In the spotlight: Josh Parker from Echuca will be aiming to go one better than last year, when he returned with a swag of awards. He missed out on a national title, but has the Follow Your Dreams Australian championship in his sights.
Campaspe Shire entertainment company Dillmac is aiming to produce a second national champion in as many years as it prepares for the national finals of the Follow Your Dreams (FYD) dance and vocal competition.
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Sixteen students from the Echuca and Kyabram studios of the renowned performance company are currently in Adelaide for the national championships.
Last year Indi Gilmore returned from the finals of the FYD event with a national championship when she and Josh Parker were the only Dillmac performers involved in the event — due to COVID-19-related issues.
Indi will not be involved in this year’s song and dance championship as she has a lead role in Bendigo Theatre Company’s youth production of Cats, and the opening weekend clashes with the FYD event.
Josh, who also returned with a swag of trophies from the event, will again be going in search of his national championship.
In full voice: Moama singer Georgia Armstrong is among 15 competitors, from 26 that qualified for the national Follow Your Dreams event, who are in South Australia for the event this week.
Dillmac co-founder Liz Dillon said there had been several challenges for performers who had qualified for the FYD event, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In order to qualify for the national finals the performers first need to compete at regional events during the year.
“At those events they need to score 87 and above (out of 100) to qualify. All our kids scored above 90,” she said.
There were originally 26 competitors selected for the troupe events, duo, trio and solo performance divisions, but due to the COVID-19 concerns only 16 will be travelling to Adelaide.
“Those 26 kids were chosen from 195,” Ms Dillon said.
Next up, the nationals: Dillmac’s senior dance troupe has dominated competition leading up to the national event and will compete against eight other teams for the national title.
And while not all can attend, there will be six vocalists and nine dancers representing the studio.
“There are three levels, they have to audition for us first, then at regional level before making the nationals.
“Fortunately both of the auditions were held in Moama this year. We normally have to go to Albury and Melbourne,” Ms Dillon said.
Kylie Drew, whose family started the FYD competitions in 1995 now has events in Australia, London and New Zealand.
Ms Dillon said performers had been working all year in order to compete at the nationals, travelling at their own expense.
She said there could well be another Indi Gilmore in the group, who was the national under-14 vocal champion and also picked up the award for the most outstanding performer of all the dancers and singers at the titles in 2021.
Countdown to championships: Echuca singer Kinsey Graham will compete in the vocal competiton at the Follow Your Dreams event in Adelaide from January 10-16.
“Our seniors have a good chance of placing in the troupe competition, this is the one everyone vies for,” Ms Dillon said.
Dillmac is taking the only Victorian troupe to the event, with four South Australian dance troupes, two from Tasmania and New South Wales and another from Tasmania.
“They are doing a number of items, there are about seven numbers they will be performing,” she said.
The Dillmac troupe will also compete at a gala event dance-off with the other eight troupes.
Dillmac will have competitors on all of the five days of competition in the individual events, along with Sunday’s troupe event.
There are six members of the senior troupe, aged 14 to 16 years, while three juniors will compete in solo dancing.
The other six performers from Dillmac are competing in vocals in five different genres.
“All six will compete in the champion events in their age groups, with the hope of competing for a national title,” Ms Dillon said.
Staying calm: Kyabram performer Larni Heazlewood is one of six vocalists from the Dillmac Entertainment organisation who will take the stage for the national competition.
The competitors are:
Juniors: River Bawden (Moama, competing in five solos), Imogen Leersen (Echuca, competing in three solos).
Seniors: Indra Hubble (Kyabram, competing in one solo), Isabelle Turnbull (Merrigum, competing in seven solos), Claudia Moon (Echuca, competing in two solos), Lulu Oman (Echuca, competing in three solos).
The senior team has qualified for nationals by placing first at both FYD regional competitions in all of its routines and will be competing with six routines as a troupe at the nationals.
The members are Indra Hubble, Mikayla Brown (Kyabram), Rose Grills (Kyabram), Lulu Oman, Isabelle Turnbull and Claudia Moon.
