{"id":123225,"date":"2026-06-16T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=123225"},"modified":"2026-06-10T17:51:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T07:51:28","slug":"sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharpening quick steps for good causes"},"content":{"rendered":"

DANCING the quickstep is pretty pacy \u2013 just ask Paige Brooks.<\/p>\n

The busy Newington physiotherapist and mum of three young boys is making the time to step onto the dance floor as part of this year’s Dancing With Our Stars fundraiser for the Ballarat Foundation.<\/p>\n

Over many weeks of rehearsal, Brooks has been preparing to shine at the gala performance night next Saturday evening, 20 June.<\/p>\n

“The quickstep is a bit tricky and it’s certainly quick,” Brooks laughed.<\/p>\n

“I did dance in my youth but it was a very different dancing \u2013 musical theatre and ballet \u2013 so it’s been really challenging because I’ve almost had to unlearn what I’d previously learned.”<\/p>\n

Alongside this year’s other participating stars, Brooks has been learning her routine at The Dance Studio under the guidance of Shelley Ross, and with the help of dance partner for the occasion, Ashleigh Ross.<\/p>\n

“Ashleigh is a professional dancer and teacher and has been absolutely phenomenal,” Brooks said.<\/p>\n

“It’s super different to anything I’ve ever been used to. It’s absolutely non-stop.<\/p>\n

“From the moment the music starts you are moving and there’s a lot of travelling around the room.<\/p>\n

“We both still fall in a heap at the end of it. I’ve certainly reacquainted myself with a few muscle groups.”<\/p>\n

All the while Brooks has been steadily raising money to support the Ballarat Foundation’s work to tackle homelessness, food insecurity, mental health issues, gender inequality and violence, and to boost youth success.<\/p>\n

“It’s an incredibly humbling experience and I’m so thankful to everyone who’s donated, and to all my sponsors who have rallied behind me,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’m just so excited to see that all of the funds raised are going to stay in the local community.”<\/p>\n

She will be cheered on at the gala by husband Mat, family, friends and work colleagues.<\/p>\n

Brooks and the other stars’ individual fundraising pages are accepting donations at ballaratfoundation.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DANCING the quickstep is pretty pacy \u2013 just ask Paige Brooks. The busy Newington physiotherapist and mum of three young boys is making the time to step onto the dance floor as part of this year’s Dancing With Our Stars fundraiser for the Ballarat Foundation. Over many weeks of rehearsal, Brooks has been preparing to […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":123232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-123225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSharpening quick steps for good causes - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"See local physio Paige Brooks dance the quickstep at the Dancing With Our Stars gala to raise vital funds for Ballarat.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sharpening quick steps for good causes - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"See local physio Paige Brooks dance the quickstep at the Dancing With Our Stars gala to raise vital funds for Ballarat.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-img-13.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Evie Lamb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Evie Lamb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Evie Lamb\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7d21b2c6dfc298cf678c776c4e5166\"},\"headline\":\"Sharpening quick steps for good causes\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":338,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TNG-img-13.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sharpening quick steps for good causes - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TNG-img-13.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"See local physio Paige Brooks dance the quickstep at the Dancing With Our Stars gala to raise vital funds for Ballarat.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TNG-img-13.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TNG-img-13.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Newington physio Paige Brooks has been preparing to take to the dance floor for the Dancing With Our Stars' gala event. Photo: Edwina Williams.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sharpening quick steps for good causes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"width\":739,\"height\":98,\"caption\":\"Ballarat Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7d21b2c6dfc298cf678c776c4e5166\",\"name\":\"Evie Lamb\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/author\\\/evelamb\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sharpening quick steps for good causes - Ballarat Times","description":"See local physio Paige Brooks dance the quickstep at the Dancing With Our Stars gala to raise vital funds for Ballarat.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sharpening quick steps for good causes - Ballarat Times","og_description":"See local physio Paige Brooks dance the quickstep at the Dancing With Our Stars gala to raise vital funds for Ballarat.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/","og_site_name":"Ballarat Times","article_published_time":"2026-06-15T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-img-13.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Evie Lamb","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Evie Lamb","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/"},"author":{"name":"Evie Lamb","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/3e7d21b2c6dfc298cf678c776c4e5166"},"headline":"Sharpening quick steps for good causes","datePublished":"2026-06-15T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/"},"wordCount":338,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-img-13.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/","name":"Sharpening quick steps for good causes - Ballarat Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-img-13.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-15T18:00:00+00:00","description":"See local physio Paige Brooks dance the quickstep at the Dancing With Our Stars gala to raise vital funds for Ballarat.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-img-13.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-img-13.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Newington physio Paige Brooks has been preparing to take to the dance floor for the Dancing With Our Stars' gala event. Photo: Edwina Williams."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sharpening-quick-steps-for-good-causes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sharpening quick steps for good causes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","name":"Ballarat Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization","name":"Ballarat Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","width":739,"height":98,"caption":"Ballarat Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/3e7d21b2c6dfc298cf678c776c4e5166","name":"Evie Lamb","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/author\/evelamb\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/244"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123225"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=123225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}