On the 7th of February 2018, schools all around the country who were devastated by the loss of Stage Challenge heard the news that the government was working to put on a similar event to showcase the artistic talent, dramatic ability, and passion for dance that New Zealand teenagers have. This new competition was called ShowQuest and we competed at the Otago/Southland regional competition in Invercargill, coming in 1st place.

At Nationals we won Best Live Music, thanks to Melicen and Mat's amazing performance of an original song written specifically for our concept. Our goals with the competition were to encourage student leaders with dance talent to choreograph and for people from different year groups to mix and make friends, as well as discuss an issue we felt strongly about.

It was a collaborative effort, and we owe our success to the amazing people who showed up to practices and put all their effort into it. We made a dance to a theme, incorporated live music, a background media film and wearable arts. We are very proud of everyone who committed themselves to joining this and who made it so successful! Ms. Ashby was an instrumental part of our success supporting our decisions and adding her winning flair. Should the opportunity to take part in this event coming up next year and years after we would definitely recommend the experience.

Some of the participants favorite parts:

Seeing it all come together

Getting to know other year groups and meeting new people

Dancing

Winning

Having fun together

The sense of camaraderie

That it was really inclusive of and there was a role for everyone

Sense of community

Building new relationships

Our chant tradition!

The positive energy from everyone

To sum up:

The people made it the best.