Top young dancers to grace stage
Some of Aotearoa's best young dancers will be taking to the stage in Wānaka this weekend for a special, one-off tour of the inaugural Ripple showcase.
Eleven dancers from the New Zealand Youth Ballet Company will perform a mix of classical ballet, neo-classical and contemporary dance, designed to highlight the dancers' technical skill with innovative choreography in collaboration with local dance school Centralpoint Dance Studios.
The line-up includes Hamish Giddens, Tamison Soppet and Wānaka's Isabel Martin (pictured), who have all had successes at an international level.
Hamish recently secured first place in the senior men's classical division at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) semifinals in Sydney and won the Asia-Pacific preselection of the Prix de Lausanne. At the YAGP Finals in New York, he received scholarships to several prestigious schools, and has just been accepted into London's Royal Ballet School.
Tamison was the 2024 Sydney regional junior Grand Prix winner and junior overall winner at the prestigious YAGP finals in New York.
Isabel, 15, began studying full-time towards a NZQA Level 4 certificate in dance in Christchurch at the start of 2025, under the tutelage of NZYBC founder and Convergence Dance Studios owner Olivia Russell.
The two Ripple performances will be held tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon at the Lake Wānaka Centre. They will also include three pieces by dancers from Centralpoint Dance Studios. About 23 local dancers will perform excerpts from Centralpoint's end-of-year show, The Nutcracker Remixed and a part of Foundations, performed at this year's Festival of Colour.
Ms Russell said Ripple was planned as a one-off experience.
"While there are currently no tour plans, we look forward to exploring future opportunities to showcase our talented dancers.
"Wānaka holds a special place in my heart; my father was a pilot who loved the arts and believed deeply in people's dreams," Russell said.
"I like to think I share those qualities in his memory."
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