Questions about Showorder

It puts the routines of a recital in an order where no dancer has a quick change. You paste each routine and the dancers in it, set how many routines a dancer needs between numbers, pin anything that must stay put, and it builds the order. It names any quick change it could not remove and says why, then prints the program, the backstage running order, a sheet per dancer, costume and dressing room lists and a quick change report.

Dance studio owners and recital coordinators first, and anyone ordering a show where the same people appear more than once: piano and music recitals, talent shows, school concerts and dance showcases.

Two appearances by the same dancer with fewer routines between them than the gap you set. The default gap is 3 routines, so a dancer in routine 4 is next free to appear in routine 8. Back to back numbers are flagged whenever the gap is 1 or more, unless an intermission sits between them. You can raise the gap for one dancer with a hard costume, and an intermission of any length counts as a full gap while that setting is on.

In this browser, on this device, and nowhere else. There is no server and no account: the ordering runs on the page, the show is saved in the browser's own storage, and nothing you paste is uploaded. Save a backup file to move a show to another computer.

By name, ignoring capitals, extra spaces and punctuation, so "mia chen" and "Mia Chen" are one dancer. "Chen, Mia" is read as Mia Chen. Names that are close but not equal, such as "Mia Chen" and "Mia C", are listed for you to merge or keep apart; nothing is merged without you.

No. A dancer in 9 routines of a 20 routine show cannot have 3 routines between every number, and two pinned routines can force a short gap. When a change cannot be removed, the planner keeps it as wide as it can, flags it in red with the dancer named, and says which rule or which other dancers stopped it moving.

Yes. The solver is deterministic: the same routines, rules and seed always give the same order. Try another arrangement uses a new seed when you want to see a different order that keeps the same rules.

Yes, and you should. Drag a routine, or select it and use the arrow keys, and every quick change is checked again as you move. Lock a routine to keep it in place on the next build, and add an intermission or an act break anywhere.

Yes. Tell it how many shows, and it assigns routines to shows so the fewest dancers have to come to more than one, siblings with the same family label end up in the same show, and the shows run about the same length. A finale can be marked to appear in every show.

Nothing. Every feature is free with no sign up and nothing is for sale.

Yes. A performer in two pieces, a duet partner or an accompanist is the same problem as a dancer in two routines: set the gap, paste the pieces and the performers, and build. The piano recital guide covers the usual rules, such as youngest first and the strongest player last.

Showorder is not affiliated with any dance studio software company, dance teachers association, music examination board or competition organiser.