For the past week, dancers from across the Central West have converged on Mudgee to take part in the festival that included competitions in all styles of dance, workshops with a world-renowned choreographer, and a chance to show their family, friends, and the public just how much fun they had at the showcase. 

“The whole week has been fantastic,” committee member Hayley Gray said. 

“All of the students seemed to have enjoyed themselves and the adjudicator Jason Duff has just impressed everyone with his professionalism and commitment to the dancers of our region over the past few days.”

Dancers came from across the state to take part in the festival and Ms Gray said  she had received nothing but positive feedback from parents so far. 

“Word’s spreading and I’ve had a few people come up and tell me how positive and healthy the environment was at the festival. Hopefully we can continue with our success next year,” she said. 

Around 450 students took part in the festival for 2015, with the jazz and modern sections the most popular among dancers. 

“We also had very strong classical and tap sections, which is great because they’re both core techniques of dance,” Ms Gray said. 

Ms Gray said she was especially impressed with how well the junior and senior students took to the workshops that were choreographed by adjudicator Jason Duff.

Mr Duff recently finished choreography for the Australian production of the Jersey Boys musical.  He has spent the past week judging the competition sections of the festival and putting some of the best dancers of the festival through their paces in Broadway-inspired workshops. 

“The workshops have come together so fast. The dancers had around five hours to get the routines down in time for the showcase and they’ve done an amazing job,” Ms Gray said. 

“It’s been hectic right from the start for Jason but I can’t speak highly enough of him.”