LAS VEGAS – December 28, 2009 – Winchester Cultural Center will host the first-ever, countywide 48-Hour Dance Competition Jan. 8-10. Dancers ages 11 to 19 will meet at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8 to review the rules and receive their dance genre and music assignments for the competition. They then have 48 hours to choreograph an original piece, gather costumes and prepare their performance for the show at 6 p.m. Jan. 10 inside the Winchester Cultural Center Theater, 3130 S. McLeod Drive. Judging will take place during the show.

Online registration begins Jan. 1. Walk-in registration begins Jan. 5. The competition is limited to the first 20 groups with all paid entry fees. Entry in the competition is $20 per person, which also can be put toward tuition in the Winchester Star Catchers Dance Program, which begins the same week. Public admission to the final performance is $5. Group members must attend the Jan. 8 meeting with an adult guardian (ages 18 and older) in order to participate.

Dancers ­– in groups of three to five ­– will draw an envelope containing a song, genre of dance and challenge relating to the dance genre such as a dance craze or a prop. Dance genres will vary from contemporary, modern, jazz, hip-hop, Broadway and various sub-genres not to include ballroom or tap numbers. Groups unhappy with their draw can return their envelopes to the box one time. Once returned, groups must keep their second choice.

Once rules are reviewed and questions are answered, groups are free to leave the center to begin choreography. Groups must work together, without the use of a professional performer, choreographer or previous choreography, to create an original piece and gather costumes.

A panel of judges will decide the first-, second- and third-place winners based on originality, costume relevance to the genre, technique and others. The first-place group will be awarded $300 with $100 for second place and $50 for third place. The audience will vote on the Audience Choice Award. Dances must be kept between 2 minutes and 2 ½ minutes and groups can use any part of the chosen song to maintain the time restriction. Any routine deemed inappropriate by the judges will be disqualified from competition.

Groups will return to the Winchester Theater at 4 p.m. Jan. 10 for a tech rehearsal and opportunity to practice their piece on the stage.

Those interested in the 48-Hour Dance Competition can call the Winchester Cultural Center at 455-7340 or visit the Web site at www.accessclarkcounty.com/parks. Clark County Parks and Recreation events and activities also can be found on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook by visiting http://tinyurl.com/l87c4l.

About Clark County

Clark County is a dynamic and innovative organization dedicated to providing top-quality service with integrity, respect and accountability.  With jurisdiction over the world-famous Las Vegas Strip and covering an area the size of New Jersey, Clark is the nation’s 15th-largest county and provides extensive regional services to more than 2 million citizens and 44 million visitors a year. Included are the nation’s 7th-busiest airport, air quality compliance, social services and the state’s largest public hospital, University Medical Center. The county also provides municipal services that are traditionally provided by cities to almost 900,000 residents in the unincorporated area. Those include fire protection, roads and other public works, parks and recreation, and planning and development. In 2009, Clark County celebrates a “century of service.”