Fil-Aussie a top dance talent in Australia

Rhiannon Villareal

Rhiannon Villareal knows she can dance and so do her friends and her dance students.

The professional dance teacher, who grew up in Minto, has beaten thousands of others at auditions and landed a spot in the final 20 in the hit television series, So You Think You Can Dance Australia.

The 19 year old is a natural performer, she started classes at the Sydney school when she was 11, and trained fulltime in performing arts there last year. Now a teacher herself at Talent Zone, a dance school in Merrylands, Rhiannon brings a wealth of performing and TV experience to the comp which belies her young age.

She was a semi-finalist in Australia's Got Talent, performing with a dance group called Raptous. She performed on Mornings with Kerri-Anne, at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award and the Australian and New Zealand Urban Music Awards. She was part of a TV series called Dare to Dance, which followed four performers' lives for nine weeks whilst training at Brent Street. And she's no stranger to the world of video clips either, having performed in big-budget clips for Aussie pop acts Rogue Traders, Girl Band, Nikki Webster and Young Divas. She was even part of Michael Jackson's HISTORY tour in 1996, where she got to give him a rose as part of the act and he kissed her forehead (“I didn't wash it for a week!”).

Rhiannon loves all styles of dancing but feels most comfortable with the sharp, fluid moves of Jazz, a style she says she picked up straight away. Bubbly and caring, Rhiannon brings one of the most important qualities a dancer can possess to the competition: honesty. She can't stand people who are fake or pretend to be someone or something they're not, and her open, generous performances on the floor are sure to win many fans.

Ms Villareal's colleagues at Talent Zone dance studio in Merrylands, where she has been teaching jazz, tap, contemporary, lyrical and hip-hop for nearly three years, were forthcoming in their support for her.

Principal teacher at the school, Debby Mostyn, said Ms Villareal could win the competition.

"She has that x-factor that the judges look for," she said.

"While the other dancers can do all the technical moves too, Rhiannon has the personality and the charisma as well as being an awesome dancer.

"The students love her and she has a very good rapport with the girls.

"The girls have become so advanced since Rhiannon started, and we're performing in Disneyland in Hong Kong soon.

"We've always been a fun dance school but with Rhiannon's technical skills, the students are looking quite professional and have improved.

"She's brought a level to the school that I couldn't."

Fellow teacher Jenna Reid, Rhiannon's best friend, said: "We are so proud of her.

"We know she's having heaps of fun because this is her dream, her passion.

"[Dancing] is her life.

"She even flew to Melbourne to audition because she had a gig when the Sydney one was scheduled.

"She can definitely win it."