But the best part was seeing three dancers from the Jenna McKenzie School of Dance taking part in it.
‘‘The choreography, fresh ideas, costuming and of course seeing our students on stage alongside the professionals was just magical.
‘‘The girls blew me away with their performance, never missing a beat and all with a big smile.
‘‘I had a tear in my eye. It's kind of a big deal dancing along side RNZB › most can only dream of it,’’ says Jenna.
Samantha Soufflot, aged 9, Isabell Coster, and Olivia Thompson, both aged 10, say they will never forget their time on stage alongside professionals during shows from August 25 to 28 at Christchurch’s Theatre Royal.
‘‘It will be a big part of our lives. We love ballet even more now,’’ they say.
Isabella, a grade 2 student, has danced for five years and says the experience has helped her set a goal to dance as part of the RNZB when she is older.
She says it was inspiring and it was great to meet the supportive lead roles.
Olivia, who is a grade 3 student, and who has danced for six years, since the age of 4, says her favourite part was being on stage and meeting new people. She felt really proud and wished she could do it all over again.
Olivia said it was cool meeting the RNZB dancers, and would dance on stage with RNZB dancers every weekend if she could.
Samantha, who is in grade 2, and has danced since she was two and half, says she loved being able to take part in the biggest performance she has ever done.
Her favorite part was the conga routine and being able to dance with the professionals.
It was a big surprise for Samantha to be on stage, missing out at the first audition. But she was called in to fill a spot a week prior, and Jenna says she was super impressed with how quickly she caught up on the weeks of rehearsals she had missed.
The three students were selected following auditions back in July, and performed as the Fairy God Mother’s helpers and tapestry weavers, taking on two to three shows each, and dancing to a full house at the Theatre Royal.
Around 50 children auditioned after being put forward by their dance teachers from the Canterbury region. Twenty child extras were selected who had to be a certain height, and have certain grade levels.
