A young Toongabbie dance troupe has overcome the difficulties of the pandemic to take out first place at the prestigious DANCE Australian Theatrical Championships.
An exciting performance from Toongabbie Dance Centre’s eight and under dance troupe has secured them first place in the lyrical category.
Toongabbie Dance Centre’s Principal Theatrical Teacher Jessica Esposito said the girls felt both nervous and excited before they performed.
“[They were] ecstatic, as you can imagine, little young seven, eight and nine-year-olds were all very excited leading up to the day and on the day itself,” she said.
“When they actually won the championship they were over the moon, jumping around and hugging each other.
“Some of [the parents] got a bit teary-eyed, they get overwhelmed over how proud they are.
“Because every week they come [to the classes] as well, they sit there, they watch them, so they’re committing to that as well for their daughters, so it’s a big thing.”
But the road to the championships hasn’t been easy. With lockdowns and restrictions, the girls had to spend around 12 months attending dance lessons online.
Ms Esposito said it was a challenging experience for both herself and the group of close friends, but one they got through together.
“Through COVID, they kept their online training up and worked really hard as a group, they’re great friends as well, which I think really helped build that team atmosphere,” she said.
“But it was great for them as well because they were still able to interact with each other… once we could get back in the studio they were all so excited.”
With some having only danced for 12 months, Ms Esposito said she was extremely proud of the girls.
“They’ve really come a long way as a group in such a short amount of time,” she said.
“They all train at least four days a week, they’re very dedicated at such a young age.”
Principal and Owner of Toongabbie Dance Centre Barry Wall also praised the dance troupe’s commitment.
“The maturity of eight-year-olds this day and age is amazing, you know, I can go back many years but this team is just different, and to do what they did just proves it,” he said.
Ms Esposito also gave a special mention to the dance centre’s DYNAMITE eight and under jazz duo who, despite only dancing together for two weeks, came third out of thirty duo competitors.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.