The DanceComp 2022

The weekend of January 15-16, 2022 will surely go down as one to remember – for reasons aplenty! We were absolutely delighted to be able to host our 8th live DanceComp after a gap of two years. Despite the unexpected turn of events, team WPDA stood strong and pulled off yet another successful edition.

We would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Tommy Shaughnessy and the DanceSport Federation of Ireland for supporting our competition to the fullest and ensuring smooth running of events on the day.

The DanceComp saw numerous events across all age groups, abilities and categories. We had events in Ballroom, Latin, Breaking and Hip-Hop for everyone from Minors to Seniors. It was great to see representation across all dance forms and age groups, both from within the Academy as well as other schools.

We started the day with Hip-Hop and Breaking events – judged by:
Mr. Daniel Proudfoot,
Ms. Robyn Norris and
Mr. DonKing Rongavilla.

Hip-Hop Duo Nicole and Sinead

All Ballroom and Latin events took place during the remaining sessions. We had a set of highly accomplished adjudicators for these events – we appreciate all taking time out of their busy schedules and sharing their expertise with us!

International adjudicators:
Ms. Salomé Ferreira (Portugal),
Mr. Piotr Czyżyk (Poland) and
Ms. Dobrina Parichkova (Bulgaria).

National adjudicators:
Ms. June Wall and
Ms. Angie O’Donoghue

We appreciate the commitment of all the international competitors, who travelled to Ireland from Portugal, Poland and Bulgaria respectively, to be with us at The DanceComp. We had immensely talented couples enthral us with their wonderful performances – an absolute treat to the eyes and inspiration to our upcoming dancers.

We hope you enjoy the photographs and videos below!

Juvenile Couples Cha Cha

Minor 2 E Class Samba

Juvenile Solo D Class Samba

Junior Couples – Jive

Youth Couples – Jive

Youth Couples – Slow Waltz

Junior Solo – Samba

Youth Couples – Quickstep

Youth Couples – Samba

Adult Couples – Paso Doble

Youth Couples – Foxtrot

Youth Couples – Tango

Adult Couples – Samba

And of course, the day would be incomplete without a small celebration of Wojtek’s birthday!

Thank you to our sponsors – Ray Rose Dance Shoes, Malley Sport and DanceWorld Ireland for supporting our competition with their generous prizes!

Last but not the least, a massive thank you to:

The management and staff of Our Lady’s Hall, Drimnagh, who went above and beyond to ensure that everything was ready to go on Sunday at such short notice (overnight, quite literally!).
Mr. Brian Fox for the music setup and equipment rental and Mr. Noel O’Donoghue who managed the tunes for the day.
Ms. Cathriona Hallahan and Ms. Mandy Hallahan who managed entries, registration, took care of the running order and marks etc.
Everybody who volunteered to help make the event what it was – Go Team WPDA!
All Irish competitive schools that supported our event – we appreciate your participation!

Our Lady’s Hall, Drimnagh – All set up and ready for the big day!

We hope to have the results up on Scrutelle in the coming weeks, will update with the link soon as they are available.

It goes without saying that the last couple of years have been a rather difficult time for a lot of our schools, with deterring circumstances. However, The DanceComp 2022 has proven yet again, that it takes a lot to stop our dancers from doing what they love to do!

Here’s to a bigger and better DanceComp 2022 V2.0!