Sunshine Coast’s best dancers: 33 young dancers to watch
The Sunshine Coast is home to many young dancers from ballet, jazz, aerial and everything in between. See who made the list and their inspiring dreams for the future.
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Young dancers are tapping into their full potential across the Sunshine Coast as they make their mark in the industry.
From ballet to jazz here are 33 of some of our regions best up-and-coming dancers.
Avery O’Mara
Avery O’Mara, 13, dances at SJ Dance Studio and HQ Dance Co and has been dancing from the age of three, training in ballet, jazz, contemporary, acro, tap and musical theatre.
Her favourite style is Contemporary and she loves to choreograph interesting and creative routines.
Some achievements include dancing in contemporary company RB Corp. Instruction Shows in Brisbane, Dream Creative with Marko Panzic on the Gold Coast, and most recently being named the face of the upcoming Brisbane Dance Festival.
Avery also competes regularly in competitions, and was a top three dancer at this year’s Evolution National Finals.
“I would love to one day work for Cirque de Soleil or the New York City Rockettes, dance in a Contemporary Company, and be a choreographer,” she said.
Chloe Holmnas
Chloe Holmnas, 9, from SJ Dance Studio in Warana dances many styles but her favourites are commercial jazz, acro and contemporary.
Some of her proudest achievements include receiving distinction for her ballet exam and honours plus for her jazz exam last year as well as being awarded National Champion in cabaret jazz for her age group.
Chloe also had two duo routines in the Evolution Dance competition finals in January 2022.
She was successful in her audition to take part in the junior company with RB Corp. Instruction (a Brisbane-based youth collective devoted to contemporary dance) and she will commence rehearsals in July in preparation for performances later this year.
“In 10 years’ time, I want to be a professional dancer to gain as much experience in this field so that eventually I can become a dance teacher with my own studio to pass on the information I learn and inspire younger dancers just as I have been inspired,” she said.
Imogen Adair
Imogen, 14, has been dancing for 10 years and has a background in classical ballet.
This year she made the transition to contemporary dance as part of the Peregian Beach College elite dance program under the expert guidance of Michelle Bucci and Dancelab.
Imogen’s classical technique forms the foundation for her contemporary expression which she displays with creativity and strength.
Imogen would like to pursue a career in dance after completing her high school studies.
“It’s been an exciting challenge to explore contemporary dance this year and I feel like I’ve found what I love and exactly what I am wanting to express through dance,” she said.
Indi Gerrard
Indi Gerrard, 11, trains at Absolute Aerials in Coolum which specialises in aerials, dance and acro.
Some of her proudest achievements since beginning aerials is starting solo competitions last year where she has won a first and third place as well as an emerging talent award for her silks routines.
“This year I have been selected to be part of the junior elite team at absolute aerials which is an exciting opportunity as I work towards a place in the grand final to be held at the Gold Coast in January,” she said.
Talise Craik
Talise Craik, 14, from Absolute Aerials in Coolum specialises in aerial silks, lyra, hammock, pole and trapeze.
She has been training and performing in studio shows for six years.
Some of Talise’s recent achievements include winning first place at Bend the Air 2022 in aerial pole, and also at La Folie 2020 in silk solo.
She has participated in workshops with Cirque De Soleil artists and in 2019 performed with a mixed apparatus troupe at the Australian Circus Festival in Brisbane.
Talise loves exploring her strengths and developing her aerial skills, and is planning to travel the world to train and perform with other aerialists.
Hayley Coppinger
Hayley Coppinger, 9, from Noosa House of Dance enjoys all styles of dancing from ballet to hip hop and loves performing her solos and with her competition teams at local competitions.
One of her favourite dance moments was performing with the Brisbane City Youth ballet in their production of The Magic Faraway Tree.
Hayley has also loved dancing with the Supreme Team junior company in 2022 and looks forward to performing with them in the future.
Hayley’s dream is to one day perform on Broadway in New York and to be a choreographer and travel the world teaching dance workshops.
Ebony Gross
Ebony Gross, 12, from Noosa House of Dance performs in a variety of styles such as ballet, contemporary, jazz and acrobatics but specialises in lyrical.
Ebony dances six days a week at Noosa House of Dance and Peregian Beach College and has been awarded Peregian Beach College Dance Academy scholarship.
“In five years’ time, I see myself completing my final year at Peregian Beach College dance academy, continuing my training at Noosa House of Dance and entering the professional lyrical and contemporary field,” she said.
Anouk Betterridge
Anouk Betterridge, 17, from Absolute Aerials has been training for five years on a variety of equipment including silk, lyra, trapeze, hammock and occasionally cube.
“I started my journey in gymnastics which I liked but found that it did not quite give me the freedom of expression I desired,” she said.
“I moved to dance and liked that too but again found it was missing an element for me, this time the acrobatics and extravagance, so finally I landed on aerial and fell in love completely.
“I have placed first in the top division for my age in both the 2021 and 2022 Bend the Air aerial competition and I began teaching aerial under the guidance of our amazing head coach Kayleigh McMullen in 2019.”
Anouk said she wanted to further her aerial career with coaching and performing and hoped to attend NICA in 2024.
Mia Brown
Mia Brown, 11, is an aerialist and acrobat at Absolute Aerials.
Mia recently placed second at the Sunshine Coast Bend the Air competition and will compete at finals on the Gold Coast in 2023.
Mia has been doing acrobatics since she was seven and started aerials when she was nine.
“I love performing on stage and I would love to teach younger aerialists when I get older,” she said.
Sophie Gross
Sophie Gross, 14, from Noosa House of Dance, also attends Peregian Beach College dance academy and Dance Lab.
She specialises in a plethora of styles including ballet, contemporary, lyrical, jazz and acrobatics.
Some of her proudest achievements include winning the 2018/2019 Nhod Scholarship, awarded the Sunshine Coast Sporting Academy Award in 2022 and securing a Peregian Beach College dance academy scholarship from 2021.
She also has performed in the 2020 Brisbane City youth ballet's production of The Magic Faraway Tree.
“In five years, I see myself graduating at NHOD and PBC Academy, continuing as a professional company dancer or a creative visionaries choreographer,” she said.
Indiana Gibbs
Indiana Gibbs, 9, from Noosa House of Dance in Cooroy enjoys a range of dance genres including ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary and acrobatics.
Indiana’s achievements in dance include being awarded the Noosa House of Dance scholarship and being awarded a distinction in her grade 2 RAD exams in 2021.
Indiana is extremely passionate about dance and would love to pursue a professional career in dance after completing school.
Zoe Turner
Zoe Turner, 16, has grown up on the Sunshine Coast training with Noosa House of Dance specialising in contemporary but also enjoys jazz, lyrical, ballet and acrobatics.
Some of her most rewarding achievements have been receiving a scholarship in 2020 with Noosa House of Dance and in 2021 she was one of the first to receive a full dance scholarship at Peregian Beach College dance excellence program, where she currently studies under the direction of Michelle Bucci.
She has also recently completed her certificate III in dance and dance assistant teaching and was studying her certificate IV in dance teaching and management.
Zoe is an eager student who participates in multiple industry workshops, most recently attending the Brent Street Tour in Brisbane.
One of her proudest achievements was being selected as a featured dancer for Dancelab Contemporary Dance Company latest dance film Hinged.
“In five years’ time I see myself graduating from Queensland College of Dance Pre-Professional Contemporary Dance Program in Brisbane with a Diploma of Dance and my dream is to join a contemporary dance company, pursuing a career in contemporary dance and choreography,” she said.
Eva McPherson
Eva McPherson, 9, from Noosa House of Dance fell in love with dancing after her first concert when she was 5 years old.
Her favourite dance classes are acrobatics, hip hop and her two elite performance team classes.
Eva competed in her first group competition in 2020 and has loved competing with her teams and more recently a number of solos at local dance competitions.
Her favourite thing about dancing is her amazing dance friends and teachers and how wonderful dancing makes her feel, especially when she’s on stage.
Eva aims to keep working hard in all her classes and hopefully start working on some new solos in the future.
Lily Rzoska
Lily Rzoska, 17, has been at En Pointe Dance Centre for 10 years, a full time program which incorporates top tier training in every genre.
Lily has also worked as a dancer at Dancelab under the guidance of Michelle Bucci in 2020 and 2021 and was the soloist performer for the launch of the Dancelab film Hinged presented at the MindMe Festival.
She has recently been offered a full time place at Brent Street Performing Arts course commencing in 2023 and dreams of being on Broadway and starring in musicals around the world.
Josie McGarry
Josie McGarry, 12, from SJ Dance Studio in Warana started dancing at eight years old with just one hip hop class a week.
“I loved it so much and by term two I was doing every genre that the studio offered,” she said.
“I was excited to be accepted into the elite team in 2018 to compete in group competitions and with the encouragement of my teachers eventually solo’s in July 2020.
“I since haven’t looked back and it has done so much for my confidence, strength and technique as a dancer.
“My passion is definitely ballet and am so excited to have been selected to perform in my first professional ballet production later this year with the Brisbane City Youth Ballet’s season of ‘The Wizard of Oz’.”
Josie said she hoped to one day be a principal ballerina in a ballet company.
Grace Story
Grace Story, 11, started her dance journey at three years old with Rory Williamson School of Dance in Coolum where she has found a passion for classical ballet.
Grace also studies jazz and lyrical and is proficient at acrobatics.
She is a dedicated student and high achiever receiving honours with distinction grades in all exams, extends herself with workshops and has recently started competing with promising results.
Grace has been awarded the coveted role of Toto in Coolum Primary School’s upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz, where she will show off her captivating drama skills alongside her dancing.
“Grace lives and breathes all things dance and aspires to dance professionally while also one day owning her own dance studio,” Ms Williamson said.
“We are looking forward to the next few years of hard work and moving in leaps and bounds on the way to achieving her dreams and every dancer’s dream, her first pair of pointe shoes.”
Taliah Collins
Taliah, 18, is training at Queensland College of Dance in North Brisbane in the pre professional contemporary stream as well as commercial/cabaret.
“I have recently worked closely with Michelle Bucci as my dance mentor and her company Dancelab on the Sunshine Coast as a featured soloist creating a contemporary dance film, as well as performing in the 2021 Season of Merge Dance Theatres 5ense show and am currently working with Merge creating the 2022 Show,” she said.
“I look forward to furthering my training with QCD in all aspects including showgirl and hope within 5 years to be working on a cruise line as a showgirl and contemporary dancer.”
She said she hoped to work alongside independent artists in the contemporary world to gain experience in the genre as well as expand her own knowledge in the next five years.
Kayleigh Lawson
Kayleigh Lawson, 17, from SJ Dance Studio on the Sunshine Coast is a well rounded dancer who specialises in jazz, contemporary, ballet and lyrical, as well as other styles.
Her proudest achievement was being accepted into Brent Street’s 2023 full time performing arts course.
“I have many aspirations, short term I would love to attend full time in Sydney and continue to get quality training and long term I see myself staying involved with dance, hopefully being a successful Rockette or doing something similar,” she said.
Zerah Wildman
Zerah, 16, has already packed a lot into her dance life since starting at age three.
Zerah quickly found a love for the discipline and creativity of ballet and recognises the importance of ballet technique as a foundation for dance.
She currently dances at Elite Dance Studio but has gained regular experience by training overseas from auditioning and attending summer schools at American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet and Houston Ballet Academy.
She has also successfully auditioned for the European School of Ballet and attended the Youth American Grand Prix.
Zerah was accepted into the Dancelab dance company at 14 and has performed in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons and was looking forward to a career on the stage in the contemporary sector.
Lara White
Lara White, 12, has been training at Absolute Aerials in Coolum for the last four years.
She specialises in aerial silks and lyra performances but also loves to dance.
Deciding this year that she wanted to start competing, she performed a beautiful aerial silks routine under the guidance of her coach Kayleigh McMullen and placed second in her age group at the recent Bend the Air competition held on the Sunshine Coast.
This gave her invitational entry into the finals held on the Gold Coast in January and she is also performing at the upcoming La Folie Aerial Championships held in Brisbane in June.
In the future, Lara sees herself continuing to train and enjoy her competitions and said she couldn't wait until she was old enough to do the teacher training program.
Paitton Scott
Paitton Scott, 12, from Revolution Dance Company in Maroochydore, specialises in lyrical but also studies tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, musical theatre and acro.
Paitton has competed in solo and group competitions, often making national finals and placing in the top five.
One of her biggest highlights has been performing with The Russian Ballet.
“In five years’ time I plan to graduate high school, study dance full time, be a choreographer, perform in a musical and then go on to open my own studio,” she said.
Sophie Koch
Sophie Koch, 15, from Revolution Dance Company in Maroochydore trains in all styles of dance with lyrical being her favoured genre.
Some of her proudest achievements is being chosen as the silhouette logo for her dance studio.
“My future plan is to graduate from high school and Revolution Dance Company and to continue my dance training full-time on the Gold Coast,” she said.
Soraya Fewquandie-Scott
Soraya Fewquandie-Scott is an Indigenous contemporary dancer from the Sunshine Coast who found her passion for dance at just five years old.
Classically trained in respected studios throughout the Sunshine Coast, Soraya strives to bring cultural awareness through the art of dance.
She is skilled across many genres of dance and is a respected, well-known artist within the local Indigenous community.
Soraya has worked professionally with a range of talented musicians including singer songwriter Andrea Kirwin, song man Djakapurra and most recently taking the stage to perform with renowned musician Xavier Rudd.
With an intense passion for contemporary dance and great pride for her Indigenous culture, Soraya naturally aspires to dance for Bangarra Dance Theatre in the future.
Ayla Donald
Ayla, 9, from Studio 4 Dance in Peregian is a versatile dancer, enjoying ballet, lyrical, jazz, acrobatic arts and musical theatre classes each week.
Ayla has been dancing for three years and was part of the inaugural relaunch of Christmas in Storyland production at Southbank Parklands in 2020.
She was also part of the YouTube YOWIE dance troupe 2021 and has started competing in solos and groups at eisteddfods in 2022 showing great potential.
She said dance was the highlight of her week.
“I love performing with my friends and am enjoying the new experience of solos. One day I’d like to be in a Broadway Musical or be part of a Dance Company,” she said.
Jasmine Sinclair
Jasmine Sinclair, 14, from Studio 4 Dance in Peregian Beach specialises is ballet, lyrical, contemporary, jazz and extends her talents into musical theatre and singing.
Some of her achievements are performing as part of the Studio 4 Dance elite dance team for lyrical and jazz in Queensland dance eisteddfods, performing leads and supporting roles in local musicals such as the little mermaid, Dr dolittle, rose-mount Academy, legally blonde since she was 10-years-old and in 2021 she was part of the senior glee singing team winning gold at Nationals.
“In five years time after finishing high school and dancing at Studio 4 Dance, I see myself on Broadway Stages across New York performing in all the hit broadway musicals” she said.
Abigail Rogers
Abi, 17, has been dancing since she was four years old and is a versatile performer with training in ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, musical theatre and tap, although her greatest love is commercial jazz.
Abi’s achievements to date are representing Australia, being apart of the videography for Sole Premiere, graduating from HQ Dance Co and most recently being accepted to full time study at Launch PAC at the Gold Coast, where she has already landed her first corporate job as a performer.
Abi looks forward to continuing training and working alongside professionals in the industry and dreams to one day go on tour with an artist or to be a dancer in music videos.
Olive Shaw
Olive, 7, was not even two when she took her first steps on the stage but is now showing the Sunshine Coast that she has not only the love but the talent to be an amazing dancer.
She has been a part of Studio 2 Dance’s performance troupe for three years, competed in solos since the under fours age division and in 2022 took out the under sixes age aggregate at the Sunshine Coast dance eisteddfod.
Between performances, Olive continues to work hard on her skills, annually sitting the comdance exams in ballet, jazz and tap and two years in the row took out her studio‘s junior exam award.
When asked what her favourite style of dance was, it was a toss up between acro, jazz and musical theatre, but really loves them all and while she also enjoys other activities like cricket, dance is her true passion.
Maddy Jackson
Maddy Jackson, 19, trained by Goodwin on the Sunshine Coast, specialises in acrobatics, tumbling and aerial hoop, with a strong background in jazz and contemporary styles.
Maddy holds the prestigious title of grand champion variety artist of the world at the World Championships of Performing Arts, as part of her trio Danse et Cirque, when they competed against more than 2500 acts from 68 countries.
She has also had the pleasure of performing at many shows including C’est la Vie, Survivor and Enigma, as well as at music festival, Airwaves.
Maddy also filmed for the longest running children’s TV series Totally Wild and in July she would be flying to the USA, to defend her world title, this time as a soloist.
Maddy is excited for many more years performing and entertaining audiences, and also looks forward to sharing her knowledge and love of performing arts with others in the coming years.
Georgie Batten
Georgie, 9, from DanceEdgeStudios learns classical ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, acro, hip hop and singing.
Georgie was accepted into HQ classical coachings junior program in 2022 and is now learning from progressing ballet technique founder and director weekly in the program.
Georgie is an all rounded dancer who loves being at dancing with her friends and is always working hard in each of her classes.
Brooklyn Chandler
Brooklyn, 11, learns all genres of dance and performing arts at DanceEdgeStudios and is also training in the HQ extension programs.
Brooklyn is looking forward to her upcoming winners trip to America where she will compete against dancers from America and Australia.
Brooklyn is a young determined dancer who is passionate and always working hard with her teammates.
Madison Bromley
Madi, 14, learns all genres of dance and performing arts at DanceEdgeStudios.
Madi has had great success from a young age and is a natural on the dance floor who loves her art form.
She successfully auditioned for the renowned dance prescription program with Dr Lisa Ellis in Melbourne at the start of 2022 and travels to Melbourne each fortnight to train with technical dancers from across Australia.
Chloe Branch
Chloe, 17, has grown up at DanceEdgeStudios from a young dancer and has moved through her exams and training with great success.
Chloe is excited to move in to full time training when she finishes Year 12 at the end of 2022.
She hopes to pursue a career in performing arts and is excited to be moving on to her full time training in 2023.
Lilli Pinzone
Lilli, 19, is currently embarking on her first professional dance contract overseas with celebrity cruise lines.
She grew up learning at DanceEdgeStudios and HQ Dance Co and went on to study full time commercial dance when she finished year 12.
Lilli trained in classical ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, acro and singing and those years of training have paid off as Lilli’s professional career has just begun.
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