COVER SHOOT!!

INSIDE an Irish Dancing Magazine Cover Shoot.

15 year old, World Champion, Emily Rose Colangelo of the McNelis Cunningham Boyle dance school in Ireland was over the moon to learn she would be the magazine's Oct-Nov 2019 cover girl!

The day of the cover shoot with photographer Jimmy McNulty was magical.

"I have known Jimmy McNulty for many years and I was so delighted he was chosen to do my photo shoot for the IDM cover. He’s such a lovely man and always makes me laugh."

The photo shoot for the Oct/Nov cover took place on the grounds of the City West Hotel & Conference Centre during the CLRG's Irish Nationals in June of 2019.

"It was so funny as I knew I had to wear Autumn/Winter clothes as I was to feature in the October or November issue so I had chosen a lovely fur coat."

Galway Girls' Brilliant Advice

IDM's 8 day, 7 night tour of Ireland is underway and the group is having an incredible experience in the home of Irish Dancing.

After visiting the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, the group traveled to Galway City to enjoy some good Irish "craic" and a bit of dancing too!

While in Galway, dancers were able to meet three of the original eight Galway Girls, an Irish Dance troupe from the Hession School of Irish Dancing in Galway, Ireland.

What Judges Look For!

Sharon Whelan MacSweeney ADCRG, BG of the Whelan Academy of Irish Dance

Offers Important Advice to Dancers. *Partial reprint of our article - r ead more in our July/August issue

What big competitions have you judged?

I have judged the Australian Nationals, New Zealand Nationals, many North American qualifiers along with judging in Ireland and England.

Each of these competitions filled me with great pride because when my parents immigrated from Ireland and registered my sisters and I at dance lessons, little did they know that it would be such a worldwide phenomenon.

It is a joy watch to watch dancers from all over the world perform a dance form that I love so much. I am very lucky to be such an active adjudicator and to judge throughout the United States on a regular basis.

Dancers often ask how adjudicators handle common blunders such as trips, slips and falls. Do you mark down dancers for these issues?

All three of these can be quite different. You need to be able to evaluate the situation quickly and determine what the cause was. Sometimes it is as easy as a slippery part of the floor but other times it can be caused by over dancing or aggressive dancing. A sign of a good dancer is one that can continue their performance and overcome a slip or a knock from another dancer.