Freyberg pupils dance their way to a win
Freyberg High School is aiming high after an unexpected victory at a regional dance competition.
The school’s dance academy took out the top spot in the open category at the DanceNZ Made regional 2 competition this month.
Their winning dance, Cyclone, was from the school’s production of the Wizard of Oz performed earlier in the year.
The win means the school qualifies for the national competition, which is being held at the Regent on Broadway on Saturday.
The competition will involve other school teams from throughout the country.
In the production, the dance was used to transform Dorothy from Kansas to Oz.
The dance incorporated a lot of complex lifts, as well as running through the aisles to immerse the audience into the experience.
Dance academy leaders Caitlin Mercer and Dana Purdy, both 18, took charge of preparing Cyclone for the competition.
About 15 students were involved in the dance itself, with a further 20 working on costumes and makeup.
Coming from an acting background, Purdy had very little dance experience before taking on the role of Dorothy.
It was also Mercer’s first year of choreography, meaning the win came as a surprise. ‘‘We underestimated the dance a lot,’’ Purdy said.
The pair have been juggling their dance commitments with other major responsibilities – Mercer is head girl, while Purdy is the student representative on the board of trustees.
To prepare for the competition, the students were practising four times a week – twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon.
Their gruelling morning trainings included ab workouts and cardio, while the afternoons were focused on technique.
For nationals, Mercer and Purdy have focused on taking away the pressure and allowing the group to have fun and enjoy the experience. ‘‘It’d be cool to get a placing. It would be the cherry on top for all of us,’’ Mercer said.