Competition Rules

General Rules

All children aged 16 years and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who will take full responsibility for their safety and well being whilst at the competition venue.

Dancers and parents should be aware that they should sit in their designated seating area and that they should not block the views of other schools

We advise that all dancers dress appropriately. Suitable footwear must be worn. Costume/ hair and makeup should be appropriate to the age of the dancer.

Competitors take part at their own risk. All dancers must be suitably fit and well for taking part in the competition. Should anyone have any medical concerns, please check with GP/ health professional prior to taking part.

The organisers decision is final in all matters and any queries in relation to the event must be made by the dance school teacher.

Filming/Photography

Parents/guardians may take photos and video their own child throughout the event. If anyone has any objections to this, please advise us on arrival at the competition and we will enforce a no film/ photograph policy for the events concerned. For team events, it is permitted for one representative from each dance school to video the team when they are performing. It is the responsibility of the individual dance school to seek consent from their team members for recording them. By consenting to entry there is an acceptance that the event organiser might take photographs and short films for use on the On the Beat website, social media account and other promotional material. Should this be a problem for any individual, please speak to your dance teacher who can request that these images are not taken or shared.

Solo Events

(Set Routine solos & Freestyle Street Dance solos)

At our competitions, we offer 2 types of solos- ‘Set Routine solos’ and ‘freestyle Street Dance solos’.

Dancers may enter ONE Set Routine solo category plus ONE freestyle Street Dance solo category so 2 solos in total on the competition day. (except at smaller events where they may have option of entering 2 set routines, the programme will state if this is the case).

It is the dance teacher’s responsibility to ensure that their competitors are in the correct age category and level.

Our events require solo entry in advance. This is done through the teacher only. Details of this will be sent in the information pack the teacher receives with their tickets.

On the Beat reserve the right to combine or split any age sections from what they have originally advertised in the programme.

Our qualified scrutineer will use the ‘skating system’ to analyse the adjudicators marks. Six dancers will be selected from preliminary rounds into a final round. All finalists will be presented with a trophy at our prize presentation. Occasionally you may see 5, 7 or 8 dancers in a final. This is sometimes the outcome when using this form of marks analysis.

Set Routine Solos

In the set routine solo category, dancers can select from a range of set routines. Each routine varies in difficulty enabling dancers to compete within their ability range at our events. There’s something suitable for all levels from complete beginners right up to elite competitive dancers. These pre- choreographed routines which are available to the teachers from 3-4months before the competition. These are sent out by email upon order of wristbands. Please see the programme for the age categories.

Dancers should enter the dance level most suited to their ability and teachers should encourage progression through the levels. Intermediate & advanced dancers are not permitted to to enter set routine 1. Intermediate & advanced dancers should avoid doing set routine level 2 where possible so that we mainly have beginner level & younger dancers entering set routines at this level. Set routines 3 & over are ideal for intermediate/ advanced level dancers.

It is understood that there might be a slight difference in interpretation of routines but please try to match them as closely as possible to how your teacher shows them. 

Freestyle Street Dance Solos

In the freestyle hiphop solo category, dancers may enter one of 5 levels- class members, beginners, intermediate, advanced and additional support needs. Please see more details below on each level.

Street Dance solos is a ‘freestyle’ dance. Dancers must stay in their own space. Any track of a suitable speed for the level & age of dancer will be played. Dancers are encouraged to listen to the music and try to freestyle to the song that is played. We understand that dancers who are younger or less experienced may use choreography learnt during classes/ lessons but ultimately, they should work towards ‘freestyling’ on the spot. Moving around the room is not permitted.

Breaking footwork such as 6 step/coffee grinder is permitted at any level however please see details below on tricks/ freezes/ acrobatics in each section. Judges are made aware of these rules at the start of each competition and advised not to mark dancers not following our guidelines on this. 

Class member solos

Anyone who has not entered the freestyle category at any Street Dance competition before. No acrobatics/flips/freezes/worm permitted in any round.

Beginner solos

Anyone who has not won a beginner solo event. Dancers who have made it through to finals on 3 or more occasions with more than 12 dancers entered, should consider moving up to intermediate even if they haven’t won the beginners section. No acrobatics/flips/freezes/worm permitted in any round.

Intermediate solos

Anyone who has moved out of Beginner grade and has not won this section on more than 3 occasions. Dancers may enter this section straight away without winning a beginner section however they may only move back into the beginners section once they have moved up into a higher age section. Acrobatics/flips/freezes/worm permitted in the final only however should be done with care and only when dancers are in full control of what they’re doing. Please be aware of the safety of other dancers when these are being performed.

Advanced solos

For dancers who have won intermediate category 3 times with more than 5 dancers entered each time. Once a competitor has reached this grade, they may only move down a grade if they move up an age group. Acrobatics/flips/freezes/worm permitted in any round however should be done with care and only when dancers are in full control of what they’re doing. Please be aware of the safety of other dancers when these are being performed.

Dance ons will be done (time permitting) for all Advanced finalists. The time limit will be 12 bars (1 bar = 4 counts).

Elite All- Stars – (subject to event)

The winner of each advanced solo age section on the day will be asked to take part in this section. Each winner can perform a 1 minute piece to a song of their choice brought with them on the day. (This may be cut or edited) and must be no longer than 1 minute in length. If no music is provided, the DJ will select a track (as in normal solos). The judges will watch the 5 winners and place them 1st to 5th as a final.

Additional Support Needs

The Additional Support Needs section is offered to those with a mental health, physical or learning disability. To be eligible to compete in this section, dancers must be in receipt of an EHCP (Educational Health & Care Plan) and/or attend a SEN school.

At all our major events there is a category for this is our freestyle hiphop solo section. At our smaller events there is also a category for this in a couple of our set routines too. Please see specific programmes of each event to see more information.

General Team Rules

Dancers may only take part in one team event.

Teams must have a minimum of 5 members and a maximum of 30 members to compete. If teams end up with absent members at the time of their performance, we will allow them to still compete and receive their award however they will automatically be placed last in that section if there are less than 5 dancers. 

All choreography and music must be appropriate for the age of the team and the audience. It is the teachers’ responsibility to ensure that team music doesn’t contain swearing or inappropriate language. Moves should be age appropriate and there should be no inappropriate gestures in choreography. Failure to do so could result in the team being penalised. 

Teachers are asked not to stand infront of teams when they are dancing unless they are of that age that require guidance.

If there is only one team entered in a category, we reserve the right to combine certain categories (i.e. Beginner/Intermediate or Intermediate/Advanced). We may also give the teacher of that team the option of moving their team up an age level or up a grade level so they aren’t competing on their own on the day.

Team routine lengths must be no more than:

• Beginners –     2 minutes
• Intermediate – 2 ½ minutes
• Advanced –     3 minutes

Team entry categories are based on the age the dancers in the team are on the day of the event.

75% of the competing team must be within the age division they are competing in. 25% of the team would be allowed to be older. Teams are permitted to use dancers younger than the age division.

EXAMPLE

12 dancers in an under 14 team

9 must be 13 or under

3 could be 14 / 15 / 16 / 17

Team Entries

The level that teams enter is the decision of the teacher/ dance school. Please enter teams in an appropriate level; below are some guidelines:

If a team is made up of dancers who enter beginners for solos/ inexperienced dancers, then the beginner team section is usually appropriate. A team made up of more experienced/ advanced dancers then intermediate/ advanced is usually appropriate for them to enter.

Any beginners team that wins against a few teams in a competition, should then move up to intermediate at a following event. Teams dancing in intermediate should win this category 3 or more times against a few teams before moving to advanced.

Team entries must be submitted 10 days prior to the competition. This is done by the teacher and must include 2 things for an entry

-Team music emailed in advance to our DJ (music@hiphopuk.co.uk). Please include team name, age category/grade and teacher/ school name.

-Team entries which include the names and ages that each member of the team will be on the day of the competition. This is to ensure that every team is entered in the correct section and abiding to the 75 % rule so that the team sections are as fair as possible. These must be filled in by teachers on our spreadsheet template which we will email you before each event to fill in.

Cases of illness/ absense affecting entry on day of event

In the event of a dancer being absent on the day which then has an affect on the age section the team have entered, the team should then move to the appropriate age section before any of the teams commence. Teams dancing in the wrong age section on the day may result in disqualification or being placed last in their section. We therefore recommend that the teacher makes sure the team have entered a section that allows them to still stay in the 75% mark to allow for illness/ absentees on the day. Again this is the decision and the responsibility of the teacher to ensure the team have been entered correctly.

Team marking criteria & feedback

All teams will receive feedback passed directly to the team teacher within a week of the event. This will include written feedback and also ratings in specific areas we feel are important. Please see the link below for detailed information on how teams are placed at our events and the feedback given. 

Duos

There should be 2 dancers that make up a duo.

Dancers may enter ONE duo category (plus parent/ child subject to schedule)

Duos dance to the highest freestyle solo grade and highest age of the partnership. E.g. a solo U/12 Intermediate and a solo U/14 Beginner would dance in U/14 Intermediate Duo. We do however allow a middle ground (for level only, not age) in cases where there is an advanced dancer and a beginner/ class member in a duo partnership, we would allow them to enter the intermediate category.

If neither of the dancers in the duo have a solo status, they should enter based on the guidelines below.

Beginner duos

Anyone duo partnership who have not won a duo beginner event. Duo partnerships who have made it through to finals on 3 or more occasions with more than 12 couples entered, should consider moving up to intermediate even if they haven’t won the beginners section. No acrobatics/flips/freezes/worm permitted in any round.

Intermediate duos

Any duo partnership who have moved out of Beginner grade and have not won this section on more than 3 occasions. Duo partnerships may enter this section straight away without winning a beginner section however they may only move back into the beginners section once they have moved up into a higher age section. Acrobatics/flips/freezes/worm permitted in the final only however should be done with care and only when dancers are in full control of what they’re doing. Please be aware of the safety of other dancers when these are being performed

Advanced duos

For duos partnerships who have won intermediate 3 times. Once a duo has reached this grade, they may only move down a grade if they move up an age group. Acrobatics/flips/freezes/worm permitted in any round however should be done with care and only when dancers are in full control of what they’re doing. Please be aware of the safety of other dancers when these are being performed

Dance ons will be done (time permitting) for all Advanced finalists. The time limit will be 12 Bars. 1 bar = 4 counts).

It is the dance teacher’s responsibility to ensure that their competitors are in the correct age category and level.

Breaking footwork such as 6 step, coffee grinder is permitted at any level however please see details below on tricks/ freezes/ acrobatics in each section. Judges are made aware of these rules at the start of each competition and it is then their choice whether they choose to mark any dancer that ignores these guidelines.

Other Event Guidelines (Subject to Schedule)

Quads & Trios

Dancers may enter one quad category. At some events, we may also have a trio category. There must be 4 dancers to make up a quad and 3 dancers to make up a trio. Quads must enter based on the oldest dancer in their quad (not 75%). Please see the event programme for quad/trio age categories and set music. Tricks/ freezes are permitted in any round however please take extreme care and consider the safety of of other dancers on the floor.

Tops of beginner solo/ tops of intermediate solo

Winners of all beginner sections compete for ‘tops of beginner’ title. Winners of all intermediate sections compete for ‘tops of intermediate’ title. Both events will be run as a normal Street Dance ‘freestyle’ solo final with the judges immediately awarding the winner on the spot once the music has stopped playing based on a joint decision made whilst the dancers perform their solo.

Tops of set routine solo

All winners of each dance compete again for ‘top of dance 1/2/3/4/5 title’. Each ‘top of’ will be danced as a final with the judges immediately awarding the winner on the spot once the music has stopped playing based on a joint decision made whilst the dancers perform their routine.

Fun Duos- Little & large/ Parent & child/ mixed dance school duo

These are all fun events.

There is no guidelines on freezes/ tricks for all of them however please take extreme care with anything you are doing near other competitors and also for the safety of your own partnership.

Parent & child duo event should be one dancer and one adult. The ‘parent’ can not be a teacher (including a teacher who is a parent of a competitor) or a competitive dancer. The parent does not have to be the parent of the child they are dancing with. Sometimes we will split parent & child event into age categories based on the child dancing (this will be shown on the event programme)

Little and large is a duo event suitable for 2 dancers with a minimum age difference of 4 years (and ideally a height difference). There is no age category for little & large (all combined).

Mixed dance School Duo is run as a typical duo event. Dancers may pair up with a dancer from another school- this must be a different dance school completely (not a sister school in a different area etc)

The aim of this event is for dancers to make new friends through competitions and should be seen as a fun event. It should be put together at the competition and not before. 

House Battle

This initially runs in the same way as a normal solo event until the judges have selected some finalists to battle. Dancers should use house figures in all parts of this event- house music will be played throughout. In the battle part of the event, competitors are each given a few bars of music 2-3 times with the judges immediately awarding the winner from each battle round until they have found the overall winner of the battle.

Teachers Dancing at Events

We love teachers to get involved at our events however we want to ensure they are entered in an appropriate section for their teacher status to ensure our competitions are as fair as possible but still allowing teachers an opportunity to dance if they want to.

Please find below all the rules surrounding teachers entering the various sections on offer at our competitions. The guidelines  highlight the sections that are available to teachers at our main events aimed at beginner- advanced level dancers. At the bottom, please see the guidelines that apply to our smaller events (beginner- intermediate level & solo/ duo only events)

Please remember as our wristband policy states, that any teacher wishing to take part in any event under the below guidelines must be wearing a competitor’s wristband & not a teacher wristband.

What is classed as a teacher?

We consider a teacher to be anyone who holds a qualification to teach dance or anyone who is actively taking lessons or classes without supervision. We are aware some of the teachers attending our events may also have children of their own dancing at our events however they must still follow the below rules under a teacher status and not a parent status.

Student teachers/ class helpers

We are aware there might be situations where you have class assistants/ student teachers in your school that perhaps help out with younger teams or similar and are still dancing themselves at our events. This can be a grey area especially when you may have students that are transitioning from dancers themselves into a teacher role at your school. We ask that once anyone in this position starts to actively teach classes or lessons for your studio and they’re doing the ‘teaching’ or involved in any part of choreography for your dancers, they should then at this point follow the above guidelines as a teacher. We are trusting dance school owners to make a fair judgment on this and ask if unsure. 

Can teachers enter in a team?

Teachers are not permitted to dance in any beginner team event or parent event. If a teacher wishes to dance in a team, that team must be entered in either the intermediate or advanced level category. Whilst we understand there may be different levels and ages of teachers that might want to enter, we ask that teachers make a fair decision in relation to whether they enter intermediate or advanced. Teams that have highly experienced teachers in, should be in the advanced category.

Can teachers enter in a duo?

Teachers are permitted to enter duos however they are only allowed to enter the advanced level and not the beginner or intermediate level category. Teachers can not enter any parent duo.

Can teachers enter in a set routine solo?

Teachers are permitted to enter our set routines however they are only permitted to enter levels 5 or 6 at the main events (see below for other events). Teachers can not enter parents set routines.

Can teachers enter in freestyle solo?

Teachers wishing to dance Freestyle hiphop solos in this section must enter the advanced category only. 

Can teachers enter in Quads/ Trios?

Because quads & trios are open level and don’t offer a specific advanced level, teachers are not permitted to enter any quad or trio category.

Can teachers enter in the House battle?

Because house battle is an open level again; teachers are not allowed to enter this category.

Can teachers enter in any Fun Duos?

Teachers are not permitted to enter any fun duo event under any circumstances. This is due to there being no levels in these events. Fun duos includes parent & child, mixed dance school duo, little & large.

Can teachers dance at Beginner – Intermediate events & solo/ duo only events?

We would prefer that teachers do not enter any category held at these events as they are aimed mainly at dancers that are less experienced and they aren’t designed to showcase teachers abilities. However they are permitted to enter only the highest level set routine & solo in the case where they really feel they should or want to. They are not permitted to enter anything else at these events including the team & duos events.