Highland dancers who are interested in competing must register with Scotdance Ontario for a current Competitive Dancers Card. This card is to be renewed each year and registration forms will come from your teacher. Please read the form carefully and follow all instructions.
Dancers 3 years old and older are eligible to compete. There are 6 categories of competition for Highland Dancing- Primary, Beginner, Novice, Intermediate and Premier.
Primary– A dancer who is age 3-6 is a Primary level dancer. Dancers stay in this category until they turn 7 years old. Dancers are eligible to win Medals/Ribbons, but no trophies are awarded at this level.
Beginner- A dancer who is 7 years and older is a Beginner dancer. To move out of Beginner and to the next level of Novice, dancers must win a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd placing in 6 separate competitions. The Beginner dancers card has 6 spaces on the back of it for “stamps”. Competition organizers will stamp one of the spaces if the dancer achieves a 1st, 2nd or 3rd placing. National dances do not qualify for a stamp (Lilt or Flora) and dancers can receive just one stamp at each competition. Dancers at this level are also eligible to win overall trophies.
Novice- A dancer who has achieved 6 stamps on their Beginner card will next move up to Novice. Similar to Beginner, a Novice dancer must win a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place medal at 6 separate competitions to move to the next level of Intermediate. National dances are eligible for stamps.
Intermediate- A dancer who has achieved 6 stamps on their Novice card will next move up to Intermediate. An Intermediate dancer will either spend one full year at the Intermediate level OR achieve 6 stamps on their Intermediate card- whichever takes LONGER- before they move up to Premier.
Premier- This is the highest level of competition. Dancers at this level have the opportunity to compete in Championship and Premiership competitions.
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