Millicent Spencer
Alyssa Barbara’s moves have secured her the title of Hume’s Young Creative Leader.
The 17-year-old Craigieburn local has been dancing for three years and has performed at some of Melbourne’s biggest events including Moomba and the Royal Melbourne Show.
Ms Barbara said she was proud to have won the award for her contribution to dance.
“When I’m not performing I teach classes on dancing,” she said.
“I teach little kids hip-hop so they can build confidence.”
Ms Barbara said there is no better feeling than dancing.
“You aren’t focusing on anything else other than the song,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter what’s going on at home, work, school – when you’re moving to the music you forget about everything else that’s going on, it’s peaceful.
“Feeling the music and feeling yourself, there is nothing better than that.”
Ms Barbara said she gravitated towards the style of hip-hop after watching a YouTube video of the American dance troupe ‘GRaVy Babies’ perform at Body Rock Jr.
“I saw that video and I was mesmerised by them, and I started dancing,” she said.
“If you could think of a word [to describe hip-hop] it would be fun.”
Ms Barbara hopes to dance professionally in the future but in the meantime she will continue to dance at Street Dance Studios in Mitcham.
