Dancers Olivia and Macie on top of the world with trophies

Dancers Olivia and Macie on top of the world with trophies

9 August 2023

TWO local girls have swept the boards at an international dance competition, coming first and second and bringing home plenty of world championship gold and silver.

Last weekend was monumental for 11 year-old Downpatrick girl Olivia McStravick and Ballynahinch’s Macie Gill (10) as they scooped a series of trophies with stunning solo performances at the World Dance Masters held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

It’s a venue that Olivia is no stranger too, having competed there last year, winning five world championships. This year, she won three world championships.

Competing at intermediate level this year, Olivia performed in three different solo genres; nightclub, west coast and cha-cha. She also competed in a pro-am tournament which required her to dance with a professional dancer while being marked by judges.

Proud mum Laura described it as “an exhausting weekend”.

She continued: “Olivia moved up two divisions after last week and is so excited for future dance competitions – even now she is learning new dances and focusing on the new dance year moving into the advanced division.”

Olivia has been dancing since the age of five and currently trains with JD Dance Studio, a dance troupe in Coalisland, Co Tyrone.

“She’s been coming first all year in other competitions, which she had to compete in to qualify for the World Dance Masters,” Laura said. “She was over the moon to win the World Championships, especially when she was nervous competing at a higher level. She was just phenomenal.”

Olivia achieved a Gold-Graduate in each of her three solo dances – the highest grade a dancer can achieve in the competition. 

“It’s a very harsh system because you can still come first, but not always get graded a Gold-Graduate,” explained Laura.

“For Olivia to get the highest marking and come first in the world, it was a very proud moment.”

And there is no rest for  Olivia as she enters more dance exams in acrobatics this weekend.

Mum Laura added: “She always wants to be better and achieve more success.”

Elsewhere in the competition, Ballynahinch’s Macie was competing in the starter-primary category, competing in several solo competitions, including hip-pop.

Her dad Steven spoke about his daughter’s love for dancing and how her nanny, Sharon Gill, has been a major influence on her.

“Macie been attending dance classes since the age of four,” said Steven. “She now dances for Dancesation, just out of Downpatrick where her dance teachers are very proud of her.

“She enjoys the dance lessons as she is taught by her nanny, whom she has a very close relationship with. She never misses a class.”

Like Olivia, Macie has competed in several dance competitions.

She won the Irish Masters in the five to six age category a few years ago and has emulated this success in other tournaments.

However, although she has been dancing in 2019, Macie is still subject to some nerves before performing.

“When she arrived at the competition, she found it a bit overwhelming,” explained Steven.

“She was quite nervous because she really wanted to perform well in front of the judges.

“As soon as she got on stage, you could see the nerves had left her and she was absolutely brilliant.”

He added: “Both her nanny and I watched on with such pride and Macie was absolutely delighted with her performance. She’s now moved up a division from starter-primary, to newcomers and she couldn’t be happier.”