The Cecchetti Southern Area Awards are designed to give you an exciting experience of performing on a Studio stage in a competition. We hope you have a fun time preparing for and dancing in this event!
How to prepare
Your teacher will teach you the set work for the competition in your ballet class in the weeks before the competition. These are the exercises, and perhaps a dance, that you will perform at the competition. It’s important that you remember the steps you are going to do on stage, so it’s a good idea to practise at home or with your ballet friends if you can.
You’ll need to decide what to wear for the competition. It’s a good idea to do this a little while in advance of the day just in case you’ve grown out of anything and need something new. You will need a plain leotard without any embellishment on it. It should be a regular tank style leotard, unless you are a Senior, when you are permitted to wear a camisole style leotard. You will need ballet socks if you are a Junior and tights if you are in the other sections. Make sure all your clothing is clean and in good condition ready for the competition day. You don’t need to have brand new ballet shoes, but if your shoes are clean and neat they will look good on stage.
Remember to get a good night’s sleep the night before!
What to expect on the day
Come to the theatre in your competition ballet clothes, with comfy clothes like joggers and a zip up hoodie over the top to keep warm. It’s best if you can do your hair at home before you arrive at the theatre, but if you don’t have time, or you’d prefer one of the helpers to do it for you, we can help you backstage when you arrive.
Remember not to wear any jewellery, hair adornments, make up or nail varnish.
Please bring a water bottle with you, and a dry snack if you think you will get hungry.
When you arrive chaperones will bring you backstage to prepare for the competition. There are toilets you can use and space to warm up. The helpers will carefully pin your number to the front of your leotard and run through what will happen when you are on stage.
What happens during the competition
In the Junior competition each dancer will be announced by their number and they will run onto the stage and perform their dance.
In the Lower Middle, Upper Middle and Senior sections you will be split into small groups and go on stage together to perform your exercises. You will be arranged in rows and you will perform each exercise twice, once in the front row and once in the back row. In the Upper Middle and Senior sections you will also perform a dance on your own.
After everyone in your section has danced you will wait backstage for the adjudicator to make their decision. Then everyone will be called back on stage to hear who the winner and runner-up is. There is also an award for the Joy of Dance that will be given at the adjudication. All of you will be given a certification of participation to recognise your achievement in competing at the Awards.