Senior Dance Company - a Magical year

My name is Aideen and I am a 16 year old Graham Dance Company and Elite team member in ITW. Throughout the year we have been working on so many pieces in class  for the upcoming competitions we had. In class we learned the choreography but our teachers give us the opportunity to add in bits of our own personalities and style to our dancing which I really enjoy.

At the start of the year we had dance platform which was a performance in the Helix Theatre as part of Dance Platform and then we had Perform Ireland in February which was also a non competitive opportunity to show people what we have been working on. I found it so helpful to perform our dances on stage with a crowd but with no stakes so we could learn from our mistakes to have everything perfect for competition. It’s also just so much fun to see other studios dances and meet up with friends from other studios.

After Christmas time we were straight focused on our trip to Disneyland Paris in March. We were taking part of the Take us to the Magic Competition in Paris and then we were dancing in the Disneyland parade. We had a good few dances competing in the competition we had two company pieces and three elite team pieces . We worked so hard for the months coming up to this, most of our rehearsals were at least two hours for the last few weeks to make sure our dances were perfect.

The competition in Paris was so much fun and it was so interesting to see other countries styles of dances as well. It was very different to the usual competitions we do in Ireland. We had so much fun and learned so much from the competition and we were so happy with how all of our pieces went. After we came home we kept working on our dances as we had another competition in April. Our next competition was the Aaron Dwyer Competition in t in Dublin. In this competition the elite team had two dances to compete and I had a solo and a duet with Farrah. All of our dances went really well, one of our group dances came 1st and one came 2nd and then my Solo came 3rd and our Duet also came 3rd. This was extremely successful and we were so happy with the outcome. It really showed how all of our hard work paid off. 

I love competing as when you stand on the stage you get such a thrill and nothing compares to the excitement and adrenaline rush of dancing on a big stage in front of an audience. I love seeing everyone’s dances and the takes different studios have on styles and songs. One of my favourite parts is seeing other studios costumes and getting the chance to do some of the workshops and learn from the judges of the competition. It is so rewarding to see our dances do well in comp and see how all of our hard work was all worth it in the end.

Dancing requires so much skill and dedication and dance competitions are such a great time to see a huge group and very talented people comps together to showcase what they have been putting their blood sweat and tears in. 

Broadway Bound

In the first week of the easter holidays a group of our senior and young adult students embarked on a week-long trip to New York. We were dazzled by the shows we watched (Water For Elephants, Moulin Rouge and Sweeney Todd) and were in awe of all that the big apple had to offer.

But the prettiest sight to see was definitely our students making lasting memories with some of their best friends. After a week of workshops at The Pit, dance classes at the Broadway Dance Center, Broadway shows, visits to museums and art galleries ,meals filled with laughter and of course lots of shopping in the Jersey Gardens Shopping Mall and the Drama Bookshop we went home with our wallets empty but our hearts full.

On the ferry to Brooklyn

“It was the most incredible experience of my life” - Finn Mulins 

“ It was so wonderful to be able to hang out with my best friends and do what I love for a whole week” - Aza Tully 

“I felt like i was in a literal broadway musical performance the whole way through” - Oscar Daunt Brennan

“It was the most unforgettable experience with my favourite people ever, would go back in a heart beat” -Eva Sweeny Warren

”Best trip of my life” -Iñaki Calvo

“Life changing (because of Sweeny-Todd)”- Anna Collins

THANK YOU NYC!!

Until next time!

Junior Theatre Festival Birmingham

In May our junior musical theatre company attended the MTI Junior Theatre Festival in Birmingham, where they performed a short 15 minute extract from their production of The Little Mermaid Junior which played in the Sean O'Casey Theatre a few weeks prior .

They dazzled the industry professional judges and were awarded the trophy for best choreography. Two of our students (Maja and Amy) were selected as all stars and performed a dance on the big stage at the awards ceremony. We are all so proud of all our Junior Musical Theater company achieved over the weekend and thought the year.

They definitely deserved the amazing trip to Cadbury world in Birmingham and all the chocolaty treats they received. We can't wait to see you all next year.

In the airport after our amazing win!!!!! Look at our Fabulous Trophy!

Our beautiful All Stars Maia and Amy just before they go off to learn their dance in the all stars workshop which they performed at the Awards Ceremony in front of an audience of over 1,000 cheering fans!!

Junior Musical Theatre Experience – Bella Farrell

I have done JMT for 3 years now and every year I meet new people and make new friends. All the rehearsals, all the new choreography, all the harmonies, all the lines that had to be learnt. All the times I got to say, “I’m going to rehearsals tomorrow,”. It all means we get to perform for our friends and family at the end, but most importantly it means that we’re able to say that it meant something, that it was a year of smiles, laughs and hugs. JMT isn’t just a show we perform every year, it’s a group of kids that made friends that will last a lifetime, a group of kids that will never forget what it was like to lose our voices screaming at the teachers dance at the Junior Theatre Festival, a group of kids who will always find their home at ITW and its people.

Hybrid Feis Hype

Each year our students have the opportunity to take part in the Speech & Drama Teachers of Ireland Feis. There are a wealth of categories they can choose from to enter and they start out by applying and then recording themselves performing which we send in for adjudication. Every student gets feedback and a grade for their performance and the top 12 acts in each section in the country are invited to come together and perform live in The Grand Finals in April for the top prizes, Trophies, Money and Medals are awarded for First, Second and Third place and Highly Commended Certificate for 4th place. Every finalist also receives a very special medal for being in the top 12.

Our Independent Theatre Workshop Students did exceptionally well again this year - some of the Awards included:

Junior Shakespeare Trophy: Johnny Grehan 1st place, Priya Hobson 2nd place

Senior Shakespeare Trophy: Catherine Leahy 1st place, Seana Tully 2nd place, Roisín Duggan 4th place (Highly Commended)

Solo Musical Theatre 10-12yrs: Ana Rubia Marques Da Hora 1st place

Solo Musical Theatre 13-14yrs: Joya Hobson 1st place

Solo Musical Theatre 15-16yrs: Ishbel Daguman 2nd place, Eithne Carson 3rd place

Boys Poetry 10yrs: Sean Drea 1st place

Seamus Heaney Trophy: Gwendolyn Ridgeway 3rd place

Ana Rubia with her Trophy -Being in the Feis was a very fun experience. I sang Part of your World from the little Mermaid, I had practiced it a lot so I knew it really well by the time the Feis came. The morning of the competition, I was very excited and I wasn't nervous. I also met people I knew there from the opera and other shows I had done. I listened to everyone else singing and they were very good so after my turn, I thought I might have a chance of winning but I wasn't sure because the standard was very high. When they called my name in first place I was very happy and surprised.  All in all it was a great experience and I can't wait for next year's Feis, I'm already planning my song!

From Ana Rubia Marques Da Hora. 

JOHNNY JR SHAKESPEARE CUP WINNER 2024

I was very excited to take part in the Junior Shakespeare feis competition.  Gillian and I together picked a very interesting monologue and then we worked together on the dramatization and the delivery.

On the day of the feis I was very nervous but was confident as I had practiced it a lot.  At the feis there was lots of Romeo and Juliet so I was delighted to be different with A Midsummer Night's Dream.

I could not believe when I won.  It was the best feeling in the world especially the cash which I used to buy headphones.

I would recommend for anyone to do Speech and Drama as it gives you lots of confidence.

Catherine Senior Shakespeare Cup 2024

I took part in the Feis a few weeks ago in April. It is so interesting to see Speech and Drama students from all over the country and all of the work that they have put into their pieces. There is such a range of competitions, from Drama, Poetry, Shakespeare, Improv, Musical Theatre and Public Speaking, as well as specialised classes for performing Irish poets like W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney. This year I was lucky to receive the Senior Shakespeare Cup for a comedic monologue from "The Two Nobel Kinsman". It was amazing to receive such high quality feedback from the professional adjudicators: I was adjudicated by Anna Walker who gave lots of great tips about performing Shakespeare particularly and acting generally, which I have found really helpful. I think the Feis is a really worthwhile activity to take part in while at ITW. I am looking forward to returning in 2025! - Catherine Leahy

Sean Drea 1st in Boys Poetry 10yrs “ I really liked the Hybrid Feis Finals this year, it was a great experience and I loved preparing for it! I won my group for Poetry Reading (doing “How Was School?” By Lindsay McRae) and I came third in prepared reading (with an extract from one of my favourite books “The Explorer” by Katharine Rundell) - Seán Drea”