MJ Dance Studio dancers were the stars of the stage at the Showcase National Dance Championships on the Gold Coast.

More than 600 group acts competed at the prestigious event at Star Casino, with some sections involving over 20 competitors.

MJ Dance Studio Director Maria Slape said it was an incredible week and said the 44 MJ dancers were “absolutely sensational” on stage.

“I was thrilled with the way the kids performed, thrilled they had such a great time, it was really lovely to see MJ at a national event doing so well, it was very satisfying,” Ms Slape said.

Ms Slape said it was wonderful to see the national competition return to its pre-pandemic former glory this year and said she loved the standard of competition.

“I think after COVID everyone was keen to celebrate dance again, we had so many old friends there, studios that we used to always compete against,” she said.

“Many of our dancers had never been to Showcase and so were truly blown away by the standard.

“One of the main reasons MJ travels to national competitions is to witness dance at the highest level, to learn, to grow and to be motivated to strive to be the very best you can be.”

On day one of the troupe sections, every troupe scored Platinum Gold or above and former So You Think You Can Dance judge Bonnie Lythgoe was amongst the judges.

The first Double Platinum Gold placings included contemporary ‘Belly of the Beast’ and acrobatics ‘What a Wonderful World’ choreographed by Christina Jenkin.

The first Platinum Gold winners included lyrical ‘Sort of,’ pointe ‘My Heart Will Go On’ and traditional contemporary ‘Dance of the Living,’ also choreographed by Ms Jenkin.

Contemporary ‘Earthquake’ won second Platinum Gold, open ‘Quiet Uptown’ won third Double Platinum Gold, lyrical ‘I’ll Never Love Again’ won third Platinum Gold – choreography by Christina Jenkin and Platinum Gold awards were gained by Contemporary ‘Look up’ and Broadway ‘Hamilton” both choreographed by Ms Slape.

Success continued on day two, starting at 8.45am and finishing around 12.45am.

In the pre-teen category, choreographed by Ms Slape, both Broadway and open won first High Gold and lyrical won third High Gold.

In the teen category, the small group jazz choreographed by Cooper Terry won Platinum Gold second and the hip-hop choreographed by Poppy Bristow was awarded High Gold.

In the senior category, the hip-hop choreographed by Arna Singleton won first Platinum Gold, the jazz choreographed by Maria Slape won second Platinum Gold and the lyrical choreographed by Ms Jenkin was awarded a Platinum Gold.

Day three was a shorter day with just two troupes performing, the pre-teen large hip hop group received a fourth and Platinum Gold and the pre-teen small group received a High Gold, both choreographed by Ms Singleton.

The Battle of the Stars was held in the main theatre on the last day with a crowd of around 2000 people.

The overall awards for the Battle of the Stars included first pre-teen small group, second senior large group, second senior small group and third pre-teen large group.

Ms Slape was thrilled four MJ dancers made the Top 10 in the Dance of the Year section, which included seniors Madi Lane and Kiera McBain, pre-teen Olivia Carey and junior Ella Dyson.

Mia Bellinger made it to the Top 15 in the senior category, Morgan Troebinger and Ruby Dyson were in the Top 20 in the pre-teen category and Rzepiela and Bella Moody represented MJ in the teen category.

Other Top 10 awards went to Olivia Carey, who placed seventh overall in the pre-teen elite, sixth overall adult Santi Barker, 10th overall Senior Diamond winner Harriet Clark, Ruby Evans who was the ninth overall pre-teen Diamond and Lexi McCullough won Ruby in the Top 10 petite.

Ms Slape said there were also many individual awards and wonderful performances from the MJ dancers in the sections.

Ms Slape congratulated MJ choreographer Ms Jenkin and said her work truly shone at the national championships.

“She is a very, very clever girl, she got some incredible results,” Ms Slape said.

“We received some wonderful feedback about our innovative choreography and wonderful technique.

“We have an incredible team at MJ and everybody contributes to technique and strength, so we are really blessed with an incredibly talented group of teachers and choreographers.”

The event was also bittersweet for three MJ Dancers, who ventured off to Brent Street in Sydney to begin their full-time studies and Ms Slape said the competition was a great send-off.

“There were lots of tears, they had such an amazing end to their MJ experience,” she said.

Ms Slape said one of the greatest joys of the week was watching the MJ dancers lift and said the dancers were ecstatic to return home with incredible results.

“It is many years of work, really, it does not just happen overnight, we prepared all year with those routines, but these kids have been working hard on their technique and their style for many years,” she said.

“They just thrived in the buzz of the competition and wow, they looked incredible.

“Congratulations Showcase Nationals team 2023.”