CROWING OVER CANCER Jan's light on her feet!

JAN BOLWELL (70) FOUNDED CROWS FEET DANCE COLLECTIVE AFTER A CANCER DIAGNOSIS MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO. SHE HAS JUST BEEN MADE AN OFFICER OF THE NEW ZEALAND ORDER OF MERIT

- Julie Jacobson

“I’ve got Scots heritage so I suppose it was inevitable that I learn Highland dance. I started when I was seven.

I was born in Oamaru – my grandparents were farmers in North Otago – so we would go to all the local competitions. There was an outdoor event at Naseby that was like a mini Highland Games. It was great fun.

My dad Geoffrey had a butcher’s shop opposite Knox Church in Dunedin. There was this great big wooden block in the middle of the shop; I still have an image of old Mr Brown, who worked for Dad, scrubbing away at this great huge thing and doing up parcels of meat with brown paper and string.

I’ve never done ballet. I was taught modern dance by the wonderful Shona Dunlop MacTavish. I was in the third form at Columba College at the time.

It wasn’t part of the curriculum, it was an after-school activity. It was marvellous and a real privilege to be taught by Shona.

The only tertiary institution you could study dance at back then was the School of Physical Education at the University of Otago, so I studied modern dance at the same time I was doing my PE qualifications, along with a degree in history.