Age divisions

The age divisions are:

• Minis          6 – 8 y

• Kids           9 – 11 y

• Juniors      12 – 14 y

• Teens       15 – 17 y

• Adults        > 17 y

The age we use is the age at the 1st of January in the school year in which the competition takes place, rounded to the nearest number. [For example if your birth date is 06/05/2011, your age at the 1st of January 2026 is 14,67 years old, which will be rounded to 15 years old.] This way, you stay in the same age division during a whole school year. For groups, the average of these ages is taken and also rounded to the nearest number.

If the youngest or the oldest dancer in the group has more than 4 years difference with the boundaries of the age division, there are additional rules. If there is a dancer in a group who is more than 4 years younger than the minimum age boundary of the age division, then this dancer will be left out of the calculation of the calculations of the average. [For example if the average was 14 but there is a dancer in the group that is only 7 years old, then we will not use the age of this dancer to calculate the average of the group and it can be possible that the average age will be 15 instead of 14.]

If there is a dancers in a group who is more than 4 years older than the maximum age boundary of the age division, the whole group will participate in one age division higher. [For example if the average age of the group is 14 but there is a dancer in the group who is 19 years old, the whole group will participate in the age division Teens 15 – 17 y instead of Juniors 12 – 14 y.]

When the dancers arrive at the competition, they should have their passport and show it at the entrance of the dancers so that the name and the age can be verified.

Dance Waves can combine 2 age divisions at a competition dependent on the amount of inscriptions for each age division and the ages of the participants. You will be able to see this on the final schedule.

Amount of dancers

It is possible to participate as a soloist, duet, trio or group:

• Solo                    1 dancer

• Duet/Trio            2/3 dancers

• Group                 4  dancers and more

It is permitted that:

• a dancer or a group participates at multiple competitions in one school year.

• a dancer or a group participates in multiple age divisions at one competition.

• a dancer or a group participates in multiple styles at one competition.

• a school has multiple groups in the same category at one competition

Dance styles

Streetdance
Styles that can participate in this category are Hip Hop, Ragga, Popping, Locking, New style, Breakdance, House dance, Krump, Girly, Waacking, Voguing, Afro, ...

Modern & Contemporary
In this category are: modern, contemporary, lyrical, …

Jazz & Showdance
In this category are: jazz, showande, musical theatre, …

Ballet & Pointe
Ballet is a dance form tied to academic techniques. The unique thing about ballet is that you learn the same thing all over the world and it is taught in roughly the same way everywhere, only specific methods differ. When registering for this style of dance, you are required to wear ballet shoes (demi pointes, pointes or ballet character shoes).

Choreography

Plagiarism is not allowed, (pieces of) choreographies cannot be copied from other groups or from videos on the internet. This is only allowed for existing ballet pieces in the style Ballet.

During one school year, you can participate multiple times with the same choreography. But it is not allowed to use the same choreography the years after that. This way, we want to stimulate to always bring something new.

We encourage the use of props and decoration, but it is your own responsibility to put it on stage and take it off stage again in less than half a minute. Dance Waves Competition needs to be informed when you will use large props or decoration. The props and decorations need to be labelled backstage with the name of the school or the dancer. Dance Waves is not responsible for damage or loss.

It is not allowed to use confetti, powder, gel or other liquids because this would harm the performance of the next dancers. The use of all forms of fire is forbidden because of safety.

Improvisation

During this improvisation or freestyle round, the dancers can give the best of themselves without being able to prepare to the music. The music will not be announced upfront. The judges will choose a winner and the winner will get an award.

Everyone who participates with a choreography (team, duo/trio or solo) can participate at the improvisation. You cannot register for the improvisation round without participating with a team, duo/trio or solo. You can register for the improvisation during your registration by selecting the dancers that want to participate at the improvisation.

Music

The maximum durations are:

• Solo                    2 minutes

• Duet/Trio            2:30 minutes

• Group                 3 minutes

It is not possible to upload music that is longer than this maximum to keep it as fair as possible for everyone. There is no minimum time limit. All music needs to be uploaded in your account at least 10 days prior to the competition as a mp3 file.

Everyone is obligated to also bring the music to the competition on USB in case something would go wrong.

Time schedule

Four weeks prior to the competition, there will be a temporary time schedule available on the website.  This temporary time schedule can still change as the inscriptions are still open. The final time schedule will be available one week prior to the competition on the website. At each competition, we start with the style Modern, Contemporary, Jazz and Ballet (morning/ midday) and end with the Urban styles (afternoon/evening).

Theatres

Food & drinks
It is not allowed to eat or drink in the theatres. If someone is eating or drinking in the theatre, the person can be asked to leave.

Safety
It is not allowed to stand at the sides or to sit on the stairs in the theatres because of safety. Everyone must sit down on a seat. Is it also not allowed to bring carrycots, backpacks and coats into the theatres because of safety reasons.

Entering and leaving
Out of respect for the dancers, judges and spectators we ask to wait to enter or leave the theatre until a category is finished. Try to only leave or enter during a category only when necessary and always wait to do it in between two dances and not during someone is performing on stage.

Dressing rooms
Each location has a limited amount of dressing rooms available. Approximately one hour prior to the start of your category there will be a dressing room available for groups and approximately half an hour prior to the start of your category there will be a dressing room available for solos, duos and trios. If you arrive earlier, please wait until the dressing room is available. Make sure leave the dressing room in time for the next group of dancers and that it is clean.

Stage
It is not possible to practise on stage because of time issues. You can always find the measurements of the stage at our website.

Backstage

Only choreographers (who created the piece) may join backstage for free. Per choreography, a maximum of one choreographer may go backstage for free (if the choreographer is present) as the person responsible for accompanying the dancers. If the choreography was created by the dancers themselves or if the choreographer cannot be present, another person may accompany the dancers backstage if this person buys an entrance ticket.

The names of the choreographer must always be entered during registration. This may only be the name of the person who actually created the choreography. Only if the name is entered correctly during registration, the choreographer can go backstage for free on presentation of an identity card. If no name has been entered or if no identity card is shown, an entrance ticket must be purchased.

Owners of schools that have not created their own choreography can go backstage for free if there are at least 5 choreographies from that school registered for that competition.

Judges & ratings

At each competition there is a qualified and honest judge panel present with experience and knowledge in multiple styles of dance. When giving scores, the judges will look for:

• Technique: positions of hands and feet, jumps and turns, balance, body control, flexibility,…

• Execution: synchronization, appearance, expression, musicality, uniformity, facials, …

• Choreography: creativity, originality, visual effects, props, interaction, music choice and quality, surprising effects, formations, use of stage, …

• Difficulty: level versus age, speed, movements, rhythm, variations, lines, use of stage, formations, coordination,…

There is a different panel of judges at each competition so that you can get multiple chances at multiple competitions and not be judged by the same people all the time.

It is not allowed to go to the judges at the competition to ask them for feedback. The responsible person can always look up the feedback of the judges in his account after the competition.

We ask to keep in mind that this is a dance competition for kids and youth to give them extra stage opportunities. Our aim is to unite these talented dancers during our competitions so that they can get to know each other and learn from each other. Please always remember this and always respect the opinion of the judges.

Qualifiers and championships

Dance Waves Competition has qualifiers where everyone is welcome to participate, but also National Championships and a European Championship.

If you don’t have qualifiers nor National Championships in your country and you are not able to participate at one of the qualifiers in other countries, please send you your video by mail to qualify for the European Championships.

Qualifiers

Everyone can participate at all qualifiers (whichever country). The points you earn at a qualifier (see more info beneath at National Championships) will count for the National Championships of your country. If you don’t have a National Championship in your country, the points will count for the European Championships.

National Championships

At national championships there is over € 6 000 prize money to win!

• A group who gets first place in a category with minimum 5 participants, wins € 200.

• A solo, duo or trio who gets first place in a category with minimum 5 participants, wins € 100.

This prize money can be used the following school year for new registrations in that country. Keep in mind that choreographies cannot win there prizes when one of the dancers violates one of the competition rules.

You can only participate at the finals if you have been selected during one of the qualification rounds. At each qualification round you can earn points. In the table below you can find an overview of the points you can earn with each place:

The points of your three best competitions will be taken into account for the calculation for the national championships. For example, if you participate at 6 qualification rounds and you obtained the following points: 40, 60, 80, 40, 90 and 60; the points 90, 80 and 60 will count in the calculation for the finals. The more qualification rounds you participate at, the more chance there is you will be selected for the finals.

At the end of March you will find a preliminary ranking for the championships at our website. This selection can still change until we have the results of the last qualification.

In countries with fewer than five qualifiers, the points from the three best competitions will not be added together. Instead, only the points from the single best qualifier will be taken into account.

The amount of available places at the championships is different for each category. This depends on a couple of things:

• The amount of participants during the season in this category. Categories with a lot of participants will have more places available than categories which did not have a lot of participants.

• Selected participants that are not able to participate, this will create open spots for other dancers.

• A lot of participants in the same category who have the same amount of points. Then all these participants will get selected or none of them depending on how much places are still available.

• A minimum of 3 participants per category where we strive for to have sufficient competition at the championships.

European Championships

Everyone who is participating at the European championships is obligated to bring a flag of their country at the award ceremony.

Footage

At each competition there will be professional photographers and the choreographies will be filmed. All pictures will be available after the competitions for free on our Facebook page. The film footage of the winning choreographies will be made available for free on our YouTube channel:

• Facebook page

• YouTube channel

Follow us for updates, you can always copy and share the pictures and videos. But don’t forget to tag Dance Waves Competition and the photographer. In addition, you can also follow us on Instagram and Tik Tok (with no less than 240 000 followers).

If you did not get first place but you would like to have the film footage, you can send an e-mail to info@dancewavescompetition.com at latest 5 days after the competition (fee of €7 per choreography). You can order pictures in high resolution and without the logo for €5 per picture.

All rights are reserved for Dance Waves Competition. If you register, you give permission to Dance Waves Competition to use all footage (always with the best interest of the dancers in mind of course). If you register multiple dancers, you admit that you have received permission of the parents of the dancers that we can take and publish pictures of the dancers.

If you got first place but you would not like to have the video posted, please sent an e-mail to info@dancewavescompetition.com the day after the competition with the reason why you would not like to have the video posted.

General

Dance Waves Competition expects good sportsmanship of all participants, choreographers and parents. So let’s support each other and learn from each other! Furthermore, we think the health of all competitors is really important and we do not support any kind of smoking. We are not responsible for damage and theft of personal items, always keep an eye on your belongings. At each competition there is a first-aid kit available, but we are not responsible for injuries or physical accidents. All participants need to have their own insurance through the dance school or through parents.

Trophies, medals & awards

Dance Waves wants to stimulate as many children, youngsters and adults to participate at dance competitions on a stage. Everyone on our stage will be rewarded!

There are multiple award ceremonies during the day where medals and trophies will be given out. 
If there are less than 5 participants in a category, all places will be announced on stage. If there are more than 5 participants in a category, only the first so many will be announced on stage. The last so many participants will be announced together so spare the feelings of these dancers. The complete ranking will be available after the competition at the door of the exit of the building or afterwards on the website.

An overview:

• Up to 5 participants: All places will be announced on stage

• From 6 to 8 participants: The 2 last places in random order

• From 9 to 10 participants: The 3 last places in random order

• More than 10 participants: The 4 last places in random order

Medals and certificates

Everyone will be rewarded on stage! All dancers receive a medal or a group certificate:

• Solos, duos and trios: Everyone receives a medal

• Groups:

o In the age categories Tinies, Minis and Kids, all dancers receive a medal no matter what place they finish.

o In the age categories Juniors, Teens and Adults,  all dancers of the first three places receive a medal. The groups that finish lower will receive a group certificate.

Trophies

• In a category with minimum 5 participants, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place will receive a trophy.

• In a category with minimum 3 participants, the 1st place will receive a trophy.

Improvisation award

The winner of the improv/freestyle round will receive a special trophy with a minimum of 3 participants or a medal if there are less than 3 participants.

Choreographer and Dance School Awards

At the end of the school year after the championships, there will be an award for the choreographer who has had the most times a first place with his/her choreographies and an award for the choreographer with the most times a highest score at a competition. There is also an award for the Dance School that had most first place wins.

National Championships

At the national championships there is over € 6 000 prize money to win!

• A group who gets first place in a category with minimum 5 participants, wins € 200.

• A solo, duo or trio who gets first place in a category with minimum 5 participants, wins € 100.

This price money can be used the next season for new inscriptions. Keep in mind that choreographies cannot win there prizes when one of the dancers violates one of the competition rules.

For the Championships in 2025, you could also win these additional prizes:

• French Championships

-  Winners Solo Ballet Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults will receive a half scholarship to the full two-week summer intensive in Summer 2025 of @The Art of Ballet Intensive, valued at €1499.

- Winners Solo en Duo Teens & Adults in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a scholarship for dance project VITAMIN D in Portugal from @BROTO thanks to @ philipp.knapp.587

-  $2,000 scholarships per day to win for the Solo, Duo, Trio and Team Winners from @talentamerica

• German Championships

-  Winners Solo Ballet Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults will receive a half scholarship to the full two-week summer intensive in Summer 2025 of @The Art of Ballet Intensive, valued at €1499.

-  Winners Solo en Duo Teens & Adults in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a scholarship for dance project VITAMIN D in Portugal from @BROTO thanks to @ philipp.knapp.58

-  $2,000 scholarships per day to win for the Solo, Duo, Trio and Team Winners from @talentamerica

• Dutch Championships

-  Winners Solo, Duo, Trio in all styles and age categories will receive a scholarship to the international summer intensive of @DegasDanceAcademyDelftNL thanks to @anacia.weiskittel

-  Winners Solo Ballet Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults will receive a half scholarship to the full two-week summer intensive in Summer 2025 of @The Art of Ballet Intensive, valued at €1499.

-  Winners Solo Juniors, Teens & Adults in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a scholarship for dance project VITAMIN D in Portugal from @BROTO thanks to @ philipp.knapp.587

-  $2,000 scholarships per day to win for the Solo, Duo, Trio and Team Winners from @talentamerica

- Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Adults Modern & Streetdance receive a ticket to a workshop day hosted by our judge @justin.dejager

- Winners Solo Kids & Solo Junior Streetdance recieve a ticket to a workshop, followed by a coaching session with @ginnypauwcoaching on location

- Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults Streetdance receive a ticket to a Sylcdance Academy Dance Day, attending this day brings a chance to win a half year scholarship to the Sylcdance academy, valued at

€432. Thanks to our judge @steijn.stinna from @Sylcdance

- Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Juniors, Teens & Adults Ballet & Modern receive a discount on a coaching program. Coaching trajectories are about auditions, self-confidence and artistry. Thanks to our judge @bernadette.dengler from @stARTISTcoaching.

- Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Teens Modern receive a €20 gift card for the @headlinerzdancewear stand at the NK, thanks to @Evaachek

- Winners Duo, Trio Teens & Adults Modern receive a workshop hosted by on a day of choice @Danserspunt

-  There will be a talent scout at the Ballet and Modern NK which will select various talents for a Summerschool @Codarts

• Belgian Championships

-  Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Hip Hop and Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a free class of @boostyourstyledance thanks to @fundiomari.official

-  Winners Solo Ballet Kids, Juniors & Teens will receive a scholarship to the summer school from @ Balletschool Raymonda in July 2025 thanks to @demeyerewendy

-  Winners Solo Ballet Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults will receive a half scholarship to the full two-week summer intensive in Summer 2025 of @The Art of Ballet Intensive, valued at €1499.

-  Winners Solo will receive a half scholarship to the Modern-Jazz Intensive, Street Intensive or Ballet Intensive in the summer of 2025 from @DansschoolDanceControl thanks to @sara.delen.9

-  $2,000 scholarships per day to win for the Solo, Duo, Trio and Team Winners from @talentamerica

-  Winners Minis, Kids & Juniors Solo Ballet and Modern, Contemporary and Jazz will receive a scholarship to Ndigo Summer intensive from @Ndigoroeselare in Summer 2025 thanks to @Ineke_vandevyvere

-  Winners Solo, Duo and Trio Minis, Kids & Juniors will receive a free pass for a Dance Camp in summer 2025 from @danceindustries

-  Winners Solo Minis & Kids in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a partial scholarship for the International Ballet Summer Intensive 2025 from @mberael thanks to @magali.berael

-  Winners Solo Teens & Adults in Ballet will receive a partial scholarship for the International Ballet Summer Intensive 2025 from @mberael thanks to @magali.berael

-  Winners Solo Juniors in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a partial scholarship for the Modern Styles-stage from @mberael thanks to @magali.berael

-  Winners Solo Teens & Adults in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a partial scholarship for the Contemporary Summer Project from @mberael thanks to @magali.berael

-  Winners Solo en Duo Teens & Adults in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a scholarship for dance project VITAMIN D in Portugal from @BROTO thanks to @ philipp.knapp.587

-  Winners Minis, Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults Group Streetdance will receive a professional print of a competition photo on a plastic panel from @emiel.deman

-  Winners Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults Solo Streetdance will receive 1 workshop to Dance Lab from @Dance Lab roosdaal thanks to @matthias.demeuter

-  Winners Teens Group Streetdance will receive a crew session to Dance Lab from @Dance Lab roosdaal thanks to @matthias.demeuter

-  Winners Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults Solo Modern, Contemporary and Jazz will receive a workshop from @Cie-Àro. thanks to @sharon.vannecke.37

-  Winners Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults Solo & Duo trio Modern, Contemporary and Jazz will receive a workshop from @Una Vez & Una Vez Squadra thanks to @morgane.descheemaker

-  Winners Teens & Adults Solo/ Duo & Trio Streetdance and Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a dance workshop to support “Kom Op Tegen Kanker” thanks to @yanis.driege

• European Championships

-  Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Hip Hop and Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a free class of @boostyourstyledance thanks to @fundiomari.official

-  Winners Solo, Duo, Trio in all styles will receive a scholarship to the international summer intensive of @DegasDanceAcademyDelftNL thanks to @anacia.weiskittel

-  Winners Solo Ballet Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults will receive a half scholarship to the full two-week summer intensive in Summer 2025 of @The Art of Ballet Intensive, valued at €1499.

-  Winners Solo in all styles will receive a scholarship to participate at @NationalsDance.gr in Greece in 2026

-  $2,000 scholarships per day to win for the Solo, Duo, Trio and Team Winners from @talentamerica

-  Winners Teams, Duo and Trio in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a scholarship to participate at @dancinginn in Bulgaria in November 2025

-  Winners Minis, Kids & Juniors Solo Ballet and Modern, Contemporary and Jazz will receive a scholarship to Ndigo Summer intensive from @Ndigoroeselare in Summer 2025 thanks to @Ineke_vandevyvere

-  Winners Solo, Duo and Trio Minis, Kids & Juniors will receive a free pass for a Dance Camp in summer 2025 from @danceindustries

-  Winners Solo Minis & Kids in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a partial scholarship for the International Ballet Summer Intensive 2025 from @mberael thanks to @magali.berael

-  Winners Solo Teens & Adults in Ballet will receive a partial scholarship for the International Ballet Summer Intensive 2025 from @mberael thanks to @magali.berael

-  Winners Solo Juniors in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a partial scholarship for the Modern Styles-stage from @mberael thanks to @magali.berael

-  Winners Solo Teens & Adults in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a partial scholarship for the Contemporary Summer Project from @mberael thanks to @magali.berael

-  Winners Solo en Duo Teens & Adults in Ballet and in Modern, Contemporary & Jazz will receive a scholarship for dance project VITAMIN D in Portugal from @BROTO thanks to @ philipp.knapp.587

-  A chosen Adult Solo dancer Modern, Contemporary and Jazz will receive a scholarship to HUMAN BODIES from @ArtGarage dance company in Italy thanks to @francesco.vecchione

-  Winners Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults Solo & Duo/trio Modern, Contemporary and Jazz will receive a workshop from @Una Vez & Una Vez Squadra thanks to @morgane.descheemaker

- Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Juniors, Teens & Adults Ballet receive a workshop to Rock-a-Tutu Dance Studio and a free registration at a Dance Waves competition in South-Africa thanks to @riaan.vanniekerk.3344 from Dance Waves South-Africa

-  Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Juniors, Teens & Adults Modern, Contemporary & Jazz receive a workshop to @Studio7DanceCo and a free registration at a Dance Waves competition in South-Africa by @riaan.vanniekerk.3344 from Dance Waves South-Africa

- Winners Solo, Duo, Trio Juniors, Teens & Adults Streetdance receive a workshop @Studio7DanceCo and a free registration at a Dance Waves competition in South-Africa by @riaan.vanniekerk.3344 from Dance Waves South-Africa

-  Winners Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults Solo Modern, Contemporary and Jazz will receive a workshop from @Cie-Àro. thanks to @sharon.vannecke.37

-  Winners Kids, Juniors, Teens & Adults Solo Streetdance will receive 1 workshop to Dance Lab from @Dance Lab roosdaal thanks to @matthias.demeuter

-  Winners Teens Group Streetdance will receive a crew session to Dance Lab from @Dance Lab roosdaal thanks to @matthias.demeuter

-  Winners Solo in Ballet, Modern Contemporary & Jazz will receive a scholarship to the summer intensive or the Back to the studio camp from @debewegingsstudiobydeborah thanks to @deborah.verhasselt

Additional prizes for the championchips in 2026 will be announced.