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

A folk dance class for performers who arrange traditional material for the stage, keeping its spirit while reworking the choreography, scored out of 10 across seven age divisions.

Processed is the middle step in a three-way folklore split. A processed dance starts from a real traditional dance but is arranged for a stage: figures are tidied or repeated, the floor pattern is planned for an audience, and the music may be cut or reorchestrated. It should still be recognisable as the dance it came from.

On the template it is an individual item offered in every division from Mini Kids (4 to 6) through Kids (7 to 9), Children, Junior (14 to 17), Adults and Senior (50 and over), plus a Mixed Age division. Each entrant receives one score out of 10 from 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 entry at a time in the published order. The panel is judging an arrangement as well as a dance: how well the adaptation serves the tradition, how cleanly it is danced, and how it looks and sounds to a seated audience. Results are ranked within each division.

Organisers offer this class so that choreographers and teachers who rework folk material have a home between the strict authentic class, which forbids change, and the styled class, which allows the most freedom.

Where Dance – Processed is run

On eTalenter this item is used in one template, an international folklore dance and music festival template based in Krakow, Poland, where every discipline is offered in authentic, processed and styled forms. Folklore and heritage festivals elsewhere draw a similar line between preserved and staged material, but the labels and the rules vary, so the organiser’s own notice decides what counts as processed.

• Poland (the festival the template is built from)

Key facts

• Individual item on the template: one entry is scored at a time
• Seven divisions: Mini Kids (4-6), Kids (7-9), Children (10-13), Junior (14-17), Adults, 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 an entry
• Sits between Dance – Authentic (no adaptation) and Dance – Styled (most freedom)

On eTalenter, Dance – Processed 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 – Processed is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10.

What judges look at in Dance – Processed

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

• Recognisable source: the audience and panel should still see the original dance inside the arrangement, so a piece that has drifted too far loses marks here
• Quality of the arrangement: sensible use of the floor, clear entrances and exits, and repetition or variation that serves the dance rather than padding it
• Execution: steps danced cleanly and together with the music, because an adaptation does not excuse sloppy technique
• Costume and music: a stage version of the traditional dress and a tune that still belongs to the dance, with cuts and arrangement handled neatly
• Stage presence: projecting the dance to a seated audience, which is what separates processed from authentic
• With one score out of 10 and no printed sub-criteria, the panel’s overall impression of a faithful but well-staged piece decides the result

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

How to prepare for Dance – Processed

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

• Read the organiser’s notice for how far a processed dance may depart from the source, and ask whether recorded or live music is required
• Choose a traditional dance you can name and describe, then list exactly what you will keep and what you will change for the stage
• Plan the floor pattern on paper first, with entrances, formations and an ending that lands cleanly
• Keep the signature steps and rhythm of the original so the dance stays recognisable
• Rehearse in costume and in a space the size of the stage, and film a run to check spacing
• Enter the correct age division, since divisions are ranked separately
• After a loss, ask whether the panel found the adaptation too thin or too far from the source, and adjust that balance
• Ideas, not rules: a couple dance shortened to a single clear story, a circle dance reshaped into lines for the stage, or a work song turned into a short dance scene

Frequently asked questions

Is Dance – Processed 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.

How is processed different from authentic and styled?

Authentic keeps the dance as it is in its home tradition. Processed arranges it for the stage while staying recognisable. Styled allows the most freedom. The template does not print exact definitions, so the organiser’s notice decides.

Is Dance – Processed judged individually or as a team?

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

How is Dance – Processed scored?

Out of 10 as Marks, with no printed sub-criteria. The source describes 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, 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.