Dancer has Irish dazzle
A young dancer’s time in the spotlight was written in the stars. Or at least in her mother’s mind it was.
Samantha Tait has won a part in the national tour of
Celtic Illusion, an international show combining Irish dancing and magic.
Before auditions were even announced, the 19-year-old had the heads-up from her mother that she’d be on stage. ‘‘When my mum found out
[Celtic Illusion] was coming, she was picturing me in it, even though they hadn’t asked people to audition at that stage,’’ the Lower Hutt-based dancer said.
Tait started Irish dancing at age 6. She learned her first steps in the Naenae Primary School Hall before stepping up a notch at the Kerry School of Irish Dancing. ‘‘It’s a good relief for emotion and it’s always been my passion,’’ she said.
For the past 13 years, her passion has carried her overseas to all sorts of competitions. At age 11 she flew to Melbourne for her first international competition. Since then, she’s earned five different national titles for her Irish dancing and went to Glasgow earlier this year for the Irish Dancing World Championships.
She came 33rd out of about 180 other dancers from around the world.
At the end of last year she decided to take a gap year and dedicate it entirely to dance – something she said was paying off already. Tait heard Celtic
Illusion was to tour New Zealand and that’s when her mother revealed her idea.
Tait auditioned for the show at the start of August and a couple of weeks later she was heading to Auckland to meet the rest of the cast.
As a ‘‘newbie’’ Tait was hoping to learn a few tricks from the seasoned cast when she joined them for rehearsals in Auckland.
‘‘Getting there and getting all that excitement and nerves will test my memory,’’ she said. The national tour of Celtic
Illusion starts in Tauranga tonight and includes Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington, Palmerston North, Christchurch, and Invercargill.