Moore dance school top of the world
THE David Moore School of Irish Dance held a ‘Globe’ celebration party in the O’Raghallaigh’s GFC on the North Road in Drogheda last week.
The small local school scored some major success at the International World Championships which took place at the City West Hotel and Conference Centre in Saggart, County Dublin at Easter.
Local man, David Moore opened the doors to his Irish Dance School, in Drogheda, a little over five years ago.
Successfully having toured the globe with shows including ‘Riverdance’, ‘Lord of the Dance’, ‘Feet of Flames’ and ‘Magic of the Dance’ and having performed the principle lead role in each of them, following in the footsteps of the great Michael Flatley himself, he decided to lay roots and pass on his great knowledge to the next generation of Drogheda’s traditional Irish dance family. In this very short span of time, the David Moore School of Irish Dancing has enjoyed resounding success on the regional, national and international scene.
At Easter, 2017, David entered four solo dancers to the International World Championships.
In order to qualify, each dancer at the CLRG (An Comisiún Le Rince Gaelacha) world level, must compete at worldwide qualifiers.
There are numerous international regionals held annually including, seven in North America/Canada, six State Championships in Australia, New Zealand Nationals, Europe/Asia qualifying, South Africa/South America, four regions in England and Scotland and the four provinces of Ireland, Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connaught.
Joanne Mooney Age 17, a pupil of the Sacred Heart School, Drogheda, placed 12th at Great Britain Championships, 14th at All-Ireland Championship and 2nd in her Leinster Regional for World Qualification.
Kerri Mc Donnell Age 15, a pupil of Our Lady’s College, Greenhills, Drogheda and former pupil of Scoil Aonghusa, placed top 10 in Great Britains, 15th at the All-Ireland Championships and 6th at Ulster World Qualifying.
Naoise Brennan Age 13, of Kells in County Meath, travels especially to be tutored by David. She has only been part of the school for two years. Prior to attending David’s classes, she had never before qualified for a World Championship.
This past year she achieved a personal best placing at Leinster level of 4th place and secured one of seven, highly sought after regional qualifying spots to attend World Championships.
Sophie Reilly Age 14, of Hillview, Drogheda, also a pupil of Our Lady’s College Greenhills and former pupil of Scoil Aonghusa, really had a bumper year.
Sophie and Kerri, best friends in school and dance, joined the David Moore School, together, as beginners.
They had never danced before and were very late starters. Each has very much excelled, from Day 1, winning through all of their grade levels to Open Championship status, achieving medals and trophies at every Regional, National & International level of competition to date.
This year, Sophie is ‘Ulster Champion’, Runner-Up to the World Champion at the ‘All Scotland Championships’ and placed 3rd from 214, Global World Qualifiers at the recent World Championships.
It’s always important to remember that at CLRG level only the top 1% ever make it to World Championship Level.
That boils down to 1 out of every 100 children to ‘ tie a pair of pumps’. It’s all in the fun, the fitness, the musicality, the team-work, the camaraderie and most of all, it’s the journey and friendships a dancer makes along the way.
The dance academy are thrilled to have had such a succesful first five years and are all looking forward to what the next five years hold in store, including the upcoming ‘Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann’ in Drogheda in 2018.
The David Moore School of Irish Dancing holds classes at Integral Fitness and Leisure, Greenhills, Drogheda. New Beginners Welcome. Call David on 086-4405950.