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SADM Dance Competition — Nine Dance Styles, Six Formats and Six Age Divisions, Scored Out of 100

SADM Dance Competition: Southern Association of Dance Masters (SADM) dance competition guidelines: nine styles (ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, tap,...

e By Luke Justin October 30, 2026 5 min read

New here? Start with the basicsAge groups, competition categories and how to set up your event.

Cultural & Folk Festival · North America & Caribbean

Southern Association of Dance Masters (SADM) dance competition guidelines: nine styles (ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, tap, contemporary, musical theatre, acrobatics and modern) for solos, duets/trios, small and large groups, lines and grand lines, in six age divisions from Foundations (4 to 6) to Adult (19 and up), scored out of 100 on technique, stage presence, musicality and choreography with Platinum, High God, Gold and Silver bands.

A ready-made dance competition: nine styles from ballet to acrobatics, entered as solos, duets and trios, small and large groups, lines and grand lines, across six age divisions from 4 to 19 and over, with one printed 100-mark scoring table and Platinum, Gold and Silver bands.

This template models a multi-style dance competition from the United States, built from the organiser’s own printed guidelines. Nine styles are offered as competition items: Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Tap, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, Acrobatics and Modern. A dancer or a studio enters a style in a performance format, and each style is scored on its own page of results.

Entries are split by format and by age. The six formats are Solo, Duet/Trio, Small Group (4 to 9 dancers), Large Group (10 to 19), Line (20 or more) and Grand Line (25 or more), with a maximum running time on each: 2:30 for a solo or a duet/trio, 2:45 for a small group, 3:00 for a large group, 5:00 for a line and 7:00 for a grand line. There is a maximum only, with no minimum. The six age divisions are Foundations (4 to 6), Junior (7 to 9), Intermediate (10 to 12), Teen (13 to 15), Senior (16 to 18) and Adult (19 and up). Six formats in six divisions make 36 groups, and with nine styles that is 324 classes. Solo is an individual entry; every other format is a team entry, and the team formats are set to allow the same dancer to appear in more than one routine.

Every style is judged on the same printed table worth 100 marks: Technique 40, Stage Presence and Performance Quality 30, Musicality and Timing 20 and Choreography and Staging 10. The scores map to four bands: Platinum (92 to 100), High God as printed (84 to 91), Gold (76 to 83) and Silver (75 and below). The third band is almost certainly meant to read High Gold, but the template keeps the wording as printed; rename it in your own event if you prefer. The guidelines name the highest score in each age division as first place, and second and third places only when ten or more entries compete. No bonus points for places are printed, so none are installed.

The source does not say which formats run in which styles or divisions, so the template offers every style in every format and division as a starting point. Delete the classes you will not run before opening registration. Several rules are printed but are not scoring settings, so the template leaves them to your registration page: the limit on routines per studio or member, the way a group’s age is worked out from the dancers’ average age, point deductions for leaving the stage or filming, the tumbling rule that moves a routine with more than three acrobatic tricks to a separate category, and the special awards for costume and choreography. Dates, venue, entry fees and warning times are also not printed, so fees are installed as zero and warnings as none for you to set.

Where this event comes from

Scored dance competitions that award medal-style bands such as Platinum, Gold and Silver alongside a ranked first place are the standard format of studio-based dance circuits in the United States, where each style and age division is judged by a panel against a short written scale.

Where this event is run

Multi-style dance competitions with solo, small-group and large-group formats and age divisions are run by dance teachers’ associations, studios and touring competition circuits across the United States, and the same structure is found in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom under names such as dance festival, dance championship or dance showcase. The guidelines in this template come from a United States organiser, so the formats, age divisions and score bands apply to that circuit; elsewhere, organisers adapt the age brackets and time limits to their own rules.

United States

Key facts

Nine dance styles as competition items: Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Tap, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, Acrobatics and Modern
Six formats with maximum running times: Solo and Duet/Trio 2:30, Small Group 2:45, Large Group 3:00, Line 5:00 and Grand Line 7:00; no minimum time
Six age divisions: Foundations 4-6, Junior 7-9, Intermediate 10-12, Teen 13-15, Senior 16-18 and Adult 19 and up; 36 groups and 324 classes in all
One printed scoring table for every style, out of 100: Technique 40, Stage Presence and Performance Quality 30, Musicality and Timing 20, Choreography and Staging 10
Score bands Platinum 92-100, High God (as printed) 84-91, Gold 76-83 and Silver 75 and below; first place goes to the highest score in each age division
Solo is an individual entry and all other formats are team entries; routine limits, deductions and special awards are registration rules, not scoring settings

Age groups: 36
Competition items: 9
Competitions: 324
Grade bands: 4
Rank awards: 3

Age groups

Every candidate is placed into one of these groups by age, and competitions are run per group.

Solo Foundations

4From

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6To

Candidates aged 4 to 6 compete in this group

Duet/Trio Foundations

4From

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6To

Candidates aged 4 to 6 compete in this group

Small Group Foundations

4From

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6To

Candidates aged 4 to 6 compete in this group

Large Group Foundations

4From

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6To

Candidates aged 4 to 6 compete in this group

Line Foundations

4From

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6To

Candidates aged 4 to 6 compete in this group

Grand Line Foundations

4From

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6To

Candidates aged 4 to 6 compete in this group

Solo Junior

7From

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9To

Candidates aged 7 to 9 compete in this group

Duet/Trio Junior

7From

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9To

Candidates aged 7 to 9 compete in this group

Small Group Junior

7From

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9To

Candidates aged 7 to 9 compete in this group

Large Group Junior

7From

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9To

Candidates aged 7 to 9 compete in this group

Line Junior

7From

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9To

Candidates aged 7 to 9 compete in this group

Grand Line Junior

7From

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9To

Candidates aged 7 to 9 compete in this group

Solo Intermediate