DrillDance arrived in Broadford on Sunday for a day of dance performances from multiple teams made up of people of all ages and abilities.
Teams from Geelong, Bacchus Marsh, Werribee, Bendigo, Echuca and Melbourne’s northern suburbs converged on Broadford Stadium for a round of DrillDance’s domestic competition – a stepping stone to future state and national competitions.
DrillDance is a style of dance performance incorporating categories including dance, prop and drill-team for participants of all ages, with Victoria one of the strongest arms of the national DrillDance Australia organisation.
DrillDance Victoria president Julie Melbourne said while it was not technically classed as a sport, DrillDance was an opportunity for people to be active and get involved with clubs in their local area.
“We call it a sport that involves mostly women, although we do have a lot of young guys in it now, which is awesome,” she said.
“It revolves around doing drill routines and we incorporate dance as well, which helps keep all the members interested in doing both.”
While dance forms a portion of DrillDance activities, significant focus is placed on the ‘drill’ aspect, which requires teams to learn marching routines that are performed in time with backing music – usually of military origin.
Teams present at Broadford on Sunday competed in junior, intermediate, senior and masters categories, with prizes on offer for the best performances at the end of the day.
Ms Melbourne said a key part of DrillDance was encouraging and supporting the youngest members, as a large number of current participants have been involved since they were young or were involved through family.
“We’ve got the children coming around, it’s about supporting them, mentoring them, guiding them and just cheering them on and making sure everyone has a good time,” she said.
The Electrik Force Intermediate team performs an Exhibition Drill. The Sapphires, based in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, were in attendance on Sunday. Pictured is their Masters team performing a Technical Drill. The Sapphires’ second Masters performance of a Rhythmic Drill featured the dancers in military-themed costumes. Echuca’s Thunder DrillDance team performs a Technical Drill. Thunder’s Seniors team is one of DrillDance’s all-abilities teams. The Electrikaires Seniors, of the Electrik DrillDance team from Bacchus Marsh, perform an Exhibition Drill.
DrillDance is entirely made up of volunteers, with many of the people involved in its operation having been members for more than 10 or 20 years.
Ms Melbourne said Thunder, a team from Echuca, also fostered an all-abilities team that added to the community atmosphere of DrillDance.
“They just want to perform and they get a standing ovation every time so it’s really about the people,” she said.
“We call it a family, we’re supporting them in what they want to do and all they want to do is go out there and have fun.
“We support each other, everybody brings mums and dads and all their family and friends and it’s all very focused on being a family.”
The next national DrillDance competition is set for April next year and will be hosted in Launceston as part of the rotation of venues across Australia.
For more information, visit www.drilldance.com.au.
