Annabelle and Alex to Sydney

Hello,

Our names are Annabelle Hutchinson and Alex Lake-Smith. We are 16 and 15 years old respectively and ballroom and latin dancing is our biggest passion. We have both been dancing ballroom and latin for 4 years and competing together for 1 ½ years and during this time have won several regional and national titles. Our goal is to one day travel overseas and represent our country and win.

We both dance at Limelight Dance Studio and have been there for several years with Annabelle previously dancing jazz and tap and Alex tap. However, over time we have realised that our passion is ballroom and latin.

In October last year we competed in our first National Ballroom and Latin competition and won 2 NZ Youth Titles (16yrs-21yrs) and 2 NZ Adult Titles (21yrs and over). More recently In April, we competed at one of New Zealand’s largest dancesport competitions called the Kiwi Classic. This is held at the Langham Hotel in Auckland and attracts competitors from all over New Zealand and as far afield as Australia and America. During this competition we won 2 Youth and 2 Adult events. Our studio also competed in the NZ Formation Competition and won the Best of the Best trophy. This is the 6th time Limelight Dance Studio has won this title. Annabelle has been a part of the Formation team for 5 years and Alex for 3 years.

Due to the successful performance and winning result of the Formation team we have been asked to appear at the WDC AL Luna Park Ballroom Dancing Championships in Sydney on Saturday the 20th of August 2016 to showcase our winning routine as the opening act of the evening session. This is an amazing opportunity for not only our studio but also us as individuals because we have been given the chance to compete in the ballroom and latin events of this competition. However to do this we will need support in funding our trip there and back. $2500 will cover the costs of flights and accommodation whilst we are in Sydney for both of us.

Competing overseas for our country has been a long term goal for us as dancers as dance is one of the most important things in our lives. We have been working hard on fundraising for this event which is why we are reaching out to the community for support but are meanwhile doing everything we can to reach our goal. Due to dance and school commitments we have not had any employment opportunities but are willing to give back to the community in a way that suits you. For example, we are available for dance demonstrations at work functions or fundraisers that your organization may plan to do.

Our studio wants to show Australia what New Zealand is capable of and show others that we do contain just as much talent as other countries. We want to gain knowledge which we can bring back to New Zealand to further our dancing and our journey to represent New Zealand in more events. This will be our first time competing outside of New Zealand as a partnership and also as a full studio formation group.

This would be an amazing experience for both our partnership and our formation team which is why we are reaching out to New Zealand for support. While we understand that $2500 may be a lot in these tough economic times we are reaching out to large businesses and members of the community which wish to support us along the way of achieving our dream!

Thank you for taking the time to read our page and we look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Kind regards

Alex Lake-Smith and Annabelle Hutchinson