St Louis National Competition 

SCHEDULE IS COMPLETE
The schedule for the 2026 St. Louis national competition is now complete. It is scheduled for Tuesday*-Sunday, June 23*-28 at the St. Charles Convention Center located at 1 Convention Center Plaza St. Charles, Missouri. If you’ve not received your schedule confirmation, please check your email “spam” folder before you contact us. Please understand that we cannot even consider special performance requests for this show. There are simply far too many studios and acts involved for us to risk the integrity of the schedule, and the spirit of fair competition, with changes of this kind.   *Junior TOP Starz first rehearsal is Monday, June 22 (see below)

CHANGES AND CORRECTIONS
Your ability to make any changes or corrections to your acts is now limited. If, however, you discover an issue that requires attention please email us at office@talentonparade.com by the end of the day on Thursday, June 4 to check your options. Please include in your email your studio name, the show location you are attending, and as much detail as possible for the act(s) you are inquiring about (song title, dancer name if soloist, etc.). Changes emailed after June 4 will require management approval and will incur a $15 per act change fee if accommodated.

SCHEDULE FLEXIBILITY
Even though we have provided “to-the-minute” information in your schedule confirmation, you should still use it as a general guideline only. All acts should also be ready, and willing, to perform up to one hour earlier or later than scheduled as it is not unusual for the show to run early or, on rare occasions, a little late.

THEME DAYS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
Just for fun, each day of competition will be “themed” and the studio who best represents the theme for the day will receive a special trophy and recognition. We are also offering a couple of free master classes and dance down events.

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CLICK HERE FOR THEME DAY INFORMATION 

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CLICK HERE FOR SPECIAL EVENT INFORMATION

NATIONAL AWARDS AND THE PARADE OF CHAMPIONS
National competition includes selected acts being called back to re-compete in the Parade of Champions.

CLICK HERE for more information.

TOP STARZ
Part of what makes nationals competition so special are the performances of the TOP Starz Performance Teams.

CLICK HERE to see complete TOP Starz practice and performance schedules.

PERFORMANCE MUSIC UPLOAD
Please upload your performance music right away if you’ve not already done so. Be aware that we cannot simply pull your music from what you uploaded for regional competition. The DanceComp Genie system assigns each music file you upload to a specific act in a specific show. It must be uploaded again for national competition. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes. Once your music is uploaded, we strongly recommend that you listen to each file to confirm that you have uploaded what you intended to. Be advised, however, that uploaded files can only be listened to from a PC (not a MAC) that is running the Chrome browser. We cannot be responsible for music uploaded incorrectly and, in fairness, we cannot allow an act to re-compete because of an incorrect music upload. We also strongly recommend that you have with you at the show a flash/thumb drive containing all your music files that we can use as a backup if necessary. Contact us with any questions or issues and we’ll be happy to assist.

TOP ENTERTAINER AND PHOTOGENIC
Entry for these special awards should have been processed during your act entry period and will not be accepted at the door. If you still need to enter for TOP Entertainer or Photogenic you must email us at office@talentonparade.com prior to 5:00 pm (CST) Thursday, June 4 with entry details. We will then contact you to make payment arrangements.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO RECORDING WILL BE PROHIBITED
Photography and video recording will only be allowed during awards presentations. This rule will be strictly enforced and has been established to protect the rights of studio owners, directors, teachers, choreographers, and costume designers. We also want to prevent unauthorized photos from being used elsewhere in a questionable manner. Professional performance photos and videos will be available from Alive Video and Photo for those who may be interested. Just make sure selections are made and orders are placed at the show as photo and video images will NOT be available to view or purchase after the show online.

RULES REVIEW
If you’ve not already done so, please take a few minutes to review the complete list of rules and guidelines posted at www.talentonparade.com/rules-and-awards. You are also encouraged to review the RUN OFF POLICY as you help your dancers (and their parents) understand the consequences they face if they choose to leave the stage during the performance.

CRITIQUES AND SCORES
Video critiques and digital scores will be available for you to view in the week following the show by logging in to your DanceComp Genie account dashboard.

GENERAL SCHEDULE
Tuesday, June 23   (Theme: Studio Spirit Day)
4:15 pm    Doors Open
    Ballroom Stage
5:00 pm    Ages 9-10 Solo Competition Begins: Block A
9:00 pm    Approximate final performance in Block A (Awards Wed.)

Wednesday, June 24   (Theme: Super Hero Day)
7:00 am    Doors Open
    Exhibit Hall Stage
7:45 am    Ages 13-14 Solo Competition
2:00 pm    Parade of Champions Finalists Announced
2:10 pm    Ages 13-14 Solo Adjudicated AWARDS
3:00 pm    Ages 11-12 Duet/Trio Competition
5:05 pm    Parade of Champions Finalists Announced
5:15 pm    Ages 11-12 Duet/Trio Adjudicated AWARDS
6:15 pm    8 & Younger Solo Parade of Champions
6:35 pm    Ages 9-10 Solo Parade of Champions
7:00 pm    Ages 13-14 Solo Parade of Champions
7:25 pm    Ages 11-12 Duet/Trio Parade of Champions
7:50 pm    All Ages TOP Charity Dance Down
8:20 pm    TOP Ten AWARDS
    Ballroom Stage
9:30 am    Ages 9-10 Solo Competition Resumes: Block B
11:00 am    Parade of Champions Finalists Announced
11:10 am    Ages 9-10 Solo Adjudicated AWARDS
12:00 pm    8 & Younger Solo Competition
3:35 pm    Parade of Champions Finalists Announced
3:45 pm    8 & Younger Solo Adjudicated AWARDS

Thursday, June 25   (Theme: Denim and Diamonds Day)
7:00 am    Doors Open
    Exhibit Hall Stage
7:45 am    Ages 11-12 Solo Competition
2:00 pm    POC Finalists Announced
2:10 pm    Ages 11-12 Solo Adjudicated AWARDS
2:50 pm    17 & Older Solo Competition
7:00 pm    POC Finalists Announced
7:10 pm    17 & Older Solo Adjudicated AWARDS
7:45 pm    8 & Younger Duet/Trio Parade of Champions
8:05 pm    Ages 9-10 Duet/Trio Parade of Champions
8:25 pm    Ages 11-12 Solo Parade of Champions
8:50 pm    Ages 17-19 Solo Parade of Champions
9:15 pm    TOP Ten AWARDS
    Ballroom Stage
8:30 am    10 & Younger Duet/Trio Competition
11:40 am    POC Finalists Announced
11:55 am    10 & Younger Duet/Trio Adjudicated AWARDS

Friday, June 26   (Theme: Favorite Sports Team Day)
7:00 am    Doors Open
7:45 am    Ages 15-16 Solo Competition
1:10 pm    POC Finalists Announced
1:20 pm    Ages 15-16 Solo Adjudicated AWARDS
2:00 pm    Ages 9-12 Small Group Competition
6:40 pm    POC Finalists Announced
6:50 pm    Ages 9-12 Small Group Adjudicated AWARDS
7:10 pm    Parent and Child Dance Down
7:45 pm    Ages 15-16 Solo Parade of Champions
8:10 pm    Ages 9-10 Small Group Parade of Champions
8:35 pm    Ages 11-12 Small Group Parade of Champions
9:05 pm    Junior TOP Starz Performance
9:20 pm    TOP Ten AWARDS

Saturday, June 27   (Theme: America 250 Day)
7:00 am    Doors Open
7:45 am    Ages 13-14 Small Group Competition
10:20 am    POC Finalists Announced
10:30 am    Ages 13-14 Small Group Adjudicated AWARDS
11:00 am    8 & Younger Group Competition
1:35 pm    POC Finalists Announced
1:45 pm    8 & Younger Group Adjudicated AWARDS
2:20 pm    Ages 9-12 Large Group/Line Competition
5:20 pm    All Ages Production Competition
6:25 pm    POC Finalists Announced
6:35 pm    Ages 9-12 Large Group/Line Adjudicated AWARDS
6:50 pm    ALL Ages Production AWARDS
7:30 pm    Ages 13-14 Small Group Parade of Champions
7:55 pm    8 & Younger Small Group Parade of Champions
8:15 pm    Ages 9-12 Large Group/Line Parade of Champions
8:40 pm    8 & Younger Large Group/Line Parade of Champions
9:00 pm    Senior TOP Starz Performance
9:15 pm    TOP Ten AWARDS

Sunday, June 28   (Theme: House Slippers Day)
7:00 am    Doors Open
7:45 am    13 & Older Duet/Trio Competition
12:10 pm    POC Finalists Announced
12:20 pm    13 & Older Duet/Trio Adjudicated AWARDS
12:55 pm    13+ Lg Group/Line and 15+ Sm Group Competition
6:10 pm    POC Finalists Announced
6:20 pm    Adjudicated AWARDS for Above
7:00 pm    Ages 13-14 Duet/Trio Parade of Champions
7:25 pm    Ages 15-19 Duet/Trio Parade of Champions
7:50 pm    Ages 13-19 Lg Group/Line Parade of Champions
8:15 pm    Ages 15-19 Small Group Parade of Champions
8:40 pm    TOP Ten AWARDS