DENISE Hadley has run a dance school in Proserpine for 35 years.

Dee Jay School of Dance offers a wide range of ballet, tap, modern dance, hip hop and musical theatre.

"I started to dance when I was six," Ms Hadley said.

"We lived in Calen for all my early dancing years.

"I did five days a week and Mum drove me to Mackay each day.

"That was the start of many years driving in the car to and from dancing.

"I would miss the first half hour as it would take us a good hour to travel after school and it would be nothing to get home after 8pm.

"Saturday morning classes would start at 7.30am so it was always an early start for us to get there on time."

Ms Hadley was incredibly talented - completing all her ballet exams by the age of 15. She once competed in National Star Quest, a popular talent show on TV in the '70s.

Now, she has two studios - one in Proserpine and another in Bowen with a third set to open in Collinsville.

"I started with a class of 15 kids on Saturdays," she said. "It's now 180 kids between two studios.

"I think my favourite part of all of this would be the progression - you see students at the age of four and five when they start here and they cry and can't skip.

"You then see them show so much growth as they get older with many of them taken to a place where they can audition anywhere."

Ms Hadley said two girls had recently been accepted into the world-renowned Joffrey Ballet School in New York.

She couldn't be prouder of her students' achievements.