Laura Blow, 18, (centre) danced with the Eastside Groovers in Auckland as part of the Star Jam programme for eight years and is excited for it to come to Hawke's Bay. Photo / File
Laura Blow, 18, (centre) danced with the Eastside Groovers in Auckland as part of the Star Jam programme for eight years and is excited for it to come to Hawke's Bay. Photo / File
For a few hours every Thursday night, 18-year-old Laura Blow is a superstar.
Now the teen with Down Syndrome is helping others find their own passion on the stage, having pushed for a new StarJam chapter to open in Hawke's Bay.
Originally from Auckland, she spent the previous eight yearsdancing with StarJam - a not-for-profit group which encourages young New Zealanders with disabilities to unleash their full potential through performance.
"I really liked the beautiful dancers," she said.
Having moved to Havelock North with her family last year, she missed her regular Thursday routine, which included texting her dad at 5.30pm to remind him not to be late from work - "it's StarJam night".
Blow was excited for the programme to be starting here soon.
StarJam is a big part of the Blow family's life including for sisters Emily, 22 (left), Alana, 15 and dad Chris, but Thursday nights are time for Laura (centre) to shine. Photo / Paul Taylor
StarJam chief executive Mary Ansell said it had been a long time coming for the region, and the Blow family had been a big part of that.
"All of a sudden we've had a surge in growth and the demand has got to the stage where we've had to make this leap of faith.
"It became very obvious that it's definitely needed in those regions."
Already about 40 families have registered their interest in workshops which will start when term one begins.
The four planned workshops will run weekly between 6.30pm and 8pm, allowing 12 young people between the ages of 6 and 25 to show off their moves and singing talent.
"It's very much jammer driven," Ansell said.
"It's all about them finding their own potential in their own time."
She said the "magic moment" came during the 'spot the talent' segment at the end of each workshop when each jammer would be given one minute to perform a piece of their choosing and then get feedback.
"For a lot of our young people, that's the first time they've been given praise and the others see that and say I want some.
"Not only do they learn to give feedback but they learn to receive."
She said disability didn't define jammers and the programme catered to all abilities.
"We have young people in weheelchairs in the dance workshops, we have non-verbal people in the singing workshops."
More than just a dance or singing workshop, jammers also gained a sense of community and became lifelong friends.
"The T-shirt gives them a sense of belonging.
"It's just about a desire to love music."
*Enrolments are now open for workshops in Hawke's Bay. More information can be found by contacting sally@starjam.org
