Broken Hill local Zahra Cawley won the national competition for the ten and under division at the Jump National Dance Competition in Melbourne on the weekend.
The Jump Dance Challenge is a national competition that started four years ago, and this year the national championships were held in Melbourne.
Zahra Cawley and her mum Kim Cawley have been busy travelling to gymnastics and dance competitions in South Australia and Victoria.
“Zahra entered as a bit of a challenge; we hadn’t expected her to win, so it was a big surprise when she did,” Ms Cawley said.
Dancers compete in qualifying heats throughout Australia and state championships in a broad range of dance styles, including ballet, tap, lyrical, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, as well as dance with individual choreography.
They must achieve a specific score in the heats to enter the Nationals championships.
When Miss Cawley achieved the score needed at the Mildura heats, her family didn’t want her to miss out on the opportunity to travel to the National competition in Melbourne.
Miss Cawley won three first-place awards in musical, theatre and vocal, song and dance with her choreography.
She won two second-place awards for contemporary dance and musical theatre by performing Amazing Mayzi and placed third for her lyrical dance performance.
Miss Cawley began dancing classes with Joy Baldwin (Mrs B) here in Broken Hill when she was three.
“Mrs B has also supported Zahra and encouraged her to learn online dance with teachers in Mildura and Sydney,” Kim Cawley said.
Miss Cawley said it was the first time she’d been to a national competition, and she wants to try again next year.
