Alocal dance studio has been successful in a prestigious national competition, earning an award they had not held for more then a decade.
MJ Dance Studio competed at this year’s week long Showcase and Hollywood Bound Australian Dance Championships held on the Gold Coast at the renowned Star Casino last month.
For the first time since 2014, MJ Dance Studio had a dancer in the Battle of the Stars (Top 2) with Violet Davis earning Runner Up National Junior Champion.
The national competition saw over 2500 acts perform from across Australia and New Zealand with more than $23,000 in cash prizes up for grabs.
The dance company had representatives in the Top 10 for the most prestigious category, Dancer of the Year, in three out of the four age groups.
Madi Lane earned a Top 5 spot in the Senior Dancer of the Year category while Ruby Kelly, Olivia Carey and Kiera McBain all placed in the Top 10 for Dancer of the Year in their respective age groups.
MJ Dance Studio director Maria Slape said it was not easy for a small regional city to compete against larger metropolitan counterparts who audition their teams and clock up to triple the amount of training hours.
“To achieve what we achieve is pretty incredible really. The dancers always rise to the occasion and they absolutely love Showcase, the atmosphere there is electric,” she said.
“We do not audition our teams and we invited all our under 12, under 16 and senior dancers to Showcase.
“It is my favourite competition we go to and it is wonderful to be inspired by the other studios and lovely to chat with the other studio owners.
“I think it is very important for the growth of our studio to keep witnessing what the rest of Australia is doing, and it is obviously very satisfying that we can be at one of the top competitions in Australia and still be placing well.
“It is really wonderful for the kids to bond too, they get so close with going away and having a great time together so it just brings everyone a lot closer.
“We had quite a few retire this year and they love to do that at Showcase, it’s just the best way to finish off your time at MJ.”
The Dance Studio has not had a dancer in the Top 2 since Sam Malseed in 2014, who went on to place within the Top 20 on Channel 10’s So You Think You Can Dance Australia that same year.
“To get that Top 2 placing is huge because the Top 2 in each age group dance at the Battle of the Stars and there is a winner and runner up,” Ms Slape said.
“We have never had anyone at this age group (junior) achieve such a high level, so on that end it was more exciting, but we have had success and to have had this kind of representation in the Top 10 is not unusual for us.
“Madi Lane has got Top 5 and Top 10 countless times, so she has been very consistently getting in that top lot.”
The local dance studio was also thrilled to score a Platinum Gold award for nearly all their teen and senior routines which requires the routine to get 190-195 out of 200 points.
They earned 1st Platinum Gold in the Teen Hip Hop, Teen Musical Theatre, Senior Open and Senior Contempary.
The routines were choreographed by MJ Dance Studio teacher Christina Jenkins, MJ Dance Studio teacher and former student Symiko De Van Der Schueren and former student Euan Fistrovic Doidge and his husband Mitch Fistrovic.
The dance company has a long history at the national competition over 22 years after sending their first soloists Danielle Barker and Cristina Pollard (nee D’Agostino) in 2003.
The studio has had two dancers win the Senior Dancer of the Year, with Fistrovic Doidge first taking the honour in 2010.
Fistrovic Doidge has gone on to have a long and successful career in Broadway including as Felicia in the 2018 Australian tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and in more recent years Lola in Kinky Boots with Showbiz Christchurch and Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, Maximillian in Candide and Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat for the Victorian Opera.
MJ Dance Studio dancers Ryan Thompson and Lane have both placed in the Top 3 for Dancer of the Year categories while Danielle Barker, De van der Schyeren and Halle Anderson have previously earned a Top 5 placing.
Thompson gained a contract with Royal Caribbean Cruises and was cast in Grease as a singer/dancer on Harmony of the Seas in 2022 and is currently performing in the We Will Rock You musical with Royal Caribbean Cruises.
De van der Schyeren was a top 30 finalist on the TV series So You Think You Can Dance Australia and was also an original cast member of Marko Panzic’s The Dream Dance Company “Genesis” while Anderson is currently a performer at Hong Kong Disneyland.
