A group of 25 dancers recently went to California, USA as part of the Dance Around the World program, where they had the opportunity to dance at Disneyland, Universal Studios and on Hollywood Boulevard.

Having spent the past year fundraising for the trip, the dancers, ranging in ages from 11 and up, spent 10 days during the school holidays on the dance tour.

Kristen’s Dance Studio director Kristen Woods said it was an amazing experience for everyone.

“Between doing workshops with different dancers that are professional performers and having the opportunity to perform on these stages and well-known locations, it was a great opportunity for them and gave them a lot of confidence as well,” she said.

“At Disney, they treat you like one of their cast members. They expect the students to behave and perform as if they worked there.

“The students and their families were so excited when they saw the dance school name on the big screen at Hollywood and Disneyland.”

Over the 10 days, Kristen’s Dance Studio dancers had a number of performances including two half-hour performances on separate days at Disneyland’s California Adventure Park (eight dances all up, with two full group dances), a performance in front of Madame Tussaud’s on Hollywood Boulevard, a performance at Universal Studios on Citywalk, as well as a showcase performance on their fifth day which they had to audition for prior to going.

The Forbes dancers also performed in the Dance the Magic main street parade at Disneyland, where they got to work with Dancing with the Stars judge and professional dancer Josh Horner who is the choreographer of the Dance the Magic Parade.

“That was really good; really hot but very cool,” Kristen said.

Kristen’s Dance School dancers also had the opportunity to participate in a few different workshops while they were in America.

On the first day they did a workshop at Disneyland with one of the cast members who performs in Aladdin.

“He was really good and talked to the kids about performance and becoming a character,” Kristen said.

“He also took the time to come and talk to them after the show.”

On the third day, the students went to Hollywood and participated in a jazz funk workshop at The Edge Performing Arts and a contemporary workshop at Abby Lee Dance Company.

“We got to pick what classes - we tried to experience different styles with different teachers; both were really good,” Kristen said. 

A total of 68 people from Forbes (including the 25 dancers and their families) went to America for the Dance Around the World tour.

They were given plenty of free time and when they weren’t dancing, they were able to spend the rest of their days in the Disneyland or Universal Studios parks, as well as a free day where families either went to Sea World at San Diego, the Science Centre in LA and/or a baseball game that night.

One morning they went to Goofy’s Kitchen and had breakfast with some of the Disney characters and on their last night they had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney.

Kristen said the Dance Around the World tour company were fantastic and helped everyone have the best time.

“They run a really great program for schools in Australia to go over there and experience performance opportunities that they wouldn’t get here in their day-to-day lives,” she said.

“They’re very professional and organised, and made the events run smoothly so it was enjoyable for all families.”

While they were in California, temperatures averaged around mid-30 degrees celsius.

Kristen said she was very impressed with all the students who came on the tour, despite dancing in some tough conditions.

“I was very impressed with how the students presented themselves,” she said.

“We were complimented by our tour guide on how organised we were and she loved how enjoyable we made it for her.

“In a tough, hot climate and under hard conditions, they still managed to put on a great show. Coming from winter straight to that was tough but the excitement of it all helped to take it off their minds.”

This was the first time the dance school had participated in an overseas tour and Kristen said she would like to try to do something similar every three years or so, to give the younger students who couldn’t come this time a chance to go on the next trip.

Kristen would like to thank everyone who helped with fundraising efforts over the past year, with enough money raised to cover the dancers’ packages to perform and attend the workshops, as well as the cost of their costumes and tour uniform.

“Thank you to all the local businesses and members of the communities who assisted with fundraising and donations to make it possible for these students to go and have this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said.