Over the course of last weekend, Yass-based dance studio Streetbeat traveled to Sydney to take part in the Battleground Hip Hop Nationals.
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Owner and head instructor at Streetbeat, Lahne Graham, said that she was “so proud” of the dancers who competed, particularly considering that it was their first experience in a national competition.
“There were 17 of us that went, we had some solos, a duo, and the junior crew and senior crew, and we put in an over-30s into this comp,” Graham said.
“They did amazing.”
Although many of Yass’s dancers achieved middling results, it was an impressive showing considering that Yass is only a small country town and many of the crews present were more experienced in competition.
“I don’t think we should be stuck with a small town mentality,” Graham said.
“That we’re only from a small town so we’ll only be mediocre. I don’t think that we’re boxed in by that, I think that, you know, ‘here’s what we could be, so let’s aim for it’.”
It seems that Graham’s confidence has rubbed off on her dancers, who she said performed very well in Sydney without any apparent nerves.
“The kids did amazing, I’m just so proud of them,” she said.
“I’ve seen a lot of them grow in confidence, and they just blow me away every time I see them performing. They don’t get intimidated by it, and they try to better themselves each time.”
Many of the troops who attended took part in the international competition, which took place on Friday night and featured “world class” crews in Graham’s opinion.
Seeing the calibre of some of these crews inspired her own dancers to set their bar higher and aim to return for next year’s competition.
“I think seeing the other crews dance, it’s really inspirational,” Graham said.
“They can’t wait to get home to get something going better again and that kind of stuff.
“Some of the dance crews, they are world class. I was just sitting there with my jaw open. To be in amongst that and to be inspired by that is good.
“We just want to learn from them.”
Graham also wanted to thank one of her teachers, Charissa Cresswell, for the massive impact that she has had on the students and the effort that she puts into training each and every week.
“My daughter’s in the competition crews and she just comes back every time, she’s just blown away by how inspired she is by Charissa,” Graham said.
“She really takes them under her wing and really teaches them to dance well and how to live well.
“She gives her heart and soul and lives it, she’s just incredible.”
The success at Battleground is the latest in what has been a highly successful year for Streetbeat.
Its crews recently competed in the Australian Dance Crew Championships, which took place in Melbourne last month.
Prior to that, they also took part in the Battleground State Championships in Canberra.