Devante's Dream Trip

Melissa Taylor is organizing this fundraiser.

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My name is Melissa and I am trying to raise funds to send my son Devante’ to Cancun in Mexico to compete at Dancers Paradise.

Devante’ started dancing when he was 10, doing a couple of classes each week as that was all we could afford to do. After a year of that with his passion growing and his determination to prove to everyone that, although he didn’t have the stereotypical dancers body, he could be a dancer, we decided to make it possible for him to do more classes. By 13 he had worked his way into doing unlimited classes and still his passion grew. He had his sights set on a career in dance, he danced at home when he wasn’t in class, he danced in school, he danced while walking through the shops, he even managed to dance in the shower.

Keeping up with his fees for training was hard and the better he got the more doors that opened, the more expensive it got. He started competing with the studio that he was with for a year, before becoming a solo competitor.

Now at 16, after proving everyone wrong, beating countless odds and costing more money than I could ever have anticipated, he has danced in numerous competitions, scholarships and productions etc. He has completed all the relevant certificates in ballet and is trained in all styles of dance, including Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Acro, Tap, Musical Theatre & Song and dance. He is currently studying his Cert 4 in dance at Dance Force during school hours, then going on to do his regular classes each night. His dedication is a constant source of inspiration to me and I couldn’t be prouder of what he has accomplished.

He received scholarships in dance at both his high schools and studios. Participating in lead roles in stage productions and concerts.

Last year after successfully auditioning for the production ‘7 Vices’ through Dance Editorial (based in Sydney) he performed as a paid protégé. After production he was offered a role as a Youth Ambassador representing Dance Editorial.

He also successfully auditioned and became a part of a Hip Hop crew, ‘VALIANT’ based on the Gold Coast, run by Sunshine Coast Studio, ‘The House of Sole’ and sponsored by, ‘Get the beat Eisteddfods’ that competed in the Varsity division for HHI in Sydney.

He competed and auditioned to be in 2 separate productions, where he was offered a position to perform in LA, but as we were already up to our eyeballs in debt, just maintaining his training, we had to decline as we couldn’t afford to get him there. Witnessing his disappointment, when finding out he couldn’t go after working so hard to get through the auditions, was heartbreaking.

At the end of last year Devante’ auditioned for the ‘Sole Fam’ Travel Crew, that would be competing in May this year at ‘Dancers Paradise.’ This time I didn’t say no. This time I said I would try and make it happen.