A wealth of medals was earned by Wānaka dancers at the Alexandra Musical Society Dance Competition recently, with many dancers also being singled out for special accolades and even a junior scholarship.

Fourteen dancers from Pointe Central ballet academy and more from the Dance Out Loud studio achieved a combined total of 13 gold, nine silver and nine bronze medals in events ranging from novices as young as seven years to seniors and covering the dance spectrum from classical ballet and jazz to lyrical and hip hop.

Held at Alexandra’s Memorial Hall, the four-day Labour Weekend event is an annual competition and one of the few competitions not cancelled this year due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Pointe Central’s ballet coach Briony Martin said it was the first time the majority of Wānaka’s competition dancers from both the academy and the studio performed all together at one competition.

In addition to the medals won, dancers also received special accolades for individual performances, in particular Isabel Martin who won the adjudicators Ultimate Performance Competitor title for the role of Lilac Fairy, the Most Promising Ballet Dancer, as well as the En Pointe Dance Academy aDVANCE Outreach Junior Scholarship.

On stage for the first time, novice Charlotte Crosbie (8) dances her classical solo. 

Special rosettes were awarded to Priya White for Potential in ballet and Mia Cohen for Stage Presence; Coco Hocking received the highest mark novice ballet; Mia Cohen won the most promising unplaced ballet (10 and older); Hunter Cranfield won a choreography award; and Luke Gendall earned the Etiquette Award.

“Everyone rose to the occasion and danced so well,” she said.

Former Wānaka dancer Zoe Frazer, who is now training with Canterbury Ballet in Christchurch, is an inspiration to the younger dancers and deserves credit for receiving her Performing Arts Competitions Association of New Zealand (PACANZ) Nomination, Briony said.

Restricted ballet championship dancers (L-R) Mia Waite (13), Sophie Walsh (15) and Mia Cohen (14) bronze, gold and silver medal winners respectively.

While acknowledging the fabulous results, Briony said she was most proud of the huge progress and improvement all dancers have made “especially given the uncertainty of the past two years”.

“We had two new dancers competing and eight new solos choreographed for and on stage for the first time,” she said.

Two of Pointe Central’s novice dancers, sisters Coco and Vaali Hocking, both received first placings in their novice age categories: Coco was competing for the first time; and both were performing new solos. Their wins at novice level mean they will now advance to the restricted category.

PHOTOS: Supplied