Dancer Rikkai Scott knew he had all the right moves for an audition in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, he did not have money to travel.

The 25-year-old was just finishing up a dance degree at the London Contemporary Dance School in the UK.

“Students generally don’t have a lot of cash floating around,” he said.

He turned to the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda. The charity had awarded him the $7,500 Georgine Mary Russell Hill scholarship three times in a row.

“When Rikkai came to us asking for help, we said, ‘Of course’,” said Sallie Singleton, scholarship committee head. “We are so proud of all our scholarship winners.”

Mr Scott got the job with the De Kiss Moves dance company. He stayed for about a year before returning home to Bermuda to teach. He is now urging other serious dance students in need of financial help to look towards the NDFB.

“If you need help, seriously, hit them up,” said Mr Scott.

Applications for NDFB scholarships are due tomorrow. They are open to Bermudians studying dance overseas in an accredited programme.

The first time Mr Scott applied for the Hill scholarship, he did not know much about the Bermudian dance matriarch.

“This quiet lady came up to me at the awards presentation and said she was really proud of me,” Mr Scott said.

“I didn’t know who she was, but I really appreciated her saying that.”

He did eventually figure out her identity and they became very close before her death last year at the age of 95.

“I was so sad when she died,” he said. “I really couldn’t have done it without the NDFB. I am so grateful to them and to Mrs Hill.”

Alexis Richens cried when she heard she had won a scholarship from the NDFB.

The 22-year-old was going into her last year of a double degree in business and dance when she won the $15,000 Patricia Calnan Scholarship in 2014.

“I was in an arcade when I got the call,” she said. “I had to go outside to hear. When I realised what the call was about tears were streaming down my face.”

She said it was not financial pressure that made her cry.

“It was nothing like that,” she said. “I just felt relieved. I’d been working so hard and this made it feel like I had made it to the top.

“I am very grateful for it. I had gotten little scholarships from the NDFB along the way, but this was the culmination.”

She graduated in the spring and is now back in Bermuda teaching dance.

“I am just so grateful to the NDFB,” she said.

Miss Richens decided to include business in her studies because she was not sure if she would be able to support herself with dance.

She did well in both arenas and won an internship with the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies last year.

“The business training has given me a different perspective on things than people who just have dance,” she said. “I see details that others wouldn’t see.”

She finished both degrees in four years.

“I took classes over the summer,” she said. “It was a lot of work but I had to prioritise.

“I couldn’t have done it without the support of the National Dance Foundation.”

She said she has loved teaching classes at DanceSations. She also plans to do some choreography for the Bermuda Civic Ballet.

“I have been working with the little ones and that has been interesting,” she said.

“I have really enjoyed the experience of learning to teach.”

She joined Jackson’s School of Performing Arts when she was four and later took classes with the Somerset School of Dance and the Russian School of Ballet.

“My advice to younger kids is just do it,” she said. “Don’t worry about whether you are ready to take dance, just sign up for a class. There are lots of different types of dance.”

The NDFB usually receives about 20 applications each year, but only half of them are viable.

“We get a lot of applications for things like trombone or things that aren’t dance,” Mrs Singleton said. “We usually whittle it down to a pool of ten.”

She said her favourite day of the year was the day she handed out the scholarships. “It’s just such a great day,” she said.

“I am passionate about dance and I love to see the young people getting a chance to follow their dreams.”

Financing the NDFB scholarships has grown harder due to the economic climate.

Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones helped fund the Patricia Calnan Scholarship this year along with friends and family members of the dancer, who died in 2002.

“We are really grateful to all our sponsors, including companies such as Montpelier Reinsurance and BF&M, who continue to assist us,” Mrs Singleton said.

• The deadline for applications is 5pm. Students can apply through www.bermudascholarships.com. For more information, call 236-3319 or e-mail ndfb@dancebermuda.org