Fifty-seven young highland dancers from throughout New Zealand will be converging on Te Anau over Easter to join the cast of the Highland Dance Company of New Zealand on stage at the Te Anau Tartan Festival.

Company directors Julie Hawke and Robyn Simmons issued an invitation to young dancers to apply to learn and perform specially choreographed cameo roles in the Heart of the Highland stage show which opens this year’s festival at the Te Anau Community Events Centre on Friday 7th April.

The sheer volume of interest from young dancers keen to take the stage alongside their dance role models has both surprised and excited festival organisers.

Heart of the Highlands stage show. Photo: Supplied

Festival convenor Kirsty Pickett said she was thrilled the directors had been able to accommodate so many aspiring dancers in the show.

Each dancer would be accompanied by family members travelling to Te Anau from all from all corners of the South Island.

She knew of one family that was even making the trip from Hawke’s Bay, especially for the festival.

“This will give Te Anau a huge boost, with every family associated with the show staying at least three to four nights in town,” Pickett said.

“When we secured a Regional Events Fund grant to enable us to invite the dance company to perform, we really hoped it would resonate with dancing families but this response is beyond our wildest dreams.”

The Highland Dance Company of New Zealand is an elite dance company of New Zealand's champion highland dancers, renowned for performing innovative choreography worldwide.

The highland dancing equivalent of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the key difference with this group is that they are all amateurs, coming together for intensive workshops to prepare for specific performances, mostly outside of New Zealand. Domestic shows are few and far between.

The week after the festival they will fly out to perform in Virginia, USA.

Pickett said that although grounded in traditional technique, the choreography and costuming is contemporary and dynamic – akin to what Riverdance did for the popularity of traditional Irish dancing.

Leading the cast is New Zealand’s only senior male competitor, Angus Hendry. A 28-year-old lawyer from Tauranga, Hendry is also one of the oldest highland dancers still actively competing and performing.

A past New Zealand champion who is in a very exclusive group to have attained the prestigious Solo Seal endorsement, he is currently still ranked second in the country.

Heart of the Highlands tells the stories and legends that are said to be the origins behind the traditional highland dances of Scotland.

CLICK HERE to listen to Angus Hendry on The Outlet Southland

It will be performed twice during Easter weekend, the first to open the show on Good Friday and then again the following evening.

Pickett urged anyone interested in seeing the show to not leave buying their tickets till the last minute.

“Over a quarter of the available tickets have already been snapped up and when we know so many families are coming from out of town specifically to see the show it’s important to get in quick to secure seats,” Pickett said.

The Te Anau Tartan Festival is held from 7th-9th April at the RealNZ Te Anau Community Events Centre and Memorial Park.

CLICK HERE for more information.