Golden performance for young Yass dancer

ARTS: Talented Yass dancer Holly Fleming has taken home gold medals in two events at the Showcase National Dance Championship.

As a first time competitor the 12-year-old performed amongst an estimated 4500 acts at one of the biggest Showcase events since its inception 15 years ago.

She competed at Jupiter’s Casino in Queensland in the 12-years Jazz section (Diamond level) and 12-years Student Choreography section (Diamond level).

There are three levels of competition; Ruby, Diamond and Elite.

Proud mum Chantal Fleming credited Holly’s success to her dance school, Dazzle Dance Academy in Murrumbateman, as well as her daughter’s natural interest in all things creative.

“We used this competition as a bit of a litmus test because Holly was the first person from Dazzle [Dance Academy] to have competed in Showcase,” she said.

“For our little tiny country dance school, to be up there with all these big metropolitan schools, it was just a little bit daunting.”

Holly Fleming wowing the judges and crowds at Jupiter’s Casino recently. PHOTO: Supplied

Holly herself thrives on the atmosphere on stage and off, she says.

“I like the atmosphere when I go to competitions, and meeting new people and learning different things through the experience,” she said.

“I think I did well, I really liked it and I’ve watched the videos and I’m looking forward to the [critique] advice that the judges are going to give me.”

Holly started dancing in 2011 at seven years of age, and only started solo performances two years ago.

She achieved third place in the regionals for Student Choreography.

“The thing that sets Showcase apart is they have a national scoring system – like a ranking system. So while Holly didn’t get first, she got within a points range,” Chantal said.

“They use the points system across the board for all of their regional heats, and when you qualify at regional, you get to go to national.”

Taking home two gold awards means Holly scored between 180-185 points out of 200, although the official scoresheet won’t be available for a few weeks yet.

Chantal said, “Faced with much tougher and more experienced competition, especially in the Jazz section (she was one of 57 entrants), to achieve that scoring level was a proud moment.

“Also considering she hadn’t danced in over a month and hadn’t performed those routines in a number of months, I could still see considerable improvement from her regional qualifiers.”

Dazzle, founded by Murrumbateman businesswoman Tanja Robinson, is listed in the Championship program as one of the top dance schools in Australia.

“Holly started in 2012 with us and has developed from there doing most styles of dance. I’ve seen her improved immensely and to the point where she is now doing solos and representing the school – that is why we’ve now been placed in the top schools in Australia, because of her Showcase performance,” Tanja said.

“She was one of the first students invited into the performance team when we first opened up, due to her development technically, and also her passion for dance.”