STUDENTS from St Columba Anglican School have taken out the grand final of eisteddfods with a win at the Dance of Champions on Sunday.
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The elective dance class is comprised of 16 year nine students who competed on stage against some of the best all-dance schools and against the odds took out the top prize.
They won $5000 prize money and the event will be televised on Channel 10 on November 1.
Open to aspiring performers, the Sydney Eisteddfod McDonald's Dance of Champions competition gives dance groups of all ages and genres, including classical, contemporary, jazz and modern expressive, a stage to showcase their talent.
They were awarded first place with their contemporary dance routine called 'Tribes', which presents a reimagining of 'Romeo and Juliet' in a Post-Colonial world.
The performance was the brain child of head of performing arts Shelly Kelly who was inspired to tell a story of two rival tribe members who fall in love.
It was that in-depth attention to a captivating story that may have gotten them over the line according to the two main characters in the performance, Eloise Cox and Jett Ramsay.
"We took a lot of pride in telling the story with our performance," Eloise said.
"A lot of the other schools do dance full time so to beat them was a huge achievement."
Jett echoed his co-stars thoughts and added that it was an overwhelming but rewarding experience.
"I didn't know much about the other schools or how good they were," he said. "So that really added to the win. It was great to be able to beat the other prestigious schools."
Mrs Kelly was immensely proud of her students against very tough opposition on such a big stage.
"It was tough to put the dance and story together," she said.
"They are an incredible group of students who did a wonderful job. I'm so proud of them.
"I was genuinely shocked when we took out the top prize against such amazing opposition so it is a credit to them."