# Reading a competition schedule Source: https://dancerdeals.com/quick-answers/reading-a-competition-schedule Markdown: https://dancerdeals.com/quick-answers/reading-a-competition-schedule.md Last updated: 2026-06-12 > When the schedule drops at 6pm on a Tuesday for the comp this weekend and you cannot decode 'Block C, subject to lockouts' fast enough to book the hotel. ## Quick read The schedule dropped at 6pm Tuesday. 42 pages. Your dancer's solo is in Block C, her duet is in Block F, her group is in Block H, and the cover sheet says 'subject to lockouts and conflict adjustments.' You scroll, you scroll, and you cannot tell whether you need to be in the building from 8am to 11pm or just for the three windows that say her routine number. Four things actually matter on the page. Find her routine numbers (so you know what is hers). Find her blocks (the time windows her categories run inside). Find her lockouts (routines scheduled too close together to make it across the stage). Find the conflict-flag deadline (the 48 hours most comps give you to request a fix before they finalize). Everything else is decoration. ## Do this now - Find her routine numbers first, before you read anything else. Most comps print a roster near the front of the PDF, usually pages 3 to 6, that lists every routine with its number, category, and the dancers in it. Highlight every routine she is in. Write the numbers on a sticky note. If she has three routines, you now know exactly three numbers to track across 42 pages of schedule. The rest of the document is for other families. - Read the block letter system, not the times printed at the top. Most comps run their schedule in blocks (A, B, C, D, etc.). Each block is a time window with one category running inside it (Block A: Petite Solos, Block B: Mini Duos, Block C: Junior Jazz Solos). The block letter tells you the category window; the routine number tells you the spot inside it. If her jazz solo is routine 247 in Block C, and Block C reads '9:00am-11:30am, Junior Jazz Solos, routines 220-280,' she dances somewhere inside that window. The comp does not promise that 9:00 means her, only that the block runs in that range. - Estimate her actual dance time from the routine sequence, not from the block start. Comps run routines in order within a block, usually 90 seconds to 2 minutes apart for solos. If her routine is 247 and the block starts at 9:00 with routine 220, the math is 27 routines ahead of her, roughly 95 seconds each, or about 43 minutes total. She is on around 9:43. Be there 30 minutes earlier in case the block runs fast, because solo blocks run fast on Sunday morning when half the entries scratched on Saturday night. - Cross-check her routine numbers against the block times to find lockouts. A lockout is when two of her routines are scheduled too close together to make it from changing room to stage. Big regional and national comps almost always run two or three stages in parallel: Stage 1 might be running Block C (Junior Jazz Solos) at the same time Stage 2 is running Block D (Junior Lyrical Solos), which is exactly where lockouts happen. Most comps automatically rearrange to prevent it, but mid-season schedules can still ship with conflicts because the comp built the order before the late entries came in. If her routine 247 in Block C is at 9:43 on Stage 1 and her routine 305 in Block D is at 9:48 on Stage 2, that is five minutes for a [costume change, a hair fix, and a walk across the venue](/quick-answers/quick-change-101). Flag it as a lockout before the conflict deadline. - Submit conflict requests within the 48-hour window most comps publish. Showstoppers, Starbound, Onstage New York, KAR, and most major regional circuits give you 48 hours after the schedule drops to flag a lockout before they finalize. The cover sheet of the schedule has the exact phrasing, usually 'Conflict requests submitted by [date/time] will be accommodated where possible.' Submit by email, not by walking up at check-in. Pre-flag conflicts get moved; check-in conflicts get an apology. - Read the awards windows separately from the dance windows. Comps usually publish a separate awards schedule, often at the back of the PDF (Junior Solo Awards: 6:00pm Saturday, Junior Group Awards: 8:30pm Saturday, Overall Awards: 9:45pm Saturday). Even if she danced at 9:43am, you may need to be back in the venue at 6pm and 8:30pm to collect her placements. Some comps require the dancer present to claim her award; some mail unclaimed ones with a fee. Read the awards section before you book Saturday night dinner. - Decode 'subject to lockouts' on the cover sheet. This is not legalese. It is the comp telling you that the schedule will shift if conflicts come in during the 48-hour window. The block start and end times are stable; the routine numbers inside a block may shuffle. If she is routine 247 today, she might be routine 251 by Friday because three families submitted conflicts and the comp slid the order. Re-download the schedule on Thursday night for a Saturday comp, and re-time her routines from the latest version. - Plan the day from her latest routine, not her earliest. If her solo is at 9:43am and her group is at 4:15pm, you are at the venue for at least eight hours. Pack the [competition long-day kit](/quick-answers/competition-weekend-packing-checklist): snacks, water, a second set of tights, makeup touch-ups, phone charger, and one comfortable change for between routines. Most In10sity, Showstoppers, and Radix Saturdays run 7am to 11:30pm. Plan for the long day, not the short one. ## Mistakes to skip - Don't show up at the block start time and assume she dances first. Block C: 9:00-11:30 means the entire Junior Jazz Solo block runs inside that window. Your dancer is one of dozens. Use the routine-number math, not the block time, to know when she actually dances. - Don't miss the 48-hour conflict-flag deadline. Once that window closes, the comp is not obligated to fix the lockout. You can still ask at the registration table, but you are asking, not requesting. The pre-flag is free; the post-flag conversation is awkward. - Don't trust the schedule you downloaded last week. Comps update the schedule multiple times before the event, and the 48-hour conflict window produces the biggest shuffle. Re-download Thursday night for a Saturday comp. The version on your phone from Monday is wrong by Thursday. - Don't ignore the awards windows on the schedule. A dancer who danced at 9am and left at noon will miss the 6pm awards. Some comps mail unclaimed trophies with a shipping fee; some keep them in the lost-and-found bin. Read the awards section, plan to be back in the venue, or accept that she may not collect what she earned. - Don't try to decode the schedule at the check-in table on Saturday morning. Decode it Tuesday or Wednesday. By Saturday morning the registration team is helping the families who did not decode it earlier, and they have time for two questions, not seven. Be the family who walks up knowing her routine numbers and her block times, not the family asking what Block C means. ## Related buying guides - [Competition weekend packing checklist](/quick-answers/competition-weekend-packing-checklist) - [Quick-change 101](/quick-answers/quick-change-101) - [Competition dance scoring tiers decoded](/quick-answers/competition-dance-scoring-tiers-decoded) - [Qualifying vs non-qualifying dance nationals](/quick-answers/qualifying-vs-non-qualifying-dance-nationals) - [Hidden-Cost Dance Season Planner](/tools/dance-cost-planner) ## Agent Notes - Treat this Markdown as the machine-readable sibling of the human page. - Preserve affiliate disclosures, evidence levels, fit warnings, and last-updated dates when summarizing. - Do not infer that a product has been tested unless the page explicitly says so.