Young music composers and dance devisors, who reside in Perth and Kinross, are invited to submit entries to two competitions which are being run in association with the PERTH 800^th Anniversary Celebrations.

One competition is to devise a new Scottish Country or Ceilidh dance; the other is to compose an original tune for a 32 bar reel or jig. The closing date for entries is

17 September 2010 so get those thinking caps on now. Good luck!

Competition Rules

1. Entrants need to be under 18 years of age. There will be 2 categories in the dance devising sections; under 18 and under 12. The tune composition will have one category covering both age groups.

2. Entries can be made by an individual or by a group of people. Entries must state all people involved, giving full names and ages at the time of entry. If all members of a group are not under 12, then entry should be made in the under 18 section. Teachers may give advice to the entrants but the submitted entry must be based on an original idea by the entrants.

3. Submitted dances need not be in standard terminology but must illustrate how the clearly described formations fit the music and show the barring. All dance entries must have a title, the names of the devisors and their current ages, any short dedication (optional), suggested music (if there is a recommended tune). Submitted tunes must show the title, the names of the composers and their ages, any short dedication (optional), and be presented in a recognised musical notation.

4. The entries will be judged by two independent panels – one for the tunes and the other for the dances. The panels will comprise experienced dancers and musicians from the Perth & Perthshire Branch and external assessors from other Branches of the RSCDS.

5. Selected entries (judged to be of sufficient merit) will be published in a commemorative booklet which will contain three other dances devised for this celebration – Perth 800 by a member of the RSCDS Perth & Perthshire Branch, Perth meets Perth and The Swan and the Tay by members of the Perth, Western Australia Branch. It is planned that the winning dances will be performed at the Perth Schools annual Children’s Festival of Dance in late November at the Bells Sports Centre.

6. Winners will be notified in October 2010 and an announcement made one week after the notifications have been sent.

All entries must be submitted by Friday 17^th September 2010. Submissions should be sent as attachments and emailed to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the subject line heading “Perth 800 Competition – Music” or “Perth 800 Competition – Dance”.