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Longford Leader - Dancing Queen |
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Written by Peelo School of Dance
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Tuesday, 05 June 2007 |
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Aisling Gobl, a student of the Longford Peelo School of Dance was recently selected along with two other students in the country to dance in Manchester at the annual International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) competition. This is a major accolade for the young dancer and it is all the more notable when one considers that she is among the first Irish dancers ever to be selected for this competition, At the event, she received a special commendation and was named as one of the top.
Speaking to the Leader recently, Aisling said it was a huge honour and a brilliant experience to be invited over.
"It was great craic actually," said the dancer from Killoe. "There was a group of about 85 of us altogether over there competing and the standards were fantastic to watch."
The Peelo School of Dance in Longford is run by Deirdre Brennan and has sister schools in Roscommon, Celbridge and Maynooth. Deirdre's mother, Antoinette Brennan, founded the school around 25 years ago. Deirdre herself, a native of Kildare, took over the running of the schools from her mother around eight years ago and says it has been going from strength to strength ever since.
"It was a huge honour for students from our school to be nominated for such a prestigious competition," said Deirdre, "and it's fantastic that a local school like Longford has the association enabling its students to be recognised on an international level."
The International Dance Teachers Association holds competitions of the same kind and level in different continents all around the world including New Zealand and the USA. Aisling was competing against the best of European talent in Manchester. "There's no real prize or title or anything to be won at these competitions," said Deirdre, "it's really about the honour of being invited to compete and having the chance to be recognised by such a prestigious and well recognised organisation," she explained.
Aisling agreed with this. "I'm really just concentrating on my ballet associates now at the moment and my intermediates in modern jazz, so I will be able to go on and teach some day if I decide to take that road – but being commended over there was a great boost and it was so good to see Deirdre's work being recognised too."
The Longford girl, who studies Property Economics at Bolton St DIT, was eager to praise her teacher.
"She puts so much into it, it's really no wonder that the schools are doing so well," she said. "The class sizes are increasing, and it's all because of the commitment and dedication Deirdre puts into it." She went on to describe the amount of work Deirdre does, to ensure that her students are prepared and confident going into their exams and competitions. "She will put on extra classes, and go out of her way to travel down to the various schools to make sure everyone is ready," said Aisling. "She really shows a real love for dance that would inspire anyone to get involved."
Aisling has completed all of her ballet grades and is qualified to teach both ballet and freestyle. She has completed levels up to and including grade five in Modern Jazz and tap and is currently preparing for those intermediate level examinations. She is also working on the advanced 1 level of ballet. A young lady with many abilities, Aisling has also completed piano exams up to grade 8 and is currently preparing for the top grade exam.
Recently involved in a major school performance, which was staged in the Helix Theatre in Dublin, Aisling was selected along with a number of other dancers from each of the Peelo schools to take part. The programme featured a selection of dances from different ballets and musicals.
Reflecting on how she got involved with dance in the first place, Aisling reckons it was something she always liked. "Mum sent me to dance classes in the Una Donlon School of Dance when I was younger and I really enjoyed them," she explained. "Then when Deirdre took over, I started learning freestyle as well and I suppose I've always just been enthusiastic about it ever since."
Aisling had lived in Bundoon, Killoe all her life. She attended St Joseph's primary school in her early years, and sat her Leaving Certificate exams in Scoil Mhuire, Longford in 2004. The talented student studied dance at Phil Winston's Theatre Works over in Blackpool for a while before returning to Ireland to pursue her degree in Property Economics in DIT, while continuing her dance career as well.
Indeed throughout all of her exams and achievements to date, there has been one person who always supported her, her mother Bridie. "Mum has always been there for me, she really keeps me going and gives me great support no matter what I decide to do, and I'm really grateful for that," said Aisling. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 June 2007 )
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