Everything you need to know about our Dance Festivals
DANCE SEASON 2025
Here are our planned Dance Festivals for 2025 – complete the form to register your interest in any of our 2025 events and we’ll be in touch with more information.
2025 Dance Festivals:
- Sherwood Park, AB – Mar 6-9, 2025
- Grande Prairie, AB – Mar 27-30, 2025
- Calgary, AB – April 3-6, 2025
- Morinville, AB – April 24-27, 2025
- Lethbridge, AB – April 30-May 4, 2025
- Calgary, AB – May 1-4, 2025
What you can expect from our events.
- A fun, encouraging experience for dancers. Beneficial feedback for ALL levels and ages.
- Awards based on marks AND awards based on performance value, heart and love of dance!
- Clear contingency plans and refund policies.
- Gratitude & appreciation for dancers, studios and dance parents!
General event information.
- We are committed to providing an encouraging and beneficial experience for your Dancers. Providing opportunities to showcase their abilities and love for Dance.
- Sportsmanship is incredibly important to ensure everyone has a positive experience. We expect dancers, parents, teachers and studio owners to be kind and cheer on everyone. We will not tolerate anything other than this, failure to comply could result in disqualification of dancers (or entire studio).
- We will do our best to stay on time! However please be present and prepared in the case that we are running ahead. We reserve the right to run 15 minutes ahead of schedule so be sure your dancers are ready to go if need be.
- Only registered Teachers & Studio Owners will be allowed backstage to minimize congestion and crowding. If you require an exception please contact us directly at dani@plieprep.com, thanks.
- Music will be uploaded in advance and played for you backstage. You will be able to direct the Plie Prep team member on when to start, stop, and volume control.
- PROMPTING: In our Purely Performance Categories prompting by the instructor(s) is allowed. In all other categories, we don’t advise prompting and discourage the dancers to rely on this. However, if a soloist forgets their choreo and looks into the wings for help- this is the discretion of the teacher. At the end of the day- We want the dancers to have a great experience.
- Re-Dances are on a case by case basis. If a dancer forgets their routine in the first half of the performance we will accommodate a Re-Dance, however if they have completed 80% of their routine we may decide this is not necessary. If you have a question please speak with a Plie Prep Staff member at the event. If there is a technical difficulty with the lighting/sound you can request a Re-Dance and it will be up to the discretion of the Plie Prep Staff.
- Parents are encouraged to take pictures of their dancers in the lobby as we do not allow pictures or video in the theater (of performances or adjudication) due to safety concerns and provincial privacy laws. Plie Prep will provide FREE Videos of all routines (for your dancer) through the DanceBUG App. Thanks for your cooperation with this, failure to comply could result in disqualification of dancers (or entire studio).
- Scheduling will be done in January, draft schedules will be sent out the beginning of February and you will have 10 days to review and send in any corrections, additions and changes. Final Schedules will be sent at the end of February. Once the Final Schedules have been sent changes cannot be made to 1) Entries, 2) The Program or 3) The Schedule. Please go through the draft THOROUGHLY.
Adjudication:
- Adjudication will take place after each category, each lasting no longer than 75 minutes.
- The Adjudicator will comment and mark based on the dancer’s age, years of training and hours a week they dance. Taking everything into account the overall mark is based on:
- Performance: engagement with the audience, emotions evoked, enjoyment of the dancer.
- Technique: execution of choreography with correct technique/placement, level of difficulty (for age and level), as well as stage use, spacing and polish.
- Awards will be presented at each Adjudication based on high scores as well as Adjudicators Choice.
- Please refrain from speaking directly to the Adjudicators at the event regarding routines, marks, awards etc. If you have a concern or something you wish to discuss please go first to your Studio Owner or to the Plie Prep Staff present. Thank you for your cooperation with this.
Medals and Awards:
- Every routine will receive a medal placing as follows:
80-82.99 | Silver |
83-84.99 | High Silver |
85-89.99 | Gold |
90-93.99 | High Gold |
94-100 | Platinum |
- Each category will receive:
- High Score Award
- Adjudicators Choice Award
- Choreography (in Group Categories)
- Overall awards will depend on the amount of entries for each event, but will include:
- Top Solo(s)
- Top Duo/Trio(s)
- Top Group(s)
- Adjudicators Choice Choreography
- Adjudicators Choice Dancer(s)
Solo dancers:
- There is a Maximum number of 5 Solo’s per Dancer. They MUST be different disciplines, as we cannot accommodate multiple solo’s with the same dancers in the same exact category.
- Soloist’s Levels will be based on their years of training for all Genre’s. So they will be entered in the same level for ALL of their solo’s.
- We require studios to adhere to a 3:1 Ratio for solo’s to groups. Duo/Trios are included in the group count.
If a Dancer is entering solo’s but not participating in Groups, there will be a $25 price increase per Solo. If this is an issue, please contact us directly at: dani@plieprep.com
Group sizes:
Entry Type | Entry Size | Time Limit | Time Allotted for Props* |
Solo | 1 Dancer | 3min Max | 1min for Prop on/off |
Duo/Trio | 2-3 Dancers | 3min Max | 1min for Prop on/off |
Small Group | 4-9 Dancers | 4min Max | 1min for Prop on/off |
Large Group | 10-15 Dancers | 5min Max | 1min for Prop on/off |
Extended Line | 16+ Dancers | 7min Max | 1min for Prop on/off |
*Please let us know if you need more time for setting up Props, we will accommodate the best we can, and additional minutes can be purchased for $20/min.
There will be spot checks for timing, please adhere to the time limits. If you have a routine that is over the time limit please let us know in ADVANCE so we can plan accordingly. If a studio has multiple routines over the time limits and has not communicated prior to the event, we will have to issue penalties of $50/routine.
Levels:
- AGE, will be based on the Dancers age (or the average age in the routine) as of Mar 1, 2025.
- LEVEL, will be based on the Dancers Years of training (starting at age 6) or the average years of training in the routine.
*Rounding of Age and Levels will be done by removing the decimal point
| Novice | 1-2 Years of Training |
| Junior | 3-4 Years of Training |
| Intermediate | 5-6 Years of Training |
| Advance | 7-9 Years of Training |
| Senior | 10+ Years of Training |
| Teacher | If the routine includes a teacher and does NOT want to be included for Awards. |
- DIVISION, will be based on the Hours of Training per week for the Dancer (or the average in the group) for all disciplines combined.
| General division | Less than 8 hours of training a week |
| Competitive division | More than 8 hours of training a week |
Categories:
- Pure Performance: A category for those dancers who would like the opportunity to perform on stage and receive positive feedback from the Adjudicator. Everyone in this category will receive the same medal for their performance and participation. This category will not receive an overall mark or medal placing.
- Student Choreo: A category for dancers who want to choreograph their own routine. They will receive feedback on song choice, costuming, choreography, performance and overall execution of the routine. This can be in any genre the student chooses.
- Stage Prop: This is a sub category that can be in any genre. If your routine requires placement of a prop before the music starts (or removal of a prop after the music stops) please indicate this. This allows us to plan our time accordingly, this also lets the adjudicator know they can give feedback on prop utilization. **If your dancers carry a prop with them on and off as part of the routine you do not have to include it as a Stage Prop routine.
Dance styles:
Jazz– Comprised of Jazz Technique and Syllabus
Tap– Comprised of Tap Technique and Syllabus. Tap Shoes worn (no pre recorded sounds)
Classical Ballet– Comprised of Ballet Technique. Ballet Shoes worn.
Character Ballet– Comprised of Ballet Technique, telling a story with characterization to the audience. Ballet Shoes Worn.
Pointe– Comprised of Ballet Technique, can include characterization or contemporary
movement. Pointe shoes worn.
Lyrical– Mixture of Jazz and Ballet technique, evoking emotion in the audience consistent to the ‘Lyrics’ in the piece.
Contemporary– Comprised of Contemporary Technique and movements.
Modern– Comprised of movements expressing abstract ideas and pictures.
Musical Theatre– Theatrical dance including characterization, lip sync and/or live singing. Microphones will not be provided.
Hip Hop– Comprised of Hip Hop styles and vocabulary. Running Shoes Recommended.
National– Cultural Dance with historical origins (i.e) Highland, African, Bollywood, Ukrainian.
Acro*- Comprised of Gymnastics, Acrobatics and Dance movements. Open– Can be any combination of the above styles, or if you feel none of the above styles correctly fit, place the routine in Open.
*Acro Tricks- Routines in all categories (except Acro & Open) are limited to a Max of “5 Acro Tricks”. If your routine includes more than 5 Acro Tricks please place it in an Acro category.
SAFETY:
The Safety of the Dancers comes first, always. We believe that the teachers and choreographers know the Dancer’s skill set and limitations better than anyone. WE REQUEST: that you choreograph accordingly for everyone’s safety. We cannot say what skills/tricks are ‘safe’ for your students, only you and your individual dancers know that. **Please remember that every stage and rehearsal space is different, and they can vary from day to day. Dancers will NEVER be penalized for changing a trick to a ‘safer’ version for themselves. Plie Prep Inc does not assume any responsibility or liability for what is in your choreography.
During the event the dancers are to be supervised by either their Parent/Guardian or their teacher(s). Under no circumstance is the Plie Prep team responsible for supervising youth under 18.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation with this.
