Palmerston North dancers Letitia Williams and Nathan Haxton in 2021. Photo / Supplied
Palmerston North dancers Letitia Williams and Nathan Haxton in 2021. Photo / Supplied
The sequins are being dusted, the toplines scrutinised, and the violin bow poised.
The Rose City Dancesport Spectacular is on this Saturday in Palmerston North.
It is fourth time lucky for organiser Shirley Wall who has been trying to hold the 25th anniversary of the Rose City Dancesport Championships since2020.
About 180 dancers are registered to compete, coming from Auckland to Dunedin and ranging in age from 8 to their 70s, beginners to New Zealand champions.
They will be dancing everything from the foxtrot to the waltz, the jive to the rumba.
It will be great for Palmerston North to have all these extra people in town, Wall says.
In 2020, the Spectacular was cancelled due to Covid-19. Then last year, Wall was about to push send on the programme to the printer when another lockdown was announced. She set her sights on April but Covid was around again.
Wall says it's time to get out there and have some fun. "People just need some enjoyment in their life."
After the grand finals in the evening, the audience can take to the dance floor with live music provided by Manawatū band Moxy led by Andrew Mock. Think Strauss waltzes.
The band will also play while the night-time audience arrives, so twinkle toes can dance then too.
The Spectacular is a celebration of life and friendships made over 25 years.
Wellington adjudicator and examiner Laurie Farrant (left), Shirley Wall and her mentor Sam Houston in 1995. Photo / Supplied
Wall, who has lived in Palmerston North all her life, started dancing aged 17, in her first year of work. A friend wanted someone to go to a dance class with.
"I got hooked on it and I never stopped," Wall says.
"She left after a couple of months but I'm still there, I haven't found the exit door yet."
Wall, one of three girls, was brought up in a state house. Her family didn't have money to spend on dance lessons and she never asked for it.
From the start, she paid her way but her mother Anne Cockburn helped her make her dresses and was always supportive.
Wall had a successful professional career competing in Latin American and ballroom. She was New Zealand champion four times and represented New Zealand at the world championships in Perth, where she was ranked 13th, and Tokyo.
She travelled to Melbourne two to three times a year for two weeks at a time to train under a top teacher there.
Wall recalls attending friendly competitions in Palmerston North, with the rule dancers didn't go to bed until the birds started chirping. She made great friends and had a fabulous time.
Then politics got in the way of the dancing - numbers dropped off and the fun went out of competitions.
When she reinstated the Rose City championships, they hadn't been held for more than 10 years. She branded the champs as "the friendly competition" and sees it as her way of giving back to the dancers by putting on entertainment afterwards, plus everyone gets prizes.
She put the focus on bringing the enjoyment back into dancing. Any time politics tried to creep in, Wall said she was not interested.
The championships are run by her and her studio, Shirley Wall Academy of Dance, rather than an organisation. She has been a dance teacher for 45 years.
A cafe will be open throughout the event with a bar at night.
Concession tickets for the day session are $10 - that's seven hours of entertainment for senior citizens.
The Details What: Rose City Dancesport Spectacular When: Saturday, August 20, 10am and 7pm Where: Fly Palmy Arena Tickets: Adults/concession $12/$10 day, $20/$15 evening, at the door
