• Shawbrook Youth Dance (SYD)
• Up to 20 seniors and 20 junior dancers work for 12 weekends( one night residential) from January to Easter towards a performance in Backstage theatre. They receive classes in ballet, jazz, aerial and contemporary dance, workshops with visiting professional dance companies and outings to dance theatre performances. They also perform in festivals around the country.

SHAWBROOK YOUTH DANCE
This company is based in Shawbrook  Co Longford and funded by the Arts Council.
It is now 9 years old.  
We differ from other youth dance companies, because our students are classically trained, but do creative pieces that encompass all dance styles within their technical reach.  Our success is also due to the fact that it is a residential course and student’s train in classical ballet, jazz, aerial, contemporary dance, improvisation, contact, and choreography.

The company is for teenage dance students, who are creative, love to dance, and will commit themselves to this project.  It is also for dance students who seriously want to pursue a career in dance and are working towards their auditions for third level dance education.

We have proved that with the dance education we are offering (between 8 and 10 hours training every weekend for 10 weekends) the students audition successfully for overseas third level dance courses.

The standard that is expected for SYD is RAD Grade 6, 7, 8, & Intermediate plus.

The students will learn how to be part of the process of creating an innovative dance piece.  They will get the opportunity to work with professional choreographers, dancers and technicians.

We expect the senior students to arrive for class on Friday evenings when it is residential, and leave on Saturday after class.  Students will be supervised in the dorm but must respect our rules and regulations.

We expect our members to take part in all extra workshops, performances from visiting professional companies, The Irish National Dance Awards and the Longford Dance Festival.

In 2006 the students took part in the opening festival show  “Wired and Free” by Fidget Feet.  They went to see their patron Michael Keegan Dolan’s “Flowerbed”.  They had numerous master classes for example: Cathy Sharpe, Fiona Chadwick, Sonia Rafferty, Eric Carpenter and IMDT.  They performed “Protected” by Becky Reilly and Lisa McLouglin at the Backstage Theatre.  The members also won lots of the prizes including the senior cup at the Irish National Dance Awards.  Previous members’ now training full time overseas won prizes at the Shawbrook Dance Awards.

SYD Members in St Patricks Day Parade costumes
Shawbrook 2010

Choreographers that have worked with NYD

Simon Rice
Rebecca Walter

Lisa McLoughlin

Becky Reilly

Jessica and Megan Kennedy

Olwyn Grindley

Anica Louw
Liz Roche
Chantal McCormick

SYD at Shawbrook 2010

SYD 2010 starts on 15th January.

Fridays:

5.00pm  Grade 8 RAD

6.00pm  Advance Foundation

7.30pm  Fidget Feet

Saturdays:

9.30 to 1.30pm Fidget Feet 

Shawbrook is delighted to have Chantal McCormick working at Shawbrook with SYD and performing at Longford Dancefest  8th  April 2010
(See Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Company website)

Jessica & Megan Kennedy helping with Paddies Day Parade rehearsals in Shawbrook Feb 2010

SYD members dancing in the market squares of Longford  and Mullingar in March 2009
They performed on the 4th July in the Youth Dance Festival 2009 in Dun Laoghaire.
They took part in St Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin and won the "Spirit of the Parade" prize.
They also went to London in March to take part in "Move it" and took professional classes with famous choreographers.

The only way I can feel personally successful as a dance educator, is if I can see a real link between dance education and professional dance . . .  Read More