Twenty-six dancers all set for Strictly Newtown

The moment of truth has arrived for the 26 dancers who have spent the past ten weeks perfecting their moves for Newtownmountkennedy Strictly Come Dancing.

Organised by the local Tidy Towns and Newtown 2050, the event takes place in the Parkview on Saturday night where each of the couples will dance in front of an anticipated crowd of 500 people and receive marks from the judges for each of their dances.

The couples involved are Linda White and Fredia Grant (swing), Grace Grade and John Whelan (Charleston), Kathleen Kavanagh and William Bennett (foxtrot), Aisling McDonald and Cian Gallagher (lyrical dance), Nikki Doyle and Shayne Murphy (hip-hop), Mieke Van Fleteren and John Larkin (salsa), Amanda Browne and Stephen McHugh (mambo), Siobhan O’Hanlon and Paul Kavanagh (tango), Martina Keating and Bernard Mooney (tap), Christine Lee and Huw O’Toole ( jive), Josephine McDonald and Daniel Anderson ( jazz), Sabine Wycisk and Thomas Pizewski (waltz) and Claire Byrne and Clifton Lewis (modern dance).

On the night, dancers Grace Grade and John Whelan will debut the short movie they filmed for the occasion. They have been learning the Charleston and their black-and-white silent movie comes complete with costumes from that 1920s era, a vintage car and some bungling police officers.

Tickets are still on sale at Eugene’s, the Post Office and the Mountkennedy Inn. A raffle will be held during the evening.