From tiny tots to seasoned dancers, the place to be was the Gunnedah Dance Eisteddfod during the first week of September.

Competitors came from Dubbo, Parkes, Taree, Mudgee, Singleton, Narrabri and Gunnedah.

The eisteddfod was scheduled for four days earlier this month.

There were about 600 entries this year, making it bigger than the

last, particularly in the improvisation section.

Last year had about 50 entries while this year saw it rise to almost 160.

Conveners Mel McCulloch and Cheryl Hofman were impressed by the quality of dances and range this year.

“[The competitors] were good. They ranged from real beginners, (I think our youngest had just turned five) … [to] lots of adults,” Mel said.

“The standard was really high, we were really impressed.”

Some entries were so well done the adjudicator struggled to award placings.

This year’s adjudicator was Amy Fitzpatrick, who has 20 years of experience in the job and a history of working professionally with John Farnham, Kylie Minogue, The Living End, James Blundell and the late Doc Neeson.

“She was a fair adjudicator, very supportive, and loves coming out to the country eisteddfods,” Mel said.

Amy described country eisteddfods as having a warm and friendly atmosphere for dancers to gain good experience.

Mel said dancers received “really good” feedback from the adjudicator, who is known for giving kind and constructive critiques, being nicknamed ‘The Smiley Judge’.

This was the first time the Gunnedah Dance Eisteddfod had voice adjudications.

This involves voice recording feedback as the dances are being performed, opposed to the traditional written form.

After a couple of technical issues, the medium worked well.

This year also included awards for some of the most promising competitors.

The under 10 winner went to Evie Webster from Taree, the 14 and under award went to Dubbo’s Billy Zell while the open section winner was Narrabri’s Paige Hetherington.

“We are looking forward to a bigger and better eisteddfod next year,” Mel said.

She thanked her co-convener Cheryl Hofman along with the large group of volunteers that worked hard to make the event run smoothly.

“We would not have got it done without our amazing team,” she said.

Asta Allen and Katrina Martin.

Isabella Pryor.

Elysian Performing Arts dancers Madeline Mitchell (back), Katrina Martin, Astra Allen, Isabella Pryor and Hannah Cygan.

Hannah Pearce, Lucy Cole and Annabelle Gunn from Hype Dance Hunter Valley.

Hannah Cygan.

Hype Dance Hunter Valley: Back, Bree Silke, Georgia Rohrich, Erin Mullen, Meg Tanner and Matt Waugh. Middle, Trinity Hunt, Paiton Murray, Adelle Deaves, Emily Fenwick and Sarah Partridge. Front, Hannah Pearce.

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