Rarotonga’s dancer of the year coming soon

The Cook Islands Dancer of the Year competition was scheduled for late April/early May this year but it had to be delayed because of cyclones and such. However the auditions have just been completed.
In previous years the southern group outer islands have also taken part but money’s tight at the moment and the competition has been scaled back.
The junior, intermediate and senior finals will all take place on 27 May at the auditorium. This will make for a long night’s entertainment!
This video is of the junior auditions. As you can see, the kids all performed in costumes but on finals night the stage will be lit and decorated and the children will have a variety of props and quite probably elaborate additions to their costumes.
At the auditions everyone used the same drum beats for the slow and fast sections but the dancers will be performing to songs of their own choosing (about two minutes long for senior dancers but it may be less for the little ones).
You can bet that the kids (and their parents, friends and relatives) will be putting a huge amount of effort into getting ready.
It’s bound to be a spectacular night – fans of Cook Islands dancing should look out for the culture ministry’s DVD of the competition which should come out in June some time.