Kids dance their way to Melbourne

A Melbourne dance competition will be experiencing flair from the Kimberley as a local dance studio competes for the first time.

A team of 16 children from Broome Performing Arts Co-op have travelled east, along with their teachers, to compete in the Kids Artistic Revue Regional Dance Competition, running from October 4-7.

BPAC co-director Justine De Bruyn said the KAR Regional Dance Competition was a first for the kids.

“It will be their first dance competition and for some of them it will be the first time they travel to a big city,” she said.

“They’ve always done our little productions in town so this will be a big step for them.

“The lead-up has been a mixture of excitement and nervousness but they know that they’re going to offer something different because we’re from Broome.

“They’re not coming from a strict dance environment, they may not have the best technique, but they all have a love for performing and lots of energy.

“For them it’s all about performing and having a great time on stage.”

Ms De Bruyn said the reason she wanted the studio to compete in the KAR Regional Dance Competition was because the competition also raised money for cancer research.

“I also liked the level of the competition and we thought it would help expose the kids to a higher level of dance and what it’s like in the big city,” she said.

Co-director Samantha Tucker said she hoped experiencing the competition in Melbourne would push the children to the next level.

“We hope they will look at the other dances and go ‘Wow I want to be able to do that’,” she said.

“In Broome, we don’t have that sort of strict dance culture where everything must be perfect.

“But if these kids want to consider performing professionally, this might motivate them to work even harder.”

Both BPAC directors hope to consider making competition trips an annual fixture.

“For us being in a remote town, it is very expensive to travel for competitions given registration fees, flights and accommodation, but we hope everyone will be keen to keep trying their hands at competing,” Ms De Bruyn said.