Wānaka dancers were among more than 1,000 top New Zealand dancers who converged at the Regent On Broadway in Palmerston North last weekend for the National Young Performer Awards (NYPA).

NYPA is a prestigious competitive annual dance event which gives competitors an opportunity to perform at the highest level in New Zealand.

This year Wānaka’s Central Point Dance Studios took its largest ever contingent to NYPA after the dancers achieved qualifying results at regional competitions.

They include five classical dancers: Lena Ibe (who lives in Queenstown and travels to Centralpoint each week), Isabel Martin, Olive Sinclair, Olivia Stanley, and Hannah Thomas - who competed against the 75 best classical dancers in New Zealand.

Isabel was chosen for the semi-finals, meaning she was one of the top 16 dancers at the national event - a huge achievement for the 15-year-old. 

NYPA classical nominees Olive Sinclair, Isabel Martin, Olivia Stanley & Lena Ibe. (Absent: Hannah Thomas.)

In addition to the five local soloists, Centralpoint also took a lyric dance troupe of 10, which included Olive, Olivia, Isabel and Lena, as well as Mia Waite, Charlotte Martin, Charlotte Sheppard, Ruby McLachlan, Casey Knights-Johnson, and Mikayla Duncan.

Central Point Dance Studios owner Briony Martin said she was incredibly proud of the local dancers.

She said it was very valuable “for these young dancers to have the opportunity to attend a large event such as NYPA to see and learn from other dancers and other schools and to see how big the dance industry and community is”. 

“It’s something we don’t always get a chance to do.”

PHOTOS: Supplied