Rotorua Girls' High School dance group off to nationals

Rotorua Girls' High School's first dance group will give it their all this weekend at a national competition.

The hip hop group, called Xecute, is made up of 20 dancers and were the New Zealand Dance Made regional winners.

The New Zealand Dance Made nationals are tomorrow in Palmerston North.

Janaye Biddle-Kite, Rotorua Girls' High School dance teacher, said it was the first time the school had had a dance group.

Year 12 student Kataraina Riri was the main choreographer, creating a skeleton with Ms Biddle-Kite putting the rest of the body together.

The dance is used for assessment purposes with NCEA.

Ms Biddle-Kite said the regional competition had been an awesome experience, where they took 11 acts and got a lot of awards.

That included Year 11 solo champion Jayde Hana, Year 10 solo champion Humaria Higgins, Year 12 solo champion Te Ririu Williams, and for Xecute the mega crew open team champions and overall champions titles.

Kataraina Riri also received a choreography award.

The dancers were able to take part in workshops and learn what it would be like to be a dancer, she said.

She said winning was awesome and a bit unbelievable.

"It was a bit of a shock really. They have been working hard."

Heading to the national competition was exciting and challenging, she said.

She said next year they would aim to establish a junior crew, senior crew and mega crew, because a lot of other girls wanted to get involved.

"There's so many benefits of dancing. The coolest thing for me is seeing change in them as people."

Kati Riri, 17, said she had learnt a lot about choreography and loved learning about dancing.

For Kati getting through to nationals was exciting and one of the best moments of her life.

"It felt like all the hard work paid off.

"I love it how our younger students have become more dedicated, shown more commitment and have become more confident.

"That's what I love about dancing, people become more confident."