Meet the couples Dancing for Hospice: Rawiri Bhana and Polly Delfim

Rawiri Bhana and Polly Delfim at their sponsor, Ponsonby Rd Lounge Bar. Photo / Stephen Parker

The big night is drawing closer and Rotorua's 10 dance partners are wishing they had more time. But only because they wish their Harcourts Dancing for Hospice journey could go on forever. This week Rawiri Bhana and Polly Delfim talk to reporter Leah Tebbutt on overcoming stage terror and the problem of having two left feet in a dance competition.

For Rawiri Bhana and Polly Delfim, their dancing journey hasn't just seen them learn a new skill but also gain a friend for life.

The pair may have been strangers prior to their gruelling tri-weekly dance practices but recently Bhana helped Delfim move into a new home.

"That's just what family do." he said.

And speaking of families, that is the dance couple's drive for when they take the stage on August 10 for Harcourts Dancing for Hospice.

The pair is one of 10 teams made up of 20 locals with no dance experience learning routines for the charity's biggest annual fundraiser.

Delfim, originally from Brazil, said learning about palliative care and the work Hospice did shocked her as the service was not available in her home country.

"When I got invited I just couldn't say no. I thought 'okay I have stage terror but what is that compared to what these people do. Come on Polly toughen up, you can do this'."

And while you may think Delfim has the upper leg when you consider her Brazilian heritage, she assures that is not the case.

"I'm Brazilian and I am passionate about dancing but getting into this I realised my hips can dance and my legs can't so now I am having to teach them to dance too."

It's not about winning for Delfim, even though newly-announced judges Colin Mathura-Jeffree, Kristie Williams, Michelle Langstone and Turanga Merito are tasked with deciding which couple takes out the winning spot.

She said Hospice was the real winner of the night and she was more focused on getting through dancing in front of more than 2000 people.

"It's just knowing the eyes were all on me. You don't even need to see them."

Bhana, however, felt safe and secure, knowing he had Delfim by his side.

"That anchor point for me was looking across and knowing I had an amazing dance partner who has been on this journey with me for 10 or so weeks.

"It's great to have someone as supportive as Polly, she has natural rhythm but I'm the opposite and the tutors must've thought let's chuck her with two-left-foot Ra."

But at the heart of it Bhana wants to raise as much money as possible for Hospice so he and Delfim have created a Givealittle page to raise more funds.

"We want to raise a few thousand more to help [Hospice] because the work we do is nothing compared to the work they do."

Bhana was shocked when he first got the call to be part of the dancing team for 2019, he initially thought it was a prank call.

But after questioning whether they had "called the right Ra" he told the team at Hospice he would think about it.

"Although it was a no brainer, the answer was always going to be yes, I just needed some psyching up.

"It is so outside my comfort zone and I have done lots of crazy things in my life. When God gave out the skill sets, dance was not one of mine."

Tamati Coffey and Samantha Hitchcock dancing the quickstep in 2009. Photo / Neil Mackenzie TVNZ

But with more than 10 weeks of dance practice up his sleeve, he promises to deliver a deep and powerful story.

"It's such a great night that we don't want to let anyone down."

He has some big shoes to fill as well because his sponsor Ponsonby Rd is owned by Waiariki MP Tamati Coffey and it was in 2009 that Coffey won the Dancing with the Stars title on TVNZ.

But that could be to Bhana's advantage as he has passed down the odd tip or two, he said.