Contemporary sections at AED festivals

[JulieW]

Just wondering what other people's experience have been of contemporary sections at dance festivals over the last couple of years. We're getting a little fed up of hearing adjudicators telling dancers that they're not "contemporary" enough - especially when we know that some of the groups/solos have been choreographed by people trained in contemporary dance. I haven't seen the AED guidelines sent to adjudicators - I wondered whether anyone else has - and whether, like me and some friends, you are also finding it frustrating to hear them "having a go" at the dancers.

[Belleballerina]

At a festival my dd attended recently the girl who won the 11 year age modern section did a beautiful contemporary piece. The adjudicator said she wasn't keen on seeing really youung dancers takling contemporary as they sometimes involved subjects that you had to be mature enough to deal with. However she placed 1st with 90 marks as she was mature. Contemporary sections are tiny at all our local festivals and I still think it is a fairly new genre and I think traditional modern and lyrical dances are still mostly adjudicators favorite choices

[BankruptMum]

There does seem to be a huge amount of individual interpretation by both teachers in their choreography and adjudicators in their expectations and the result is very inconsistent adjudicating.