Wanaka’s ballet academy Pointe Central and dance school Dance Out Loud are currently preparing to showcase their dance talents in three performances at the Lake Wanaka Centre later this month.

Described by Pointe Central ballet coach Briony Martin as an entertaining show for all ages and a celebration of dance and creativity, it signals the end of the dance year “doing what we love to do - performing for our community”.

The show will feature more than 250 dancers, from preschoolers to adults, in a dynamic performance including Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary and Hip Hop.

Sourcing costumes in-country has been a challenge, Briony said, but it’s been exciting combining the two dance schools’ classes and working together to polish their performances.

Briony said it’s been an extraordinary year with pandemic lockdowns forcing the dance schools to invent alternatives for regular practice sessions but also one in which several young Wanaka dancers were selected to participate in the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s performance of Swan Lake in Dunedin last month.

“[It’s been an] exciting and a very successful year for our young Wanaka dancers despite it being an extraordinary year for us all, with a huge portion of it spent dancing from home during lockdown,” she said.

One of the ballet dancers, Briony’s 11-year-old daughter Isabel Martin, has also been selected for the 2021 National Programme at the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington. 

Isabel Martin and her sister Charlotte outside the Royal NZ Ballet Studios in Wellington. PHOTO: Supplied.

This elite scholars programme provides training for classical ballet students from the age of 10 to 16-years-old, and each year a handful of dancers are invited to audition and are chosen based on their talent and potential for further training, Briony said. Isabel and Briony will travel to Wellington twice each term to train.

“It is a huge achievement as so few are selected,” Briony said. “This is a great opportunity for Izzy to develop further and get a real taste of what life at the New Zealand School Of Dance could be like and if it is something she wants to continue to pursue as she gets older.

“Becoming a NZSD Scholar was Izzy’s goal for her dancing this year.”

“Ballet is all I ever want to do,” Izzy said. “I will train so hard and try my best all the time because I want to accomplish my dream."

Briony said she is proud and excited for Izzy.

“As a teacher, I’m happy to support and help guide the way and extremely proud of every achievement along the way,” she said.

But for now everyone is focused on the upcoming stage production. “There is such a buzz of excitement building ... right now as everyone prepares to hit the Lake Wanaka stage in a few weeks time. [We] can’t wait for it all to come together on the stage,” Briony said. 

The NZ Proud Dance Showcase will begin with an evening show from 7:00pm - 8:30pm on Thursday December 17; followed by two shows on Friday December 18 - an afternoon performance from 3:00pm - 4:30pm and an evening show from 7:00pm - 8:30pm.

Information about tickets can be found here.