Tap dancer Isaac Chirnside (17), of Mosgiel, said he was ''over the moon'' at winning the top tap-dancing prize in an Auckland competition, which concluded on Wednesday.
The win was the result of 12 years' ''hard work'' and practice.
Auckland Caledonian Dancing Society's festival is the largest dancing competition in Auckland and the win was a first for a Dunedin dancer, he said.
On the final day of competition, the dancers had to complete an impromptu dance, a championship dance and a dance of their own choice.
The required dances covered three tap speeds. Isaac performed a ''speed tap'' for his final dance.
''It was like a marathon. My body was incredibly fatigued. After my second dance I couldn't walk up the stairs. I was shaking and feeling the need to throw up but I managed to hold myself together for the final dance.''
He won the Noel Burnett Trust Tap Award, the Carol Hurst Cup and $5000.
Adjudicator Amanda-Jane Pickstone, of Sydney, said Isaac's ''strong and masculine'' tap dancing was ''suave and confident''.
The Australian judge said he was ''the whole package''.
''Your feet are magic and they sing to me,'' she wrote on a judging sheet.
Singer and dancer Sheridan Labes (18), of Dunedin, said she was ''surprised'' at winning a musical theatre award - the Joanna and Jodene Foged Cup - and $300 at the competition.
An adjudicator called her rendition of ''Nobody Does It Like Me'', from Broadway musical Seesaw, ''pitch perfect''.
