Layna Hunt is rounding out Ashburton’s team of performers making up this year’s World Championships of Performing Arts group.When New Zealand’s team heads to this year’s World Championships of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, Ashburton will be well represented.

Five members of that team, numbering about 26, are from Ashburton and range in age from 14 to the team’s senior at 25, Layna Hunt.

While fellow team members Krishnay Nadan, 15, Ocean Waitokia, 14, Liam Pram, 15 and Tilly Smith, 17 went through the fingernail-biting anxiety of a live audition, Layna auditioned by video.

Other commitments meant she was unable to attend the Ashburton event and rather than miss out on the opportunity to win a slot in the team, Layna sent her video clip to the event organiser and then had the anxious wait to find out whether or not it had been accepted.

“I was really concerned that this wasn’t the right way to do it,” she said.

Not only was it accepted, she won a place in the team and now, like her fellow team-mates, she’s frantically fundraising.

Unlike many of the others, Layna has a large store of experience behind her as a member of the cast of several musicals and from dozens of performance stints.

And unlike the teenage team members, Layna knows just how tough it can be trying to make a living as a singer.

She’s turned a hand to a wide range of jobs, including truck driving and photography simply to earn a living and to allow time free to grab whatever entertainment opportunities come her way.

Grabbing those opportunities also means you need to be in the right place at the right time. And for Layna that means Christchurch rather than Ashburton is her home at the moment.

“It’s really tough making a living in show business, you have to work really hard, but these championships could be a life-changing experience.”

With the championships now in her sights, the need to work has ramped up.

Layna and her fellow team members need to raise $7000 to attend the event and they need to prepare several numbers to perform both as individuals and as part of the teams.

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 16 January 2017