Awards

CATEGORY AWARDS

Trophies and Award Pins will be awarded to the FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD PLACE finalist in each age division of each dance category. In addition, all dancers will compete against an adjudicated scoring system. Each judge is allocated 100 points. *NEW*Titanium, Platinum, Gold, and Silver Award Pins will be awarded based on the combined scores from three judges as follows: Titanium – 293-300, Elite Platinum — 289-292.9 points, Platinum — 285-288.9 points, Elite Gold — 279-284.9 points, Gold — 270-278.9 points, Elite Silver — 269.9 points or lower. Every contestant will receive an award pin based on their adjudication placement.

REGIONAL OVERALL AWARDS & SPECIAL SHOWCASE AWARDS

Overall Awards and Trophies will be given to entrants receiving the highest scores in their applicable Level as outlined below for the Mini, Petite, Junior, Teen, and Senior Age Divisions. Only trophies will be given to entrants receiving the highest scores in the Adult Age Division. In each of these Age Divisions, a minimum of five (5) entries must be entered in the Solo, Duet/Trio, Small Group, or Large Group in order for trophies, cash prizes or gift certificates to be awarded. In order to make as many routines eligible for Overalls as possible, we reserve the right to combine Age Divisions and/or Levels as required to insure there are enough routines to qualify for Overalls. When Performance Levels are combined, awards will be given based on the highest Level combined. The Line Division will be divided into Junior (11 & under) and Senior (12 & over) Age Divisions with a minimum of five (5) entries in order for cash prizes to be awarded. If there are 5 or more entries for the Line Division, the Line Division will be further divided into Line (less than 5 minutes) and Production (5-8 minutes) and Cash Prizes / Gift Certificates and Trophies will be awarded to each of these divisions. In order to avoid combining Performance Levels for less than 5 entries, we reserve the right to combine Small Groups/Large Groups/Lines in order to have 5 entries at the same Performance Level. If at all possible, we will attempt not to include Productions with Large Groups. In this case, awards will be given based on the largest division. Our decision when there are less than 5 entries for a division/performance level will be made based on what we believe is best for all dancers involved and to allow as many as possible to be eligible to compete for Overalls. All cash prizes and certificates will be awarded to the studio director.

NATIONAL OVERALL AWARDS & SPECIAL SHOWCASE AWARDS

Overall Awards and Trophies will be given to entrants receiving the highest scores in their applicable Level as outlined below for the Mini, Petite, Junior, Teen, and Senior Age Divisions. Only trophies will be given to entrants receiving the highest scores in the Adult Age Division. In each of these Age Divisions, a minimum of five (5) entries must be entered in the Solo, Duet/Trio, Small Group, Large Group, or Line in order for trophies, cash prizes or gift certificates to be awarded. In order to make as many routines eligible for the Grand Showcase Finals, we reserve the right to combine Age Divisions and/or Levels as required to insure there are enough routines to qualify for the Grand Showcase Finals as applicable. If there are 5 or more entries for the Line Division, the Line Division will be further divided into Line (less than 5 minutes) and Production (5-8 minutes) and Cash Prizes and Trophies awarded to each of these divisions. In order to avoid combining Performance Levels for less than 5 entries, we reserve the right to combine Small Groups/Large Groups/Lines in order to have 5 entries at the same Performance Level. If at all possible, we will attempt not to include Productions with Large Groups. In this case, awards will be given based on the largest division. Our decision when there are less than 5 entries for a division/performance level will be made based on what we believe is best for all dancers involved and to allow as many as possible to be eligible to compete for overalls and Grand Showcase. If a studio has a group of dancers that performed as a Line at a regional competition and no longer has enough dancers to qualify as a Line at Nationals, then that group will be changed to a Large Group even if the time exceeds the 4 minute time limit set for Large Groups. In addition, if a Line that performed as a Production at a regional competition does not have enough dancers to qualify as a Line at Nationals, then it will be changed to a Large Group and the category will be moved to the Open category. All cash prizes and certificates will be awarded to the studio director.

GRAND SHOWCASE FINAL RULES & AWARDS

The Petite, Junior, Teen, and Senior age groups of all levels will have the opportunity to compete in the The Grand Showcase Finals.  (Minis and Adults are not eligible).  The Grand Showcase Finals competition for solos and duet/trios will take place after all solos and duet/trios have been completed for the National Finals competition. The Grand Showcase Finals competition for small groups, large groups, and lines will take place on the last day of competition (Sunday, June 27).

The Grand Showcase Finals will consist of the Top 3 or Top 5 routine scores that competed in our National Finals during the previous week. The finals will be competed for all age groups and all levels or combination of age groups that have at least 10 routines in the National Finals competition. For example, if there are at least 10 routines for Junior Small Group Diamond, then the Top 3 group scores and any ties will compete at the Grand Showcase Finals. If there were at least 15 routines, then the Top 5 group scores and any ties will compete at the Grand Showcase Finals. The Top 3/5 scores are determined based on the actual score and not the placement, i.e. if the overall scores were 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and a two-way tie for 4th place, then 5th place would not be included in the Grand Showcase Finals because the top 5 scores would have been above the 5th place overall score due to ties.

We also have the discretion to add additional dances to the finals based on the number of entries, i.e. if there are 50 Junior Diamond Solos, we may take more than just 5 entries to the finals.  There must be at least 10 Large Groups and at least 10 Lines in order for them to compete separately for a given Age Division/Level. If there are not 10 Large Groups and 10 Lines, then these scores will be combined in order to create a Large Group/Line combined competition. If there are not 10 Large Group/Lines, then they will be combined with the Small Groups. After the Small Groups/Large Groups/Lines have been combined, there must be at least 10 routines for this Age Division/Level to be selected for the Grand Showcase Finals. If necessary, we reserve the right to combine Age Divisions to reach the 10 routine minimum.

Productions are not (see paragraph below for Productions) included with Lines for determining the top scores for the Grand Showcase Finals. When groups are combined, awards will be given based on the highest group combined. When Small Groups, Large Groups, or Lines are combined, due to not having 10 entries in that division, then in addition to the Top 3/5 scores, the National Overall winner for each division will also advance to the Grand Showcase Finals. An example of this would be when there are 7 Large Groups and 3 Lines and the Top 3 scores were all from the Lines, then the National Overall winner from Large Groups would also advance in addition to the Top 3 scores. If one of those Top 3 scores and the National Overall winner are the same studio and has some of the same dancers, then only the group with the highest score will advance from that studio. In this case, the next highest scoring Large Group would advance to the Grand Showcase Finals.

All Productions will automatically compete at the Grand Showcase Finals. All levels will be combined for the Production Grand Showcase Finals. Separate awards will be done for this group (see awards below). Dance Showcase USA has the discretion to separate these Productions based on Age Divisions/Levels if necessary.

For Solos, a studio can have all dancers that qualify from that studio selected to participate in the Grand Showcase Finals, i.e. the studio can have more than one dancer qualify.

For Duet/Trios, Small Groups, Large Groups, & Lines, a studio can only have more than one routine in a particular age division/level selected if the second routine is comprised of completely different dancers. Otherwise, only the highest scoring group from a studio will be selected in each age division/level. If a studio ties itself for the Grand Showcase Finals competition, then the tie will be broken by the judges.

For Duet/Trios, Small Groups, Large Groups, & Lines, a studio cannot have more than two routines qualify for an Age Division/Level.

Performance order is determined by random order.

There will not be any scores or judge’s critiques for the Grand Showcase Finals. After the Top 3/5 numbers have been performed, the judges will confer to determine the placement of the dances for that Age Division/Level. The routines that will compete at the Grand Showcase Finals will be announced when the National Finals Overall awards are presented.