Dancer taps into family tradition

Otago Daily Times

09-05-2025

Granddaughter and grandmother duo Stasa Tucker and Lorraine Knowles stand with the Vi Stewart Challenge Cup they both won for tap dancing 63 years apart. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
More than 60 years after Lorraine Knowles won a top Dunedin tap-dancing prize, her granddaughter has followed in her footsteps.
When Queen's High School student Stasa Tucker, 15, won the Vi Stewart Challenge Cup during the Dunedin Performing Arts Competitions Society tap dancing competition held at the Coronation Hall in Mosgiel last weekend she was the third member of her family to claim the award.
In 1962, Mrs Knowles, Stasa's grandmother, started the family run when she won it at the age of 17.
Stasa's aunt, Janine Knowles, won the cup in 1988.
When Stasa won the cup last Saturday, Mrs Knowles jumped from her chair in celebration.
Lorraine Knowles, then 17, tap dances in 1962. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
"I was always thinking, 'I hope Stasa can win it, because it's been such a long gap'."
In 1962, competing for the Vi Stewart Challenge Cup was a different experience.
Mrs Knowles said she remembered tap being "so simplistic, really".
"We just had a piano player, so you'd have to keep in time with him, whereas now it's a much higher standard."
Dance runs in the family. Mrs Knowles' mother was a highland dancer, and her four daughters — including Stasa's mother — all ended up being dancers.
Stasa said she did know her grandmother had previously won the cup — it did not really cross her mind until after she had won.
"It's quite exciting ... I was quite shocked I won because this is my first year in the senior section, so I was the youngest in the group."
Stasa's dance teacher, Denise Henderson, from Denise Henderson Studios, said having a granddaughter and a grandmother duo on the cup was really special.
"The trophy really represents the pinnacle of the competition. The best dancer in the region is selected," she said.
Ms Henderson said she had been teaching Stasa since she was 5, and she had always shown a special talent.
The Dunedin Performing Arts Competitions Society tap dancing competition is New Zealand's oldest dance society and marked its 125th competition last weekend.
[e-mail]