Dancers impress at Gore festival
Hundreds of people flocked to Gore during the weekend for a day of celebrating dance.
The Southland Festival of Dance was held at the Gore Town and Country Club Stadium on Saturday.
The event was run by Rachel’s Studio of Dance owner Rachel Ferguson who said everything went to plan.
For Ferguson, who has been planning the festival since the beginning of the year, it was hard to pick a highlight of the day.
‘‘Just seeing the whole thing come together was great, it flowed really well.
‘‘And actually seeing the schools section out there and what they’ve achieved in a short amount of time. The smiles on their faces make it worthwhile,’’ she said.
About 500 people packed into the stadium to watch the dancing.
‘‘There was a huge turnout of spectators and the dancers loved it, it’s much easier to perform with a good crowd,’’ Ferguson said.
Eight judges from Auckland, Rotorua, Oamaru and Dunedin watched all the dancers and awarded prizes during the four prize givings.
Gore Main School was the overall winner in the schools section, with two separate couples winning the jive and tango events.
West Gore School, East Gore School and Mataura School all competed in the schools section which involved 140 children.
‘‘A lot of people were talking about our local children and how talented they are,’’ Ferguson said.
Next year will be the 10th anniversary festival, and the committee will get together in a couple of weeks to discuss how to make the event even bigger, she said.
‘‘Saturday was pretty big, but Wellington [dancers] are looking at putting together a bigger team for next year.’’
Mikayla Ferguson, 14, danced in the competitive section. Dancing since she was two, her dream is to dance at the Blackpool Dance Festival, the most prestigious competition on the ballroom calendar.