BALLET IN THE BAY

BARRY HARCOURT/ID 123203

Royal New Zealand Ballet dancers Antonia Hewitt and Alessia Lugoboni enjoying the beach at Stewart Island's Halfmoon Bay.

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Stewart Islanders witnessed a historic event yesterday.

Residents and visitors had their first taste of the Royal New Zea-land Ballet performing on the island.

About 200 people packed the Stewart Island Community Centre to catch a rare glimpse of a small sample of the company's dancers in action.

Usually reserved for Wellington's Te Papa Museum in the lead-up to its major shows, it was the first time the company had brought its Day in the Life programme out of the capital.

The two-hour programme gives audiences an insight into a typical day of a dancer and included the three male and three female dancers presenting excerpts from Paquita and Equilibrium.

Ballet lover and island resident Gwen Neave said it was an incredible experience.

As well as performing the excerpts, dancers showed the audience their 45-minute warmup exercises, and the company's artistic director Gary Harris talked about the ballet company's history, productions and funding.

It was an interactive experience, with the dancers being extremely close to the audience, Mrs Neave said.

"Children sat mesmerised in the front. It was just amazing, just wonderful." Royal New Zealand Ballet education manager Stacey White said Stewart Island residents regularly attended performances in Invercargill and had told the company they would love it to come to the island to perform.

While there was no ideal venue to perform a full show yesterday, Stewart Island could be made part of the ballet's Tutus on Tour schedules in future.

- © Fairfax NZ News