Kilkenny School of Irish Dance
A great experience for newcomers and locals around The Hague and beyond
From our smallest Beginners to our World Qualifiers, team Kilkenny brought the house down with their performance at the St. Patrick’s Day Festival on the Grote Markt in The Hague. It’s wonderful to see The Hague embracing the Irish culture, and it is a highlight for both dancers and teachers every year.
Thanks to the Irish Club Netherlands and the Grote Markt for organzing and hosting such a fantastic event. We are already looking forward to next year’s performance.
On Sunday the 3rd of February a diverse group of Kilkenny Dancers -ranging from our youngest beginners to some of our Open Championship dancers- demonstrated their Irish dancing skills to the visitors of the Feel At Home Fair in the City Hall of The Hague. They started with an a capella hard shoe routine, followed by jigs, reels and traditional set dances, giving the international audience a good insight into the different flavors and various techniques of Irish dance.
On a wet winter weekend in December, Amsterdam Schiphol came alive to the sound of taps and beats, as the best Irish dancers in Europe and Asia gathered to compete in the Mainland European and Asian Irish Dance Championships. We could not have asked for more to have this wonderful event on our own door-step. For the Kilkenny Dancers, this certainly proved to be a ‘Home Game’, as the results include two European Champions, two European Trophy Winners and seven World qualifiers!
Seven World Qualifiers:
European Trophy Competitions:
It was also a fantastic first-outing for the Kilkenny team-dancers, who won medal after medal for their 8-, 4-, and 2-hand reels.
All in all, it was a perfect end to the year for all the dancers and a reflection of all their hard work and determination.
The parade of champions can be seen here
On the 3rd of November our senior Kilkenny dancers performed at the benefit Lions Club function in Rijswijk, where they also met the Irish Ambassador to the Netherlands Kevin Kelly who also is a dab hand at pointing the toe.
Irish Dance workshops will be given as part of the Enchantment (De Betovering), the international children’s art festival taking place during the autumn break. Please check the programme at www.debetovering.nl and register for one of the Irish Dance workshops (on 24 or 25 October 2018) below
Starting September 10th a new beginners class for children will start at The Hungry Minds in The Hague.
You can sign up via the Hungry Minds website. If you would like to know more please contact us or Laura.
It was a happy moment for the Kilkenny School of Irish Dance when our very own Esther van der Burg became the first woman in ‘Mainland Europe and Asia’ to become a World Irish Dance medalist. When Esther took to the floor in Glasgow in the category ladies 21-23 years, she wow-ed the judges, just as she has been wow-ing us here in Netherlands for many years.
But there is more great news from Glasgow – not just one World medalist, but two! Fellow Kilkenny dancer, Sandun Verschoor danced his way to the finals of the mens over 22 years.
Esther is now 13th best dancer in the entire world and Sandun is 7th.
Their teachers, fellow dancers and Kilkenny friends could not be prouder.
We’ll have to keep a close eye on those Kilkenny world qualifiers following in their footsteps – Jessica, Bradley, Mia, Amy and Kyra.
Saturday 18th November the annual International FOOD FAIR 2017 was held at the François Vatelschool.
Our school was very happy to be able to perform during this event, the crowd and the dancers enjoyed the occasion.
In the weekend from 3rd to 5th November, the 12th Mainland European Irish Dancing Championships was held.
The successful event, organised by the ISTA School Poland started on Friday 3th of November, with the opening ceremony, during which a number of the schools from Europe, Asia and the Middle East showcased their talents.
On Saturday and Sunday, it was competition time, with the European Championships and the European Trophy.
Saturday was an early start (8am) for the under 7s, 8s and 9s.
Rosa Waters taking part in her first ever Championship came 8th in the under 8s category, she did herself and the school proud.
Next up on the program was the first of the Qualifying Championship, for the age groups under 10 to under 15.
In a very tough competition Jessica Morris ended up 6th, just missing a qualification medal for the age group 11 -12.
As often is the case at Irish Dance competitions the times in the schedule are not always
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On Sunday September 3rd the Cultural Season opened in The Hague with the UIT Festival.
At 16:30 our dancers performed on the Cultuuranker podium.
It was a wonderful performance, if you missed it you can check some highlights below
