Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி) Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A Tamil Nadu solo dance item for any style outside the classical and folk solos, performed for up to five minutes and marked out of 100.

“Other dance styles” is the catch-all solo dance entry for a pupil whose dance does not belong in the classical (Bharatanatyam) or folk solo classes of the same festival. Think of it as the open door of the dance programme: a contemporary piece, a freestyle routine, a semi-classical or fusion item, or any other style the pupil has trained in, performed alone on the stage.

In the Tamil Nadu government and government-aided school arts festival, Other Dance Styles – Solo is an on-stage entry for boys and girls together, in two bands: classes 9 to 10 and classes 11 to 12. Each performer has up to five minutes and is marked out of 100. No warning bell is rung and no language applies, so the music can be in any language or purely instrumental.

The festival’s rules document prints no scoring table for this item, unlike the dance items that have one. eTalenter’s template therefore installs it with a total of 100 and no criteria rows, and the panel decides how to divide the marks. That is worth settling with your judges before the day, because a catch-all item can otherwise be marked very differently from one judge to the next.

Organisers run the item so that pupils trained in styles outside the traditional list still have a place on the stage. A strong entry has a clear idea, a style the pupil genuinely commands, music cut to the time limit and an ending that arrives before five minutes are up.

Where Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி) is run

In eTalenter’s data this item appears on one template: the Tamil Nadu government and government-aided school arts festival, where it is an on-stage solo item for classes 9 to 12. This page only asserts what the template data records about the competition.

• India – Tamil Nadu (government and government-aided school arts festival, classes 9-12)

Key facts

• Solo entry, boys and girls together, in two bands: classes 9-10 and classes 11-12.
• Open to any dance style outside the festival’s separate classical and folk solo items.
• Five minutes per performer with no warning bell; no language applies.
• Marked out of 100, but the source prints no criteria table, so no rows are installed and the panel sets its own split.
• A separate group item, Other Dance Styles Free Style for 4 to 9 dancers, covers team entries; this one is for a single dancer.
• Idea starters, not rules: a contemporary piece built on one theme, a fusion of a traditional step with a modern beat, or a story told in five short changes of pace.

On eTalenter, Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி) 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, Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி) is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 5 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி)

What a Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி) panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• No criteria are printed for this item, so the points below are general dance-judging practice and not quoted rules; ask your panel how the 100 marks will be split.
• Command of the chosen style: clean basic technique, balance and control in whatever style the pupil has picked, rather than a mix of steps with no base.
• Rhythm and timing: moving with the music, landing the beats and keeping pace through fast and slow sections.
• Expression and stage presence: facial expression, eye line and energy that hold the audience for the whole piece.
• Choreography and use of space: a planned shape to the piece with travelling, level changes and a clear start and finish, instead of staying on one spot.
• Time discipline: music and routine trimmed to five minutes with no bell to warn the dancer, so an over-long track costs marks.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி) under Scoring Setup, or start from our guide to judge scoring and tabulation software.

How to prepare for Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி)

How entrants and their teachers usually get Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி) right on the day:

• Pick a style you can perform with confidence; a simple piece done cleanly beats an ambitious one with visible mistakes.
• Cut the music to well under five minutes and time the routine with a stopwatch, ending near four and a half minutes because no warning bell is rung.
• Give the piece a shape: an opening image, one or two changes of pace and a definite final pose, so the panel sees a plan.
• Rehearse on a stage-sized floor, marking where you travel, so the routine does not shrink or run off the edge on the day.
• Practise the expression as seriously as the steps; record yourself and check that the face is still working in the final minute.
• Keep the costume and music file simple and tested: carry a spare copy of the track and check that the sound system plays it at the right speed.
• After a district-level loss, ask which part of the piece felt weakest to the panel, whether technique, timing or ideas, and rebuild that part first.

Frequently asked questions

Is Other Dance Styles – Solo (பிறவகை நடனம் – தனி) 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.

Which dance styles can I enter?

The item is described as other dance styles, meaning styles outside the festival’s separate classical and folk solos. Confirm with your festival whether a particular style, such as film or western dance, is accepted.

How long is the item?

Five minutes per performer in both class bands, with no warning bell. Other festivals set their own limits.

Is it judged on set criteria?

The source rules print no scoring table for this item, so the template carries only a total of 100. Ask your panel how the marks will be split.

Is this the same as the free style group item?

No. This is a solo entry; the free style group item is a team entry of 4 to 9 dancers with its own entries.

Can I use a recorded track?

The template does not say. Ask your festival whether a recorded track is accepted and in what format before the day.

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