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This is a page dedicated to the Youth of our Academy
and will allow communication from the National Youth Representative
to all of our younger dancers across the country.
You can contact Youth Representative Shelley Reid (right) directly
with queries/feedback by clicking
here.
Youth Forum reporting - Jun 2008
Hello all,
Its winter already, I cant believe how fast this year has gone.
To those who sat May exams, I hope they were successful. And to
those on school and uni exams - GOOD LUCK.
Just an important reminder to get your Youth Representative votes
in. PLEASE remember to follow the directions on the voting paper
to make your vote count. They are due no later than 5pm on Wednesday
30 June 2008. If you don't have a voting form, you can download
one from the FORMS section of this website.
Happy Dancing,
Shelley
Youth Forum reporting - Jan 2008
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all..
Hope you are having an enjoyable festive season and a well earnt
break over the holidays. Keep safe and will see you all in the new
year.
Shelley
Youth Forum reporting - Nov 2007
I am pleased to present the youth forum report for 2007.
The youth met at a very early 7.30am on Sunday 23rd of September
at the Havelock North Community Center. It was very exciting once
again to see such a good turnout. Even though it was early, we certainly
benefited from the extra half an hour.
The morning's forum began with a short report on my trip to Scotland.
Following this we moved onto our topics for discussion. We began
with the ranking system and it was a general consensus that the
ranking system has been successful. However, we felt that the point
allocation may need further investigation.
Following this the 18 and over assessment was discussed. Many at
the forum had completed the exam and all found it very worth while.
Some benefits included being able to have the manual for reference
and the choice of doing half or full steps. The suggestions we make
to the academy is the possible inclusion of comments on the report
card, a criteria for a merit pass, and being able to have the option
of parallel highcutting where appropriate.
Pathways was our next topic of discussion. Those who had done pathways
found it very beneficial. It was unclear whether the diploma gained
under pathways allowed the candidate to sit 18 and over assessment
or sit solo seal.
We then moved onto the topic of highland hats. After much discussion
we were inconclusive whether the forum was for or against wearing
the highland hat. It was noted however that the highland hat can
be poorly worn and more attention needs to be taken to the correct
wearing of the hat.
The next topic bought about discussion of an alternative event
or class at competitions. This is due to the increasing number of
non-competitive dancers who still wish to compete, but at a lessened
pressure. This would involve special events of reduced steps aiming
at progressing towards the programmed classes.
We then had clarified by Mrs. Cowie what constitutes a report day
for probationary judges. She understood that it was difficult to
get a report day and made clear that a report day can be 'some'
reports i.e championships and merit awards, or all reports. As probationary
judges, we can request a report day if the organisation is happy
to provide resources.
One technical issue that came up was that in the final highcutting
step of the Sailors Hornpipe parallel highcutting was not an option.
As in previous discussion many found that parallel highcutting is
just as achievable as winging and would be a preferred option to
winging for some. As parallel highcutting is also a senior highcutting
movemebt, we feel it should be an option.
As this is the only time the youth met, it was evident that many
of the topics discussed at the youth forums were P&D related. With
this in mind, we discussed that a youth representative or a youth
report be presented to P&D.
Id like to thank Mrs. Grout and Mrs. Cowie for sitting in on the
end of our forum and clarifying the areas were weren't familiar
with.
On concluding my last forum as youth representative for this term,
I would like to thank the Academy for giving me this opportunity
to give the youth a voice. I think this position has been very beneficial
and worthwhile for the Academy.
Youth Forum reporting - Aug 2007
Hello to all.
I'll begin my report by saying a big congratulations to Jayden
Withington and Marti Pearson for becoming the 2007 Under 18 and
runner up Highland & National Dancing Champions. What an awesome
weekend of dancing. It was great to see the new ranking system up
and running. It was also a good to see the top 10 dancers acknowledged
for their efforts over the weekend.
On Monday the 23rd of July, I will be heading overseas, first to
Paris then to Scotland to meet up with the Manawatu Pipe Band who
are competing at the World Pipe Band Championships I feel very privileged
to be a part of New Zealand's Premier band, as I have only been
learning the tenor drum for 8 months. After two weeks with the band,
I will be dancing at various highland games . I look forward to
reporting back through this website about my travels. It is very
interesting to note the large number of SOHDA and independent games
that are available to any dancer. It would keep any New Zealand
dancer wanting to compete in Scotland very busy!.
As the Academy AGM and Dance Development Course is approaching,
I have started to put together a draft agenda for the Youth Forum
on Sunday morning. If anyone has anything they wish to have discussed,
don't hesitate to email me, it's not too late. Even if you are unable
to attend Conference, your ideas are still important and will be
added to the agenda. Please note, I am away for 8 weeks but will
have internet access the whole time. I have had a few requests for
discussion so thank you to those who have emailed me. Solo Seal
will be on the Friday night at the Hawkes Bay Opera House. This
will be a fantastic night of dancing and entertainment so I hope
to see many of you there.
I look forward to seeing those attending conference.
Keep well and happy dancing and good luck to those preparing for
examinations in September.
Shelley
Youth Forum Agenda - Conference Havelock North
- Welcomes and Introductions
- Report - Scotland Trip 2007
- Discussions
- - Ranking System
- - 18 & over Assessment
- - Pathways
- - Preparing for a Championship
- Information - Position & Responsibilities of the Youth Representative
- Wrap up and Conclusion
Youth Representative Report - May 07
Hello everyone, Hope you all had a good Easter break and have made
a good start into autumn. There were so many really exciting dancing
events going on over the break. The Hawke's Bay Easter Highland
Games is a highlight for me each year, and this year was no different…
beautiful weather, great friends and excellent dancing. Here is
a picture of some cute younger dances and also some of my good dancing
friends at the Highland Games.
Also over the Easter break, Malborough Dance Centre held a summer
camp which is an excellent way to keep up with the exam work, while
having fun with friends.(See news page for more details and photos).
I can't believe how fast this year is going. We are in May already
and the first lot of examinations are nearly over. Hope everyone
that was sitting exams got good results and get a well deserved
break. I am going back into the exam room this year to sit the brand
new 18 & over examination. I must say, and those doing this also
would back me up, that some of the steps are quite challenging,
but so much fun.
In July I will be travelling over to Scotland for 8 weeks, first
to compete with the Manawatu Pipeband at the World Pipeband Championships
in Glasgow, then staying on to compete in the Highland Dancing at
various Highland Games. This will be an awesome experience and can't
wait to report back to you all about my trip.
The New Zealand Academy Conference will be held in Havelock North
on the 21st until the 23rd of September. Friday night will commence
with Solo Seal, held at the Hawkes Bay Opera House in Hastings.
This will be a fantastic night, with lots of great dancing and other
entertainment. A new format this year will see the Dance Development
courses held on the Saturday, followed by the dinner that night.
The Youth forum will commence a little earlier this year at 7.30am
on Sunday (venue to be advised). The committee has allocated this
time as it will allow for more informative discussion. This is where
I need your input. Please, if you have ANYTHING you wish to discuss
at the youth forum please email me at the link above. I will have
internet access the whole time I am away so please email me if you
have a topic you wish to discuss at the youth forum. The topics
will be anonymous, unless you wish to put your name to it. This
will precede the AGM and conclusion of the conference.
Wishing everyone sitting exams the best of luck. I always say "practice
makes better….but GOOD practice makes perfect"
Keep safe, well, and smiling…… Shelley
Youth Representative Report - Feb 07
Hello and Happy New Year to you all.
I hope you had a great break over summer and are looking forward
to getting back to school, university, work and dancing. I had a
nice break over Christmas, New Year on my annual trip north to Waipu.
I saw some outstanding dancing to start off the New Year. I enjoyed
sitting back and watching the NZ under 16 class, and it bought back
a lot of wonderful memories. Congratulations to Rachel Crampton
and Claire O'Keefe.
I have had very good reports about various summer schools all
over the country. Summer Schools are a great way to kick-start your
dancing for the year, meet new dancers and tutors, and get into
learning exam work.
I will be attending my first meeting as your Youth Representative
March. I look forward to presenting the report on topics raised
at Septembers Youth Forum and will report back via the website in
due course.
Thanks, Shelley
Dec 2006
Hello all, thank you to those that attended the youth forum at
conference this year. I know you would have learnt a lot and taken
away many new skills. Here is the report I presented at conference.
Youth Forum Report - 2006
The youth met at 8am on Saturday September 23rd at the Law Courts
Hotel. A total of 36 youth members attended which was great to see.
Everyone came with lots of ideas and were looking forward to a very
informative discussion.
Before the forum began we paid tribute to Lorna Coombes. Lorna
was a dedicated member of the dancing community and will be sadly
missed by those who knew her. Her Scottish heritage played a big
part in her life and she had a great passion for Highland Dancing
which was reflected in her life.
Our discussions began by giving a short overview of conference
this weekend, indicating what to expect and encouraging participation.
Following this Mrs. Barbara Tait did a short presentation on the
proposed ranking system for the New Zealand Championships. Following
this we brought up the topic of drawing for championship reels.
We discussed dancers withdrawing from reels too close prior to the
event, leaving uncertainty for other dances positions in sets and
many suggestions were made to allow dances to be certain of their
position and be fully prepared physically and mentally.
The Youth Forum is an excellent way for the youth to voice their
opinions. However we feel that one hour is too short to thoroughly
discuss the ideas we have. An idea was to have the Youth Forum as
an interactive workshop session on Saturday as the AGM is proposed
to occur on Sunday next year.
Friday night's Solo Seal performances were attended by almost all
present at the Youth Forum. The candidates would like to thank the
Committee and also the Mayfair Theatre staff for making the night
so memorable.
Finally, our last point of discussion was brainstorming topics
we would like at future conferences and we came up with many interesting
ideas which have been passed onto the Academy.
On concluding this Youth Forum report I would like to thank you
all for the great turnout this morning and your interesting inputs
into discussion items.
Thank You
Hope you all have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Have a good summer holiday break and good luck to those competing,
and attending summer schools. Also Good luck to dancers competing
at the New Zealand under 16 Championships at Waipu. Look forward
to a very happy and successful 2007!!
September 2006
Hello, I am delighted to be elected as the new Youth Representative
for 2006-2007. Thank you to all that voted.
I am here to be someone for you 'the youth' to talk and communicate
with if you have any ideas or concerns about any aspect of highland
dancing. This maybe anything to do with competitions, exams or dancing
in general. I will help you in any way I can.
My first role as Youth Representative is to conduct the Youth Forum
at Conference in Dunedin on the 23rd of September. To make this
session as beneficial as possible I will need any ideas that you
may have that could be used for discussion. If you have any ideas
or current issues that we could discuss and give feedback on the
website please email me
before Friday 22nd September. Speak up and let your ideas be heard.
Looking forward to seeing many of you in Dunedin.
Shelley Reid
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