Miss Dance of Great Britain is a stage dance competition for girls, which is held annually in the United Kingdom.
Contents
Overview
Miss Dance of Great Britain is a long running theatre dance competition for girls, established and organised by the International Dance Teachers Association. The national finals are held annually at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. The finals also include the judging of the boys competition, Dance Master UK, and the International Ballet Championships.
Qualifying
Entrants who wish to compete in the national finals of Miss Dance, must first qualify for the competition by winning a regional heat. Heats are held at dance festivals nationwide throughout the year. The majority of these festivals are independently run and must apply to the IDTA in order to stage a heat of Miss Dance.
To enter a regional heat, competitors must be aged 16 years or over on 31 May in the year of competition and must be amateur dancers or be in full-time training. Professional dancers are not permitted to enter.
In the heats, each competitor performs a three-minute solo dance in a modern theatre or cabaret style. This may include jazz, tap, song, dialogue, instrumentation or comedy, with dance as the dominant discipline. Classical Ballet, character dance or national dance styles are not permitted. The IDTA requests that competitors present a solo that has been specially choreographed for the competition. Should a competitor win their regional heat, they must perform the same solo, without changes, at the national final.
To qualify for the national finals, a competitor must win their heat with a score of 85 marks or more, and they then represent that festival at the finals. A runner-up place is also awarded and the runner-up may compete at the national finals if they have scored a qualifying mark and only if the heat winner is unable to compete. It is very common for dancers to compete in numerous regional heats throughout the country in order to qualify for the national finals.
The Finals
The national finals of Miss Dance are organised by the IDTA and are held annually at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. During the finals, the competitors compete in a series of dance-offs, judged by a panel of specialist adjudicators. This narrows down the number of competitors to a selection of finalists, who then perform again for the judges in the grand final and the winner of the Miss Dance title is awarded.
The winner of Miss Dance of Great Britain receives a trophy and a cash prize, with trophies also being awarded for the runner-up and 3rd places. The winner is given the title of Miss Dance of Great Britain, until a new winner is chosen the following year.
Being a prestigious competition, the winner of Miss Dance will normally enjoy a number of other benefits including dancing at various IDTA seminars and events, and being invited to perform at the IDTA's annual howcase gala at a major UK theatre.