Dancer switches to the drums

Rebekah Emmett, right, with her mum. Photo / Paul Taylor

Accomplished highland dancer Rebekah Emmett will trade her dancing shoes for drumsticks, as she proves her Scottish heritage at this weekend's Royal New Zealand Pipe Band Championships.

The 16-year-old Hastings Girls' High School student started dancing at age 3 and has excelled, landing her a place dancing at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo which marched into Wellington's Westpac Stadium last month.

She joined more than 1200 performers from around the world who danced with the backdrop of a full-size replica of Edinburgh Castle.

But her talent does not stop there, she is a tenor drummer in the City of Hastings Pipe Band, alongside her mum Judy and sister Rochelle, who all celebrate their Scottish heritage in doing so.

Rebekah said dancing at the tattoo was hard work in the lead-up but an "unforgettable experience".

The dancer said she took up drumming because her mum already played the bagpipes in the band, but now played the tenor drum and Rochelle, 19, played the snare drum.

"I prefer dancing because I started so young, it's a big part of my life," but drumming also tied into the bigger scheme of things, she said.