The Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council Councillor Seamus Kilgannon hosted a reception at County Hall to honour the young dancers of the Lisa Cooper Dance Academy who excelled at the recent World Lyrical Dance Federation Championships in England.
Lisa Cooper reception
Dancing Champions honoured at County Hall
Front row: Tracy Garvey, Lisa Cooper, Cathaoirleach Cllr Seamus Kilgannon, Claudine Foley
Back Row: Cllr Huber Keaney, Clr Rosaleen O’Grady, Cllr Marie Casserly, Cllr Chris MacManus
The reception was attended by Dance Teacher Lisa Cooper, Academy Chair Claudine Foley, Sponsor, Stephen Mullen, and the dancers family and friends.
Celebration
In his address the Cathaoirleach said ‘Any day you can welcome Champions into this chamber is a cause for celebration, and this Council and the wider Sligo community celebrates your wonderful successes with you. The special guests here this evening are just a snapshot of the Academy membership. It is heartening to see 120 local children prepared to make the effort, week in, week out, to practice, dance, and perform to reach the high level required for national and international competition.
Cathaoirleach Councillor Samus Kilgannon with Elected Members and guests from Lisa Cooper Dance Academy
Making history
While we take this opportunity to pay a public tribute to the Academy as a whole, this evening our focus is on the 13 dancers who attended the first World Lyrical Dance federation in England. What better setting could you have to make history than in the famous Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. This world renowned theatre has seen countless memorable occasions across all the performing arts, and recently the stage was graced by the brave young dancers from Sligo. I say ‘brave’ because in addition to the great skills and techniques you have developed, it also required enormous courage to take to the stage at this enormous venue, and to perform to the very high standard you did.
Dancers from Lisa Cooper Academy perform in the Council Chamber
Pride
It should be highlighted as well, that before you travelled to England you had to qualify from the Irish competitions, an excellent achievement in itself. The Academy can take great pride in the fact that all of your dancers were placed in the top ten in the world, with two of the youngest dancers securing second place in the world. There was also collective success, with the team achieving a third placed ranking, and also earning third place with the squad dance.
Dancers from Lisa Cooper academy with selection of trophies from recent World Lyrical Dance Federation Championships in England