Ms Harris said the experience was a good way of exposing her students to different styles of competition and dance.
“We previously had a student qualify at a Portland regional in 2017, but they didn’t attend nationals, so this is the first time we have been to a regional and then moved on to nationals,” she said.
“We thought we would try it out. It’s a little bit more of an American-style competition, but it was just about giving the girls a chance to do workshops and exposing them to a different style of competition.
“And it was nice to see new friendships being made.”
Ms Harris said herself, Maddison and Amelia qualified for the event after securing a tap-solo score of more than 86 at an Echuca regional competition in May last year.
She said the national competition saw Maddison and Amelia achieve honourable mentions in the 11-and-under tap solo category, while she placed first in her age category for tap solo, slow tap solo and jazz solo.
She said she also placed third in a ‘champ dancer’ masters category, which required a dancer to enter in at least three solos at the competition to be eligible.
“They have sections from five-and-under and up, with masters being for 30 years plus – it’s one of the few competitions that has an adult section so you’re not competing as an adult against teenagers,” she said.
Ms Harris said while she went into the competition with zero expectations, it was ‘still nice to have that accolade’.
“For me, it’s not about the prizes, it’s just nice to get up and dance for a crowd,” she said.
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