Columba College's first intermediate Hip Hop Crew competed at the Otago/Southland Regional Championships held in Invercargill over the weekend and took out first place in the small crew school category - AMAZING!!

Meet 'MPIRE"...

Sophie Butson
Daisy Cooper
Ryleigh Dey
Jasmine Ho
Jet Hood
Ruby Nicholson
Maegan Tan

This phenomenal group of dancers is coached by star RASA dance crew member and Year 11 student, Monet Morrison. She is assisted by fellow dancer and friend, Mikala Graves, and both did an incredible job whipping their students into shape in the three months prior to the competition. 

Our Columba Crew worked effortlessly and rigorously, soaking up everything they could from their coaches which was evident from the slick routine they developed. Their hard work and determination had paid off as they took the competition by storm, placing first in their section and earning themselves a place at the National Championships.

The students were overcome with the triumph of their achievement as for most of them this is their first dance competition. Both coaches were ecstatic with their crew's result and said the girls are an absolute privilege to coach. Their passion and exuberance for this dance crew were so heartwarming to see. Their love for dance and the skills they’ve learnt from it are able to filter through their everyday lives and have influenced them greatly. 

Since they have qualified to compete at the national championships, they are working hard to conquer the competition and highlighting the need to have fun, because enjoying what you do makes the experience that much better. Columba College wishes you all the best as you fly to Wellington in September to take on the rest of the country doing what you love.

A big shout out to new entrant student and team mascot, Lottie Cooper, for wearing her gorgeous pink onesie and yelling encouragement to her favourite dance crew all competition long.  

Year 7 student, Jeila Morrison, who dances at RASA School of Dance competes in a crew named ‘Diamond’ and also participates in a duo with her dance partner Ruby, named ‘Rulaz’. She placed third for her duo and first for her dance crew ‘Diamond’. ‘Diamond’ also triumphed and was awarded the top scoring crew overall across all sections. This is a massive achievement for a group of 10 dancers aged 11-13 who beat dancers aged up to 18 years old. Their passion for dance and talent really shined through on stage and every dancer showcases an immense amount of talent. Monet Morrison competed in the older section with her dance crew named ‘DFYNT’ coming second in their category. She also had the privilege of dancing alongside her talented duo partner Maya Satake.

Monet said, "for a lot of students at Columba dance is extremely important to them so it’s incredible that Columba gets to represent the dance community at these competitions". Thank you, Monet, for all the hours you have put into Hip Hop here at Columba. You have built a really cool culture and the buzz around dancing is evident.