A dance style category at a competition powwow, open to boys and men in the Junior, Teen and Adult age bands and scored individually against the other dancers in the same class.
Grass is one of the male dance styles listed in a competition powwow. On the template behind this page it is offered in three age bands for males only: Junior (7 to 12), Teen (13 to 17) and Adult (18 to 39). Each band is its own class, every entrant is an individual, and each carries a single registrar-issued number for the whole weekend.
The template is built from the published dance categories and rules of one competition powwow in the United States. In that source the style lists change as dancers get older: younger boys and men have Grass as a class of its own, while from the senior divisions upward the men’s lists merge Grass with Fancy and Chicken into one shared class. That merged class is a separate item on the template (Grass/Fancy/Chicken), so this item should be read as the Junior, Teen and Adult classes only.
Placings come from a point system, not from one judged round. The rules the template follows describe points accumulated across sessions from the Friday grand entry, with each contestant’s number recorded at every grand entry. Dancers register ahead of the event, enter one category only, cannot switch afterwards and dance in full regalia. Judges are chosen by the contest committee with the arena director and head judges, and any category with fewer than five dancers may be combined with another.
For an organiser using eTalenter the work is bookkeeping: keep the three Grass classes apart from the Fancy, Chicken and Straight classes beside them, issue numbers at registration, record attendance at each grand entry and total each dancer’s points across the weekend. This page explains how the category is organised. It does not describe the dance or the regalia, which belong to the communities that practise them.
Where Grass is run
On eTalenter this item appears in one template, the competition powwow template, where it is assigned to male dancers in three age bands. Competition powwows are held across the United States and Canada, usually over a weekend, and a Grass class is a regular part of their men’s and boys’ dance schedules. Each powwow publishes its own style names, age bands and merges, so read the organiser’s notice before assuming another powwow runs Grass in the same bands.
- United States (the competition powwow the template is built from)
- Canada and other competition powwows across North America, each with its own published rules
Key facts
- An Individual item: each dancer is one contestant with one registrar-issued number
- Three template classes, all male: Junior (7 to 12), Teen (13 to 17) and Adult (18 to 39)
- The merged senior class Grass/Fancy/Chicken is a separate item on the template
- Points accumulate across sessions from the Friday grand entry; there is no single judged round
- One category per dancer, no switching after registration, full regalia required, and a class with fewer than five dancers may be combined
- The template scores out of 100 marks as a working scale and sets no time limit; the source prints neither
On eTalenter, Grass 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, Grass is most often entered as an Individual competition, commonly run for Male, typically scored out of 100.
What judges look at in Grass
What a Grass panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- The published rules name no scoring sheet for Grass, so committees agree their own yardsticks before the first session; the points below are organiser guidance, not rules from the source
- Staying with the drum: whether the dancer keeps the beat through the whole song, follows the singers’ changes of pace and ends exactly on the final beat
- Stamina across the weekend: points are added up over several sessions, so a dancer whose energy and care hold in the last session as in the first generally out-scores one who fades
- Staying inside the style: committees usually expect a Grass dancer to keep to the movements of that style rather than borrowing from a neighbouring class such as Fancy or Chicken
- Regalia kept secure and in good order for every song, so judges watch the dancing rather than a loose piece
- Conduct in the arena: attention to the announcer and head judges, keeping to the dancing area and courtesy to the other dancers on the floor
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Grass under Scoring Setup, or start from judge scoring and tabulation software.
How to prepare for Grass
How entrants and their teachers usually get Grass right on the day:
- Check the age band against the dancer’s age on the day of registration, because the rules allow one category only and no switching afterwards
- Register online before the closing date; onsite registration shuts at a fixed time on Saturday, so a late arrival can miss the opening of the points race
- Practise to songs the dancer has never heard, so landing on the last beat becomes a habit rather than something memorised
- Train for the whole weekend, not a single song: rehearse several sessions back to back and plan water, food and rest between grand entries
- Inspect the regalia a week early, secure anything that could loosen and pack a small repair kit so a fault never costs a grand entry
- Confirm with the registrar that the dancer’s number is recorded at every grand entry; points are totalled from those records, so a missed entry is a lost score
- Boys moving from Teen to Adult should look up the new class in the organiser’s notice early, since the band changes at 18 and the style list can differ
Ready-made event templates that include Grass
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powwow Dance & Drum Competition (Denver March Powwow) | On Stage | Marks | 3 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Grass judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, commonly for Male, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
Which dancers can enter Grass on this template?
Male dancers in three age bands: Junior (7 to 12), Teen (13 to 17) and Adult (18 to 39). Older men dance in the separate merged Grass/Fancy/Chicken item.
Is Grass the same as the Grass/Fancy/Chicken item?
No. In the source the senior men’s divisions merge three styles into one class, which the template keeps as its own item. This item covers only the younger and adult classes where Grass stands alone.
Is Grass judged individually or as a team?
Individually. Each dancer holds one registrar-issued number and earns points of their own, even though many contestants share the arena.
Is there a time limit for Grass?
The source behind the template prints no time limit, so the template sets none and uses a working scale of 100 marks. An organiser who needs a limit should set it in their own event and publish it with the rules.
Can a dancer enter Grass and another style at the same powwow?
No. The rules the template follows allow one category only and do not let a dancer switch once registered.
Want the full judging picture? Read judge scoring and tabulation software, or browse every on stage competition item.
Try Grass in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Grass, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.