This article is from page 3 of the 2011-01-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
AN Ennis mother has teamed up with an All-Ireland dance champion to allow children with special needs to pursue their dancing dreams.
The Sparks Dance School in Ennis has been hosting classes in hip-hop for children of all ages with moderate to general learning disabilities and children with autism spectrum disorders.
The classes started last November and are the brainchild of local woman Margaret Hargaden.
Margaret, whose daughter Shona attends classes and competed for Clare at last summer’s Special Olympics, said she wanted to create an environment where children with special needs could meet outside of school hours.
Margaret explained, “Shona couldn’t be meeting her friends after school, they are from all over the county. She needed something. I just wanted her to have a bit of exercise and one other parent asked me, was there anything? I said no one’s going to do anything so I just said, right, I’ll do it”.
Margaret said there has been plenty of interest in the classes from children and parents alike.
She said, “I put posters up in CEIS and in Clare Crusaders and literally it snowballed from that. People just got in touch and it went from there. They love it. I had said every two weeks, but I think we’re going to go every week. They all want it. We never have less than seven but we can have up to 17. It can be fairly manic.”
Margaret continued, “The parents get to meet up. It’s really helpful for us as well. The parents that have to go can go if they have to go somewhere and I have a number I can ring them or text them if a child is upset or anything. If there is any issue, I can get them to come back. They’ll only be 10 minutes away anyway.”
The success of the classes owes much, Margaret said, to the guidance of instructor and All-Ireland champion dancer Mikey O’Loughlin.
Margaret said, “Mikey is brilliant. He’s adapted because some of the kids would’ve problems with noise, if it’s very loud the minute they come in. So Mikey starts it very gradually and he builds it up. Whereas that won’t happen if you go into an ordinary class. It would be too loud. With the lights then as well, he’ll see if they are all ok. He’s adapting to their needs literally.”
Founded in 2000 by local woman Lordes O’Donoghue, Sparks Dance School teaches all styles of modern dance with classes for children, teenagers and adults.