Keeping the beat with Bella

BELLA Schroder has big plans for her dancing career, with earning a place in the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad just one of her bucket list aspirations.

The former Hype dancer was back in her hometown Mount Gambier last month, catching up with friends and family and also giving back to her original dance school, taking classes and also working one-on-one with some of the studio’s dancers.

When the 18-year-old first stepped into Hype Dance Studio it was purely because some of her friends from kindergarten were doing it and it was fun.

“Mum just put me in dance as she knew it would be good socially and a fun way to train,” Bella said. “She didn’t expect to be a dance mum, it was just about having fun.”

But that gradually changed as Bella showed an aptitude for dance and it quickly became a passion that was more about hanging out with her friends.

As a four-year-old, Bella started preparing solos for competition after studio principal Kim Cella had identified Bella as a genuine talent.

“And when I was about eight I started dancing a lot with the older kids and that was the classes I started to get involved in,” she said. “Basically I was dancing every day and I have been ever since and I just love it.

With her burgeoning talent, came the travel to Adelaide and Melbourne and beyond as she attended dance competitions at every opportunity.

Coming through the ranks she worked across all genres – contemporary, lyrical, jazz, ballet and hip hop.

“It did get serious very quickly,” Bella said. “When I was 12 I wrote a big list and part of that was I wanted to move away by the time I was 14, which was because I knew if you were in the country but wanted to be a dancer you would eventually have to move away.”

And she was proactive in achieving those goals, looking into dance courses that also offered education, which is when she came across Dance Force on the Gold Coast.

“So I sent in an audition tape which Kim (Cella) helped me put together but I wasn’t really expecting to be offered a spot so quickly,” Bella said.

In the end, Bella gave the move a one year runway and to prepare for being independent she started home schooling and upping her dance training.

“It was a way to get used to online schooling,” she said, and as she had planned, she moved away as a 14-year-old.

“It was a big change but I waws with a host family and it really was fun,” Bella said.

Eventually Bella then had to decide what her next career move was going to be and that is when she auditioned for and was accepted to Sydney’s Brent Street – one of Australia’s most revered dance schools.

“For me it was Brent Street or I would have stayed at Dance Force,” she said. “They are basically two of the best schools but I had travelled to Sydney a fair bit and loved it so to get the chance to move there and experience different teachers and new networks was amazing and I love change so it was great to set a new challenge.”

So after three years at Dance Force, Bella made the move, also knowing that it would give her exposure to a lot of overseas talent.

“When dancers, teachers and choreographers come to Australia from overseas they go to Sydney so that was going to give me some great opportunities and there are a lot more workshops outside of dance classes,” she said.

The latest boost for the dedicated dancer was being selected as part of Brent Street’s Project 30 at the start of this year.

Bella took on 239 other dancers and was selected as part of the elite group of 30, which is basically a group of the studio’s dancers that are treated as professional dancers and they have been booked for national and international performances already.

“I was so grateful to be picked – it was a bit of a shock,” she said.

This month the group has a whirlwind trip to Canada to perform at a major convention and that is just one of many opportunities that will present over 2026.

Sourcing an agent will be a priority this year as well and then there are the mid year auditions for the cheerleading with the Dallas Cowboys being he big dream, while she also has an eye on a similar role at the New York Knicks, while being a dancer for an artist at a major music event like Coachella is also part of Bella’s new list of opportunities to pursue.

“But I am ready to see whatever is out there, I really do love trying new things and I imagine there are dance opportunities I haven’t even thought of yet,” Bella said.

Taking classes at Hype, as she did last month, is important to Bella and she has previously offered her services on visits home and will continue to do so.