{"id":307608,"date":"2025-07-31T21:55:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T21:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/307608\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T21:55:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T21:55:33","slug":"bristol-schoolgirl-wows-judges-just-four-years-after-starting-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/307608\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol schoolgirl wows judges just four years after starting dance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A schoolgirl who only took up dance during lockdown has pirouetted her way to national recognition \u2014 scooping top spots in a prestigious freestyle competition just four years after she began.<\/p>\n<p>Isla, a Year 7 pupil at Fairfield High School, Bristol, stunned judges at the Iconic Freestyle Competitions in Stoke-on-Trent, taking second place in the slow dance category and fourth in the fast section for under-14s.<\/p>\n<p>Despite her relatively late start in the sport, Isla now trains nearly 15 hours a week \u2014 a schedule that reflects her drive and determination to excel.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LC_290725dancer_02.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2996\"  \/>Isla, a Year 7 pupil at Fairfield High School, has rapidly gained recognition in national dance circles.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking about her journey, Isla said: \u201cWhen I started dancing, I really wasn\u2019t that good! I started entering competitions just for fun, winning a few medals here and there. However, because my slow dancing is quite mature, when I moved to the under-14s category, that\u2019s when things really took off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She added: \u201cI\u2019ve found a style of dance that showcases my strength and I\u2019m excited about what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The young dancer hopes to take her talent even further \u2014 with international dance conventions in the United States among her long-term ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>Encouraging others to follow their passions, Isla said: \u201cI would recommend to anyone wanting to try out a new hobby or sport to give it a go. It will be difficult at first, but it does get easier and you will improve the more you try.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her mum, Sharmaine, praised her daughter\u2019s dedication and growth: \u201cI am a super proud, and slightly embarrassing, Mum who has seen Isla grow stronger and more confident with every step over the past few years. We all truly believe that, if she carries on this path, she will be a famous face who may even be looking after me someday!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Isla trains with the Alien Dance Company in Bristol, which offers classes in freestyle disco, ballet, jazz, contemporary, acrobatics, lyrical, musical theatre and commercial dance styles.<\/p>\n<p>Read all\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inyourarea.co.uk\/areas-we-cover\/England\/Bristol\/Bristol\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the latest news from in and around Bristol<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A schoolgirl who only took up dance during lockdown has pirouetted her way to national recognition \u2014 scooping&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,33581,748,393,4884,12893,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-307608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-post","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-inyourarea-community","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114950080121584036","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}