Shennea Webster, Lauren Irvine, Kaitlin Collins, Esther Dean and Sophie Ryan were selected as members of the OzScot Australia highland dance team. They will join 19 other dancers from across Australia for the event, which is the highlight of the annual Virginia Arts Festival.

Under the instruction of dance director Cheryl Roach, also from Bathurst, the OzScot team will perform three items at each of the four tattoo performances. These include their own stand-alone item, with music provided by Perth’s Scotch College bagpipers; a combined item with American dancers; and a swing-era item together with the military bands.

The tattoo is the largest military musical display in the United States, with more than 900 cast members – including bagpipers, drummers, military bands, dancers, singers, drill teams and colour guards. 

Performers travel from all over the world to take part and will appear in front of more than 28,000 audience members.

The Australian dancers are renowned for performances that combine traditional highland dance with contemporary choreography, matched with precision, line and pattern work.

Team members from Bathurst have played a key role in the lead-up to the event. They have been working with Ms Roach to perfect the choreography to then share with team members from other states.

This will be Ms Roach’s 17th tattoo, having taken teams to Scotland, Switzerland, Canada, The Netherlands and Oman.

Her pupils have all been learning highland dancing since they were very young. In particular, Charles Sturt University student Esther Dean is a veteran to international tattoos, having been to 10 events. She was 14 when she took her first overseas trip to the Virginia tattoo in 2008. For Bathurst High student Sophie Ryan, 14, this will be her first tattoo.

The girls will arrive in Virginia this week for rehearsals, before their first performance on April 25.