Bethany Irish dance champ after double

Bethany Hunter (pictured) is the holder of both titles at under-ten level.

Bethany, a pupil, at Whitehouse Primary School, danced her way to success in the Irish Dancing Ulster Championships in November at a competition held in the Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny.

The contest was organised by the Festival Dance Teachers’ Association for the cream of Ulster’s Irish dancers.

Bethany, who has been Irish dancing from a young age at the Knockagh School of Irish Dancing in Greenisland, has also achieved six local championship titles during the year.

However, the championship event is by far the most prestigious in the FDTA calendar with dancers who have qualified during the year travelling from across the country to compete for an Ulster Champion title.

Dancers had to perform a light shoe dance, either a reel or a jig and a solo hard shoe dance, both performed to an adjudication panel of three members.

Bethany’s prizewinning slip jig and solo ‘Blackbird’ dance complete with toe walk steps led her to be placed first overall in her age category, making her the first Ulster Champion in the Knockagh Dancing School for 10 years.

Bethany added this prestigious title to her other major win of 2013 at the Northern Ireland Championships in February, making her both the Ulster and Northern Ireland Champion at under ten level.