Dance – Authentic Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A folk dance class for performers who present dances in their original, unaltered traditional form, scored out of 10 across seven age divisions.

In an international folklore competition the same discipline is often split by how far a performance has travelled from its source. The authentic class is the strictest: the dance, its steps, figures, music and costume are presented as they are or were danced in their home community, with nothing added for the stage.

On the template this is an individual item offered in every age division from Mini Kids (4 to 6) up to Senior (50 and over), plus a mixed-age division. Each entrant is scored out of 10 by the panel, and the source describes awards from Diamond Grand Prix and Grand Prix down to first to fourth place, a Participant Diploma and a Debut Diploma.

A round runs one performer at a time in a published order. The panel looks for faithful steps, correct regional character and costume, and music that belongs to the dance. Marks are totalled and ranked within the division, so a seven-year-old and a seventy-year-old are never compared on one list.

Organisers run this class beside the processed and styled versions so that traditional bearers, who keep a dance exactly as it was handed down, are not forced to compete against choreographers who rework it for the stage.

Where Dance – Authentic is run

On eTalenter this item is used in one template, an international folklore dance and music festival template based in Krakow, Poland, where dance, vocal, instrumental, theatre, fashion show, choir and orchestra disciplines are each split into authentic, processed and styled forms. Folklore festivals in many countries separate heritage-faithful performances from stage adaptations in a similar way, but the wording and the rules differ, so the organiser’s own notice decides what counts as authentic.

• Poland (the festival the template is built from)

Key facts

• Individual item on the template: one entrant is scored at a time
• Offered in seven divisions: Mini Kids (4-6), Kids (7-9), Children (10-13), Junior (14-17), Adults (18-49), Senior (50+) and Mixed Age
• Both genders together, scored out of 10 as Marks
• Language setting on the template is Polish
• No time limit is set on the template, so the organiser’s notice decides the length of a performance
• Sits beside Dance – Processed and Dance – Styled, which allow progressively more stage adaptation

On eTalenter, Dance – Authentic is filed under On Stage 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, Dance – Authentic is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10.

What judges look at in Dance – Authentic

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

• Fidelity to the tradition: steps, figures and formations danced as they belong to the home community, with nothing invented for effect
• Regional character: bearing, posture and the way the dance is carried, which separates one region’s version from another
• Costume and props: made and worn as in the tradition, where a modern fabric or a stage accessory shows at once
• Music and rhythm: staying with the traditional tune and tempo, and dancing in time with it rather than ahead of it
• Marks are lost to stage tricks such as added lifts, spins or new formations, which belong in the processed or styled class
• With a single score out of 10 and no printed sub-criteria, the panel’s overall judgement of authenticity decides, so a plain, accurate dance usually beats a flashy one

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Dance – Authentic under Scoring Setup, or start from our judging and score tabulation guide.

How to prepare for Dance – Authentic

How entrants and their teachers usually get Dance – Authentic right on the day:

• Read the organiser’s notice to see how it defines authentic, and ask whether a dance learned from a book or a teacher counts or only one from a community source
• Learn the dance from the tradition itself: a living dancer, a village group or a recording, and note the steps, figures and costume details
• Keep the choreography exactly as taught; resist adding anything just to look better on stage
• Rehearse with the real tune and tempo, and practise stopping and starting cleanly where the dance does
• Check costume and footwear against the tradition, down to sashes, ribbons and shoes
• Enter the right age division, since a Mini Kid and a Senior are ranked on separate lists
• If you lose, ask which details the panel read as modern and fix those first
• Ideas, not rules: a village wedding dance from your own region, a harvest dance with its original call-outs, or a dance passed down within one family

Frequently asked questions

Is Dance – Authentic 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 the difference between authentic, processed and styled?

Authentic keeps the dance as it is in its home tradition. Processed and styled allow more adaptation for the stage. The template does not print exact definitions, so the organiser’s notice decides where the lines fall.

Is Dance – Authentic judged individually or as a team?

On the template it is an individual item, scored one entrant at a time, though the organiser’s notice decides whether groups may enter.

How is it scored?

Out of 10 as Marks, with no printed sub-criteria. The source describes the award tiers from Diamond Grand Prix to a Debut Diploma.

Which age divisions can enter?

Mini Kids (4-6), Kids (7-9), Children (10-13), Junior (14-17), Adults (18-49), Senior (50+) and a Mixed Age division.

Want the full judging picture? Read our judging and score tabulation guide, or browse every on stage competition item.