Napier dancers Amber Single-Owens, left, and Stella Hammond-Olsen are stepping up and away to Australia. Photo / Paul Taylor
Napier dancers Amber Single-Owens, left, and Stella Hammond-Olsen are stepping up and away to Australia. Photo / Paul Taylor
A small Napier dance studio tucked away in a corner at the top of Dickens St must be doing something right.
This year two of the studio's dancers are making the leap all the way to a professional dance school in Sydney, Australia.
Napier teens Stella Hammond-Olsen, 17, and AmberSingle-Owens, 18, are following in the footsteps of Prestige Dance Studio dancer Annaleis Jobe by making it into Ettingshausens Pro, one of Australia's leading schools for professional dance training.
Prestige Dance Studio owner and teacher Belinda Harvey said it was a big deal for the girls.
"We don't have things like this in New Zealand," Harvey said.
"There are way more options for dancers and even job opportunities over there, so it is important to make the move."
There isn't long to go till the girls make their big move. Both dancers said they were "very excited and a little nervous".
Stella Hammond-Olsen, left, and Amber Single-Owens are getting ready to take the next step towards a career in professional dance after being accepted by an Australian academy. Photo / Paul Taylor
In January the "very excited and a little nervous" pair will join close to 40 other young dancers, starting their journey towards a career in professional dancing.
Hammond-Olsen, of Napier Girls' High School, and Owens, of Taradale High School, are two of nine New Zealand dancers to make this year's intake, with most Ettingshausens Pro dancers from Australia.
In May, both Year 13 girls participated in the online audition process, which involved showcasing as much of their dancing as possible, and how versatile they can be in multiple dance forms.
Ettingshausens Pro offers a two-year programme, where their dancers will leave with dance qualifications and learn how to package themselves to different areas of the dance industry.
Hammond-Olsen said the different styles were attractive.
"We will be doing singing and acting stuff as well, it is more like a performance school."
Both girls compared this next chapter in their life to others their age heading off to university next year to study in their areas of interest.
Covid wasn't much of a challenge for Hammond-Olsen and Owens as they are both "double vaccinated and happy to do what it takes to get over there", Harvey said.
"It's just the monetary side of things that's the challenge really."
The pair have to move over to Australia, find a flat, deal with living costs and learn how to live in a new country and pay a "large" course fee cost, Harvey said.
Hammond-Olsen said there were no Studylink options available to them and "we can't qualify for any government funding from either New Zealand or Australia", so they are working after school jobs.
The idea of fundraising has been floating around, but Covid restrictions have made fundraising events difficult, Harvey said.
