Hundreds of dancers from across Victoria and even interstate will light up the stage of the JB Osborne Theatre for the 17th Bendigo Dance Eisteddfod.
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The event starts on Saturday, June 29 and runs for 11 days, with around 400 dancers aged from three years old to adults scheduled to perform.
The eisteddfod has attracted competitors from locations including Melbourne, Swan Hill, Ballarat, Geelong, Benalla, and Echuca, and even Griffith in southern New South Wales.
There are two major categories of dance, classical and theatrical, with classical including classical dance, contemporary, character and lyrical.
Theatrical encompasses tap, jazz, hip-hop, song and dance, and song and tap.
Bendigo Dance Eisteddfod president Vincent Rousch said hip-hop was a relatively new addition to the competition, but was growing in popularity every year.
Some of the dancers scheduled to perform were just starting out in their careers, Mr Rousch said, while others were "up there with the best of them".
Adjudicators from interstate are brought in so they do not know the dancers they are to judge, with one this year coming from Brisbane via New York and another from Sydney.
This year the JB Osborne Theatre at Crusoe College has newly-installed curtains: the first new curtains since the building was constructed 41 years ago.
Mr Rousch said Crusoe College's principal Brad Madden and business manager Gerry Truscott deserved special thanks for the update to the community theatre.
Members of the public are invited to watch the eisteddfod, which kicks off at 1.30pm Saturday.
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