25/09/2026
🌟 SEPTEMBER SPOTLIGHT – MATILDA 🌟
Matilda’s dance journey began at just three years old in a Mummy & Me class at Rural Dance School in Merredin.
Then, in 2017 at five years old, Matilda won the RSDWA Merredin Scholarship, giving her the opportunity to travel to Toodyay Ballet School.
Nine years later, it’s pretty incredible to look back at just how much that opportunity has shaped her.
TBS became much more than somewhere Matilda travelled to for dance classes. It became somewhere she grew up – surrounded by teachers who have watched her develop from a tiny five-year-old ballerina into the beautiful dancer and young person she is today, and friends who have grown up right alongside her.
And what an incredible nine years it has been!
✨ 2018
Top 10 – Country Dance Challenge
✨ 2019
Top 10 – Country Dance Challenge
✨ 2020
Top 10 – Country Dance Challenge
Announced as a Mad Mia Ambassador through Instagram Competition
✨ 2021
3rd Place – WA Young Dancer Awards
✨ 2022
Accepted into The Australian Ballet School ITP Program in Melbourne
Runner-Up Highest Scoring Soloist – Country Dance Challenge
Helen Gowers Artistic Junior Award – Country Dance Challenge
✨ 2023
Runner-Up Highest Scoring Soloist – Country Dance Challenge
12/U Novice Aggregate Mandurah Festival of Dance
TBS Classical Dancer of the Year
✨ 2024
Special Mention – Grade 6 Silver Medal Awards
Highest Scoring Soloist – Country Dance Challenge
TBS Classical Dancer of the Year
Shirley Ploog Award – Toodyay Ballet School
✨ 2025
Honourable Mention – Intermediate Scholarship
10–11 Runner-Up National Champion Evo Elite – Evolution National Dance Competition, Gold Coast
Highest Scoring 10–11yrs Duo – Evolution National Dance Competition, Gold Coast
Highest Scoring Soloist – Country Dance Challenge
Rybka Twins WOW Award – Country Dance Challenge
Junior Classical Championship Winner – Starlight Festival of Dance
Junior Theatrical Scholarship Winner – Mandurah Festival of Dance
Highest Scoring Duo of the Festival – Mandurah Festival of Dance
Highest Scoring 12/U National Soloist
Top 5 Ultimate Classical Dancer – Raise the Barre Dance Festival
Raise the Barre Award
Senior Dancer of the Year – Toodyay Ballet School
✨ 2026
Highest Scoring Soloist – Country Dance Challenge
Judges’ Choice Award – Starlight Festival of Dance
Under 14 Aggregate Winner – Mandurah Festival of Dance
Highest Scoring 12/U National Soloist
Among all of those achievements, one still stands out as Matilda’s proudest – being accepted into The Australian Ballet School’s ITP Program in Melbourne at just ten years old.
There have been so many special experiences along the way, including performing at National Finals and, this year, having the opportunity to have her own solo and learn each week from the incredible Kevin Jackson. Her favourite ballet role to date is her 2026 Harlequinade Repertoire Solo.
But when we asked Matilda her favourite part of growing up at TBS, it wasn’t an award, competition or performance.
“The forever best friends I have made. I love them to bits.”
When asked to choose a favourite TBS memory, she couldn’t choose just one:
“It’s hard to pick just one, as my whole nine years at TBS have been the best years of my life.”
And we think that says so much about what these nine years have meant.
Matilda has grown up alongside these girls – spending countless hours together in the studio, travelling to competitions, standing side-stage, celebrating each other’s successes and creating friendships and memories that extend far beyond dancing.
Now Matilda has reached another huge milestone, successfully completing her Cecchetti Advanced One exam and progressing into Advanced 2.
From the five-year-old who first arrived at TBS on a scholarship to the dancer she is today, there have been countless lessons, rehearsals, competitions, costumes and awards – but also confidence built, resilience learnt, lifelong friendships formed and a love of dance nurtured.
Matilda dreams of continuing to study dance and one day performing in musicals around the world. She also hopes to become a teacher one day and pass on the same love of dance that her teachers have given her.
TBS hasn’t just been a place where Matilda learnt to dance. It has been a place where she has grown up.
We are so incredibly proud of you, Tildy, and can’t wait to see what comes next.
