On The Up: Tauranga’s Victoria Seymour off to Beijing for Chinese competition

Victoria Seymour, 12. Photo / Tom Eley

Tauranga Intermediate student Victoria Seymour is off to Beijing after representing the Bay of Plenty at the Chinese Proficiency competition in Wellington.

The competition, with the theme of Chinese joy and fun, was held at Victoria University’s Rutherford House on May 24.

“We were in and out,” Victoria said.

Victoria, 12, answered questions in Mandarin and then had to perform a special talent. She chose Chinese dance.

“I have always been a dancer. I have done that for more than 10 years. And so Chinese dance just kind of felt natural.”

Victoria said she had started learning Mandarin and dance in the last two years, but had also embraced exploring another culture: “I think it’s fascinating.”

Victoria had a step-grandmother and a Mandarin teacher to help her with her language skills, but she had to rely on YouTube videos to become proficient in dance.

At the competition, the students were judged on creativity, fluency, pronunciation and several different categories, she said.

“I’m very keen to explore harder and more unique Chinese dances.”

Victoria would like to see Tauranga embrace more Chinese culture, and having only three other students representing the Bay of Plenty was “a bit disappointing”.

She said she was in a state of disbelief at her win and was aware that she would not only be representing the Bay of Plenty, but also New Zealand, in Beijing.

“My mind’s kind of exploding right now.”

A date had not yet been set for the competition in China, but Victoria believed it would happen in Term 3.

“It is a lifetime opportunity,” she said.

It will be an all-expenses-paid trip to China, with one caregiver given the chance to go, but Victoria hoped to be able to take both her parents. She said she would be in China for two weeks and hoped to visit the Great Wall and a few other tourist hotspots around the country.

Victoria said she was attempting to add Chinese calligraphy to her growing list of skills, but faced a challenge in mastering it: “I am left-handed. So I smudge everything that I write.”