More than 500 dancers ranging from under six to 17 and over will grace the stage at the West Gippsland Arts Centre this week, showcasing their talents in ballet, jazz, tap, neo-classical, song and dance, contemporary, hip hop and more at the 32nd West Gippsland Dance Festival.

The festival began on Friday afternoon with duo and trio dances across a number of styles, followed by a weekend jam packed with troupes of all ages.
After its popularity last year, more hip-hop sections have been added to this year's festival line up.
"Hip hop has become a really exciting part of the festival, whether it's solos or duos or troupes," festival president Chloe Smethurst said.
"The jazz troupes have always been a big highlight of the festival but equally now so are the hip hop troupes. The crowd interaction is really exciting and fun to be a part of, the music is loud and the lights are flashing."
In addition to the new hip hop sections, this year the festival will offer a new technical ballet section.
"We've still got a really strong focus on technical pieces, so this year for the first time we're offering a classical variation section," Chloe said.
"Dancers will do a piece from one of the big classical ballets like Sleeping Beauty. It's exciting that we've got both sides (of dance in the festival) and they're both growing."
The festival will conclude on Saturday with jazz, classical and lyrical championships and the 13 years and over West Gippsland Dance Festival Scholarship section.