Passion has carried Josie Byrnes far in ballet but it is her dedication to the discipline that has seen her rise to the top.
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The 14 year old from Nelson Bay is now considered the second best in the state for her age after coming runner up in her first ever entry into the Royal Academy of Dance’s prestigious and competitive Isobel Anderson Memorial Award last month.
Competing against the top 120 ballet students in the state, many of which dance full-time at Sydney academies, Josie successfully worked her way through the heats and semi to be included in the final six.
In one final performance Josie performed a solo on stage that impressed judges enough to be named the runner up of the intermediate grade.
“I didn’t really think I had a great shot at it because it was my first time,” Josie said. “I knew I did well in the final but still didn’t expect to be the runner up.”
Josie is the youngest in a family of dancers. She has been a student of Robyn Yvette Dance Centre since she was two and a half.
For Robyn Yvette, who has been a teacher to Josie since day one, her student’s achievement in the award is “amazing”.
“I was so thrilled for her, ecstatic really,” Ms Yvette said. “It’s no small achievement to be second best in the state against such elite dancers.”
Ms Yvette said ballet is the “most challenging” discipline as it is physically demanding and a dancer not only needs to master technical skill, but look graceful doing a movement.
Josie’s mother, Melissa Byrnes, said she was “very proud” of her daughter and said her achievement showed that “someone from Port Stephens can compete with the best of them”.
“What’s amazing is that it was her first time. You look at the names of the ballet academies and schools the other dancers were from, Sydney academies that students dance at full-time, then you see Josie’s name there,” Ms Byrnes said.
“To have someone from little old Nelson Bay in it is very special.”
The next step for Josie is the elite level. She will be required to pass her exam in May, and with a distinction, if she wishes to enter the next level of the Isobel Anderson Memorial Award.