Ten local dancers were selected last week to perform in Royal New Zealand Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty in Dunedin next month (November 14-15).

The Wanaka dancers, aged 9 to 12-years-old, who attend ballet lessons at Dance Wanaka and Pointe Central, will perform in children’s extra roles as pages, Lilac fairies and Garland dancers, alongside the country's most prestigious ballet company dancers.

Dance Wanaka teacher Anna Thomas said she was enormously proud of the local dancers, particularly after learning that nearly half of the children selected for the Dunedin show are Wanaka dancers. 

Pointe Central is run by former professional ballerina Briony Martin. Previously operating from a gymnasium, Pointe Central opened its studio doors in June this year when it took over the former Vet-Ent building on Anderson Road.

The four Pointe Central dancers selected to perform the ballet in Dunedin also competed at the New Zealand Dance Awards in Christchurch this week; (L-R) Luke Gendall, Isabel Martin, Mia Waite and Mia Cohen.

Briony said six of her dancers, aged 11 to 13-years-old, attended the auditions with the Royal New Zealand Ballet in Dunedin last week. “Travelling through the snow to get there was quite a mission,” she said.

All six were called back for a final audition from which four were selected and immediately started rehearsals, she said. 

“They’re all going to be on the stage for quite a bit and it’s such a beautiful ballet to be part of,” she said.

She said attending auditions was part of the process of becoming a dancer. “There’s always a lot of disappointment for those who don’t make it but it’s a big learning process as well.

“You win some and lose some but every opportunity they have [to audition] is a chance to learn and grow and become that much more confident and more able to handle the process.”

It’s a big commitment for their families too, she said, as these children, who are competing in Christchurch this week at the New Zealand Dance Awards, will spend the next three weekends attending ballet rehearsals in Dunedin.

A large troupe of dancers from Wanaka dance studios, including Dance Out Loud and Pointe Central, are participating in the national dance awards which finish on Saturday October 10.

Briony said the Wanaka dancers had been competing well amongst the 200-300 dancers from all over the country.

“For some of the kids just getting up on stage is their biggest achievement,” she said. “They’re holding their own and really doing Wanaka proud.”

PHOTOS: Supplied