Tauranga Regional Dance Group
Och aye ... they can dance
You’ve heard of Happy Feet – how about Dancing Feet?
In a move to raise the profile of Highland Dancing as a modern art form, an innovative new dance is ready to hit the stage.
While the dance has been devised and choreographed at a national level, 10 young dancers from the Western Bay of Plenty are doing their bit to see it performed outside the main cities. Tutored by Regional Co-ordinator Christine Paul, the 10 dancers are all from three local dance schools. All the dancers had to audition at the national level for selection – to qualify they had to be aged at least 14 years and have passed the Grade 5 examination.
Christine says the group has worked extremely hard learning the intricate dance and they are looking forward to being able to showcase it at suitable occasions in and around the Bay of Plenty area.
The dance item is performed in full Highland dress to music composed and played by one of New Zealand’s top competitive bagpipers, Jamie Hawke from Christchurch. The dance itself was choreographed two Technical members of the NZ Academy of Highland and National Dancing and it is innovative and inspiring for the dancers and the audience. The dance has already been performed by the national dance team and was extremely well received by audiences in Auckland and Christchurch – most notably at Rugby World Cup events involving the Scottish rugby team.
The aim is to promote highland dancing as quality dance entertainment. If you know of any opportunities for the Dancing Feet group to perform please contact Christine Paul, ph 552 4164.
Names for the caption: L to R
Heidi McIntosh
Angus Hendry
Morgan Jack
Nicola Dunnery
Kirsty-Lee Gray
Bridget Karton
Rikayla Richardson
Brittany Kirk
Sarah Benes
Niamh Blackman
