On May 15, Otago Girls’ High School were named the regional winners of this year’s performing arts competition Showquest.
They competed against other Otago schools, and took the top prize for their original performance about fast-track legislation.
Choreographers and student captains for Showquest Emily Aubin and Emily Brookes were shocked they won.
Emily Brookes said they had not meant for the theme of the dance to be so topical for Otago.
‘‘We came up with the idea before we heard about all the mining stuff going on at the moment.
‘We were just thinking about it in general ... and then that happened.’’
The speeding up of developments could really hurt the environment, and she thought that came across in the performance.
She did not think anyone had choreographed a dance based on the fast-track legislation, which was part of the reason they picked it.
Emily Aubin said if it had been done before, they had not heard of it.
‘‘Having a unique theme is really important in Showquest because judges get sick of seeing the same thing.
‘‘Many in the audience wouldn’t have thought too deep into fast-track until we put it on the stage,’’ Emily Aubin said.
They ‘‘made sure’’ to be unique this year, which she thought played a big part in securing the win.
‘‘It’s crazy. We weren’t expecting to win ... our first performance with everybody together was when we did our stage run on the day.’’
There were tears from some of the performers when they were announced as the winner.
They said they had been working on the performance since late 2025. It had been a stressful yet rewarding experience to put something of this magnitude together.
The recorded performance is now set to be considered by Showquest judges in the national finals.
John McGlashan College was second and St Hilda’s Collegiate School third.
