Blessed Dance Studio in Invercargill have earned their way to the hiphop dance international finals competition to be held in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday next week.
The eight-member team gained their spot in the international competition after placing third at the ADCC qualifiers contest in Christchurch in June.
Blessed Dance Studio owner and choreographer Dominic Vao said she was proud with how hard her mixed-level team had worked to get to the international finals.
"I’ve never actually witnessed dancers with no [hip-hop dance] background who have qualified for a competition at such a high level, " Ms Vao said.
"Two of them have a dance background [and] the rest of them don’t, so I’m really proud of what they have accomplished."
The hip-hop championship is a community dance competition that brings together the best crews from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Africa.
The eight members from the Blessed Dance Studio will compete in the open all-ages section of the competition.
They have been dancing together since February and have had less than three months to "shape up" for the global contest.
Hip-hop novice dancer Erika Leith said she couldn’t believe that she was going to compete on the world stage after only taking up the urban dance form a year ago.
"Joining Blessed has been the best thing that I have done in dance because I’ve gained new experiences and the training has opened up more doors for me," Ms Leith said.
Fellow dancer Isla Scott, 14, felt her confidence had grown since joining the team last year and was "excited to put it all out on the stage".
"It [dance] makes me feel more confident because I’m not really an outgoing person — but when I dance I feel like I’m safe and can express myself," she said.
Ms Vao opened Blessed Dance Studio in 2023 after moving to Invercargill from Auckland.
She achieved her goal in taking "the first hip-hop dance crew from Murihiku" to compete at the Hip-Hop Unite New Zealand National Championships last year.
Blessed Dance Studio thanked the ILT, Active Southland, PIACT and the community for their ongoing support.
