BENNY Turland has gone from dancing around the house in front of his family to dancing on television in front of millions.
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In a roller-coaster six months, 13-year-old Benny landed a spot in Project Dance's Lil' Banditz Krew, performed in front of thousands of people for several hip hop concerts, and this Sunday he will be on Young Talent Time (YTT).
Benny has been dancing since he was four years old, inspired by his sister, Emily, who has also danced her whole life.
"When you dance, it lets you be free of everything and you don't have to worry," he said.
Benny got a taste of hip hop with Raw Performance Studios (formally Miss Cay's Ministry of Dance) and danced with hip hop group Phase 2, which came sixth in the Australian section of the world hip hop championship.
Benny used to watch So You Think You Can Dance and wanted to be on it, so being on YTT is like a dream come true.
While Benny was performing in an eisteddfod, he was approached by a Project Dance representative, Ben Stokes, from Commotion School of Performing Arts in Mount Annan, who asked him to audition for an all boys hip hop group, Lil' Banditz Krew.
Project Dance is a not-for-profit organisation formed last year by seven leading dance schools in the Sydney Metropolitan area, including Commotion.
It aims to nurture talented youngsters through workshops and performance opportunities, developing a link between the youngsters and leaders in the entertainment industry.
"It was really cool to be picked out of everyone to be asked to do an audition," Benny said.
He was one of 80 people to audition and then he was one of the 17 boys, aged eight-15, chosen to be one of the "Lil' Banditz".
The Krew has spent a lot of time together training and performing since its formation in September and Benny said it had been great to meet likeminded people and they were all best friends.
In October last year Benny auditioned with Lil' Banditz Krew alongside 30,000 other children for a competitors spot on the new version of YTT.
In December they found out they had been selected to be one of the first competitors on the show, but had to keep it quiet.
"I felt really special and got really excited," Benny said.
This Sunday's show was filmed last Saturday and Benny said it was an exciting experience.
"It was very professional; it was really fun and exciting to perform and meet the team, they were all nice and friendly."
Benny said it was very exciting to be on television and for his TV debut on YTT on Sunday family and friends will be joining him to watch the performance.
Benny's family could not be prouder of him; Mrs Turland grew up watching YTT and said it was great fitness for him.
"He's made great friends while doing something that he loves - he's got a lot of family support," Mrs Turland said.
YTT is on this Sunday at 6.30pm. Watch to see if Benny and the Lil' Banditz Krew make it through to the next round.
