Dancers ready for Braemar Dance Club competition

Lily Loftus danced “Rag Doll” for her performance at the Gisborne Festival of Talent last October. Young dancers are in town this weekend for the return of the Braemar Dance Club competition. Picture by Paul Rickard

About 100 participants will brighten up the stage at the War Memorial Theatre this long weekend with the return of the Braemar Dance Club competition.

The popular event was not held in 2020 and 2022, because of Covid-19.

Entrants are coming from across the country — Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Hawkes Bay and Te Puke — as well as locally.

Club chair and competition convener Shona Martin said they were pleased to have got a “big response” from their visitors, especially after the competition had to be skipped for those two years.

“We would like to thank all our visiting competitors who have travelled to Gisborne to be a part of this weekend,” she said.

They will compete in different age groups across three dance categories — tap, ballet and modern.

“Locals wanting to see tap dancing can come on Saturday and those rooting for ballet and modern can come and watch them during the remaining couple of days, respectively.”

Mrs Martin said the club was started by a woman who came to live in Gisborne from Scotland, where she lived in the village of Braemar.

“That’s how it got its name and since then a group of teachers and volunteers have kept it going.”

She gave a shout-out to the War Memorial Theatre for providing the space and facilities for the children to perform.