#Throwback Thursday: Competition Groups

Now that I've posted about the last of our seminars, I thought I'd do something related for #ThrowbackThursday. I'll still post about the occasional ballet, but at the moment (it's the middle of exams for us uni students), I thought it might be fun to post a selection of the competition photos from the studio archive (really a pile of photo albums kept in the storage room, rarely looked at by anyone except me). We'll start with some of the oldest photos, from 1995 and 1996.

In the early years of the studio, competition groups were a tad more frequent than they are now. On a side note, we still have all of these costumes hidden away in the storage room, and though some haven't been seen for years, others make occasional cameos at the annual studio concert. Who knows, maybe you'll spot some later this year.

Let's start with the 1995 Lion King group:

This photo was taken after they performed their routine at the concert, with the cup they won at comps earlier that year. These costumes languished in a bag for the next twenty or so years, to the point where I was tempted to just get rid of them, until they came in very useful at last year's concert for our African Contemporary group. They were in surprisingly good condition too!

Then there's the 1996 Gangster's Paradise group:

This song's just iconic, so how could we resist? The photo was taken in what you might recognise as the foyer of New Plymouth Girls' High School - it's since been remodelled, so it kind of messed with my head a little until I figured it out. There haven't been competitions held in that hall in years.

1996 Jazz group, to Michael Jackson's 'Black or White':

Looking sharp, girls. I've always liked these striking costumes, and they've definitely been in circulation much more frequently than some of the other older costumes. They repeated their routine at the concert that year, which means it's preserved somewhere in Alison's pile of VHS tapes...

1996 Ballet group:

I loved these costumes when I was little, and they're still a favourite - and much prettier in person (it's hard to capture organza on film). The combination of the awkwardness of transporting tutus and the delicate fabric of the skirts means these sweet costumes haven't been seen in quite a while. These girls also performed their routine at the '96 concert, a lovely number.