Invercargill rock ’n’ roll dancers Sebastien Fabre and O’Leah Peterson achieved transtasman success at the World Freestyle Competition over King’s Birthday weekend. The pair travelled to Brisbane where they won three sections in their age bracket and placed second in the fourth. Mrs Peterson, who has been dancing for 34 years, said they were very happy with this year’s result. “Last year we got a lot of silvers so it was nice to come home with the gold this year.” she said. The pair have been dancing together for two and a half years and she said her friends and families were proud with how well they performed. “People said how far we’ve come in such a short period of time, how much [Sebastian] has improved.” Her mother got her into rock ’n’ roll dancing from an early age, initially partnered with her cousin before he quit and she “just kept going”. “I enjoy it. I like doing it because I’m kind of good at it … when you’re good at something and you’re still actively competing, you still tend to come back.” She also said dancing is a great way to meet people, saying the group that went to Australia last year did not know each other and “now we’re best friends”. Dancing can be difficult to manage for Mrs Peterson. She has two children and a husband along with working full time in insurance. “It’s trying to balance family life and training. I’m lucky I’ve got a very understanding husband who lets me go away for a week at a time every year to do some dancing.” Mr Fabre has been dancing for eight years now and said he loved dancing and wanted to keep pursing it competitively. “I just really enjoy it, the music’s great and when you hear good music, you feel like dancing,” he said. Making time for dance can also be difficult for him too as he has a job at the freezing works, plays rugby, and is the current president of the Invercargill Rock ’n’ Roll Club. “Fortunately there’s only two of us at the moment: you can call up on Sunday and say you’re probably not up for it today.” There are a lot of nerves that build up before they dance, but he said it was still “quite thrilling once you’re out in front of a crowd and competing”. He described being completely focused on the dance when he is performing, focused on “looking at one another and making sure you’re on the same page — communicating while trying to smile”. Mrs Peterson shared a similar perspective and said she still gets “horrific” nerves before dancing. “Once you’re on the dance floor you don’t really notice other people around you; it becomes a bit of a blur,” she said. The New Zealand national competition will be held in Invercargill in 2028. A couple of hundred dancers would come from across the country to compete, Mrs Peterson said. She is aiming for this competition to be her last competitive event. “I might retire after that — don’t know if my knees will keep going after that.” tayler.mutton@alliedmedia.co.nz
