Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A staged group performance of the lively Jamaican wake dance with its knock-knee dabbing step, corkscrew torso action, benta music and mento-style call-and-response songs; recorded on the template as a four-minute team entry scored out of 100.

Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini is the seventy-second entry on the Jamaican national performing arts festival template and the fifth of the seventeen items in its Traditional Folk Forms discipline. The festival handbook lists it as Dinki Mini, category 10 of the folk forms syllabus. A school or community group stages a living Jamaican custom on the competition stage, and the panel rewards how faithfully the piece keeps the character of the form rather than how modern the choreography looks.

The handbook describes the Dinki Mini as a dance performed on the second to eighth night of the traditional nine night observances after a death. It is very lively and celebratory, and it is geared to cheering the bereaved. Its main feature is the knock-knee position held during a backward and forward dabbing step, together with a corkscrew action of the torso that is mainly performed by the women. It is considered a couple dance and takes the form of a ring game, using circles and semi-circles.

The music is part of the entry, not a backdrop. The handbook names the benta, an instrument made from a bamboo pole with a gourd (calabash) played across the strings. Two players sit at either end of the pole, which is raised between two bricks: one beats out the rhythm with catta sticks while the other moves the gourd back and forth across the strings to produce a distinctive sound and melody. The singing is generally of the mento type, and the songs are mainly call and response and can be topical at times.

The entry rules are precise. Live musical accompaniment is required for these folk forms, so a recorded track is not an option. A group aged 19 and under fields 12 to 16 dancers, not counting the drummers and singers, who together may not exceed six; adult community groups may field 8 to 16 dancers. Each entry has a four-minute limit. The folk forms rules ask for a strong element of the form, staged without losing authenticity, with no sacrifice of animals and no rum used as a libation. A group may enter only one entry in a category and only four categories in all.

The handbook’s category table shows Dinki Mini for Classes 2 to 7 and does not list Class 1, although its general rules bar Classes 1 and 2 only from Burru, Kumina, Medley, Ni Nite/Wake and Revival; the template assigns the item to all seven classes, so an organiser should decide whether to offer it to Class 1. On the day the group is marked on the shared table used for the folk forms other than quadrille, maypole and ring games, which has eight headings and totals 100 at auditions and parish level and 50 at the national finals. Organisers run it because it lets a community show the joyful side of its funeral customs and tests singing and rhythm as well as dancing.

Where Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini comes from

The handbook describes the Dinki Mini as a dance performed during the traditional nine night observances after a death. The source for this template gives no dates or founding history, so none is claimed here.

Where Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini is run

On eTalenter this item is used in one template, the Jamaican national performing arts festival template, where it is the fifth Traditional Folk Forms category and is assigned to every class from Class 1 to Class 6 (adults aged 20 and over) plus the combined Class 7, which is open to community groups only. The festival runs in parishes, and only the top gold-medal group per class and category in a parish moves on to the national finals. This page covers the staged competition version defined by that handbook; the Dinki Mini itself is a community custom of the nine night, and a staged entry is a presentation of the form, not the custom.

• Jamaica (the national performing arts festival the template is built from)

Key facts

• Team entry, both genders together, in English; assigned on the template to Classes 1 to 6 and the combined Class 7
• The template records a four-minute window with the warning bell at three minutes, scored out of 100. The handbook’s category table gives three minutes for Classes 2 and 3 and four minutes for Classes 4 to 7, while its explanatory note says four minutes for each entry, so an organiser should confirm the limit with entrants
• 12 to 16 dancers for groups aged 19 and under, not counting drummers and singers, who may total no more than six; live music only
• Defining features: knock-knee stance, backward and forward dabbing step, corkscrew torso action mainly by the women, ring game circles and semi-circles, mento-style call and response songs
• Instrument: the benta, a bamboo pole with a gourd played across the strings and catta sticks beating the rhythm
• Ideas, not rules, for a staged piece: open with a call-and-response mento song while dancers form the circle; give one section to the dabbing step in pairs and another to the corkscrew action; end by opening the circle into a semi-circle. Check the choice against the rules and the organiser before rehearsing it

On eTalenter, Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini 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, Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 4 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini

What a Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• The handbook marks Dinki Mini on its shared table for the folk forms, with eight headings worth 100 at auditions and parish level and 50 at the national finals. The points below follow that table and are a summary, not a quotation of the rule
• Authenticity, 20 at auditions and parish level and 8 of 50 at the national finals. The panel asks whether this is recognisably a Dinki Mini and not a general party dance. Marks go to the knock-knee dabbing step and the corkscrew torso action; they are lost when the group performs a modern routine under the name
• Traditional content, 20, 20 and 8 of 50. This covers whether the songs, the benta and catta rhythm and the movement vocabulary come from the tradition. A made-up chant with no mento character loses marks even if it is neatly sung
• Relevance of form, theme and mood, 15, 15 and 7 of 50. The mood is lively celebration meant to cheer the bereaved, so a solemn piece misses the point, and so does one so frantic that the dabbing step is lost
• Role playing, 10, 10 and 5 of 50. Dancers should keep the couple relationship the form implies and move in circles and semi-circles, not in straight parallel lines
• Movements and steps (10, 10, 6 of 50) and musicianship, rhythm and tempo (10, 10, 6 of 50): a steady dab on the beat, the corkscrew kept controlled, and singers and benta players who stay together and drive the dancers
• Costuming (5, 5, 5 of 50) and stage presence (10, 10, 5 of 50): ordinary-looking community dress, a confident entrance and exit, and a finish inside the time limit. The handbook applies strict attention to time limits from the parish finals

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini under Scoring Setup, or start from the full folk dance judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini

How entrants and their teachers usually get Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini right on the day:

• Begin with the rules: confirm the class, the 12 to 16 dancer count, the six-person limit for musicians and singers, the time limit and the live-music requirement, then plan the piece inside them
• Teach the knock-knee dabbing step slowly, forward and back, before adding speed. The most common fault is losing the knock-knee shape as the tempo rises
• Practise the corkscrew torso action on its own with the women until it is smooth and controlled, then add it to the step
• Find players for the benta and catta sticks early, because the sound is specific to the form, and rehearse with them from the first week rather than the last
• Choose mento-style songs with a clear call and response and make the lead singer’s lines the cue for changes of formation between circle and semi-circle
• Keep costumes close to ordinary community dress and suitable for the age of the performers, and for younger classes pick a short, clear sequence the group can repeat accurately
• Time the piece at full speed with entrance and exit included, then trim it. A clear ending inside the limit scores better than a longer piece that is cut off
• After the result, ask for the adjudicator comments and find which heading lost marks. If mood was low, rehearse the lift from the opening song into full celebration; if authenticity was low, go back to a community teacher

Frequently asked questions

Is Traditional Folk Forms – Dinki-Mini judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What is the Dinki Mini in a folk forms competition?

The festival handbook describes it as a lively, celebratory dance performed on the second to eighth night of the nine night after a death, to cheer the bereaved, with a knock-knee dabbing step and a corkscrew torso action. In competition a group stages it as a short presentation.

What instrument is used for Dinki Mini?

The handbook names the benta, a bamboo pole raised between two bricks with a gourd played across the strings, while a second player beats the rhythm with catta sticks. Live accompaniment is required.

Which classes can enter Dinki Mini?

The handbook’s category table lists Classes 2 to 7, while the template assigns Classes 1 to 6 and the combined Class 7, which is open to community groups only. Organisers should confirm whether Class 1 is offered.

How long is a Dinki Mini entry?

The template gives four minutes with a warning at three minutes. The handbook’s table gives three minutes for Classes 2 and 3 and four minutes for Classes 4 to 7, while its note says four minutes for each entry, so confirm the limit before entry.

Is Dinki Mini the same as Gerreh or Zella?

No. They are separate categories. The Dinki Mini is distinguished by the knock-knee dabbing step, the corkscrew torso action and the benta, and is described as a couple dance in the form of a ring game.

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