Levels of Highalnd Dancing

The first level in Highland dancing is Primary. This is for children under seven. If you begin highland dance at an age younger than seven you would compete in this group. This is the only group that has an age requirement.

Once you are seven, you are automatically bumped up into the Beginner category. After beginner is Novice. Neither of these level have age requirements.

To move onto the next level you must meet a requirement. Every dancer gets something called a F.U.S.T.A.(Federation of United States Teachers and Adjudicators) card. This card is like your dancer I.D. It is how you register to compete in competitions.

At a competition if you receive a first, second, or third place, you get a stamp on the back of your. Once you receive six stamps you move onto the next level. This applies for the Beginner and Novice levels of highland dance.

After you get six stamps on your Novice card, you move into a level called Intermediate. This level is preparing you for Premier or the highest level of dance. Intermediate doesn't require anything to move on. You stay in Intermediate for a whole year and you are automatically moved into Premier.

Once you get to Premier, it is the highest level so you don't move up. You start to receive money at competitions instead of medals and trophies. You can qualify for Nationals once you are in Premier. It is also much more difficult to win. The groups get much bigger.


As an example of the groups, here are competition results. Scroll to the bottom of the page. It lists the dance, the dancers name, the place they received, the age group and of course the level they're in.