesture or attitude.

On the template that carries it, the section runs as solos only, in six divisions from 6 and under to 16 and under plus Open Age, with a limit of three minutes each. Boys and girls compete together, no particular spoken language is required, and each entry is marked out of 100. A good entry is a short, complete performance with a clear opening image, a developing story or idea and a deliberate finish, not a sequence of steps joined together.

Organisers include a section like this because musical theatre dancers are poorly served by pure technique classes. It gives them a place to be judged on character and communication as well as movement, and it lets a programme reward the performer rather than only the technician.

Where Triple Threat Own Choice is run

The section appears on one template in the library, a dance challenge held in New South Wales, Australia, where it sits beside named sections such as Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary and Vocal for solo entrants. It is printed there as an open-choice class limited to four musical-theatre styles. Musical theatre dance itself is taught and competed in many countries, but this page describes the class as that template defines it.

• Australia

Key facts

• A solo-only section: no duo or troupe version of this item exists on the template.
• Styles allowed as printed: Broadway jazz, musical theatre, song and dance, and demi-character.
• Divisions: 6U, 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and Open Age; the youngest 5U babies’ division does not run it.
• Time limit 3 minutes per solo, marked out of 100 under the label Marks. Boys and girls compete together.
• The template prints no judging criteria for this item, so none are installed; the adjudicator’s own sheet decides.
• Idea starters, not rules: a demi-character piece built on a single repeated gesture, a song-and-dance routine that moves from spoken lines into full movement, or a Broadway jazz number that freezes on a held pose for each chorus.

On eTalenter, Triple Threat Own Choice 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, Triple Threat Own Choice 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 Triple Threat Own Choice

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

• Style fit: the routine clearly belongs to one of the four permitted styles and does not drift into an unrelated genre.
• Technique: clean lines, balance and control in the jazz and theatre vocabulary, with no hiding weak steps behind costume or props.
• Character and storytelling: the audience can tell who the performer is and what is happening, especially in demi-character and song-and-dance routines.
• Projection and expression: face, eyes and energy carry to the back of the room, and the performance is sustained from the first count to the last pose.
• Choreography and music: the routine uses the phrasing of the chosen music, suits the dancer’s age and ability, and finishes inside three minutes.

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

How to prepare for Triple Threat Own Choice

How entrants and their teachers usually get Triple Threat Own Choice right on the day:

• Choose the style first, then the music: decide whether you are doing Broadway jazz, musical theatre, song and dance or demi-character, and pick a track that suits it.
• Write the story in one sentence before choreographing, so every section of the routine has a purpose.
• Rehearse the face and the character as seriously as the steps; practise in front of a mirror and in front of a friend.
• Time the routine with the music and costume change, if any, and leave a few seconds of margin under the three-minute limit.
• Keep the routine within what you can do cleanly; a simpler piece performed with conviction beats a hard one that falters.
• Practise the entrance and the final pose, because judges often form their first and last impression from them.
• Check the syllabus for the age division and make sure your age at the stated date matches the section you enter.

Frequently asked questions

Is Triple Threat Own Choice 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.

Can I sing live in Triple Threat Own Choice?

The template lists song and dance as one of the permitted styles, so singing as part of the routine fits the section. It also has a separate Vocal section for pure singing. Check the organiser’s current syllabus for rules on live or recorded vocals.

Is it a solo or a group section?

On the template it is a solo section only. Groups enter the troupe sections such as Broadway/Musical Theatre.

What is demi-character?

A demi-character routine asks the dancer to portray a distinct character rather than themselves, usually with a specific walk, posture and attitude, while still dancing in a theatre style.

How long can the routine be?

Up to three minutes in every division on the template, judged out of 100.

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