THE world is falling at the feet of Warrnambool dancer Keela Moloney-Smith.
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The talented 13-year-old has won a place in dancing schools on both sides of the US.
Last November, Keela won a hip-hop competition in Melbourne, her prize a scholarship for one week’s tuition at a leading dance school in Los Angeles.
This victory was followed up earlier this month when she won a scholarship for classical ballet at the Victorian Dance Festival in Melbourne. The scholarship is for three weeks intensive training at the Joffrey School of Ballet in New York City.
Keela, a year eight student at Emmanuel College, said the win at the dance festival was a shock.
“I wasn’t going to audition, I was a bit nervous, but I really wanted to so I gave it a go,” Keela said.
“There were about 200 dancers from across Australia who auditioned and I was lucky enough to win one of the three scholarships.
“I didn’t expect to win, it’s very exciting.”
Keela began classical ballet dancing four years ago and has since branched out to include hip-hop, jazz, contemporary and musical theatre to her range of skills.
She trains 10-12 hours a week, with that workload stepping up ahead of competitions.
“I love dancing,” she said.
“It’s a good way to communicate what you are feeling through movement.
“I would love to make a career out of dancing.”
The New York scholarship is for the US summer, but Keela is unsure if she will attend this year or next. It is a similar timeline for the Los Angeles posting with the possibility of doing both one after the other.
While she waits to make her US journey, Keela will continue training hard at Melissa’s Dance Elements in Warrnambool.
Her dance teacher, Melissa Dance, said the scholarships offer great opportunities for Keela.
Ms Dance said it would give Keela the chance to spread her wings and work under different teachers at one of the best dance schools in the world.
