QUEANBEYAN cousins Claudia Balogh and Emily O'Grady are making waves on the dance scene recently placing third and seventh in their age groups at the Australian Irish Dance National Championships.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The girls impressed the judges with two solo dances before receiving a 'recall' to the third and final round.
While the final results are impressive, Emily, 8, has done particularly well, as it was her very first championship.
"Emily's goal was just to get a recall. To place in the top ten in her age group is really an achievement," her mum, Kylie O'Grady, said.
Claudia, 13, has previously competed in four championships and was able to improve her placing from fifth in 2014 to third this year.
"It's really exciting. You put all this work in and you get something really good out of it," the St Clare's College student said.
"A lot of the time you're like 'Can I do this? Am I good enough?' but it ends up being that you get a really nice placing.
"It's not always about the placing, it's just because you love it."
Claudia, who is the niece of another Queanbeyan great - sport shooter Suzy Balogh, is a seasoned performer starting dance at three-and-half-years-old.
The Balogh and O'Grady families both have Irish heritage in their blood although the girls are the only ones to have taken up dancing.
"One day my Pop was looking after us and he didn't know how to use the television remote so he put on some Irish music and we started dancing to it," Claudia said.
"He told mum to put me into dance lessons after that."
Claudia's first dance class was held at Queanbeyan Public School and she has since gone on to train at least three days a week with Laura Corkhill and Sarah Hauesler at the Bedelia Academy of Irish Dance in Canberra.
"I really like Irish dancing because I've grown to love it.
"When I started competitive dancing when I was eight, I moved up and thought 'I'm pretty good at this, I'm going to keep going with it'," she said.
"I was never like 'I don't want to go to dancing'. I was always ready to go."
Younger cousin Emily is a newcomer to Irish Dance having only started it about a year ago but she's taken to it like a duck to water.
She trains at Simpson Academy of Irish Dance under Monica and Kathleen Simpson.
The St Gregory's Primary School pupil's impressive competition debut highlights her natural talent for the stage.
"She's tried jazz, tap, ballet and girl guides before this but it was Irish dancing she liked the most," Emily's mum, Mrs O'Grady, said.
The girls learn a variety of traditional dances including fast-paced jigs performed in heavy shoes with a tap while other sequences are danced in a soft ballet-style slipper.
Claudia and Emily's love of Irish Dancing is a bit of a family affair bringing everyone together according to the their parents.
"At any family occasion, the girls will dance for us. Everyone in the family is very supportive of them even our relatives in Ireland," Mrs Balogh said.
And as for Pop?
"He's as proud as punch of the girls," Mrs Balogh said.
"He is very touched the girls have embraced their Irish heritage and are carrying on the tradition."
In fact, Grandad has become a fixture at their performances.
"He watches us at competitions if he can and even memorises some of the dance moves too," Claudia said with a laugh.