Dancers finally make competition

THREE of the 10 young dancers from Wales whose trip to the Dance World Cup was ruined when their flight to Spain was cancelled finally made it to one competition after dashing straight to the venue from the airport a day late.

One mother accompanying the group from Planet Gymnastics in Cardiff praised the girls for their focus after a stressful journey to Barcelona where the competition, involving thousands of dancers from more than 50 countries, is being held.

But she said the performance was not as good as it could have been after their Vueling flight from Birmingham to Barcelona was cancelled and they waited more than 24 hours at the airport.

The group of dancers aged 10 to 13 missed the first event they had qualified for when their lunchtime flight from Birmingham to Barcelona was cancelled on Friday.

Having been told to return on Saturday at 5am after being put up in a hotel they hoped to make it for their appearance at the Dance World Cup later that morning.

But it was not to be. That Vueling flight was also delayed for several Young dancers from Planet Gymnastics in Cardiff practice their moves while stuck at Birmingham Airport hours. The budget Spanish airline blamed maintenance problems.

When the plane finally took off three of the dancers, accompanied by coach Emma Thompson, just made it in time for the other event they qualified for, eventually coming tenth out of 12 teams competing in the acro-dance contest.

Mother Eirian Thomas said: “Was it as good a performance as it could have been? Nope. Do we care? Nope.

“Are we proud of the girls? Absolutely – they have shown just how much their sport means to them and found incredible reserves to even be able to compete.

“The trio performed on the main stage.”

She said they were spending the rest of Sunday watching the competition and going to the beach before flying back tomorrow.

“Fingers crossed for a drama-free trip home,” she added.