By DAVID SCHOUT
Before she had even started primary school, Madi Chrystie was a dancer in the making.
Her mother Jane recalls a time when she couldn’t go on a routine outing without her daughter strutting her stuff in her own little world.
“I couldn’t take her anywhere,” Jane said with a laugh.
“I remember walking down the supermarket aisles one day and she was dancing away so I picked her up and her little legs were still going.
“I just laughed and thought, if you can’t beat them, join them.”
And little has changed.
Those twinkle toes have move on in leaps and bounds since then, to the point where Madi will compete at her fifth World Highland Dancing Championships in Scotland this August.
The year 11 Mount Lilydale Mercy College student trains for three hours a day – one hour before school and two after – in the quest to go back to back from last year’s World Championship win.
Madi says at a young age her passion for highland dancing came from simple origins.
“I just wanted to wear the socks,” she says simply.
Highland dance combines a number of high intensity steps as well as upper body, arm and hand movements to the tune of bagpipes.
Madi tried different dance styles including ballet, jazz and tap, but ultimately her passion for one particular dance was above all else.
“I wanted to become a world champion so I stayed with my Highland.”
And that she did, taking out the top prize among 300 competitors in the 16/17-year-old age group.
But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the 17-year-old, who suffered a potential career ending injury during the 2011 World Championships.
What started as a mystery soreness in her foot turned into a severe stress fracture that several high-profile doctors said required bone grafting surgery.
“To be told I may not dance again, I was really upset,” she said.
However, prominent Melbourne physiotherapist Craig Phillips strongly advised against the surgery and put Madi on a stringent rehabilitation program that, within three months had her dancing freely again.
Mr Phillips now uses Madi’s case to show international physiotherapists about stress fractures in the feet.
On 18 August Madi and family will jet off to Scotland to see if she can win again at a competition that is televised across Scotland.
Madi will also dance in front of the Queen this year, which she said she “can’t wait for”.
