Restricted, Novice/Beginners & Open Classes

Restricted Classes

These are reserved for dancers that have never won first place in any competition for the below genres in New Zealand. Competitors can continue to dance in this category until they either win a Restricted class OR win an Open Class. You can complete in Restricted and Open at the same competition (using the same dance if you wish). But you are unable to compete in Championship Classes until you’ve won an open competition.

If you're lucky enough to win a Restricted class, there's a catch you need to be aware of. Once you've claimed that victory, you can't compete in that same Restricted class again - even if you switch age groups.

And that's not all, folks! If you've already forked out the dough for future competitions and your little superstar has already won a Restricted category, you'll need to scratch them from that event. It may be a bummer, but them's the rules.

Handy Hint: If your child wins a Restricted Jazz, they can still compete in Restricted Lyrical until they win that section.

Open Classes

·Once you’ve won a restricted competition for that category of dance, you can no longer compete in restricted classes for that category of dance (see above) – you can only now compete in Open classes. You can not compete in Championship Classes until you’ve won an open competition.

Beginners/Novice Classes

These are generally reserved for dancers that have only been dancing competitively for 12 months or less in any of the below genres in New Zealand. Its important you check the syllabus for each dance competition around the definition, as many have different meanings for this category. Often you can complete in Restricted, Open and Beginners at the same competition (using the same dance if you wish). But you are unable to compete in Championship Classes until you’ve won an open competition.