Northland dancers sweep regional competition

Dancers from Whangarei Academy of Dance and Performing Arts at the recent Northland Ballet and Dance Competitions. Photo / Holly Duder-Joy

A nationwide lockdown and competitions being postponed didn't stop a Whangārei dance academy from winning all the troupe sections in a regional dance competition.

The annual Northland Ballet and Dance Competitions were held earlier this month with groups from Whangārei Academy of Dance and Performing Arts (WADPA), Pulse Dance Studio in Ruakākā and Evolve Dance Kaitaia competing in troupe night, and soloists from eight dance schools around the region taking part.

WADPA did particularly well, their teams - mini, junior, intermediate and senior - won all sections of the troupe competition night with multiple placings in categories where they entered more than one team.

Holly Duder-Joy, dance teacher and owner of WADPA, said she was proud of her students.

"Our goal post lockdown was to achieve this, we knew we were capable as we have done this in the past but we never take it for granted.

"The dancers work super hard and are extremely focused and driven. I was extremely proud of all of our dancers on such an amazing achievement, but I would have been proud regardless of the wins," she said.

Duder-Joy said competition work starts at the beginning of the year and the dancers were all ready for a competition planned for March which was postponed due to gathering restrictions.

Then the country went into lockdown.

"It was obviously hard as all the dancers were ready and had spent hours rehearsing. During lockdown we took all classes online, these performance group classes were by far the hardest to teach - I mean how do you polish and rehearse a group dance individually?

"So we worked on reviewing recordings of our dance, working on the unison parts and focusing on team performance rather than the actual dances," she said.

Meanwhile, Olivia Platt, taught by Lisa Johnson and Melinda Palmer; Rayna Diaz Turner from Northern Dance Academy; and Sheynae Rogers from DCPA Northland, qualified to perform at the Performing Arts Competitions Association of New Zealand's National Young Performer of the Year Competition in Palmerston North in October 2021.

The highest mark in the ballet section was earned by Platt; Sophie-Maree Teh-Hall and Kaneisha McKenzie had the highest mark for contemporary, Rogers had the highest for tap and McKenzie also had the highest mark for jazz.