The Sunshine Coast is seeing a resurgence in dance this year with a spike in studio enrolments and a keen interest for dancers to compete at upcoming eisteddfods.
With the Sunshine Coast Dance Eisteddfod just around the corner, competitor numbers are strong heading into the solo categories in mid-April.
Drawing dancers from as far as Adelaide and Mount Isa, SCDA president Maria Shanks said this year entries were “out of the water” with 1750 solo, duo and trio competitors already registered.
“The entries are massive,” she said.
“We have a very full program; we have four days but that equates to seven days of competitions because we run two rooms simultaneously for three days and another room on its own on the fourth day.”
Ms Shanks said the program, to be held at Mathew Flinders Anglican College from April 13 to 16, was scheduled for 8am to 8pm daily to cater for the dancers.
It is a similar story for the group sections, with 400 groups, including an additional 200 for the high school competition, already entered to perform across two weekends in May at The Events Centre in Caloundra.
Ms Shanks said she was looking forward to having the event run as normal this year, after a modified competition last year that only went ahead due to the efforts of the dedicated volunteer-based committee.
Leading Noosa dance school, Fierce Studios, is also seeing an increase in enrolments this year something studio director Jason King told sunshinecoast.news.com.au was a trend happening across the board with extra-curricular activities.
“Enrolments for ‘21 have been phenomenal, really, really strong,” Mr King said.
“The response has been huge.”
Mr King said enrolments currently sat at 150 dancers, but that number was likely to rise as the year continued.
While the studio is home to families who have attended for years, Mr King said he had seen an influx of new enrolments from interstate migrants.
“The number of new families I’ve got in the studio from interstate is huge.
“I’ve had mums with three daughters from Melbourne who have all done RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) Ballet looking for somewhere to dance.
“There is a huge influx from Sydney and Melbourne.”
Mr King said off the back of lockdowns this time last year, he had witnessed a change in the attitudes and appreciation of dance, more so for the physical studio and face-to-face connections.
Mr King offered dance lessons via Zoom, something he said was more of a “novel” idea to keep students connected to each other and their mental health in check.
“Really, what it did was keep the relationships going within the studio.
“They still hear my voice and connect and see their friends on the screen. It cemented that foundation of the relationship of the kids with each other and the studio.”
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Mr King said it was surprising to see how the students and families responded once the studio reopened in June.
“There was an appreciation of being able to be back in the studio.
“Attendance was up – they were not going to miss a class. They were going in there to make the most of it after loungeroom dancing.
“I think too, there was that hanging over our heads that we could close again soon.”
Another avenue flourishing in the dance world is Tutu to You, a Peregian Springs-based mobile tutu hire business set up by dance mother Trisha Stephens in 2018 as a more affordable means to accommodate the needs of growing dancers.
Now with more than 300 tutus available, last year Ms Stephens found new demand across Australia with virtual consultations and tutu fittings, sending costumes through the post.
“There are ballerinas I have fitted and assisted whom I’ve never met in person,” Ms Stephens said.
“Once I have their measurements, I can outfit them for the whole year and give parents an affordable, stress-free option to hire instead of spending up to $1500 to buy just one outfit.
“After the performance parents return the tutu and we care for these delicate, expensive costumes. Then they hire a new tutu weeks later for a new look and a new performance.”
