The Weekend Post

Dancer leaps towards victory

- KERSTIN KEHREN kerstin.kehren@news.com.au

A young Earlville ballerina has danced her way into the final of a national competitio­n.

Ava-Louise Bowes (above), 10, has been with Turning Pointe Dance Studios in Cairns since the age of three and is a student of the Australian Ballet School.

In August she won the North Queensland Level 1 semi-final of the Royal Academy of Dance’s 2016 Genee Dance Challenge.

Ava-Louise will travel to Sydney in December to compete against the 10 other Level 1 finalists in the national Genee Dance Challenge, performing the same dance that got her there.

A YOUNG Earlville ballerina has danced her way into the final of a national competitio­n.

Ava-Louise Bowes, 10, has been with Turning Pointe Dance Studios in Cairns since the age of three and is a student of the Australian Ballet School.

In August she won the North Queensland Level 1 semi-final of the Royal Academy of Dance’s 2016 Genee Dance Challenge.

Ava-Louise will travel to Sydney in December to compete against the 10 other Level 1 finalists in the national Genee Dance Challenge. She will perform the same solo piece that earned her the place in the final – a classical ballet dance.

While Ava-Louise isn’t usually bothered by dancing on stage, she admits she felt scared at the North Queensland Genee 2016 Dance Challenge competitio­n.

“For the Genee, you had to stand outside, wait outside, and only two people were in there at the same time - one person performing and one person standing waiting,” she recalled.

“So it was kind of like, ‘Oh my gosh, what were their performanc­es like? I’m nervous’.”

She predicted it wouldn’t be any less nerve-racking in Sydney. Ava-Louise would like to become a profession­al dancer and teach at her Cairns ballet school.

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 ?? Picture: STEWART McLEAN ?? TUTU TALENTED: 10-year-old ballerina Ava-Louise Bowes, who will travel to Sydney in December to compete in the National Genee Dance Challenge.
Picture: STEWART McLEAN TUTU TALENTED: 10-year-old ballerina Ava-Louise Bowes, who will travel to Sydney in December to compete in the National Genee Dance Challenge.

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