Taking a peek inside some of Ballarat's dance studios is a fascinating experience.
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Whether it's the graceful movements of ballet students at the barre, the old-fashioned sweeping elegance of ballroom or the colour of highland dancing, Ballarat's dance culture is a diverse mix of disciplines and styles.
The city boasts several ballroom dancing and eight ballet studios alone.
In addition to these highland and Irish dancing, line dancing, national dancing from countries such as India and the Philippines and even maypole dancing are all represented.
Royal South Street Society dance section chair Dr Anthony Cole said dance in Ballarat is not only diverse but immensely strong.
Dr Cole, who has been involved in dance in the city for the past 23 years, estimates that one in five children in Ballarat learn to dance.
Dr Cole bases his figures on Ballarat's population and the number of dance competitors that take part in South Street each year.
He said the South Street competitions, which are held between July and November, helped to encourage dance in Ballarat.
They provide 16 days of hotly-contested competition in ballet, jazz, tap, national, modern, character and song and dance divisions as well as a separate highland section.
Dr Cole said classical ballet was a strong section of Royal South Street.
The comps had also sparked an increased interest in tap as well as song and dance.
He said classical ballet was popular because it formed the base technique that gave a dancer the ability to perform all forms of dance correctly and well.
``If you are a competitive student South Street is very important. You would probably do two competitions in Melbourne and a couple of others and you would definitely do Ballarat,'' he said.
``There were 2200 dance competitors at South Street last year, it becomes a way of life for many competitors, some have been coming since they were two or three years old. It's like an extended family.''
Dr Cole said Ballarat was extremely fortunate to have such a high quality group of ballet teachers.
``All of Ballarat's teachers are of an excellent standard, they are caring about their kids and they do interesting things including bringing in guest teachers or taking them on a bus trip somewhere,'' he said.
``I think dance is so popular, particularly with girls, because they see their friends doing it. I don't think it will ever become unpopular, certainly its popularity has never really waned.''
While the term dance generally conjures images of teenage girls in leotards, toddlers as young as two are catered for in Ballarat with movement classes run by the YMCA, and many ballet schools also offering classes for professionals and beginner adults.
Ballet teacher and former dancer with the Australian Ballet Company, Pamela Waghorn, opened Ballarat Danceworks Studio 11 years ago and runs classes in jazz, tap contemporary and theatrical dance as well as adult classes.
Ms Waghorn, who started dancing at the age of five, said she believed movies and video clips were some of the reasons why dance was so popular.
Some students had big dreams of success while others enjoyed classes as a social thing.
``A lot of video clips now incorporate dance movement _ whether it's jazz, hip hop or funk, which I think has made dance more popular with young people,'' she said.
``There is also such a variety of theatrical shows like ``Hot Shoe Shuffle'' and ``Chicago'' that involve dance.''
Ms Waghorn, who has attended the Royal Ballet School in London and worked with the National Ballet Company of Portugal, said there were a lot of benefits in dance.
``It helps with posture, deportment, sense of rhythm and coordination,'' she said.
``Movement to music helps self-discipline, and students have to be disciplined even in what they wear to class. But it's really all about enjoyment.
``Seeing the hard work and passion you put into the students come back from them when they are dancing is great satisfaction.''
Ms Waghorn said dance was time consuming and took a lot of commitment from parents.
She said education was also important for students.
``For students that actually do all the work and go onto further studies it can be a short career,'' she said.
``They find they can't pursue their dream and they must have something to fall back on. It's important to keep studies up and also diversify in dance and not just do ballet but contemporary and jazz.''
Ms Waghorn said while competitions were not a great focus for her students, the end-of-year concert at Her Majesty's was the highlight of the year.
``We perform a full-length ballet at the theatre, we regularly get about 700 people to that,'' she said.
``This year we will perform Don Quixote and divertissements.''
Ms Waghorn, who counts Margot Fonteyn, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev as the dancers who most influenced her own career, said dance was definitely strong in Ballarat.
``There are a lot of schools in Ballarat, and every one has something to offer,'' she said.
``When it comes down to it, it's just personal choice. I would hope everybody supports each other.''
Ballroom dancing, or dancesport as it's now more commonly known, is also popular.
Marge Welsh, a teacher of 38 years standing, was national champion with her late husband Jim in 1954, 1955 and 1956.
She said ballroom in Ballarat was going from strength to strength.
``It's been my love and its popularity has never waned. There are three ballroom studios in Ballarat,'' she said.
``A lot of kids are dancing now, it's wonderful exercise and it's a lovely thing to know how to do.''
Mrs Welsh, who retired from teaching five years ago, said ballroom was a good way of getting to know different people.
``I still go down a couple of times a week to keep my hand in,'' she said.
``It takes a lot of hard work and skill and a lifetime to master.''