Conventions and competitions run differently. Pick the one you’re coming to.
A convention is a day of master classes. There are no routines, no music to submit and no scoring — dancers come to train.
Radiate conventions are open to studios, full crews and independent dancers. A studio director registers once and adds every dancer under that account; an independent dancer registers for themselves. You do not need to be with a studio to attend a convention.
Dancers are aged 5 to 18. Whoever holds the account is responsible for the accuracy of the registration and for the waivers covering their dancers.
Dancers train in age-matched groups so choreography is pitched at the right level:
Groups are set from the dancer’s date of birth, which is why we ask for it at registration. Headcount is capped by age group and venue size, which is how we keep the rooms small enough for dancers to get individual attention.
A convention day is a full schedule of master classes with our faculty, across Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Tap and Pom/Funk & Acro. Dancers move between rooms with their age group.
Dancers should bring shoes for every style they’re taking, water, snacks, and a layer — ballrooms are rarely a comfortable temperature. Hair should be secured and away from the face.
Parents and teachers can register as observers to watch from the room. Observer places are added during registration and are limited by venue capacity, so add them when you register rather than on the day.
Every dancer needs a signed waiver before taking the floor, and depending on the event observers may need one too. Waivers are signed electronically — studio directors can send them to families in bulk from the portal and see who still needs to sign.
Pricing is listed during event registration and can vary by event. Payment is by card through our secure checkout, and a place isn’t held until it is paid for.
Convention registration is final. Fees are non-refundable and registrations cannot be cancelled once submitted. Please make sure your dancer is available for the date before you register.
We expect courtesy toward faculty, staff, other studios and the venue. Faculty may ask a dancer to sit out a combination for their own safety.
Photography and video recording are not permitted during classes. Choreography belongs to the faculty teaching it, and other people’s children are in the room.
We may remove anyone from the venue for behaviour that puts dancers, staff or the event at risk, without refund.
Faculty and schedule are subject to change — we will tell you as early as we can.
If circumstances outside our control force us to cancel, we will do our best to reschedule the event and your registration will carry over to the new date.
A competition is judged. Studios enter routines, submit music, and receive scores and awards afterwards.
Dancers must compete through a studio. Every entry is submitted by a studio owner or director, who registers once and enters every routine under that account. Independent entries are not accepted for competition.
Dancers must be between 2 and 18 years old. The studio director is responsible for the accuracy of every entry made under their account, and for making sure the waivers covering their dancers are signed.
Independent dancers are welcome at our conventions — this requirement applies to competition only.
Every routine is entered as one entry type, in one style, at one level, in one age division. Entry types are:
Styles are Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, Contemporary, Tap, Lyrical, Acrobatics, Musical Theatre, Pom and Open. A routine must be entered in the style it most represents; Open exists for anything that doesn’t sit cleanly in a named style.
We may cap the number of entries per studio and across the event for any entry type. Caps are shown in the portal as you enter, and entries are accepted in the order they are completed.
Ages are taken as of 1 January of the competition year — not the dancer’s age on the day. A dancer who turns 12 in June still competes as an 11-year-old for that whole season, so their division doesn’t change mid-year.
You choose the division when you enter the routine, and it must match the dancers in it. For groups, use the average age of the dancers, rounded down.
Which turn and acrobatic skills belong at each level is set out in the 2027 skill set guidelines.
Level is chosen by the studio director and should reflect the dancers’ training and competitive experience. Routines are judged against others at the same level, so entering below your dancers’ true level is against the spirit of the competition. We may move a routine to a more appropriate level.
Every entry type has an included performance time and prop setup time:
Additional performance time and prop setup time can be purchased when you enter, charged per extra minute. Rates are listed during event registration. Time is measured from the first note of music to the last.
What you can bring on stage, and how it has to be handled, is in section 14.
Music is uploaded to each routine in the portal. Accepted formats are MP3, MP4, M4A and WAV, up to 15 MB per file.
Every track is transcribed and screened for explicit lyrics before the event. Radiate is a family event: routines must use clean edits. If a track is flagged you’ll be told in the portal so you can replace it before show day.
Music uploaded after the published deadline incurs a $50 late fee, and uploads lock completely 3 days before the event. Bring a backup on a clearly labelled device regardless.
Entry fees are per dancer and are shown in the portal as you build each routine. A media fee per dancer also applies once per event. All pricing is listed during event registration and can vary by event.
Payment is by card through our secure checkout. An entry is not confirmed until it is paid in full, and unpaid entries are not scheduled.
Registration is final. Entry fees are non-refundable and entries cannot be cancelled once submitted. Please confirm your dancers are available for the date before you enter them.
Every dancer must have a signed waiver on file before taking the stage, and depending on the event observers may need one too. Waivers are signed electronically — studio directors can send them to their families in bulk from the portal and track who has signed.
Running order is set by Radiate and published to your account ahead of the event. We do our best to group a studio’s routines sensibly, but we cannot build the schedule around individual requests.
The schedule may shift on the day. Dancers should be ready, in costume, well before their scheduled time.
Routines are judged by a panel. After the event, judge scores, placement, award and a downloadable scoresheet post to your account — so dancers get specific feedback, not just a number.
Judges’ decisions are final.
Radiate is meant to be a room dancers want to come back to. We expect courtesy toward other studios, our staff, the judges and the venue. Choreography, costume and music must be age-appropriate for the dancers performing and for a family audience.
Photography and video recording are not permitted during performances. Choreography is a studio’s own work and other people’s children are on stage. Anyone recording will be asked to stop.
We may remove anyone from the venue for behaviour that puts dancers, staff or the event at risk, without refund.
We may adjust the schedule, add days, or change venue where circumstances require it, and we will tell you as early as we can.
If circumstances outside our control force us to cancel, we will do our best to reschedule the event and your entries will carry over to the new date.
Routines must be performed entirely on the stage. Dancers enter and exit through the wings only — a routine may not begin, end or travel through the audience, and dancers may not jump from the front of the stage.
Nothing may be thrown into the audience. Anything that leaves the stage surface — confetti, glitter, powder, liquid, petals, feathers — is not permitted, because the next routine has to dance on that floor.
Bare feet, dance shoes and appropriate footwear only. Anything likely to mark or damage the floor is not allowed.
Props are welcome within these limits:
For everyone’s safety:
Safety railings are strongly recommended on anything a dancer is raised on. The Competition Director may stop a routine, or refuse a prop, where these limits are exceeded.
Routines perform in the published running order. If a dancer needs time for a costume change, tell us in advance and we will do what we can when building the schedule — but we cannot rebuild the running order around individual requests on the day.
Be at the stage ready to perform before your scheduled slot. A routine that isn’t ready when called holds up every studio behind it.
Choreography, costume, music and lyrics must be appropriate for the age of the dancers performing and for a family audience watching. This applies to every division, and we apply it most strictly to our youngest dancers.
Costumes must provide proper coverage for the movement in the routine. Nothing sheer, revealing or suggestive on a minor. If a costume or routine is not age-appropriate, we will speak to the studio director.
Every routine is scored by a panel of judges on the same criteria, and the scores are averaged.
Scores, placement, award and a downloadable scoresheet post to the account the routine was entered under after the event.
Deductions exist so that everyone competes on the same terms. They are applied by the Competition Director and you will be told when one is applied and why.
Deductions may be applied for going over your performance or prop time, not clearing the stage in your setup time, performing off the stage, using prohibited props or materials, or competing in a division or level that doesn’t match the entry.
Judges’ decisions are final. If a studio director believes a rule was misapplied, raise it with the Competition Director in person at the event — not afterwards, and not through parents.
Admission is free. Our competitions are open to the public — there is no spectator fee and no ticket to buy. Bring the whole family.
Photography and video recording are not permitted during performances — see section 11.
Please stay seated during a routine and move between routines, keep aisles and exits clear, and silence phones. Nothing is more distracting to a dancer than movement at the front of the room.
Studio directors check in with us on arrival. Dancers remain the responsibility of their studio and their parents at all times — we are not able to supervise dancers between routines.
Dressing areas are shared. No photography or recording in dressing rooms under any circumstances. Report anything that concerns you to a Radiate staff member immediately.
If a dancer is injured, stop — we would far rather restart or reschedule a routine than have a dancer finish on an injury.
Questions about any of this? Get in touch — we would rather answer beforehand than have it come up on the day.