Sylvania dancer Mia Zanardo, 15, is soaring in leaps and bounds.
The teen dancer won gold medal at the Genee International Ballet Competition in Toronto, Canada, this year.
There were 62 dancers from 13 countries aged 15-19 in the competition. Seven dancers from Australia qualified.
Mia won $8500 and was interviewed by dance magazines all over the world. It tops off a successful year for the young dancer, who also represented Australia in Hong Kong in the Asian Grand Prix where she won scholarships to the Canadian National Ballet School and Royal Ballet School.
Mia also won the NSW Cecchetti gold medal in Sydney and came in first place in the Sydney Eisteddfod.
She previously trained at Wendy Gibbs School of Ballet at Caringbah, and now trains full-time at Alegria Ballet School in Woolloomooloo.
Mia says her most recent win was exciting, inspiring and fulfilling.
"When they announced my number as the gold medallist, I was in disbelief, then I was totally overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude. Placing at the Genée has been the highlight of my life thus far, it makes the all hard work worthwhile," she said.
"We all had to improvise in different ways, which were then included in the piece, [so] the variation [included] a little piece of each of us. It was [also] extra special to perform, as well, because we danced with a cellist. This live music guided me through the movement, and I felt the dance was part of me."