Dancers set for huge celebration

Dance gurus Louise Fahey, Fiona Bawn-Thompson and Linda May have put their heads together to come up with an event to showcase the vast array of young talent in the area in Fusionfest.

Billed as the biggest show Craigavon has ever seen, on November 1 and 2, competitiveness will be put to one side, when St Anthony’s Centre plays host to over 200 young dancers from Little Starz, FADD studios and Kaboom.

Even the teachers will be getting in on the act with a special performance featuring Louise, Fiona and Linda.

Louise said: “There’s a lot of competing dance schools in the area, but the idea behind this is to take the competition away and put on a variety show together.

“It’s a celebration of talent,” she added.

Fiona said: “The three of us have built up a great friendship. We’ll be performing together and the show will involve dancers from the different schools collaborating as well. This is all about togetherness.”

Linda said: “Each school would have around 80 kids involved so we needed somewhere that was big enough for 240 children.

“The children taking part are between three and 20.

“For the finale we’ll have everyone performing.”

Louise added: “There’s not enough room on the stage for everyone but we’ll be using every spare inch of the performance area. They’ll all come out as a flash mob at the end and fill the whole venue.

Linda said: “We hope this can become an annual event and hopefully more dance schools will come along to showcase their talents.”

Fiona commented: “TV talent shows play a big factor in getting children interested and it’s great to be able to keep them off the streets and teach them something constructive.”

Louise has been running Little Starz for three years with two branches in Lurgan and Keady.

Fiona’s Academy of Dance and Drama have been going strong for five years. She runs classes throughout the borough, and a joint session for all her students every Saturday in the Hub.

Linda, despite being the youngest of the group, has the most teaching experience. She’d been taking dance lessons for the last 12 years. Her dance company, Kaboom, are based at Columbia Gym.

The show will be performed twice, on Friday at 7.30pm and on Saturday at 8.30pm.

Tickets are £7 for adults and £5 for children. A family tickets for two adults and two children is £20.