Street dance crew taught by 17-year-old Ampthill student takes gold at its first ever competition

A street dance crew from Ampthill taught by a 17-year-old student claimed the gold medal spot at its first ever competition.

Fundamentalz Youth - based at Redborne Upper School - took the prize at the BDO East Anglian regional competition in Peterborough at the weekend.

The crew is the first competitive team from Fundamentalz Dance, and will now head off to the BDO World Championships in 2022.

Fundamentalz Youth competed in the First Timers category and is made up of 11 young dancers aged between 10 to 15 years old, from Ampthill and the surrounding areas.

None of the youngsters had ever competed in street dance before this weekend.

The team is taught by Mia Beaney, 17, an A-level student at Redborne Upper School and the founder of Fundamentalz Dance.

Mia also competed at the competition, winning the Open Duos category with her partner Kerri-Ann Morrison, and placing third in the Open Solos category, meaning she too qualifies to compete at the BDO world championships next year.

Mia set up Fundamentalz Dance in 2020, and despite the challenges of the pandemic and multiple lockdowns, now teaches over 70 students of all ages across six classes a week at Redborne Upper School.

She said: "Since opening Fundamentalz Dance last summer it has always been my goal to create a team that could compete, and now that competitions are finally happening again, we are absolutely delighted to have been able to dance and take first place.

"The team has worked really hard to prepare and we are now looking forward to attending more competitions, creating more teams from our other students, and building on this weekend’s success.”