Thirty young girls from Drogheda have qualified to represent Ireland in the Dance World Cup 2023 in Braga, Portugal this summer.
The girls, who range in age from 4-17 years, are all members of the Starlight Academy and they are VERY excited about the prospect of competing against thousands of dancers from 65 countries around the world.
Starlight Dance Academy, which is based in Aston Village, was established two years ago by mother and daughter team Linda and Shelly O’Connor who between them have 50 years of dance teaching experience.
The Dance World Cup 2023 will take place from 30th June to 8th July this year and the girls are training very hard – between 8 and 11 hours every week in their pursuit of victory.
Dance is their life and it would mean the world to them if they could represent Ireland at this event. The major hurdle now for the Starlight Girls is finding the money to cover their costs.
The trip, excluding accommodation, is going to cost approximately €37,000 but Linda and Shelly are hoping to fundraise enough money to cover each dancer’s entry fees, team kit, costumes and flights.
“We are looking for businesses to sponsor our dancers” Linda told Drogheda Life. “We can add business logos to our kit (just like the footballers!), and to our Ireland flags, depending on the amount the business donates.
“This kit will be worn throughout the whole event and will be seen by everyone. The Ireland flags will be held by dancers for social media photos.
“We will also add the sponsors to our website and we will constantly mention them when we post on social media about Dance World Cup. This will give our sponsors amazing visibility.”
The event will also be live streamed via WOW TV and Club WOW on the Dance World Cup website www.danceworldcup.com for the world to watch.
The Starlight dancers would be very grateful if you would consider contributing to their trip. You don’t have to be a commercial sponsor – individuals can donate online at their GoFundMe page by clicking HERE. Any amount would be gratefully appreciated.
For more information about the Starlight Dance Academy see: www.starlightacademy.dance.
