For Paige Poihipi-Fladkjar and Alex Evans, their dance journey has been full of laughs and a joy.
They are one of the dance couples in this year's Harcourts Dancing for Hospice being held on August 20 at the Energy Events Centre.
Ten dance couples with little-to-no dance experience are practising hard several times a week to be stage-ready and raise money for the local hospice.
The goal of the evening is to raise $120,000 to enable the hospice to care for and support more than 420 patients with terminal illnesses each year.
Poihipi-Fladkjar, who currently works at Volcanic Hills Winery, said when event sponsor Caci Rotorua asked her to take part, the only word that came to her head was "yes".
Harcourts Dancing for Hospice 2022 dancers Paige Poihipi-Fladkjar and Alex Evans. Photo / Andrew Warner
She said meeting everyone had been a highlight of the experience so far. "We've met some pretty amazing people throughout this journey, and it's like I'm dancing with my best friend."
Poihipi-Fladkjar said doing things such as interviews and having their billboards going up made her think, "wow, I'm really in it".
"I think with every passing moment it seems to get more and more real ... it is so exciting."
She said the support from friends and family had been heart-warming for both her and Evans.
Evans, a team leader/duty manager at Mountain Bike Rotorua and Mountain Bike Rotorua Shuttles, said this encouragement from friends and family was one of the reasons he was doing Harcourts Dancing for Hospice this year.
Another was because he saw Hospice as great community organisation that focused on the community as a whole.
"It is a great honour to be able to represent them, and help them get the funds that they need to go further and help as many people as they can."
He said practices were going fantastic and they had been improving.
"I think the challenging parts get outweighed by the highlights."
However, a technically hard part of their dance so far had been the "L word" - nailing the lift.
"I think getting closer to the event practising more would be good, but we don't want to over-practice."
He said walking in on the first day had been hard, but seeing both people you knew and friendly faces made it easier.
He agreed they had received an immense amount of support, and said his family was proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone.
Both Poihipi-Fladkjar and Evans said they were grateful for the support from Jess and Denise at Rotorua Community Hospice, and the teaching of Ellie, Troy and Glenn.
Also, to their "dance mother and father" Shane and Tracy (previous dancers for the event) for encouraging them.
They said, "It's been pretty scary hearing how many people are coming".
