BREAKDOWN OF DANCE STYLES
Jazz:
jazz dance is a high-energy, performance-driven style that combines strong technique with expressive flair. It features sharp, precise movements like kicks, turns, leaps, and clean lines, all performed with control and confidence.
Key Elements Judges Look For:
Technique: Clean execution of skills like pirouettes, battements, and jetés, with strong alignment and body control.
Synchronization: In group routines, dancers must move in perfect unison for a polished, professional look.
Performance Quality: Jazz demands bold stage presence, expressive faces, and a strong emotional connection to the music.
Musicality: Dancers should hit accents, rhythms, and nuances in the music with clear intention.
Formations & Transitions: Creative patterns and smooth shifts between formations add visual interest and show spatial awareness.
Style: Jazz can range from fierce and sassy to theatrical or dramatic, depending on the choreography
Movement Quality: Judges look for clarity, texture, and control in how movements are performed—whether sharp, smooth, sustained, or explosive. Quality adds depth, intention, and polish to every step.
In short, competition jazz dance is all about combining technical skill, team precision, and expressive movement quality to create a powerful and entertaining performance.
Lyrical:
a style that blends ballet technique with the expressiveness of contemporary dance, all set to music with emotional lyrics. It’s about telling a story or expressing a feeling through movement, connecting deeply with the music and the audience.
Key Elements Judges Look For: Emotion and Storytelling: Lyrical is all about expressing emotion. Judges want to see dancers connect to the music and tell a story through their movement and facial expressions.
Technique: Strong ballet-based technique is essential. This includes pointed feet, clean lines, turns, leaps, and extensions. Movements should be controlled, fluid, and graceful.
Movement Quality: Judges look for smooth transitions, sustained motion, and dynamic range—mixing soft, flowing movement with moments of strength and control.
Musicality: Dancers must move with the music—not just on the beat, but with the emotion and phrasing of the song. Judges look for choreography that reflects the highs, lows, and nuances in the music.
Transitions and Flow: Movements should blend seamlessly with each other. Choppy or awkward transitions can break the emotional impact.
Performance and Presence: Judges want dancers to be fully present and emotionally invested. Eye focus, expression, and intent are just as important as the steps.
Flexibility and Control: Many lyrical routines include big leaps, high extensions, and floor work, so strength and flexibility are key—but always executed with grace and purpose.
Pom:
Combines strong jazz and cheer technique with the use of poms to create visual impact and emphasize clean, powerful movements.
Key Elements Judges Look For:
Sharp Motions: Movements in pom are crisp, tight, and exact—no soft or sloppy lines. Every motion should hit clean and strong, especially with the added visual of the poms. There can be pops of more jazz type movement but the base of pom always goes back to sharp motions.
Synchronization: Dancers must be perfectly in sync, especially in groups. Judges look for precise timing across the team, as even small differences are easy to spot.
Pom Technique: Proper arm placement, strong hits, and controlled pom use are essential. Dancers should handle the poms with purpose, not as a prop but as an extension of their movements.
Skills and Execution: Judges look for clean kicks, turns, jumps, and leaps—all done with solid technique and control. While tricks are part of pom routines, they must be performed precisely
Facials and Energy: High energy, big faces, and consistent performance quality are a must. Judges expect a powerful presence and strong projection throughout.
Stamina and Endurance: Pom routines are fast-paced and physically demanding, so dancers must keep up the intensity from start to finish without showing fatigue.
alwaysexecutedwithgraceandpurpose.
Kick:
PerformanceandPresence:Judgeswantdancerstobefullypresentandemotionallyinvested.Eyefocus,expression,andintentarejust asimportantasthesteps.
A precision-based style that focuses on high-energy choreography centered around synchronized, high kicks performed by a team. It emphasizes uniformity, flexibility, strength, and endurance.
Key Elements Judges Look For:
Kick Technique: This is the core of the routine. Judges look for height, control, and consistency in kicks. Legs should be straight, toes pointed, and kicks should be done from the hip with minimal body movement. Just For Kix does not have a kick minimum per routine, but there should be some kicks within this style of dance.
Synchronization: Uniformity is everything in kick routines. Every dancer should kick at the same height, time, and angle. Judges look for clean lines and perfect timing across the entire team.
Flexibility and Strength: High, controlled kicks require both. Dancers must show strong core and leg strength to maintain their posture and control, as well as flexibility to kick high without sacrificing form.
Posture and Alignment: Dancers must maintain an upright posture, an engaged core, and proper arm placement throughout the routine. Leaning back, slouching, or breaking form can affect scores.
Stamina and Endurance: Kick routines are physically demanding and often fast-paced. Judges expect consistent energy, clean kicks, and strong technique from beginning to end—no drop in quality or timing.
Performance Quality: Even though it's focused on precision, dancers still need to perform! Judges look for faces, confidence, and energy throughout the routine.
HipHop:
a fun, high-energy style of dance that started on the streets of New York in the 1970s. It’s all about moving to the beat of hip hop music with attitude, rhythm, and style. In team hip hop competitions, being grounded and having strong posture are key elements that judges pay close attention to, even though hip hop has a more relaxed, street-style feel.
Grounded Movement
Being grounded means dancers keep a low center of gravity, often with bent knees, relaxed hips, and a solid connection to the floor.
It gives movements power, control, and stability, especially during hard-hitting sections or footwork.
In team settings, grounded movement also helps create uniformity and sharpness, making group hits and formations cleaner and more impactful.
Dancers who aren’t grounded may appear light, floaty, or off-balance, which weakens the power of the routine and reduces precision.
Posture in Hip Hop
While hip hop isn’t about standing tall like ballet, posture is still critical. It’s about holding the body with intention—whether it’s leaning back in a groove or bracing strong for a hit.
Judges look for confidence in the body: shoulders down and strong, chest lifted or contracted with purpose, and a clear sense of control.
Good posture helps with execution, clarity of movement, and visual unity across the team.
In short, staying grounded and maintaining intentional posture gives hip hop routines that signature "hit hard, move smart" quality. It separates a clean, powerful team from one that feels loose or unsure on stage. You will not see many typical dance skills in a hip hop routine, such as toe touches, piouettes etc.