Kymberleigh began dancing en pointe with Rolande at age nine, and as a result, her teachers at McDonald College have said she has very strong pointe work for her age.

“I started Kymberleigh on pointe when I believed she was strong and skilled enough, at first it was only for a few minutes at a time but now she is so strong on pointe and has very good feet,” Rolande said.

Kymberleigh is coming along in leaps and bounds at the McDonald College, but still finds time to visit Inverell and revisit her roots.

“The college has offered me so much even in the little amount of time I have been attending the school. At the college there are many amazing dancers in my class which when I look at them it makes me push that little harder to improve. When I look at some of the girls at the College I aim to work harder so that one day I will look like them, In a way I look at those girls as my inspiration.

“Rolande used to give me these pieces of advice and I would pass them onto anyone who has a passion for dancing I would have to say follow your heart and your dreams, don’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of your dreams and the most important thing of all dance from your heart never from your head.”

Rolande is very proud of Kymberleigh and her achievements over the years including her scholarship to McDonald College, and has had many successful students over the years, including Amanda Prosser, who is a lead performer at Draculas at the Gold Coast, Meg Cooper and Laura King, who also taught Kymberleigh in Inverell.

“It feels great to have so many of my ex-students succeed, a lot of them still keep in touch with me and I love to hear of their achievements, it makes me feel honoured to have had a part in such talented peoples lives.”