Flood books spot in Irish Dancing world champs
CAPE TOWN dancer Michaela Flood will represent South Africa at the Irish Dancing world championships in Dublin in March.
Flood, 19, is one of a sixmember team chosen for the championships, and her five teammates are all members of the Port Elizabeth-based McWilliams Academy.
It’s the fourth time that Flood, who started dancing at the age of four, has qualified for the world championships. In 2015, when the event was held in Montreal, Canada, she won the Aisling Award for being the highestplaced dancer from a developing country.
She booked her spot in the team following a stellar performance in the Irish Dancing South Africa championships in Johannesburg earlier this month.
The competition, held over a three-day period, was intense. All the competitors had to show their full repertoire of skills in front of a panel of international judges.
Flood’s mother, Melinda Royse, commended her daughter for the effort she put in. She said Michaela had sacrificed her social life to be the best she could be in this form of dancing.
“I am proud of Michaela and how she comes alive on stage,” she said. “It’s as if she is communicating with the crowd through dance.”
Michaela attributed a change in studios – and the fact that she now has two new trainers – to the impressive progress she has made this year.
She is scheduled to go overseas in January to spend time with one of her new trainers. Her second trainer is based in Port Elizabeth.
“There is nothing like dancing,” Flood said.
“It’s not like ballet or tap dancing. It gives a sense of freedom, but at the same time it requires discipline.”
As a child she was always very busy, she said, and a “sort of a tomboy”. This inspired her love for Irish dancing.
She is studying for a BCom in chartered accounting at the University of Cape Town.
When she is not dancing or studying, she loves doing puzzles and walking on the beach.
She stressed the importance of teamwork and expressed appreciation for the support she has received from colleagues at her dance studio. Irish