The Dance Centre Peregian Springs was a force to be reckoned with at this year’s Brisbane, Kingaroy, Gympie and Toowoomba dance eisteddfods.
Dance Centre director Deborah Preece Brocksom said while they were not “a competition-focussed dance school”, they had “a very strong group of students at the moment who love competing”.
More than 45 students from the centre competed during the eisteddfod season and came home with a swag of wins.
At the Brisbane Eisteddfod they brought home first in Lyrical and second, third and fourth in Ballet sections against some of the state’s biggest dance schools.
At the Kingaroy Eisteddfod the centre won every Ballet section, first and second where two dances competed and won nine of the 10 dance sections entered.
At Gympie dancer Talena Cleyn won the Ballet and Contemporary sections and Senior Most Promising Classical Ballet Dancer award while solos, duos and trios won a host of first, second and third placings.
At Toowoomba dancer Scarlett O’Rielley won all sections she entered, the juniors claimed first and second in Ballet and the intermediates and seniors won first and second in Ballet and firsts in Lyrical and Contemporary.
“The eisteddfods were masses of fun, the results were wonderful but there were unforeseen challenges that kept us on our toes … literally,” Deborah said.
“At the Toowoomba Eisteddfod, we nearly cancelled the night before. We were down five dancers (flu). Some dances went from a cast of eight dancers down to four (the minimum allowed) and there was simply no time to rehearse the 10 numbers, all of which had to be drastically changed.
“Rehearsals were still taking place outside the theatre on the lawn minutes before performances with dancers rapidly thinking on their feet, formations being radically changed, classical ballet Pas de Trois with difficult partner work becoming Pas de Deux and so forth.
“We always learn and grow from the eisteddfod season and we will be even stronger in 2018.”
For more information visit www.dancecentreperegiansprings.com or phone 5442 8128.
