NOTTING Hill resident Tommy Rollinson is the No.1 hip hop dancer in Australia. Now this Leader senior Sports Star is out to prove he is one of the world's best.

The 19-year-old long-time student of Glen Waverley's Wendon Dance Academy recently won his second successive Australian hip hop title at the International Dance Organisation Championships held at Crown Casino.

With the title comes a third invitation to the World Hip Hop Championships in Germany later this year. Rollinson has made dramatic progress up the world rankings over the past few years, finishing 63rd at the 2006 championships and 26th last year.

"I've set myself to break into the top 20, but it would be a dream to make the top 10," he said."But I am competing against the best in the world and I only get to see them perform once a year so it will be tough."

Rollinson trains five nights a week at Wendon while balancing a full-time physiotherapy degree at Melbourne University.

He said that level of dedication was needed in a sport that was constantly changing. While he also has trained as a ballroom and Latin American dancer, he said hip hop was his true passion. "The style just keeps moving," he said. ∆

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