Dancing for Hospice 2024: Bruises and showtime nerves lead to progress

Rotorua Daily Post's Laura Smith is taking part in this year's Harcourts Dancing for Hospice.

Rotorua Daily Post reporter Laura Smith is taking part in this year’s Harcourts Dancing for Hospice. She shares her thoughts in the build-up to the August 17 event.

OPINION

It was absolutely thrilling to be swaying across the Kaitao Intermediate School hall last week - with no less than its former head boy, Nikora Simpkins.

The Harcourts Dancing for Hospice sponsor and whānau night offered those close to us dancers a chance to see a snippet of our routines.

Some of us chose to not use the music we will on August 17, and with only 30 seconds of dancing, there is still plenty for them to be surprised by.

Nikora and I - along with everyone else - were quite nervous to step out and perform for a crowd.

But we did it, and I think we did quite well.

A slightly chaotic Laura locked her keys in her bedroom 20 minutes before showtime, and with her dance shoes in the car she could no longer access, it was a barefoot performance.

It made the height difference between my short stature and Nikora’s taller-than-average one, ah, dramatic.

The nerves on the night were well worth it though, you can’t go through a little challenge if you want growth (mental growth, I’m quite stuck at 5.05ft).

As I wrote last week, we have our final dance move choreographed. We are working so hard to make it work, and quite honestly I think we’re getting there.

That’s not to say it’s not been tricky getting to the point we have - I have various shades of bruise splotched on me.

No pain, no gain, as they say.

This author is taking part in Harcourts Dancing for Hospice outside her salaried hours. NZME is a sponsor of the charity event and any content by the Local Democracy Reporter is done in her own time.

Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express and has been a journalist for four years.