National rock 'n' roll championships coming to Whanganui

Priya O'Connell, left, and Chloe Graham compete in the Junior Rock 'n' Roll championships in Whanganui in 2014. Photo/Stuart Munro

One, two, three o'clock ... rock 'n' roll is coming to Whanganui this weekend.

The national rock 'n' roll junior amateur championships will be held on Saturday and Sunday at the War Memorial Hall.

Donna Burns, president of the Wanganui Rock 'n' Roll Club said 400 dancers aged 5 to 17 would be descending on Whanganui from all round the country.

"We have dancers from Whangarei right down to Invercargill - in fact about 63 people from Invercargill are making the trip," Mrs Burns said.

She said this was the fourth time since 1991 that Whanganui had held the junior championships - the last time was in 2014.

"People like coming here because it's central."

To be able to compete at the nationals, a dancer must be assessed by a judge at club championships.

"We do have a novice section for those who haven't competed in a nationals before, and they don't have to be assessed beforehand," Mrs Burns said.

"It's just to give them a taste of what competing at nationals is like."

As well as competing in age groups, dancers will also compete in restricted (no jumps), open, same-sex, novelty and triples categories.

Mrs Burns said the nationals kicks off with a social event at the War Memorial Hall on Friday night, beginning at 6.30pm. Everyone is welcome to this event, and entry is $10.

Doors open for the start of the competition at 9am on Saturday and the public are also welcome to come and watch the dancing.

"We had a public area in 2014, and it was full most of the time," Mrs Burns said.

She said she hoped having the nationals here would bring an influx of new dancers to the club. Anyone is welcome to come along for their first lesson, which is free - every Wednesday at 6.30pm at the Savage Club on Drews Ave.