LUCY Davidson was "overwhelmed and shocked" at her success in Dance in the Higher School Certificate.
"I never thought that was on the cards for me as I was never really picking Dance," said Lucy, 18, who achieved fourth place in the state for the subject.
"It took a lot of convincing from my parents and the dance staff to actually pick it, so at this point I'm very glad I ended up going down that path. I never thought I'd be capable."
The Hunter School of the Performing Arts student need not have worried.
She and fellow HSPA student Abbey Fotheringham, 18, received 100 for their external examination marks, based on their three practical examinations and two essays.
Lucy received 98 for her assessment mark and 99 for her overall HSC mark. Abbey received an assessment mark of 92 and an overall HSC mark of 96.
Their classmate Carli Redman, 18, achieved third in the state for the subject and received 100 for her assessment mark, 98 for her external examination mark and 99 for her overall HSC mark.
"I ranked first [in my school] in years 11 and 12 for Dance and before I did the trials and the HSC I had received full marks - but achieving a state rank was not something I thought about until I actually finished the HSC," Carli said.
"It was quite crazy."
Lucy said she shed a few tears about her results, "but they were very much happy tears". Abbey said she was "over the moon and shocked".
"I never would have expected this," Abbey said.
"I've been telling all of my dance teachers 'I did this! Look what I got!'"
The practical examinations comprised a core performance that their teacher choreographed, a core composition and a major study, for which the girls all chose performance.
For their core compositions, Carli was inspired by the three sisters of fate, Lucy by honey and honeycomb and Abbey by tall poppy syndrome.
For their major study Carli explored a person feeling guilty about things they can't control, Lucy focused on sexism and misogyny in modern Australia and Abbey on rapid, short and deep breathing.
Carli said the whole cohort worked hard and spent their recess and lunchtimes choreographing their pieces.
"Our major work is a four to six minute solo so nearly every spare minute we had we'd be choreographing and coming up with all of these ideas. So much time and a lot of effort has gone into it."
Lucy said she spent hours in the dance rooms "with headphones in, going over things or talking to teachers, sending them videos and saying 'What do you think of this?' in the school holidays".
Abbey said "it was a lot of work, but because we enjoyed it so much it didn't feel like hard work".
Carli said dance held the promise of something new.
"There's something fresh that I think is so enjoyable," she said.
"There's so many amazing teachers and choreographers out there.... learning from people who have so many interesting experiences in the industry can be addictive, getting to know everyone's unique styles and experiences."
Lucy said it was her favourite subject.
"It was somewhat of a release from all the other subjects sitting at a desk all day, just getting up and being able to move your body and have fun with your friends and generate ideas together.
"It was very much a collaborative process within our cohort as well."
Abbey said dancing made her "so happy".
"I love working with younger kids and love performing on stage, I've always been the one to go 'Yep, I'll do the solo on stage'."
Carli received and accepted an early offer to study an honours degree in diagnostic radiography at the University of Newcastle (UON) and also hopes to teach dance.
Lucy received an early offer to study a combined laws degree at UON. She has deferred and plans to work as an au pair next year.
Abbey said her early offers included dance education at the Australian College of Physical Education and both primary and secondary teaching at UON.
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