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Twelve-year-old dancer Harper McKenzie has been named champion of the 12-and-under-14s at the New Zealand Highland and National Dancing championships.
The prestigious event, held at the ASB Theatre Marlborough in Blenheim last week, brought Highland dancers from across the country together to compete for national titles across a wide range of age groups, from under six through to 18 years and over.
Harper won first place in the two age categories, competing for The Kimberley Mavor School of Dance in Oamaru.
When asked by the Oamaru Mail how she felt about her win she said she was “pretty surprised”.
“I was pretty surprised but just proud, really.
“I’ve never been on top before so I was just proud of myself,” she said.
While Harper said she was “nervous” at the start of the competition, she ended up “enjoying it and having fun”.
She also placed in eight other categories in her age groups, including first in Highland Reel and Irish Hornpipe.
Harper’s dance teacher of eight years Kimberley Mavor said she was “extremely proud” of her.
“She danced absolutely superbly; she danced like a wee champion — I couldn’t be prouder,” she said.
Mrs Mavor, also the president of Highland Dancing Oamaru, said Harper’s win was a “fantastic achievement”.
“She works extremely hard and has put in a lot of work.
“She’s been a hard worker from day dot and she’s always had success.”
Harper’s mother Abbey McKenzie, no stranger to hard work herself as the former North Otago head netball coach of Southern Blast, said it was an emotional moment when her daughter won champion of the 12-and-under-14s.
“She has been runner-up for a few years so to actually see her do it, there were a few tears,” Mrs McKenzie said.
Harper also managed two top-10 placings in the U16 age group at the championships in Irish jig and Irish hornpipe.
Harper said: “It was pretty scary; for my first dance I was really worried but I then realised I do know how to dance and I had fun after all.
“It was a bit faster though.”
The young dancer has been Highland dancing since she was four years old and competed in her first national competition in 2021.
She recently won the the U16 category at the North Otago Piping and Dancing Association of New Zealand June competition in Oamaru which included the South Island championship, and won the nine-year-old champion dancer title at the New Zealand Highland Dancer of the Year competition in Nelson in 2022.
Harper said what she enjoyed about dancing was “all the places” she got to visit and all the friends she made.
Harper’s sister Milla, 10, competed in the 10-and-under-12 age group, placing first in the Highland fling for the 10 year old age category at the national dancing championships in Blenheim, and also received several commendations and a ‘very highly commended’ in the sword dance.
The two sisters have both been regular competitors at Highland dancing competitions.
“It’s really cool, we get to dance together and she’s really supportive of me,” Harper said.
juliana.chin@oamarumail.co.nz