Sarah de Bruin, Devon Mokaraka and Shannon Vesey have recently returned from the Basel Tattoo, Switzerland, where they performed as part of the 49 strong International team of Highland Dancers, under the direction of Cheryl Roach, Stephanie Julliard and Rachael McLagan.  The Basel Tattoo is recognised as being the second largest Tattoo in the world and this year included a cast of 1000 performers.  

The girls began their tattoo experience with 3 days of rehearsals, dancing from 9am till 6pm, perfecting the choreography, followed by full cast and dress rehearsals. They then went on to perform 11 shows over 9 days in the historical barracks in Basel, on the banks of the Rhine river.
As part of the team, they were also involved in a parade through the city of Basel with the rest of the tattoo cast, and a Children’ s Day event. They also enjoyed day trips to the St Beatus Caves, Lake Lucerne, Stoos and Fronalpstock, getting to see some of the beautiful Swiss views.

They performed 3 dances each night along with the finale. There was a Greek number accompanying the Hellenic Navy Band, a Scottish act with the Massed Pipes and Drums and the main dance item, called Celtic Fire, with music played live by the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.

It was an incredibly rewarding experience and they formed lots of new friendships with other dancers from Australia, South Africa, Canada and Scotland. Videos of the performances can be found on the “Basel Tattoo International Dance Team” Facebook page. 

Written by Sarah de Bruin
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Amy de Bruin and Solai Erhorn

​Fun day had by pupils of Miss Tutu's School of
Dance, keeping the Julie Appleton-Seymour tradition
alive with a highland dancing display at the
Central Hawkes Bay A&P show! ​
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Fifteen New Plymouth dance students are heading to the happiest place on earth to compete in a highland dancing competition. 
The Paris International Highland Gathering Championship takes place at at Disneyland Paris every year, and for the first time Highland dancer, choreographer and dance teacher Morgan Bamford is taking 15 students from the Morgan B School of Dance.
Leaving on November 16, the students, accompanied by parents, will compete in the five-day Disney-themed competition, which runs from November 22 to 26. 

"We've been working really hard on Disney-themed dances," Bamford said. She has been preparing the kids, aged 7-15, for the competition since March. "It's just something that I thought was such a cool idea and the kids are getting to dance for fun."

"Generally you're dancing to celtic music, so it's been cool for the kids to dance to Disney music."  Performing 14 dances in categories such as duo, solo and group dance over the five days, their main performance is focused on the 2016 Disney animation Moana, with pois and kapa haka incorporated to represent New Zealand.  "I just thought New Zealand kind of fits," Bamford said. It's the first big overseas competition for many students who are going to have fun and come away with Disney-themed medals.  "A lot of them are hoping to do well but they've all got different goals. Some of them just want to get a medal and they'll be happy with that while some are wanting to go to win."

At the end of the five days the students will be performing in the Stars on Parade, a procession with the Disney characters that runs along the main strip of Disneyland Paris, before heading off with their families for a well-earned holiday.