Dancers celebrate 25 years at the bar

For 25 years the Dinan School of Ballet has been training dancers from across Clare and in this, their 25th year, they entered into a new realm competing for the first time at All-Ireland level.
The venture paid off as the school came away with three trophies and dance teachers Niamh Dinan and Tara McGovern were rewarded with an overall prize of best choreography.
Dancers from the Ennis-based school participated in the IDTA (International Dance Teachers Association) All-Ireland Dance Championships held in Dublin recently where they competed in three categories, taking first place in two and second in the third.
Having grown this large dance family, Niamh Dinan, founder of the school, said it was both a surprise and a delight to have taken first place in the U-16 ballet section, and U-13 theatre craft, and second place in U-16 theatre craft, while the overall prize for best choreography was the icing on the cake.
“This was the first time we entered. We’ve never entered any competition before because usually we concentrate on shows and grade exams so that usually takes up all our time. We had been thinking about entering competitions and this is the first of the competitions we’ve entered. When the first group won the U-16 ballet that was a big surprise because on your very first competition you don’t expect to do so well, plus the girls who entered the U-16 were aged from 12 to 15 so some of them were very young,” Niamh explained.
The U-16 group was made up of Nicole O’Mahony, Amandine Severin, Alannah Sweeney, AnnaMae Kenneally, Lauren O’Mahony and Sarah Nolan. They had to do a single performance, choreographed especially for the competition.
It was then judged on choreography, technique, musicality and performance ability.
Then the next two competitions were in theatre craft, which Niamh explained is a little bit like jazz dancing and would be typical of the dancing you would see in West End and Broadway shows.
The U-13 theatre craft group also came first and dancing in this competition were Alfrey Perkins, Nicole O’Mahony, Amandine Severin and Alannah Sweeney, while the U-16 theatre craft group came second with a performance by Nicole O’Mahony, Lauren O’Mahony, AnnaMae Kenneally and Sarah Nolan.
“We were a bit shell shocked at first because we went into it not knowing what to expect, so it was a mixture of shock, delight and excitement. We had an exam session at the end of February and we had three weeks to prepare so it was a very last minute decision,” Niamh added.
As the school prepares to celebrate its 25th year, Niamh said the 2011/2012 term has been great for the students and school in general, offering plenty of high points in addition to the All-Ireland success.
“Seven of the girls got into the Russian Youth Ballet in this school year and performed in The Nutcracker with them. It was the most students from any school in the country to get in. Sarah Nolan got into their senior company and performed in Dublin’s Convention Centre with La Sylphide over a fortnight ago, and she is also dancing in the Town Hall in Tralee next month again with La Sylphide. Another student Siobhán Sexton auditioned for Youth Ballet West, which is another semi-professional company and got into that, so she will be dancing with them in Galway during the Volvo Ocean Race Festival,” she revealed.
Niamh recalled setting up the studio 25 years ago. She is very proud of the school she has built and was delighted to have American teacher Tara McGovern join her three years ago.
“Tara has been a breath of fresh air in the school because her background in dance is very different. She’s brought a lot of new things to the school and it is down to her pushing the competitive side because the competition circuit would be very big in America,” Niamh said.
Niamh explained her love for ballet began and grew after she had seen a performance at the Art College in Limerick where she had been studying. Being so moved by it, she said “I just decided that I wanted to be ballet teacher so I left art college and went off to pursue this instead”.
Having trained initially with the Dublin School of Classical and Contemporary Dance, Niamh took her teaching exams with the Royal Academy of Dance in London and subsequently got involved with the IDTA.
Niamh began by custom building a studio while she was still living at home with her parents and took her career from there.
“I mustn’t have been your average 20-something-year-old, but I’ve made such amazing friends over the years. Children who started with me over 25 years ago are some of my best friends, I’ve been to their weddings and to their christenings and now some of their children are coming to me for ballet and they’re still coming to ballet as adults. There’s very much a family feel to it and Tara has slotted in very well to that and it does feel very much like one big dance family,” she added.
Asked what it is about dance that gave her such a calling, she said, “I’m just moved by it. This is my life. It’s not like work, even though it is very hard work. I’d be very passionate about it, you live, breathe and dream it, it’s just my life”.
The school caters for children from the age of three and a half and it doesn’t have an upper age limit, as Niamh says it is never too late to take it up.
Indeed when they do take it up many don’t look back. Niamh says they enjoy it but not only that, it is also of huge benefit to them on a personal level.
“They love dancing and they love performing in the shows. They get a buzz from doing the exams and getting their certificates. Some of the smaller children would fancy themselves as becoming ballerinas but, realistically, some of the older girls would be seriously considering that line and would have the potential to do it. Most of them would be coming for the enjoyment of it.
“Ballet is great for discipline, confidence building and it’s great for posture. It has so many positive impacts on their daily life. The girls become very responsible, independent and disciplined about a lot of things because that is what is expected of them in the class and that stands to them later on,” she said.
While they don’t have any boys at the minute, Niamh said they would welcome any boys who would like to take it up.
“We would love to have boys but society tends to look not very favourably on it. I don’t think people realise how energetic it is, they just imagine it as a bit airy fairy, but we would love to get boys involved,” she said.
The school is now preparing for their annual show, Beauty and The Beast, however Niamh said not to expect the Disney version as the Dinan School of Ballet will very much be putting their own stamp on this concept.
The show takes place on May 23 and 24 in Glór and will mark their 25th anniversary. It will be followed by further celebratory events.