This article is from page 30 of the 2007-09-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
SPARKS will fly as members of an Ennis dance school prepare to head to America to take on the world’s best.
Ten members of Sparks dance school will travel to Los Angeles next year to compete in World Dance Excellence – an international festival for young dancers.
The ten students, who range in age from 7 to 25, have been selected for the Irish team that will compete at the event, which takes place in the Californian city in March 2008.
The competition is sure to be in- tense with dancers from 50 states in America and 15 countries around
the world taking part. Team Ireland comprises students from Dublin and Belfast.
The hard work starts now for the students who will be taking their dancing skills to the streets of Ennis in search of sponsorship.
A number of fundraising events are already in the pipeline to help the students on their way to LA.
Sparks eymnrrertoyen Lourdes O’Donoghue said she is delighted that the students from the school have been selected on Team Ireland for the second year in a row.
Sparks has been in existence for 12 years in Ennis and is firmly es- tablished as one of the premier dance schools in Ireland.
In that time Sparks students have regularly competed in national and international finals, amassing a glit- tering array of prizes along the way.
The school has ten All-Ireland first place wins, three second place world titles and numerous other individual and pairs titles to its name.
Sparks hip-hop dance school is the only modern dance school in Clare doing exams for all ages in hip hop and freestyle.
Lourdes O’ Donoghue is a qualified dance instructor and judge, and has a team of student champions at hip hop, freestyle and funky tap.
Away from competitive action, the school has become a fixture on the Christmas panto scene, regularly
collaborating with the Ennis based Pantaloons group.
The Sparks team and instructors that will travel to Los Angeles to compete at World Dance Excellence are: Aidan Walsh (7), Barefield Na- tional School; Ava Mahony (18) Colaiste Mhuire; Saoirse Mulcahy (7) Ennis National School; Maeve Curry (20) Knapogue Castle; Ha- zel Grassie (15) Gort Community College; Wilson Chung (18) Peter Marks; Hazel O’ Doherty (21) Limer- ick Institute of Technology; Oskarina O’Sullivan (10) Clarecastle National School; Lauren O’Shea (12) Knocka- nean National School; Laura Jane Allis (25) Sparks Instructor; Lourdes O’ Donoghue (Sparks Principal).