Three Athlone girls will soar to new heights when they take to the stage in a new production of ‘Fire & Ice’ in the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, on May 14 and 15.
Eimear Gillen, China Lynch and Giselle Siebelink have been dancing since the tender age of four with Shannon Dance Academy and ‘Fire & ice’ will be a further milestone achievement in what has already been a remarkable experience in dance for the trio.
All the girls have passed their intermediate exam with the Royal Academy of Dance, no mean feat, considering that they were training during the pandemic via zoom classes.
They have starred in Shannon Dance Academy shows in the Dean Crowe Theatre for numerous years and also featured in dance films, ‘Dance in Tiny Spaces’, ‘Come Together Again’ and ‘Forest Fairies’, all created with Youth Ballet West and ‘Dancing By Distance’ for RTE.
The Director of Shannon Dance Academy, Judith Sibley, is the acclaimed choreographer and Artistic Director of Youth Ballet West, but this does not give her own students any better chance of a place in the esteemed Arts Council funded youth company.
There is a strict audition process to gain a place in the company which features dancers from Athlone, Longford, Roscommon, Ennis and Galway.
The West’s premier dance company will present a stunning new multi-media production, ‘Fire & Ice’ on Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, at The Town Hall Theatre.
This muti-dimensional dance show explores climate change and its effects on our planet, especially the beautiful animals whose homes are being destroyed.
Inspired by the trojan work of young environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, the talented young dancers bring the audience on a journey through melting glaciers, burning rain forests, buzzing bee hives and the waste that fast fashion causes.
This is the planet that they will inherit and to quote dancer Rosa Cafferky, ‘I am 15 years old and when I think about my future, I don’t even know if I will have one’.
Today’s young people are passionate about the environment and there is no better way for them to express this then the passion and emotion of dance.
With choreography by acclaimed Artistic Director, Judith Sibley, live projections by videographer Darach Glennon, Peter Tobin’s eclectic sound score, Mike Byrne’s beautiful lighting design and stunning costumes by designer Sheelagh Hayes, this is a theatre show not to be missed.
