All England Regional Finals 2024

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

Just wondering what people's experience of the AED Regional Finals this year were? I was left feeling very confused by the marking in many of the sections I watched. It was our first time at the Regionals and I had assumed that, with 3 adjudicators, the slightly random nature of one person's personal preference would be removed. However, I saw a number of sections where I just couldn't work out what was going on. Cuteness and smiles seemed to win over technique and there seemed to be a strong bias towards boys. I did see sections where the placings made sense to me but the majority of the ones I watched had me baffled. Anyone else or am I just going slightly mad in my later years?! 🙂

[Bolshoi]

Has always been the case, take it all with a pinch of salt!

[Legseleven]

This is why we didn’t go down the festival route. The cute beaming confident dancers always seemed to win despite lack of technique. Although maybe we just watched the wrong festivals. 

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

Yes, I feel like we are at a bit of a crossroads with it. My DD loves festivals and, overall, does well. She's never going to win the ballet but she tends to place in most of her sections more often than not and she really enjoys it. However, the last week has left me with a 'what is it all for?' feeling. The festivals take so much time and effort and I wonder if we would be better cutting them down and investing more time in classes that are going to improve her technique. 

[Pixiewoo]

Festivals and competitions are great for performance skills and meeting other like minded people. 

Some adjudicators give great feedback and award on technical skills, others will award on performance, others favour the boys,  and others you have no idea what they like! 

[Pdexter]

1 hour ago, Pixiewoo said:

Festivals and competitions are great for performance skills and meeting other like minded people. 

Some adjudicators give great feedback and award on technical skills, others will award on performance, others favour the boys,  and others you have no idea what they like! 

 

I totally agree with this. The judging at each competition differs so much we tend to 'take it or leave it' with a lot of it. Our daughter (7 yo) places quite often but over time has learned to handle not placing really well and just enjoys the experience for what it is. We focus on the other positive elements of performing, mixing with dance friends, building confidence etc rather than the results.

[dancefanatic]

4 hours ago, BalletGirlAndBoy said:

Just wondering what people's experience of the AED Regional Finals this year were? I was left feeling very confused by the marking in many of the sections I watched. It was our first time at the Regionals and I had assumed that, with 3 adjudicators, the slightly random nature of one person's personal preference would be removed. However, I saw a number of sections where I just couldn't work out what was going on. Cuteness and smiles seemed to win over technique and there seemed to be a strong bias towards boys. I did see sections where the placings made sense to me but the majority of the ones I watched had me baffled. Anyone else or am I just going slightly mad in my later years?! 🙂

My younger DD did AED two years ago for the first time and I have to say our experience this last week at the West Regionals was so extremely different.  The results were very strange where technique only appeared to win out in the Ballet solos.  Elsewhere it was boys and performance/cuteness over anything else.  Left us with a very deflated feeling I have to say.  And looking at the overall stats for honours marks given, the West region fared very badly compared to the other regions with lots of our school's entries failing to receive honours by 0.1 of a mark.  Even 1st placed entrants weren't receiving Honours so failing to be put through to the Finals.  Two years ago too many entrants were put through to Finals and we were told at the time it was due to the Covid-effect.  But this time?  We also found that some of the helpers were extremely rude to all the competitors as well as parents which was extremely strange and not our usual experience of festivals.  All in all, an odd week for us too.

 

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

4 minutes ago, dancefanatic said:

My younger DD did AED two years ago for the first time and I have to say our experience this last week at the West Regionals was so extremely different.  The results were very strange where technique only appeared to win out in the Ballet solos.  Elsewhere it was boys and performance/cuteness over anything else.  Left us with a very deflated feeling I have to say.  And looking at the overall stats for honours marks given, the West region fared very badly compared to the other regions with lots of our school's entries failing to receive honours by 0.1 of a mark.  Even 1st placed entrants weren't receiving Honours so failing to be put through to the Finals.  Two years ago too many entrants were put through to Finals and we were told at the time it was due to the Covid-effect.  But this time?  We also found that some of the helpers were extremely rude to all the competitors as well as parents which was extremely strange and not our usual experience of festivals.  All in all, an odd week for us too.

 

Thank you. This is reassuring and makes me feel like I'm not going mad. What you have described is pretty much the exact same experience we had and 'deflated' is exactly how I felt. Lots at our Regionals failing to get honours marks and, like you say, many first places not going through, particularly in the Global duets and trios/ quartets. To be fair, our helpers were all wonderful but I struggled to get my head around the marks/ placings (except in the ballet, like you say!)

[dance5678]

I was interested to see that in all Regions hardly any Greek or Global got through to the finals, even if they had a placing. A lot of Ballet and Tap was the same, especially in groups and pairs. There will be some sections in the final with very few competitors.

As this was across all regions it is not a rogue adjudicator marking those sections harshly. I am interested to hear others thoughts.

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

19 minutes ago, dance5678 said:

I was interested to see that in all Regions hardly any Greek or Global got through to the finals, even if they had a placing. A lot of Ballet and Tap was the same, especially in groups and pairs. There will be some sections in the final with very few competitors.

As this was across all regions it is not a rogue adjudicator marking those sections harshly. I am interested to hear others thoughts.

Yes, exactly this. At our regional, I don't think a single junior or intermediate Global trio/ quartet was put through. It does make you wonder what the adjudicators have been instructed to do for each section. I'm probably being cynical but it just felt weird. 

[dance5678]

I agree, there were many Global and Greek performances I thought deserved to go through, even when taking into account the exacting technique required for each country/style. I wonder if Global and Greek will be phased out in the future, like Greek from Dance World Cup with the reason 'not enough entries'. The stage performance numbers far outweigh the classical, and therefore make it a more lucrative prospect to focus on.

(I have heard nothing to this effect, mere speculation on my part.)

[taxi4ballet]

I must be way out of the loop - it's probably a good 12 years since I watched any of this, what's Global?

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

6 minutes ago, taxi4ballet said:

I must be way out of the loop - it's probably a good 12 years since I watched any of this, what's Global?

Haha - 'Global' is what they started calling National a couple of years ago. I (and everyone I know) still calls it National!  🤣

[joyofdance]

It's the same with all festivals, not just AED ones. Certain dance schools, particularly the large well known ones will be favoured. The judging can be very strange and inconsistent. Boys have always been favoured and received better marks than girls for far less skilled performances. I did experience one male adjudicator refuse to award places in the finals  to any of the entrants of a master dance competition that we watched. I think there were about 5 entrants and while he was diplomatic in his feedback, he was very clear that the standard just wasn't good enough. To be honest it was a breath of fresh air to hear his honesty as at times you did wonder what planet some adjudicators were on. 

[Pointeshoe24]

We found the same thing too. The last regionals had a joyful feel about it but this felt so much more pressured. There were some amazing dancers but it felt so much more elite and less accessible to a normal dance school. The venue was great but there was hardly any parking and this was made much worse by only adjudicating at certain points in the day. A couple of times we had to wait for nearly three hours!!

 

I have noticed that AED have now invited some dancers that were close to an honours mark to finals because there wasn't enough to fill their particular section.

[Jan McNulty]

Hello @Pointeshoe24 and Welcome to the forum!

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

2 hours ago, Pointeshoe24 said:

We found the same thing too. The last regionals had a joyful feel about it but this felt so much more pressured. There were some amazing dancers but it felt so much more elite and less accessible to a normal dance school. The venue was great but there was hardly any parking and this was made much worse by only adjudicating at certain points in the day. A couple of times we had to wait for nearly three hours!!

 

I have noticed that AED have now invited some dancers that were close to an honours mark to finals because there wasn't enough to fill their particular section.

I could be wrong but I think they have only invited those with honours marks but who were outside of the placings. I am looking forward to seeing how big (or small) some of the sections are at Nationals. 

[dance5678]

I heard chatter at All England that some teachers have petitioned for the mixed ages to change or stop, due to it being unfair to dancers who are always the youngest. Would be interesting to hear others thoughts.

[taxi4ballet]

21 hours ago, BalletGirlAndBoy said:

Haha - 'Global' is what they started calling National a couple of years ago. I (and everyone I know) still calls it National!  🤣

Thanks, I see now. There is presumably a reason for the change, but the previous name did what it said on the tin, so why bother.

[MissEmily]

@dance5678Yes, I am one of those teachers. There is a massive developmental and physical difference between a child who turned 7 in August and one who turned 9 in September and at the moment both those children would be in the same section. And due to the two year All England cycle, the same children will always be the youngest/ eldest. 

[dance5678]

I agree with you Miss Emily. I have a 6 and an 8 (and some older!) and the difference between those two is remarkably noticeable.

[Tendu_mum]

We felt the same in our region this year. The general feel and chat from most people was disappointment. A lot of the junior sections none got through to the finals at all. This left the dancers feeling really deflated when they’ve worked so hard to get to this point, to place 1st/2nd/3rd and then not to go any further. And the parents left wondering why they’ve bothered committing so much time, energy and money to it all. 
Then they are selecting the odd dancer who had honours but not all of them so it’s  probably down to 0.01 of a mark or something ridiculous that some are missing out. Some dancers were placing 1st with 23.9! I mean come on! 
 

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

1 minute ago, Tendu_mum said:

We felt the same in our region this year. The general feel and chat from most people was disappointment. A lot of the junior sections none got through to the finals at all. This left the dancers feeling really deflated when they’ve worked so hard to get to this point, to place 1st/2nd/3rd and then not to go any further. And the parents left wondering why they’ve bothered committing so much time, energy and money to it all. 
Then they are selecting the odd dancer who had honours but not all of them so it’s  probably down to 0.01 of a mark or something ridiculous that some are missing out. Some dancers were placing 1st with 23.9! I mean come on! 
 

100%. We had sacrificed a family holiday so my DD could dance at the Regionals and I was left feeling like the time, energy and money, as well as the impact on the family, just wasn't worth it. That's not anything to do with my own DD's results but a general sense of confusion as to how the marking was being done. We won't be going back in 2026.

[Balleteveryday]

Yeh!! Between 50-60 across some split sections and 3 go through…at best!! Bit of a joke really - especially compared to 2022!! I kind of feel we signed up to 2024 regionals on the basis of what happened in 2022 and then they changed the rules part way through to make it infinitely more difficult! I know that’s not necessarily true as they have the freedom to change (and I also didn’t really agree with having 2 national champions across split sections in 2022). Difficult, but you feel there should be some halfway house somewhere!

[Tendu_mum]

2 minutes ago, BalletGirlAndBoy said:

100%. We had sacrificed a family holiday so my DD could dance at the Regionals and I was left feeling like the time, energy and money, as well as the impact on the family, just wasn't worth it. That's not anything to do with my own DD's results but a general sense of confusion as to how the marking was being done. We won't be going back in 2026.

Yes same! I didn’t even see my other child for several days due to the regionals! All of these festivals have such an impact on the entire family! 
I agree, it was nothing to do with my own DD’s placings, just that everyone wants to be able feel happy for the dancers that did place and celebrate their success but every time the results were read out and there were no announcements (or very few) of any National finals marks the general feel in the audience, backstage and in the dressing rooms was disappointment at how hard they are making it for them to succeed. Especially the juniors it seemed.
I know of one parent whose child placed 3 x 1st and 1 x 2nd for her solos and none of them got through to the finals. 

[BalletGirlAndBoy]

5 minutes ago, Tendu_mum said:

I know of one parent whose child placed 3 x 1st and 1 x 2nd for her solos and none of them got through to the finals. 

Wow! That's so, so disappointing. Poor dancer. 

[Tendu_mum]

Sorry that was supposed to say 2 x 1sts not 3, but still such a shame ☹️

[mother of dancers]

9 hours ago, Tendu_mum said:

We felt the same in our region this year. The general feel and chat from most people was disappointment. A lot of the junior sections none got through to the finals at all. This left the dancers feeling really deflated when they’ve worked so hard to get to this point, to place 1st/2nd/3rd and then not to go any further. And the parents left wondering why they’ve bothered committing so much time, energy and money to it all. 
Then they are selecting the odd dancer who had honours but not all of them so it’s  probably down to 0.01 of a mark or something ridiculous that some are missing out. Some dancers were placing 1st with 23.9! I mean come on! 
 

This happened in our region as well. First place with 23.9!

[dance5678]

Perhaps All England will rethink for next time. Especially when their profits for the final will no doubt be financially impacted with less entries and less tickets purchased. 

For example I watched groups sections where none got through, even though the standard was definitely high enough for the finals. That's hundreds pounds of parent tickets lost. 

[The red shoes]

On 04/06/2024 at 11:55, dance5678 said:

I heard chatter at All England that some teachers have petitioned for the mixed ages to change or stop, due to it being unfair to dancers who are always the youngest. Would be interesting to hear others thoughts.

AED have sent out a lengthy questionnaire to all principals, festival organisers and adjudicators . It’s VERY detailed but the suggestion of splitting ages was on there along with adding in acro and street and possibly 18+ sections 

[dance5678]

That's good to know, for some reason I thought Acro was already going to be included next AE.

[joyofdance]

One thing that I find odd and a little unfair about the whole competition, is that there are 17 yr olds competing who are on full time dance courses. I'm surprised that it's allowed as doesn't really make it an equal playing field. 

[Drdee]

My experiences of both regionals and nationals were mixed. I always tried to focus on the journey of building ‘skills and resilience’ and less on the results. Easy for me to say as it was quite stressful for the dancers. I did send a letter to the chair to express my concerns around inconsistency of adjudication at one regional. The reply was thoughtful and talked about the ‘spark of a performance that lights the adjudicator’s imagination’ and that the results are not always as one might expect as in an exam where there is ‘clear criteria and outcomes’. The money and time spent was definitely challenging. Lots of hand me down costumes and creative meals made in hotel rooms for us. Was it worth it? I think for my dd’s yes. Less so for me. I am sure it is hard for those with other children who don’t dance. Many funny stories to remember of wrong costumes, no music, dramas between rivals etc. As a parent to provide dd’s opportunities to develop performance skills and experience with real life challenges is a good thing but does mean debriefing and reflecting as psychologically can be tough depending on your child. Our last experience was just before Covid so things may be different now.

Edited June 7 by Drdee
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