“Before beauty, before creativity, before abundance we were there, dancing.”

A quote that perfectly encompasses the Dance Fuse organisation.

Started by the late Stephanie Sandford with the help of life-long friends, Leesa Chaseling, Bella Fisher and Dimity Bartlett. Dance Fuse has become a legacy delivering Dance education programs to primary and infant schools in Orange and the surrounding areas.

It has been said Steph’s goal was to nurture an explosion of dance in each individual, a fuse that lights a fire in you that helps you express what you are feeling. She knew that dance could tell a story about what a person has been through.

Steph’s Father, Sandro Tranfaglia explained, “Steph always believed that dance would bring people, families and groups together, she wanted to bring happiness to people’s lives and create something where people can enjoy the love of dance, giving everyone an opportunity to dance and have fun.”

“Whether you’re at the pub, or a meeting, or a party, as soon as there’s music, it tends to bring people together, whether they just move their arms or it just brings a smile to their face.”

In honour of Steph and her vision, Dance Fuse has now become a not for profit charity with the ambition to fulfil Steph’s dream of inspiring and influencing the community’s school aged children. All profits raised which, to date is an incredible $19,000 have been invested into a mixture of local, regional and international foundations that share Steph’s desire to change lives and support those who need it the most.

Dance Fuse, Aaron Chaseling said, “Dan (Steph’s Husband) has been the driving force behind turning Dance Fuse into a charity, continuing exactly what Steph was doing with the addition of some fundraising and activities around it to impact the lives of kids and people in the community on a much larger scale. Spread the love, that is the heart behind what we see Dance Fuse as.”

Through the community’s donations the team have been able to invest into an Orange family who are facing enormous challenges as their baby fights cancer. They are supporting a family in Dubbo and one in Newcastle. They have also been able to sponsor six children, rescue seven children from overseas trafficking and donate to research organisations Children’s Cancer Institute and The Mark Hughes Foundation.

As expected COVID has had an impact on the dance school aspect, with Zoom classes becoming the norm, Dimity explained, “It was good to still be able to reach out and have the connectivity with the kids, although it did bring its challenges. The main thing to remember throughout it all is we are keeping Steph’s dream alive and with classes beginning to get back to normal the kids are still loving it.”

Leesa added, “We offer a really professional, fully qualified teaching service. There is so much work that we want to see happen with Dance Fuse but it would be great to get more people onboard to help out.

There are some big things coming up that we need to talk to the team about where the community will potentially see some massive things happen.”

Sandro continued, “It’s absolutely overwhelming to know and see who just how many people we are assisting.

“For me, as a Dad, I wanted her dance school to continue, my wife and I are overwhelmed that they are able to continue Dance Fuse in a positive charitable way and are able to bring smiles to kids’ faces and it’s great to see the passion of dance continue. To come this far has been surreal.”

Sandro continued, “Going through a cancer journey is extremely tough, bills keep coming in, cost of treatment is always there, and being able to assist in that small way is amazing, whether it be electricity, accommodation or food.

I think that’s what life’s about in a way, one human being able to help out another and that person knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel, there is someone out there who can assist, and people’s lives are changing as a result.”

The Dance Fuse team would like to thank those who have donated so far, “Without you we can’t do the valuable work that needs to be done, whether you are enjoying ‘coffee's with Steph,’ purchasing products and promoting who we are, what we do and most of all why we do it, we are so fortunate to have helped so many people.”

“If people are struggling - reach out, we will do what we can to help.”

For more information visit https://dancefuse.org.au/ or keep up with the team on Facebook ‘Dance Fuse.’