ACROSS Britain, it’s dance shoes and sequins at the ready as over 300 performers gear up for this year’s World Irish Dancing Championships.
A total of 334 British dancers are among the 5,000 hopefuls counting down the days to the Championships in Montreal, Canada — having spent the last number of months putting in the hard work to qualify.
Last year’s competition was held on home ground in London and no doubt all our Canadian-bound dancers will be hoping to bring the top prizes back to Britain.
One such performer is 10-year-old Lia Finn from Mottingham, east London.
Having qualified for the Championships this year, the first time that she has been old enough to compete, Lia will represent the Southern England region in Montreal where the competition runs from March 29 to April 5.
“She’s won her grades, preliminary championships, became a world qualifier and placed in the top 10 dancers of her age group at the Southern Region,” said proud mother Veronica Finn. “Lia is a champion dancer.”
Following hot on Lia’s heels is her eight-year-old sister Ruby.
Both girls — who dream of performing in shows like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance — are dancers with the Claddagh Academy of Irish Dancing.
“Lia’s passion came from seeing a clip on a children’s programme of Irish dancers and she set out to teach her- self watching tutorials on YouTube and asking to start dancing continually until she was taken to a dance school,” said mum Veronica.
If you’re heading to Mon- treal for this year’s World Championships get in touch — email james.mulhall@ http://http://irishpost.co.uk or call 020 8900 4354.
