World of dance makes way for free spirits

STUDENTS of the Dinan School of Ballet on the Kildysart Road on the outskirts of Ennis have formed a new dance company in residence. Niamh Dinan, who organises the Free Spirit Dance Company, says this will give local dancers more regular opportunities to perform.
She hopes the company will also help to broaden and develop dance appreciation in Clare and the Mid-West with its varied programme of classical and contemporary dance.
As well as performing new works choreographed by directors Niamh and her colleague teacher from the Dinan School of Ballet, Tara McGovern, the company will also welcome visiting teachers and choreographers from at home and abroad. “Local dancers will be able to showcase their ability in ballet, contemporary, tap and jazz with a creative and professional repertoire. So far this summer, company members have performed at events in Ennis, Cork and Dublin. Over the next few months, they’re also looking forward to performing at festivals, fashion shows and on television, while making time to fundraise for local charities,” Niamh commented.
“The Free Spirit Dance Company is a new venture and it’s a group of very dedicated dancers from the age of 15 upwards. We also have a new junior dance company for dancers between 10 and 15 years. The idea is that these dance companies will perform at festivals, local events, fundraisers and at any other event that arises where the opportunity presents itself for us to be involved. Some of the girls from Free Spirit danced with the Banana Peel Dance Company from New York during their residency in the Firkin Crane Arts Centre in Cork during the summer.
“They will also perform as part of the Just Dance fundraiser in Dublin at the end of October to raise funds for the A to Z Children’s Charity,” she said.
Students at the school are no strangers to performing in public. “Over the years, we’ve had children and older girls dance with the Ukranian State Ballet in the University Concert Hall in Limerick as well as in the Ellen Kent Opera Company production of Aida in the same venue about two years ago. We’ve also danced in the National Concert Hall with the RAD for their 75th anniversary show. We’ve also appeared on The Late Late Toy Show,” she explained.
The Dinan School of Ballet has been running since 1987 in its own studio on the Kildysart Road. Classes are held in ballet, contemporary, tap and jazz for children, teens and adults. Niamh admitted that she’s always been passionate about dancing but she almost missed her own pull towards it.
“I attended general dance classes as a child in Ennis and I always had a passion to dance. But I never thought I’d be able to make a career out of it. I went to the Limerick School of Art and Design and during my first year there, the Dance Theatre of Ireland held workshops at the college and we had to do a series of works based on their dance. I was totally distracted by the dancing and couldn’t focus on anything else. From then on, I knew that while I had a talent for art that my natural passion was to dance. I finished the first year of the art course but after that, I went to the Dublin School of Classical and Contemporary Dance, which at the time was the only full-time dance course in Ireland. I worked my way through all of the dance exams in ballet and modern dance and I also took my dance teaching exams through the Royal Academy of Dance in London. When I was qualified in both dance and dance teaching, I came back to Ennis and started my own dance school in Ennis in 1987,” she explained.
She said that it is hard to believe it will be the 25th anniversary of the school next year. “I have a few people here still coming to dance classes who came to my first classes back in 1987. At this stage, they’re much more than my students, we’ve become close friends,” Niamh stressed.
She has always run the school as the Dinan School of Ballet but that it covers other dance disciplines too, “Everything really, except hip hop”.
“To grasp other dance forms, it’s very important to have ballet. Also, to train as a professional dancer, any academy will look for ballet training. Some people who want to go to train as a professional dancer will come to me looking to do one ballet class and think they can learn ballet that quickly but that’s not the case. There’s much more to ballet and is a crucial starting point for other dance forms. We bring students through the dance grade exams all the way up through the RAD and also have students doing tap, jazz, ballet and theatre craft exams through the ITDA,” she added.
For information on classes, contact Niamh on 086 220 0097.