About Us

ABOUT OUR SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION

The Newcastle Dance Awards – Australia is an open dance scholarship program for dancers aged 8yrs – 17yrs, we are happy to offer 10 age categories in this competition to allow for complete fairness based on age factor and each level of learning skills. 

  • Open to both Male and Female competitors 
  • Dance competitors must be Ages 8-17yrs 
    (D.O.B. Must be submitted – a birth certificate may be asked for to prove D.O.B.) 
  • Dancers must currently reside and/or train in Newcastle or surrounding areas including Maitland, Port Stephens, Lake Macquarie, Central Coast, Hunter Valley and Hunter Region
  • All Genres of dance Accepted: Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, Classical, Neo Classical, Lyrical, Funk, Hip Hop, Ballroom, Irish, Celtic, Scottish, Folk, African, Tribal, Afro Jazz etc 
     
  • Entry fee to compete is $59.00 (all fees are non-refundable).  
    Upon registering a dancer to compete your initial purchase will total $85.00 which includes one all-day pass for 1 parent to attend at a discounted rate.
    (Registration fees must be paid online BEFORE Cut-Off DATE).
  • Registration opens Oct 1st each year and closes 4 days out from competition. 
  • Each dancer will be allowed ONE x 3min routine with competitors own choice of music – any genre of dance accepted.
  • Each dancer has the choice to enter the “Second Chance to Dance” fee is $35.00  
  • All Music must be submitted as MP3 file by cut-off DATE – 
    Please e-mail music file to: newcastledanceawards@yahoo.com 
  • Parents, please be sure to bring a backup of your child’s music on a CD or USB drive to the competition. 
  • Parents are to bring all registering paperwork and CERTIFICATE of REGISTRATION to the competition for check in one (1) hour prior to division start time. 
  • Costumes are encouraged (no nudity allowed) 
  • All styles of dance are allowed - our judges are looking for good technique, style and 
    PERFORMANCE TALENT! 

Click here to read more rules and regulations 

REGISTER NOW - CLICK HERE 

We advise you to get registered early so your child does not miss out on this exciting opportunity to win scholarship funds. 

Any dance student ages 8-17yrs residing &or training in Newcastle, Maitland, Port Stephens, Lake Macquarie, Central Coast Region, Hunter Valley & the Hunter Region areas can be part of this amazing opportunity to win their age division and be awarded monetary scholarships to continue their dance training with the dance school they are currently registered under. 

We are looking for talented dancers in all styles of dance included but not limited to; 
Classical Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Modern, Lyrical, Irish, African Tribal, Latin, Ballroom, Break dancing 

HOW WE RUN OUR COMPETITION SCHEDULE ON THE EVENT DAY:

1. AGE DIVISION ROUNDS: 
* Each Dance Competitor will be placed in their age division round; 
……………8yrs, 9yrs, 10yrs, 11yrs, 12yrs (Jr. Age Divisions) 
……………13yrs, 14yrs, 15yrs, 16yrs, 17yrs (Snr. Age Divisions) 
* All Dancers compete first in their AGE DIVISION.  8-17yrs
* Any Dancers that have paid for their “Second Chance to Dance” will dance their 2nd routine
at the end of their Jr. or Snr section.

2. SEMI FINALS: 
* Top 2 competitors for each age division will be chosen by judges and announced at the end of all age division rounds of the junior or senior sections. (See time schedule when posted.) 
* Semi Finalists 10 x Jr. and 10 x Snr semi-finalists will return to venue for group picture on stage in costume.
* Top 2 SEMI-FINALISTS in each Age Division will dance their main routine again for judges to decide final Top 10 Award Winners for the event. 

3. FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
* Finalists to be awarded Best Dancer for AGE DIVISION with SCHOLARSHIPS
OR WIN JR & SNR SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS.
* The Best Dancer for each age division will receive a Dance Award Framed Certificate
* All 10 Dance Award Recipients will then be awarded their Scholarships & Prizes from our participating Sponsors.
* The Two Best Dancers of the program will be Announced & Awarded the
$500 Junior Scholarship and $500 Senior Scholarship + Prizes and be awarded the Newcastle Dance Awards Perpetual Trophies to be held on display at their studio for up to 1 year. 

OFFICIAL JUDGING PANEL – 
Principal Judge – Damian Smith (Former Principal San Francisco Ballet) 
Judge – Marilyn Morrison (Entertainer, Professional Dance Adjudicator) 
Auditing Judge – Cherylanne Bailey-Stannett (Professional Dance Teacher/Studio Owner) 

COMPETITION VENUE -   
Warners Bay Theatre – 39 Lake St. Warners Bay 

LET'S AWARD THE ELITE TALENT IN NEWCASTLE 

We are proud to bring this Amazing Opportunity to the Newcastle community that you and your children live, play and dance in. Our new dance scholarship program  

“Newcastle Dance Awards – Australia” is a competition based event to find the best dance students in Newcastle, Maitland, Port Stephens, Lake Macquarie, Central Coast & Hunter Region areas each and every year and award them monetary scholarships to help dancers continue their dance studies. 

Over the past 5 decades, Newcastle in Australia has been a town that has produced some of the finest dancers performing around the world. We have seen amazing dancers position themselves into companies both within Australia and abroad. 
Some examples; 
Damian Smith – San Francisco Ballet Principal, San Francisco Ballet Principal (18yrs), Hamburg Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Ballet Du Nord, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Australian Ballet, Guest Artists with New York City Ballet, Dutch National Ballet 
Marisa Burgess – Moulin Rouge – Paris 
Elizabeth Toohey – Australian Ballet Principal 
Dein Perry – Award winning choreographer, dancer and actor – 
Shows include; “Hot Shoe Shuffle”, “Tap Dogs”, “Steele City” & Director of the tap movie; “Bootmen” 
Robert Curran – Australian Ballet Principal 
Nicole Padgett – Vienna State Opera Ballet, Gothenburg Ballet Company (Sweden), 
Linz Landes Theatre Ballet (Austria). 
Bronwyn White – Founder of the Hunter Regional Dance Company 
Elise Frawley – Classical Ballet Examiner for the prestigious “Royal Academy of Dance” (R.A.D) 
David Harris – Broadway NYC – “Les Miserables”, “Goodspeed’s production of Anything Goes” 
Jane Finney – Australia Ballet 
Gian – Russian Ballet & Australian Ballet 
just to name a few……………….. 

We at the Newcastle Dance Awards believe that there are many more to come. With over 190 dance schools in Newcastle, Central Coast and the Hunter Valley area that train all genres of dance we are creating a community support team for the dance world here in our home town, it is both important and necessary that we as a community support the youth of today to strive for excellence and know that their hard work and dedication can be rewarded. 

There are 1000’s of families in Newcastle, Central Coast and the Hunter Region that are able to support their children and enable them to be trained by the wonderful dance professionals, so we want to support the studios and their students. Please help us help the children with their passion for dance. 

Founders of the Newcastle Dance Awards - Australia

Kimberley Knight

Kimberley Knight

Kimberley Knight – Vice President/CFO/Executive Director of Events – Entertainmentfirst 
Founder/Creator of the Newcastle Dance Awards – Australia 
Professional Dancer/Choreographer/Costume Designer-Creator/Graphics & Web Design 

Born in Newcastle Australia, studied dance in Newcastle from 5yrs of age until she was 16yrs – with two amazing teachers whom she is still in contact with today – Maureen Whichello (Newmet Dance Theater) and Wendy Balogh (Wendell School of Dance), at 12yrs of age Kimberley attended Newcastle High School when the first dance courses were offered to a high school in Newcastle, during her 4years at Newcastle High (studying dance with Maria Mawkes) she also danced with the Newcastle Youth Ballet Company ( with so many amazing Newcastle Dance Teachers including; Robyn Hick, Ted Miller, Kay Plentinger, Susan Shiner, Robyn Turner and so many more) and in year 10 she was awarded equal first in Ballet with a Certificate Awarded from A.C. Worth. 
At 16yrs Kimberley was awarded a bursary to continue her education and finish her HSC as she attended her final two years of high school dancing in Sydney at the Ann McDonald College where she was trained by Principals from the Australia Ballet – Josephine Jason & Allan Cross alongside Trevor Green (Principal in Cats), John Burns and Maxine Cohler (now college Principal) then was one of the few dancers who was able to move to the Performing Arts Stream to fullfill her love for entertainment as she studied many more forms of dance including Contemporary Dance, (Martha Graham and Cunningham techniques) Jazz (with Maria Ploski, Peter Blackburn and Aleeta Northey), Tap (ISTD), Flamenco, Pilates (Rael Isakowitz) and singing with teachers from around the world including Robert Bikerstaff (Professor of Singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London). 
At the end of Kimberley’s final year she completed both her HSC and was awarded a Dance Scholarship of $3,000 by Sir John & Lady Manson and landed her first audition to dance professionally abroad. 

From the age of 18yrs Kimberley became a professional dancer, she travelled to Europe to work in Cabaret Shows with Dance International in major venues including the Grand Palace Gerona in Spain and spent time training in commercial dance studios in London England – Pineapple Studios and London Contemporary Dance Theater (where she was able to use her scholarship funds). 
Kimberley moved from England to the USA after auditioning for Carnival Cruise Lines where she then became dance captain and assistant cruise director for the Celebration Cruise Ship. 

In 1992 after working in Cabaret Shows in Europe, on Cruise Ships in the US and in Japan with dance shows Kimberley then returned to Australia to join the Hunter Regional Dance Company and dance with the Feathers Cheerleading Squad in Newcastle then later in 1992 she met International Entertainer Ron Knight and became his choreographer for his Television appearances & Variety Show “Ron Knight and The Fabulous Daze” so for the next 6 years they toured Australia with their own show and worked with the Hunter Regional Orchestra as featured dancers in “Night in Vienna” at the Civic Theater. 

In 1998, Kimberley made Las Vegas her home when she was asked to choreograph a show at the Showboat Hotel and Casino for now husband and entertainer Ron Knight and enjoyed working in many Major Las Vegas Casinos; Flamingo, Mirage, MGM, Monte Carlo, Mandalay Bay – just to name a few. 
Kimberley’s skills range from dancing & choreography, singing to costume design, theatrical creations, graphics & web designs plus event planning and live event production. 

Now enjoying living both in Las Vegas & Australia Kimberley is still choreographing, dancing and singing Ron Knight’s shows and working ShowBand – Ron Knight and The Daze Band, as well as working as a professional dancer for House of Soul- Australia and currently produces 2 Beauty Pageants on Las Vegas each year and is creating more wonderful events in Australia including this Newcastle Dance Awards – Australia 

Ron Knight

Ron Knight

Ron Knight – CEO/President/Executive Producer/Talent Management – Entertainmentfirst 
Founder/Creator of the Music and Fashion Expo Las Vegas & Australia 
Founder/CEO Ebonytown Records  

Ron Knight, International Entertainer, CEO of Entertainmentfirst, Ebonytown Records and the Founder of the Music and Fashion Expo and The Entertainmentfirst International Film Festival. 
Born in East Orange, New Jersey and now residing in both Las Vegas and Australia producing live entertainment events and expos. 

Whilst residing in Australia for 25yrs Ron had the pleasure of working alongside Chelsea Brown in their show “Double Vision” touring Australia and playing major casino and hotel venues in Tasmania (Hobart & Launceston Casinos), Darwin, Cairnes, Broome, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney & Mildura with Sheraton Hotels and Lassiter’s Casino. 
Ron also had great success with his 5 piece band “Ron Knight and the Daze Band” in Newcastle & Sydney for 20yrs with many appearances on NBN Morning Show, Channel 9 & 10 Sydney, Today Show, Good Morning Australia, The Late Show & Star Search (winner of 10 episodes in 1986) on Channel 9 Australia and worked with the Hunter Regional Orchestra at the Civic Theater. 

Ron Knight is enjoying a successful international singing career that allows him and his show to travel the world with his sensational voice and with 40yrs of experience in the Entertainment and Record Industries, he now has the knowledge to pass on to the younger generations who also need to learn the business of Entertainment. 

Ron has enjoyed performing with many known celebrities of today’s music and entertainment scenes such as; Stevie Wonder, the late Lou Rawls and Tony Curtis (may they rest in peace), Tina Turner, Chaka Chan, Smokey Robinson, Sam Neill, Bobby Womack, plus the late great Wolf Man Jack……. 
just to name a few. 
Ron has enjoyed some major television network coverage over his career including; 
* Star Search (winner of 10 episodes in 1986) on Channel 9 Australia. 
* Fox TV’s – Performing As where his tribute to James Brown was astounding, leaving the crowd wanting much, much more…. 
* Discovery Channel (currently airing 4 times a year) You will also catch Ron Knight’s Las Vegas Story on the Discovery Channel – thru which Casino Diaries shows the real side of the entertainment business, show is repeatedly shown each year. 

Mission

Helping support the young dancers training today with tuition scholarships so that they may continue to train to become the dance professionals of tomorrow.

Vision

To continue raising funds from local businesses to help support our dance youth of today and to relieve some of the financial burden it takes to be a parent with a talented child.

Values

  • Learning & Teaching
  • Professional Guidance
  • Giving Back to our Community