Dance Master UK is a dance competition held annually in the United Kingdom.
Dance Master UK was established in the late 1990s by the International Dance Teachers Association, as the male equivalent of their long running competition Miss Dance of Great Britain. Dance Master UK is a theatre dance competition for boys held annually in the UK with a national final held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. The finals also include the judging of Miss Dance of Great Britain, and the International Ballet Championships.
Entrants who wish to compete in the national finals of Dance Master, must first qualify for the competition by winning a regional heat. Heats are held at dance festivals nationwide throughout the year. The majority of these festivals are independently run and must apply to the IDTA in order to stage a heat of Dance Master.
To enter a regional heat, competitors must be aged 16 years or over on the day of the competition and must be amateur dancers or be in full-time training. Professional dancers are not permitted to enter.
In the heats, each competitor performs a three-minute solo dance in a modern theatre or cabaret style. This may include jazz, tap, song, dialogue, instrumentation or comedy, with dance as the dominant discipline. Classical Ballet, character dance or national dance styles are not permitted. The IDTA requests that competitors present a solo that has been specially choreographed for the competition. Should a competitor win their regional heat, they must perform the same solo, without changes, at the national final.
To qualify for the national finals, a competitor must win their heat with a score of 85 marks or more, and they then represent that festival at the finals. A runner-up place is also awarded and the runner-up may compete at the national finals if they have scored a qualifying mark and only if the heat winner is unable to compete. It is very common for dancers to compete in numerous regional heats throughout the country in order to qualify for the national finals.