Dance is an intrinsic part of Lily Campbell’s very being.
“Without dance, I’d be missing a part of myself,” she said. “It’s my world – it’s my safe place.”
And she’s good at it. Like, really good.
At the tender age of 15, the Mount Nasura athlete has just earned her ticket to Spain to compete at the Olympics for dancers – the Dance World Cup – in July.
“I’m so happy,” Lily said. “It’s always been my dream to represent my country and now I actually get to do that – it doesn’t feel real that I’m even saying it.”
While anyone who knows Lily was betting that she’d eventually turn her dream into reality, no one could have predicted that she’d accomplish it at her very first national competition.
“We were so unprepared – we didn’t pack enough suitcases for the swag of trophies she brought home,” mum, Mia said.
Lily blitzed the World Cup qualifier in Adelaide in January, podiuming with three separate routines: in acro, contemporary and lyrical dance.
At the Follow Your Dreams national competition immediately after, which attracted thousands of competitors from all over Australia, Lily performed seven solo dances and was awarded two golds, two silvers, and two honourable mentions.
Her solo acro routine in the ‘Champs’ category earned Lily a place in the Top 5 highest-scoring routines in the 15 and under division, with a score of 98 out of 100. This was also the very first time that an acro routine has ever achieved a Top 5 result in 30 years of this competition.
“Lily, you have left me breathless,” adjudicator Natalie Somerville said.
“You are the first person I have ever adjudicated that has given me a dance within their acro routine.”
And Lily was crowned the highest-scoring soloist for the entire competition.
She even beat the UK open champion who had flown in specially to compete.
But that’s not the end of it. Lily also competed alongside her Dynamic Performing Arts classmate Tavia McLean in three duo routines, and together they aced the competition, taking out three golds and the trophy for highest-scoring duo in the senior competition with their epic jazz routine – the youngest pair to ever do so.
“That was a real surprise – we’d actually only finished learning the routine the week before the competition and it was the first time we’d ever competed with it,” Lily said.
Lily’s achievements are mind-blowing, but so is her focus and commitment. She trains six days a week, making her own way to North Perth each day.
“I’ve never met such a determined person in my life,” Mia Campbell said.
“She’s usually a quiet person, but when she gets on stage, she’s different; she just shines. That’s where she’s supposed to be.”
While she’s only been dancing for five years, she came to the sport with the mindset of a champion.
Lily started training as an elite gymnast at the age of four, and quickly showed her credentials, rising to be a Level 7 state champion.
“I loved gymnastics – my favourite was the floor,” Lily said.
But the WAIS’ decision to cut the women’s artistic gymnastics program in 2016 caused Lily and her family to jump ship, as it did for so many other promising gymnasts in this state.
After a two-week break, Lily was back on the floor, this time at Megan French’s Dance Fit Dance Academy in Kelmscott.
“I loved it instantly,” Lily said. “It was like floor, but non-stop.”
There were many synergies between gymnastics and dance, but Lily also had to get used to tumbling on hard floors, and turn her stiff gymnastics technique into lithe and lyrical motion on the dance floor.
Lily formed a natural affinity with acro, which blends classical dance with acrobatics. And she achieved her first perfect competition score with an acro routine in 2022.
When she was accepted into the selective Dynamic Performing Arts school the same year, Lily’s universe expanded.
“They have some of the best teachers and choreographers not just nationally, but internationally as well,” Mia Campbell said.
One of those is Ashleigh Perrie, who has coached members of both the Australian and British Olympic rhythmic gymnastics teams.
“To have a teacher and choreographer like that for Lily has taken her to a different level,” Mia said.
“The way Lily blends her dance with her gymnastics is quite unique.”
And proud parents Mia and Sean can’t wait to see Lily “put Australia on the map for acro” when she heads to the Dance World Cup.
With 120,000 competitors from over 60 countries competing in Spain, Lily isn’t holding too tightly onto hopes of winning.
“Obviously the biggest dream is to place, but I’m not expecting that,” she said.
Sean said he’s happy as long as Lily feels fulfilled.
“She’s spent thousands of hours working towards this, I hope she gets out of it what she wants,” he said.
While Lily has more than earned her place at the World Cup, she still needs to pay for her passage.
“Unfortunately, because dance isn’t considered an elite sport there’s no funding,” Mia said. “It’s going to cost $20,000 for both of us to travel there.”
The family has started a GoFundMe page called “Support Lily to represent Australia at the Dance World Cup”, which has raised almost half of their $2000 target so far.
“We’re so thankful for everyone who has already supported Lily – this is such a big dream and it’s all happened so quickly,” Mia said.
“I’m just so excited to see her meet and work with people who are just as passionate about acro as she is.”
All photographs – Richard Polden
