Young dancers jet off to US film premiere

Last year dancers from the The Doogan Dance Academy, which has classes in Lisburn and Crumlin, were given the fantastic opportunity to audition to take part in Northern Ireland’s first ever Christmas feature film ‘A Christmas Star’, which has been produced to celebrate Cinemagic’s 25th Anniversary.

Fifty children were chosen to be Fighting Ballerinas and Cheerleaders in ‘A Christmas Star’ and this saw them filming at Titanic Quarter, Stormont and taking part in the switching on of the Christmas lights in Belfast in December 2014.

The children got to work with stars like Suranne Jones, Rob Collier, Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan to name a few.

A Christmas Star tells the heartwarming story of Noelle, a spirited young who embarks on a magical journey to save her village pottery factory.

The innovative film production gave budding young actors the chance to work on a feature production and gave young filmmakers the chance to work in every department of the film including cinematography, editing, costume, production, locations, continuity and more.

The young dancers have recently been invited to attend the American premiere of the movie in Los Angeles.

During the trip they will be performing at the US Senate in Washington and at the premier in Los Angeles where they will help promote Cinemagic, the Dance Academy and the film industry of Northern Ireland.

There are thirty young people heading over to America in December and they have all been working very hard to raise funds to make this trip of a lifetime a reality.

A spokesperson for the Dance Academy said: “This is an amazing opportunity to showcase the talents that Northern Ireland has in abundance and be a wonderful advertisment for the country and the local creative industry.”

Cinemagic is a registered Charity and an award winning festival that embraces the magic of film, television and digital technologies to educate, motivate and inspire young people through film screenings, industry workshops, practical master classes, filmmaking projects and outreach activities.

Cinemagic Chief Executive, Joan Burney Keatings, MBE said: “We are so proud of every single person involved in bringing A Christmas Star to life.

“Thank you to everyone who supported the project and enabled us to give such a wonderful opportunity to our young people.”