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

A short classical ballet solo, traditionally a dancer’s showpiece from a full-length ballet, performed to its own music to show off technique, line and style.

In ballet a variation is a solo. In the full-length classics each principal character has one or more of them, and they have become the standard way for students to show what they can do alone: a compact piece of set choreography that tests balance, turns, jumps, footwork and port de bras in under three minutes. In competitions the word usually means a classical-style solo, either one taken from the standard repertoire or a piece in that traditional manner, danced in ballet shoes or pointe shoes depending on age and level.

A round is one performance on a stage floor. The dancer is announced, the music begins, and the adjudicator watches the whole solo from the opening pose to the final one, writing comments and a mark as it unfolds. Because the choreography is usually fixed and well known, there is nowhere to hide: a wobble on a balance or an unfinished turn is visible, and so is a dancer who has learnt the steps but not the style that goes with them.

In the eTalenter catalogue Variation appears on two dance templates. On the Rise Up Dance Creative template it follows Classical Ballet, National Character and Demi Character and is entered as a solo in three levels (Specially Restricted, Restricted and Open) across age divisions from 6 and under to 17 and over, and also as duo/trio, parent and child, troupe and school-group entries. On the Tutus and Tapshoes Eisteddfod template it is entered as a solo for every single year of age from 4 to 21 plus an Open age, in the Star divisions, and as a duo/trio. Time limits are three minutes for solos on both templates (four for Rise Up troupe and school sections), boys and girls compete together, there is no language requirement, and entries are marked out of 100 under the label Marks. Neither syllabus prints marking criteria, so none are installed here and the adjudicator’s own sheet applies.

Organisers keep Variation separate from Classical Ballet because it asks for a different thing: a finished, performable solo with a start, a build and a finish, rather than a general display of technique. For a coordinator using eTalenter it is entered like any other item: register each dancer in the right division and level, record the adjudicator’s mark out of 100, and ranking and placings follow within each division.

Where Variation is run

In eTalenter’s data Variation appears on two Australian dance templates, Rise Up Dance Creative and Tutus and Tapshoes Eisteddfod. It is a standard section of ballet-school syllabi and eisteddfod dance programmes in Australia, the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, where it normally sits alongside Classical Ballet and the character sections.

• Australia
• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Solo, duo/trio, parent and child, troupe and school-group entries on the Rise Up template; solo (ages 4 to 21 and Open), Star divisions and duo/trio on the Tutus and Tapshoes template.
• Rise Up solos are split by level (Specially Restricted, Restricted, Open) and by age from 6 and under to 17 and over.
• Boys and girls compete together; no language requirement.
• Time limit in the templates: 3 minutes for solos and duo/trio; 4 minutes for Rise Up troupe and school sections.
• Marks out of 100 under the label Marks; the syllabi print no criteria, so the adjudicator’s sheet decides.
• Idea starters, not rules: a fairy-tale princess solo, a bird-like jumping variation, a slow lyrical adage-style piece, a bright waltz-tempo piece, a spirited peasant-style solo.

On eTalenter, Variation 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, Variation 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 Variation

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

• Technique under pressure: secure balances, clean turns that finish on balance, controlled landings and turned-out lines held through the whole solo.
• Classical line and port de bras: arms, head and eyes that complete the shape of each step instead of arriving late or being forgotten.
• Style and character of the piece: a slow adage reads differently from a sparkling jumping variation, and the dancer’s quality of movement should match.
• Musicality: steps placed with the phrasing, held poses that settle on the beat and a finish that lands on the last note.
• Presentation and stage use: confident entrance, clear use of the whole floor, tidy costume and hair, and a performance that looks finished rather than rehearsed in pieces.
• Level-appropriate difficulty: a piece the dancer can perform cleanly beats one that is too hard and falls apart.

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

How to prepare for Variation

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

• Choose choreography that suits the dancer’s current level; a clean simple variation scores better than an ambitious one that wobbles.
• Learn the music as well as the steps: count it, know where each phrase ends and mark the accents with the teacher.
• Rehearse the hardest moments (the turn sequence, the big jump, the balance) in isolation, then run the whole solo several times without stopping.
• Practise the entrance and the final pose; the first and last five seconds shape the adjudicator’s impression.
• Film a run-through and watch it with the teacher, checking arms, head and finish positions as much as the feet.
• Rehearse in the actual shoes and costume, and check the music cut is within the time limit.
• Keep stamina up: a three-minute solo is tiring, so run it twice back to back near the date.

Frequently asked questions

Is Variation 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 a ballet variation?

A variation is a short ballet solo. In full-length ballets each main character dances one or more, and students perform these or similar pieces in competitions to show technique, line and style.

Is Variation the same as Classical Ballet?

They overlap, but Variation is a specific kind of piece: a set solo with its own music and shape. Classical Ballet in these templates is the broader technique section, so the two are entered and marked separately.

How long is a Variation?

The templates set three minutes for solos and duo/trio entries, and four minutes for Rise Up troupe and school sections.

Is Variation 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.

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