Aichi Prefectural Showa High School won the Chubu Regional Tournament of the 12th “DANCE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP,” a competition to determine the best high school dance club in Japan, and will advance to the finals! The final showdown for the title of Japan’s best high school dance club will be held in Tokyo on Tuesday, August 20th!

Aichi Prefectural Showa High School won the Chubu regional competition of the “avex presents DANCE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 12th National High School Dance Club Championship (hereinafter referred to as DCC),” an avex-sponsored event to determine the best high school dance club in Japan, and earned a ticket to the final competition.
The school will compete in the final tournament to be held at Tokyo Garden Theater (Koto-ku, Tokyo) on Tuesday, August 20th.

DCC is a competition that pits the best high school dance clubs from across the country. It began in 2013 and will be held for the 12th time this year. The judging criteria are “how well the two-character kanji theme is expressed through dance,” as well as three categories of “expressiveness,” “technical ability,” and “originality,” with scores out of 100 points. In addition to regional competitions being held in six areas from June in Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kansai, Kyushu, and Taiwan, online preliminary competitions will be held, and the 37 winning teams from all over the country will compete in the final competition to be held in Tokyo in August.

The Chubu Regional Tournament was held on Saturday, June 15th at the Nagoya City Nakamura Cultural Small Theater in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. A total of nine groups participated, with Aichi Prefectural Showa High School winning with 88 points.
Following on from last year, the school secured a ticket to the finals and said, “We want to express our gratitude to our teachers, family, friends, and beloved seniors and juniors who have supported us up until now. With only a short amount of practice time, our efforts paid off and we felt really good to be able to dance with our favorite members.”
Furthermore, Chibi Yuri, the head judge for the Chubu Regional Competition, commented on the school, “It was a wonderfully balanced performance with solid dancing that wasn’t limited by the theme. The development of the piece was easy to follow, with a structure and highlights, and I think that this helped to show a sense of unity and a unique worldview until the very end. It was a wonderful performance.”

The schools that will advance to the finals will be selected through online qualifying rounds to be held on Sunday, July 14th, with all 37 teams scheduled to advance to the finals.