A young dancer from Redhill School recently competed in the American Dance Awards.
Liora Colley, a Grade 4 learner, travelled to New York City to compete in the competition. Liora started dancing at the age of three for fun but began to take proper lessons at the age of five.
Liora dances in a variety of styles including modern, ballet as well as jazz and lyrical during competitions. Since May, Liora has been rehearsing for the competition and practised every day throughout June to ensure she was ready. “When I’m not dancing, I get bored and I wonder what I’m going to do on the weekends or after school.”
“It was really fun and a really awesome experience. I got to see how Americans are different to South Africans and how different their dance styles can be.”
This was Liora’s first experience travelling overseas to compete in a competition and she said that she was both excited and nervous to be competing against so many other dancers. She performed five different dance routines while competing and two of those dances made it through to the dance-offs.
Along with the excitement of making it through to the dance-offs, Liora added that it was nice to meet new people and dance with them during the group dances. Last year Liora was awarded the Young South African Dancer of the Year.
“When I won, I was very happy and excited. I didn’t realise it was such a big thing but then my dance teacher told me that I won a huge trophy and when she gave it to me I just thought ‘wow’.”
She added that there was a lot of support from the other dancers during the competition. Liora said even though she felt nervous backstage seeing everyone who would be watching her, once she was on stage she felt excited to be performing in an international competition.
Details: Redhill School 011 783 4707.
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