Gunnedah Eisteddfod Society is gearing up for another big year of dance.
The 2018 Gunnedah Dance Eisteddfod will be held on September 7-9 at The Civic, with entries already closed.
The eisteddfod was relaunched in 2017 by convenors and local dancers Talisa Miller and Amelia Gallagher after a hiatus. Talisa moved to Melbourne earlier this year to start a full-time contemporary dance course at Transit Dance, so Amelia is the sole convenor this year.
“It was such a good hit last year. I just wanted to do it again for all of the local dancers,” Amelia said.
Dancers will flock to Gunnedah from Tamworth, Armidale, Narrabri, Inverell and Singleton.
“Our three local dance schools [T2K, Totally Dance Studios and Rhana’s Academy of Dance] are highly involved in our dance eisteddfod this year and the three local teachers are quite involved as well,” Amelia said.
“Numbers are really good. I think it’s really improved on last year… This year, we’ve also got a cheer/acro section.
“The jazz dance solo numbers are up a lot this year. In one section - under 12s - there are 17 competitors.”
This year, Kay Flynn will be travelling from the Gold Coast to adjudicate.
“She’s going to be really professional. I’m really excited to have here,” Amelia said.
“She has her own studio at the Gold Coast and she has been adjudicating professionally for probably 20 years, all over the place in New Zealand and all around Australia.”
Amelia said volunteers will be needed for the three days, with any available persons asked to email her on ameliagallagher@outlook.com
The Dance Eisteddfod program will be released on Wednesday and will be available from the Second Edition Book Store for $5.
Entry for the eisteddfod is $5 per session, $10 per day or $20 for the whole weekend. Tickets can be purchased at the door.
